An author asked a marketing loop
“Should I waste time on Myspace or not?”
Without even attempting
to evaluate the effectiveness of Myspace,
I would have to say
“or not.”
Why?
Because if you immediately associate
marketing with “wasting time”
then it is not going to work for you.
Marketing is an investment,
not a waste.
Watch the words you use.
Tom Peters has a great post
on the power of what he calls
the boomers and the geezers.
A big eye opener as to
why you should pay attention to this market?
“The average American buys 13 cars
in the course of a lifetime.
She-he buys seven of the thirteen
after the age of 50.”
You read that right,
7 cars after the age of 50.
He also makes a good point
that selling to this market
is easier
if you have staff IN this market.
In
How To Become Famous In Two Weeks Or Less,
Melissa de la Cruz and Karen Robinovitz
share their tips on
how to take a good photo.
The highlights?
Clenching teeth together
enhances the jawline.
Using Visine before posing
makes eyes whiter.
Standing at an angle
with one leg slightly in front
of the other
makes you appear slimmer.
And standing to the left of
any photo opportunity
ensures your name appears first.
Bill Gross, Founder of Idealab,
tells John Battelle in
The Search
“The more I [thought about it],
the more I realized that the true value
of the Internet was in its accountability.
Performance guarantees had to be
the model for paying fo media.”
That accountability has spoiled me.
Having paid for the first wave of marketing,
all internet based for the eBook launch,
I’m now looking at
print based advertising for the print launch.
With the web ads,
it is easy to track where traffic is coming from,
it is all done automatically by software.
With print,
I’m using “tricks” like special coupon codes
and even that is very unreliable.
The decrease in accountability
is painful.
Regardless of genre,
writers love Stephen King.
Why?
Because he is a fan.
Listen to him for more than five minutes
and he’ll mention another author.
Often in another genre.
His excitement,
his love for the written word is addictive.
So addictive that I look forward
to hearing him speak.
Being a fan,
coupled with having a great product,
has built his own fan base.
The classics will always do well on Mother’s Day,
chocolates, flowers, and cards.
However, this year,
Walmart is already seeing electronics
like digital photo frames and cameras
be the big Mom gifts.
(Rob, I was half a year too early
with the call on digital photo frames.)
Walmart is promoting the Wii Fit
as the must-have gift for Mom,
a product tapping into
the seemingly recession-proof
video spending.
An author buddy has a weekly photo feature
on her blog called “Men In Kilts.”
Readers of her Scottish Romances LOVE it.
My first instinct was
“I’d never do something like that.”
When I moved past my idea limiting pride,
I knew that a “Men In Suits” section
would be loved by
my business based romance readers also.
It would also give my author brand
the casual and fun feel
I wanted it to have.
It is now one of my most popular posts.
Unfortunately we can’t tackle the whole world
with a product launch.
It is simply too large for our resources.
So we segment and
target that slice of the population.
What determines a successful segmentation?
Sultan Kermally in Gurus On Marketing advises
“For segmentation to be successful,
it is important for a segment to be
large enough for it to be profitable;
distinct enough to differentiate;
homogeneous enough to prepare a marketing plan
and
measurable to determine
the effectiveness of marketing.”
I usually start with the first,
size for profitability.
It is easiest to measure
and is an absolute must.
When interior designers decorate a room,
they often recommend having a focal point.
Why one focal point?
Why not two or three?
Because of the Von Restorff Effect.
German researcher Hedwig von Restorff discovered
that when one item sticks out from the rest,
it is more likely to be remembered.
Not only more likely to be remembered
but this image or word or fact makes
all the other information seem less important.
A magnificient fireplace makes homebuyers
less likely to remember the crack in the tile.
When designing a store,
an ad,
an executive summary,
ensure that there is a focal point and
that focal point highlights
what you want the prospect to remember.
A recent study shows that
people tight with their spending
are also more sensitive to marketing ploys
designed to reduce spending pain.
These ploys don’t have to be huge or fancy.
In one experiment,
participants were asked if they would be willing
to pay $5 to have free DVDs shipped overnight
instead of waiting four weeks for delivery.
The cost was described in two ways,
either as a “$5 fee” or as a “small $5 fee.”
Participants in the tight spending group
were 20 percent more likely to pay the fee
if it was called “small.”
Yep, that single word increased response by 20 percent