Pre-Launch Reaction

Guy Kawasaki did a 360 on his Truemors launch,
including the total price tag ($12,107.09).  

What really interested me was the comments. 

Most were unsupportive/borderline hostile. 
He spent too much money,
they didn’t like the product
(even though they were not the target audience),
it could have been launched faster,
the success is unsustainable.   

Now crank up the hostility
due to you not having Kawasaki’s history of success
and you get a pretty good idea
of what the reaction to your own ideas will be.

I’ve launched product successes,
I’ve launched product failures,
the negativity around each pre-launch
has been the same.

The Crocodile Hunter’s Succession Plan

If you were to leave this earth tomorrow,
would your business carry on? 

In Steve Irwin’s case,
it has. 
A year after his death,
the Australia Zoo has continued. 
The Crocodile Hunter brand has continued. 

This is no fluke. 

When he passed away, 
Irwin had a detailed 10 year plan in place
and his widow and business partner Terri Irwin
has stuck to that plan. 

She says that its as though
he is still there with them. 
She finds herself saying
“Gotta get this project done. 
Steve would have wanted it done by now.”

Published
Categorized as General

How Keith Urban Increases Concert Sales

When asked how he decides
on the song list for a concert tour,
country singer Keith Urban  
states that he doesn’t. 

He doesn’t have one song list. 

Why? 
Because by offering different songs
in each show,
he encourages his crazy monkeys
(the name for his die hard fans)
to go to more than one. 

Multiple purchases by the same customer.

Traffic Vs Transactions

You’ve done the difficult part,
getting the prospects in the store,
but once they’re there,
are they buying? 

The difference between traffic and
conversion into sales transactions
is an easy source of increased revenue
yet according to Headcount,
less than 25% of retailers track traffic. 

Take that extra step.

Published
Categorized as Sales

Do I need a blog?

I hear the questions asked often…
Do I need a blog?
Do I need a website?
Do I need business cards?

No.
That’s not what you truly need,
that’s a tool.

What you truly need could be
A way to communicate with your customers daily.
A means for prospects searching online to find you.
A reminder for that person you met at a cocktail party
to call you.

There are many tools available to accomplish that.
Pick the best one.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

The Language Of Blogs

I read blogs in English. 
I write blogs in English. 
Sometimes I forget that
there are entire segments
of the blogosphere
available in different languages. 

Bigger segments than the one I play in. 
English is not the number one blogging language. 
Japanese is, at 37% of the blogosphere,
English is second at 33%. 

Know another language? 
Consider blogging in it.

Watching Letterman And Eating Chips

A recent study shows
that participants watching Letterman
ate 44% more chips
than those not watching tv.

Participants watching Leno ate 42% more.

Both results proof the theory
of sensory specific satiety. 
The more attention you pay
to the food you eat,
the faster you will feel full
and the less you will eat.

It also points out which
show potato chip manufacturers
should advertise on.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Exploding Muffins

The bans against trans fat
has the food industry worried. 
So worried that they’ve been
working overtime
trying to find solutions. 

The ingredient
CoaVel is being heralded by baking experts
as the solution to completely eliminating trans fat
from commercially sold baked goods.

Was this solution a breeze to find? 

Nope. 
Along the way, researchers dealt with exploding muffins
and hockey puck cookies. 
It took trial and error
to find this now deemed “easy” solution.

3 Key Questions Pre Start Up

Jeff Cornwall reminds would-be entrepreneurs
to ask themselves
3 key questions
before pulling the trigger on a business. 

Is there a market? 
Is there a margin? 
Is this for me? 

One test of the third question
is whether or not you can walk away
from the idea with no regrets. 
If you can while you’re in the rosy pre-launch stage
then you will likely bail
when the going gets tough…
and it WILL get tough.