Blog  

Do your clients think you would wash their kids in your kitchen sink?

Posted: Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

What do all of these images have in common? Keep reading and I’ll tell you!

As I was driving into my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago (before I moved into our new house, which is tiring to even think about, and why I didn’t get a chance to send you this sooner!) I saw a sign taped to a stop sign that read:

College Babysitter
555-555-1212*
*(actual number withheld to spare the poor kid)

Now, it doesn’t take more than about 4 seconds to find your own punchline, but if you’re like me, the first thing your mind conjures up, is probably something like one of the above pictures, or this:

No one gave this “well-educated” college kid the first lesson in marketing! You’ve got to make your message CLEAR and it’s a huge mistake for you to leave room in your message for the consumer to come up with their own objections in their mind, before you even get a chance to sell them on your product or service and why you’re the best for the job.

So, while I’m sure it took a lot of effort for this college kid to write out these words without any text messaging abbreviations (like Nd BBsttr? Txt Me), it would have helped to take a few more minutes to type out a message that might actually get someone to call you that is looking for a babysitter instead of a dogsitter. Here would be my suggestion:

Responsible College Student with 3.99 GPA NOW interviewing for babysitting opportunities for the summer.

555-555-1212

Call today, before my schedule fills up for the entire summer!

*Resume and References Available on Request

Isn’t that a little better? It’s not as much copy as I usually like to write (and I didn’t even make the prospects call a recorded hotline to see if they could follow directions!) but it at least makes it a bit more appealing for parents to call the number to check out the opportunity. Once you get them live on the phone, then it’s much easier to get the job.

The lesson here is don’t take shortcuts when trying to get your message out there. Sure, there are times when you only have a few lines of text, but don’t be lazy, analyze every word to see what needs to be there, what gives the wrong impression, and what doesn’t give the prospect enough information to qualify themselves. If you follow these simple steps, you’ll be ahead of 99% of your competition.

Meeting With George Ross

Posted: Thursday, July 24th, 2008

I am writing this blog on my flight back from New York City after some great meetings. I flew up yesterday to speak at the New York/Northern New Jersey chapter of Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle on my book tour to promote Jack and my new book, Celebrity Branding You. You can check out some pictures here:

http://tinyurl.com/6kvog9

When I finalized my trip to New York, I decided to take up George Ross, Donald Trump’s Lawyer and Chief Negotiator as well as his board room co-star on The Apprentice, on his offer to visit him at his office next time I was in the city. So I emailed George and we set up a time to visit yesterday morning.

You can see a picture of George and I in his office as well as a short 2 minute video I recorded after our meeting by clicking here:

Photos: http://tinyurl.com/5peokz

Video:

In the short video I reveal a marketing lesson that George and I discussed that you may not be aware of but it’s a great way to isolate yourself from the current economic situation and gives you a tip that you shouldn’t be ignoring in your business.

George and I disagreed a bit on a few issues, but it was a healthy discussion and I am sure George and I will continue to stay in touch and even debate a bit here and there. Hey, we’re lawyers, what do you expect!

Another profound comment that George made, which I think will be useful to you is the fact that:

1. he has been practicing law for over 50 years
2. has been teaching a course on negotiation at NYU, one of the greatest educational institutions in the world, for many years, and
3, has been involved in negotiating some of the biggest real estate deals in history for that past 30 years alongside Donald Trump, who is one of the biggest Celebrity Experts in the media today

but until he got on the Apprentice, no one really cared. He was known in small professional circles and certainly to those who were looking to do a deal with “The Donald,” but he certainly wasn’t known to or revered by the general public the way he is today. Now, George is a very highly sought –after (and highly paid!) lecturer and speaker brought in to many organizations and conferences to reveal his art of negotiation. And the funny thing is he’s no better at it than before he was on the Apprentice! Before, his target audience just didn’t know who he was or what he was great at.

The key point here is: his credentials are secondary to his celebrity status. To paraphrase his own words, he said its awful peculiar how sitting at a board room table sparring with eager young minds once a week for a few months a year, at the right hand of Donald Trump has completely changed his life and gained the respect of the American public as a whole. Isn’t it neat what kind of credibility you can have virtually “assigned” to you just by being in the media with the right message at the right time? I agree and its one of the strategies I teach when I’m lecturing on Celebrity Branding™. I encourage you to think about how you can reach out to your own audience in a similar way to increase your visibility, your demand and your fees.

By the way, if you’re looking for a way to get the George Ross/Apprentice effect in your own business and personal life, shoot me an email at Nick@CelebrityBrandingYou.com. Jack and I have found a way to guarantee that 20 business owners and entrepreneurs will be seen on NBC, ABC, FOX and CBS as well as seen in USA Today, The Wall St. Journal and Newsweek all within the next 12 months.

Alright, that’s about it, hope you have a great rest of the week. As for me I’m heading off to St. Lucia with my wife for our anniversary this weekend. See you when I get back!

Dedicated to bringing out the Celebrity in YOU!

Nick

A Funeral Home that has Members and the Secret to Moderate Success

Posted: Thursday, June 19th, 2008

As I write this blog post I’m sitting in the exit row on an airplane
coming back from my second trip to Baltimore this month (I also had to
go to Cleveland for 2 days which was even more interesting!). The guy
sitting next to me was looking for some calculus homework help…fate
obviously placed him in the wrong seat! I could have spent the entire
duration of the flight convincing him to throw in the towel and take
up something useful, but hey, I can’t save everyone. Oh well…

I can assure you the marketing conferences and meetings I have been
attending have been well worth the trips or you would never get me to
leave my wife and 2 sons to go to any such place! And yes, for those
of you who are wondering, I spend a lot of time and money on personal
development and coaching every year. As a matter of fact, I will
spend well over $30,000.00 this year on seminars, coaching and
information products. I can also tell you that since I have more than
tripled my spending on these items the last 3 years, my income has
tripled as well. Just a quick gut check: are you dedicating the time,
effort and resources to develop your skills so you can make more
money? If you aren’t you should be!

In my travels, I often run into business owners who are caught up in
comparing their businesses to local or national competitors in their
industry. While this can be an effective way to measure some things,
it is also a guaranteed way to achieve moderate success. In order to
achieve extraordinary success, you have to look to extraordinary (or
even “unorthodox”) methods. You’ve got to get outside of what
everyone else is doing in your industry and find some successful
methods that are working in other industries.

*For one example of this, check out Lowe’s Supercenters (yup the
hardware store!) monthly publication Lowe’s for Pro’s this month where
I was interviewed and gave some secrets for unorthodox marketing
practices for landscapers. I can assure you I have never marketed
anything for a landscaper, but the principles I revealed can and
should be used in every business. For a copy, email me.

One of my favorite examples is from a friend of mine, Scott Mueller
who I saw today, who runs a funeral home business. Scott came to a
lot of marketing meetings absolutely green with envy that he could not
do what most other smart businesses are doing: creating what we call
“Continuity Income” in their businesses. For the uninitiated,
Continuity Income is income built on recurring fees like monthly
membership fees, subscription fees or any other fee that you can
charge on a recurring monthly basis. It’s the greatest way to make
money…from the first of the month when you open your doors, you have
made a profit and you just have to be on the lookout for ways to grow
your continuity income and not lose the members you already have. It
sure beats “pay to play” business models where customers come and go
as they please, without being tied to the business in any way or
possibly ever spending any money with you again! Which, by the way,
is the fastest way to a mediocre business that is more of a job than a
profit center. But I digress…

Scott was determined to find a way to grow his profits so he set out
to be the first Funeral Home with Continuity Income. And I will
definitely hand it to him, what he did next was brilliant! Scott
realized that a funeral was really just a stop on the journey that a
family has to embark on, whether it is convenient or not, when they
experience the death of a loved one. What happens before and after
the funeral is a long, often painful, process for many families filled
with fear and worry. Scott realized that what families really wanted,
besides a comforting funeral service, was a way to heal and recover
from the loss of a loved one. So Scott created the only Guaranteed
Family Recovery program. Now Scott’s customers are offered the
opportunity to join a paid grief counseling and recovery program that
walks the family through the recovery process before and after the
funeral. The results have been amazing. Not only in profitability,
but also because his clients are now MUCH more satisfied customers.
Scott now provides a full solution to the problems his customers are
facing.

If Scott hadn’t taken the time to study some other industries and
innovate, then he never would have had this breakthrough. I encourage
you to look for ways to interact with and study what’s working in
other industries and to look for ways to innovate in your own
business. It’s the only way to create an extraordinary business with
extraordinary profits.

If you’d like to challenge Jack and I to find a way to add continuity
to your business, just email us at info@dicksnanton.com. I will post
our answers to the best challenges in my next blog.

P.S. – Our book, Celebrity Branding You, is coming out in bookstores
nationwide within the next 30 days and I’m going on a mini book tour
to launch it. I started the tour in Orlando on June 11 at the Rock
Your Business Power Lunch where I was given the honor of smashing a
guitar! It was quite a thrill. You can see pictures HERE.

If you live in Pittsburgh or Las Vegas, here are some details on the
next couple of events. Come on out and say hi!

June 24 – Pittsburgh, PA
4:30PM-6:30PM

Up A Notch Marketing Seminar
The Pittsburgh Marriott City Center
112 Washington Place, Pittsburgh, Pa 15219
Contact Kathy for details @ Kathy@upanotchmarketing.com

June 26 – Las Vegas, NV
11:30AM-1:30PM

Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle, Las Vegas Chapter Meetin
Antique Mall
1495 E Flamingo
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Contact Richelle Shaw for details at richelleshaw@gmail.com

Are you relevant?

Posted: Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

I hope my subject line didn’t make your heart skip a beat because you thought I was being rude, but my point is that this should be the exact question you ask yourself when trying to communicate with your “audience” of prospects and customers.

If you can stay relevant, and integrate current events, pop culture and news items that your prospects and customers are paying attention to into your marketing, your message will be much better received and it will be more likely that your audience will act on your message.

If you have been reading my posts and articles for the past few months, you’ll notice that I have posted several times about American Idol. It’s currently the biggest show on TV, and I have found several ways to relate it to what I’m talking about. If you haven’t seen those posts (as well as my CORRECT prediction for the American Idol 2008 Top 2 Finalists, David Archuletta and David Cook more than 9 weeks ago!) you can view those here:

The Idol Factor

American Idol 2008 Picks

Ok, so now onto the even better news. The better news is that relevant chatter can have an even bigger effect than the one you expected! Because I have been talking about American Idol and making predictions, I got quoted last year in the Arizona Republic Newspaper on my thoughts on the career of last year’s American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks. And just this week, I was quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune on what I thought about David Archuleta’s prospects for a successful career. And the interesting thing about this article is that my quote is not in the company of hacks or has-beens. My quote is right alongside Julianne Hough, winner of Dancing with the Stars, 4 Time Grammy(R) Award Winner, Erykah Badu, and the late, great Waylon Jennings’ son and popular musician, Mason Jennings as well as a who’s who of industry pundits. All of this took place because I was relevant.

And because I am here to show you how I use these strategies to continue the Celebrity Branding(TM) process to get you more clients, here’s what else I did: I had a press release written about my quote in the Salt Lake Times. You can view it here:

Orlando Music Lawyer Nick Nanton Speaks Out on American Idol Finalist David Archuleta

Now the first thing you might ask is, “who cares about a quote in a newspaper? Is any news outlet really going to pick that kind of press up? No way!” This is a great question, and you’re right, no major news outlet will pick this story up, HOWEVER, it is important to note that online traffic is driven through key words and getting press syndicated online is much easier to do than getting it picked up in a major news outlet. That press release will be picked up by literally tens of thousands of websites through online syndication. (If you want to know how to do that, send me an email and I’ll tell you). And every time its syndicated, it includes my key words as well as, the most important part, a link back to my website. Now this link is important because people can now link from the article back to my website, but the even more important factor is that there will now be tens of thousands of websites syndicating my press release that will have a link back to my website, and will be giving Google a “vote” that says, that site is so good I’m going to send my visitors there! This is huge for Search Engine Marketing and for getting great organic rankings (non-paid rankings in Google.

Notice that the subject line contains Key Words I was trying to get attention with: Orlando Music Lawyer (I use this to attract entertainment clients) as well as using David Archuleta’s full name in the subject line. And guess when I released it, May 20th, the day of the final performances. And guess when I’m releasing this blog? May 21st, the day the new American Idol winner will be crowned. Coincidence? I’ll let you decide.

Just so you don’t have to think it through, lets recap the lesson that can be learned here:

In the past week, the week of the American Idol finals, I have been quoted in a major newspaper along with other celebrities on a subject that is extremely relevant in pop culture (not to mention to my audience of musicians and songwriters who are interested in hiring me to represent them), I had a press release sent out on the wire and posted to my websites on the day of the final American Idol performances and I posted a blog on the day the American Idol for the 2008 season is crowned that discusses the same subject matter. I have also used the key words: David Archuleta, American Idol (no less than 14 times!), David Cook, Jordin Sparks and Orlando Music Lawyer within this post. Do you see a pattern here?

Stay relevant and use keywords online to drive your audience to you. Its one of the most magnetic strategies you can find for attracting people to you.

And now, since I know you’ve all been waiting for my American Idol 2008 pick for the winner, here it is (drum roll please)………

And the Winner of American Idol 2008 will be: DAVID.

If I was smart I would stop there, but I can’t help but try to keep my prediction train rolling. I really think David Archuleta will win (he has the teeny bopper vote on lock down), but I think David Cook will sell more records. I’m more confident that David Cook will sell more records than I am that he will come in second place, but there you have it. And I promise, this is the last you’ll hear from me about American Idol– at least until it becomes relevant again.

The Power of Connecting

Posted: Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

During this time of constant media coverage of the impending Presidential election, I am constantly reminded of the words of Dr. Frank Luntz, world-renowned professor, political consultant, and author of the book Words that Work.

In the book, Dr. Luntz discusses the “Beer Factor.” He says that, although many factors weigh into electing a President, one of the most important things a candidate can do to create a loyal following is to sit down and have a beer with potential voters. Bill Clinton was wildly successful due to his charisma and an overwhelming majority of people found him interesting whether or not they agreed with his past. Thus, he passed the Beer Factor test.

The underlying principle here is that he had the ability to connect with people. This principle is one of the pillars on which the concept of Celebrity Branding™ stands. The reason “people buy people” is that a person can engage you more concretely than an inanimate object, logo, or slogan. When was the last time you really wanted to have a beer with Nike? What about Donald Trump?

If I had said Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, your answer would likely have also been yes - but these are not the business minds at work at Nike. They are hired personas Nike chose so that consumers could connect better with the Nike brand. But that is a lesson in itself: a company without a Celebrity CEO has to hire someone else to fill the role.

So our question to you is: Even if you could hire Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, why wouldn’t you also want to leverage your own Celebrity status to get people to connect with your business? We know that it’s much easier on your budget, not to mention the fact that you can control yourself much better than you can control a third party. Just think about what might have happened had your company hired Michael Vick to promote your product. Pretty scary, huh?

You have the power to connect with consumers based on the fact that you share similar traits. We all know that you can’t connect on a personal level with every consumer and, arguably, you shouldn’t try, but you’ve got a better shot at it than anyone else. You know more about your product or service than anyone else and you probably have a great deal more passion for what you do than a Celebrity who just shows up for a paycheck.

Take advantage of this fact! People love to learn more about other people, which is why Celebrity culture has dominated the newsstands and television outlets for years. Take the chance to let your audience know more about you. Take the chance to connect. Let your audience know more about your hobbies, your family, your favorite foods, favorite places to vacation, and even some of the stuff you’re not crazy about talking about. All of these little facts, as insignificant as they may seem to you, make you human and allow others who have similar feelings to connect with you in ways that create much stronger bonds than if they were just reading corporate rhetoric.

Connecting with your consumers breeds much higher customer loyalty and, when leveraged correctly, much higher transaction sizes and profits.

Start the Conversation

Posted: Monday, April 21st, 2008

It always amuses me when I go to a group meeting of some kind (like
the last one I attended in Nashville - The GKIC SuperConference - in
early April) and people walk up to me out of the blue and say things
like “Hey Nick, how are you? Are the kids doing well? How have
things been since that record deal you just negotiated? Is the band
doing well?” This may sound like idle chatter, but what makes this
exchange so fascinating is that often I have never spoken a word to
this person in my life. Seriously.

What I have done is started a conversation with them through blogs,
articles, press releases and newsletters. I have literally written my
way into their heads and started a one way conversation. What then
happens, is when I see them, they are eager to fill me in on their
side of the conversation. Its as if the flood gates have finally
opened for them and they can finally tell me what has been on their
minds for months! And what normally ensues is a great conversation
that allows us to get past the normal process of getting to know
someone and earning their trust, even though this is the first time
I’ve ever really met the individual.

Better yet, a lot of times I get direct business or referrals out of
these conversations.

The point here is that you have to take the opportunity to start the
conversation with your prospects– and even your existing clients. I
actually just contributed to an article for a very prominent website
that offers business advice to contractors in the residential and
commercial construction industries about unconventional marketing.
What I told the reporter was that a printed newsletter (yes one that
is actually printed on paper and delivered by the mail man!) is the
most powerful marketing tool any business owner can have.

I gave an example that even in an industry like landscape maintenance,
not only will you get more clients, but you will retain more clients
as well just by “starting the conversation” with clients and
prospects. Stop and think about it for a second– do you ever get the
chance to stop and chat with your gardener or lawn maintenance
personnel? Do you know if they have kids, that they have hobbies and
what they would advise you to do to keep your lawn and garden looking
great with just a few small tips? I would guess the answer is no, but
I would also guess that if you actually knew who this person was you
probably would feel a bit of loyalty and wouldn’t go out looking for
another vendor based solely on price. This is a very simple strategy
that consistently yields amazing results.

And before you go and write off the idea of doing this because it will
take too much effort, don’t be ridiculous. You could simply write a
letter every month in microsoft word and send it out to your clients
and prospects. The tools you use to start the conversation to not
have to be complex, costly, full color and glossy or made up of any
other preconceived notion that you already have. The content is much
more important than the look. Not that a great look isn’t also helpful,
I’m just suggesting that you not get bogged down in the details, just
get started!

So, the next time you are looking for a new way to drum up clients,
increase customer retention and transaction size, just remember, all
you have to do is start the conversation. Myself and the rest of your
prospects will be ready and waiting.

Why YOU Are Such an Important Part of Celebrity Branding

Posted: Friday, March 28th, 2008

I spoke at the University of Florida’s Music Law Conference just a few weeks ago and the topic of discussion that surfaced (as it always does) was, “Where music is headed and is there a solution to stop piracy and free digital downloading?” When I gave my answer, there was a puzzled look on many faces, not because it was a profound answer, but more likely because it was an “I knew that!” kind of answer.

The computer has made many things possible and many common tasks easier. But every sword cuts both ways, and the fact that digital data can be perfectly duplicated has wreaked havoc on many industries. Even though many industries have felt the effects of this phenomenon, one of the most high-profile industries that has received much of the media attention regarding this issue is the music industry.

My answer to the question was that the solution to this problem is what it always has been — there is only one YOU. By that I mean that you can only be in one place at one time, period. You can record a moment in time and duplicate it all you want, but there is a unique and special allure to seeing a celebrity in the flesh. Sure a photo is great, but getting the chance to stand next to you and talk to you is a totally different experience that no perfect copy can recreate.

Most people haven’t taken the time to notice that the live-concert industry has been making money hand-over-fist throughout all of this controversy because nothing takes the place of being in the same place at the same time as the celebrities on stage performing for you. That’s the reason Live Nation, the largest concert promoter in the world, has been able to dominate the industry and grow into a multi-billion-dollar entertainment behemoth. The recent news that Madonna signed a deal with Live Nation instead of a traditional record label caught many of us in the industry off-guard, but in hindsight it should have been obvious! In its own words,

“Live Nation is the future of the music business. With the most live concerts, music venues and festivals in the world and the most comprehensive concert search engine on the web, Live Nation is revolutionizing the music industry: onstage and online.”

You’ll note that even though Live Nation has an online presence, its main focus is to exploit the offline concerts that it promotes.

So, what does this mean for your business? Well, there is only one YOU. Everything else is relatively easy to copy. A great product, service or process is pretty easy for your competitors to duplicate. The imitations may not be perfect, but they are usually good enough. The one factor that you can control, that has the ability to magnetically attract customers like nothing else, that no one can duplicate is your presence in the business.

No one else can speak to customers in print ads, on the radio, on television and in person the same way you can. No one can connect with the same individuals you can. And most importantly, no one can control how you make your customers feel quite like you can… NO ONE!

So, the best way to avoid what has happened to the music business is to put yourself out in front of your business. Use your unique qualities, qualifications and life experiences to connect with consumers and you’ll quickly see how your competitors will scramble to try keep up, but they won’t ever quite be able to.

The Idol Factor

Posted: Monday, March 17th, 2008

About 30 million viewers tune in to watch American Idol each week. With significant interest and business in the music industry (and for a touch of guilty pleasure) I tune in each week and play “Armchair Record Exec” along with my wife, Kristina. I have even taken a stab at playing some “Fantasy Idol” and picking the winners. I had a good run at it last year but alas Sanjaya Malakar staying on the show led to my demise because I continued to pick him to get the axe each week, but much to my disgust (and my Fantasy Idol ranking) he stayed much longer than any of us expected! But I digress…

The interesting thing about American Idol is, if you watch from the beginning of the season through the first few weeks of auditions, you can clearly see who is talented and who is not and you can usually see why the judges would let certain parties through to Hollywood week. Once you hit hollywood week the “It” factor becomes even more evident. But once the hopefuls take the mainstage, as the top 24, its funny how often I hear myself saying “This guy/girl needs to pack their bags and head home! They are a one trick pony and they already played out the one song they know how to sing in auditions to get to this point.”

The point is that you really only get clarity on who deserves to be there, when you can line up all of the talent at once and COMPARE them. When you can do this it becomes obvious who the best are. This is something that very few of us get to do with the opportunities in our lives. Whether it be investments, business opportunities or even the chance, which I take on every now and then, to pitch a client to the major record labels for a record deal.

When I hear someone sing for the first time in my board room or at a live concert, I can tell if they are talented or not. But, even if I think they’ve got a shot at making it, what I don’t have access to is a place where I can conjure up everyone else at that moment who is going to be making a run at it during the same period of time. That info would make life much easier wouldn’t it?

Well, that’s a tall order, but the real question is: Are you taking the time to lay out all of the opportunities in front of you so you can find the real hits? If not you’re spending a lot of time and energy on opportunities that just may not be hit material. They may look like great opportunities, but they may not look so great next to a couple of other opportunities.

So, take the time to review what’s in front of you, do your research and make sure you are spending your time on the things that will reap the greatest rewards…not on a business that Simon Cowell would call “self-indulgent” or a waste of time.

****
And now what you’ve all been waiting for, here are my 2008 American Idol Picks for who I think will make the top 5:

(There may be some variance here for sure depending on the song choices and how well the contestants can reveal enough personality to cut through the clutter and take the focus off of their voices. But its a bit early to tell that at this point)

1. David Archuletta (and I think he will probably win if he can stay humble)
2. David Cook
3. Michael Johns
4. Carly Smithson
5. Brooke White

The Secret Summit of Million Dollar Marketers

Posted: Monday, February 18th, 2008

I just returned from a meeting that you probably had no idea existed. I had heard rumors of this meeting taking place in the past, but this time I too got the call to attend.

The meeting took place in a midwestern town that was practically in the middle of nowhere. I assume this is because it was very inconspicuous and no one there would recognize the celebrities who were present, 20 of the best marketers in the world to be exact.

I don’t know for sure how many total there were, but I do know there were at least 3 private jets at the airport from the members of this group. All that to tell you that this was not a vacation or some gimmicky trade show, these guys were collectively worth hundreds of thousands of dollars an hour and we met for two full days.

I learned about all sorts of new business ventures and consumer trends that are going to take the world by storm in 2008. I learned that in these “hard times” consumer electronics giant Best Buy sold more televisions leading up to the Super Bowl than they ever have before. We even looked at the driving force behind both political parties and what was taking place behind the scenes in order to mount a successful 2008 presidential election campaign.

But what I was really fascinated by, is that fact that no matter what industry these marketers specialized in (including real estate, which is arguably in a very tough position), the fact remains that there is PLENTY of money to be made in this market.

We all hear talk of a recession and it seems like every news channel on television is predicting that “the sky will fall” at any moment. But what makes these marketers so successful is the fact that they don’t listen to anyone, including the news. They find ways to make money in any market. And there’s really only one secret to that: Find the point of pain for the consumer and find a way to meet the need.

It doesn’t matter what economy we are facing, there are always needs that need to be met. And depending on the market, the needs change. If you sit in a corner and sulk about how the world no longer needs your product or service (even temporarily) then you are going to feel the pinch of a tighter economy. If on the other hand, like these uber-successful marketers, you are willing to adapt to meet the needs of the consumer then these times are no different than any others. You still stand to make a fortune (and possible more of a fortune than in good times when everyone else is competing in the market too).

So the next time you hear anyone talking about how the sky is going to fall or that a recession is coming, just be sure to smile and nod while you laugh inside…mostly because that’s one less person competing with you for consumers’ money.

What’s old is new again!

Posted: Monday, February 18th, 2008

Continuing on the theme of one of the articles in the Dicks & Nanton Business Growth Report (if you aren’t getting it…you should be! So shoot us an email to let us know!) I wanted to take a minute to look at how “cyclical” opportunities can create astronomical revenue for your business.

Let’s look at an example. It seems if you slap the word “organic” on any product these days you won’t be able to keep it in stock (and you’ll be able to charge about 10 times the price for it!). You can look at many industries from food to cosmetics and you’ll see that if organic products aren’t already the fastest growing sector, then they will be very soon.

What is Organic? Well there are about a million different definitions online but lets look at a simple definition in the food industry:

Food produced without artificial or chemical fertilizers or pesticides. (source: thefoody.com/glossary/glossaryo.html)

Translation: food grown the “old fashioned” way. Organic food has become a new craze but if you were able to communicate with your great-great grandmother, she would tell you that you’d be a fool to try to grow food any other way. It was just the way things were done back then…and now it’s the hottest thing you can do.

What was old is new again.

And here are just a few examples of other industries “bringing back the old school” and making a killing doing it:

1. Custom Made Clothing – http://www.makeyourownjeans.com/
2. “Vintage” T-shirts - http://www.revolveclothing.com/DisplayProduct.jsp?product=TRUNK-WS252&c=Trunk
3. Vinyl Records - http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1702369,00.html
4. New Cars that look like their “classic” predecessors - http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-06-27-mustang-usat_x.htm

And those are just a few examples.

The Point is, What’s Old is New Again!

So, take a look back in the archives of your business or industry and see what you can “bring back” and charge higher prices for!

Come up with some examples, send them to me and I’ll post them.

What Lance is doing that you aren’t.

Posted: Tuesday, February 12th, 2008

When Lance was the only one in his office who was single, his “friends” got together and decided to help him out. So they put up this billboard.

Oh yeah and they made him his very own website as well:

http://www.datelance.com/

While this is a pretty funny prank that ever so timely in the month of February, what I want to call your attention to is how clear the message is here: Lance is looking for someone to date (or at least his friends are looking for someone for him to date!).

And while some might argue that he must have a strong desire to be miserable (that was a joke), lets assume that he’s looking for someone to enhance his life.

In dating we look for someone who is capable of enhancing our lives and fulfilling a portion of our personal lives that we are not capable of fulfilling on our own.

Now why don’t we do the same thing in our businesses? There are so many opportunities to find a great business “match” or as they are more commonly known: Joint Ventures (JV).

Finding the right JV can allow you to:

- reach an entirely new group of people for little to no up front cost
- leverage the relationship that another business has spent a lot of time and money creating with their customers and monetize it for your own benefit
- offer products and services to your existing customers that you don’t have to take the time to create or service and still make money
- Expand your business into new territories
- And so much more!

And this is just a very small list of things I wanted to outline just to get you thinking about these JV opportunities. There are thousands of other benefits, but you get the point. The opportunities are endless.

So, like Lance, why don’t you go out and try to find a great match for your business? Who knows, if you tell your friends they may even put up a billboard for you.

Product Placement and the Football Playoffs

Posted: Tuesday, January 15th, 2008

Thanks to ad-eliminating “Tivo” and other fast forwarding DVR’s, expensive television ads are hurting and returns on investment are falling.

To counter attack the loss, advertisers and the people that sell to them are creating new and different ways of placing your product directly in the main event. This is referred to as “product placement.”

This weekend while both working and watching the football playoff games I had turned my attention to the post-game show. “What to my eyes did appear” but Jared …the spokesperson for Subway, giving live advice to all of the sports announcers about which one of the subway sandwiches sitting on the table would be the best for them to feast on. Yes, Jared was wearing his Colts game jersey and that did offer a little tie-in between the Subway sandwich and the game, but what it was all about was pure advertising and everyone got it because you could not click away fast enough.

This is the future of advertising and learning how to ask for it, apply it, and take advantage of it will offer some big rewards for sellers of ads and sellers of products. Each of us needs to be on the lookout for new ways to create product placement opportunities. Television shows are one opportunity for product placement but movies, sports events, concerts and perhaps even newscasts will all offer new opportunities to present your message. The new ads will be more effective for a while and your audience will be more receptive to your message because the ad won’t look like the traditional and disliked advertising.

Game On!

Could this be the ABSOLUTE BEST Holiday Promotion We’ve Ever Seen?

Posted: Monday, December 10th, 2007

Well, we’ve all been bombarded with millions of marketing messages this holiday season. But if you’re like the rest of us, you still haven’t finished buying all of the gifts you need. Well, the promotion we’re about to show you is quite possibly the most ingenious holiday promotion we’ve ever seen.

What started out looking like a normal greeting card, turned out to be sheer genius. Click on the links below to see the Best Holiday Promotion Ever!

scan1.jpg

scan2.jpg

The conclusion to my story…

Posted: Monday, November 12th, 2007

Last time we discussed how I was speaking with a sales person on the
phone and right as I was warming up to her and asking her to tell me a
little bit more about her services and fees, she “flipped the switch”
and became a sales drone losing all hope of connecting with me and
making the sale.

If you didn’t get a chance to read that, you can click here to read
it. Now for the solution:

What should she have done? She should have told me “the story.” She
should have taken the time to understand what I was trying to
accomplish and then proceeded to paint me a picture about how much
better my business would be 1, 2 3 and 6 months from now because I was
smart enough to invest in her marketing system. She should have told
me success stories about other clients who had used her services and
had skyrocketed their sales. She should have made me like her so much
that I couldn’t say no! These are just a few of the things she could
have done.

But instead of making me understand “the story” and see how I could be
a part of it, she mindlessly read features off of a piece of paper.
What a waste. Are you making the same mistakes? Are your sales
people trained to tell “the story?” Whether you talk to people over
the phone, in person or even a fixed medium like direct mail or
newspaper ads the concept is the same. If you’re not telling the
story, I suggest you walk over to your sales department and anyone
else who has direct contact with customers right this moment and make
a few changes.

And if you don’t have a story or you don’t know how best to tell it,
give us a call and we’d be glad to help.

A Sales Story…with a Sad Ending

Posted: Friday, October 19th, 2007

I took a call this morning that I was actually rather excited to take. We are marketing some medical products for a client of ours who is a physician and I got an interesting inquiry about marketing through an online community of physicians. This could be a great supplement to the other forms of marketing we are doing.

So I took the call and a pleasant sales woman and I began to discuss how she could help us market our producs. From the moment I asked her about the different “packages” she turned into a sales drone. I could tell she was literally reading word for word off of a sheet of “features.” She must have gone on for 5 minutes just listing feature after feature after feature, which as you know if you’ve spent any time at any of the courses I teach or reading any of my blogs and newsletters, features are useless, I need benefits! But that’s a subject for another day…

In any event, what happened is that first off, she didn’t know her information cold. If you are going to sell me something you’d better know what you have to offer and be able to recite it twice backwards in your sleep or face down at your favorite local “watering hole.” Take your pick which angle you prefer, but you’ve got to know this stuff inside and out.

But to get to my real point, she went from being an interesting human being during our “howdy do’s” to a lifeless piece of paper. She just took the most effective sales medium known to man, person to person selling, and reduced it to the equivalent of a pre-recorded voice message.

So, now that I’ve identified the problem, what should she have done? Be on the lookout for my next blog in a few days and I’ll tell you the answer.

How to Attract More RSS Subscribers – For Real (from Daily Blog Tips)

Posted: Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007

This is a great article about how to attract more RSS Subscribers. You can read it by clicking on the link below:

Daily Blog Tips

For those of you who don’t know what RSS is, here’s a link to “Feed 101” from Feedburner, the best in the biz!
Feed 101

REVEALED: The 1 Trick That Will Let You Fire Your Marketing Agency and Keep More Money for Yourself

Posted: Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

Jack, my law partner, and I have had this ongoing dialogue for the past year or so about which word is better:

1. Attorney
2. Lawyer

What we do know is that lawyers prefer the “high-brow” word Attorney and so many of them use it in their marketing too. In their opinion, it increases the perceived value of their services.

What we didn’t know is whether the general public felt the same way or not. We both had a hunch that the word lawyer was more commonplace, and therefore a better keyword for us to use in our online marketing and pay-per-click campaigns.

Now, one year later, WE KNOW WHICH WORD IS BETTER. Let me tell you how we found out:

We used a keyword tool to find out what people are searching for. You can try out the Overture Keyword Selector Tool Here. What it told us was that in the context we are using, people search for the term “lawyer” at least 25% more of the time than they do “attorney.”

There it is the answer for the ages. The important question you need to ask in the online world — or the offline world — is “What Key Terms Connect with the Maximum Amount of People?” Well, thanks to pay-per-click advertising, now you know without all the esoteric junk that a marketing agency will feed you in order to run up your bill. 10 minutes of searching will tell you instantly which term is better.

Now, go ahead and give it a try, but set a time limit, because I’m warning you this is really addictive. Oh, and make sure you actually get some work done today!

Big Profits From Little Changes

Posted: Thursday, July 5th, 2007

Periodically we always take a fresh look at our product lines and those of our clients to see if any can be slightly altered to its advantage. Use a list like this, of eight ideas, just to run through quickly in your mind. One big change a year can make a huge difference in your bottom line and sometimes without adding very much in additional overhead. Those changes are Power Changes because they make such a big addition to your income stream.

#1) Can you “plus” a product, service or business you have? “Plussing” is adding something to a current product you currently have, to create something else. Look at the beverage industry and all of the flavors of Coke that have come out in recent years. How about the many flavors of water? What will be added to our water next?

#2) Can we can “minus” the product, service or business? In the information business, we do it all the time when you take a book and break it up into chapters or special reports.

#3) Can you change with size adjustment? Look at the restaurant business and see how different sizes are altered. Chick-Fil-A’s are much smaller than McDonalds stores and frequently don’t allow inside eating (I still refuse to call it dining). How about the trend in multiple franchises operating in the same store?

#4) Can you take an item and change its use? This is always fun to play with. Have you ever seen items thrown away by one business only to be use by another. Wine barrels are one. People cut them in half and came up with flower planters. Railroad ties became landscape dividers and parking retainers. One of the big ones today is ocean storage containers. If you are in a big shipping port area, you can buy them for a small amount compared to what you might pay for business storage containers in other cities.

#5) Can you change it with color? Just think about the variations in phone colors when black was the only color a few years ago.

#6) Can you change its market? The phone industry comes immediately to mind again. The new Iphone is a phone, camera, gps, email, internet and more.

#7) Can you make a price change? Just look at what “residual income” pricing models have done for business where their customers have accepted it. Info businesses offer subscriptions, software companies offer data feeds, and now, even medical products and services use monthly membership plans.

#8) Can you resurrect the old? I love my convertible but until Iacocca brought them back to life at Chrysler you couldn’t buy one.

These are 8 quick ideas to keep handy and use when you feel a change is needed to your bottom line.

Utilizing this type of ‘creative thinking” grouped on a checklist helps you look at a given product, service or business from many different perspectives.

Getting Clients Online - “Show and Tell”

Posted: Tuesday, June 26th, 2007

One of the biggest fears for most people who are thinking about doing business with you online is that they don’t know you personally, and want to make sure you aren’t trying to scam them. The best way to remove this fear from site visitors is to literally take it back to elementary basics “show & tell.” By this I mean you should both show and tell visitors who you are.

Tell them about your company:
a. when it was founded
b. where you are located
c. who the principals are
d. who the core management team is
e. who some of your customers are
f. what you do

Show them pictures of:
a. big events that you have attended (trade shows, symposiums, seminars)
b. your Office
c. your products
d. key executives
e. recreational activities and events with clients and staff members

These are just a few examples, but just remember to treat them as if they were walking into your office for the first time. What do you have in your lobby that tells clients who you are, what about your office? Do you have pictures on your desk? Do you have diplomas on the wall?

Just remember that clients on the internet cannot see these things, so try to show them in the best way you can. Make sure they know that you are real people and that will clear a huge hurdle in getting business in the online world.

Is Your Business Extraordinary?

Posted: Tuesday, June 19th, 2007

It drives me nuts when I go into a business and I have a chance to look around for more than 5 minutes without someone noticing me or asking how they can help. I usually laugh, leave and chalk it up to stupidity. But you know what drives me REALLY nuts?! When a business serves me, but they do it just like everyone else.

When you go to the store and buy something, what happens next? I’ll tell you. 99% of the time the answer is NOTHING. You can buy a television, groceries, a car, or anything else you so desire and 99% of the time they let you walk out without thinking twice and if you’re lucky you may get a half hearted “thank you please come again.”

So, you can imagine how I felt when I got a thank you note in the mail at my house from a high end shoe store about 3 days after I bought a pair of shoes. I’ll tell you how I felt, I couldn’t wait to go back and buy another pair of shoes! (and I actually did just that.)

You see, some smart salesperson thought about the fact that sending a simple 4 or 5 line thank you note, was enough to make that sales person stand out in a crowd over the hundreds of other salespeople I’ve bought shoes from in the past. And even though it is a very small gesture, it shocked me so much that I now look forward to going to buy shoes from this store. I now have a mental “sweet spot” when I think about this brand of shoes!

Can you imagine how much one of the big companies would pay to have this little sweet spot in my head? And do you think any of them thought that they could have it for a 41 cent stamp and a couple of hand written lines? I doubt it.

Is your business just like every other business? Are you doing anything to set yourself apart? If you’re not, you should be.

Riches In Niches

Posted: Tuesday, June 19th, 2007

While we are all inclined to say that “our business can help anyone” is that really the smartest path for your business? Lets look at a simple commonplace example.

If you are having knee problems, do you go to a family practice doctor, or do you go to an orthopedic specialist? Well, I go to the orthopedic specialist and I would guess most of the rest of America does too. And you (or your insurance company) usually pays more for a visit to the specialist. This is just one example of many that I could discuss, but you get the point.

You see, we’ve been taught in today’s society to go see experts. And we’ve also been preconditioned to pay these experts more for their services. This is a perfect example of Niche-ing. While you may be tempted to be a generalist so you don’t turn clients away, I challenge you to look at your business to see if there are any segments of your business that are causing you problems, and get rid of them. Narrow down your expertise and serve a niche. You will be surprised to find, like many of our clients have, that when you focus on a specific niche, business is actually easier to find.