Farewell, Old Guard

There is a revolution in business today. The old way of doing things is passing into the dark mist of history. It used to be that you… created a product or service that was needed or desired, obtained sufficient financing, recruited a great team, cranked-up your marketing machine and eventually you could grow to become a leader in your industry. That is until some smarter competitor produced a superior performing widget, secured better financing, stole some of your people or out-marketed you, thereby knocking you off your high horse.

Not anymore!

Don’t believe me? Consider this. Yesterday, Bill Ford, president of Ford Motor Company said: “The business model that sustained us for decades is no longer sufficient to maintain profitability.” Think about that for a minute. Here is the son of one of the “fathers of the industrial revolution” telling us that their business model no longer works! That’s kind of heavy.

Product marketing, recruitment and financing are no longer the “sacred cows” of business success.

Product Marketing
Just because a product or service is “better” in no way guarantees its success in the market. In fact our friend Seth Godin, author and marketing guru says in his book, The Purple Cow, “Very good products and services are very bad!” Why? Because while we are focusing on how marvelous our products have become, the market has changed and often so radically that your nifty little product has not only lost demand, it has quite likely become irrelevant! Marketers today must focus on creating the NEXT generation of products and services before their first generation ever hits the street. But often times we fall madly in love with our product line. This is a surefire approach to getting our clients to fall “out of love” with our company. Faster product and service turnover is a requirement of success in this blinding fast, whim sensitive culture.

Traditional Financing
While every enterprise must have some kind of basic financial foundation, today traditional financing is less important that ever before in history. Consider some of the recent start-ups that have grown into multi-million or billion dollar ventures with little or no traditional financing:

Skype started with less that $10,000 in capital and recently sold to E-bay for 2.6 billion.
Airborne Health with only18 employees, posted $150 million in sales for 4673% growth in the last 3 years.
Digital Lifestyle Outfitters, makers of i-pod accessories reached $84 million in sales after having been in business only 26 months!

All of these companies took risks. They were funded by immediate and astronomically growth not by a bunch of bankers with purse-strings and their greedy hands in every pie. I believe that self-funding ventures will become the standard for business growth in the future. Traditional financing and budgeting leads to waste. Like the old guard concept of, “it’s in the budget, then we need to spend it or they will cut the budget next year.” This is the kind of thinking that has created the 10 trillion dollar economic deficit that our generation faces.

Recruitment
Building a world class corporate team has always been the aim of every great company. Ford Motor Company, for years had one of the lowest employee turnovers in their industry. For decades loyal workers toiled for “mother company” in plants all over the Midwest. That is until the auto industry began to enter the world of collaboration and business alliances. Give a high five to the Japanese for this move. Today it would be difficult to count how many different automotive companies take part in the design and manufacturing of most Japanese automobiles. In fact many of those cars are designed and made in collaboration with competitors. That’s right competitors actually cooperating.

If this is so effective for the global auto maker why would it not work for small organizations like yours and mine? Because of FEAR! Many are afraid that their competitors will learn too much about us and use it to “beat us on the street.” Many are afraid that our best EMPLOYEES will learn too much and defect to the competition. How foolish. When you think about it. What was stopping them from doing that very thing in the first place? Nothing at all.

I remember people laughing at me 3 years ago when I said on live radio that our corporate world is dying and that in less than a decade over 70% of the workforce will be free agents. This is now very obviously happening.

The watchwords of sustained growth in business today has been transformed from better product marketing, recruitment and financing to collaboration, risk-taking and blind fast product turnover.

Do you think your business can continue do things the same way that you have in the past?

Bill Ford doesn’t think he can!

I wonder, how will you?

Have a great week!

Compromising Situation

I will never forget the first time I went to Japan on business. I shudder to think that it was almost 20 years ago. I was excited as you can imagine. So excited in fact I forgot to get a travel visa. Sad, but true. I had to drive my car like a maniac to the Japanese embassy in Downtown Los Angeles and get the visa stamp on my passport then drive like a nut-head back to the airport where, unbelievably, I made my flight with just minutes to spare.

Never the less when I arrived I was greeted by Mr. Uyama. He was friendly but rather stoic. I would learn much from him in the ensuing years but he said something that I will always remember. He said, “Mark,” in his excellent but slightly broken English. “There is one thing that we just cannot do under any circumstances. I hate this more than anything. That is compromise. We must NEVER compromise.” He spat out the word like it was the most disgusting, vulgar action on the planet. I was shocked. I had always thought that compromise was good.I came to find out that what Mr. Uyama meant is that we wouldn’t just give up on an initiative without exhaustive due diligence. This makes sense. But what I also found out was that this could be a pretty inflexible strategy. Despite our best efforts and careful planning we may, as leaders, find ourselves facing circumstances in which the path ahead is far from clear. At times we have to resort to improvisation and creativity to find the best possible solution. Often times looking for the solution is the very thing that stands in the way of resolution. In fact, we should more often than not spend more time and effort examining the causes of the problem.Separating symptoms from causes is often times more art than science. It is critical that we understand the difference between a symptom that accompanies a circumstance and the root cause of a problem. This requires careful investigation and study. There is a relatively easy way to determine the difference between symptoms and causes. When we change the “cause” the problem, ceases to exist permanently. When we change a “symptom” chances are the problem will return. At times we can use compromise to root out the difference.In his book, “Leading Quietly,” Joseph Badaracco talks about how we can use compromise to allow the best solution to rise to the surface and to do so in a way that reduces risk. Compromise, not in the sense of immoral decision making like we’ve seen as of late with companies like Enron. As leaders we should do the right thing, not half of it. I am speaking rather about the kind of compromise that occurs in fruitful negotiation. This kind of compromise is rooted in ethical, well-informed decision-making. Fair compromise often rests on a leader’s ability to motivate participants to see circumstances from a unique perspective. They present a new line of vision which redefines the problem in a different light and leads to a mutually beneficial compromise.In many circumstances compromise is the beginning of wisdom in resolving difficult problems. King Solomon of the Bible was said to be the wisest man that ever lived. One day he had to decide which of two women was the true mother of a child. Both of the women claimed that the child was theirs and they came to Solomon for his wise judgment. They didn’t have blood tests in those days and he had no way to determine which one was the true mother. So the king proposed a horrific alternative: “Cut the baby in two and give one half to each women.” Of course the true mother cried out at this terrible proposition and gave the baby up to the imposter. This told Solomon all he needed to know and he reunited the child with her real mother.Solomon was a powerful king. He could have “faked it” and guessed which was the real mother. But he would know it was fake and many others would suspect as much. Eventually this would undermine his authority and the system of justice in the land. He could have looked for some technicality or taken the child from both women which would have separated a family and perpetrated a greater injustice. But Solomon was truly a wise man. He went beyond the legal issues to the issues of the heart. As a result one women demonstrated her love and devotion and the other her bitterness and envy.Are you facing a difficult decision? Does the road ahead look kind of murky? Think about how you can use ethical compromise to root out the cause of the problem and watch the solution rise to the surface.

Building Your Business Through Giving

A famous Chinese proverb reads, “An inch of time cannot be bought with an inch of gold.”

Few would argue that “time” is our most valuable commodity. No amount of money can allow us to purchase a 25th hour in a day or even turn the clocks back one minute. That being said, we need to make the most of our time. I guess that’s why people run to and fro, traveling from place to place, faster and faster. They want to jam as much as possible into those 24 hours and increase their chances of financial success. Oftentimes people analyze how they are spending their time to discover their R.O.T. (Return on Time). That’s right – it’s kind of like R.O.I. (Return on Investment.) After all, you have to make every minute count! There’s no time for activities that fail to produce a monetary return.

This weekly business report is usually about things that we can do to improve our performance and create a positive financial impact. Certainly, time management is one of them and we have discussed it before. Yet I would like to present something that does not involve managing our time.

The last thing I want to do is pontificate with a “holier than thou” attitude. Unfortunately, that’s the way this might come off to some, so let me set the record straight right from the start- I am the worst offender.

I know there are many people who are reading this that have given to charities this year. God knows we’ve had plenty of cause to give with hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes and floods! I’m talking, however, about a different kind of “giving.” I’m talking about, “giving back.” That is using your talents and abilities to help other to prosper and grow. Now this might fly in the face of the “manage-every-second-jam-as-much-into-a-day-as-possible” mentality yet I have found that an amazing thing happens when we give our time while expecting nothing in return – we literally reap ten times, fifty times or even a hundred times the benefit. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me.
Yet giving back involves a certain amount of giving up. You may give up an hour or two a week, or a Saturday, or perhaps a weekend or even some vacation time. Regardless, when we do this we access some kind of power that creates an eventual, reciprocal benefit for ourselves. Call it karma, the power of God or just a force of natural.

The photo you see is of myself (I’m the OLD GUY!) with the board members of the American Marketing Association at California State University – Long Beach. I spent a few hours with their chapter of about 60 members and practiced some of the Rules of Attraction. Not only was this a very enjoyable and rewarding experience but it was gratifying for me to help these young people learn the practicalities of marketing.

I want to take a moment to encourage you to use the 4th Rule of Attraction: “Give without Selling.” When you do, I guarantee that it will return to you in multiples. You just might find it to be the best investment of time that you make all year!

Breakthrough Innovation

Last week I talked about my concept of “heartshare.” Marketshare is about getting more clients; mindshare is about getting them to remember us. Heartshare is about becoming more influential by creating extraordinary customer experiences. We do this by leveraging our intangibles. One of the intangibles that we can leverage is innovation. The most productive innovation involves revolutionizing processes that create greater customer satisfaction, rather than merely product improvement.

Tired of reading already? Click here- LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE.
Breakthrough Innovation
Innovation has become a mandatory objective for all businesses rather than the optional advantage it once was. Innovation offers numerous benefits that can help to win market share and mind share. True innovation also allows us to capture a greater share of heart:

Innovation:

Increases market share by overstepping the competition.
Increases mind share by making our products and services more memorable and attractive.
Increases heart share by achieving greater efficiency and a smoother customer experience.

Levels of Innovation
Like anything else, there are different levels at which we can innovate. Over the years, I have identified four levels of innovation: Standard, Specialized, Extraordinary, and Breakthrough Innovation. What I do not address here are companies that are operating with a zero level of innovation. God help you if you are in this category. You need to move and move FAST to start developing an innovation strategy immediately. It behooves all of us to look at how we can innovate to win greater share of market mind and heart. Let’s look at how we can accomplish this.

Standard Innovation
The first level of innovation (Standard Innovation) merely allows us to keep pace with the changes in our industry. I like to call this survival innovation. At this level, companies innovate their products and services only enough to survive. This is a kind of reactive rather than proactive innovation. These organizations are merely reacting to the competition’s innovations. I guess you can say they’re just keeping up with the Joneses. This is the level at which most organizations are performing.

Specialized Innovation
The next level of innovation traveling up the continuum is “specialized innovation.” This typically occurs when an organization adapts their product or service to a specific marketplace or subgroup. For example, when I was in the consumer electronics business I did some consulting for a company called Bogen. They manufactured PA systems (public address systems). When this market went south, they literally saved their company from extinction by innovating all of the internal elements of their business to the marine marketplace. This was a very small but profitable and virtually untapped subgroup. The production, technical, and service innovations were relatively minor to accomplish this. Bogen quickly captured nearly 100% market share and mind share among the marine subgroup. Most importantly, they snagged a good deal of heart share since all of the other amplifier manufacturers had ignored the marine dealers and distributors.

Extraordinary Innovation
Just as it sounds, this innovation is out of the ordinary. This is where organizations can leverage their uniqueness in any combination of the processes to deliver a level of innovation that their competitors are not currently offering. Let me tell you about a client that we’ve worked with that has built some astounding innovation into their production and service guarantee. The company is Pelican Products. Their claim… “You break it. We replace it. Forever.” This is not marketing hype. The company manufactures cases and flashlights that are virtually indestructible. The product is sold to the military, law enforcement, fire, and emergency agencies. This guarantee is unmatched in their industry and their competitors are stymied by their ability to continue to offer this year after year. Even more amazing, Pelican tells me their return rate is less than 1%! How do they do this? By innovating the guarantee right into the product. How big is the market for industrial cases and flashlights? The company will do almost $100,000,000 this year. It helps to have massive heart share.

Breakthrough Innovation
Breakthrough innovation occurs when an organization makes a revolutionary advancement in one or more of the innovation processes. In this case, a company will deliver a level of innovation that their competitors are NOT EVEN CAPABLE of offering. Many times these organizations literally create monopolies that admittedly have a half-life, yet permit them to rapidly capture huge market, mind, and heart share almost instantly. Can you say Microsoft?

What level of innovation are you achieving in your own business? What can you do to CREATE innovation? If you’re not at the “breakthrough level” in every area, don’t despair, you’re not alone. On the contrary, if you are achieving breakthrough innovation in even a SINGLE category, you are rather unique.

In fact, I’m willing to offer a special gift to the reader with the most innovative breakthrough (an advance copy of our Attract More Business Program – valued at $499). Just email a description of your innovation and we will announce the winner on the Small Business Hour on 97.1 FM as well as in the Business Update.

Next week we will talk about the areas of innovation and the four steps to CREATING innovation. We will look at how we can innovate our sales approach, management strategy, marketing communications, products, services, production, systems, processes, and even the culture of our organizations.

About Risk

“Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing at the right time.” -Robert Varkonyi , 2002 Word Series of Poker Champion

“All in,” he declared, time and time again, pushing his entire stack of chips to the center of the table. If he guessed wrong, he would be eliminated, but if he guessed right, he would double his stake at the table.
One-by-one the professionals went down to the amateur, surrendering their chips to his ever growing stack. He entered the final table at the tournament with the fewest chips of anyone, and pulled off the biggest upset in poker history, winning the coveted platinum bracelet at the 2002 World Series of Poker.
His play throughout the tournament was risky, going heads-up with former champions and challenging them at their own game
“Who is this guy?” – the other players at the final table must have thought. And those are the thoughts of earlier players he knocked out, such as former champion Phil Helmuth who stated, “If Robert Varkonyi wins, I’ll shave my head.”
And win he did, becoming one of the most improbable World Series of Poker Champions ever, and picking up a two million dollar prize for his trouble.How did an amateur player beat professionals who have been living and breathing poker for their entire adult lives?
Luck, you say? That’s what most would think.
While an outside observer might say that poker is all luck, any experienced player or fan will tell you this is not the case. Over the course of a week long tournament the luck will even out amongst the players. The one who wins will be the player who best plays the cards they are dealt.
The truth is that what won Varkonyi the title was his bold play and willingness to take a risk.
Surely this is a lesson for all of us entrepreneurs.
Do you sometimes feel outgunned, out financed, and outmanned?We can increase our chances of success as by doing specific things. When you think about it there are aspects of our business that we may not be able to change very easily. These include location, ability to locate needed employees, financing or additional initiatives. These can all be very costly and time consuming. What we must do, however, is most effectively play the cards that we have been dealt. We must accept those things that are fixed (much as a poker player must accept the cards they have in their hand), and figure out what the best “play” is with them. We can compensate by capitalizing on our strengths. This could be viral campaigns, networking, creative marketing, collaborative partnerships with other businesses, perhaps sourcing interns from local colleges and so on. The action will vary with the “hand” you’ve been dealt.
You must also pick and choose where you decide to wage your battles. In poker you can fold on hands that you know are losers so that you apply your chips towards hands that you have a better chance of winning. This strategy can be applied to your business as well. Perhaps going to a tradeshow isnâ€™t the best move, or if you’ve never been, maybe it’s worth trying. Selling only through distributors? Maybe adding a direct sales channel will be a good idea. Or if you only sell direct, resellers may be the way to go. These will vary from business to business and situation to situation, but you must decide where to spend your resources of time, money, and opportunity so that they give you the highest probability of success.
The game of poker appeals to me as a business consultant because there are many parallels with the world of business. You can’t change the cards that you’re dealt but you need to make the best of them. Often times, playing it safe isn’t necessarily playing it smart – even in cautious times.
As is the mantra of Brian Tracy, author of “Create Your Own Future,” you make your own luck. Those people we view as being lucky are people who did things to increase the chances that they would be able to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.
Go out and create some luck for yourself, as Mark Deo likes to say, “It’s about increasing the chances of success while decreasing the probability of failure.” Figure out what the best play is based on the chips and cards you have, and make them work for you.
Don’t be afraid of risk. To not take a risk is to risk being ignored. “Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It’s not a thing to be waited for, it’s a thing to be achieved.” Let’s go from a “risk aversion” business culture to a risk sharing and reward innovation culture.
In short, risk-taking is as much a part of good management as smart product development, effective marketing and strong leadership.
I hope that this “Business Update” has been helpful in assisting you to improve the performance of your organization. For more information on how the Small Business Advisory Network assists companies in improving their performance, please feel free to contact us at 310-320-8190 or email mdeo@sbanetwork.org
Check Out our NEW Message Board at www.smallbusinesshour.comThis message board is meant to be a mastermind area for entrepreneurs. If you help someone with a tip or suggestion, we will give your business a FREE plug in our weekly business update. Those that establish themselves as valuable information providers will earn a link in our partner resource section!

Stupid Bowl Commercials

Have you been watching TV commercials lately? How about Super Bowl commercials? They’re right around the corner. I used to enjoy watching these but as of the last few years even they are a letdown. Think back to last year’s commercials:

Pepsi Twist and Diet Pepsi Twist featured Ozzy Osbourne in a nightmare. Can you say, “overdone?” Well you can’t argue with success. That Pepsi Twist really took the country by Storm this year, huh? Not!

Reebok featured linebacker Terry Tate helping managers of a fictional company improve their performance by tackling them and yelling like a drill sergeant. Oh yea it’s really funny seeing office workers getting tackled. Duh? Can anybody tell me what that has to do with Reebok?

Quiznos spotlighted one of their employees who only think about making the best sub sandwich, leaving his bird to die in a cage and making a sandwich without his pants on. Now do you really want a sandwich from a guy that forgot to put his pants on? He probably forgot to wash his hands too. Yuck!

Remember, these are supposedly the best of the best in advertising today. These beauties cost a cool mil or more to air! Is this really the finest Madison Avenue has to offer? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have my 12 year old nephew put together my next batch of ads than these “hotshot” creative geniuses.
The Problem with Marketing Materials
Let’s face it, most marketing or advertising, even professionally prepared ads, are poorly done. The message is rarely clear, concise, compelling, credible, relevant, interesting or unique. In addition, it miserably fails in four other key areas:

Wrong Orientation – focused on what we do rather thanwhat they get

Weak Content – Not enough information to persuade, contains poor or no evidence

Tasteless Layout or Design – creates the wrong image and difficult to read

Typos and Grammatical Errors – damages credibility

Creating Headlines
The first step is creating the headline. We establish our position with headlines in our marketing. Most marketing or advertising communications have a headline. The headline is typically designed to “get attention.” In some cases, a compelling visual is used to get attention and the headline draws the reader into the copy text.

Approaches

Problem – Focuses on the problem that the prospect is facing thereby increasing their pain.

Solution – Focuses on the solutions or benefits that the company, product or service provides.

Motive – Focuses on not so much what the customer wants but why they want it.

Analogies – A clever or creative way of explaining the problem, solution, or motive which the marketing device is attempting to communicate.

Combination – These headlines use a combination of strategies such as a problem/solution ad or an analogy that explains the problem or a motive that uses an analogy.

ApplicationLet’s put aside the big budget wacko Super Bowl ads and focus on a typical ad for a small business. Say, a yellow page ad. The best way for me to demonstrate what works versus what doesn’t is to actually show you two versions of the same ad. This one is for a day care center. It is a very compelling example of a yellow page ad that works as compared to one that is rather ineffective.
This ad adheres to none of the rules we’ve discussed. The focus of the ad is “Established in 1970.” Who cares? It says day care center but I already know that since that’s the section in which the ad appears.

This ad clearly focuses on the solution to the biggest problem: “Will I be comfortable with my baby there?” It is targeted, compelling, obvious, concise and uses a striking visual that hits an emotional chord. What is most powerful about this re-design is that it certainly boosted response and it didn’t cost one more penny to run!
I hope this demonstrates the principles of effective marketing in a practical way for you. In my “Attract More Business” program I tear apart dozens of ads, brochures, commercials and other marketing and advertising. I show you how to critique them and re-assemble them in a powerful and compelling way. To read more about it, go to www.attractmorebusiness.com.

Have a great week!
I hope that this “Business Update” has been helpful in assisting you to improve the performance of your organization. For more information on how the Small Business Advisory Network assists companies in improving their performance, please feel free to contact us at 310-320-8190 or email mark@markdeo.com

Mark Deo

Something For Nothing

From time to time I will allow accomplished marketing or management experts to contribute an article that has value. This article was particularly beneficial to me and I hope it is for you as well. It was authored by David Frey, the senior editor of the Marketing Best Practices Newsletter, a free weekly newsletter featuring small business marketing techniques. If you feel you may have an article that is educational for small business owners and entrepreneurs please let me know.

“Something for Nothing” or “How to Get Free Publicity for Your Small Business”
By David FreyThe other day I picked up the newspaper and read the headline, “Ex-High School Teacher Helps Struggling Students Improve Their Grades.” The headline immediately caught my eye because I recently developed a system for high school and college students to improve their academic performance.In the article it talked about a Houston woman who retired from high school teaching and now holds study skills workshops around town for high school students that need academic help. It included her contact information and website address.It was a quarter page article in the Houston Chronicle with over one million circulation. When I saw the article I wondered to myself how much that same article would have cost her if she had paid for it.LOTS!The Power of the Humble News ArticleThere are only two ways to land the name of your business in the local newspaper, by paying for an advertisement or by having a newsworthy event that is covered by the local press. Both can be very effective but the all-mighty news release can provide the level of credibility and respect that can spark on-the-spot sales for your business.Advertisements contain information that people know are biased. Surveys have shown that the vast majority of people believe that all advertisements contain false or misleading information.News articles, on the other hand, are written by third-party news organizations that have nothing to gain by endorsing your business. Hence, their believability is high. That’s exactly why your print ads should use an editorial style format. People read editorial style (news article format) seven times more than an advertisement!Why Are Some News Releases Chosen and Other Not?Knowing how the press chooses one news release over another will give you an advantage in getting the coverage you’re looking for. Most large pressrooms get hundreds of news releases a day. When yours comes in, it competes with all the others that come in with it.Typically, an “Assignment Editor” is the person who has the responsibility to determine what is “news” and what isn’t. This person is in charge of reviewing the incoming releases and either assigning them to editors or trashing them. Typically, an Assignment Editor will sift through press releases like you go through your mailâ€¦over a wastebasket.If a news release doesn’t catch their eye they immediately trash it. The first item on the press release that is read is the headline. If you don’t have a catchy headline that grabs the editor’s attention then it won’t stand much of a chance making it to the next step, which is the first paragraph.Your first paragraph should tell what your news is, whom it’s about, where it will be, why it’s important, and when it will be held. The opening paragraph needs to get to the point fast with no fluff. If it’s as compelling as the headline, you have a good chance of having the entire release read.What News Stories Get Covered?To give your business the best chance of being covered by the local news media give them what they are looking for. Generally speaking, each of the different media is looking for specific types of news events.Newspapers want information that is interesting and informative. Newspapers like to educate their readers with timely news and articles that people will find interesting and educational.Radio is a bit more loose and has an “anything goes” type of style. Radio stations like information that is controversial, funny, or weird. One of the most popular five minutes of a local radio station here in Houston is the “Birthday Scam,” in which the DJ’s call up an unsuspecting person (on their birthday) and proceed to create a combative and hostile conversation full of accusations and lies. The sparks start to fly and so do the ratings.Television gets excited about anything that can provide great visuals. Sponsoring a local high school reading contest in which the principal gets dunked in a tub of kool aid will get the T.V. station’s attention.All media love human-interest stories. They know that people like to know about other people. In fact, the number one topic of talk radio is relationships. If you have a good human-interest story that others would find interesting you’re on your way to getting lots of free publicity.Lastly, the biggest mistake that most PR novices make is to pitch an advertisement for their business. The media publishes news…they are not your personal marketing department! You must be newsworthy!How Muhammad Ali Landed In Life Magazine (I love this story!)Getting free publicity is more about making yourself newsworthy than being newsworthy. As George MacKenzie, a publicity expert, once told me, “There is no boring stories, just boring approaches to interesting stories.” With creativity and a little effort you can make almost any situation newsworthy. The following story is a perfect example of what I mean. It’s a story about how Muhammad Ali received massive amounts of free press in Life magazine, the biggest magazine in the country in those days.After Muhammad Ali turned pro, Sports Illustrated did an editorial piece on him. During the photo shoot with the Sports Illustrated photographer, Ali asked whom else the photographer did work for. He replied, Life magazine. But quickly told Muhammad that he didn’t have a chance of being covered in the popular magazine.Muhammad knew that if he made himself stand out somehow, that the magazine might write him up. After a few minutes of consideration Ali asked the photographer what other kinds of photos he took? The photographer responded, “All kinds, but my specialty is underwater photography.”So the quick-thinking Muhammad Ali said, “Did you know that I’m the only fighter in the world who trains underwater?” The photographer immediately got interested. Ali then told him that he’d do an exclusive if Life wanted to do a story about him.Before you knew it, Ali was in a pool up to his neck in water dancing and throwing punches with the photographer reeling off pictures. It wasn’t long after that Life did a huge spread on Muhammad Ali. He gave the photographer and Life magazine what they wanted, and in turn, received massive free publicity.20 Ways to Make Your Small Business NewsworthyAs I previously mentioned, the key to getting publicity for your business is to make yourself newsworthy. The Muhammad Ali story is a good example of how one man made his own publicity opportunity by being creative and interesting.To get your creative juices flowing let me suggest 20 ways you can make your business newsworthy.

Do a customer survey and include controversial questions. Write articles about the results of the survey. The media loves survey results.
Create a top ten list about something in your business. If you’re a beautician, write an article titled, “Top Ten Most Popular Hairstyles for Women.” Top ten lists are very popular, just ask David Letterman.
Develop an annual award that you give out to someone in the community or a business in your industry. For instance, give an award to a local outstanding teacher that has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Or if you’re a supplier you can give an award to the “Best” business (customer) in the industry your service.
Offer surprising facts about your industry or business. For instance, if you’re a recruitment firm write an article titled, “The Average Starting Salary of An MBA Graduate is 40% Higher Than Their Pre-MBA Earnings.”
Piggyback off a national story. For example, when the rumors of a recession hit one business wrote a story about how their business actually improved as a result of the recession (It was a utility expense auditing firm).
Tie your business in with holidays or special days. For example, tell the media how your massage therapy business helps to reduce stress during the Christmas season and provides gift certificates for welcome relief.
Give a rags-to-riches story about yourself as a high school nobody that starts her own business and becomes successful. Remember, the media loves human-interest stories.
Tie your business into something that took place in the past. Go to your local library and find articles from 50 years ago that may somehow tie into the product or services you provide.
Be first. Be the first to offer a 200% double your money back guarantee. Be the first to offer an on-site car wash with every sale. Be the first to give your employees ownership in your business. Think of something at which you can claim to be the first.
Host a “Kids are the Boss Day!” Hand your business over to your 14-year-old kid or one of your employee’s young children for the day.
Run a “silliest thing” or “dumb mistakes” contest with your customers. For instance, if you’re a shoe repair shop, ask your customers for the silliest things they’ve ever done with their shoes. If you’re a sport goods retailer ask your customers for the dumbest mistakes they’ve made while camping. These are great human-interest stories that the press will love.
Sponsor a local community service project. For example, if you’re a dry cleaner, clean the clothes for all the visitors of the local food shelter. If you’re a fast food retailer, hold a free lunch day for disabled children. If you’re a car repair shop, offer oil and lubes to the parents of boy scouts and donate all the proceeds to the Boy Scouts of America.
Throw a one-of-a-kind customer appreciation theme party such as a luau with Polynesian cultural dancers or a magical theme party in which customers can bring their children to watch a magician do incredible tricks.
Do you have a customer that uses your products in an unusual way or uses your product to become a high achiever? If you run a gym is one of your customers a bodybuilding champion? If you own a bike shop is one of your customers a champion trial racer? If you manage an electronics store do you have a customer who has invented a whiz-bang contraption?
Take on the sacred cows of your industry and challenge them. If you’re a human resource consultant, give employee-of-the-month programs a severe drubbing. If you’re a Taco Bell manager, tell consumers how “real” Mexican food actually tastes bland and boring. If you’re a home-based businessperson, write about how corporate America is suffocating good people.
Close down your business for one day a year and have your entire staff do a day of charity work. Headlines would read, “Local Print Shop Closes Doors to Help the Needy!”
Recently I had a client whose business burnt down last year. He built it back up and is doing more business than ever. Has your business survived a tragic incident (like the recession) and made is through with flying colors?
Write a general interest story about the problem that your product or service solves. If you’re a car detailer you could write about how oxidation and rust destroys the integrity of your car and makes it unsafe to drive. If you sell website services write about hosting problems or the effects of poor website design and how to solve it.
Why did you start your business? If you started your business because you were dissatisfied with the provider you were using (or the employer you worked for), let the press know. For instance, you went into the Italian restaurant business because the Italian food in the local area wasn’t authentic. Maybe you started pool-cleaning service because of the lousy job service providers were doing on your own pool.
Prove a myth or stereotype in your industry wrong. For instance, if you’re a hot tub dealer, show a man who sits in his hot tub every night and has 12 children (meaning the hot water really doesn’t kill your sperm!).

How you make your business newsworthy is only limited by your creativity and ingenuity. Remember, there are no boring stories, just boring approaches to interesting stories.Money can’t buy what the press can give you.# # #David Frey is a collaborating member of the Small Business Advisory Network and is the President of Marketing Best Practices Inc., a Houston-based small business marketing consulting firm. David is the senior editor of the Marketing Best Practices Newsletter featuring small business marketing best practices. Contact him at:
http://www.MarketingBestPractices.com or David@MarketingBestPractices.com

Small Business Advertisements

Nobody can guarantee a winning ad. The only way to know for sure is to test it. But there are several elements that you can incorporate into your ad or sales letter to give it a better chance of being a winner. Use these elements as your own personal “winning ad checklist.”

Element #1 – Smart Ad Placement
The first step in positioning your ad for success is increasing its chance of being seen by your target market. Running the world’s best radio ad for your retirement planning services on a local hip-hop station wouldn’t be a good idea. Find out what your target market watches (i.e. sports, cooking, business), where they watch it (i.e. car, home, airport), and how they watch it (i.e. newspaper, magazine, radio). Until you know this information, you cannot make smart choices about ad placement and you’ll likely end up wasting a lot of your hard-earned dollars on an ad that didn’t even get seen by your target market.Element #2 – Focus on Your Objective
You’ll never get what you want if you don’t know what you want. This is true in your personal goals and also your advertising efforts. You must have a specific objective for your ad if you want people to act. Is it to call your office, come to your store, or go to your website? Whatever your objective is, gear all the elements of your ad to persuade consumers to fulfill your objective. Suppose you want readers to call your toll-free telephone number, then your call-to-action should be, “call our toll-free number now!” If you include a testimonial, have your endorser say something like, “when I made a call to your toll-free number…” or you might include copy that says, “one toll-free phone call can change your life forever.” Multiple objectives will confuse your prospect and when people get confused, they usually do nothing.Element #3 – Irresistible Offer
If you have ever seen the ginsu knife infomercial you have witnessed the anatomy of an irresistible offer. Not only do you get the set of ginsu knives, but also you get the “magic shredder”, the “never-dull chopper”, and the “easy egg slicer.” BUT that’s not all – you also get the “2-in-1 blade sharpener” and if you order in the next 10 minutes you’ll also receive a second set of ginsu knives! Now that’s an irresistible offer. Who could resist all these bonuses for the price of one set of ginsu knives? The secret to constructing an irresistible offer is to add valuable bonuses and extend risk-free, easy-to-pay terms. Continue heaping valuable bonuses on your customer until they throw up their hands and say, “Okay, I give!” One last thought about your irresistible offer. Sometimes you can make your offer so irresistible that it appears to good to be true. Always tell the reason why you can make such a great offer. This will add credibility to an incredulous ad. For example, you might be having a sale that advertises 70% off retail price. When people see “70% off” many will think that all you have done is boost your price 50% just so that you can advertise a 70% off price. But if you tell them you can offer 70% off because the recent hailstorm caused some very slight damage to your product and you need to liquidate. People can now reconcile you great offer in their minds so that it makes sense and is believable.

Element #4 – Unique Competitive Advantage
Why should your prospect do business with you over any of your competitors. Even those that have lower prices! Do you have a “wider selection than anybody in the tri-county area” or do you “deliver within eight hours after the purchase”? Often your unique competitive advantage is the biggest benefit you can offer your prospects so consider including it in your headline, bulleted copy, or your guarantee. If by chance, you don’t have a unique competitive advantage(s) then you better get one fast. Not having a unique competitive advantage with which to show value, results in competing solely on price – – and that’s a losing proposition (unless you have a significant cost advantage).Element #5 – Advertorial Style
Studies have shown that consumers read new articles seven times more than they do advertisements. It is said that the average consumer is presented with over 3,500 ad impressions per day. We have become jaded to promotions and commercials. Cloaking your ad in a news style editorial format will not only pull more attention, but also instill credibility, which is one of the major roadblocks to consumer response. “Advertorial” (advertisement – editorial) type ads include compelling headlines, lots of informative, interesting text, quotes, and a judicious use of graphics. The reason advertorial ads are so compelling is that people are tired of in-your-face sales ads and would prefer the silent, soft sell of an authoritative news article.Element #6 – Compelling Headline
Your headline is the most important part of all the technical aspects of your ad. 80% of the success of the headline can be attributed to its headline. A powerful headline is either, (1) benefit driven, (2) news oriented, (3) curiosity driven, or (4) how-to oriented. The following is an example of each: Benefit Driven Example: “You Too Can Have a Slimmer Figure Without Dieting” News Oriented Example: “Amazing New Formula Cures Arthritis Pain” Curiosity Driven: “Are You Making These Deadly Hair Care Mistakes?” How-to Oriented: “How to Flood Your Business with New Customers for Under $50” It’s a good practice to develop a minimum of 30 variations of your headline before you select the one you’ll use. Readers satisfy their interests by scanning headlines. If your headline doesn’t grab attention your ad will never be read, let alone noticed.Element #7 – Sell the Benefits
Your prospects don’t care about you. They don’t care about your awards, the name of your business, how much you sell, or how good you think you are. They only care about how you, and what you offer, can benefit them. So leave out all of “me” copy and sell the benefits. Ultimately people only want two things, to (1) gain pleasure, or to (2) avoid pain. Tell people how your offering will help them either gain pleasure or avoid pain by expressing them in the form of benefits. Don’t confuse this with listing the features of your product or service. People aren’t concerned as much with features as they are with what the features will do for them personally. To do this, list each of the features of your product and then determine the benefits, both the potential of gain or the avoidance of pain, your prospects will receive as a result of each feature. Hint: Studies have shown people respond better to the fear of loss (pain) then they do to the promise of gain.Element #8 – Make it Risk-Free
Consumers are naturally skeptical. With all the scams, rip-offs, and untruthful ads consumers have experienced, who knows what to believe anymore? You must make your ad credible and risk-free. The good news is that it’s easy to do. Using a combination of these three strategies will provide a powerful risk-free offer.1 – Use Testimonials
Testimonials from real people are powerful. People don’t like to be guinea pigs. If they’ve seen that someone else has received the promised benefits, it provides instant credibility. Hint: Including pictures of the endorser will double the effectiveness of your testimonial.
2 – Offer a Strong Guarantee
Provide as strong a guaranteed as absolutely possible. If you can’t provide a strong guarantee for your product, perhaps you shouldn’t be selling it. Unfortunately, too many small business people fear that customers will take them up on it. Let me ask you, when was the last time your took somebody up on their guarantee? Seldom do guarantees get exercised. Use a powerful guarantee.3 – Include Facts and Statistics
Use facts and statistics from reliable sources to bolster your claims. People find comfort in positive, scientific proof. Each of these strategies will build credibility and reduce the risk prospects naturally feel when contemplating an offer. Above all, be truthful and honest!Element #9 – Call to Action
When someone tells you that they don’t like being told what to do – – don’t believe it. People do want to be told what to do. In fact, people need to be told what to do and when to do it. Phrases such as, “call now”, “come in today”, “sign up right now” trigger emotional response mechanisms that get your prospect to take action on an offer that secretly you want to take advantage of anyway. Make your call-to-action explicit and clear, so your prospect knows exactly what to do.Element #10 – Urgency
Admit it, the vast majority of people are naturally lazy and like to procrastinate. Without a real or perceived sense of urgency your prospects will drag their feet. To compel your prospect to act immediately you must inject a feeling of “scarcity.” Scarcity is felt when the supply of either time or product quantity is limited. For instance, placing a deadline on your offer makes your prospect feel as though they have to take advantage of your offer before they lose the opportunity. An example of this tactic could be rescinding a discount offer or a special additional bonus within a specified period of time. Another tactic is to limit the quantity available so that people will feel the need to take advantage of your offer before your product runs out. It’s not unusual to see offers stating, “while supplies last”, or “only 50 available, first come, first serve.” If you use scarcity tactics (and you should), make sure that you hold true and keep your word by rescinding the offer when you say you will. If not, you will lose credibility and the tactic will backfire on you.Element #11 – Simple to Respond
Most people buy on impulse rather than logic. If your prospect finds it difficult to take advantage of your offer during their moment of impulse, you will lose the sale. Make it easy to do business with you. Many people communicate in different ways. Some like to call on the phone, others like to go to the Internet, and yet others will only fax you their order. It’s important to offer multiple ways to be contacted such as telephone, fax, website, cell phone, pager, or any other communication method. Studies have shown that the vast majority of people take advantage of impulse buying using the telephone more than any other method. The same studies show that when you offer a toll-free number, response rates increase. Finally, if you offer a recorded message with a toll-free number in which people can hear a message and leave their contact information, response rates increase even more.Element #12 – Graphics
Using a graphic is the first step in a three-step system for getting your audience to read your ad. The first step is to attract your reader’s attention with an exciting graphic, step two is to pull them into your ad with a gripping headline, and the third step is to persuade them to take action with your copy. A good graphic can attract the attention of your prospect and draw them in to your message. However, a common mistake advertisers make is to add graphics that overpower the copy, leaving little space to tell their story. Although a picture is worth a thousand words, it can also be interpreted a thousand different ways, sometimes causing confusion. Graphics should draw attention and add to your message. Exciting graphics showing action are always an eye pleaser. Including someone in your graphic from the target market you’re trying to reach, actively using your product or service, is also a good choice that will add to your message.Element #13 – Accountability
Small businesses don’t have a lot of money to spend on advertising and; therefore, must hold their advertising dollars accountable. Without knowing what ads are pulling better than others, you could be wasting a lot of money. To avoid this, you need to track the response rates of your ads. Instead of asking your customers where they heard about you, get definitive proof by implementing a process by which you can track your ads. For instance, using a separate phone line or extension number for specific ads can help you determine the source of the inquiry. Another tactic may be to use a unique landing page on your website for different promotions. If you’re using lead generation by direct mail, tell the recipient that they need to bring the mailer in to take advantage of your offer. If you are using radio or television as your primary medium, offer the audience a special report whether it is a paper report, audiocassette, or a video. This not only helps you track your response rate but give your prospect a good reason to respond.Conclusion
As you track your ads, keep the best pulling ads as your “control” piece. Vary the different elements of the ad to determine if your new ad pulls better than your control ad. If it does, make that ad your new control ad. Although, none of these elements alone can guarantee a successful ad, the combination of these elements will increase the potential for your ad to be a solid winner.Our thanks to David Frey for contributing this article. David is the senior editor of the Marketing Best Practices Newsletter, a free weekly newsletter featuring small business marketing best practices. Check out his stuff at http://www.MarketingBestPractices.com orDavid@MarketingBestPractices.com

Mystery Mailer

I recently received a mailer that was quite impressive. It contained 2 DVDs, 4 packages of material sealed in plastic with an “Evidence” tag on each of them and a brochure. It was obviously hand assembled. Great care went into putting all of these items into each of the plastic bags. Everything was beautifully designed with 4 color graphics. It was packed in a sturdy 9×12, padded shipping envelope. I also noticed that it had first class postage. The stamp showed that the sender had paid over $2.00 for the postage. Wow! I was impressed. This must be important. Strangely, it had an “evidence” tag affixed to the corner. I opened the package thinking this would be a great mailer and perhaps it would inspire us to do something creative for one of our clients.

I opened it and spread the contents out on my desk as I examined each item and read every word of the copy. My face screwed-up in confusion as I realized that it was very professionally prepared but there was only one problem. I had no idea of the purpose of the mailer. What were they trying to sell me? What was the meaning of this message? This was a great mystery. I examined each item carefully and read every word again. I had “no idea” what they were trying to communicate. Maybe it was just me.

I decided to show it to our top designer. Surely, he would understand the purpose of this very expensive and professional mailer. Perhaps I was too “thick!” I showed it to Max. Now remember Max has 20 plus years of commercial design experience. He has written and designed thousands of advertisements and mailers during his career. Alas even Max could not decipher the mystery mailer. He did however agree that the package cost well over $15 each to assemble, print and mail even at a very high quantity! Too bad we couldn’t understand the message. It must be important! Clearly, someone spent a great deal of time and money on its development.

We decided to send it around the office to several of our designers, production and marketing staff members. Surely, someone would be able to solve this mystery. Yet not one person could figure out the meaning of this mailer! Now remember we are all “professional” advertising, design and marketing people! What was wrong with this picture? Suddenly, I had a brainstorm. Let’s contact the people that sent this to us and ask them to explain the meaning of the mailer! “Great idea,” Max said! We scoured the copy for more information. Maybe we could find a phone number or an address. No luck!

We got out our magnifying glass and finally discovered a web site written in 8-point type and buried in some obscure copy on the back of the brochure. We went to the site that looked very similar to the mailer and took several seconds to load. We read the home page to no avail. Just about ready to give-up we scrolled through the various pages and finally there it was – the meaning of the mystery! That’s it! That’s what this mailer is all about? What a disappointment!

Not only did we waste our time, but the marketer was wasting their money. Can you discover the meaning of the mailer? Check out the image below and e-mail me what you think it’s all about. If you’re right, I’ll send you our CD set on how to develop “killer direct mail campaigns!”
The lesson for all of us?
Create your marketing material so that a 7-year-old can understand it. In addition, make sure people know what you want them to do. I have seen some great marketing messages that leave the customer hanging not knowing where or how to purchase the product or service but this one really wins the prize. Just because it’s expensive doesn’t mean it’s good.

Have a great week!

More is NOT Better

There’s a lot to be said for simplicity, especially when it comes to advertising. Let’s face it- most people just don’t pay attention to ads. I guess that’s because we are inundated with advertising. Wherever we go we encounter ads – complicated ads, tasteless ads, self-centered ads, ads that yammer on. So why should we pay attention?

This just proves that most marketing materials, even professionally prepared materials, are very poorly done. The message is rarely clear, concise, compelling, credible, relevant, unique or even SIMPLE. Saying MORE in our ads and marketing does not make the message better. In fact the more information an ad tries to communicate the less effective it is. Most ads try so hard to state their competitive claims that they push more people away then they attract.

Most ads fail miserably in four key areas:

Wrong Orientation – focused on what we do (the logical side) rather than what they get (the emotional side).
Weak Content – not enough relevant information to persuade and they contain poor or no evidence.
Tasteless Layout or Design – creates the wrong image, difficult to read and too cluttered to be effective.
Overstating or Overcomplicating the Message – damages credibility and impedes comprehension.

Here is a great example that demonstrates before and after yellow page ads for a veterinary hospital. The first ad focuses on all the LOGICAL reasons to buy and the second ad focuses on the EMOTIONAL reasons. Which do you think is more powerful?
This is a typical ad that demonstrates why MORE is NOT better. It communicates almost No benefits, yet it does not use negative space at all. And is that supposed to be an ark? Compare this with the ad below and it’s obvious why it doesn’t work. Additionally, this ad cost a fortune because it has 6 “spot” colors which are used very poorly. It’s only saving grace is the fact that the phone number is very apparent. Yet it does not give us a reason to dial it.

The “after ad” is simple and hits the motive of taking care of your pet on the nose. (No pun intended). The headline is so true because having a pet and talking care of it all about love. Even the images for this ad provoke a positive emotional response. The ad communicates a great deal of information and it makes great use of negative space to gain interest. They put the phone in red, but I think I’d make it bigger and more apparent, especially for the yellow pages. However they wisely designed this ad using 4 color-process which makes it more visually appealing and less costly than the 6 “spot” colors used in the first ad above. How Can You Apply this to your Business?
Look at your marketing material and hold it side-by-side with your competitors. How different is it? Could you just change the name and logo and the message would be the same? If so, then you may want to spend some time revamping your ads and marketing communication material.

In our NEW “Generating Ad Response” learning program we show you dozens of ads for all types of businesses – professionals, retailers, distributors, manufacturers, financial institutions, service businesses, and more. We teach you a powerful method of creating headlines and subheadings using five different strategies (problem, solution, motive, analogy, and combination headlines). We demonstrate how to design ads that “get attention” with information on how and when to use testimonials, leverage endorsements, lended credibility and powerful call to action closings. We present the 12 rules of creating compelling visuals and look at how to use illustrations and royalty-free photos effectively. We also establish guidelines for color and layout and talk about a 5 step formula for writing benefit-oriented ad copy. We include a primer on layout and demonstrate with specific examples how to effectively use negative space. Finally we discuss how to make this work in all types of marketing materials like brochures, flyers, ads, web sites, and more by showing you dozens of samples and tearing them apart. There’s even a test at the end to ensure you fully understand the principles.

The “Generating Ad Response” program contains a 30 page manual, 2 audio CDs, interactive forms and email coaching for only $111. E-mail Matt Walker for more information about this new program, and look for it to be available for sale on our website soon. Attract More Business One Day Workshops
By popular demand, we are now offering the Attract More Business one day workshop. This full day workshop incorporates content from our “Attract More Business” learning program and 8 week class. The workshop will be held from 9am to 5pm on June 11, 2005 in Long Beach, CAand August 25, 2005 in Pasadena, CA. Attendees of the workshop are eligible for 2 follow up 30 minute coaching sessions. As a special bonus when you attend the Attract More Business one day workshop, you will receive our audio CD on “Branding in the 21st Century.”Sign-up at: Attract More Business One Day Workshop.