A key skill for Internet Marketers to master is the use of hypnotic writing, sometimes referred to as copywriting, in their marketing campaigns. This skill is necessary in order to get leads and customers to take the action you want them to take.
This post will present the study of compliance and understanding which psychological principles influence the tendency to comply with a request.
These principles are frequently referred to as weapons of influence.
This is a DRAFT version of this post so please return to this blog in a few days to view the FINAL version of this post.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Learn How to Use the Place Strategy that Supports Premium Prices
America divides into niches and subcultures.
Each individual belongs to at least one of each but most belong to several of each.
Understanding how that niche or subculture membership and affinity, stretches the price elasticity of just about all goods and services, can put a great deal of lost money into your bank account.
Simplistically, niches are occupational and vocational; subcultures are by interest, belief, and activity. For example, insurance salespeople are a niche and deer hunters a subculture.
By further subdividing niches and subcultures, you get life insurance salespeople, property and casualty insurance salespeople, and specialized property and casualty; you can even find a niche of insurers for collector cars and rare art works.
In the subculture space, you can find deer hunters who use only bow and arrow and deer hunters who only hunt in the Midwest.
Most people have very strong identification with, and affinity to, whatever niches, sub-niches, and subcultures to which they think they belong to and they tend to buy a lot of things somehow linked to those niches and subcultures.
The deeper the commitment to niche or subculture, the less price matters for the precisely matched product. More price elasticity exists when moving a generic product to the niche.
Several key links about product / place / pricing must be cut. One link that must be cut is the value, in your mind, of the ingredients that comprise the product. Another link that must be cut is that some product comprised of the exact same ingredients may be readily available at a substantially different price, at a different place. Cutting this link is essential.
Place in this context is not necessarily a geographic place but a niche or subculture.
Again, price pressure goes up, if you can move a product from generic or mainstream, to niche or subculture. This why we add value to a generic product; it makes it customized or match a specific niche or subculture or client or customer.
Here are several key lessons to follow in order keep from being stupid with your Place Strategy. You must learn to make your sales in a competitive vacuum or you must get comfortable with selling at dirt-cheap, forced-down prices with nominal or commodity like profits.
Lesson 1 – Avoid loading the wagon and then wonder who might buy what you have to offer.
Lesson 2 – Avoid one product, one size fits all approach. Modify, reposition, repackage what you have for different markets or different segments.
Lesson 3 – Avoid treating all places (such as media) the same. While there is undoubtedly some cross-over between The Robb Report, New Yorker, and Town & Country, do not put the same generic add in all 3 magazines and expect stellar results; it will not happen.
Lesson 4 – Do not miss out on “unique” place opportunities. Nationally, or locally; offline or online, there are lots of unique place and media opportunities. Find and decide on these first; then work backwards to modify or engineer a version of your product or service for that place.
Lesson 5 – The riches are in the niches so don’t insist on one, simple business instead of a dozen small, market-matched vertical business under one umbrella. Some want to push out their generic offer to everybody and anybody instead of modifying and customizing their offering into a dozen niche markets because it is too much work; avoid this stupid thinking.
Lesson 6 – Almost everybody works harder than necessary for each dollar they make than selling in a place that limits price rather than a place that liberates it. For example, a John Wayne figurine sells in a lot of places for $15, $20, maybe $25 however in Cowboys & Indians Magazine, it can sell for $135 because people looking for cowboy stuff know they can go to this place, find what they are looking for, and don’t need to look all over, even if the price is less expensive. As an enticement, the seller might even add a simple ebook with a bio and list of John Wayne movies as a way of creating a simple John Wayne package, justifying the higher price in the mind of the buyer and differentiating themselves from those just selling the figurine. In this example, go where buyers of cowboy stuff go.
Lesson 7 –There is an app that lets you wave your phone over any item’s bar code in any store and instantly get prices on that item from Amazon and other e-commerce discounters. Avoid selling something easily commoditized and price compared in a place where such comparison is easy as that spells DOOM. If you insist on creating interest, offline, for item “x” in a new prospect’s mind, and then drive that prospect online, you are a market maker for six billion competitors and you are asking to be Google slapped. Learn to make sales in a competitive vacuum or you must get comfortable with selling dirt-cheap, forced-down prices and nominal profits.
If you follow these 7 lessons, you are able to get price out of the mind of a buyer of the products and services of your business. If you do not follow them, you will always be in a position where price is always an issue in the mind of the buyer and you will likely be challenged and always be suppressed by competition and commoditization.
It takes a while but many Internet Marketing entrepreneurs learn the Place Strategy. They learn to identify their target market with keyword research and keyword research tools as they know they can not guess what the market desires.
To accomplish this, they use various methods, tools, and follow a traffic formula to build relationships with their leads and customers. They build websites that create trust. They collect name and email addresses using an Optin form on a Landing Page. They use email systems with both auto-responders and broadcast capabilities in order to send messages to their leads and customers. These email messages frequently send information, provide knowledge, and occasionally promote an offering. Many Internet Marketing entrepreneurs learn that leads and customers do not like to be sold to however they will browse and shop. Over an extended period of time, skilled Internet Marketers are able to use hypnotic writing skills, in their marketing campaigns, to get leads and customers to take the action they want. This is how they learn to identify a target market, stay focused, and add value to their target market. They learn to leverage the equity in their list and be successful in the world that includes the Place Strategy.
It looks easy but marketing is not a game for amateurs. Marketing is not just a battle of products. It is all about the strategy you use to benefit from the Place Strategy.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
A great book to read is "No B.S. Price Strategy“ by Dan S Kennedy as it was the source of some of the material contained in this post.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, and learn how to be savvy with your money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
Since this is the first post on this blog for the year, I would like to provide Best Wishes for a Prosperous New Year!
Be sure to share this post with anyone that you think would benefit from this message… thanks!
Each individual belongs to at least one of each but most belong to several of each.
Understanding how that niche or subculture membership and affinity, stretches the price elasticity of just about all goods and services, can put a great deal of lost money into your bank account.
Simplistically, niches are occupational and vocational; subcultures are by interest, belief, and activity. For example, insurance salespeople are a niche and deer hunters a subculture.
By further subdividing niches and subcultures, you get life insurance salespeople, property and casualty insurance salespeople, and specialized property and casualty; you can even find a niche of insurers for collector cars and rare art works.
In the subculture space, you can find deer hunters who use only bow and arrow and deer hunters who only hunt in the Midwest.
Most people have very strong identification with, and affinity to, whatever niches, sub-niches, and subcultures to which they think they belong to and they tend to buy a lot of things somehow linked to those niches and subcultures.
The deeper the commitment to niche or subculture, the less price matters for the precisely matched product. More price elasticity exists when moving a generic product to the niche.
Several key links about product / place / pricing must be cut. One link that must be cut is the value, in your mind, of the ingredients that comprise the product. Another link that must be cut is that some product comprised of the exact same ingredients may be readily available at a substantially different price, at a different place. Cutting this link is essential.
Place in this context is not necessarily a geographic place but a niche or subculture.
Again, price pressure goes up, if you can move a product from generic or mainstream, to niche or subculture. This why we add value to a generic product; it makes it customized or match a specific niche or subculture or client or customer.
Here are several key lessons to follow in order keep from being stupid with your Place Strategy. You must learn to make your sales in a competitive vacuum or you must get comfortable with selling at dirt-cheap, forced-down prices with nominal or commodity like profits.
Lesson 1 – Avoid loading the wagon and then wonder who might buy what you have to offer.
Lesson 2 – Avoid one product, one size fits all approach. Modify, reposition, repackage what you have for different markets or different segments.
Lesson 3 – Avoid treating all places (such as media) the same. While there is undoubtedly some cross-over between The Robb Report, New Yorker, and Town & Country, do not put the same generic add in all 3 magazines and expect stellar results; it will not happen.
Lesson 4 – Do not miss out on “unique” place opportunities. Nationally, or locally; offline or online, there are lots of unique place and media opportunities. Find and decide on these first; then work backwards to modify or engineer a version of your product or service for that place.
Lesson 5 – The riches are in the niches so don’t insist on one, simple business instead of a dozen small, market-matched vertical business under one umbrella. Some want to push out their generic offer to everybody and anybody instead of modifying and customizing their offering into a dozen niche markets because it is too much work; avoid this stupid thinking.
Lesson 6 – Almost everybody works harder than necessary for each dollar they make than selling in a place that limits price rather than a place that liberates it. For example, a John Wayne figurine sells in a lot of places for $15, $20, maybe $25 however in Cowboys & Indians Magazine, it can sell for $135 because people looking for cowboy stuff know they can go to this place, find what they are looking for, and don’t need to look all over, even if the price is less expensive. As an enticement, the seller might even add a simple ebook with a bio and list of John Wayne movies as a way of creating a simple John Wayne package, justifying the higher price in the mind of the buyer and differentiating themselves from those just selling the figurine. In this example, go where buyers of cowboy stuff go.
Lesson 7 –There is an app that lets you wave your phone over any item’s bar code in any store and instantly get prices on that item from Amazon and other e-commerce discounters. Avoid selling something easily commoditized and price compared in a place where such comparison is easy as that spells DOOM. If you insist on creating interest, offline, for item “x” in a new prospect’s mind, and then drive that prospect online, you are a market maker for six billion competitors and you are asking to be Google slapped. Learn to make sales in a competitive vacuum or you must get comfortable with selling dirt-cheap, forced-down prices and nominal profits.
If you follow these 7 lessons, you are able to get price out of the mind of a buyer of the products and services of your business. If you do not follow them, you will always be in a position where price is always an issue in the mind of the buyer and you will likely be challenged and always be suppressed by competition and commoditization.
It takes a while but many Internet Marketing entrepreneurs learn the Place Strategy. They learn to identify their target market with keyword research and keyword research tools as they know they can not guess what the market desires.
To accomplish this, they use various methods, tools, and follow a traffic formula to build relationships with their leads and customers. They build websites that create trust. They collect name and email addresses using an Optin form on a Landing Page. They use email systems with both auto-responders and broadcast capabilities in order to send messages to their leads and customers. These email messages frequently send information, provide knowledge, and occasionally promote an offering. Many Internet Marketing entrepreneurs learn that leads and customers do not like to be sold to however they will browse and shop. Over an extended period of time, skilled Internet Marketers are able to use hypnotic writing skills, in their marketing campaigns, to get leads and customers to take the action they want. This is how they learn to identify a target market, stay focused, and add value to their target market. They learn to leverage the equity in their list and be successful in the world that includes the Place Strategy.
It looks easy but marketing is not a game for amateurs. Marketing is not just a battle of products. It is all about the strategy you use to benefit from the Place Strategy.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
A great book to read is "No B.S. Price Strategy“ by Dan S Kennedy as it was the source of some of the material contained in this post.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, and learn how to be savvy with your money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
Since this is the first post on this blog for the year, I would like to provide Best Wishes for a Prosperous New Year!
Be sure to share this post with anyone that you think would benefit from this message… thanks!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
A Lesson from Santa about the Future of Humanity
Many people feel badly this holiday season about what they can’t do for, or provide to, their families.
The big question is do they feel badly enough, that on December 26th before sunrise, they will be determinedly at work learning a new trade, developing a more valuable and marketable skill, seeking a better job, starting a business on the side, or otherwise striving to be sure that the next time the Santa season rolls around, they are better able to enjoy it and give their family a top experience?
It is clear this past year was a year of recession, high unemployment, and low confidence. We are at a turning point, most likely a breaking point, and the future is looking far more entrepreneurial than corporate. Kiss goodbye any expectations of a fat corporate job coming your way.
So let’s use this post to provide a secret from Santa which is a lesson in economics and learn how we can use it for the Future of All Humanity.
Here is the lesson.
We either live or we die. To live we must consume. To consume we must produce. When we produce a surplus, we can exchange the surplus. We create a market to sell our surplus and buy what we need or desire.
One common enemy is scarcity. Our mission is survival. Our goal is abundance.
We want the best system of enterprise and minimal interference to produce the most wealth, distributed to the most people.
Since we are all in this together, we must all be in balance.
Our economic system consists of individuals (we the people), enterprise (which are businesses) and government. The job of enterprise is to create wealth for the individuals of the enterprise. Government’s job is to create a climate for creating wealth but in doing so, it is a net consumer of wealth as the only way government obtains money is by taxing the wealth, the income, or both, of businesses and individuals.
Wealth is anything that has value that people are willing to work for and pay for. Wealth is basic economics – creation, production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
It is important to understand and control the balance between enterprise and government.
Over time, government may grow faster than enterprise through “creep”; it happens slowly but surely. With higher wealth consumption, and lower wealth production, we are less rich because an expanding government becomes a net consumer of wealth with less enterprise to produce wealth.
As Santa says, when you learn the lessons of basic economics, you know a lot. Combined with the concepts of freedom, you can do a lot. Now, how can we use this lesson for the Future of All Humanity?
Well, entrepreneurs are the ones out there making an impact. They are starting up businesses, building things, creating jobs, and raising the standard of living throughout the world. In reality, they are the ones that have been creating all the jobs in the past 30 years. So entrepreneurs are the future of the world.
In addition, have you noticed that the world is changing faster than our current education system can handle? While there are many dedicated and amazing teachers and professors in our current system, they are just fighting a losing battle. It is clear that large chunks of our education system are moving online and this change is being lead by information marketers.
By being an entrepreneur, by being an information marketer, or having a business helping entrepreneurs and information marketers start and grow their businesses, you are about the Future of All Humanity … you are creating jobs and providing education.
Inspired by this lesson from Santa, make a New Year’s resolution to spend your time in the upcoming year (circa 2012) to obtain education and learn to be an entrepreneur. Work, mentor, teach, and inspire others to be entrepreneurs. The time you spend gaining the knowledge and applying the principles of entrepreneurialism will be for gain, good, and success; not loss, evil, or failure.
Be ready to create, and execute in unexpected ways, and of course be ready to provide for the Future of All Humanity.
I trust this post, with a lesson from Santa, has provided some background about economics, our freedom to choose, entrepreneurialism, information marketing, and inspiration to impact the Future of All Humanity.
In closing, be sure to Read More of my Posts on my Internet Marketing blog at aspenIbiz BlackBox; Obtain Some Tips About Being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, my Affiliate website; Learn How to be Savvy with Your Money Like the Insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money blog, and How to Live Longer at aspenIbiz My Life’s Advantage Today site.
Finally, I would like to provide Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season and a Prosperous New Year!
You can join me and ennoble your efforts to build a better future! Check-out this Success Roadmap
Please be sure to share this post with anyone that you think would benefit from this message… thanks!
The big question is do they feel badly enough, that on December 26th before sunrise, they will be determinedly at work learning a new trade, developing a more valuable and marketable skill, seeking a better job, starting a business on the side, or otherwise striving to be sure that the next time the Santa season rolls around, they are better able to enjoy it and give their family a top experience?
It is clear this past year was a year of recession, high unemployment, and low confidence. We are at a turning point, most likely a breaking point, and the future is looking far more entrepreneurial than corporate. Kiss goodbye any expectations of a fat corporate job coming your way.
So let’s use this post to provide a secret from Santa which is a lesson in economics and learn how we can use it for the Future of All Humanity.
Here is the lesson.
We either live or we die. To live we must consume. To consume we must produce. When we produce a surplus, we can exchange the surplus. We create a market to sell our surplus and buy what we need or desire.
One common enemy is scarcity. Our mission is survival. Our goal is abundance.
We want the best system of enterprise and minimal interference to produce the most wealth, distributed to the most people.
Since we are all in this together, we must all be in balance.
Our economic system consists of individuals (we the people), enterprise (which are businesses) and government. The job of enterprise is to create wealth for the individuals of the enterprise. Government’s job is to create a climate for creating wealth but in doing so, it is a net consumer of wealth as the only way government obtains money is by taxing the wealth, the income, or both, of businesses and individuals.
Wealth is anything that has value that people are willing to work for and pay for. Wealth is basic economics – creation, production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
It is important to understand and control the balance between enterprise and government.
Over time, government may grow faster than enterprise through “creep”; it happens slowly but surely. With higher wealth consumption, and lower wealth production, we are less rich because an expanding government becomes a net consumer of wealth with less enterprise to produce wealth.
As Santa says, when you learn the lessons of basic economics, you know a lot. Combined with the concepts of freedom, you can do a lot. Now, how can we use this lesson for the Future of All Humanity?
Well, entrepreneurs are the ones out there making an impact. They are starting up businesses, building things, creating jobs, and raising the standard of living throughout the world. In reality, they are the ones that have been creating all the jobs in the past 30 years. So entrepreneurs are the future of the world.
In addition, have you noticed that the world is changing faster than our current education system can handle? While there are many dedicated and amazing teachers and professors in our current system, they are just fighting a losing battle. It is clear that large chunks of our education system are moving online and this change is being lead by information marketers.
By being an entrepreneur, by being an information marketer, or having a business helping entrepreneurs and information marketers start and grow their businesses, you are about the Future of All Humanity … you are creating jobs and providing education.
Inspired by this lesson from Santa, make a New Year’s resolution to spend your time in the upcoming year (circa 2012) to obtain education and learn to be an entrepreneur. Work, mentor, teach, and inspire others to be entrepreneurs. The time you spend gaining the knowledge and applying the principles of entrepreneurialism will be for gain, good, and success; not loss, evil, or failure.
Be ready to create, and execute in unexpected ways, and of course be ready to provide for the Future of All Humanity.
I trust this post, with a lesson from Santa, has provided some background about economics, our freedom to choose, entrepreneurialism, information marketing, and inspiration to impact the Future of All Humanity.
In closing, be sure to Read More of my Posts on my Internet Marketing blog at aspenIbiz BlackBox; Obtain Some Tips About Being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, my Affiliate website; Learn How to be Savvy with Your Money Like the Insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money blog, and How to Live Longer at aspenIbiz My Life’s Advantage Today site.
Finally, I would like to provide Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season and a Prosperous New Year!
You can join me and ennoble your efforts to build a better future! Check-out this Success Roadmap
Please be sure to share this post with anyone that you think would benefit from this message… thanks!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Positioning Yourself and Your Business for Maximum Success
Positioning is admittedly an advertising buzzword but it is legitimately one of the most important marketing concepts you will ever consider in your business career.
One of the definitions of positioning is the controlling how your customers and prospective customers think and feel about your business in comparison to other, similar businesses competing for their attention.
Here are several positioning strategies that may seem obvious but many people overlook the obvious and cost themselves a lot of money as a result.
Positioning Strategy 1 – How to Describe What You Do to Attract the Customers You Want.
Let’s start with the name of your business. The best business names telegraph what the business does. For example, Dunkin Donuts is better than Starbucks. At the start, Apple and Amazon were mystery names however obviously they are now hugely successful brand name companies. The question you have to ask is whether or not you want to invest an enormous amount of money and patience in creating awareness and understanding of what your name represents or to start with a name that clearly represents what your business is and does.
Positioning Strategy 2 – How to Price.
You don’t ever want to be in a business that obtained its customers with the lure of “lowest prices.” You cannot build long-term customer retention via the cheapest price. The way you get a customer has great impact on how you will sell to that customer again. There will always be someone willing to offer a cheaper price. If the only thing binding your customers to your company is the lowest price, your business will be as fragile in its tenth year as in its tenth week.
Be sure to sell quality, value, service, and unique benefits; do not sell price.
One of the most interesting things about price is not its impact on profit and income but its impact on positioning. Often, under-pricing sends the wrong message. The business owner thinks he is optimizing sales by offering the lowest price possible but he actually creating skepticism and causing discerning customers to look elsewhere.
In the New Economy, the successful businesses, based on factors other than low or aggressively competitive pricing, outnumber successful businesses that feature low or lowest price promises by at least 500 to 1. Be sure to play the odds.
Positioning Strategy 3 – How to Make Your Image Work for You.
To be perceived as successful and trustworthy in your business, you must match the image of a successful business in your field.
Places of business, product packaging, literature, and advertising, all are subject to the same image concerns as are individual appearances.
We are taught that you can’t judge a book by its cover but we can’t help but judge a book by its cover. You will be judged that way, too!
Most businesses are better served by thinking about their marketing tools as “salesmanship in media” rather than as “advertising.” In simple terms, copy is king. Message matters most. Yes, the wrong presentation for a given market can sabotage event the best message. But the more common error is a beautiful presentation of – nothing.
Ultimately, there must be appropriate marriage of substance and style to make your image work for you. Customer’s expectations must be met and exceeded, anxiety avoided, reassurance given by the image presented by you, your staff, your physical location, and your marketing material.
Positioning Strategy 4 – Self-Appointment.
When we are kids, our parents “appoint us” old enough to stay home alone or old enough to babysit our younger brothers or sisters.
At work, employers or supervisors “promote us” as qualified to do a certain thing or handle a certain responsibility.
This conditioning is not particularly useful when you step into the world of owning your own business.
Please understand that you do not need anybody’s permission to be successful. If you wait for someone to grant you the permission to be successful, you will wait a long, long time.
Business success just is not conferred upon you.
Power and influence is not granted – it is taken.
Expert positioning is all about self-appointment, self-promotion, and self-aggrandizement. Make this note: you become a promotable expert by decision, acquisition, and organization of information, pronouncement, and promotion. Not by anointment by some authority on high.
How do you do this? Write books, give teleseminars, build lists of customers interested in your product or service.
Your positioning decision is the difference between a six-figure income and a seven-figure income based on investor partnering potential, with many clients, as this is the income-multiplying power of positioning.
In positioning yourself and your business for success, you have to clearly determine who you are, then drive that message home to your marketplace. It is also important to make the right decision as the marketplace will usually accept the positioning you chose for yourself, and present to others, as you really are in control of the positioning.
Many high profile business leaders, including the Oracle of Omaha, suggest that if you don’t focus on positioning yourself as an online entrepreneur, being self-employed, or being a small business owner, it will be a very tough road in the months and years ahead; actually they say, it will be an uphill battle.
This suggestion is attracting current and former doctors, CEOs, and other members of the corporate workforce that are seeking a way to leave their established and lucrative careers. They are in pursuit of new opportunities in the world of Social Media and Internet Marketing so they can generate income, prestige, independence, and financial rewards that exceed the levels obtained by most in their previous careers.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
A great book to read is "No B.S. Business Success in the New Economy" by Dan S Kennedy as it was the source of some of the material contained in this post.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, and learn how to be savvy with your money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
Finally, I would like to provide Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season and a Prosperous New Year!
Be sure to share this post with anyone that you think would benefit from this message… thanks!
One of the definitions of positioning is the controlling how your customers and prospective customers think and feel about your business in comparison to other, similar businesses competing for their attention.
Here are several positioning strategies that may seem obvious but many people overlook the obvious and cost themselves a lot of money as a result.
Positioning Strategy 1 – How to Describe What You Do to Attract the Customers You Want.
Let’s start with the name of your business. The best business names telegraph what the business does. For example, Dunkin Donuts is better than Starbucks. At the start, Apple and Amazon were mystery names however obviously they are now hugely successful brand name companies. The question you have to ask is whether or not you want to invest an enormous amount of money and patience in creating awareness and understanding of what your name represents or to start with a name that clearly represents what your business is and does.
Positioning Strategy 2 – How to Price.
You don’t ever want to be in a business that obtained its customers with the lure of “lowest prices.” You cannot build long-term customer retention via the cheapest price. The way you get a customer has great impact on how you will sell to that customer again. There will always be someone willing to offer a cheaper price. If the only thing binding your customers to your company is the lowest price, your business will be as fragile in its tenth year as in its tenth week.
Be sure to sell quality, value, service, and unique benefits; do not sell price.
One of the most interesting things about price is not its impact on profit and income but its impact on positioning. Often, under-pricing sends the wrong message. The business owner thinks he is optimizing sales by offering the lowest price possible but he actually creating skepticism and causing discerning customers to look elsewhere.
In the New Economy, the successful businesses, based on factors other than low or aggressively competitive pricing, outnumber successful businesses that feature low or lowest price promises by at least 500 to 1. Be sure to play the odds.
Positioning Strategy 3 – How to Make Your Image Work for You.
To be perceived as successful and trustworthy in your business, you must match the image of a successful business in your field.
Places of business, product packaging, literature, and advertising, all are subject to the same image concerns as are individual appearances.
We are taught that you can’t judge a book by its cover but we can’t help but judge a book by its cover. You will be judged that way, too!
Most businesses are better served by thinking about their marketing tools as “salesmanship in media” rather than as “advertising.” In simple terms, copy is king. Message matters most. Yes, the wrong presentation for a given market can sabotage event the best message. But the more common error is a beautiful presentation of – nothing.
Ultimately, there must be appropriate marriage of substance and style to make your image work for you. Customer’s expectations must be met and exceeded, anxiety avoided, reassurance given by the image presented by you, your staff, your physical location, and your marketing material.
Positioning Strategy 4 – Self-Appointment.
When we are kids, our parents “appoint us” old enough to stay home alone or old enough to babysit our younger brothers or sisters.
At work, employers or supervisors “promote us” as qualified to do a certain thing or handle a certain responsibility.
This conditioning is not particularly useful when you step into the world of owning your own business.
Please understand that you do not need anybody’s permission to be successful. If you wait for someone to grant you the permission to be successful, you will wait a long, long time.
Business success just is not conferred upon you.
Power and influence is not granted – it is taken.
Expert positioning is all about self-appointment, self-promotion, and self-aggrandizement. Make this note: you become a promotable expert by decision, acquisition, and organization of information, pronouncement, and promotion. Not by anointment by some authority on high.
How do you do this? Write books, give teleseminars, build lists of customers interested in your product or service.
Your positioning decision is the difference between a six-figure income and a seven-figure income based on investor partnering potential, with many clients, as this is the income-multiplying power of positioning.
In positioning yourself and your business for success, you have to clearly determine who you are, then drive that message home to your marketplace. It is also important to make the right decision as the marketplace will usually accept the positioning you chose for yourself, and present to others, as you really are in control of the positioning.
Many high profile business leaders, including the Oracle of Omaha, suggest that if you don’t focus on positioning yourself as an online entrepreneur, being self-employed, or being a small business owner, it will be a very tough road in the months and years ahead; actually they say, it will be an uphill battle.
This suggestion is attracting current and former doctors, CEOs, and other members of the corporate workforce that are seeking a way to leave their established and lucrative careers. They are in pursuit of new opportunities in the world of Social Media and Internet Marketing so they can generate income, prestige, independence, and financial rewards that exceed the levels obtained by most in their previous careers.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
A great book to read is "No B.S. Business Success in the New Economy" by Dan S Kennedy as it was the source of some of the material contained in this post.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, and learn how to be savvy with your money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
Finally, I would like to provide Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season and a Prosperous New Year!
Be sure to share this post with anyone that you think would benefit from this message… thanks!
Monday, October 31, 2011
The Key Tools of Marketing and the Weapons of Influence
Before you can have your ultimate, fine-tuned business, you must turbo-charge every aspect. Use the 7 Key Tools of Marketing and the 6 Weapons of Influence to get peak performance out of your business.
This post will identify and briefly explain each of the 7 Key Tools of Marketing. It is important to understand that once the mechanics of setting up and operating these 7 Key Tools is performed, it is the message that will influence the reader to take the action you want them to take. There are 6 Key Weapons of Influence and this post will briefly introduce them. It is the combination of the mechanics of marketing, or the 7 Key Tools of Marketing, and the message principles, or the Weapons of Influence, that enable your business to be successful!
Here are the 7 Key Tools of Marketing.
Tool 1. Advertising. If you have the budget for it, advertising has the broadest reach and creates the most top-of-mind awareness. Here is what you must do to create high response-generating advertising. Be distinctive. Capture attention with a screaming headline. After your headline hooks them, the copy or the message in the body of your ad has to keep them reading. Be sure to include a Call to Action.
Tool 2. Direct Mail. A successful direct mail campaign depends on how regular and consistent your mailings are. First, use color as much as you can. Second, put messages on the envelopes. Third, think about the way you sort your own mail to increase the chances of the envelope being opened. In conclusion, use direct mail as a weapon for attacking your dream prospects.
Tool 3. Corporate Literature. Consider corporate literature to be like your direct mail pieces. Your brochures must draw from your education-based marketing efforts and should be a miniature version of your pitch or core story. It must have riveting data however remember that facts tell but stories sell. Use the same graphics that you use in your presentations, advertisements, and direct mail pieces to enhance cohesion of your marketing efforts.
Tool 4. Public Relations. If you throw splashy events such as trade show parties and benefits for your clients, you are doing PR work. PR also includes press releases, building relationships with the press to get articles written about you, and affiliating with strong forces that can help you such as trade associations and community groups. Most companies do not have a cohesive, highly effective public relations effort, yet it can work miracles for building your fame, even if you are a small company, especially with the reach and pervasiveness of the Internet.
Tool 5. Personal Contact. Personal contact is the most potent form of marketing so do it often and have quality conversations with your prospects.
Tool 6. Trade Shows and Market Education. Trade shows are a great way to provide product and market related information to your prospects. When done properly, it can take you from obscurity to the top of the market in a single event. If not done properly, it can be a big waste of money. Follow these three rules to have a great trade show. 1. Get noticed. 2. Drive traffic. 3. Capture leads.
Tool 7. Internet. The Internet can create an awesome opportunity for your business or it can become your worst nightmare overnight if some competitor learns how to utilize it better than you. As an example, Amazon struggled in its early years but it still took $1B in market share from other booksellers. Because Amazon grew with the Internet, it reached the $1B in sales in four years. Prior to the Internet, other bookstore chains took 50 years to reach $1B in sales. Here are the five key activities to perform on the Internet. 1. Capture leads. 2. Build a relationship. 3. Interact as much as possible. 4. Offer a webinar. 5. Convert traffic to sales.
It is important for all these key tools of marketing to work together. Your content and your message should be, of course, consistent and all the duplicated, or syndicated, content be cross-referenced in some manner.
Here are some important questions to ask as a way to ensure the key tools of marketing are effective. Are all your articles on your website? Are they available as downloads? Are they available to site visitors so they can be shared and or mailed to others by your site visitors? Does your content generate leads for your business? Do you offer free education as a way of building your leads list?
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, it is important that the weapons of influence (contained in your content, your pitch, your storyboard) are used to get your prospects to take the action you want them to take.
To help you understand the power of the weapons of influence, do you feel as if you are an easy mark for the pitches of peddlers or fund-raisers? Do you find yourself in possession of unwanted magazine subscriptions or tickets to various charity events? Why is it that a request stated in a certain way, is rejected while a request asking for the same favor in a slightly different way will be successful? The key is the psychology of persuasion, sometimes referred to as the weapons of influence.
Here are the 6 Weapons of Influence that need to be considered when preparing your message.
Weapon 1. Reciprocity. This rule is the old give and take and says that we should try to repay in kind what another person has provided us.
Weapon 2. Commitment and Consistency. Like other weapons of influence, this rule is quite simply our desire to be, and to appear to be, consistent with what we have already done. As an example, if we buy a small item, we are frequently asked if we would like to supersize it, or buy another item for 50% (as an example) more; all presented to us at the same time. This is part of the up-sell process.
Weapon 3. Social Proof. This rule states that we determine what is correct when we find out what other people think is correct. Said another way, we think we will make fewer mistakes by acting in accord with social evidence than contrary to it. This is why testimonials are so popular for a product; they make us think that if all the people in the testimonials like or are using the product, how could we be wrong for also using it.
Weapon 4. Liking. This rule is based on the fact the most of us would prefer to say yes to the requests of someone we know and like. As trivial as it may seem, prospects are more likely to purchase from a sales person if the sales person were similar to the prospect in terms of age, sex, religion, politics, and several other factors such as recreation, and even career, activities.
Weapon 5. Authority. We are trained from birth that obedience to proper authority is right and that disobedience is wrong. This message is carried forward in the legal, medical, military, and political systems we encounter as adults. Advertisers frequently harness the respect and influence accorded to doctors in our culture by hiring actors to play the role of a doctor and speak in a positive way about a product. The message from the doctor, an authority figure, can sway or influence prospects to purchase the product.
Weapon 6. Scarcity. The appeal for something of interest increases when we learn that it will soon become unavailable. This is based on the rule of scarcity. There is a secondary source of power, or influence, with the scarcity principle. As opportunities become less available, we lose freedoms and we hate to lose freedoms we already have. Whenever free choice is limited, due to the scarcity of something, the need to retain our freedom makes us desire them significantly more than we did previously.
By understanding and using these weapons, you have the ability to produce a distinct kind of automatic, mindless compliance from people that have a willingness to say yes without thinking first.
With the ever-accelerating pace and information crush of modern life, this form of hypnotic writing that generates unthinking compliance will be more and more prevalent in the future.
As a result, it will be important to understand the how and why of automatic persuasion using the weapons of influence.
The 7 Key Tools of Marketing and the 6 Weapons of Influence are being used by The New Professionals as a driving force for their success with their home-based businesses. As The New Professionals are becoming The Next Millionaires, this makes a home-based business opportunity very appealing for many seeking a career change.
Many high profile business leaders, including the Oracle of Omaha, suggest that if you don’t focus on being an online entrepreneur, being self-employed, or being a small business owner, it will be a very tough road in the months and years ahead; actually they say, it will be an uphill battle.
This suggestion is attracting current and former doctors, CEOs, and other members of the corporate workforce that are seeking a way to leave their established and lucrative careers. They are in pursuit of new opportunities in the world of Social Media and Internet Marketing so they can generate income, prestige, independence, and financial rewards that exceed the levels obtained by most in their previous careers.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
Finally, a great book to read is "Influence" by Robert B Cialdini as it explains The Psychology of Persuasion.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about Being No 1 on Google, and learn how to Be Savvy with Your Money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
Be sure to share this post with anyone that you think would benefit from this message… thanks!
This post will identify and briefly explain each of the 7 Key Tools of Marketing. It is important to understand that once the mechanics of setting up and operating these 7 Key Tools is performed, it is the message that will influence the reader to take the action you want them to take. There are 6 Key Weapons of Influence and this post will briefly introduce them. It is the combination of the mechanics of marketing, or the 7 Key Tools of Marketing, and the message principles, or the Weapons of Influence, that enable your business to be successful!
Here are the 7 Key Tools of Marketing.
Tool 1. Advertising. If you have the budget for it, advertising has the broadest reach and creates the most top-of-mind awareness. Here is what you must do to create high response-generating advertising. Be distinctive. Capture attention with a screaming headline. After your headline hooks them, the copy or the message in the body of your ad has to keep them reading. Be sure to include a Call to Action.
Tool 2. Direct Mail. A successful direct mail campaign depends on how regular and consistent your mailings are. First, use color as much as you can. Second, put messages on the envelopes. Third, think about the way you sort your own mail to increase the chances of the envelope being opened. In conclusion, use direct mail as a weapon for attacking your dream prospects.
Tool 3. Corporate Literature. Consider corporate literature to be like your direct mail pieces. Your brochures must draw from your education-based marketing efforts and should be a miniature version of your pitch or core story. It must have riveting data however remember that facts tell but stories sell. Use the same graphics that you use in your presentations, advertisements, and direct mail pieces to enhance cohesion of your marketing efforts.
Tool 4. Public Relations. If you throw splashy events such as trade show parties and benefits for your clients, you are doing PR work. PR also includes press releases, building relationships with the press to get articles written about you, and affiliating with strong forces that can help you such as trade associations and community groups. Most companies do not have a cohesive, highly effective public relations effort, yet it can work miracles for building your fame, even if you are a small company, especially with the reach and pervasiveness of the Internet.
Tool 5. Personal Contact. Personal contact is the most potent form of marketing so do it often and have quality conversations with your prospects.
Tool 6. Trade Shows and Market Education. Trade shows are a great way to provide product and market related information to your prospects. When done properly, it can take you from obscurity to the top of the market in a single event. If not done properly, it can be a big waste of money. Follow these three rules to have a great trade show. 1. Get noticed. 2. Drive traffic. 3. Capture leads.
Tool 7. Internet. The Internet can create an awesome opportunity for your business or it can become your worst nightmare overnight if some competitor learns how to utilize it better than you. As an example, Amazon struggled in its early years but it still took $1B in market share from other booksellers. Because Amazon grew with the Internet, it reached the $1B in sales in four years. Prior to the Internet, other bookstore chains took 50 years to reach $1B in sales. Here are the five key activities to perform on the Internet. 1. Capture leads. 2. Build a relationship. 3. Interact as much as possible. 4. Offer a webinar. 5. Convert traffic to sales.
It is important for all these key tools of marketing to work together. Your content and your message should be, of course, consistent and all the duplicated, or syndicated, content be cross-referenced in some manner.
Here are some important questions to ask as a way to ensure the key tools of marketing are effective. Are all your articles on your website? Are they available as downloads? Are they available to site visitors so they can be shared and or mailed to others by your site visitors? Does your content generate leads for your business? Do you offer free education as a way of building your leads list?
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, it is important that the weapons of influence (contained in your content, your pitch, your storyboard) are used to get your prospects to take the action you want them to take.
To help you understand the power of the weapons of influence, do you feel as if you are an easy mark for the pitches of peddlers or fund-raisers? Do you find yourself in possession of unwanted magazine subscriptions or tickets to various charity events? Why is it that a request stated in a certain way, is rejected while a request asking for the same favor in a slightly different way will be successful? The key is the psychology of persuasion, sometimes referred to as the weapons of influence.
Here are the 6 Weapons of Influence that need to be considered when preparing your message.
Weapon 1. Reciprocity. This rule is the old give and take and says that we should try to repay in kind what another person has provided us.
Weapon 2. Commitment and Consistency. Like other weapons of influence, this rule is quite simply our desire to be, and to appear to be, consistent with what we have already done. As an example, if we buy a small item, we are frequently asked if we would like to supersize it, or buy another item for 50% (as an example) more; all presented to us at the same time. This is part of the up-sell process.
Weapon 3. Social Proof. This rule states that we determine what is correct when we find out what other people think is correct. Said another way, we think we will make fewer mistakes by acting in accord with social evidence than contrary to it. This is why testimonials are so popular for a product; they make us think that if all the people in the testimonials like or are using the product, how could we be wrong for also using it.
Weapon 4. Liking. This rule is based on the fact the most of us would prefer to say yes to the requests of someone we know and like. As trivial as it may seem, prospects are more likely to purchase from a sales person if the sales person were similar to the prospect in terms of age, sex, religion, politics, and several other factors such as recreation, and even career, activities.
Weapon 5. Authority. We are trained from birth that obedience to proper authority is right and that disobedience is wrong. This message is carried forward in the legal, medical, military, and political systems we encounter as adults. Advertisers frequently harness the respect and influence accorded to doctors in our culture by hiring actors to play the role of a doctor and speak in a positive way about a product. The message from the doctor, an authority figure, can sway or influence prospects to purchase the product.
Weapon 6. Scarcity. The appeal for something of interest increases when we learn that it will soon become unavailable. This is based on the rule of scarcity. There is a secondary source of power, or influence, with the scarcity principle. As opportunities become less available, we lose freedoms and we hate to lose freedoms we already have. Whenever free choice is limited, due to the scarcity of something, the need to retain our freedom makes us desire them significantly more than we did previously.
By understanding and using these weapons, you have the ability to produce a distinct kind of automatic, mindless compliance from people that have a willingness to say yes without thinking first.
With the ever-accelerating pace and information crush of modern life, this form of hypnotic writing that generates unthinking compliance will be more and more prevalent in the future.
As a result, it will be important to understand the how and why of automatic persuasion using the weapons of influence.
The 7 Key Tools of Marketing and the 6 Weapons of Influence are being used by The New Professionals as a driving force for their success with their home-based businesses. As The New Professionals are becoming The Next Millionaires, this makes a home-based business opportunity very appealing for many seeking a career change.
Many high profile business leaders, including the Oracle of Omaha, suggest that if you don’t focus on being an online entrepreneur, being self-employed, or being a small business owner, it will be a very tough road in the months and years ahead; actually they say, it will be an uphill battle.
This suggestion is attracting current and former doctors, CEOs, and other members of the corporate workforce that are seeking a way to leave their established and lucrative careers. They are in pursuit of new opportunities in the world of Social Media and Internet Marketing so they can generate income, prestige, independence, and financial rewards that exceed the levels obtained by most in their previous careers.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
Finally, a great book to read is "Influence" by Robert B Cialdini as it explains The Psychology of Persuasion.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about Being No 1 on Google, and learn how to Be Savvy with Your Money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
Be sure to share this post with anyone that you think would benefit from this message… thanks!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Finding Balance with Career Changes
What would it be like to quit your job and start over in a more appealing career?
If you are an older worker, youi may think that a major career change would require overcoming too many obstacles to be worthwhile like age discrimination, new technology, or a salary cut.
However the real obstacles to a midlife career change may reside in your own mind.
Here are several myths surrounding a midlife career change and these keep people from pursuing their dream job.
Myth 1. I am too old to make a career change. Without changing your perception of your capabilities, you will never make a successful career change. Unfortunately, while younger workers are often expected to explore different career paths, older workers are not encouraged to do so. And if you have progressed up the corporate ladder to an enviable position, friends and family may be shocked you would consider leaving success for uncharted waters. With this much pressure to stay put, it can be easy to allow your dream job to remain only a dream. Some serious soul-searching is needed to understand how and why you want your career to change, so you will have the conviction to stand up to others.
You can have access to one of the most powerful tools for self-improvement and goal attainment, so necessary in making a career change, by learning the techniques of Psycho-Cybernetics. In the book “The New Psycho-Cybernetics” Dan Kennedy updates the work of Maxwell Maltz. Kennedy explains that by using the techniques covered in this book, you will be able to improve your self-image and overcome limiting beliefs especially the myth that you are too old to make a career change.
Myth 2. If I make a career change, I will be starting at the bottom. Even though you may be new at a company, you are not the newbie you were when you entered the workforce. You have gained an impressive array of skills, plus you have professional wisdom and perspective acquired only through time. The key to bypassing entry-level status is to market these assets in your next interview.
Your life story and experience have greater importance and market value than you probably ever dreamed. The best way to make a difference in this world is to use your knowledge and advice to help others succeed. You can get paid, and bypass the entry-level status, by sharing your advice and how-to-information.
Myth 3. This old dog can’t learn new tricks. Says who? Of course there will be a learning curve to any new career you try. But isn’t having a new professional challenge part of why you seek this change? The goal is to find your innate strengths and interests.
Said another way is that once you know Why you want to do something, you will figure out How to do something… it is just natures way. Why is the reason we get out of bed in the morning. If you spring out of bed, you have a Why that is real, defined, and you believe in. If you have difficulty getting out of bed in the morning, then you need to find your Why. Simon Sinek provides examples in his book “Start with Why”. The Wright Brothers had a Why that was to develop a technology that would change the world. Steve Jobs of Apple had a Why which was to create value by disrupting the status quo in certain industries. Henry Ford wanted to provide a means of transportation for the common man not just to provide a faster horse. The power of learning something new comes from that part of our brain called the limbric brain and this power is astounding. It can influence us to do things that seem illogical or irrational. Without this power there would be no small businesses; there would be no exploration; there would be very little innovation; and there would be no great leaders to inspire all these things.
If these myths are stopping you from pursuing a career change in your midlife, expand your thinking about your capabilities instead of focusing on what you see holding you back. Also, consider that accepting these myths is easier than taking a risk. If you were to read the book “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek, it would fan the flames inside you, lead you to levels of excellence you never considered attainable, and debunk the myths surrounding a midlife career change.
If you are ready to take the professional plunge into a new career then you should “Go for it” with these words of caution.
Keep your expectations realistic. If you have been fantasizing that your dream job will be the antidote to your personal and professional troubles, you may be glorifying what a new career can really do. Research the economic outlook and job duties for your new career.
Give it time. Deciding to venture into a new career can mean changes in your work environment, coworkers, income, and how you view yourself. Even if your new position is something you have always wanted to do, all these changes can be a shock. Before calling it quits, allow enough time to let the dust settle and adjust to your new profession.
Know yourself. You have a history of professional and personal experience to draw from when determining your natural strengths. Think about what you truly enjoy, what you do well, and what you are proud of. Is there a underlying theme?
Another opportunity being considered by many seeking a career change is a home-based business opportunity. A home business can offer people a way to update their skills and use new tools to create new income opportunities. It can empower seasoned workers, seeking to a make a career change, to venture out on their own as entrepreneurs and grow in confidence, versus being consumed by the fear associated with a shrinking job market.
Technology is available to everyone at home and it is even better than what you can get in a large company. The best tools and support needed to run a home-based business are now available to individuals at an affordable cost. This makes a home-based business opportunity very appealing.
Many high profile business leaders, including the Oracle of Omaha, suggest that if you don’t focus on being an online entrepreneur, being self-employed, or being a small business owner, it will be a very tough road in the months and years ahead; actually they say, it will be an uphill battle.
This suggestion is attracting current and former doctors, CEOs, and other members of the corporate workforce that are seeking a way to leave their established and lucrative careers. They are in pursuit of new opportunities in the world of Social Media and Internet Marketing so they can generate income, prestige, independence, and financial rewards that exceed the levels obtained by most in their previous careers.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
Finally, a great book to read is "Linchpin" by Seth Godin as it explains to each of us how we can make an indispensable contribution to something we care about.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, and learn how to be savvy with your money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
Please share this post with anyone that you think would benefit from this message!
If you are an older worker, youi may think that a major career change would require overcoming too many obstacles to be worthwhile like age discrimination, new technology, or a salary cut.
However the real obstacles to a midlife career change may reside in your own mind.
Here are several myths surrounding a midlife career change and these keep people from pursuing their dream job.
Myth 1. I am too old to make a career change. Without changing your perception of your capabilities, you will never make a successful career change. Unfortunately, while younger workers are often expected to explore different career paths, older workers are not encouraged to do so. And if you have progressed up the corporate ladder to an enviable position, friends and family may be shocked you would consider leaving success for uncharted waters. With this much pressure to stay put, it can be easy to allow your dream job to remain only a dream. Some serious soul-searching is needed to understand how and why you want your career to change, so you will have the conviction to stand up to others.
You can have access to one of the most powerful tools for self-improvement and goal attainment, so necessary in making a career change, by learning the techniques of Psycho-Cybernetics. In the book “The New Psycho-Cybernetics” Dan Kennedy updates the work of Maxwell Maltz. Kennedy explains that by using the techniques covered in this book, you will be able to improve your self-image and overcome limiting beliefs especially the myth that you are too old to make a career change.
Myth 2. If I make a career change, I will be starting at the bottom. Even though you may be new at a company, you are not the newbie you were when you entered the workforce. You have gained an impressive array of skills, plus you have professional wisdom and perspective acquired only through time. The key to bypassing entry-level status is to market these assets in your next interview.
Your life story and experience have greater importance and market value than you probably ever dreamed. The best way to make a difference in this world is to use your knowledge and advice to help others succeed. You can get paid, and bypass the entry-level status, by sharing your advice and how-to-information.
Myth 3. This old dog can’t learn new tricks. Says who? Of course there will be a learning curve to any new career you try. But isn’t having a new professional challenge part of why you seek this change? The goal is to find your innate strengths and interests.
Said another way is that once you know Why you want to do something, you will figure out How to do something… it is just natures way. Why is the reason we get out of bed in the morning. If you spring out of bed, you have a Why that is real, defined, and you believe in. If you have difficulty getting out of bed in the morning, then you need to find your Why. Simon Sinek provides examples in his book “Start with Why”. The Wright Brothers had a Why that was to develop a technology that would change the world. Steve Jobs of Apple had a Why which was to create value by disrupting the status quo in certain industries. Henry Ford wanted to provide a means of transportation for the common man not just to provide a faster horse. The power of learning something new comes from that part of our brain called the limbric brain and this power is astounding. It can influence us to do things that seem illogical or irrational. Without this power there would be no small businesses; there would be no exploration; there would be very little innovation; and there would be no great leaders to inspire all these things.
If these myths are stopping you from pursuing a career change in your midlife, expand your thinking about your capabilities instead of focusing on what you see holding you back. Also, consider that accepting these myths is easier than taking a risk. If you were to read the book “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek, it would fan the flames inside you, lead you to levels of excellence you never considered attainable, and debunk the myths surrounding a midlife career change.
If you are ready to take the professional plunge into a new career then you should “Go for it” with these words of caution.
Keep your expectations realistic. If you have been fantasizing that your dream job will be the antidote to your personal and professional troubles, you may be glorifying what a new career can really do. Research the economic outlook and job duties for your new career.
Give it time. Deciding to venture into a new career can mean changes in your work environment, coworkers, income, and how you view yourself. Even if your new position is something you have always wanted to do, all these changes can be a shock. Before calling it quits, allow enough time to let the dust settle and adjust to your new profession.
Know yourself. You have a history of professional and personal experience to draw from when determining your natural strengths. Think about what you truly enjoy, what you do well, and what you are proud of. Is there a underlying theme?
Another opportunity being considered by many seeking a career change is a home-based business opportunity. A home business can offer people a way to update their skills and use new tools to create new income opportunities. It can empower seasoned workers, seeking to a make a career change, to venture out on their own as entrepreneurs and grow in confidence, versus being consumed by the fear associated with a shrinking job market.
Technology is available to everyone at home and it is even better than what you can get in a large company. The best tools and support needed to run a home-based business are now available to individuals at an affordable cost. This makes a home-based business opportunity very appealing.
Many high profile business leaders, including the Oracle of Omaha, suggest that if you don’t focus on being an online entrepreneur, being self-employed, or being a small business owner, it will be a very tough road in the months and years ahead; actually they say, it will be an uphill battle.
This suggestion is attracting current and former doctors, CEOs, and other members of the corporate workforce that are seeking a way to leave their established and lucrative careers. They are in pursuit of new opportunities in the world of Social Media and Internet Marketing so they can generate income, prestige, independence, and financial rewards that exceed the levels obtained by most in their previous careers.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
Finally, a great book to read is "Linchpin" by Seth Godin as it explains to each of us how we can make an indispensable contribution to something we care about.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, and learn how to be savvy with your money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
Please share this post with anyone that you think would benefit from this message!
Monday, August 29, 2011
The Law of Resources – An Idea Will Not Get Off the Ground Without Adequate Funding
If you have a good idea and you are reading this article with the thought in mind that all you need is a little marketing help, let me through cold water on that thought.
Even the best idea in the world will not go very far without the money to get it off the ground. Inventors, entrepreneurs, and assorted idea generators seem to think that all their good ideas need is professional marketing help.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Marketing is a game fought in the mind of the prospect. You need money to get into a mind. And you need money to stay in the mind once you get there.
You will get further with a mediocre idea and a million dollars than with a great idea alone.
Some entrepreneurs see advertising as the solution to the problem of getting into prospects’ minds. Advertising is expensive. It cost $9,000 a minute to fight World War II. It cost $22,000 a minute to fight the Vietnam War. A one-minute commercial shown during the Super Bowl in 2011 cost you $6 M for a one minute spot.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had a great idea. But it was Mike Markkula’s $91,000 that put Apple Computer on the map. For his money, Markkula got one-third of Apple.
Ideas without money are worthless. Well … not quite. But you have to use your idea to find the money not the marketing help. The marketing can come later.
Some entrepreneurs see publicity as a cheap way of getting into prospects’ minds. “Free advertising” is how they see it, so be sure to liberally create, upload, and distribute Free Press Releases.
Some entrepreneurs see venture capitalists as the solution to their money problems. But only a tiny percentage of entrepreneurs ever succeed in finding the funding they need this way.
Some entrepreneurs see corporate America as ready, willing, and financially able to get their off-spring off the ground. Good luck as you will need it. Very few outside ideas are ever accepted by large companies. Your only real hope is finding a smaller company and persuading it of the merits of your idea.
Remember, an idea without money is worthless. Be prepared to give away a lot for the funding.
In marketing the rich often get richer because they have the resources to drive their ideas into the mind. Their problem is separating the good ideas from the bad ones and avoiding spending money on too many products and too many programs.
Unlike a consumer product, a technical or business product has to raise less marketing money because the prospect list is shorter and media is less expensive. But there is still a need for adequate funding for a technical product to pay for brochures, sales, presentations, and trade shows as well as advertising.
Here is the bottom line. First get the idea, then go get the money to exploit it. Here are some short cuts you could take.
You can marry the money. Georgette Mosbacher married Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher. Three years after their marriage, Ms. Mosbacher bought a Swiss cosmetics firm. Where did she get the money? It came from venture capitalists; distributors in Switzerland and Japan; plus her husband’s resources. One year after her purchase, the sales were up 30% and she sold out at a heft profit.
You can divorce the money. Frances Lear arrived in New York at the age of 61 freshly divorced from her husband who produced the TV show “All in the Family.” Determined to launch a magazine for women over 40, she spent $25 million and by the fifth issue, Lear’s magazine had 350,000 readers.
You can find the money at home. Donald Trump would never have gotten anywhere with out Dad’s millions behind him.
You can share your idea by franchising it. Tom Monaghan was able to put Domino’s Pizza on the map by pursuing an aggressive program of franchising his home delivery idea.
The more successful marketers front load their investment. In other words, they take no profit for two or three years as they plow all earnings back into marketing.
It takes a while but many Internet Marketing entrepreneurs learn the Law of Resources. They learn to identify their target market with keyword research and keyword research tools as they know they can not guess what the market desires and it is difficult to benefit from their idea without resources. Money makes the marketing world go around. If you want to be successful today, you will have to find the money you need to spin those marketing wheels.
To accomplish this, they use various methods, tools, and follow a traffic formula to build relationships with their leads and customers. They build websites that create trust. They collect name and email addresses using an Optin form on a Landing Page. They use email systems with both auto-responders and broadcast capabilities in order to send messages to their leads and customers. These email messages frequently send information, provide knowledge, and occasionally promote an offering. Many Internet Marketing entrepreneurs learn that leads and customers do not like to be sold to however they will browse and shop. Over an extended period of time, skilled Internet Marketers are able to use hypnotic writing skills, in their marketing campaigns, to get leads and customers to take the action they want. This is how they learn to identify a target market, stay focused, and add value to their target market. They learn to leverage the equity in their list and be successful in the world that includes the Law of Resources.
It looks easy but marketing is not a game for amateurs. Marketing is not just a battle of products. It is all about the strategy you use to benefit from the Law of Resources as your idea will not get off the ground without adequate funding.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
Finally, a great book to read is "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" by Ries & Trout. It is the source of some of the material provided in this article.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, and learn how to be savvy with your money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
Even the best idea in the world will not go very far without the money to get it off the ground. Inventors, entrepreneurs, and assorted idea generators seem to think that all their good ideas need is professional marketing help.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Marketing is a game fought in the mind of the prospect. You need money to get into a mind. And you need money to stay in the mind once you get there.
You will get further with a mediocre idea and a million dollars than with a great idea alone.
Some entrepreneurs see advertising as the solution to the problem of getting into prospects’ minds. Advertising is expensive. It cost $9,000 a minute to fight World War II. It cost $22,000 a minute to fight the Vietnam War. A one-minute commercial shown during the Super Bowl in 2011 cost you $6 M for a one minute spot.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had a great idea. But it was Mike Markkula’s $91,000 that put Apple Computer on the map. For his money, Markkula got one-third of Apple.
Ideas without money are worthless. Well … not quite. But you have to use your idea to find the money not the marketing help. The marketing can come later.
Some entrepreneurs see publicity as a cheap way of getting into prospects’ minds. “Free advertising” is how they see it, so be sure to liberally create, upload, and distribute Free Press Releases.
Some entrepreneurs see venture capitalists as the solution to their money problems. But only a tiny percentage of entrepreneurs ever succeed in finding the funding they need this way.
Some entrepreneurs see corporate America as ready, willing, and financially able to get their off-spring off the ground. Good luck as you will need it. Very few outside ideas are ever accepted by large companies. Your only real hope is finding a smaller company and persuading it of the merits of your idea.
Remember, an idea without money is worthless. Be prepared to give away a lot for the funding.
In marketing the rich often get richer because they have the resources to drive their ideas into the mind. Their problem is separating the good ideas from the bad ones and avoiding spending money on too many products and too many programs.
Unlike a consumer product, a technical or business product has to raise less marketing money because the prospect list is shorter and media is less expensive. But there is still a need for adequate funding for a technical product to pay for brochures, sales, presentations, and trade shows as well as advertising.
Here is the bottom line. First get the idea, then go get the money to exploit it. Here are some short cuts you could take.
You can marry the money. Georgette Mosbacher married Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher. Three years after their marriage, Ms. Mosbacher bought a Swiss cosmetics firm. Where did she get the money? It came from venture capitalists; distributors in Switzerland and Japan; plus her husband’s resources. One year after her purchase, the sales were up 30% and she sold out at a heft profit.
You can divorce the money. Frances Lear arrived in New York at the age of 61 freshly divorced from her husband who produced the TV show “All in the Family.” Determined to launch a magazine for women over 40, she spent $25 million and by the fifth issue, Lear’s magazine had 350,000 readers.
You can find the money at home. Donald Trump would never have gotten anywhere with out Dad’s millions behind him.
You can share your idea by franchising it. Tom Monaghan was able to put Domino’s Pizza on the map by pursuing an aggressive program of franchising his home delivery idea.
The more successful marketers front load their investment. In other words, they take no profit for two or three years as they plow all earnings back into marketing.
It takes a while but many Internet Marketing entrepreneurs learn the Law of Resources. They learn to identify their target market with keyword research and keyword research tools as they know they can not guess what the market desires and it is difficult to benefit from their idea without resources. Money makes the marketing world go around. If you want to be successful today, you will have to find the money you need to spin those marketing wheels.
To accomplish this, they use various methods, tools, and follow a traffic formula to build relationships with their leads and customers. They build websites that create trust. They collect name and email addresses using an Optin form on a Landing Page. They use email systems with both auto-responders and broadcast capabilities in order to send messages to their leads and customers. These email messages frequently send information, provide knowledge, and occasionally promote an offering. Many Internet Marketing entrepreneurs learn that leads and customers do not like to be sold to however they will browse and shop. Over an extended period of time, skilled Internet Marketers are able to use hypnotic writing skills, in their marketing campaigns, to get leads and customers to take the action they want. This is how they learn to identify a target market, stay focused, and add value to their target market. They learn to leverage the equity in their list and be successful in the world that includes the Law of Resources.
It looks easy but marketing is not a game for amateurs. Marketing is not just a battle of products. It is all about the strategy you use to benefit from the Law of Resources as your idea will not get off the ground without adequate funding.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
Finally, a great book to read is "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" by Ries & Trout. It is the source of some of the material provided in this article.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, and learn how to be savvy with your money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
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