Marketing Blog Milestone: Post 200

Marketing Blog Milestone: Post 200

200 Posts on this blog!

Celebrate your milestones!

Your milestones are a reason to pat yourself on the back and it’s a reason to market.

This is Marketing Blog Post 200. That’s reason to celebrate – even if that means quietly sipping some fine brandy in my easy chair.

Two hundred of anything is worth celebrating. What milestones have you reached or are approaching? Do something to let folks know. Why? Because everyone loves a party and everyone wants to associate with winners.

If you were here since the beginning – thank you for your loyalty. And of course you read many insightful marketing ideas and tips.

If you joined us along the way then you might appreciate this list of high points of our marketing blog. Look back at the provocative and helpful marketing gems.


Post Alpha
January 1, 2006
A realization hit me. Blogs might be a good marketing thing. This was the start of my blogging. At last count I have at least five four active blogs. This from a guy who thought blogs were a waste of time.



Aspirin – relief from pain
April 13, 2006
We take aspirin or equivalent when it hurts. We seek a solution when the pain or threat of more pain is enough to move us to change. Have you noticed that the changes you make in your life are more often the result of pain than anything else?



Harry Houdini – the great brand
November 16, 2006
The first look at the power of branding – especially personal branding as demonstrated by Escape artist – Harry Houdini.



Travelodge Hotel Accuses you
January 28, 2007
One of several exposés of really bad customer service.



Over 100 Posts
February 23 2007
We failed to flag the 100th post so this post was the recognition of passing that milestone.



Flick Off: Powerful Viral Marketing
April 26, 2007
Out first embrace of controversial viral marketing by acknowledging the strengths of the controversial Flick Off campaign. This post led to posts about Mac’s convenience stores and their Bloody Zit and WTF Nun poster. Also had a few media interviews about this topic.



Richard Branson has Chahones
October 8, 2007
Our first nude photo on this blog. Might be the only one. It’s Richard Branson running through the surf covering his chahones. He's a great marketer. And yes he has billionare sized chahones.



George Torok

Power Marketing

Marketing Author and Expert

Marketing Speaker

Networking Guru Interview

Networking Guru Interview
Part One

I contacted Networking Guru, Michael Hughes, in Ottawa, Canada. I asked him a few questions about networking hoping to gain more insights about the dos and don'ts of networking. You might be interested in reading his answers. His response was so good that I divided this interview into three portions to make it easier to read and digest.


Enjoy part one of this interview with Networking Guru, Michael Hughes
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Networking Question
Why do so many smart people fail at networking?


Answer from Networking Guru, Michael Hughes

It’s an accepted fact that success, in business and in life, is directly related to the quality and diversity of the relationships we have, or acquire. Relationships, by their very nature, require trust, time and investment. Smart people know this, often intuitively. But we live in a world that mistakenly promotes instant gratification: instant soup, instant credit, instant results. It’s an almost-overwhelming message that, for the most part, goes against both the research of experts and the reality of life. Many professionals, even the smart ones, fall prey to this fallacy when it comes to networking.

The misguided mindset that simply showing up at an event, connecting with a few people and passing around business cards will cause the phone to ring or deliver instant results is one of the most common misconceptions about networking. When was the last time you did business with someone after a thirty-second to three-minute conversation? It just doesn’t happen. Yet invariably, sales and business professionals, event the smart ones, succumb to the premise that networking is a tell-and-sell “instant-results” activity.

Networking cannot, and will not, produce instant results. That is not its purpose, nor should it be the premise. Its primary purpose is to act as a powerful ignition point for a relationship. Its premise is to create a starting point, a foundation if you will, that can, and does, accelerate the relationship-building process.

The smartest (and most successful) people long ago realized this fact and have the ability to leverage the power and potential of a networking conversation, no matter how brief. They focus primarily on using these interactions to create a basis for future contact, taking responsibility for fostering on-going contact as they explore mutual value areas.

Accepting networking as a delayed-gratification activity is the first step to accelerating relationship-building and increasing results. But of course, as a smart person, you already knew this, right?


Michael Hughes Bio
Known as Canada’s Networking Guru, Michael J. Hughes specializes in helping business professionals increase sales, build their business or advance their career by utilizing networking as business strategy. Get more details on his programs and services by visiting http://www.networkingforresults.com/.

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That was only the first question. If you are interesting in improving your networking then watch for the next installments from this interview with networking guru, Michael Hughes.

George Torok

Order The Guide to Networking Success

Read How Networking Can Save Your Life

Radio Interviews - how to be guest expert

Radio Interviews - you as the guest expert

One simple way to build your brand, your credibility and reach is to be the guest expert featured in radio interviews. It is simple efficient and effective - if you know the techniques.

I love radio because of the simplicity compared to TV. I have been featured in dozens of radio interviews and as host of my own radio show, Business in Motion, I have interviewed over 400 business leaders.

So how do you get on radio and what tips should you know?

Here is a collection of helpful tips and articles from a company that specilializes in getting people like you on the radio. Read the tips if you want to try it yourself of call them to do it for you. The articles offer alot of useful information.

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Articles about Getting Featured on Radio Interviews

Bryan Farrish provides free articles about radio interview promotion (i.e., "radio publicity"), and they are available for reading and printing here:

1. Why Radio Interviews?

2. Which Radio Stations to Choose?

3. Picking the Proper Format, part 1 of 2

4. Picking the Proper Format, part 2 of 2

5. Best Topics for Radio

6. How to Practice for Radio Interviews

7. Paid Benefits of Free Interviews

8. Why Repeated Phone Calls Are Necessary

9. Why The Topic Does Not Matter

10. Why Smaller Stations Can Be Better

11. Dayparts

12. Investors, part 1

Click on any of the above to read that article or see the whole list here.

The above list is from

Bryan Farrish Radio Promotion

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George Torok

Host of Business in Motion

Business Speaker

Marketing Expert & Author

Online Tools for Working with Words

Online tools for working with words

The following is from an email that I received from Internet Marketing expert Perry Marshall.
If you are picking words for your webpages or writing marketing copy you can find these tools very helpful. Marketing is more about words than about logos and images.

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First, I always liked the idea of a thesaurus but when I'm actually trying to write something, somehow I don't find most of them the least bit helpful. But here's an online tool I just love:

http://visualthesaurus.com - Generates visual trees of related keywords, sort of like a mind map. You type in a term and rich word trees spring up. Then you can click on the next word and the next word and the tree continues to morph. I just sent the latest Renaissance Club newsletter to the printer and I think I used it six or seven times to find just the perfect word. There's a free demo and a yearly membership is a paltry $20. Give it a whirl.

Spy Intelligence: Sometimes it's quite useful to have an idea of what your competitors are doing on Pay Per Click, what keywords they're bidding on, what they're spending, stuff like that. Disclaimer: Neither of these tools provides a completely accurate picture but they're both very useful:

http://spyfoo.com/ - Gives you a list of major keywords your competition is bidding on, an estimate of their daily budget, data about their organic listings, average bid position, and how many competitors they have. Rather insightful.

http://www.googspy.com/ - A related technology, but presented in a different way. The keyword list it generates is incomplete but quite helpful.

http://www.lexfn.com/ - Type in a word and it gives you related terms and concepts.

http://buzz.yahoo.com/ - Following pop culture to see what's hot this week? This is a great place to do it, 'cuz the clicks always tell a story. I don't know that this is terribly useful for keyword research per se (unless you have a very deliberate strategy that plays on celebs & stuff like that) but it certainly gives you topic ideas that you can tie into newsletters, rants, etc.

The equivalent tool on Google is called Zeitgeist:
http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html

Google's Keyword Suggest - http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en - as you type a search term, Google suggests related words.

Have fun with this stuff.
Perry Marshall
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Here's a great tool for writing killer headlines - because headlines are the welcome mat for your website or marketing copy.
Headline Creator Pro


George Torok

Personal Marketing

Marketing Speaker for conferences and corporate meetings

Personal Marketing

Personal Marketing


What is personal marketing?
Personal marketing means making your marketing more personal – connecting better with people. Personal is about people.


Why should you include personal marketing in your marketing programs?
Connecting with people is the most powerful form of marketing that you can do. When you tap into the personal connection you have a loyal client.


What is the magic of personal marketing?
Personal marketing is about touching personal emotions.


Is there anything better than personal marketing?
I don’t think so. What chance could impersonal marketing have against personal marketing?


Give us examples of personal marketing strategies.
Personal marketing includes building relationships, building trust, and connecting people.


Give us examples of personal marketing techniques.
Know and use personal names. Say thank you. Say congratulations. Use personal testimonials. Talk directly to individuals not target groups.


What word is most important in personal marketing?
When writing marketing and sales copy the most personal word you should use is “you”. Talk directly to your readers or listeners not about them and certainly about yourself.


Give us an example of personal marketing.
Hillary Clinton shedding a tear - that was personal. That demonstrated that the message was personal – direct from her to the listener. You don’t need to shed a tear every time – but you need to make it personal. You need to connect with your listener.


George Torok

Personal Marketing Guide

Personal Marketing Coach

Google - King of Internet Marketing

Google - King of Internet Marketing

No question! Google is King of marketing on the Internet. If you want to be found you better be found in Google. That includes both pay for click and search engine optimization.

Start your year by Googling all the words and phrases that might be important to your business.

For example those words might include:

Your name
Your product names
The generic name for your product
The pain or problem that your product fixes
Your trade marks
Your slogan
Your competitors’ names
Your competitor’s product names
Your competitors’ trade marks
Misspellings of the above
Your industry + the word “expert”
Your industry + the name of your city or geographic area of business
The names of your best clients
The names of your key suppliers

Study the results and look for patterns, insights and opportunities.

Google is the King of Internet Marketing – but Google is also a servant King. Ask the right questions and it will answer. But first you got to ask and then listen.



George Torok

Marketing Expert

Personal Marketing

Marketing Speaker for Conferences

Google Marketing

Google Marketing

What does Google find for "Marketing" Today? You know it will change quickly and often. Here are the top five results on Google for “marketing” today. Visit the sites to learn why they rate so well.


http://www.marketingmag.ca/
Marketing Magazine
Offers a Canadian source of news and articles on marketing, advertising and media. www.marketingmag.ca/


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing
Marketing is a societal process that is needed to discern consumers' wants; focusing on a product/service to those wants, and to mould the consumers towards ...
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing


http://www.clicksor.com/
Promote your business with today's most effective online advertising technology, contextual advertising at a cost effective metric of CPC, PPC, CPM or CPV.www.clicksor.com/


http://www.bidvertiser.com/
Pay per click advertising - online advertising directly on sites of your choice, internet marketing solution for online advertisers. www.bidvertiser.com/


http://www.the-cma.org/
The voice for responsible information-based marketers, describes the association, its aims, member companies, news releases and a code of ethics, ...www.the-cma.org/


Power Marketing

Personal Marketing

Marketing Speaker

Liar, Liar - Pants on Fire

Liar, Liar - pants on fire.

Do you remember that old child's expression? Have you ever wanted to say that to a marketer that was clearly making false claims? More importantly is any part of your own marketing false and hence making you a liar? Correct it before people start pointing the finger at you and chant, "Liar, liar - pants on fire."

Kelley Robertson, sales trainer and author puts it nicely in his ezine. The tip below is reprinted from his "59 Second Sales Tip"

You can register for the "59 Second Sales Tip" at The Robertson Training Group.

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I received a voice mail the other day from someone who said they were interested in my training programs and products so naturally I returned the call quickly.

However, when I connected with this person, he immediately tried to sell me one of his products and expressed no interest in my services. His approach was simply a ruse to get me to return his call. As you can imagine, I was not impressed.

I know that connecting with decision-makers and getting phone calls returned is a huge sales challenge. However, misrepresenting yourself, your company, or the reason for your call is one of the worst approaches you can use. Not only is it misleading and dishonest, it wastes your prospect's time, and in today's hectic business world, time is a precious commodity.

Plus, it smacks of desperation. And let's face it, who wants to buy from someone who is that hungry and desperate to get a sale? Here's the bottom line. If a salesperson is willing to take this approach BEFORE they get the business, what else will they do once they have it? I trust that YOU don't have to resort to such tactics.
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The above is from Kelley Robertson's "59 Second Sales Tip"


George Torok

Personal Marketing

How much should you spend on your marketing?

How much should you spend on your marketing?

If you are setting your marketing budget you might be asking that question. The answer is "It depends". There is no magic number.

It depends on a few things – the competitiveness of your market, your position within the market and your place on your growth curve.

And it’s the wrong question. The better question is “How effective should your marketing be?” For example if you are getting a 5 to 1 return on your marketing then spending $1,000 would generate $5,000 of business. At that return, why not invest $10,000 to get $50,000 of business?

The reason we ask “How much should I spend on marketing?” is because it is easier to measure that number. Most of use don’t measure the effectiveness or return on marketing because it is more difficult. So we do what’s easy and not what’s best.

So to answer the question, “How much should you spend on marketing?” my response is, “How much did you spend last year?” and “How effective was it?” If you were happy with that return then do the same, (unless the market has changed). If you want more then either increase your spending or improve the effectiveness of your marketing – or both.

So if you want an easy answer – just pick a number, any number. It’s just like playing craps. Pick a number and pray for lady luck.

If you want to improve the profitability of your business – measure what’s important –your marketing effectiveness.


George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Personal Marketing

MBA Games 2008 DeGroote

MBA Games 2008 DeGroote

The MBA Games for 2008 was held last week at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

The MBA Games is an annual national competition for MBA students from Canadian business schools. It was started about 20 years ago by Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. The MBA Games challenges MBA students to compete on several levels – academically, athletically and on the basis of spirit. In addition they face the challenges of team work, performance pressure and social distraction.

My congratulations to all the participants in the MBA Games competition!

The Michael DeGroote, (MGD), school of business at McMaster University was the host for the 2008 MBA Games.

As a McMaster graduate I was delighted to participate in the MBA Games in three capacities.

1. I was a judge for the Marketing competition. (will talk more about this in lator posts)
2. I was a sponsor by donating 56 copies of my book, Secrets of Power Marketing to each of the participants in the Marketing Competition.
3. I was a keynote speaker for the closing ceremonies.

Invitation to 2008 MBA Games Participants
I invite the 2008 MBA Games participants to offer their comments on this blog about their experience. I extend a special invitation to the participants in the Marketing Case competition to comment about my book, Secrets of Power Marketing.


George Torok

Keynote Speaker

Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing

Graduate of McMaster University

Happy New Marketing Year

Happy New Marketing Year

Marketing Questions for the New Year.

2008 is a new year! How will you improve your marketing this year?

What marketing worked well last year? Should you continue with it?

What marketing bombed last year? Should you adjust it or drop it?

What marketing challenges will you face this year? How will you prepare for it?

What marketing opportunities are you neglecting? How will you discover them and exploit them?

2008 is a new year for marketing.

Happy new marketing year!


George Torok

Marketing Expert

Headline Writer

Networking Guide