Marketing Tips video: Be Hungry and Follow Systems

Remind yourself that your competition is hungry. Are you hungry enough? If so, design and follow marketing systems to gain your unfair advantage. If someone must starve - let it be your competition.

Watch this video report from the streets of the Big City. Hear the brutal reality about your marketing.



George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Marketing Presentation video: How to Appear to be More Successful

We would rather deal with successful people and successful companies. How can you appear more successful - especially when you don't feel successful?

How can you feel more confident?

Enjoy this video clip from a live presentation of George Torok speaking to a group of business owners and representatives. The message is practical and the performance is engaging and entertaining.




George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing
Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Marketing Presentation video: Coke & the Power of Perception

What does Coke really sell? What is the real value that people get from buying Coke? How can you use that formula in your marketing?

Watch this video of a live presentation of George Torok speaking to a group of business owners and representatives.



George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

How to Promote Brand You - video interview

James Rick interviewing George Torok on the topic of promoting the brand that is you for the Full Potential show.

Enjoy this high energy and insightful 16 minute interview.

FP #174: How to Promote and Make Brand “YOU” Stand Out - George Torok with James Rick from James Rick on Vimeo.

Branding Summary 2011

Good time to review your branding strategy for 2012.

Check out these provocative articles about branding. Warning: You might find some of these ideas offensive - and that's what a good brand should do.



The Branding Fallacy


Your Branding might be killing your business

Beware of the branding zombies. They regurgitate meaningless mantras like "branding is good", "you need a brand" and "we can help you develop your brand." These creatures only want your life blood. Unfortunately these zombies don't look like the ones in Michael Jackson's Thriller video. They look like you and I. They call themselves branding consultants, marketing agencies or graphic designers. And they try to sell you snake oil remedies.

It's time for a branding wakeup call. This might hurt especially if you have recently succumbed to worship of the brand. Remember, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" in the movie The Wizard of OZ. I'm ripping back the curtain. You might not like what you see. But it might save your business. I'm urging you, "Pay attention to the man behind the curtain."
Read the rest of The Branding Fallacy




Five Steps to Build a Personal Brand Like Harry Houdini


Harry Houdini died in 1926 - more than 80 years ago. Yet he is still remembered as the greatest escape artist of all time. Even David Copperfield doesn't come close in terms of brand and name recognition. That is the power of personal branding. Build a solid personal brand and it catapults you to success. Build a really good personal brand and it survives your death. Will your brand survive 80 years after your death? More importantly, will your personal brand help you while you are alive?
Read the rest of Five Steps to Build a Personal Brand Like Harry Houdini




BRANDING : 7 Important Questions and the Straight Answers


Consider these important questions about branding and the brutally honest answers that could help you sell more and save you lots of money that is typically wasted on branding. If you sell yourself as a branding expert - you might not like these answers. These are frank answers that demystify branding.
Read the rest of BRANDING : 7 Important Questions and the Straight Answers




Branding Lessons from Genghis Khan, the Mongolian Marketer

What can a growing business learn about branding from Genghis Khan? He united and ruled Mongolia. Genghis is known as a strong ruler and conqueror. Some might call him cruel and vicious. But he is remembered as a strong, memorable and effective leader.
Genghis Khan provides powerful lessons for business on branding. Consider this branding challenge. Many countries, geographic regions and cultures are looking for creative ways to develop their tourism industry. How can developing countries develop their brand?
What can you do if you are Mongolia, a country that suffered almost 70 years of Soviet communism? (The Russians hated the Mongols.)
Play word association with the word "Mongolia" and you might reply with "Mongols" which would lead you to "Genghis Khan"; then you might run out of words. This is the challenge that Mongolia was facing.
Read the rest of Branding Lessons from Genghis Khan, the Mongolian Marketer




Is There a Brand in Your Stand?


Watch out for the branding gurus. Beware of the branding police who focus only on images of brand. Fire the branding consultants who feel qualified to tell you what your brand should be. Ignore the branding zealots who proclaim "brand or die".
Good, now that we have frightened off the undesirables let's address some fundamental questions about branding and offer you some probing questions to consider. That first paragraph demonstrates the three rules of creative positioning as explained below.
Should you have a brand?

Maybe. It depends on the goals of your business. You need to ask yourself some questions. Will the brand give you the return on your investment? Will you invest the resources to claim and sustain the brand?
Read the rest of Is There a Brand in Your Stand?


George Torok
Marketing Keynote Speaker
More Marketing Articles

Google Your Key Words and Phrases

Google is King of search 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.

At least once a year and perhaps every quarter you should Google all the words and phrases that might be important to your business.

For example those words might include:

Your name (person and business)
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 Search – but Google is also a servant King. Ask the right questions and it will answer. But you need to ask and listen.



George Torok

Marketing Expert

Marketing Speaker

Canadian Business Speaker

Sell to the Greedy – not the Needy

Business Lessons for New Entrepreneurs

I spoke to a business class at Mohawk College recently and gave them several lessons about marketing, business and life.

This point might have been unpleasant to hear.

Sell to the Greedy – not the Needy

That was the advice that I heard from my mentor and co-author, Peter Urs Bender. It might sound mean spirited at first. When you think about it you might see the wisdom. As a business owner you can save yourself a lot of grief if you follow that advice.

You will waste much time and money trying to convince the people who need your product to buy. The reality is those who need you the most are too stupid to buy. That’s why they are so needy. They are looking for a magic pill to cure all their problems.

I have talked to many business owners who need help with their marketing. I know that I can help them tremendously. But they can’t see the value and they only see hiring me as expenditure. They can’t see their marketing as an investment for which they can increase their return. They really need what I’m offering but aren’t willing to invest.

Instead the business owners who hire me are already leaders in their field. They’re looking for incremental improvements and they are willing to invest in that.

Sell to the greedy – those who want what you are selling. They recognize that they only need to gain a few inches or seconds to beat the competition and are willing to pay for that competitive advantage.

If you want to help the needy, make a good profit and donate generously to chairity.

Don’t waste your time and money trying to convince people that they should buy your product. Instead find the educated souls who already want it, appreciate the value and are willing to pay.

Your marketing then becomes a process of search, qualify and sell.


George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Canadian Business Speaker

The Purpose of Marketing is not to Build a Brand video

The purpose of marketing is to sell. Yet, when the marketing fails to product results some marketers claim that is was good branding. Who cares?

If you are small business you should not be wasting your money on branding. Instead you are better off investing your marketing in building more profitable relationships. You are not Coke or Nike. You are "insert your name here".







George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Canadian Business Speaker

Marketing is an Imperfect Science

Marketing is not art. It is a science. However it is a behavioral science and therefore an imperfect science. Anything dealing with human behavior is imperfect at best. Yet it is still a science. You can predict and measure cause and effects.

Marketing is not art and it is not magic.

In order to be an effective marketer you must understand people and how to influence their behaviors.

Marketing is about guessing that if we do this, people will do that. The guessing part is important. The significant part is guessing how many people will do that.

What do you do? Predict – test – measure and adjust.


George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Motivational Business Speaker

Year End and New Year Marketing

The Past Year

This is the time to review your past year of marketing.

What worked well and why? Can you do that again?

How can you connect with your market one last time this year to remind them of the good times?


The New Year

Plan your calendar of promotions for this new year.

What ideas from the past year will you use again?

What missed opportunities will you pursue this year?

Write your marketing plan now because time will fly again.


George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Power Marketing

Is There a Brand in Your Stand?

Watch out for the branding gurus. Beware of the branding police who focus only on images of brand. Fire the branding consultants who feel qualified to tell you what your brand should be. Ignore the branding zealots who proclaim “brand or die”.

Good, now that we have frightened off the undesirables let’s address some fundamental questions about branding and offer you some probing questions to consider. That first paragraph demonstrates the three rules of creative positioning as explained below.

Should you have a brand?
Maybe. It depends on the goals of your business. You need to ask yourself some questions. Will the brand give you the return on your investment? Will you invest the resources to claim and sustain the brand?

What is a brand?
A brand is the emotional bond that your clients have with you. Ask your best clients how they would describe you to others. Look for the common message in what they say – especially the emotion. That might be your brand.

Brand is the feeling others experience when they think about you and your product.
Brand can help them think of you first – or better yet – only you. Brand can justify higher prices – or even better – make price a non-issue.

Not Branding
Branding is not about creative logos, pretty fonts and pantone colors. Fire anyone who attempts to sell you that pabulum. Those things are only images. Have you noticed that the successful brands change these images every few years?

Branding is a marketing strategy. It is only one of many marketing strategies from which you might choose.

Is branding an accident or on purpose?
Because branding is about creating emotional messages you are always branding. However, are you aware of your messages, are you consistent and are you effectively branding yourself?

You could create or claim your brand. Dominos Pizza created their brand – “Pizza in 30 minutes or its free”. They own that brand. It’s simple, memorable and unique. Some companies look for an opening and build their business to create that brand. Some companies discover their brand by accident. Feedback from clients, remarks from the media or a competitor’s comment reveals the brand that was hidden in plain sight. In that case it is up to you to claim the brand and run with it.

Avis claimed their brand by turning a disadvantage into their brand when they launched their marketing campaign with “Avis is only Number 2 in rent-a-cars, so why go with us? We try harder.” And with cheekiness they leverage further on their “disadvantage” by adding, “The lines at our counters are shorter.” That brand has been successful for over 40 years.

How do you create your brand?
There are two ways. Like Coke, Nike and MacDonald you could throw gazillions of dollars at it. Or you could use creative positioning. Look for the holes in the marketplace. Go to where your competition is not and claim that position. Take a stand like Harley Davidson, Buckley’s Cough Mixture and Nova Scotian Crystal.

Each of these companies claimed positions in the market the competition was unwilling to take. Folks either love or hate Harley Davidson. Buckley’s proudly claimed that “it tastes awful but it works” along with a money back guarantee. Nova Scotian Crystal is proudly the only Canadian crystal manufacturer and they offer an incredible one year breakage warranty. Drop your whisky glass and they will replace it; no questions asked.

You can read the interview with Rod McCulloch, President and CEO of Nova Scotian Crystal on my “Business in Motion” blog.

Each of these companies was willing to take a position that would drive some folks away while attracting a loyal crowd of fans.

The three principles of creative positioning are best explained by UK entrepreneur BJ Cunningham, who as CEO of The Enlightened Tobacco Company sold a cigarette called “Death Cigarettes”. It was presented in a black package emblazoned with a white skull-and-crossbones logo. Just imagine how this might appeal to the rebels. Everyone except the tobacco companies knew that cigarette smoking was bad for your health. BJ did what none of the other tobacco companies were willing to do. He took a stand.

Cunningham’s three principles of creative positioning:
1. Take a polarized position.
2. Make enemies.
3. Create tension.

Branding starts with market review and self-examination. Standing alone can be scary, exhilarating and hugely profitable. It you are going to claim a powerful brand take a position away from the crowd. Stand where no one else is standing.
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© George Torok is co-author of the national bestseller, “Secrets of Power Marketing: Promote Brand You!” He helps entrepreneurs gain an unfair advantage over the competition. Get your free copy of “50 Power Marketing Ideas” at http://www.PowerMarketing.ca To arrange for a keynote speech or executive briefing visit http://www.Torok.com To arrange a media interview call 905-335-1997

Customer Service is Marketing Too

Your best marketing is good customer service.

Why? Because the purpose of your marketing is to get more clients buying more from you, more often.

You could have a wonderful advertising campaign that brings in eager prospects. But if your customer service is turning them off then all that advertising was wasted money.

How much did you spend on marketing and advertising last year? How much did you spend on customer service training? Customer service is the most important part of the marketing/sales chain. If customer service is your weakest link then you are hemorrhaging lost sales.

Customer service development and training must be an integral part of your marketing plan and action.

Customer service can be that distinguishing feature that attracts clients to your door. Or it could be the fly in the ointment that is secretly killing your business. Which is it?

When was the last time that you examined and invested in your customer service?


George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Marketing Page on Facebook

Marketing Definitions in the Raw

Marketing has become a cult. It is rife with mysterious terms, magic powder and self-anointed gurus.

Use this list of definitions to better understand the terminology and refute some of the ridiculous statements of the high priests.

Warning: some of these definitions might offend some people. The opinions expressed are those of the author.

Marketing
Marketing is about sending messages. Everything you do or don’t do sends a marketing message. The purpose of marketing is to help you sell more.

Permission Marketing
This term was made famous by Seth Godin. The opposite of permission marketing is interruption marketing – which according to Seth has been the standard marketing practice of the past century. Permission marketing simply means asking if your audience is interested before you speak.

Social Marketing
Social marketing (also called cause marketing) has been around for decades. It breaks down into two versions: business marketing that piggy backs on a social issue, and marketing to promote a social issue. Examples of the issues include the environment, equal rights, poverty, animal rights, community, children, health…

Network Marketing
Network marketing was the renaming of multi-level marketing made famous by Amway. What was once called multi-level marketing became network marketing. It has little to do with networking. And they keep changing the term to ward off the stigma that seems to quickly attach itself. It is probably called something else now.

Marketing Research
Marketing research is the high-priced label given to the task of finding out what people really want and what do about it. It means asking good questions, listening and taking accurate notes.

Marketing Guru
Someone who wrote a book or several articles about marketing and charges you a lot of money to tell you what to do with your marketing. If you invested enough time and thought, you would probably figure it out on your own.

Marketing Company
Often just an advertising agency. They used to proudly call themselves ad agencies. Maybe they want to feel and project more value with the marketing label. They still create and sell you ads. Some of them help you get media exposure. Those are usually called PR firms. (Public relations)

Viral Marketing
Cool name. Like a virus – it has a life of its own. It means marketing that others do for you. It means “other people talking about you.”

Guerilla Marketing
A term made famous by Jay Conrad Levinson. The idea is based on guerilla warfare – when a force that is inferior in size and resources can beat a vastly superior opponent with the use of creativity, flexibility and focus.

Monkey Marketing
If gorillas can market then why not monkeys? Some folks market like monkeys – just screeching, eating bananas and moving on when they get bored.

Amoeba Marketing
Strip away the nonsense and follow the simple basics. What could be simpler than an amoeba? More business owners need to simplify their marketing process.

Online Marketing
Any marketing that you do on the Internet.

Offline Marketing
Offline marketing is everything else. Do you remember before the Internet? The offline world is still around and very important.

Offside Marketing
Happens when the marketing department gets out of control and chases marketing awards instead of focusing on the business needs. Maybe this should be a firing offense. Just ask Donald Trump.

Marketing Department
In many corporations they are composed of graphic designers who create and/or buy ads.

Marketing Budget
Often a number you are too embarrassed to reveal. (Unless you are Coke or Nike)

Marketing Degree
It might just be a worthless piece of paper, unless you want to work in a corporate marketing department or a marketing company. (See above definitions) Also valuable to help you become a marketing professor – so you can teach the same useless textbook lies to others.

Learn those definitions and study for the exam.


© George Torok is the co-author of the bestselling, Secrets of Power Marketing. It is the first guide to personal marketing for the non-marketer. Get your free copy of “50 Power Marketing Ideas” at http://powermarketing.ca/ Arrange for a marketing speech, executive briefing or training program at http://www.torok.com/ For media interviews call 905-335-1997
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Marketing Definitions in the Raw

More Marketing Articles from George Torok

Marketing Tips on Twitter

Coke and the Power of Perception

Marketing lesson on the power of perception from a live presentation from George Torok to a group of buisness owners.

Enjoy this video.

George Torok is a marketing expert who speaks to conferences, conventions, corporate meetings and executive retreats.

This is a good message and a sample of his presentation style.

Learn more at www.Torok.com

Call 905-335-1995

Power Marketing Tip 30: Beware of Barketing

Power Marketing Tip 30:

Beware of Barketing

Check your marketing for signs of barketing. Does your competition say "Buy from us. We have the best service, best price, best quality, blah, blah, blah..."

Now compare your marketing. Are you echoing the same message? If you are sending the same message as your competition, then what your prospects hear is, "Woof, woof, woof, yap, yap, yap, bark, bark bark.".

What is Barketing?
Barketing is any form of marketing that looks and sounds like "me too" to your prospects. It feels to your market like you are competing for attention by shouting louder.
The best you might do is to confuse your prospects. Duracell and Energizer batteries did this to each other with their too similar TV ads.

A barking dog is probably not your friend. Maybe your customers conclude the same thing when you bark at them. Whether you are a big dog or a small dog barking is just plain annoying. People will ignore or shut out the noise.

Often that's what prospects do when you annoy them with your barketing. It's not their job to educate you so they just shut you out.

If your marketing is only appearing to send the same message as your competition you are only annoying your prospects with your noise.

An Alternative
When all the other dogs in the pound are barking, trying to bark louder will only get you noticed for the wrong things. When everyone else is barking you need to do something other than bark. Perhaps you should "meow".

For a good example of how to say "meow" watch the recent TV ads for Mac computers. The one with the two guys, "Hello I'm a Mac, Hello I'm a PC". These ads focus on the differences between the competition. They are bold, direct, and memorable.

Meow.

George Torok
Power Marketing

PS: Tell me how this marketing tip helps you.
PPS: Forward this tip to your associates.
PPPS: Thanks for your comments and feedback.

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Marketing Speakers in Iran: Karaj

Every marketer dreams of themself as the marketing hero. This was one of those moments. My face on a billboard. I was one of a few marketing experts that were speaking at a conference in Karaj city in Iran. While driving to the city of Karaj we were excited to see our photos on a highway billboard.

When we arrived at the conference centre in Karaj, we were greeted with the super star treatment - red carpet, photographers and videographers.

And after our presentations we were mobbed for autographs and photographs.

George Torok

Marketing Speaker

25 Ideas to Write Your Article

If you write articles to promote your business, (I think that you should), here are 25 ideas to help kickstart your brain.

Top 25 Article Topic Ideas
by Steve Shaw

Are you stumped for what to write about?

Don’t fret–We all are at some time or another.

No matter how long you’ve been writing there are always times when the creative well is just bone dry, and you need a little jump start.

Well, here it comes:

I’ve assembled 25 of my favourite and most effective article topic ideas and article topic idea stimulators. I hope these are helpful to you!

Let’s get started…

1) Use one of our free article writing templates (that’s actually several article topic ideas right there!)

2) Adapt content from your blog to create articles.

3) Write for newbies and more advanced readers–you can cover the same topic in two different articles geared towards groups with different knowledge levels.

4) Use customer frequently asked questions as the basis for an article.

Read the rest of this article at Creative Article Marketing blog
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George Torok
Marketing Speaker
Marketing Articles by George Torok

Secrets of Power Marketing - Book Review

Secrets of Power Marketing

Peter Urs Bender and George Torok

Reviewed by Kirsten Cowan

Another installment from public speaking whiz Peter Urs Bender, this time with the adept co-operation of speaker and educator George Torok. Expanding on the themes of Secrets of Power Presentations and Leadership From Within, this new release focuses on marketing your business. Secrets of Power Marketing seeks to apply the techniques and methods of the first two books in a practical way to the project of marketing ones business. The result is a lively book, with a streak of practicality that reveals itself in an impatience with hoity-toity notions of marketing that have little impact on the bottom line.

Of particular interest to HotLink readers is the comprehensive "Strategy Three" dealing with media relations. Included in this category is self-published media such as newsletters, and timely insights on getting the most out of the "New Media". Torok and Bender have a clear understanding of the effect a media spot, especially a media interview or article, can have on your marketing plan. As with all their strategies, advice is clear, no-nonsense and effective.

A great feature of Secrets of Power Marketing, which it shares with Bender's previous works, is the plethora of ideas it provides, lists of them, which can be tailored to your specific needs. Appendix A; "101 Power Marketing Ideas," is an army of catch-phrases, concepts, tags, lead-ins and inspirations, ready to leap into action at the reader's behest.

The characteristic charm and accessibility readers expect from Peter Urs Bender is here in droves, with pithy quotes, anecdotes illustrating key ideas and charts and tables depicting multi- layered concepts.

Secrets of Power Marketing is not for everyone. Its brashness may not suit the more cultivated type of business, and the forthrightness of its marketing style is definitely tailored to small or individually owned businesses. The graphics, always somewhat enigmatic in Bender's books, are truly mysterious in this attempt. Nonetheless, the boundless enthusiasm and obviously field-tested wisdom of Bender and Torok make Secrets of Power Marketing a worthwhile investment for any organization.

Reprinted from The Sources HotLink

http://www.hotlink.ca/

Order the book, Secrets of Power Marketing

Read an excerpt from the book, Secrets of Power Marketing

Read more book reviews of Secrets of Power Marketing

I'm in marketing - I'm not trying to sell you anything

"I'm in marketing - I'm not trying to sell you anything."

That's what he said. The conference presenter from a software company associated with the richest man in the world. What a stupid thing to say. Either he was purposely telling a lie or just terribly stupid.

Everyone is selling something and marketing folks often fool themselves into thinking that they are not selling anything.

What a stupid thought. Marketing only has one purpose - that is to help sell something.

And this marketing representative from Microsoft had the stupidity to claim that he was not selling anything. He was in marketing and according to him marketing had some nobler purpose.
He seemed to suggest that selling something was beneath marketing.

I won't tell you his name unless you are Bill Gates. Please don't punish this marketing fool - just educate him.

George Torok
Marketing Speaker
Marketing Expert

Secrets of Power Marketing Revealed

SECRETS OF POWER MARKETING REVEALED

As reported in The Sudbury Star by HAROLD CARMICHAEL


If the concept of power marketing is something you want to learn more about, the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce has a seminar coming up April 21 that will be of great interest.
George Torok, co-author of The Secrets of Power Marketing and a motivational speaker, will host a workshop and also give the keynote speech at a six-hour session set for April 21 at the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel.

The workshop will deal with subjects such as building media relations, influencing perceptions, and building, enhancing and marketing your credibility. The keynote speech will deal with things such as how to motivate and persuade others, generate more sales, and earn more money.
Tickets for the full seminar (8 a. m.-2 p. m.) are $120 for members and $170 for non-members. The cost to attend just the workshop is $90 for chamber members and $125 for nonmembers. To attend just the keynote speech, the cost will be $60 for chamber members and $90 for non-members.

Torok, who is based in Burlington, said the messages he will bring to Greater Sudbury have had some refining due to the current recession.

"The fundamentals don't change: there is a refining," he said. "There are more potholes in these times. These times are less forgiving."

On the Torok website ( www.torok.com),"Torokisms" that can be found include "Success comes from doing little things consistently well over time," "You can do anything you want in life. You just can't do everything," and "Do something at least once a year that scares you."

To order tickets, call 673- 7133, ext. 224.

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Sudbury Chamber of Commerce

The Sudbury Star

Marketing Speaker