You Won the Jackpot!

The phone rang and I answered. It was an automated call that said something like “You’ve won 260,000 reward points. Press “one” now if you want to learn more.”

I recently cashed-in points to get a coffee maker. While looking at the other items available I noticed that I could cash in my remaining 3400 points for a tablet computer, digital SLR camera or iPod Touch.

I couldn’t imagine what 260,000 points might offer. So I pressed “one”. I was intrigued and greedy.

The live person came on the line and said, “Can you confirm that you are over the age of 30?”

That seemed like a strange thing to say.

If you are calling about a program that I’m registered you know my age. You don’t need to ask. So that probably means you’re not calling about a program that I’m registered with.

Naturally I said, “If you have my information, why are you asking my age?”

There was a few seconds of silence, and then the line went dead. He hung up on me. He was trying to sell me something and got caught in his lie. So he bailed.

Most people are registered in a least one reward points program so this caller was trying to leverage that to his advantage.  The caller was also counting on the listener to assume that the reward points were one of the ones she was registered in. And yes, women tend to register for reward points more than men.

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 do you feel when the bank calls you?

How do you feel when the bank calls you?

I’ve learned that the bank and credit card company never calls to give good news. They usually call to sell insurance – even though the person states “This is a courtesy call.”

Sometimes they have bad news (account overdrawn, missed a payment or market collapse)  – but they don’t call me with that – they prefer to send a letter. It takes longer, they can charge more for the INTEREST and the letter was written by their lawyers.

Why did the Small Business Advisor call at 4:58PM on Friday to announce that she wanted to talk with me? Her voice message stated that she was leaving at 5:00pm and I should call her on Monday.

The reason I should call her is “She wants to talk to me.”

What does that mean?

Is there a problem or are you trying to sell me something?

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

Best Marketing Advice for Marketing on an Embarassing Budget

This list from Carol Roth includes 39 creative tips on how to market your business on an embarasslingly limited budget.

Number 32 on the list is from me (George Torok). It's the shortest tip on the list and perhaps the most practical and effective, (in my opinion - you decide).

32. Write the Magic Words

Hand write and send thank you notes to your clients, associates and the media. The other note to send is congratulations. This is unusual, personal and thus, memorable.

Some of the other tips that stand out are:

1. Karma Pays

Two words: help people. Be it via written content, through social media, at local networking events - whatever opportunity you have to help your target consumer base, take it - and put your all into it. People want to help good people. You'd be surprised how much "free" word of mouth you can get your business simply by showing you're the kind of person who helps others without any strings attached. It's certainly worked for me. Karma- it pays.

Thanks to: Rae Hoffman of Sugarrae.

5. On a Budget? Be Controversial!

When I say 'controversial' I mean say something unexpected to get people to talk. Take the government shut down. In a sea of "Democrats are wrong!" and "Republicans are wrong!" suddenly your message is, "Here's why the shutdown is great!". It instantly stands out and provokes discussion, passes on links, possible media queries and so on, all for free. Of course, make sure that you can back up your claims and that they match your business model. It's amazing marketing on a budget, and one I always use.

Thanks to: David Weber of Learn About Flow.

13. Tell a Story in Six Seconds

As a bootstrapping startup in the legal field, it has been both challenging and exciting to come up with scrappy marketing techniques. One of the best pieces of advice for marketing on a budget I've seen is using Vine for a Q & A session.

Gary Vaynerchuk said it best, "Time is our biggest asset. What Vine does, is it gives you a promise that this is only six seconds of your time."

Find a creative way to tell a story to your market in six seconds.

Thanks to: Janine Holsinger of NextChapter.

23. Videos Grab Attention

YouTube is the second most searched site on the internet. Create a promo-video yourself on the cheap by using MS Movie Maker or go to fiverr.com and get a video produced for only $5-$20 depending on length and quality.

The promo video can then be placed on your website. QR codes (done for free) can drive people to your video and you can use the video for social campaigns - then, get it transcribed and pdf'd, cut out the voice/music for a podcast. Leverage one video into multi-usable content.

Thanks to: Curtis Chappell of Quantum SEO Solutions.

If you like these and want to read more visit The Best Marketing Advice

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

Power Marketing Tip #60: Why settle for what you are worth?

Are you struggling to be paid what you are worth? Why settle for so little?

In my experience very few people are paid what they are worth. There seems to be a great number of people paid less than they're worth and many who're paid more than they're worth.

On which side of that dividing line would you rather be?

If you're like me you might prefer to be paid more than you're worth. How can you make this happen?

First, consider how we decide worth.

Consider these choices:

1. What is the worth of a hamburger at a family restaurant?
2. What is the worth of a steak dinner at that same restaurant?
3. What is the worth of the steak dinner at a fine dining restaurant?
4. What is the worth of eating the hamburger while chatting with Richard Branson?

Notice that there are two parts that can affect the worth. The core element is the food. By changing the food you can marginally change (increase or decrease) the worth.

The second element is the experience. By changing the experience you can dramatically change the worth.

The ratio of cost to worth is proportionally highly for the core element versus the experience. This means that you'll realize a much better return on your investment by improving the experience.

The lesson is that if you only focus on improving the core element of your product or service then it will be difficult for you to receive more than you're worth. If you want to dramatically increase your price, then make changes in the experience.

If you are in a competitive market and find that prospects and clients view your offering as a commodity you'll feel pressured to compete on price and likely receive less than you're worth.

When faced with a competitive market, change how you deliver your core element to improve your worth in the perception of your clients.

If you want to get paid more than you're worth, focus less on what you sell and more on how you sell.

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

Is it the Truth? Can You Prove It?

Is it the Truth? Can You Prove It?

 

Seth Godin wrote the book, “All Marketer’s are Liars”. I believe that the title is meant to be tongue in cheek. Unfortunately too many marketers take that title literally and assume that they must lie to be an effective marketer.

The purpose of marketing is to build your business. One of the critical ways to do that is by building relationships, enhancing trust and making your prospects feel confident about buying from you.

Would a lie help you do any of those things?

No.

So why would some marketers lie?

Perhaps they believe that prospects will believe their lies. Perhaps they believe their best clients are stupid and won’t challenge the lies. Maybe they have a short term plan. Sell some bottles of “Doctor Good” then leave town the next day.

Do these liars subscribe to the mantra “There’s a sucker born every minute”?

 

The following marketing statements look like lies to me because they fail the test of “Is it true?” and “Can you prove it?”

“The most trusted and straight-forward contractor in the business”

 

Wow! Who decides on that designation? Did your friends decide on that honor while eating your steaks and sipping your wine at the cottage?

This contractor had a half page advertisement in the local newspaper that listed his activities. But none of them addressed the obvious question, “Who declared you The most trusted and straight forward contractor in the business” and what exactly does that mean?

If your mother called you that – then state the source of the label. That might be funny.

Naturally, the word that trips my BS meter is the word “most”.

 

“Canada’s Leading Provider of Financial and Estate Planning Advice”

 

How does a company become the leading provider of the country? Are they the biggest? Not in this case because this is a relatively small local provider. How are they leading and who granted them that epithet? The next question might be, “Where are they leading people?” Are they leading in revenue or are they leading in losing money?”

The phrase that trips my BS meter in this case is “Canada’s Leading”.

I contacted this company and asked them to explain that label but didn’t receive a reply. I also had to request removal from their email list several times before their emails stopped. Curious, they appeared to be both liars and spammers.

 

Are these companies leading in bold-faced lies?

Are they leading in their own imaginary worlds?

Why do they feel the need to lie?

The lessons for you:

Absolutes are almost always a lie.
It’s a lie if it’s not the truth.
It’s a lie if it’s out of context.
It could be a lie if you can’t prove it.

 

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

Why can’t you do that?

 

Why can’t you do that?

 
The owner of a woman’s clothing store asked me, “What can we do to stand out from the competition?” She posed the question as if she were throwing down a challenge gauntlet.

She added that she had tried to think of something that would differentiate her store from others but had hit a dead end. “There’s nothing we can do.”

I looked at her and responded, “Hmm, let me think a moment.” Perhaps my pause was too long for her because she interjected, “See I told you, there’s nothing.” She actually looked pleased.

I then said, “Let me think out loud and play with this. My understanding is that shopping especially for clothes is different for women than it is for men. Men usually want to get in, buy what they came for and leave. Women treat shopping as an activity. They want to enjoy the experience. What could you do to enhance that experience? How about offering gourmet coffee?”

“Oh no, I can’t do that” she snapped.

“What do you mean you can’t? Perhaps what you really mean is, you won’t”

We discussed this a bit. Naturally her concern was about someone spilling coffee on a garment and possibly ruining it – or at the least creating cleaning charges and discounted merchandise.

Yes, those are real risks. The important question is, would the coffee service generate enough revenue to more that cover those associate costs? That would be easy to measure.

I don’t know if coffee was the right answer for her but it was curious to see how quickly she blocked my first suggestion. She wasn’t ready for change.

If you want to stand out then you need to do something that your competition won’t do. If you really want to differentiate yourself, start listing the common practices or rules of your industry. Then examine each for ways to break that rule or change the practice. Weigh the benefits against the risks. If you still can’t decide then flip a coin. What have you got to lose?

Every change carries a risk. If you want to change you must be willing to weigh and consider the risks, investment and return.

Also keep in mind that ignoring change or refusing to change also carries risks.

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

Something for everyone

Liar, liar pants on fire!

You don’t have something for everyone. Not even Amazon, Ebay and Kijiji combined have something for everyone.

Individually those websites cover a lot of ground and collectively they are vast in their scope. Yet they don’t have something for everyone. Avoid absolutes in your marketing messages.

This phrase has appeared in the listing for local Garage Sales. How could any one Garage Sale eclipse the offering of Amazon, Ebay and Kijiji?

Yet these amateur marketers seem to think that they’ll attract more visitors by exaggerating - by promising more - than they can deliver. These amateurs seem to think that marketing is about promising the big lie.

Perhaps the lie attracts people but how might those people feel when they arrive and find the seller is a liar? What will they think once they realize that they’ve been tricked? Will the negotiations be friendly?

We visited some Garage Sales this year. I noticed that many buying and selling decisions at the Garage Sales are made on whims. A small thing or feeling nudges the decision.

You might suggest that these Garage Sale operators are indeed amateurs. They don’t know any better. You might be right.

What about professional sellers and marketers? What’s their excuse? Have you noticed that some of them tell lies?

You don’t need to lie to sell. Marketing and selling isn’t a matter of deception. It’s about building trust.

What are you doing to build more trust with your prospects and clients? Test your promises against the truth. Not your truth – the real truth!

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