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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Viral Marketing - It still gets me

I love watching viral messages take off.

I've just read about PostSecret

Seems a man decided to hand out a bunch of postcards, and have them mail back anonymously a secret they've been holding onto. Every Sunday, new posts are made to this blog showcasing some of the returned postcards.

This site has taken off, to where he's now receiving thousands of postcards. He's been on Good Morning America and CNN. All because of an interesting idea.

What ideas can you come up with that will shoot through the masses, and help your company go viral?

Lori

Just Do It

For a lot of people, it all comes down to taking action.

I'm guilty. I'm the type of person that creates a "to do" list a mile long. And it has easy things on it like:

write a book
create a new business
speak to 100 new groups

You know, things that are so do-able in one day!

That's the problem. The crazier your to-do list, the more it will never get done.

Instead, try things that make it easy for you to accomplish.

Write one letter.
Make one phone call.

When you actually take action, it gives you a great feeling. And then you want to take more action!

Lori

Monday, January 29, 2007

Book Recomendation

I read a great new book over the weekend.

For those of you that love the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, get Rich Woman by Kim Kiyosaki.

Rich Woman flows in a similar fashion to Rich Dad, but it breaks things down from a woman's perspective. Kim gets together with a group of college buddies, and has a 20 year reunion lunch to catch up with her other friends. Of course each friend is struggling in some fashion with money, yet Kim is financially free.

Kim spends time helping each friend see how they too can become financially free.

Though none of the concepts were brand new to me, I did like Kim's approach to presenting the material. And her chapter "Full Throttle!" really gave me an a-ha moment. I've reread that chapter several times, and it really helps me with my day to day goals.

If you are still struggling with getting your finances under control, this book is a great read to get you going in the right direction.

Also, check out Rich Woman.

Lori

Thursday, January 25, 2007

What is brilliant marketing?

I was reading an article today on the co-founder and CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, and found one of his quotes very insightful.

"Most people always try to fix the product, which is a good thing. But brilliant marketing is taking the product you have and figuring out the right positioning."

Isn't that where most of us get caught up in as business owners? When a customer, friend, or family member says, "you should make it do this", we listen. And we spend countless hours trying to get our product/service into a form that person likes.

The trouble is everyone has their own point of view. Ask 50 people a question, and you'll likely get 50 different answers.

To succeed - and to succeed HUGE - maybe we should stop listening to everyone else, trust what we've already accomplished, and move forward to find the people that like what we do.

After all, there's always going to be someone that doesn't like what we do.

Why listen to them?

Lori

Monday, January 22, 2007

When Do You Send

Now that you have a subscriber list, when do you mail to them?

This is really trial and error. The statistics say there really isn't much difference between open rates. So it's really up to you and your business.

I receive an email from a local restaurant on Friday mornings offering a coupon to be used either that night or on Saturday. This motivates people to take immediate action.

Consumer driven email may be better towards the end of the week as people are planning their weekend.

Business driven email may be better towards the beginning of the week when people have more energy.

But really, it's all about trial and error.

Lori

Thursday, January 18, 2007

If It's Dead, Leave It Alone

Have you ever created a product or service that no matter how hard you try, it just won't sell? What do you do?

If you had trouble selling it in traditional ways, don't offer it the same way online. If people weren't attracted to it in traditional selling, they won't buy it any easier online.

Instead, find ways to tweak what you have, and make it more sellable.

Lori

Monday, January 15, 2007

Promote the Relationship Before The Sale

People buy because they have a relationship with you.

Statistically we know that up to 99% of all people you are put in contact with won't buy from you immediately. They need time to think about it. They need time to process and compare.

In the traditional world, we called in window shopping. Maybe they would see your business every time they drove to the grocery store. Eventually they stopped and made a purchase.

Window shopping online is much harder because you're competing with billions of other sites. Instead of letting a person "walk on by", offer them something for free to entice them for a look around. Ezines are popular because you can offer something for nothing, and promote again and again.

Being comfortable to buy requires you to build a relationship. And the easiest way is an ezine.

Lori

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Ebook Reader

I love reading. Snuggling with a good book is a perfect way to end the day.

Can I do the same thing with an ebook reader?

I've never really considered it before. But I've been intrigued by Sony's ebook reader.

http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/pa/prs/index.html

Imagine being able to carry multiple books with you on a business trip. Or saving all of the best books that you want to keep for future reference. The intrigue is there. This is on my list for this year.

Lori

P.S. If you have an ebook reader, let me know what you think. I would love your input.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Read more in 2007

One of my great loves is reading. At any given moment, I usually have several magazines and books started around my home and office.

I find books to read through many different sources. I read the best seller lists of several newspapers and websites. And of course by spending time at my local bookstore. (Guess how much I "saved" last year by having a Barnes & Noble membership card!) ;)

So I recently found a great new resource for new books to read - check it out.

http://www.nextbestsellers.com

Looks like another great place to learn about great reads.

Lori