Feb
21

One million subscribers and daily emails sent

What do restaurants, beauty products and coffee all have in common?

Rabid fans and buyers!

And the 3 companies I wanted to share with you today have tapped into their respective communities and built stellar businesses from them.

The important thing for you and I to note?

Each one of them does it a little bit different, but the basics of what they are doing and how they are doing it are the same.

First, the find a market – and hungry market that either has too many other options to choose from, or no good options to choose from.

Second, they target a very specific type of person.  They DON’T try and sell to everyone.

Third, they monetize their relationship.  Either with a free newsletter that makes its money from paid advertising, or with a paid membership model

Both work great.

Last, there is something in here for you… no matter WHAT business or industry you are in.

There is ALWAYS a way to customize these ideas and make them your own.

Example #1: Tasting Table

They have built a healthy database of one MILLION newsletter subscribers in just a few years!

Here’s a great overview and video…
http://mashable.com/2012/01/10/video-tasting-table/?WT.mc_id=obinsite

Great signup box text from their site:

Free daily email for adventurous eaters everywhere.  Hungry? Sign up:
(simple, to the point, targeted, call to action)

Example #2: Birchbox

They discovered that some of the biggest pain points for customers included the overwhelming selection of beauty products and the inability to get a hands-on experience before buying.  The answer? For a fee, they mail women a box containing four to five deluxe beauty products every month.

More details…

http://mashable.com/2012/01/31/birchbox-video/?utm_source=iphoneapp&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=textlink&utm_campaign=iphoneapp

Example #3:  Kopi Coffees

Again, for a fee, they send subscribers a different gourmet coffee each month, hand-picked by a team of experts that includes some of Europe’s most respected green bean coffee traders.

Full details…

http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/single-estate-coffees-curated-delivered-monthly-door/

The reason I wanted to share these with you is to open your eyes and ears to the potential with these 3 ideas.

There IS a way to make it fit your business.

Will you try?  That’s the real question!

If you need help coming up with a way on how, invest in the Story Selling Home Study Course http://www.storysellingtips.com and I will gladly give you some email feedback and ideas.

To your membership and niche marketing success!

Troy

Feb
14

Oh, how I love thee business (great video)

Happy Valentines Day!

Hope you have a wonderful day and evening ahead.

Nothing says loving like some laughing.

…and the guy in this video I am going to share with you is one of the BEST LOVERS out there!

Door to door sales is one of the toughest gigs in the world.

I should know… I did it for 2 years.

You may recall that I owned a College Pro Painting Franchise to put myself through University.

It was a GREAT way to spend the summers, and to learn about running a business with employees (I had 8 painters… more like children I had to babysit, but that’s another story).

But a big part of the reason why I did well in College Pro was that I LOVED knocking on doors to find painting jobs.

Yes, I got the door slammed in my face and was sworn at far too much (really people?).

But I also landed a TON of new business this way.

I also hired myself out to the other Franchise owners to knock on doors in their neighborhoods.  $10 a lead I think… and it was great $$.  They were scared of doing it themselves… so they hired me.

Seeing this video, I realize how well I could have done with some of this dude’s skills.

Pay attention to his quick one-liners and use of humor through every step.

Not saying we all have to be a stand up comedian like this guy, but I am saying a little self-deprecating humor mixed in with some good belly laughs makes for a VERY compelling sales argument.

Makes it VERY difficult to say no.

Have a peek and see for yourself.

Happy Valentines Day!

Troy

Jan
26

Panda Poop Tea, $100 Hot dogs, and Cat Poop Coffee

3 very unusual “products” with one very powerful lesson.

I admit it: I am weird.

Very unusual in many ways.

One of the things that makes me an oddball is my fascination with wacky marketing ideas.

I love them!

You should too.

Always be on the lookout for those high priced, high oddball-factor products or services.

They are full of great lessons and ideas for your own marketing campaigns.

For example, you may recall my article on Cat Poop Coffee and Holy Crap Cereal.  One if s product idea that garnered tens of thousands of free media publicity for a teeny tiny coffee shop in Calgary.  The other snapped up thousands of dollars in first day sales as soon as they re-named their product

http://blog.smallbusinesscopywriter.com/cat-poop-coffee-and-holy-crap-cereal-wacky-marketing-that-works/

And now the Panda bear is giving the Wild Cicvik from Thailand  a run for its money.

$18,000 a kilo?

YIKES!

That had better make me 20 years younger, more attractive, wealthier, and 20 pounds lighter too for that price.

But my forecast is that they will do very well with this.

It’s exclusive.  Not something you can get at the local supermarket… so those who love a good story and an unusual experience (those with the money) will be flocking to the place that sells this Panda Poop Tea.

http://gawker.com/5859434/worlds-most-expensive-tea-panda-poop

The right kind of people are magnetically drawn to this type of product.  People with disposable income. People who LOVE a good story and can’t wait to be the first to tell their friends what they did or bought.

People who are willing to pay an extremely high price for either bragging rights, or for that ultimate experience they can share with their friends and family.

The kind of person you NEED as part of your customer portfolio.

We all should have  segment of our customer population that is wealthy, affluent, and looking for something unique.

You’ve heard me talk about Saddleback Leather (http://www.sbackleather.com).  Their prices are reasonable but on the higher side for leather bags like they have.  But the STORY behind their beautiful leather bags and 100 YEAR guarantee make

Saddle Back Leather

THe BEST Leather Bags Out There

for a very compelling Valentines Gift, or Birthday Gift, or that special gift for anyone and everyone you know who loves quality leather goods (hint, hint….Valentines Day is just around the corner!).

Now we have $100 hot dogs! http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/01/24/vancouver-restaurant-selling-100-hot-dog

Awesome.

Just down the street you can pick up a $2 hotdog from a cart….but the “most expensive hot dog in the world” – a $100 cognac-infused sausage topped with oil-seared Kobe beef, lobster meat and a picante sauce.The foot-long bratwurst is infused with 100-year-old Louis XIII cognac – which has a $2,000 price tag of its own – and must be ordered 12 hours in advance so fresh ingredients can be prepped.

Now THAT is how you get media attention, world record breaking Guiness attention, and how you call out to the locals who have the money and are looking for something fun they can put their money into.

You see a BIG part of marketing to the affluent is in the experience side.

Quality is quality.

But experiences are tough to compare and tough to ignore.  When you have $1,000 in your pocket that’s consider pocket money for the day (every day), you start looking for unusual places to spend.

You can star out the day with some Cat poop coffee.  Have some Panda poop tea for a mid-morning picker upper, then a $100 hotdog that is infused with $2,000 cognac.  By 1 pm that day, you have had such a unique experience to share, it is WELL worth the money to you.

Not to everyone…

…that’s the point.

Marketing to the affluent is difficult for people to get their heads wrapped around.

Because most people think price is the major factor in buying decisions.

It isn’t.  It plays its part, but it isn’t the big part.

Especially when catering to those who high disposable income.

When I interviewed Dave Munson of Saddleback Leather, he revealed one of their HOTTEST sources of leads… a place I never would have thought of… but a place that is full of wealthy story-seekers.  I have never shared his source, but may one day when the timing is right.

So for you, I want you to think about the craziest, whackiest, most pie-in-the-sky concoction of products and services YOU could be offering.

Something that would increase your prices by a factor of 10.

And then consider how you can offer it.

I am not saying you need to replace your other products or services…just to add in ONE product worthy of media attention like all of the businesses here are lapping up.

If you have that one thing now – or know of one like it – PLEASE let me know!

I would love to do a write up on it and share some publicity with others (possibly a JV on a affluent marketing product I am working on too).

Think about adding a zero, or even two zeroes to y9our products.  What would you need to do…to offer…to promise… or to add into it to justify the expense.

Market it right and you just created a HUGE profit center!

And you are off to the races with all kinds of media attention and a whole new kind of client you can work with.

Try it and please let me know what you do.

I would love to interview you on this!

Troy

PS: The Story Selling Home Study is just about ready and it will be a big help to you in creating the ultimate marketing tools to promote your new product. One of the grads of a previous live Story Selling class wrote a single page letter for a client of theirs and their website went from $500 a month to $15,000 a month in sales, almost overnight….and all because of this one page story.

Find out how he did it and how you can too.  https://responsivedm.infusionsoft.com/app/manageCart/addProduct?productId=274

PPS: If you aren’t in my daily email list yet, you are truly missing out.  Mon through Fri I publish a power-packed marketing lesson like this delivered to your inbox.  Just one of them could be worth thousands, maybe tens of thousands or more to you this year.  If you want daily tips (5 days a week – instead of one or two) – click this link and you will start getting daily tips from me. and start supercharging your mind around the concepts of massive marketing success from the least likely of places! (Clicking the link automatically signs you up to the daily – no other action is needed) Click this link to SUPERCHARGE your email marketing

Dec
30

Cashing in on the not-so-obvious

Why do people overcomplicate things like they do?

It always amazes me.

Without a single thought or care about mastering the basics of marketing, they sprint head first following the scent of a shiny new “social media marketing tool”.

Meanwhile…the greatest marketing opportunities are right in front of their eyes.

Here is a perfect example that was sent to me by my friend and fellow marketing consultant, Graham McGregor (who, by the way, has an EXCEPTIONAL free book you can grab at  http://www.TheUnfairBusinessAdvantage.com).

======================
How they capitalized
on one of the
worlds greatest disasters.
======================

Before the naysayers go off on their tangent about capitalizing on disasters… listen in first before you judge.

The Titanic sunk in 1912.

Thousands of lives were lost.

The 100 year anniversary of this disaster is in 2012.

rather than shying away from the sinking of a cruise liner, the New Zealand Cruise Ship, the MS Balmoral, decided to make the most of it.

2,000 people have pre-booked a cabin for the MD Balmoral voyage that retraces the route of the Titanic’s maiden voyage

Not only are people paying up to $12,100 for passage on this cruise, they are also lining up to “have costumes made to re-create the appearance of the original passengers, while there have also been requests from musicians to audition for places in the modern version of the string quartet that played as the flagship of the White Star Line fleet began to list.”

This Centenial Celebration is gearing up to be a highly enjoyable one for the passengers, and a highly profitable one for the Cruise line.

(http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10775547)

======================
What did they do right,
and how can you copy?
======================

The 2012 Cash Flow Calendar http://www.cashflowcalendars.com is designed to help YOU do exactly what the MS Balmoral has done…

…find unusual events, and create theme-based promotions around it.

For example, in January of 2012, here are a few unusual events you could create themed product or services launches around:

* Second week of January is National Pizza Week
* The fourth week is National Mozart week (and Jan 27th is his birthday)
* January 12th is the 36th Anniversary of the passing of Agatha Christie in 1976
* Friday January 13th is not only a Friday the 13th, but is also the Rubber Duckies birthday
* Sunday, January 22nd is National Answer Your Cat’s Question Day… what better reason for a pet-related marketing campaign (pet campaigns can be a BIG draw for contests, competitions, and just fun all-around promotions).

Keep it simple.

Find a special event or date you could really have fun with.

Do some research about the basics of the date or reason for celebration.

Create a 3 step (minimum) campaign that has some fun with the date, tells a great story that ties into that date, then relate the celebration to your special offer.

Send out all 3 steps, each of them having fun and telling a different part of the theme or story-based campaign.

Simple.

In theory… right?

The key is to just do it. Don’t overthink it… massive momentum and action will take you MUCH FURTHER than over analyzing it will!

Just get it done.

Have some fun.

And give your clients and prospects something fun to get excited about too.

It worked for the cruise line… and will work for you too.

Here’s to a fun-filled, promotion and story packed marketing year!

Troy

PS: People often ask if this applies in their country too (assuming they are outside of North America).

Why not?

Even if National Pizza Week is an American thing, or a Canadian thing, so what?

There is no rule book saying you can’t create your own holiday like this.

DECLARE IT!

You don’t need to ask for permission to do a promotion… just get it done!

2012 Marketing Plan and Cash Flow Marketing Calendar

The 2012 Cash Flow Calendar...turning wacky dates into money making marketing campaigns

The 2012 Cash Flow Calendar http://www.cashflowcalendars.com walks you through the basics of good theme-based promotions and gives you AMPLE opportunity for standing out from the crowd.

…it also gives you a 12-month, week-by-week calendar you can modify to suite your own marketing plans for the year.

Rest assured though… actually filling the calendar out for your own use… and then IMPLEMENTING what is planned… is THE KEY to massive marketing success in 2012.

Thinking about it or promising to do it won’t get you there…

…getting it DONE will.

Dec
19

Random Marketing Miracles

   

     People LOVE unexpected surprises.

Sometimes, unexpected surprises can be the launching pad for exceptional results in your marketing.

2 top of mind ones that I really like…

…Johnny Depp and Lady Gaga

 

Johnny Depp, to me, is one of the greatest actors of our times.  He is also an incredible unexpected hero to 9 year old Beatrice and her classmates.

Beatrice wrote Johnny a letter asking for him to come to their school assembly…

…hoping he would… but probably not planning on it.

But he did – in full Jack Sparrow get up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11498980

He was filming his newest Pirates of the Carribean movie and brought come decked out crew members with him – all in full Pirates outfit and character.

What a way to make an impression!

I think Johnny just added a whole new legion of fans, and a significant pay raise for all his future movies.

Lady Gaga… loves making her fans scream with delight.

I wrote an article about her some time ago http://blog.smallbusinesscopywriter.com/how-to-monetize-your-little-monsters/

Some people didn’t like it – saying all she had going for her was skin and breasts.

Sex sells, they battled back. 

She is nothing without boobs, says another. 

While I am not one to disagree that sex does sell and showing some skin definitely attracts a certain type of person…

…Lady Gaga IS a masterful marketer.

And she doesn’t rely on her looks exclusively to warm over her fans (her customers).

She likes to pick up the phone and call one of her fans –completely out of the blue and unexpectedly.

Now THAT is a way to win the hearts of your fans!

Imagine the buzz that both of these unexpected surprises have given their customers.

Imagine what you could do if, just once a month, you did something unexpected for your clients and prospects.

A few unexpected surprises you could start using every month.  Alternate them – or stick with the ones that get the biggest shock-value from them:

-       Call a new client out of the blue – heck, call them all.  Say hi – have no ulterior motive – and just say thank you. (in the day and age of emails everywhere – the actual phone has become a VERY powerful tool for touching base.  I saw it this past week when I called a new customer how shocked he was, I am making it a new practice in my business!)

 

-       Send a handwritten card.  While I love services like send out cards for keeping in touch, a real handwritten card is unmistakable and will win them over much faster.

 

-       Send one random customer a present every month or week. Make the present something of value – and don’t always use your own products – use other people’s products as the central theme here.  This is not self promotion – it’s selfless promotion.

 

-       Pick a customer of the month and put their picture (with approval of course) on your site, your blog, in your store.

 

-       Do a write up on your customer of the month.  This would be especially powerful if you are dealing business to business.  Use your writing prowess and do an editorial on them – send it out to all your other clients. Send it to the press. Send it in a newsletter.  Plaster the write up everywhere.  And frame it and send it to the customer your profiled so they can hand it up in their office.

 

-       Give someone cash, for no rhyme or reason.  I had this happen to me a few weeks ago and it was an incredible feeling.  The amount doesn’t have to break the bank – the thought is what matters.

 

-       Gift them something sweet.  I have written enough about Kinjo Sushi here, but one of his secret weapons is his chocolates he gives out.  Only to the ladies and children… but it is a practice that makes him a mint (pun intended). He knows down to the penny what each free box of chocolate brings him back in business.

 

-       Use the product launch strategy of giving away one of your high end products.  But don’t build it into a launch – just do it without expectation of future sales (you can and should do a write up on the gift recipient though).

 

-       Use part of your profits to do a random donation to a good cause.

 

-       And yes, you can monetize these ideas – not only with the great karma and word of mouth, but with the immense pr potential when you do this consistently. Don’t do it once and call yourself a hero, expecting the press to crawl all over you.  Do it consistently for a year – and you won’t have to tell the press – your customers will do that for you.

 

I am making it part of my business (should have done it sooner – doh!).  I hope you do as well.

To your success.

Troy

Your 2012 Marketing Plan and Calendar (complete with thousands of marketing ideas, blog post ideas, promotional campaigns, etc)

PS: If you want off-the-wall marketing ideas… the 2012 Cash Flow Calendar is ready to roll… http://www.cashflowcalendars.com
…done-for-you, copy and paste marketing campaigns that make 2012 your best year yet!

 

If you need help with your marketing and promotional plan for the next 12 months…

…this is an exceptional way to plan out all your campaigns, with simple formulas and copy/paste templates.

 

We executed the September promotion and received over
$1000.00 worth of sales from it in one day! 
Fabulous I say.” – Fran Agar – Ballymoon Beauty

Dec
15

Mountain Woven Money Making Ads

Fellow business builder,

You may have heard of an ad that ran 65 years ago with the headline:

“Hand Woven by The Mountain People of New Mexico”

New Christmas Patterns in these unique ties. Wearers say an exceptional value.* Sold only direct from weavers to you.

It was a one-page ad that ran in the November 1940 edition of Life.  Simple – copy intensive – with a picture of the ties.

Fantastic example of copy-driven theme marketing (click the image to see a full size)

 

Get this: that ONE AD SOLD 26,000 TIES!

An amazing success story. And an amazing ad (written by James W Young).

What is most evident about the ad is the unique ways they use a number of great advertising techniques – ones that STILL work today just as well.

 

Think about this:

1) A unique headline – “mountain people” conjures up pictures with those two words.  “Hand woven” portrays the quality that they put into the ties.  Combined, this is a very intriguing headline.

2) In the subhead, this statement is interesting – “Wearers say an exceptional value.*” Note that the * references a footnote at the bottom of the ad that is actually a testimonial of a happy buyer.=]

George W Engelmann, well known Chicago business man, writes:

“Enclosed is my order for some of your ties. I would like to

take this opportunity to tell you how well I like your ties.

When I wear them they never fail to attract favorable

comment. They are also the most durable ties and best value

I have ever seen”

 

NOTE: a testimonial in a clothing advertisement! How often do you see that? 65 years later and few people are using this simple strategy.  The footnote is a nice touch – very interesting way to get people involved in the ad.

Also note how the testimonial is written. Chances are the adman wrote the testimonial and had the client approve of it.  In your business you should do the same. Your clients will provide glowing testimonials but (typically) have a tough time saying the best things about your business and how those things affect other potential buyers.

This testimonial touches on “here is another order” “they attract favorable attention” “durable” “best value” “well know business man” All of that in a couple short sentences!

3) The ad starts out with a very compelling story:

“For over 200 years the Spanish people who settled New

Mexico have been raising sheep and weaving wool. Their

looks have been handed down from father to son…..”

 

and on it goes into the story of where they live, the types  of fabric they make, the colors, the make of the tie, intriguing features like “invisible silk”, how they wear, wrinkle free, the textures, cleaning… and so on.

It literally forces you to read the entire story!

Then it goes into “My Christmas Offer” showing that they obtained a fantastic deal ($1 per tie) – makes the perfect gift – guaranteed.

How to order details are very intricate – making sure people know exactly what must be done to get a part of this special offer.  It is even discussed how they will be  packaged so the customer knows what to expect in their mailbox.

Last, the true  kicker: why they MUST order now – “before the Spanish go on their El Natividad” and why you must make a decision now before Christmas gets here and your gift is late.

What an amazing ad.

And, there is absolutely no reason you can’t use a concept like this in October and November for your year end specials.  Either you sell products or services that make a good gift – or it is the perfect time in the new year to order a new model.

Find a way to use these ideas:

- intriguing headline – make it a visual one

- testimonials – lots of them – or your best quality ones at minimum

- a great story about you – your employees – your spouse –  your kids – your pets – whatever, just make it interesting

- descriptives on what they get and why it matters

- a very special offer that WILL NOT be repeated

- make it descriptive on how to order (and give them options)

- the big reason why they MUST order now!

- tie it in to a holiday or special theme

Not rocket science – but if they can sell 26,000 neck ties with an ad like this – don’t you think you could find a way to sell more of your products and services using similar techniques?

You could if you try!

To your success,

Your 2012 Marketing Plan and Calendar (complete with thousands of marketing ideas, blog post ideas, promotional campaigns, etc)

Troy

PS: The 2012 Cash Flow Calendar is ready to roll… http://www.cashflowcalendars.com
…done-for-you, copy and paste marketing campaigns that make 2012 your best year yet!

 

If you need help with your marketing and promotional plan for the next 12 months…

…this is an exceptional way to plan out all your campaigns, with simple formulas and copy/paste templates.

 

We executed the _________ promotion and received over
$1000.00 worth of sales from it in one day! 
Fabulous I say.” – Fran Agar – Ballymoon Beauty