Marketing

Edging Out the Competition

by

Thousands of new businesses will open in the coming months. There will be really good ones, really bad ones and everything in between.

What can you do to outmaneuver your ever-expanding number of competitors?

How will you establish your uniqueness in the market?

What makes you more attractive to your chosen audience? How can you build on that foundation?

A.) Do you have a specialty? A very sharply-defined expertise or niche? You may or may know this, but specialists tend to be able to charge higher fees than generalists in any given field. Think brain surgeons versus general practitioners.

It’s also easier to get noticed and establish yourself as an authority in a small corner of any industry, rather than compete with everyone else.

B.) Do you possess a rare certification? Have you worked with a famous client who got outstanding results? Do you have a pile of testimonials from clients who will sing your praises?

If any of those distinctions apply to you, put that information in the foreground.

C.) What activities are you doing that others are not doing? Where are you available that your peers can’t reach? What can you add to your repertoire to take the strategic advantage?

D.) What are you willing to do that none of your colleagues has the guts to try? What ways can you think of to differentiate yourself from the pack?

E.) What special ways are you touching and helping people? Society? The world?

F.) Is there an unusual guarantee that you offer to your clients? Specific results you basically promise that they will experience?

Don’t take for granted that would-be clients know these things. Tell them!

If others make the same claims about themselves truthfully, you have some more work to do to find your unique value proposition (UVP).

If your peers could make the same statements, but don’t, you can preempt them and take ownership of those claims. Be the first, and everyone else becomes a copy-cat.

What is the biggest, boldest claim about your services that you can honestly make? Say it!

The idea that you should “under-promise and over-deliver” is another myth that can cause considerable damage if you believe it. There is no question about over-delivering – you should always do that. The problem lies in under-promising.

Under-promising can be suicidal for your business. Imagine a dentist who advertises “Your teeth will probably be fairly clean when I’m finished,” because he wants to under-promise. Who would ever set up an appointment with that dentist? No one will find out how amazing the final delivery is; they will visit the dentist who guarantees that his patients’ teeth will be sparkling white and healthy.

That only makes sense. Under-promising sets a low expectation, which makes the over-delivery all the more pronounced. The hope is to surprise and delight the customer. But, weak promises will keep a customer from ever considering the purchase.

Make the strongest claims you can make. Otherwise you end up blending in with the competition. A reliable way to secure a steady flow of the type of clients you want to work with is to be great at something (the very best if at all possible) and make sure as many people in your target audience know about it.

 

Death of the Web?

by

In August 2010, Wired Magazine published an article entitled The Web is Dead. Long Live the Internet. The authors describe the dramatic change in the way people use the internet compared to how it’s been used in the past 15 years.

“Sure, we’ll always have Web pages,” Chris Anderson says. “We still have postcards and telegrams, don’t we?”

But as technology evolves and our use of it adapts, the traditional ways businesses have used the internet to build their brands and expand their influence will no longer be effective to the same degree. What worked yesterday simply will not work tomorrow. You may have noticed that downward trend is already taking impacting your online efforts.

Take a quick mental inventory of the time you’ve spent online lately. What are some of the traits you notice? Avalanches of information, often conflicting other sources. Mediocre content quality. Spam and scams. Wild pitch fests.

And everyone is an “expert,” even if they’re not.

Do you remember high school economics class? One of the first concepts you learn is supply and demand. As the supply of anything increases, its value decreases. On the internet, we’ve pretty much reached the maximum capacity for information demand, but the supply continues to grow exponentially.

So, you see the two causes for the general decline of perceived value of online information: 1) the low quality of the majority of content and 2) the super-abundance and ease of access.

On some level, everyone over the age of 16 senses this deterioration.

Seth Godin, one of the most popular marketing minds in the world recently wrote in his blog:

“…Prepare for a continuous erosion of what you pay for digital content, at the same time we’ll see a sticky and upward trend for what you might be charged for the… the scarce or custom.”

The world wide web is increasingly becoming a content flea market, so much so that internet giants like Yahoo and AOL are struggling with their current business models.

Don’t misunderstand. Although it seems contradictory, the internet is more important than ever. The rules are changing, and you will have to modify your online initiatives to take full advantage.

Counteract This Trend

To overcome the quality erosion of online information, you absolutely must offer something unique and indisputably valuable. You also have to be able to successfully deliver it to your core audience, the people who can most benefit from what you have to offer. Exclusivity can also protect the perception of high worth around your content.

Unique – It’s cliché, but you have to be yourself. Do the hard work of getting to know yourself and defining your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). Then you have to get the message out.

A large percentage of your peers heavily model themselves and their business after someone they admire. Modeling makes sense – up to a point. But imitation is a problem.

Legendary adman Bruce Barton notes that everyone possesses a “single spark of divinity that sets you off and makes you different from every other living creature.” Nurture that spark instead of copying someone else’s.

Not only do you have to have a one-of-a-kind persona, you have do conduct business in a way that differs from your competitors.

  • What can you do that others can’t or won’t do?
  • What do your clients experience while working with you that no one else can claim to provide?
  • How can you reach your audience in a way that the competition doesn’t?

Valuable – Everything you do should be impressive. Your personal brand and your reputation depend on showing yourself to be someone who improves the lives of others, not a peddler trying to sell stuff. (People love to buy, but they hate to be sold.)

Value starts with understanding what your target audience wants and needs, then helping them attain those things. A hefty percentage of people online are openly egocentric and their efforts online revolve around trying to suck money out of their customers’ wallets.

Quite a few businesses, entrepreneurs and service providers adhere to an online strategy that emphasizes quantity over quality. The more pages you have on your website, the more visible it becomes to search engines. More articles on more directories put you in front of more potential clients. Blogging every day will keep readers from forgetting about you and help you stay relevant…

That’s a lot of pressure! Placing so much attention to creating large quantities of content makes it difficult to make each piece shine. All of the information you make available to clients and prospects is a reflection of who you are and what you’re about. If your content is highly-visible but poorly crafted or boring, what have you accomplished? Not much more than demonstrating to more people that you’re nothing special. The last thing you want to be is average (or worse).

Search engine optimization (SEO) is another facet of your promotional efforts that can be tricky. Do you write to be attractive to search engines or to have the biggest impact on your readers?

Of course, you want to rank well in search rankings. There are benefits to being on Google’s first page. But, again, if you spend your effort to please the algorithms search engines use (which are constantly changing), you can lose out on opportunities to communicate more powerfully with your audience.

Focus on value. Remember that quality trumps quantity every day of the week

Exclusive – You are unique and valuable. You are not a commodity. Being too available decreases your sense of worth. Exclusivity gives the impression that your content and services are even more valuable. Make potential clients qualify themselves through opt-ins, purchases or other requirements.

Making some of your material available only to qualified individuals heightens the value and significance of that material.

The same is true for making some of your content or products only available in physical copies rather than electronic form. That increases your fulfillment costs, but that is part of what makes going offline work. It feels more expensive. Your prestige factor increases when your readers and listeners know that you’re “putting your money where your mouth is.” (This will also force you to deliver high-level quality because it costs you time and money to produce these items.)

Examples:

  • books
  • CDs
  • DVDs
  • print newsletter (free, paid or bundled with another service or product)
  • columns in print magazines

This distinguishes you from nearly all of your competitors and everyone else online. Rarity increases actual consumption of your content. Your teachings have little effect if they never enter your clients’ brains and get put to use.

Exclusivity builds a sense of belonging and entitlement. The effect creates a formidable emotional and intellectual bond between your audience and you, even while they’re forgetting everyone else.

Marketing Quote of the Week

by

“In a sense Ford was both the most brilliant and the most senseless marketer in American history. He was senseless because he refused to give the customer anything but a black car. He was brilliant because he fashioned a production system designed to fit market needs. We habitually celebrate him for the wrong reason, his production genius. His real genius was marketing. We think he was able to cut his selling price and therefore sell millions of $500 cars because his invention of the assembly line had reduced the costs. Actually he invented the assembly line because he had concluded that at $500 he could sell millions of cars. Mass production was the result, not the cause of his low prices.” – Theodore Levitt, The Marketing Imagination

Need I say more?

Devious Plans for World Domination

by

How’s 2012 going for you so far? I hope your plans are big ones! Big visions are what leads to big breakthroughs. Why settle for small progress?

What if your goal was to rule entire planet? What would it take to pull that off?

While world domination is not in my schedule for this year, ask your favorite conspiracy theorist and he’ll be more than happy to describe who is plotting a global takeover and exactly how they plan to do it with minute detail.

Conspiracy theorists are usually written off as paranoid nutcases with too much time on their hands. But have you ever noticed not fiery adherents of any particular theory get when expressing their ideas? How loyal they are to their chosen “whistleblowers?” Could you stand to have some of these kinds of followers?

I don’t have a figure for how much money is floating around in the conspiracy theory space, but some people build full-blown careers out of it, Alex Jones possibly being the most notable example.

As business people and communicators, there are numerous lessons we can learn from how the “good” theorists operate. Let’s look at two major takeaways today.

(Note: For the record, I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I’m not saying real conspiracies never take place…)

Dramatic Characters

No one can deny that the people who concoct these vast conspiracy theories are dramatic personas. They tend to have intriguing pasts; they used to perform experiments in Area 51, or they worked in a secret office at the Federal Reserve. Because of their experience, they’ve become privy to information that is being concealed from the rest of us regular citizens.

There’s a good chance that there have been attempts to kidnap or even assassinate them to silence their voices.

These whistleblowers take a passionate stand against the bad guys (whoever they might be) and against secrecy. They stand passionately for truth and for the good of the population at large (or at least those who will listen).

Are you or your business passionate advocates for your customers and clients? Do people in the market for what you offer see you taking a strong stand for their good? Are you boldly standing against their enemies and anything that might endanger their well-being?

Are you revealing information clients need, but can’t get anywhere else? Are you telling them the truth when no one else has the guts to?

This sort of pathos is uncommon. It will anger a lot of people. But you will also attract more committed followers than you could ever get otherwise. You’ll definitely be harder to ignore.

Intense, Comprehensive Stories

It’s nearly impossible to find stories with more intricate detail than good conspiracy theories. They dive deep into the shadows of events and organizations we don’t fully understand, uncovering clues of hidden agendas. They paint pictures illustrating the reality behind the mysterious. They answer unsolvable questions, point out inconsistencies and point fingers at people we know (but don’t really know). Breaking news meets secret history.

Controversy is appealing. Mystery is magnetic. These narratives take our curiosity and run. You almost have to question everything you thought you knew.

And they cover all their bases. Claiming George Washington was a Martian invader won’t cut it. They provide extensive “documentation” to prove it! Then they explain all the implications of those facts.

Are you making big statements that call into question harmful myths that are hurting your audience? Are you appropriately controversial?

Do you add proof elements and “documentation” to back up the claims you make about your business? Do you offer complete solutions and have answers for any questions your customers might want to know?

Do you have a well-thought out, customer-centric company narrative, culture and/or value system?

Conspiracy theories also create a scary bad guy, or at least define exactly who the bad guy is. They channel paranoia, distrust and anger toward this source of evil. Having an enemy is a powerful motivator. Assembling a group around a common enemy creates an incredible bond. Think of the Cold War. Every American knew who the enemy of world peace and progress was: communism, most clearly expressed in the Soviet Union. The culture and many of the policies of the entire nation were shaped by the fear and hatred of the enemy.

Americans also knew the threat posed by this enemy: nuclear war. That’s what was at stake.

Who or what is the “bad guy” your audience is up against? It could be something like a lack of respect they face in the marketplace or a difficulty getting clients. It could be a governmental policy that’s bleeding them dry.

What is the threat this enemy poses? What’s at stake for them? Bankruptcy? Heart attack? Embarrassment when speaking in public? Don’t be afraid to attack the bad guy! You can be the knight in shining armor, helping your customers fight off their foes and protect them from their version of nuclear war.

Most of your peers promote their products and services like this: “We are Acme Co. We sell anvils and dynamite to coyotes like you.” But Wile E. doesn’t want anvils and explosives. He wants to finally catch that slippery Road Runner and have a tasty meal. How much more interesting would their message be if they talked about that?

Think about it.

Maple Syrup Marketing Trick

by

I haven’t had maple syrup in a very long time, and I’m willing to bet that you haven’t either, no matter how often you eat pancakes or waffles.

The American companies that make syrup aren’t being very upfront about this fact.

I didn’t realize it, but the syrup I’d been using for the longest time is imitation maple syrup. There isn’t one drop of real maple in it. After a follow-up investigation at the grocery store, I found that the same seems to be true about all the popular brands.

How long has this been true? Why didn’t anyone tell me?

Real maple syrup (the stuff that comes out of trees) is available, but it’s three times more expensive.

Now, I don’t suppose there’s anything wrong with selling a knock-off as long as you’re honest about it. But like I mentioned, not everyone sees the value in honesty. Observe:

Aunt Maples

See what they did? A little mind trick. This brand is for sale at Aldi stores.

This particular syrup maker chose the name “Aunt Maple’s” so they could sell “Maple’s” syrup. Rather than saying “Maple-flavored” they chose “Original” and stuck the word at the bottom of the label.

Sneaky!

This tactic reminded me of one used by a student of Gary Halbert to increase the readership and credibility of his newspaper advertisements.
If you ever look at magazines and newspapers, even search engine results, you’re familiar with the “Advertisement” label that tells readers what is editorial content and what’s an ad.

One marketer innovated a  clever way to make his paid ads look like regular articles (Joe Polish goes into detail about the concept here). Take a look:

Paid Ad BufferUsing what are obviously ads, he created a buffer between the advertorial piece and the “Paid Advertising” label. This technique improved the response to the ad by an impressive 750%.

Perception is powerful.

I was upset to find out that the syrup makers pulled a fast one on me. (Maybe I should have been mad at myself for not noticing sooner) Dishonesty is not something I advocate, but it’s hard to be mad at the creative approach they’re taking to position their product in the minds of consumers as real.

Do you need to improve your customers’ perception of the products/services you’re marketing?

I’d love to talk with you about it.

The Strongest Incentive

by

Curiosity is one of the strongest of all human incentives. Once it’s been aroused, we can hardly sleep until we satisfy it.

How can you add curiosity to your business, product, or service? To your marketing message?

Have you ever heard of the Zeigarnik effect? It’s a psychological  phenomenon that can boost your persuasiveness. When people are given incomplete information, such as a story that is cut off before the end, the brain feels a strong need to “close the loop.”

This is why television shows and movies use cliffhanger endings. The audience just has to know what’s going to happen next.

Using the Zeigarnik effect is effective in both marketing and in-person selling situations. When you make a unique claim, make the person who reads or hears wonders “How is that possible? How can she do that?”  (Copywriters often call these “can’t-do-it” bullets or fascinations.) Their curiosity will compel them to find out the answer. Now, instead of chasing clients, they are coming to you, wanting to hear what you have to say.

That’s much stronger positioning.

But this doesn’t mean that you embrace ambiguity. That will have the opposite effect. You want your readers, hearers and viewers to know exactly what you’re talking about. That’s what makes the information interesting and relevant to them. Build curiosity around how and/or why.

The information has to be specific, relevant and unique. If it is too vague, it won’t be important enough for them to want to find out about. If it’s irrelevant, who cares? If the claim isn’t unique, or if the missing portion is too predictable, the curiosity disappears.

(More on how to avoid this costly mistake in the video below)

Take for example one of the longest-running advertising headlines in history: “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?” Anyone who wanted to speak intelligently 80 years ago (when this ad was written) was overcome by curiosity.

You can’t read that headline without wanting to learn more. This question implies there’s a strong possibility that the reader could be making embarrassing mistakes without realizing it. The word “These” indicates there are specific mistakes you could be making. It’s hard for your brain to just ignore that curiosity gap.

It also implies that reading the article (or advertisement) would be the first step to fixing the problem.

So, how can you add curiosity to your marketing messages today?

April 2019 Update: In the quest for more opens and clicks, many copywriters and marketers have strayed into the danger zone of ambiguity.

I explain you why this is such a major issue in “The Cost of Cheap Curiosity.” It’s the unauthorized recording of a private call with Agora Financial. 

Six Business Lessons from the Book of Ecclesiastes

by

The holiday season is upon us!

Many of your business will make a large chunk of your annual revenue between now and the end of the year. And quite a few of us spend a large chunk of our annual income on gifts, decorations, food, and the like.

Paradoxically, we’re told that November and December are also months in which discontentment and depression skyrocket. Add in the rotten state of the economy (what a terrible time to be unemployed or broke), and there are plenty of people feeling gloomy these days.

I had a moment not a couple of weeks ago where I felt as if I knew exactly how King Solomon felt when he wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes. The invisible part of me exclaimed “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity!”

But rather than submitting to despair, I found encouragement and inspiration reflecting on this book of wisdom. Now I’d like to distill some of that inspiration to you, if you don’t mind. I’ve pulled out six lessons which I believe will really benefit you as you strive to finish 2011 strong.

This is not a meant to be an exposition of the Biblical text, nor is it intended to be religious instruction. You can drop in on my weekly Bible study class if you’re interested in that. This newsletter is designed to help you build your business, and that’s what we’re going to do today.

Lesson 1: Enjoy What You Do

“A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.” Ecclesiastes 2:24 New International Version

Who told you that work shouldn’t be enjoyable? The truth of the matter is that many Americans do not enjoy their jobs. Results released at the beginning of the year from a poll taken by the Conference Board indicate that only 45% of us are satisfied with our jobs. That’s the lowest level since they started taking the poll 22 years ago.

There are many factors that go into being satisfied with the work you do. There should be some level of enjoyment. Ideally, each of us would work in areas we’re gifted in, doing things we love to do.  Thomas Edison is quoted as saying “I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.”

Satisfaction also implies that your work means something to you. Your inner drives and passions should match with your work. If you’ve been hanging around me for long, you know that I’m a quote nut, so here’s another for you: Malcolm Forbes said that “the biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living at doing what they most enjoy.” You don’t have to go to work just to get a paycheck or earn a living. In fact, you’re really robbing yourself if you think about business that way. You have something special to offer the world. Something great. You just have to figure out what that is.

If you’re in a position you’re not crazy about, I bet you can still find something about it to enjoy or to be satisfied about. There’s nothing better than to enjoy your work while you work toward your dream, whether it be a job or an entrepreneurial opportunity.

One more note here. The New American Standard phrases Ecclesiastes 2:24 a little differently. It says that “there is nothing better than for a man to…tell himself that his labor is good.” You should only be doing work you can feel good about. What good is money if you have to sell your soul and beat down your conscience to earn it?

Lesson 2: Give It All You’ve Got

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Ecclesiastes 9:10 New International Version

This is related to the first lesson. It’s worth saying, though.

To keep it simple, never give less than 100% in your work. Whether you run a Fortune 500 company or a neighborhood shop that’s been in the family for generations, work as smart and as hard as you can every day.

There are times when “coasting” seems like a good idea, You know the feeling. “I worked my butt off yesterday, so I think I’ll take it easy today.” This is especially easy to do when you aren’t finding satisfaction in what you’re doing.

You don’t need me to tell you that this mentality is appealing to all of us every once in a while. But giving into it is dangerous. Giving your best effort will bring success faster. You’ll experience breakthroughs that you’d have never come across just drifting along. And you’ll have a chance to gain mastery that comes with going all out. Anyone who wants to get to the top of their game and be recognized as an expert or superstar will have to put all their might behind their work.

This is not to say that you shouldn’t take vacations or enjoy your leisure time. You absolutely have to do that. But when you’re working, give it all you’ve got.

I’ve often noted that “success is never accidental.” If you insist on coasting or working half-heartedly, don’t hold your breath waiting on it. On the other hand, success can be coincidental. It tends to happen while you’re working hard.

Lesson 3: Live Up to Your Claims

“It is better to say nothing than to promise something that you don’t follow through on.” Ecclesiastes 5:5 New Living Translation

This lesson is simple enough, but so many businesses screw up at this point.

In a recent post on my blog, I put up a video of an old television commercial for Cash4Gold. I don’t have any issue with the concept of sending in jewelry in exchange for money. It’s a good idea: people need money, Cash4Gold and its counterparts are getting ultra-high rates for precious metals, so no one is really getting robbed, as far as I know.

The problem is how the commercial is set up. The claim is that you can end your “personal recession” by dealing with this company. Crazy, huh? A bit insulting, too. Do I look like an idiot? (Don’t answer that)

Jerry Della Famina says that “there is a great deal of advertising that is much better than the product. When that happens, all the good advertising will do is put you out of business faster.”

And Bill Bernbach: “Advertising doesn’t create a product advantage. It can only convey it.”

Many businesspeople and marketers feel the need to use hype and exaggerated claims to get attention for their product or service. Salespeople often overpromise to close the deal. This is no good. Your customers will find you out. And then, all your credibility is gone. The negative publicity you’ll receive often more than undoes the positive contributions gained by the dishonesty.

Don’t say you can do anything you can’t. Don’t promise to do anything that you won’t do.

If you say it, you better do it!

Having said that, never shy away from making big claims if you can back them up. Sometimes we are scared to make the bold statements about how great our product or service is. But if it’s true, tell the world. Otherwise you’re selling yourself short and robbing your potential customers of an opportunity to have a great experience.

Lesson 4: Pay Attention to the Seasons

“There is a time for everything.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 New Living Translation

In this passage, Solomon describes one of life’s great truths. There is a time for everything. Then he lists several of them: there’s a time to be born, to die, to plant and harvest, to cry and laugh.

So where am I going with this? Two things.

First, don’t let economic cycles destroy your confidence or courage. These cycles occur on a macro (nation- or even worldwide) level, as well as on a micro level (pertaining to you and your business personally). You will have to be smart to figure out how to thrive in both good times and bad, but don’t throw in the towel just because we’re in a recession. Don’t mentally give up, like so many of your colleagues and competitors already have. This is a season. It will pass sooner or later.

Second, I want to focus on Ecclesiastes 3:6, which says there is a “time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away.”

Specifically, I’m thinking about clients and customers here. There is a time when your business needs to be on the look out for new and more customers. For some businesses and industries, that may be all the time. For others, clients stick around longer and the need to get new or more is much less urgent.

Every business has to balance their customer acquisition efforts with their retention efforts. Some customers you want to keep. But there are times that you’ll want to cast some of them away and get new ones to replace them. If you have “bad” customers or clients, ones that take up too much of your time, pay you too little, or who just don’t work well with you, it may be time to lose those individuals.

Lesson 5: Protect Your Good Name

“A good reputation is more valuable than the most expensive perfume.” Ecclesiastes 7:1 New Living Translation

Lesson 4 is an important part of Lesson 5.

You build your reputation by doing good work, providing value, treating people well, etc. You can ruin your reputation by doing crappy jobs, disrespecting people or making them feel ripped off. I don’t know that there’s any more effective way to demolish your chances at business success than to allow your good name to be ill spoken of.

There are a million ways to build a solid reputation. Here’s a start:

  • Always provide all the value you possibly can
  • Never leave a job done in a way that you wouldn’t want God to inspect
  • Treat your customers the way you would want to be treated. You know what? Do better than that. Treat them the way THEY want to be treated
  • Meet your deadlines
  • Be consistent
  • Don’t overpromise
  • Overdeliver as much as you can
  • Be the expert

Warren Buffett teaches that “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” I don’t think it takes 20 years to build a good name (at least not any more), but what he’s saying is true. You have to work hard to obtain good standing in your industry or locality. It is incredibly easy to undo all of that hard work. Be diligent in protecting what you’ve built.

Lesson 6: Three Is Better Than One

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12 New International Version

I know this has been a long newsletter, so I’ll make this point brief.

Develop intelligent strategic alliances. Partner with other businesses and business people who you can work with in a mutually beneficial manner.

A good example of this is the home inspector I used when I purchased my house. He had an alliance with a sales representative for a home security company. Whenever he would inspect a home for a customer, he’d present an offer from his buddy with the security system. Both knew that new home buyers are ripe for these kinds of offers. They worked together to compliment each other’s business.

Look for ways you can do the same thing.

I also advise people to get a strong personal network in place. Family, loved ones and friends are an important part of life. Who wants to be lonely? When we go through hard times, it’s nice to have people to comfort us. When things are going better than we could have imagined, we want people to celebrate with.

There’s an African proverb that says “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Think about it.

In Conclusion

The road we’re traveling on can get rough. You may feel like crying, like quitting. You may lament with Solomon that “all is vanity;” it feels that way sometimes. I beg you, take heart, refocus on the goals you’ve set before you, and keep pushing. Mediocrity is not what you want. So don’t let it happen to you.

Sharing The Other Side of the Story

by

Storytelling is a very hot topic right now, and I chimed in from a unique perspective in my December newsletter.

It’s rare that I do this, but I’m making this edition available to the general public. I think it’s that important.

Take a gander at “Another Angle on Storytelling.”

My point, as tends to be the case, is this: even when telling your story, IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.

Enjoy!

Recommended Reading:
lowercase branding – What’s really important when it comes to building an incredible brand?

lowercase branding

by

There’s a lot of talk these days about branding (then again, when isn’t there?). There are branding consultants, how-to books and home-study courses, etc. Branding is big business. Brands themselves are big business. Which is why everyone wants to “get it right.” Play this card right, they say, and my company will experience success like never before.

Let me get this out of the way: there is nothing wrong with branding. You absolutely should have a strong brand. In fact, you’re creating a brand whether you know it or not. You might as well be intentional about it and make a good one.

What’s A Brand, Really?

A brand is simply the identity of a company, product or service as perceived by consumers. As we noted, every company has a brand. There are powerful brands like Nike. People around the world instantly recognize their logo. They know their slogan by heart. And their products are held as valuable everywhere. In fact, it is the brand that gives the product it’s heightened perceived value. Having shoes is nice; having Nikes is something special.

Then there are the weaker brands. Sometimes we call them generic. We compare them with “name brands,” as if they don’t have a name. Regardless of their quality or usefulness, we pay less for them and usually want them less. Remember when it was common to hear about children having their shoes stolen right off of their feet? I don’t remember Payless brand shoes ever being on the list of the items taken.

Don’t You HAVE to Capitalize That?

How do you think that the big brands got to be big?

Why is Coca-Cola so popular? How can Starbucks charge so much more for coffee than the competition and still have “enthusiastically satisfied” (that’s Starbucks’ own verbiage) customers during hard economic times?

And more importantly, how can YOU start to do the same thing?

Branding Rule #1: It’s not about you.
Sales and Marketing 101 teaches us that customers don’t want to buy drills, they want holes. Elmer Wheeler says “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.”

The same is true about building a brand. You don’t create a world-class identity by trying to create a world-class identity. Don’t focus on yourself or your business. Concentrate on the people you’re trying to influence. What do people desperately want? How can you give it to them? Can you associate your product with something that people already go crazy for?

Branding Rule #2: Don’t underpromise.
This cliché might be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. I get where people are coming from when they say it, but I’m telling you, it’s dead wrong.

Make the strongest statements you can about the benefits that your audience will get from your buying from you. Why would you under-sell yourself? Why would you water down the truth about your awesomeness? If you follow Branding Rule #1, you have a product or service that genuinely improves people’s lives. You have to get them to buy it for them to experience the improvement, though. You’re doing your prospects a serious disservice by downplaying the good you can do for them.

Never promise more than you can deliver, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot by underpromising either.

If you don’t stand out as the best, the only provider of what you sell, your customers might overlook you and buy from someone less committed to meeting their needs. Don’t let that happen. It’s up to you to make the big promise.

Branding Rule #3: Do overdeliver.
Surprise your customers with how awesome their experience with your company, product or service is. If you promise that they’ll double their Mandarin vocabulary in 30 days by taking your course, delight your patrons by tripling it.

That’s where the magic happens. When people get more than they ask for, they can’t wait to tell someone about their experience. And you quest for world-renown for your brand really takes off.

Commit to making a great product or giving a great service. Don’t focus on getting what you can from your customers. If you want to be the next Mercedes-Benz brand, give ten times more value than you plan to get back from your clients.

You could probably make some good money really quickly by short-changing everyone, cutting corners on quality to maximize profits. But you will never build a sustainable, respectable brand by doing business like that. And you will have traded in your integrity and good name for a quick buck. Sound like a good deal?

Branding Rule #4: Make purposeful statements about who you are as a company.
Your brand is as much about how people identify with you as it is about who you actually are. Maybe more.

Roy Williams wrote in one of his Monday Morning Memos:

“Brands are identity reinforcement, just like art and architecture and music. Brands are a way of shouting ‘This is me!’”

Remember that your brand is only as good as the perception you create.

In most cases, people will not come to the correct conclusions about who you are as a company if you never tell them what to think. Plus, there will never be one coherent brand identity. Everyone will have their own interpretations of your brand.

Here are some thoughts to consider when drafting your brand messaging:

  • Always be truthful
  • You’re talking about yourself, but you still should identify with the customer
  • Tell them who you are and WHY IT MATTERS TO THEM
  • Have one overall message: one thing you stand for, oppose, believe in, or are working toward
  • Encourage interaction. Make your customers part of your “movement”
  • Never be boring. Be bold, be unique
  • Find something only you can say, and say it

Branding Rule #5: Participate in your communities in ways that are aligned to your corporate personality.

That can include everything from throwing concerts or events to feeding the homeless and sponsoring little league teams.

NBA Cares is an outstanding example of getting involved and making a compelling brand statement.

In the online world, you could give away free information or put on special webinars for noteworthy occasions.

This doesn’t have to be charitable giving. Getting involved with people outside of them handing you money is a great way to prove who you are and what you care about.

About the “lowercase” Thing

Did I confuse anyone with the lowercase branding headline?

The point is this. Branding is such a hot topic, and there are so many conversations going on around the subject. Rightly so. My concern is that we’ll begin to focus on creating brands and messages rather than on doing great business.

The customer should be “uppercase,” since they are what really matters. The business should be built around taking care of them. The brand is “lowercase.” The brand doesn’t exist for it’s own pleasure; the brand is about the customer.

Major brands are not formed by putting energy into making a brand, but by companies and individuals that provide outstanding products or services. The brand identity is a gift wrapping of sorts. The gift inside is what deserves more attention. That would be your business.

I’m not saying don’t build your brand. Just don’t put the cart in front of the proverbial horse.