Risk Reversal for Immediate and Long Term Sales

Risk-reversal should be a common sense and widely known marketing concept but, as Mark Twain once said, “Common sense is none too common.”
Risk-reversal is simply taking on the risk yourself and taking it away from your customer. RR comes in many forms including: guarantees, free samples, “try one”, delayed payments... and the list goes on as far as your imagination works.
This principles works in every business setting, including the arts. Singers ought to see my note at the end of this blog.
Let’s be a bit specific and look at guarantees. Some business people create conditional guarantees. Buy this and if it doesn’t work, provided you did your part, we’ll give you your money back. Many place time restrictions, performance on the customer’s part, times of operations and other conditions. They do so in the belief that the customers will take advantage of them. They’ll use the product, get the benefit and then try to get their money back.
The risk, therefore, remains with the customer.
None of this is right or wrong. It’s simply an opportunity for you. It’s part of my Zig-Zag Theory or Paradigm. If others offer conditions, offer none. If they have time restrictions, make yours unlimited time. If they say “you must perform” then you say “you don’t even have to perform.”
That gets people’s attention and they will be more likely to try your products.
Of course if your product is junk, you might have a problem. I say “might” because I once worked (for a short time) with a company that produced extreme vanity products. Their diet products included ephedrine and other dangerous substances. The FDA had not banned them yet, but the owners knew of the negative effects. They also knew that nearly every product they had either didn’t work or only worked temporarily. They preyed upon people’s gullibility and weaknesses. This was most evident in their guarantees. Wisely, they had ZERO conditions for getting your money back except returning the product. Such a guarantees allowed a skeptical customer to try the product without fear of being ripped off – which, ironically they were with these products that cost $2 to make and sold for $135.
Now, I’m sounding contradictory. A rip-off company that let customers rip them off if they wanted. Let’s just call it honor among thieves because these guys knew the facts of marketing. And the salient fact to this discussion is this proven bit of knowledge on guarantees: no matter how bad the product no more than 25% of the customers will return the product. Of course the higher the cost of the goods or service, the closer to 25% you’ll be.
They sold hundreds of thousands of bottles of diet pills, thigh shrinkers, fat lip salve, muscles builders while you sleep and so forth. I’d go to their mail room and every day large bins would arrive with returned product. They checked for the unopened ones and restocked their shelves. The opened ones would be trashed. They had their standards. Never did they get more than a 20% return rate. After taking out the products that were just restocked they had no more than a 10% rate. Their margins and business plan used the 25% figure so each month they exceeded their profit projections.
Learn from them about guarantees. Guarantees work. Unconditional guarantees work even better. Now that you know about the predictability of returns, make sure your margins can handle the returns. Above all, make sure that you have a quality product with good margins and you’ll have a field day in the profit picture. The few returns and word of mouth promotions will help you be successful.

Special Note to Singers: Have you ever offered a customer an unconditional money back guarantee – “Try my singing. If you don’t like me, no charge.” That will turn some heads your way because it screams “I’m confident and I’m that good.” Someone you don’t have as a customer will become a customer.

Self-Interest is Reality and Good

In my last post I said you shouldn’t be like the socialists that want to change human behavior. Several wondered why I would say such a provocative thing on a marketing blog.

(Pictured in the USSR, I donate a new bell we made from a melted down artillery piece. It was the first bell put into a Russian cathedral since the Soviets stole bells from Orthodox churches to melt them into cannons.)

Simple. Marketing reaches over all borders and philosophies. Socialism and communism are based upon the public ownership of the means of production. State ownership of such things as banks, car companies, health care, etc. Problem is, it doesn’t work because it violates the laws of human behavior. It hopes and tries to legislate that people will NOT do something out of their own self interest. But, everyone works from the basis of their own self interest. It is counter to EVERY specie on Earth to first protect themselves from danger. That’s self interest.

I lived in England at the height of it's socialist push in the 1960's. I lived in France and watch what happened to the people there in the 1970's. And I spent 10 years doing business in the Soviet Union and Russia. Socialism destroys minds.

Deer’s hide, runaway or freeze instinctively to protect themselves. Mothers are sited as a departure from this. Mother’s in nature instinctively protect their new babies. But, once out of the nest virtually all species soon forget the off spring and fend for themselves. Why did mother’s protect the young? In animals it is instinct for the survival of the species by one that can defend taking care of several, and in some cases many, that are defenseless. Instinct is self interest. We’re doing what we must do.

For humans, communism and socialism demand that you ignore what is best for you and put it aside for the benefit of the state. Trouble is, the state also acts out of its self interest and if you don’t like it then the state has ways to crush you. It’s self preservation will trump you. Freedom is the casualty of socialism. Freedom is in everyone’s individual self interest. You do not like someone telling you what to do. You know that you know better than some faceless person in the capital deciding what’s best for you.

Socialism loves the Marxian maxim, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Clever but cruel. Who decides what your ability is? In a free market you and the market place do. In socialism someone else decides. Who decides what your need is? In a free market you take what you earn and determine how you’ll spend it. You may spend it on wants or needs. Your choice.

In the movie The Patriot, loosely based upon the life of the Swamp Fox Francis Marion who fought in the Revolutionary War. He serves in the local legislature and they’re trying to decide if they should vote to breakaway from England. Much is made of the tyranny of the king 3000 miles away deciding how they must live. Yet they all had their own bills locally telling others how to live. The Patriot states boldly to his fellow legislators, “I’m not sure which is worse. One tyrant 3000 miles away or 3000 tyrants one mile away.”

Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny imposed upon the mind of man."

When you decide what is best for other people; when you decide they need this more than their wants; when you decide what they ought to have and that they need to get educated to appreciate what you’re selling, you’ve entered the world of socialism where nothing works except in your image of how it ought to work. Socialists push legislation that people don’t want or doll it up so that it looks alluring but is ensnaring. They want what they want regardless of what you want. More than 80% of Americans like their own health care plans. Mandatory health care run by the government is disliked by 60% as of December, 2009. But the proponents know better than we do and are going to push it down everyone’s throats. I’ve seen the same thing with those who favor or oppose abortion. Steve Forbes once pointed out that until the majority of Americans favor a ban on abortion we have no business dictating to the majority, even if we find it morally repugnant. Freedom ought to rule even if it is inconvenient.

Good marketers believe in freedom because they have the confidence that their products has such high benefits no one could possibly resist wanting their product. They know no one owes them anything. No one MUST do something for them. Instead they learn: Irresistible, compelling, alluring, unavoidable, enticing because all are words of freedom... words marketers live by.

Wants vs. Needs -- no contest

Not all business is marketing... just the stuff that matters. Someone does need to make the product. But they’ve got to make something someone wants. “Wants” are all about marketing.

Often times inventors seek to create something they like that solves a problem that intrigues them. In the end it doesn’t sell because no one else really cares or his solution is worse than the problem. Inventors (include in that genre composers, writers, creative performers, etc.) seriously people “need” their product. (In the picture are the other founders of VMT getting an award for Innovation because we focused on what people want most -- an affordable car that saves fuel and still has high performance. From L-R: Dick Wilson, Gary Lee, Steve Sutherland and Mark Stoddard.)

Maybe. But here’s the rub, Hamlet. It is far better to create something that people want rather than something they need. Go to a poor section of town. What do they need? Most of all they need education.

Everyone is six inches away from being successful, but that six inches is between their ears. Got to fill it with something that’s useful and accurate. Madame Walker who had the distinction of being the first American millionaire who came from African lineage, once said, “It’s not what you know that can hurt you, but what you know that just ain’t so.” Poor people know a lot. They just don’t know what they need to succeed.

Can you make money from what they need? Sure. But it’s more difficult. It’s better to find out what people want. Those poor people need education and skip that. They want televisions, DVDs, CDs, and cars they can’t afford. Obviously, they’ll sacrifice what they want for what they need.

How does that apply to performers? Quit trying to tell people that what you have they need. Understand what people really want. Some call that selling out. That is foolish.

Shakespeare thoroughly understood what people wanted – action, romance, love, passion, intrigue, something new, something different, a way of looking at things they’ve never thought of, reaffirmation of values, power, and glory.

Even simpler we all know people are motivated or do things because of five simple things: sex, power, love, money, and glory. Human emotions are immutable. The entire human race deals with the big five constantly. Ask a crime detective what the motive for the crime was... “one of the big five.” Ask a marketer why someone bought something. Same answer. Ask a priest who someone sinned. As Sam once played again, “It’s still the same old story, it’s a fight for love and glory.”

Don’t be like the socialists who try to retool human behavior. “If only people acted another way.” They don’t, won’t, can’t and shouldn’t. Goodness fills sex, power, love, money and glory. So does perverseness. Let your product lead the human race to the good side of these things.

Sell them what they want and they’ll make you wealthy. As you do that, you’ll be performing the job of marketing, the essential stuff of business.

Planning for What We Really Want

An old maxim that’s been used in leadership, business, politics, marketing and even the arts goes, “Those who fail to plan can plan to fail.”

Too often the neophytes in the art world equate spontaneous thinking followed by immediate action with creativity. It does happen, but rarely. Great singers didn’t become great by following this foolish reactionary methodology. At an early age they committed to their end game by putting themselves through voice lessons, methodical practices, rehearsals and auditions.

I’ve written a number of plays and musicals as well as 16 books. In every case the process began with a plan. First an idea. Then a description of the characters in the fiction works and the principles in the non-fiction books. Soon followed the outline of the work. Within the outline I noted ideas I needed to cover for that section and the concrete examples to illustrate the principle.

Finally the time came to write. Certain times were set up for writing. A deadline for completion was established. I then followed the plan.

Directors and producers must do this. Those spontaneous moments during the blocking of a play that are near genius only come about because the director has methodically staged the play before the actors show up.

Did the plan ever change? A better question is “Did the final product exactly follow the plan?” Never... but close.

My father was an officer in the Air Force. He told me that it was standard procedure in training to heavily plan for each mission but be prepared that once you hit the field be prepared to change the plan. Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.

Michael Kami, one of the founders of Xerox, was one of the first to go against the pop trend of 3 and 5 year plans. He said they first established their general goals and general directions and considered them inviolate. Next they discussed the more specific goals for this year. Following that, the team met every Friday and evaluated the week and then laid out the goal for the next week and what they’d need to do in order to accomplish those goals. Week by week Xerox accomplished their goals. Soon they had accomplished their annual goals and eventually their corporate goals.

That’s a sound planning process.

Assuming you have end-game goals, my first question today is... “What did you do last week to accomplish your goals?”

My second question is... “What will you do this week to accomplish your goals?”

Write them down. Hold yourself accountable.

Make sure you consider all three phases of business – and if you have or hope to have a customer you are in business – marketing, operations, and finance. Do something every week on each of these. It doesn’t have to be much, but it does have to take a step toward your objective.

Marketing principle of the day: Plan your work and work your plan. You’ll thus be true to yourself and your dreams.

WARNING: Danger ahead. Five things you must not do in the next five minutes unless you already have all the money you need.

It doesn’t much matter what kind of marketing you’re doing, you’ll need to come up with a headline. So, let’s discuss headlines. But first, breath again. No danger is ahead. Just wanted to get your attention. Hope I did.

Some rules on headlines:
1. The purpose of a headline is to get you to read the next line. Therefore, the headline is the most important sentence in your announcement, advertisement, flyer, etc. And you can guess what the second most important sentence is. Right. The second sentence. And what is its purpose? Yes, you’re right. To get you to read the 3rd sentence and so on.
2. Never write a headline with space in mind. If you think you have cramped space you’ll start parsing your words before you start. Bad idea. The best things is to write out, without regard to space, whatever you think is the MOST important thing that will benefit your customer or compel him to read on.

Sub Point. Don’t limit your headline to a few words. One of the best selling headlines was
“ THEY LAUGHED WHEN I SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO --- BUT WHEN I STARTED TO PLAY!”

But, that’s not long enough to prove my point.

Try this one:

As you can see, I have attached a nice, crisp $1.00 bill to the top of this letter. Why have I done this?

Actually, there are two reasons:

1) This letter is very important and I needed some way to make sure it would catch your attention.

2) And secondly, I wanted to give you your first dollar that you can give a man who really needs your help. And...

This Is Going To Be The Most Important Message You Will Ever Read!

As you can see it is six sentences. It started off a letter that I put a dollar bill atop. I did this in 1981 when I was asked to do my first direct mail piece. I had seen offers that put a penny and even a nickel in a mail package so I figured, “Why not put in a dollar bill?” Everyone thought I was nuts except my immediate boss. He loved doing strange things because he understood the principle of “Zig Zag.” When everyone else is zigging, you’d better zag. He also understood that if the headline didn’t make you a little queezy or sick to your stomach when you were deciding if it was good, it was probably too ordinary and thus bad.

So, he took a chance on me. Keep in mind I knew practically nothing about direct mail except that I knew I could write and could sell. Advertising is just salesmanship in print and you’d better follow sales rules.

After telling people about Hatch I closed with, “Remember the $1 bill I gave you. Would you please write Orrin Hatch a check for $24 and include the $1 bill I gave you so you can get credit for a $25 donation...”

The check flew in and so did our original dollar bills. Some with very nice words written on them. A few wrote nasty words (nasty for Provo... something like “Oh my heck I can believe you sent me this freakin’ letter.)

Back to my ignorance. I mailed the phone book. Yep. Pulled 1000 names out of the phone book in Provo, Utah and sent a nice personal fund raising letter out for a guy running for the Senate for the first time – tall lanky lawyer named Orrin Hatch. We raised a ton of money and had no business being able to do so because it was such an unqualified list. But, I wrote a great letter and had a great headline and eye catcher that compelled them to read on.

I went on to use that headline in various forms along with a dollar bill attached in more than a couple dozen campaigns. One campaign raised $120 for every letter we sent out. It also broke a lot of silly rules people create. The letter was 18 pages long. But, it raised $120 for every letter we mailed and we mailed more than 100,000 letters. You do the math.

Like all good ideas, this one got copied. Others started taking credit for it. I didn’t care about credit, I just cared that they used it so much it began to lose its effectiveness. I had zagged and then they zagged with me so it was now so much clutter. I stopped using it.

Pick out all the little rules I’ve just given you and now go out and create your own new headline with one thing in mind – make it so compelling someone has to read the next line and so forth until they’re lined up begging you to take their money.

One last word. I am not a slave to writing long headlines. Just effective ones. I once wrote this headline advertising a one week adult education course.

We Don't Sell Fish

That was it. We had lots of space, but, that was the headline. We sold more than 5000 people a course that they had to leave their home and fly to Salt Lake City, Utah and spend a week with me and my educators as we either taught them investment strategies or came for a one week course on entrepreneurship and marketing. They paid different amounts for each course from between $2,000 and $5,000. We varied the headline from time to time, but, essentially that was the theme: We Don't Sell Fish.

3) Don't worry about what people tell you is "the right way to do it." Make it work. One of my biggest errors in headline writing was when I listened to people tell me what an awful headline this was:

Come visit the country that's been trying to kill you!

I ran it one time in one newspaper. My staff objected. Thought it was too crass or offensive or something. I got hateful letters published in the Letters to the Editor for that newspaper. Like a cheap tent, I folded. Even when we got one of the highest number of trips sold to visit the Soviet Union from people reading this headline and ad and calling to buy our tours, I didn't use the headline again. Dumb. Stupid. Makes me mad right now to think I let my staff and some mentally constipated people influence me. And to think people wrote Letters to Editor and re-publicized my advertisement FOR FREE and I didn't run it again. OHHHH that hurts to remember that.

So, write a headline that gives you butterflies and weak knees and if it works... do it again and again and again until it stops working.

Ciao.

Tis worse to be irresolute than wrong

Speed.

In marketing there are a couple of other ways of looking at it. Many wait until too late to do something. They fear rushing in. They don’t know how to manage speed. Speed kills, they say.

I have a different point of view. About right now is better than exactly right later. Fear of failure gets people into the mindset that they need to keep doing market research, fiddling with figures, and carefully mapping out strategy.

In the mean time, I’m out doing, making mistakes, learning from them and eventually getting it right. That “eventually” has some advantages. Eventually you learn the skills to do it right the first time and do it right quickly.

A long time ago in 1984, I was at a reception in Washington, DC. These are dreadful affairs with everyone wanting to be seen with someone special. I was semi-enjoying a mindless Tuesday evening when Neal Blair, my partner in political grime (we were lobbyists), came up to me with Phyllis Schlafly. The Equal Rights Amendment has spent years being rejected by state legislatures and the time had run out for the amendment process. But, die-hard supporters were trying to change the rules and grant it an extended time so they could get their way. Both parties participate in such shenanigans.

Mrs. Schlafly told Neal that she needed a commercial written that could convince the 17 wavering congressmen to spike the bill once and for all. Neal magnanimously told Schlafly that I would be happy to write a commercial for her. I nearly croaked on my Sprite. I managed to say I’d give it a try. She said, “Good. We must have it Thursday morning.” Blair said, “No problem.” I could have strangled him.

So I went home that night and wrote the script; a little one minute play about two GI Janes in a fox hole leading a platoon of Marines and saying that their congressman assured them that if the ERA passed it would not mean a mandatory equal draft. Even if you didn’t agree, it was quite funny and hard to refute.

The next morning, Wednesday, I was at the sound studio. Before leaving I called the producer and read him the script (we didn’t have faxes, cell phones, scanners or computers). By the time I arrived he had assembled five actors who grabbed my script and started rehearsing. By 5 PM we were finished. The producer spent the evening squeezing everything into the 1 minute spot. The next morning, Thursday, Schlafly had her 17 cassettes, each with the ad that named that congressman by name as the person that voted to force Mom to be a Marine.

By Thursday afternoon Schlafly had walked into all 17 congressmen’s offices and played the commercial “that will air Monday here and in your district if you vote to give an unfair extension of time to the ERA.”

On Friday morning all 17 voted against the extension and it killed the ERA once and for all.
Speed matters. Getting the job done quickly is a must.

Many other successful marketers are out doing exactly the same thing. In the mean time the careful plodders are still trying to make it perfect.

They really fear failure. Afraid yet another person will find a reason to reject them. Marketing is so much about learning from the rejections and turning them into opportunities.

To those fine people and everyone else struggling to get started, understand that anything worth doing well is worth doing poorly to start. Grow into it by doing something today. Make a fool of yourself just because. Now that it is out of your system, and you didn’t get eaten by a bystander viewing you, it’s time to get on with the task of accomplishing your dreams.

Speed. Go to it. Do it now. Don’t wait another minute.

Marketing thought for the day: Only God is not in marketing. The rest of us rely upon customer satisfaction to validate our fiscal existence.

Marketing tip: Collect today 10 email addresses you don’t have. Add them to your “house list.” Do the same tomorrow. Soon, you’ll have a database of people who know you. If you can’t figure out what to do next... stay tuned.

Beginning of an Era

Today marks the beginning of an era. A rather bold claim, but, I suspect it's true.

Those who have started a business know it is difficult. It doesn't matter what kind of business it is... from music to mechanical, from computers to composing. It requires fortitude and patience.

But try starting one with a new technology. That's impossible. Welcome to the land of maze. Will it work? Who will buy it? Am I really qualified to do this? Who is kidding whom?

For more than three and half years I've been working with my partners Dick Wilson, Steve Sutherland and our master inventor, Gary Lee to create a company from an advanced technology. Gary Lee has been working on it for 15 years! The concept, in the beginning, looked wonderfully promising. Engineers lined up to praise its ingenuity, creativity, brilliance and great applications for all of mankind. BYU's mechanical engineering department lined up to help on the engineering and did a great job.

But along the way one part of the engineering worked great but ended up causing a problem for another. Fix that and another area blows up. It's like Hercules fighting the Hydra of Lerna, but I'm no Hercules.

At times we nearly wanted to give it up and go do something to actually make us some money, but, we had wonderful investors so we had to protect their investments and persevere.

Two weeks ago our engineers showed us the advanced computer drawings of the first and only Positively Displaced Infinitely Variable Transmission. Everything works like a symphony... in perfect harmony.

Simply put, it is a revolutionary transmission for cars, trucks, ships, windmills, heavy off road and agriculture equipment and practically anything else that uses an engine. With no dynamic friction like CVTs, no clutch or torque converter, fewer parts, simpler to make, it will use about 30% less fuel but have great performance.

Really great news is it will replace the very expensive controller in the electric car making electric cars become a reality. You'll be able to buy for the same price as a regular car an electric or hybrid car that will have as much power. Even better, our transmission can be made for SUVs, pick up trucks, and... get this, the big semi-trucks as well.

No clutch means no shifting. Great for long haul truckers.

We've just begun the phase of taking our transmission to the manufacturers. We call it the Universal Transmission 301.

If you'd like to read more, go to our website www.theUniversalTransmission.com

We're thrilled to be introducing a much more powerful and efficient transmission to the world. Our first press conference is scheduled for a few weeks from now and a local TV station is currently working on a special feature about our transmission.

If you know someone in the automotive or vehicle business, please pass this along to them. It is going to have a huge impact. It will make all other automatics obsolete.

Again, it has been a long time in coming but we're now ready to begin a new era. I'd better make sure I do a good job marketing it.

Stay tuned for the whole gory or glory story.

Speed matters

It seems too obvious. Too common sense. But according to Mark Twain, "Common sense is none too common." So here is evidence common sense is right: if someone contacts you for business, and you want their business, the clock is ticking rapidly.

A recent MIT study that my friend Benoy Tamang gave me, found that on the Internet if you get an inquiry and you call them within 5 minutes, you have more than 20 times the chance of landing their business than if you wait 30 minutes. Wait a day and you wasted your money.

One November a guy told me of a chance to sell real estate in Switzerland. At the same time several major real estate companies were presented the same opportunity. I'd never sold real estate and knew nothing about Swiss law but it seemed like a great opportunity.

By the end of December I'd videoed the properties, videoed myself explaining the deal, edited it, made a one hour sales video detailing the offer and benefits, and had sold more than 400 people the video for a $100 each.

By the end of January I had a list of more than 100 prospective and qualified buyers willing to pay their way to Switzerland to meet my sales team for a tour.

By the end of February I had the team in place including the Swiss property lawyer.
In March we started meeting groups in Geneva for one week buying tours.
By May we'd sold every unit.
By the end of June we'd closed on $20+ million in Swiss condo properties in the Valaise Valley.

I made the decision and got to work immediately. The major real estate firms arrived in Switzerland in May, ready to complete their "due diligence." The looks on their faces was priceless.

As Andy told Red, "Get busy living, or get busy dying." So much of business success is speed to the market. The guy or gal who can get a project completed this week is rare. Most take a week to clear their throat. A month or two to get board approval to investigate.

This all leads to the. . .

Marketing gem of the day: About right now is better than exactly right later. Marines and marketers adapt and improvise on the move.

Thought for the day: "If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?" Thomas Jefferson

Raising funds

Let me give you the short lesson on fund raising. You may not be into fund raising, but, hang on because what I teach here is directly applicable to ALL businesses and marketing.

Besides, maybe some day for some group they'll lean on you to raise some "free" money. As someone once told Noah, "When it starts to rain it's too late to build the Ark."

(Picture caption -- if you know how to get it under the photo, let me know. For now... Elizabeth and I in the Forbidden City in China. A professor from Moscow State who took my class in Russia on starting businesses was using my 7-Steps to Business text book he'd translated into Chinese to teach at a university in Beijing. Small world. Same principles.)

The biggest problem with non-profits and fund raising is your heart. The heart isn't a good place to think about fund raising but is the usual starting point for 501(c)3s. Fund raising is best
done from the head because your target market will never have your heart.

Once you've arrived at this paradigm then fund raising is just like any other marketing. What's in it for the consumer? How will this benefit them? If you're needing short time money in large amounts, what will they get? People want and need recognition, pride, admiration, etc. Naming rights work. That's why we have SAFECO Field, the DELTA Center, Energy Solutions Arena, etc. None of these were negotiations with a non-profit. See... it's the same.

On a smaller scale, The Sarah Woodbury Entrepreneurhsip Lecture Series at Utah Valley University will be named after the donor's wife to honor her.

Then you ask yourself, "how can I deliver the maximum benefit to my customer for the minimum cost?" What can you do for them so that donating monthly is routine and a no-brainer?

Read in my book Marketing Singers, the chapter on how to put on a fund raising benefit concert.

To find a sponsor for the benefit concert, or a prime investor for your business so you have seed money and a guaranteed group of contributors who'll come or buy (their friends), see the Law of Concentric Circles in Marketing Singers. Start with those you know and then get them to tell you of their wealthy friends. See if they'll hold an "in home" concert as a fund raiser or in the case of your start up business, hold an exploratory meeting in their home to explain your business and let them ask questions.

Most start up foundations spend all of their donated funds on overhead and fund raising. One where 20% goes to the cause are rare. If you can show a higher use level, tout that.

Avoid "Beg-a-thons." They are pathetic exercises done by intellectually lazy people. It's as if you think someone owes you something. They don't. Make your effort at any level or for any item a full blown marketing effort and you can raised $100k in 6 months.

That's a quick start.

Marketing principle of the day: No one wants to buy a drill, they only want something that will make a hole. (No one wants your product, only what the product does for them.)

A matter of success

We’ve all heard a hundred folks bemoan their lot in life and reduce all the reasons for their woes down to bad luck. Or they diminish the accomplishments of others by declaring that their fortunes were a matter of good luck. Either way, luck was the master.

Ever was it so.

Thomas Holdman decided his love for art ought to be in creating stained glass windows. Soon after taking a university class in stained glass, he began creating windows for friends. However, a hobby was in the making unless he could actually make money from his art. So, he got out of his studio, walked down the street, knocked on doors and struggled to tell strangers how wonderful it would be to have a stained glass window in the entry way.

Struggled is the operative word, for Tom had difficulty speaking. His stuttering caused him to freeze up in front of people. Communicating face to face... forget it. Not going to happen. But, he had what too many of us don’t have: the determination to ignore discouragement and obstacles.

He rapped on doors until his knuckles were sore. He spoke so much his speech improved. One window turned into dozens. Dozens became hundreds. A solo struggle became a team effort with many employees. A craft became an art and his art became his business. In just a few years, Tom Holdman and company nailed a contract to put beautiful windows in churches and temples across the world. Other contracts have followed.

His small basement studio is now an impressive commercial building half the size of a football field.

Where was his luck? Just where Seneca said it would be way back in 25 AD: Where preparation meets opportunity.

Ever was it so.

Notice who created the luck? Yep, the artist. He didn’t wait to be discovered. He prepared himself artistically yet knew no one would market his art but himself, so, he did. Marketing wasn’t beneath him. It was a part of him because his success was his responsibility.

Ever was it so.

Marketing Tip of the Day: When someone inquires, don't call them back the next day. Call them in 5 minutes and you'll increase your chance of a sale by at least 20 times.

The Power of You... the word

Personally, I get bored with certain words. They’re used so much they lose their meaning. Words that once were terrific nasty words are long forgotten. The impact diminished from constant repetition.

(Picture: In 1998 I was allowed to teach one class at the Polytechnic University of Havana, Cuba on a fantasy for them... How to Start a Business. Had some fun at the fort afterward.)

But certain words ignore my boredom and are still exceptionally effective words. Certainly FREE fits in that category. By now you’d think everyone knows there is no such thing as a free lunch, but put “free” in a headline and everyone’s head turns. Rich or poor, free is good.

Another word we never tire of is “you.” No matter how often it is used, we still believe it is us they are talking about when they say “you.”

Therefore... yes, it’s painfully obvious. The word YOU is critical to your success.

Today I’ll examine one place you make a difference. Next time I’ll discuss web sites. But first, salesmanship in print and especially letters. In letters, be they advertising direct mail letters, business correspondence, emails, etc. the first words of the first sentence ought to be YOU.

A tip on writing any letter is to think about the product or purpose or goal of the letter, think about the person to whom you are writing and then start writing. Do NOT worry about the length, grammar, structure, syntax, or anything else but letting your writing flow. Make it “breathless writing.” Make it so you’re out of breath trying to keep up with the ideas so that the reader with be out of breath trying to keep up with such great thoughts.

Now that you’ve done that, look at your first paragraph. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that your first sentence is about you, or your event or your desires. In all likelihood you’re still pawing the ground in the second and third paragraphs. Finally, in the fourth paragraph there is something about your audience and how something is going to benefit them.

Take that fourth paragraph and move it to the front. Now, begin that sentence with the word, you. “You were in my thoughts today.”
“You must have some great friends because they told me ab out you.”
“You deserve a break today...”

Follow that up with other ways this person is going to be better off after reading this than they were before getting your message. From there, let it flow so it is all about them. Who you are, what your product is, when your event is doesn’t matter except as it relates to your customer getting the benefits you just told them about.

And keep it from being an advertisement. The closer it is to what you’d say to your mother, the better chance you have of the person actually reading the letter. We’re bombarded with messages. Personal notes get through. Ads are trashed.

Here’s a quick example of a proposed email to be sent by Classical Singer to members of an organization to give them a free subscription in hopes that later they’ll sign up for a premium membership:

Dear XXXX, Welcome to the Classical Singer Community! *****organization*** and Classical Singer have joined together in efforts to reach more singers and teachers than ever before. For more than 50 years, ****org*** has been THE resource for teachers. And for more than 20 years, Classical Singer has been the singer's source for career and life. Now, working together, we are dedicated to helping teachers and singers of all ages and levels in their educational and professional pursuits. Because of your ***org*** membership, you will receive monthly issues of Classical Singer magazine for a year at no cost to you. This letter accompanies the first of 12 months of the magazine you will receive.

Who is this about? It’s about Classical Singer and what they do. Why should I read on? What’s in it for me?

Now look at the rewrite that worked like dynamite:
Dear XXXX, You deserve up-to-the-minute Audition notices. You deserve access to vital career advice from industry experts and stars. You deserve crucial health and vocal technique information. You deserve more for your Singing and Teaching. And Classical Singer magazine is dedicated to providing this and much more for you.

Who is this about...? Just you.
Some writers get the idea that many people constitute their audience and say, “Many of you...” You’ve just lost the audience’s fantasy that you’re actually addressing that person and that person alone. Never say “many of you” or words to that effect. Write to one person only.

More on this in another blog. Until next time. Enjoy the hunt for it’s more about the adventure than the destination.

Marketing tip of the day: No one cares what your product IS, they only care what it DOES for them.

Becoming a performer, not a singer

A mark of an intelligent person is being able to see similarities in different universes. Anyone can point out how one person is different from another. It’s the hallmark of racism. We see a person with a different skin tone and draw conclusions. But race is a terrible predictor of behavior. I won’t get off on racism, but instead use it to illustrate the point that it is a prime example of finding differences in different universes.

(Picture: the great classical singer Carol Vaness and yours truly.)

When I lecture on college campuses I enjoy watching students come to grips with this concept. Those in the more intellectual or artistic pursuits have the most difficult time comprehending that they could possible be one who takes the easy way out and points out differences. But, they do. It’s almost reflexive in their chosen professions. Show why something is deficient.

Anyone, however, can do that. As Teddy Roosevelt once said, “It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or when the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worth cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”

Being a critic is easy. Being a creator is tough.

Back to finding similarities in different universes. Here’s an example: quickly list how a cat and a refrigerator are similar. Very different universes. If we asked how they are different... no problem. But how they’re similar is tough until you change your view point. Then it’s fun. Go ahead. Make your list.

When I do this exercise with students, artists have the toughest time. They are almost overcome by a stupor of thought because they aren’t asked to think like this. Normally they watch a singer and point out flaws. As I said, that’s the easy part. I once wrote a comedy and entered it in a university play competition. The audience loved it. I sat in the back and enjoyed the actor’s performance but particularly got a kick out of the audience. Once gentleman sitting near me laughed so much and so hard he was on the floor on his hands and knees. The next day I quietly attended a “critique” of all the plays. When it came to my play, the moderating professor said, “I didn’t see it but heard there were some problems.” It had won, but the professor couldn’t overcome her training and just had to focus on the differences in the universe thinking it does some good. She just made herself look foolish while trying to appear important.

Okay, back to cats and refrigerators. How many similarities were on your list? Most people mention they come in an assortment of colors, both hold fish and milk, both are cold and won’t come to you when you call. Once people change their mind sets, they start getting creative (hmmm, is there a lesson here?) They start noticing that both have four legs, a tail, they both purr, have hairballs, sit in a corner, and so forth.

We recently attended a performance of some singers. They were terrific. Blended voices, active music selection, great range... and in fact were quite at home on the range. They were the Bar J Wranglers, a cowboy singing group. Every singer could learn some lessons from these guys. These guys were performers first, singers second. Robert Swedberg of the now defunct Orlando Opera once told me he was tired of hiring singers and only wanted to hire performers. Apparently his audiences tired of singers too.

People go to theatrical events to be entertained, not educated. If we learn something as well, that’s the clotted cream atop the butterfat rich ice cream.

Performance is all about blending art and reality. Great music elevates the soul but for a singer to stand and sing aria after aria after aria is mind numbing. Performance is all about engaging the audience. Getting the audience involved enthralls. That means speaking to them, tell them stories about the music, joking with them and making them laugh, touching their souls and making them weep. You’ve got to have a schtick. An entertainment routine.

Developing a performance is tough work. It takes talent to conceive of routines that add to the music rather than distract. More than that, it takes experience. You must perform to enough people that you know what moves them, makes them laugh, cry or chuckle. You must organize the music so it crescendos to a climax that drives the audience to leap to their feet and demand more.

Watch the Bar J Wranglers and you’ll see a finely tuned performance. They touch all the buttons. In college courses we tell students plagerism is stealing from another person. But research is taking from many! Bits here. Ideas there. But only from the best and only that fit you and your stage goals.

One tip from Gladys Knight contradicts advise I’ve heard voice teachers give too much. One rather stuffy teacher once preached to classical singers to never look their audiences in the eye because that diminished the music. Let the music speak for itself and don’t get common. Nice advice if you want to bore people. Instead, consider that tip from Gladys Knight. She states that every time she enters the stage, as she walks to the center or her starting mark she scans the audience for the most positive, receptive person and then zeros in on that person as she sings her first song. She draws energy from that audience member that flows through her and back to the rest of the audience. Gladys is a great performer. She knows. Take her tip.

That’s enough for now.

One last tip from Carol Vaness, the famed Met opera singer. "Enjoy your craft. Love your craft." It’s the best marketing advice ever.

Marketing tip of the day: If you believe it, they’ll believe it.

So who is in business?

I could just as easily ask, "who is in marketing" as "who is in business." Is there really a meaningful difference? Maybe in theory, but, not in the real world. So the question is the same. Who is in business?

(This picture is of me and a new Soviet business man in 1990 in the USSR. I was there teaching people how to start their own businesses. He just bought one of my books that had been translated into Russian.)

As a writer there is nothing more I'd like than to spend my days penning some marvelous script, writing some music and finding just the right lyrics that fit the notes, rhythm and mood at that point in the score. Then take up a chance to finish my latest book.

But, reality intrudes yet again. I have to pay the mortgage and buy some food. No one comes along and rips the transcript from my hands and hands me a check. Instead I have to find a buyer. Yes, that is a pain.

About 5 days after Elizabeth and I returned from our honeymoon, we were sitting around the apartment on a Sunday afternoon, reading, listening to music and generally enjoying the solitude with each other. A thought came into my head. "I think the rent for this place is due in two weeks." So I asked Liz, "Ahh, how much money do we have in the bank account?" She looked up at me and said, "I haven't a clue."

"Hmm, " I said, "Neither do I. Maybe we ought to check."

We got out the check book and balanced it... it was a mess but still had the amounts of checks recorded. Once the adding machine did its thing we saw the balance and laughed. We weren't overdrawn, but it was close. We had nothing in savings and not much cash sitting around the house.

"What are we going to do?" her look said to me.

"I guess one of us ought to get a job."

"Let's both get one," she said.

We did. We made ends meet. Liz, my artist wife, got a job at a construction company as... are you ready... a bookkeeper!! I flipped hamburgers and made shakes while I finished off my English degree.

As life happened I found no one was beating an Agatha path to my door to read my better Mousetrap. I had to send my story out to get a buyer. And I did.

Since that time I've learned the art of advertising and marketing and it has served me and my family well. I've written 15 books and always self published so I could market them myself. The mark-ups beat the heck out of royalties. I've also learned to start businesses. I've seen wonderful successes and mind-numbing failures as I've started companies in construction, advertising, publishing, tour operations, fund raising, adult education, vehicle transmissions and others. I've staged musicals, created a venue for more than 100 sold out concerts for my friends in the classical music world. I've even been a lobbyist for a free market grass roots lobby where I wrote and helped pass the only unanimously approved resolution in US history supporting freedom fighters. It's been a wild ride but filled with great adventures.

I've discovered several facts of life including: Everyone is in marketing. Only God does not rely upon customers to validate his existence. The rest of us are constantly selling something so we can trade what we have of value for what someone else has in value.

Reality bites, but, you're in marketing and business too. So let's do it right and have some fun with it. Once we decide that is what we must do, marketing and business become natural. More on that another day.

Marketing fact for the day: If you gather the names and emails of everyone you come in contact with on a professional basis, when you go to sell something, that list of people will buy 5 times more than any other list except one. Once they've bought from you, when you have something else to sell, the list of previous buyers are 10 times more likely to buy again.

Business phrase for the day: If you can't fix it, feature it.

I keep watching people put together plans for making sales. Most have little experience so they copy something that seems good. Images bombard us daily so it is natural to assume those images are worth copying. The overwhelming number of marketing and advertising plans, however, are not for you. They may work, but then, how do you know? Certainly the people who created the plans rarely know if the plan actually worked, sort of worked, probably worked or didn't work at all.

Pompous of me to say so? No. Because most marketing plans are not created with a way to immediately measure the impact of the marketing plan. The billions spent on marketing each year are spent by the big boys and girls like Adidas, Nike, General Foods, and so forth. Madison Avenue makes their money off these international corporations. They're not fools so there is method to their madness. Their plans are created with millions of dollars to spend on multiple forms of media spread over quarters for testing and sometimes years for roll outs. They are determined to create brand awareness.

This type of marketing strategy employs DRA: Delayed Response Advertising.

I seriously doubt if anyone reading this blog has millions of dollars to spend and years to wait for their sales.

Therefore, don't copy this marketing strategy and don't use their advertising techniques so blithely.

Your job economically, is to find sales that bring you money in fairly soon. For that you must employ marketing strategies the do two things:
1. Produce trackable results. You must be able to measure the results. You must know what exactly produced the sale. If you can't measure it, you can't replicate or improve your strategy. 2. Produce sales in quantities you can keep your doors open.

Therefore, you need IRA: Immediate Response Advertising techniques.

I keep posting information on IRA techniques on this blogs. If you have a marketing plan and you'd like me to comment on it, just send it to me.

Enjoy life and Relish All Victories.

Dealing with rejection and criticism

Being told you are lousy is no fun. Frankly, it can turn a person into a hermit. I have two things to say about this.
Thought #1 -- Don't do to others what they are doing to you. It's so easy once you're criticized to figure that is the way things should be. And so to your subordinates, students or anyone, you do what you've seen done to others and yourself. Criticize, and then rationalize it as just being helpful.

Not true. I know. If received and I've dealt a plenty. Does that mean if someone you're responsible for (student, child, subordinate worker) needs to change that you say nothing? Sometimes. But at other times the person needs some help. Here's the key: your arm. Yep, that funny thing hanging off your shoulder. Take that arm and put it around the person and let them know you care. The prime rule: no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

I've judged a number of artistic endeavors. At one opera festival in Austria one of the judges actively sought out each singer and told them what they were doing wrong. She was quite proud of herself. I saw a couple of the singers the next day and they were livid over the criticism. Should they have been? Hey, they're human. And that is how unsolicited criticism is almost always received.

Here's a letter I wrote to my children many years AFTER I should have known it. One daughter, after reading it said, "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my father!?" I'm glad she had a smile on her face but I knew if I'd known these things as a new father I would have done a better job. Of course I can't argue with the results as all of our children are wonderful. Here's the letter:

Dear Kids,
About criticism. I’ve done too much of it and have some thoughts on it in reflection.

What I learned most from negative criticism is self-loathing and personal despair. Once over that I stumble forward none the wiser but more cautious.

Those who wish to teach using negative criticism only fool themselves into thinking it is teaching in route to learning.

Learning comes mostly from emulation. It's how we learned to walk, talk, sing, and live.
“I've heard it said we learn more from our failures than our successes, but I'm not so sure.

Failures are filled with angst, depression, cynicism, skepticism, contempt and loss of confidence.
Yes… Failure is a part of life, but well worth leaving behind as quickly as possible. Visiting the caverns of failure should only done after positive experiences have led us to understand we are of value.

Perhaps in tranquility we can then stop for a moment at the cavern of failure, peek inside and pull out something of use for later.

Should anyone seek to shove us down into that dank cavern of despair through words of criticism, to make sure we learn from our failures, we enter unarmed and at the mercy of the bowels of negativity.

Instead, journey forth to the springs of eternal life and sip from the clear pools surrounding it. Take others with you. Encourage them as if they were already there.

Kind words. Thoughtful encouragement. A mansion can be built upon a tiny foundation if positive thoughts are the concrete and steel.

As those thoughts mature into actions, the foundation magically increases and soon becomes rock solid and a far larger platform than the loftiest mansion may need.

As the shingles of positive thoughts are applied to the roof, no longer are the hailstorms of negative criticism allowed to damage the mansion's gossamer draperies and plush carpets.

I've considered criticism and conclude that I welcome all criticism so long as it is filled with love and adulation.

Love,


Your Dad (my favorite title)

Carole Blum asked me to review this advertisement that she posted in Classical Singer magazine to try and figure out how to get more responses. A worthy goal! Here is my response. It applies to all advertisements regardless of the product or publication: (I noticed that when the ad is posted the color goes all weird, but, double click on the ad and you'll see the proper colors.)
"Dear Carol,
I remember you well and hope you are doing great.
Your advertisement doesn't do you justice. I like the photo, however. It attracts attention and is approachable and vulnerable (critical elements in most head shots).

But, the rest of the advertisement is all about YOU and nothing much about THEM (the customers). The key to advertising is to make the ad about them and not you.
What's in it for them?
How will they benefit?
What problem in their life is being solved?
How will contacting you make them better, richer, more famous, happier, jollier, less stressed, etc.? Whatever the benefit.

See my previous blog for more ideas.

Don't try to be like everyone else -- your ad is predictable and provides no reason for me to stop turning the pages and focus on your message."

How to Write a Good Ad... anyone can!

(to read the ad to the left, just click on it.)

To write a good advertisement first know why you're writing it.

Here are some of the choices:

1. To gain notoriety

2. To become familiar to the audience

3. To make money

4. To give recognition to someone (like my great university faculty)

5. To at least pay for the cost of the advertisement and gain notoriety, some branding and positioning.

6. To position our company, university, product in the minds of our consumers in a certain fashion

7. To brand our product

I'm sure there are more reasons but these are the ones typically given. Some overlap.

If your reasons are 1,2,4,6, or 7 you are about to spend an enormous amount of money. That's what it takes to brand a product. To do that you or the art director will copy Madison Avenue and the Fortune 500 advertising departments figuring if they do it then it must be good. Often you'll copy them just because you see their work everywhere and it has oozed into your subconscious mind and been riveted to your creative thougts. They are the archetype.

But, that doesn't mean this type of advertising is for you. Frankly, it's not. Forget Madison Avenue. It's not that their advertising is wrong or improper. It's just wrong for you. And horribly expensive. To truly brand a product -- make your name a household word like Kleenex or Jell-o, it takes a minimum of three years and $30 million. I'm counting creative time and costs, placement time and costs and repetition.

Unless you have Fortune 500 and Madison Avenue time and resources don't try to copy them. And don't let your art director cower you into feeling lesser for suggesting advertising is NOT about pretty pictures and award winning layout.

For you, the typical small business person or university director, budgets matter. Costs matter. You need results and you need them now.

Here are the quick requirements for your advertisements:

1. It must catch the eye. Call that Attention.

2. It must immediately tell the reader or listener what's in it for him. How will she benefit immediately? Call that Interest. Nothing interests us more than something that benefits us.

3. It must generate emotion. Selling is not an intellectual exercise. People buy because they are emotionally stimulated to do so. They reconfirm the buying decision through intellect, but, first, you must generate emotion. That can and should be through a combination of your visual and graphics and your written word. Call that Desire.

4. Now that you've got their attention, shown them how they will benefit and gotten their juices flowing. Now they're ready for you. You must have in clear, bold space how they should react... do you want them to e-mail you, call you, or write to you? For the most part the best things to do are the most immediate. Call. E-mail or click on this website.

Call this Action.

Look at the advertisement at the top from New England Conservatory of Music. It's by far one of the better advertisements I've seen in Classical Singer. It follows most of the correct or effective principles. Mainly, it is one of the few ads that is about the client, not about the advertiser. Ask yourself if your ad is about YOU or THEM. You aren't important. Your customer is. How you benefit them is all that matters.

Will this ad work? Probably, but I don't know. Does it have a chance to work far better than the others who copied Madison Avenue? Absolutely.

The names of the game, however, are tracking and adaption.

Create the ad based upon the best principles as I've given you above, publish the ad, then track the results. The adapt. See what you can change to make it better.

Hopefully you more than make your cost of advertising. Within a few days you'll have your results to know about how many sales or responses you get. Every advertising medium has a pattern. In direct mail that goes first class, within 10 days of mailing you will have received 50% of your total sales. It's often called the "doubling day." The rest will come within days and weeks to come. The "tail" can be long but the predictability is consistent. With 3rd class mail doubling day is usually 15 days and in some cases 20. It's an erratic mail delivery method so you'll learn from trial and error when the doubling day is.

But you must track the results to know how effective you were. It is not enough to say "I don't know how many sales but it gave us good visibility." That doesn't pay the bills. You must rework the ad so it makes sales or gets responses.

In my next blog I'll take any responses you have for the quality of the New England Conservatory advertisement and then discuss exactly why it was a great effort on their part. I'll also have suggestions on how they could make it even better... and by better I mean... yep... more trackable response.