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The land of green…
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and in some places, it truly is a celebration and can be a very “green” affair. How far would you go to create a marketing buzz around your next big launch? Well, Chicago goes to some pretty interesting lengths to dye the Chicago River that runs through the city each year a nice emerald green color. It’s a tradition going on for decades to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Apparently, the plumbers union helped… read on and watch the video for more – Depending on the business you’re in, doing a communication or promotion around a holiday is a terrific way to connect with your audience. You can also create…
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Boots on the ground marketing…
Have you ever done any “boots on the ground” type of marketing? You know, the kind that involves going door to door, or maybe setting up a table at a fair or a booth at an event? This type of marketing can be the most rewarding and yet the most exhaustive as well. The interesting thing to note is that when it’s done well, it REALLY works. What does done well essentially mean: In Your Marketing Materials – Take a direct response approach where you’re using these 5 elements of the sales message: Check out my friend and stellar copywriter Julie– Make sure you have defined your dream client(s) and where…
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Are you good at finding things?
There’s been one thing that somewhat mystifies me, and that’s my ability to find things that are lost. I can’t really explain it, except when I can’t find something, there’s an inner voice that actually whispers to me where I can find that lost item. I know, I know, this may sound a bit crazy, and before you think that I hear voices, let me explain further… It’s been two weeks since we’ve moved to our new house, and one of our most used questions has been – “Hey honey have you seen the [insert name of item here]?” I thought we did a pretty awesome job at packing, yet,…
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Changing Your Perspective
Thanks for all the comments last week on our fascinating adventure to buy a new home. All is well, we got into the house and doing some painting, and the official move is next week. It’s interesting how some specific things about buying and selling homes have changed because of the pandemic. Specifically, at closing, everyone being in the same room to sign all the papers and being able to celebrate afterward. Yeah, that won’t happen. We had a mobile notary who came over to the house, and we signed the mountains of papers, and after we were done – It just felt a little weird and anti-climatic. I knew…
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Would you ever consider joining a cult?
I know, a crazy question, right? Well… Of course, you are probably saying to yourself – “No way, that’s kind of crazy. Who in the right mind would join a cult?” Yeah, I know, I hear you, and I agree with you. Yet, let me share some interesting myths about cults with you: Most people think that those who join cults are not very intelligent or have psychological problems. Ummm, nope, that’s not correct. Believe it or not, most people who join cults are very intelligent and are psychologically sound. People knowingly join cults – Most people don’t or wouldn’t ever join a cult. What usually happens to them is like a frog…
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Journey into the Human Psyche (Part 1)
Have you ever had a moment where you read something, watched something, or maybe a friend told you about something that totally grabbed your curiosity, and you had to dig deeper to discover more? Well, that’s where I’ve been these past several days… Ever since I started reading True Believer by Eric Hoffer, this journey into the human psyche has really got me incredibly curious. The fun part is my spouse Ally is just as fascinated by the human psyche. Usually, before she heads off to the hospital, we always have our coffee and talk. Lately, we’ve been reading aloud from True Believer and having some insightful conversations. (I do love being with someone…
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Confessions, Word Choices, & Websites
This is a little out there and something I noticed this morning when I was doing my morning reading. (I read at least 30 minutes every morning to stimulate my brain. Remember, I’m a learnaholic, so this fuels me and my day. 🙂 When I was reading, I noticed how this writer used the word “but” a lot. I mean, “but” is an ok word yet in my somewhat limited grammar experience, (Grammarly.com is my friend.) ”but” is a conjunction (i.e., a linking word) that’s used to introduce a contrast. So it always negates what comes before it. (Yeah, I did have to look that up to get the right…
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Dealing with “Can you do this cheaper?”
Have you ever been in negotiations with a new client or customer, and they ask the inevitable question: “Can you do this cheaper?” Or maybe they try to ask it more politically – “How can we work together to get this proposal to only $8k instead of $20k?” What’s the best way to answer a question like this? When I get this question – all I want to do is send them this meme: Seriously though, let me take a couple of minutes to give you some insights on this question that seems to come up more often than not. I mean, we’re all looking for a better deal. Retail…
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Are you a positive energizer?
Have you ever heard of a positive energizer? Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and researching about positivity for a client. When I came across this term – “Positive Energizer.” It was really interesting stuff and I wanted to share because… In the early part of my life, I spent it being incredibly negative because that’s all I knew how to be. I had no idea there was another way to live and that my mindset mattered. It wasn’t until I hired an executive coach that I discovered there was another way of being. That I had a choice to stay in a negative thinking mind or do…
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The Not So ‘Sexy’ Way to Get New Clients
Being in the online marketing space for 15 years, I’m feeling grateful for all the learning I’ve been doing. That’s what I’m calling any mistakes I’ve made along the way – learning because they’re not mistakes if I’ve taken away some huge lessons! I can think back at how hard it was to create high converting landing and web pages, and now as you may have seen with my last couple of emails, there are TONS of online resources that will make it even easier for you to create web pages, graphics and more. The name of the game, though to keep your business alive and to thrive is to…
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Attitude, Balance, Challenges, Clients & Customers, Communication, Motivation, Overcoming Obstacles, Procrastination
Who’s running the show today?
Tools of the trade If you’re looking for more links and some pure left-brain marketing tips, this might fill the bill. And you simply need to hang in with me for a few more paragraphs until we get there. 🙂 Come on, keep reading, aren’t you curious? Just a little about what I’m gonna share? 😉 Last week I helped out my friend and mentor – Debbie Phillips, by hosting her weekly check-in last week on Thursday morning. (She was out of town and I was happy to pitch in for her as I’ve done before.) Let me share with you a little about Debbie Phillips. She’s a VIP (Very…
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Have You Hugged Your Customers Lately?
There’s been a lot of hugging going on this week for me, which I love since it feels like the pandemic madness of “no touching” is slowly being lifted as more people have gotten vaccinated. (In our little part of Northern CA, if you can believe, only 28% of folks have gotten vaccinated – hmmmm…) So what’s all the hugging about? Well, it was my spouse’s birthday this week, and yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary. So lot’s to celebrate and happy we can do that with friends. There’s just something about hugging. You know when you get a really good hug that lasts a few seconds more than…
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Are you manipulating people with your copy or are you using influence?
Last week one of my clients asked me if I write these weekly emails in advance and simply set them up to go out each week in an email campaign – interesting. That’s a terrific idea. I wish I could sit down and bang out 10 of these at once. Yet, that’s not my process. I have so many ideas and things I want to share with you each week. It’s more fun for me to write either the day before or the day that I send out the email. Like I’m doing now. 🙂 My goal is to have them fresh, interesting, and sort of my stream of consciousness of what I’m…
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Don’t Ever Create Any of Your Content From Scratch Again
How many times a day, week, month or more, are you creating content for your business? It could be social medial content for posts, content for emails, blogs, write sales pages, optin pages, maybe notes or questions for podcast guests. Or maybe you need some scripts or templates for videos you’re going to create. Content, content, content is the name of the game in marketing. It’s always been content, now it’s really becoming a force to grow your business. Being successful in business, your marketing isn’t just about selling anymore. It’s about attracting, connecting, personalizing, and solving your customers’/clients’ problems. My favorite clients are the ones that have a ton…
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Getting Your Personality In Your Copy
Before I give you some of the mind-blowing lessons from what I believe is one of the greatest direct response marketing copywriters – Dan Kennedy, I wanted to share a quick story. Later in my career as an online strategic marketer, what was exciting to me was sharing the same stage with Dan at his request. Then later working with him and Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle for a year. Working with him and actually meeting with him on several occasions, not to mention the two writing contests I’d won where he granted me two separate live, in-person (obviously before the pandemic) 30-minute consultations about my business. What I learned from this copywriting…