October 8, 2009

Does Your Message Need to Be 10-Feet Tall?... The Pointless
Art of Complaining... How to Know What Your Business Is
Worth... Consult an "Insider" for Info Marketing Ideas... and More.

I simply can't understand the big appeal of billboards. There are people who want them torn down and then there are companies fighting to keep them up.

Aside from giving me a short laugh now and then with a witty tag line, I really don't believe that huge billboards are part of the future of marketing. However, there are certainly instances when they can be useful.

Take, for example, the billboards you often see on interstates and some side roads. You're not going to see a big photo of the latest photocopier or SUV here. What you see are ads for business that you'll soon be approaching. "Make a Left at Route 99" is what they ask you to do to catch a bite to eat or stock up on travel supplies.

It is these billboards that are similar to the direct marketing efforts of many info marketers. These billboards have identified their market (hungry travelers) and provide a direct call to action (turn left in five minutes).

And while the flashy billboards with witty slogans are interesting for a second or two, I can't help but feel that they are missing the point.

You want a customer not only to want what you're selling, but also to know how to get it. And, you want your perspective customer to feel like they are the only one in the audience. When the country road billboard says, "Turn left to eat at the Burger Spot," that message is for you. If you're not hungry, you can keep driving, but if you are hungry, you've found the solution to your problem.

This is what you want to get across when you are marketing your own product or service. Sure, flashy ads and clever slogans are fun to create and can sometimes help you get noticed. But, to truly speak to your potential customers, you need to address their wants and then show them how to get what they need as soon as possible.

Whether you're advertising in the back pages of the classifieds section or posting billboards all along the interstate, keeping your message as direct and clear as possible is far more important than all the flash and glamour you could fit in that space.

Complaining about things is just pointless. If you listen carefully to people's complaints, they even begin to sound a bit silly -- immature at best.

Try this: write down a few complaints you have on a piece of paper. It may be a frustration you have with a co-worker, something that happened the last time you took your car in for repairs -- anything at all. Now, put the list of complaints into an envelope and seal it. Don't open it up for a couple of days or a week. Read the list and see how insignificant those complaints have become.

Did your complaining about it make any difference? Or was there something more constructive you could have done to manage the problem? Was there some tactful way you could have told your colleague at work that his pen-tapping was irritating you? Could you have made a change in a customer- service policy by responding to the mechanic in a different way? Change is in your hands. You just need to have the self- esteem to go from being a complainer who internalizes things to having the confidence and the diplomacy to handle issues more constructively.

Here's something else you can try. The next time someone criticizes you, don't push back. Go with the force instead and see what the result is. If your neighbor angrily reminds you that you haven't returned his gardening tool in over six months, tell him he is absolutely correct and apologize for your negligence.

Forget about how he approached you. The part that matters is that you have accepted responsibility and triggered an event that sets a course for positive action. Listening to constructive criticism and processing it well is another process in the journey to good self-esteem. Don't listen to the negativity of the presentation. Take the underlying facts and use them to your advantage to learn all you can about yourself. What you will notice is that the next time your neighbor has a similar objection, he will approach you with less anger.

How we communicate is pivotal to transforming negative energy into positive. The words we speak have a huge impact on how we are perceived. Strong words for feelings, such as "hate," "despise" and "disgust," only prove to demonstrate where our emotions and self-esteem are. People who swear constantly are clearly not in the frame of mind to be successful, because they cannot express themselves. There are millions of words in the English language, and they choose profanity to mask their emotions. They fail to articulate their feelings and shut people out.

I want you to pay close attention to the words you speak from here on in. Do you use words like "no," "can't," "won't," "have to," "might," or "maybe?" While they are common enough expressions, they are the trademark of an unsure, less-than- confident person. Place certainty into your vocabulary. Think before you speak and put together expressive sentences that truly reflect the way you feel.

Practice it in your everyday conversation and switch yourself every time you are going to say something negative. Rather than saying, "I don't want to go to that movie; I hate Jack Nicholson," say, "I would enjoy a movie, but Jack Nicholson is not my favorite actor." You'll be surprised at how different your conversations are when you believe in yourself and put forth your ideas and opinions in a positive manner.

Last week, I wrote about a common problem that most entrepreneurs have when they approach investors to help grow their business: valuation. Entrepreneurs tend to grossly overstate the value of their business, thus leaving investors with little choice but to turn the proposed deal down.

Learning the value of your business is extremely important, but it also takes some hard work to come up with accurate numbers to justify your claims. I recently, however, learned of a way for entrepreneurs not only to learn the value of their business quickly and painlessly, but also to put them in touch with a number of potential customers in under two minutes.

It's called "Planet Eureka!" And it's a web site that uses a business-simulating forecast matrix based on various factors to come up with the "fair price" of your product and the value of your company. Not only does the web site do that, but it also allows businesses to connect with each other to fill various needs.

Let's say, for instance, that you are an inventor and you've come up with a new, innovative product. Through Planet Eureka, you can find buyers, manufacturers, distributors and virtually anything you need to make sales and move product.

The site, www.planeteureka.org, was introduced by an entrepreneur named Bill Hall in conjunction with the Department of Commerce's Manufacturing Extension project to create the USA National Innovation Marketplace. Since its inception, the sales forecast for every listed innovation is almost $33.0 billion!

This is a great tool for any entrepreneur or small business owner. Whether you are interested in learning the value of their company or are looking to build your customer base, Planet Eureka can do a number of positive things for your business.

If you need to get an accurate idea of how to value your business to help get a loan, or just want to find an innovative way to grow or sell your business, give Planet Eureka a try!

** Consult an "Insider" for Info Marketing Ideas
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert

In a recent "e-Wealth Daily Bulletin," I wrote about keeping up on new information relevant to your info marketing business. As you probably gathered, I couldn't stress how important it was for an info marketer to keep up-to-date on the subject he or she writes about and how important it was to get news about your info subject in order to incorporate into your own business.

I am also a keen advocate for info marketers getting in contact with those people who can help with their business. Having good connections in your professional career is essential, especially if you are an info marketer and you operate more or less alone and do not have immediate support in-house. Once you get your business going, it's good to have some help from certain sources, especially ones that are more up-to-date on current concepts, technology, etc. than you are.

Now am I saying that in order to get insider tips, you have to act like some record executive from the 1970's, buying TVS, basketball tickets, and some other "special" services for radio people in order to promote your new rock band? No, not at all.

Some of these inside connections don't take much to establish or maintain. Oftentimes you won't correspond with these people for a long time. But once you do, they can be invaluable in giving you want you want and you just have to simply return the favor.

I know what you're thinking: "Great, bud. How do I get insiders to help me out?"

I would recommend just, well, getting out there first. If you get invited to a party, if you meet someone in line at the computer store, or if you start corresponding with a client or colleague, every one of these little connections is potentially valuable in the future. That said, keep your business card on hand and be sure to take one from the other party.

After you start meeting people, it's good to note who might be especially helpful to you and your info marketing business. Often you will meet people who are really on the inside about a subject that is exactly the same as yours. These are people who are worth knowing and you can often get to know them through a good social invite or event. For instance, a friend of mine is a baseball nut and now a baseball info marketer. He was at a pub on St. Paddy's Day and happened to share a table with a man who was a morning traffic and sports announcer on a local AM station. They got talking, met up again after St. Paddy's Day, and now exchange e-mails on sports info. It's important to note that my friend was not consciously trying to make a connection here. He just was hanging out with a mutual sports-lover. But, before long, he was getting up-to-the minute sports scores and news sent right to his Gmail account.

In this day and age, I find it crucial to know people who have vast online savvy. I just finished one of a few -- and hopefully more -- contracts for a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company. If you ever wanted to know how to get your business online, these are guys to help you. They code your web site, submit it to search engines, and work to get you right to the top of related searches online. Now, it's not necessary for you to go and get as close to a firm like this as I have. But it is good to get close with others -- friends, your Internet provider, Web designers -- who have vast experience in online expertise, keep their contact info handy at all times and request that they send you new info when they can.

Finally, it's a good idea to give thanks. I come from a family of hunters and fishermen. Often, if someone lets them fish off their property or hunt on their land, my family will give them some of the fish or quarry as thanks. Say what you want about hunting or fishing, I think you'd agree that this attitude is pretty good. If someone provides you with tips or insider secrets, buy them a bottle of wine or a gift of some sort or drop off a Christmas card. That little bit of thanks goes a long way. It tells them that you appreciate their help and they will no doubt be willing to help you in the future.

Obviously, there are no hard and fast rules in getting insider tips for info marketing. But, above all, remember to be professional, courteous, and grateful to those who help you with your business. You don't have to be "on the make." You just have to want to work with those who can assist in making your business better. You can get great info that you can pass along to your clients and you can meet great new people along the way, too!