This afternoon I’m interviewing Jack Trout, the world’s leading branding and marketing specialist. Jack and I will be talking about how to make your small business stand out, how to create a brand on a budget, and why coming up with a catchy name for your business just isn’t enough. We’ll talk marketing strategies, positioning, and more!
Join us at 4 PM Eastern Time by joining The Experts Series!
Last week, during Frank Kern’s List Control launch, he offered the templates and full strategies for the 4-Day Cash Machine technique. Essentially, you pick a product, drop the price by half, add 5 cool bonuses, and mail your list for 4 days. On the List Control web site, Frank described the technique as something that would generate thousands of dollars and create good will for you with your list, even if you’ve got a relatively slow-responding list.
I thought, “Hm.” And decided to try it out. I’ve done this several times with other internet and information marketers. I try out their free stuff and if they promise certain results and give you strategies to get there, I test them. If the techniques they recommend work, then I think they might be pretty good at teaching me other stuff that might work.
Since this technique was billed as something that generates good will and positive feelings among subscribers (ostensibly because of the free bonuses and generous discount being offered), I wanted to see if that was true. I figured it would go one of two ways: either my subscribers would be excited about the promotions and would ultimately forgive me for mailing them every day for four days, or they’d be pretty mad.
How’d it go?
I lost a total of 17 subscribers, had 3 complaints, 1 spam report, and my sales actually dropped lower than normal. The thing I’m most bummed about is the lost subscribers. The number of people who unsubscribed doesn’t really make a blip on the radar of my subscriber list, but I’m bummed that there are 17 people out there who were bothered by my experiment and now have a negative feeling about me.
So what went wrong?
My subscribers are pretty unused to seeing me wearing the shoes of an overly-salesy marketer. And they’re not used to seeing e-mails from me every day. Generally, my subscribers are used to me sending my e-zine every week, and occasionally an additional e-mail to let them know about something cool I’m launching (and I hope they’re getting used to my experiments, LOL).
So four mailings in a week plus their regular e-zine….too much. I’d say that’s about 90% of it.
But there’s more. Okay, look….I’ve been working a lot of hours lately. We’ve got two clients launching new web sites and I’m working on a new book, and I made a huge mistake in the last mailing. The instructions for the 4-Day Cash Machine tell you to change certain lines. I followed the instructions and maybe because I was overly-tired, forgot to change one line.
So people were probably pretty confused to see me talking about a “dog training” system. When I saw that in my own inbox, my heart just about stopped. I was horribly embarrassed that day, and felt so bad about the whole thing that I sent an apology to my subscribers. (I have to say, though, in retrospect…the dog training thing is a little bit funny…you have to be able to laugh at your mistakes, people…really.)
On the plus side… When I fail so publicly, I think it’s a cool thing because it gives me an opportunity to show other people that you really can be successful, even if you make big mistakes sometimes. You don’t have to be perfect to be a success!
But you do have to own up to your mistakes and you do have to apologize when you mess up. So I really hope my subscribers forgive me. And in fact, I received quite a few wonderful responses to my apology e-mail, and that was really awesome.
What did I learn?
Well, first of all, I learned that there’s one more info marketer on my list of folks who are teaching an old bag of tricks that no longer work.
My theory is this: As long as a strategy works well, they keep it quiet. When it slows down, starts to dry up, and isn’t serving them as well, they cash in and share it with the world, teaching their “private secrets.” I’ve seen this happen quite a few times.
The bottom line is:
From here on out, I’m going to trust my instincts and stick to my own way of doing things. I’m turning off all e-mails from information and internet marketers and I won’t be experimenting with their techniques anymore. I will, however, continue to learn from the folks I’ve come to trust, like Bob Burg, Jack Canfield, Jack Trout, Seth Godin, and other bestselling authors and real experts. I’ll rely on the old school business fundamentals I talk about so much, and I won’t try to throw in new techniques that jar my people as much as this one did.
Now don’t get me wrong. Frank Kern is a success for a reason. He’s got a brilliantly-crafted brand, a genius videographer, and his copywriting is pure inspiration. I’m sure his private clients are very happy folks, and maybe even the people who pay for his $2000 programs. But make no mistake about it, the 4-Day Cash Machine strategy does not work with every audience, it did not build good will among my people, and it did not impress me. So…there you go.
Brian Tracy recently suggested that I try out his new Business Growth Strategies program, and who am I to say no to one of the greatest minds in small business success and personal development? Brian Tracy has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and seminars around the globe. He’s the top-selling author of over 45 books that have been translated into dozens of languages and has written and produced more than 300 audio and video learning programs, including the worldwide, best-selling Psychology of Achievement. So, you know, he’s major. And you simply have to know that Brian is the best at what he does.
Obviously, if someone like Brian Tracy personally recommends that you try something out, well, even if it’s his product, I just think you do it. So I immediately took the $1 trial and gave it a whirl.
*BTW, in the interests of full disclosure, please note that I do not have any sort of affiliate relationship with Brian Tracy. Period.
Business Growth Strategies: What is it?
Brian Tracy’s Business Growth Strategies is a seriously high-powered system of videos and written instructions to take you from where you are now to where you want to go with your business.
You start with a Business Profitability Assessment that examines 30 areas of your business. It’s comprehensive, but don’t be afraid- the whole assessment only takes about 10 minutes. That said, beware: this assessment shines a fairly harsh light on your business. I thought I had a pretty good setup with my business, but darned if I didn’t discover pretty quickly that there were at least 12 major areas where I could stand improvement.
What’s pretty cool, though, is that throughout the process, Brian is there, walking you through via video, and he’s just such a nice man and so encouraging that it helps soften the blow when you realize how much help you need (even if, for some bizarre reason I have yet to understand, the videos do tend to remind me a little bit of those Darma Initiative videos from Lost, which also strangely makes the whole thing even more pleasant…if you figure that one out, let me know).
Once you’ve gotten through the assessment, you learn all the areas where you need help and you can start getting into the actual meat of the content.
What you’ll learn:
Business Growth Strategies provides tangible help with just about any aspect of small business growth that you can think of. You learn a lot of theory about business growth, from setting up the right systems, making sure you’re properly capitalized, business planning, sales, marketing, time management, effectiveness, advertising….there’s almost nothing that isn’t covered. Business Growth Strategies is more comprehensive than you can possibly imagine. There are 52 lessons with more than 250 videos recorded by Brian Tracy himself, and every lesson comes with written materials, exercises, and action steps.
Pedagogically speaking…
From a teaching standpoint, the combination of mediums is really smart. You need to watch the videos to get the most out of everything, and probably it’s better if you watch them all more than one time, but you can download and (if you’re so inclined) print out the written instructions to make a pretty awesome workbook with exercises and action steps, so you know exactly what you’re supposed to do.
Although you can skip around the program and focus on whatever topic you want, they’ve set it up so that you get a lesson plan based on your Business Profitability Assessment. That’s pretty wise, because without that lesson plan, the massive amount of material available can get a little overwhelming and daunting.
If you go into this and want to be successful, I’d probably recommend that you plan to stay in the program for six months to a year. That way you can do one lesson a week and really maximize your learning and have plenty of time to take action and implement the recommended strategies.
Who does Business Growth Strategies rock for?
Business Growth Strategies is awesome if you’re just starting a business. You’ll start out the right way and with Brian as your de facto coach, you’ll have a clear plan and strategies in place to smooth out the often bumpy startup road.
It’s also great if you’ve been in business for awhile, especially if you’ve flat-lined. Your business will get a sound tune-up, you’ll find out exactly what you’ve been missing, and you’ll be back on an upward swing.
And, Business Growth Strategies would work especially well for people in a brick-and-mortar businesses who are looking to grow their businesses in traditional ways.
What do I wish Business Growth Strategies included?
Business Growth Strategies is soundly grounded in old-school business principles. You’d expect nothing else from Brian Tracy. So there’s no doubt in my mind that the content is top-notch and of the highest quality.
Still, as much value as the program brings, I’m left wishing that Business Growth Strategies had a small injection of “new school” business principles that factored in newer technologies like internet marketing and social media networking, which is an interesting thing to say since the entire program is internet-based.
That said, business is business, and too many folks in business today think it’s okay to bypass class business principles and as much as we entrepreneurs just love to fast-track stuff, in the end, that just doesn’t work as well. So as much as I’d like to infuse the program with just a wee bit of new school stuff, it’s probably okay that it doesn’t include much of it, because there’s plenty of that out here already.
Overall thoughts…
Do I recommend Business Growth Strategies? Yep. It pretty much rocks the house. It’s solid content, through and through. I didn’t feel sold on other stuff, and really, once you’re in, you’ll just spend time in the program learning. And learning. And learning. Brian Tracy just continues to prove over and over that he’s still got it, and he shows no sign of slowing down.
I recently connected with Al Ferretti (@alferretti) and Skeeter Hansen (@skeeterhansen), founders of both TwitterWatchdog and TweetFormula on Twitter. These guys are super-authentic “Go-Givers” who I spent almost two hours with on the phone last Friday. I learned how they both met their wives, how they both got so many darned Twitter followers (approaching 100,000 between the two of them), and why they created TweetFormula (as a sidenote, if you want to be “in the know” about Twitter, how to increase your following, and how to use Twitter most effectively in your small business, TwitterWatchdog is a wonderful, authentic resource packed with useful, practical content).
After getting an inside peek into the TweetFormula product itself and spending this past weekend delving into the material, I can safely say that I understand why TweetFormula is so popular, and indeed, why Al and Skeeter are doing so well. So what is TweetFormula and why do I dig it so much? Read on….
*BTW, in the interests of full disclosure…please note that I do not have any sort of affiliate relationship with TweetFormula, TwitterWatchdog, Al Ferretti, Skeeter Hansen, or the partridge in a pear tree.
TweetFormula: What is it?
TweetFormula is the brainchild of Al Ferretti and Skeeter Hansen, founders of the crazy-popular and high-content blog, TwitterWatchdog. TweetFormula is a step-by-step formula for getting started on Twitter and creating a strong, authentic following that’s interested in what you have to say. Using a system of online videos, step-by-step written instructions, and bonus teleseminars, Al and Skeeter take you through their 10-step program, one step at a time.
What you’ll learn:
You’ll get started with setting up your profile and learning the basic lingo. You’ll learn how to find the right people to follow (e.g. people who are in your target market) and how to join in the conversation on Twitter. You’ll learn what to do and (almost more importantly) you’ll learn what not to do. You’ll learn how to automate, when to automate, and how to navigate the tricky Twitter waters with ease.
One of the things I really like is that Al and Skeeter include copious information about how to “join the conversation” and build relationships on Twitter. TweetFormula is all about the Go-Giver philosophy — give value, show people that you’re interested in them, and use social media as its intended: to connect with other people. And in doing that, you’ll find that your small business will indeed grow. Even better, these are skills you can transfer to other social media or in-person networking for small business success.
Lest you make the same mistake that I myself made, thinking “All of this sounds very nice, but it’s going to take forever,” Al and Skeeter show you exactly how to set up systems so that your social media becomes efficient, manageable, and doesn’t take up a huge chunk of your day. In fact, one of the last modules focuses on automation and creating efficient systems using third-party tools. It’s included in the later steps to really drive home the point that social media isn’t about broadcasting your promotions, but is a truly interactive medium requiring your commitment to a daily (albeit not constant) presence.
And in an ever-growing sea of third party Twitter “enhancement” applications, most of us find things a bit overwhelming and confusing. Luckily, at exactly the right moments in your training, Al and Skeeter show you the most useful tools (and just enough of them to be useful, but not enough to be overwhelming), so you can build maximum visibility and increase efficiency.
Pedagogically speaking….
The videos in TweetFormula are high-quality. The instructions are clear and easy to understand and follow, and everything is done in a highly methodical fashion. You understand what you’re doing and you learn the reasons why you’re doing this stuff. You get clear action steps for every single module, so you know exactly what you’re supposed to do next.
Who does TweetFormula rock for?
There’s really something here for everyone. If you’re a Twitter newbie, or you just find Twitter a little overwhelming, TweetFormula is a fantastic way to get started. If you’ve been on Twitter for awhile, and your following isn’t growing the way you want it to, you’ll find really helpful information to jump-start your list.
For myself, I thought I was getting a pretty good bead on Twitter. I’m fairly technically-oriented, so I had fancy-schmancy nested systems already set up (all my social media nested inside Ping.fm, nested inside HootSuite with the RSS feed from my blog, plus a little automation help from SocialOomph).
But surprisingly, I picked up some great hints and tricks from TweetFormula that showed me how to set up some new systems that are more efficient. I found out how and where to find new, targeted followers, and just inside this weekend, within 24 hours of just beginning to put those systems into place, added 50 new followers. *UPDATE* Within 7 days, I added well over 300 targeted followers. Not bad, right? And just in case that doesn’t wow you, let me remind you that these are targeted, high-quality folks who I happen to know are in my target market and are interested in what I have to say, and that’s worth its weight in gold. Plus, I also formed some really interesting strategic relationships with some new folks I met along the way.
What do I wish TweetFormula included?
There’s not much missing from TweetFormula, I have to tell you. But the one thing I do wish was included was a bit more detail about how to use the advanced third-party tools they recommend. They do a good job of providing an overview and the “getting started” part, but I suspect that the technophobes who find the basic Twitter instructions useful may need a bit more help with the technical aspects of those third-party tools. You may find, however, that a combination of TweetFormula, manuals and training from the individual third-party tools themselves, and content from Al and Skeeter’s TwitterWatchdog blog may provide pretty much everything you need.
Make no mistake about it, though, TweetFormula is not a “silver bullet.” Al and Skeeter will never tell you that you’ll add thousands of new followers in a week. You won’t have the following of Ashton Kutcher overnight by following TweetFormula. What you will have, however, is a solid following of people in your target market with whom you can build a relationship that over time, will most likely translate into tangible growth for your small business.
Overall thoughts…
Do I recommend TweetFormula? Absolutely. You can’t beat the price point and frankly, the program is worth every penny and then some.
What I really love is that every technique in the program is above-board and totally legitimate. No black-hat stuff for these guys, and you’re not going to get into trouble with Twitter using any of their strategies. Plus, they’re supporting Twitter in exactly the way that it was intended, and showing you how to really use Twitter to build your business. So yes, 100%, I recommend it and heartily at that.
And darned if their Northern accents aren’t just super-endearing, too.
Welcome to March, the month that comes in like a lion!
For every month in 2010, I’m focusing on a theme that’s critical to small business success and talking about that theme in my e-zine, No Suits Allowed!, here in my blog, and with my experts in The Experts Series. In January, we talked about planning your year and your small business. In February we focused on finding meaning and purpose and gaining authenticity, and I interviewed Bob Burg, author of Endless Referrals and co-author of The Go-Giver and Go-Givers Sell More in The Experts Series (if you missed that call and want the recording, you can still download it for free here).
This month my attention will turn exclusively to Branding and Positioning. As such, you’ll see articles all month long on branding and positioning your small business, throughout this blog and my No Suits Allowed! e-zine.
I’m also interviewing Jack Trout, author of over thirteen bestsellers about branding, positioning, and marketing. He’s the author of several of my official small business reference books, including Differentiate or Die and The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, and I consider Jack to be the father of modern branding and positioning.
When I was interviewing Bob Burg and mentioned my upcoming interview with Jack Trout, Bob said,
“Jack Trout is one of the seminal masters when it comes to positioning, branding, marketing. This is a guy who is so big and has been for so long, for you to have gotten him to appear on your call says a ton about you. And I hope everybody listening will be on that call next month. This guy is a master and just please, make the time to listen to him.”
I’d like to also announce the launch of my updated six-week teleseminar class, 7-Figure Branding Secrets, where I’ll take you through the exact process that I use with my one-on-one clients to create memorable brands with serious moneymaking potential. I’ll include a Q&A during every single class so I can walk you through your own branding process. More details, including dates and specifics, to come later this week!
