Idiot Proof Advertising

Give them what they want...or else.

2010-06-24T10:16:00.000-05:00

I stopped in, on my way to work this morning, to pickup some breakfast tacos for our office in Houston. Adjacent to the taqueria was tool store. Looked like a place to go to find any tool you could possibly need.

Posted on the front window was a sign listing the store's hours of business: "Monday-Friday, 9am-3:30pm. Closed 12n-1pm for Lunch." Below that sign was another sign. This one read, "Out of Business."

No kidding. Someone should have etched, "Duh!" after the "Out of Business" sign. As a business owner, you need to be sure your products and services are available to customers at their convenience, not your convenience. The lunch hour is a time when a lot of business gets done because lots of people use the noon hour to shop. So why lock your doors?

Not judging, just reporting...

Attention Small Business Owners: Target "Wants" Instead of "Needs!"

2010-03-11T13:15:00.000-06:00

During this recession, small business owners keep asking the question, “Where is there a need and how can I fill it?”

But is that the right question to be asking? Author Michael Cage wants you to consider these points:

• People NEED to get their roof repaired … but they WANT on-time, courteous service, clean workers and a guarantee their roof won’t leak again.

• People NEED a computer network set up … but they WANT someone who understands their business, will suggest things to make it run smoother before a breakdown prompts it, and won’t make them feel stupid by talking geek to them.

• People NEED to have a cavity filled … but they WANT to look good and have a pain-free experience in a friendly office with warm people.

Here’s the point:

1. People price shop for what they need, and even that makes them grumpy.

2. People pay premium prices for what they want, and they love it.

Cage says if your business struggles with commodity pricing or if you have to “justify” your price more than once in a blue moon, you are focusing on what your customers or clients NEED, and aren’t paying attention to what they WANT. And that makes them begin to not want you!

So you’re probably smart to forget “find a need and fill it.”

As Cage suggests, “To soar above the competition you need to find a want, touch your market … and lead a movement.”

For more suggestions about how your small business can start serving “wants” instead of “needs,” send me an email at info@mittonmedia.com.

See you next time.

John Mitton
President
MITTONMedia®

Three small business strategy questions

2010-03-01T18:14:00.000-06:00

Three great questions for any small business to help test clarity, as suggested by author Michael Cage:
• Why does your business exist — what is its purpose in the world?
• How does your business sustain itself while fulfilling that purpose?
• What are the 3 key things you are focusing on this quarter to serve the last two questions?

As Michael writes, if you can’t answer those questions in a flash, without hesitation, you are due a strategy day. Ponder the big questions and how you day-to-day actions either serves your vision, detracts from your vision, or are absolutely aimless because you have no vision.

The former CEO of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher, used to ask a single question when a new idea was brought to him. The question: "Will this help make Southwest Airlines the leading low-cost provider of air travel?" Great way to stay focused.

How Often Should I Send Out E-Mail Marketing Pieces?

2010-03-01T18:05:00.000-06:00

I once had a friend in sales. A new business prospect was being especially troublesome and rude. To the point where it became a game for my friend to see what it would take to close an appointment. One tactic he tried was to send the prospect a postcard. Every day. For 60 days! No, it didn't work but did lead to a nicely written restraining order and the undying admiration of his Sales Manager!

So what about today. The age of the "E-Mail Blast." How often should you send out email marketing pieces in order to be effective, yet avoid any of those nicely worded restraining orders?

Basically, as you may have discovered already for yourself, there is definitely no one-size fits-all answer. Daily, weekly or monthly. You are probably going to find weekly or every other week as the approach that will work best. Daily, too much. Monthly, not enough.

Equally important is "content." Are you letting customers know how much better their lives will be once they have your product or start using your service? If so, your emails will be welcomed, especially if you have attached something of value which can be redeemed before a certain deadline. If there is no perceived value, you will soon be seen as a nuisance and your emails will be jettisoned straight to the Junk Folder.

A word about how much information to communicate per email. Do you know the suggested word count for those giant outdoor boards you see as you fly down the freeway? Seven words. Can you communicate your message in seven words? 20? 50? The shorter the message the better. Shorter more frequent emails will boost your response faster than long-winded, rambling messages. Check it out for yourself and let me know what happens.

To sum up:

1. While you don't need to stick to a precise schedule, weekly or bi-weekly will probably give you the frequency you need to build positive name awareness for your products and services. Note which days your readers seem more responsive: Your readers may be more responsive on some days than others. Do a little testing to see when they are more likely to open and act on your emails.

2. Offer valuable content.

3. Keep your message short and to the point.

5...4...3...2...1...Email blasts away!

There’s an iphone app for me: advertising and marketing advice to go

2010-02-18T12:25:00.000-06:00

Note from John Mitton:

Charles Moger is a friend. Has been for a long, long time. When it comes to outside-the-box thinking and creative problem solving, he's one of the best. Enjoy the article!

by Charles Moger on 02/17/2010

A whole computer that fits in one room. When I was a kid, it was hard to believe computers could get that small. My kids can’t believe they were ever that big. Today, mobile computing is taking things a giant leap smaller.

Remember when having a fax was a big deal? How about email? Your next step: a own mobile app of your own. I created the adMISSIONs iPhone app on my own in less than 15 minutes using about that many clicks. Why does it matter? It’s all about service and credibility.

The mobile screen is a growing battleground for your customer. Already there are applications to scan the bar code or take a picture of a product in your store and compare its price at stores nearby and on the web. If you expect me to buy it from you, there better be a reason beyond price.

Gone are the days of Name That Tune in my family. My son and I reach for our iPhones and Shazam tells us the name of the song, the artist, album and where we can buy it right now. Last weekend I heard a perfectly restored recording of Edith Piaf singing La vie en rose. It was on my iPhone before the song was over.
While having the adMISSIONs iPhone app in the app store gives me a chuckle, having one of your own gives your brand something important: parity. There are God only knows how many apps in the iPhone App store. Your app stands shoulder-to-shoulder with every one of them. And, you stand shoulder-to-shoulder in customer perception too.

REI, a customer service hero of mine, has two iPhone apps. Pizza Hut and Starbucks have apps for ordering from your phone. Southwest Airlines has one that pings every time there’s a ticket deal. CNN pushes alerts for breaking news. ESPN will alert me if the Astros win the pennant. (I’m taking their word for it on that one in lieu of demonstrable team performance.)

The point is, a mobile app puts your service promise and product knowledge in the hands of customers anywhere they go. Since getting your app set up is so easy, what’s stopping you? I created mine with AppMaker . Or, if you want to create an app for multiple mobile platforms, check you MotherApp . Follow the link and stake your turf on the technological frontier of customer service.

Recession in Porn Business Has Lessons for Mainstream Advertisers: Faster, Smaller, More Expensive

2010-01-13T11:30:00.000-06:00

You never know where good advertising/marketing advice is going to come from these days...

By Jim Edwards | Jan 12, 2010

Pornograpy marketers are still gripped by the recession but are finding new ways to advertise their products and generate revenue, it emerged at the Adult Entertainment Expo. AEE is a porn business conference held in parallel with CES, the giant technology conference held annually in Las Vegas. Both just ended.

And while the business media pays much more attention to CES, advertisers know that it is AEE that often presages the future of their industry. It was porn that laid the economic groundwork for VHS, DVDs, and paid web downloads. Where porn leads, advertisers and traditional media soon follow. That’s why AEE this year had panels such as “Online Marketing: Your Key to Success in the New Economy” and the conference sponsor, Adult Video News, reports in excruciating detail on the FCC’s latest universal broadband access plans.

The news from AEE was mostly grim. Gram Ponante reports:

The show [AEE] has been shrinking since 2005, with fewer and fewer companies renting booth space. What once took two floors of the Sands Convention Center took one this year around.

Nostalgia abounds: … each year those who remember the good old days lament the days when even something God-awful would sell 30,000 units at $79.95 a tape.

Those days are gone. Porn is suffering from the same ailments as the music, TV and movie businesses: They can’t compete with free content offered on the web, Ponante says: … frankly, some people were starting to sound a little desperate. “I would be so appreciative if you would buy my movies,” I was told by Belladonna, arguably the world’s most recognized porn star, stressing the word “buy.”

New promo media and cash streams are starting to look very different from even just a few years ago, when the business was dominated by DVD sales. This year, the watchwords seem to be “faster,” “smaller,” and “more expensive.”

In terms of promotion, porn has its own version of Twitter: PornStarTweets. Performers (who are verified to weed out imposters) upload rotating galleries of photos to accompany their tweets. The experience makes Twitter look lazy.

Full-length movies may eventually be replaced by bite-sized downloads. Clips4Sale offers offers clips (surprise!) for around $1 a minute. Clips tend to be 2 - 5 minutes in length, from a search-able database.
Another new technology is LipStream, in which consumers can call a performer’s “home” phone number and chat with them for a per-minute fee. The phone connection is actually an internet-enabled voice protocol that disguises the true location of the performer. Lipstream has widgets to allow voice chat on performers’ personal websites, Facebook and MySpace pages.

How these innovations might be adopted by the packaged goods marketing business is anyone’s guess — but they suggest that the future is less about the mass marketing of full-length product, and more about slicing and dicing ever-smaller chunks of content for lower total prices (but higher individual fees), in addition to offering premium customers remote virtual access to stars (or brands).

Old-fashioned bricks-and-mortar retail stores, oddly, may be faring the best. AVN reports:
… chains have barely been affected [by the recession], with Peekay’s California stores up 15 percent from last year, and their Washington state stores up a whopping 36 percent—even with an uncommonly snowy holiday buying season. Franks didn’t provide specific figures, but indicated that his 18-store chain had scored good profits as well, and that his company is about to open its newest outlet—in Wasilla, Alaska, home of a certain failed vice-presidential candidate.

Why Subway's $5 Footlong Dominates Fast-Food Market

2009-11-15T16:07:00.000-06:00

There is an old saying in sales, "When price is the only objection, price IS the objection."

Is advertising a low price point the best way to move your products/services in today's economy?

Marketing Consultant, Steve Tobak, has a few thoughts on the matter in this recent article:

"Tired of seeing his business evaporate every weekend, Stuart Frankel - the owner of two Subway franchises in Miami - came up with an idea. He decided to offer all foot-longs for $5, about a buck less than regular prices, on weekends.

Next thing he knew, Frankel had lines out the door and double-digit sales growth.

Next thing Subway knew, it had one of the biggest hits in fast-food history.

The $5 footlong promotion alone generated $3.8 billion over the past year - more than Arby’s and Domino’s entire U.S. business. At a time when everyone’s business is down, Subway’s sales grew 17 percent in 2008, making it the number two fast-food company, worldwide, behind behemoth McDonald’s. Actually, Subway should surpass McDonald’s in total number of franchises in 2010, an amazing feat.

The big question is this: Is the $5 footlong just a flash-in-the-pan, a round number that resonates with fast-food customers? Or is it a function of consumer price-points and price elasticity that affect virtually all markets?

It doesn’t surprise me one bit that Frankel came up with the $5 footlong seemingly at random. Finding the price-point where product flows readily, like water through a frictionless pipe, is often far less scientific than some marketers would like to think. Sometimes, it’s just trial and error. Other times it’s born of necessity or even desperation.

For example, at a microprocessor chip company (Cyrix) in 1996, a unique situation caused sales to stall and inventories to grow to dangerous levels. With our worldwide distributors sitting on almost a million units (the chips sold for $50 - $80 apiece) and our company close to bankruptcy, something drastic had to be done.

After a week or two of analysis, I became convinced that there were certain price-points that would cause product to flow readily and relieve our inventory bottleneck by enabling PC resellers to sell systems at certain lower price-points. I wasn’t exactly sure what those price-points were, but there was no time to test a theory, so I took a stab and presented my plan at a heated board meeting. Our CEO angrily exclaimed, “Is that all you marketing &#*$s know how to do, lower prices?!”

Nevertheless, he approved the plan. It worked, of course (or I wouldn’t be writing about it). Within two quarters, inventory levels were back to normal and we had a new strategy for driving low-cost PCs. The following February Compaq launched the world’s first $999 multimedia PC - with a Cyrix processor - and we were off to the races.

In a prior post, I extolled the virtues of product positioning as a means to gain market share, even chiding marketers who think of price as their only lever. But as you can see, there are times when price is still the best lever. And recognizing those times is often more a function of desperation than marketing wisdom.

Which still doesn’t answer the question: Is the $5 footlong phenomenon a fast-food prime number, or is it a function of “magic” price-points and price elasticity that affect virtually all markets? I think it’s the latter, but that’s just me. What do you think? Can it work in your business?"

(Source: BNET Insight, The Corner Office, November 11, 2009)

So what do you think? How are you choosing to advertise your products/services?

A Touching Way to Enhance Value

2009-11-12T11:14:00.000-06:00

By Noah Goldstein, Ph.D. (Inside Influence Report, November 12, 2009)

As the Greek legend goes, the god Dionysus offered King Midas a reward of his choosing for acting kindly toward Dionysus’s friend. Midas requested that everything he touch turn to gold, a power that was immediately granted by Dionysus. Of course, we all know this is a fairytale—that objects can’t simply turn into gold just because they’re touched. Or can they?

According to consumer researchers Joann Peck and Suzanne Shu (2009), physically touching a product might not exactly turn it into gold, but it does increase its perceived value. In several experiments, they show that potential buyers who are asked to touch the products that are placed in front of them are willing to pay more for the products than are those who aren’t. Interestingly, Peck and Shu found this pattern of results not only with buyers, but with sellers as well—when selling items they had been given earlier, sellers demanded higher prices for those items they got to touch.

The researchers find that in addition to the positive emotional reaction that comes with touching a product, tactile contact leads to a greater sense of ownership of that product. The combination of the positive emotions and the enhanced sense of ownership lead to the increase in perceived value.
Of course, with the increasing use of the internet to sell products, customers won’t always have the opportunity to touch your offerings before they arrive at their door. However, Peck and Shu found that when a product was unavailable to touch, simply asking consumers to imagine touching it was enough to increase perceived ownership and value of the product.

This research is important for several reasons. First, since we’re all consumers in one form or another, it’s important for us to understand the factors that affect our judgments and decisions. When retailers ask us to touch or hold items in our hands, its value will automatically increase after doing so. And, if you or your business partners are selling tangible items, you can help potential buyers feel more of a connection to the goods you sell by asking them to imagine touching the items, or when possible, giving them a chance to physically touch those goods. For example, the packing for many of PaperMate’s pens has a section of the package cut out, which allows prospective consumers to touch the pen (Peck & Childers, 2003); this not only enables potential customers to see how the pen feels on their hands, but also enhances the value of the product.

However, it’s important to note one important exception to this research: According to Peck and Shu’s research, asking consumers to touch products is only beneficial if the products are either neutral or pleasant to touch. Porcupine salesmen beware!

Sources:

Peck, J., & Childers, T. L. (2003). “To have and to hold: The influence of haptic information on product judgments.” Journal of Marketing, 67, 35-48.

Peck, J., & Shu, S. B. (2009). The effect of mere touch on perceived ownership. Journal of Consumer Research, 36, 434-447.

Very Funny Ads

2009-11-08T10:26:00.000-06:00

Veryfunnyads, as the name suggests, is a site which brings you some of the funniest video adverts of different products. There are different categories you can choose from, like animals, cars, gadgets, kids and more. You could also pick specific brands or watch ads by countries in which they appeared...

(Source: DumbLittleMan.com, November 8, 2009)

7 Simple Time Management Rules for the Super Busy

2009-11-06T16:31:00.004-06:00

"Time is money. Money is time." How many times have you heard that one? Unfortunately it's true, especially in today's economy where businesses of all sizes are fighting for every dollar they can add to their bottom lines. Here are a few tips from "DumbLittleMan.com," about how to maximize your days...

"Most people are busy these days -- from the start of their day to the end, there are endless tasks to be done, projects to be moved along, meetings to attend, errands to run, chores and cooking to be done, email and phone calls to handle, paperwork and other routine things to be done.

It can be overwhelming. And typical time-management systems don't help much -- writing all tasks and appointments and errands in a planner or task or project-management software just makes you feel more overwhelmed, and you feel guilty when nothing goes as planned and you end the day with a to-do list even longer than when you started.

So what's a busy person to do? Throw out the traditional systems and learn a more focused, yet free-flowing system that changes with the situation and doesn't make you feel obligated to do everything on your list.

Throw out your schedule and you'll never feel guilty about not keeping it again.

Does that mean you won't get things done? Not at all -- in fact, if you learn to work effectively, you can simplify your time-management system, reduce stress, and yet accomplish more.

Here's how:

Keep your schedule open

Stop scheduling everything -- packing your day with things to-do just leaves you with too little time to do everything, and allows everything to fall apart when unexpected things come up and the schedule gets messed up.

Instead, schedule as little as possible. Sure, there will always be some appointments that need to be plugged into a calendar, but everything else should be open. What do you do with that open time? Go with the flow, focus on important things, and take one thing at a time. See the following items for more.

Go with the flow

This sounds kind of like Eastern philosophy, and it is. Basically you have to learn to adapt to each situation as it comes up, and respond appropriately -- not as if it's an emergency, but just what is needed. Sometimes that means dealing with the important task you need to complete right now, sometimes that means handling an urgent situation that comes up, other times that means dealing with unexpected visitors or phone calls.

There's no way to plan for the unexpected, so don't try. Just learn to deal with them as they come up, and figure out what's most important to deal with right now, and take everything in stride. Nothing is an emergency -- except for actual emergencies like heart and terrorist attacks. Everything else -- you can deal with it calmly and appropriately.

Fewer, high-impact tasks

If you could only do three things today, and you wanted to really feel like you accomplished something, what would you do? Write those down each day and focus on them -- you'll do other things but try to ensure that at the very least, you get those three things done. If you could only accomplish one thing today and feel happy with your day, what would it be? Do that first, before anything else, including email.

Try to reduce the number of tasks you do each day, but make each one count for more. Think of it as concentrating your productivity -- instead of spreading yourself out thin with lots of little, unimportant tasks, make the most of your time by just focusing on fewer but higher-impact tasks. Your time is valuable, after all.

One task at a time

A lot of people ask me how I get so much done -- creating a Top 100 blog in less than a year, creating one of the Top 10 writing blogs on the Internet, running several marathons, creating a successful ebook publishing company, writing several best-selling ebooks, writing and promoting a best-selling productivity book (The Power of Less), and raising six kids, all at the same time.

So how do I do all this? Easy: one thing at a time. It's easy to get caught up trying to do everything at once, making phone calls and sending emails while checking emails and writing and doing Instant Messaging, all at the same time. And yet, it's hard to actually accomplish anything in this mode. I've found that it's much more effective, and much less stressful, if you focus on just one thing at a time, get it done, and move on to the next thing. You'll be amazed at how much you get done this way.

Limit distractions

As I said, there are lots of ways to get busy and get distracted. They just create chaos and pull you in a thousand different directions. Instead, just go along one path -- limit your time browsing the Internet, Instant Messaging, checking email, making phone calls, even going to meetings. Each of these tries to take you along a different path. Instead, shut them all off, clear them away, and focus. Get things done. Then do each of these things using limited time -- say 20 or 30 minutes -- and then stop yourself.

Reduce commitments

How many things are you committed to? Each of these things that take up time on your schedule, is a demand on your time and attention. Do you really need to be doing all of them?

Instead, get out of commitments by telling people, honestly, that you don't have the time to do this right now. People might not be happy about it, but you have to be realistic with them and with yourself. Cutting back on commitments will open up your schedule and free up time for the more important things.

• Simplify your to-do list

Similarly, take a look at everything on your to-do list. Now, first of all, realize that this list will never be completely done, as you're constantly adding things to the list even as you're checking others off. So don't worry about getting it done. But do think about whether you really have time to do all of this -- if not, think of each task as a mini-commitment, and get out of it if possible, if it's not important. You'll feel relieved if you do. Simplify your to-do list just down to the important things."

10 Skills You Must Develop To Succeed In Any Business

2009-11-06T16:14:00.000-06:00

Everyone who runs a business knows there are keys to success, no matter how large or small the business.

In his article, "10 Skills You Must Develop To Succeed In Any Business," author Abhijeet Mukherjee discusses ten skills it helps to have to make your business successful:

"It is said that every year only three to four percent of the total population on earth are courageous enough to start on their own. Out of that, I think only one percent successfully establish their business while the rest join the ever growing list of failed entrepreneurs.

Although every business requires a specific skill set and related domain knowledge, there are some general qualities which you must develop if you want to get going in any business. I say 'develop' and not 'have' because I don't think these skills are rocket science and if you've got the willingness, you can easily develop them and carry on your business in a better manner.

Be A Visionary

Yeah, I know what you are thinking. Here comes the first cliche; I'll agree. But when I say be a visionary, I don't mean you should have grand visions right from the start. There should be a definite goal in your mind and you should work towards achieving that goal. You could always start with small goals initially and every time you achieve them, set yourself new challenges. And soon you'll find that you've got a vision, a vision which you never thought you could achieve and now, it suddenly seems possible.

Be Adaptable

Now here's the thing - you develop a strategy and start working towards your goal. But the world's changing everyday and soon you realize that the strategy isn't working. In this case, you should immediately adapt to the changes and adopt new methods of working while keeping your vision intact.

Mix Passion With Planning

If you aren't passionate enough, chances of your succeeding in your business are slim. But if you get carried away by passion, that's equally harmful for your work. Hence the idea is to mix passion and enthusiasm with planning and execution.

Communicate Like A Pro

It's not only about talking to the other person or to your client. It's about every form of communication, be it on phone, through email, through a letter or any other way of sending your thoughts across. Effective communication is one of the must have leadership skills and if you think you aren't very good at this, prepare to learn how to communicate in the most effective manner, convince others and get more business.

Network Like A Pro

Another essential ingredient for success in business. Identify the right people and establish relationships which are long lasting. Apart from helping you in your business, these relationships can also help in your personal life.

Be Aggressive

Being aggressive doesn't mean you are always pumped up and blindly grab every opportunity that comes in your way. It means you are ready to take risks, sometimes calculated and sometimes out of your gut-feeling. It means you aren't satisfied with an achievement and are hungry for more. It means you are available 24X7 for your work. And yes, it also means you are ready to make sacrifices when required.

Be Persistent

Without a doubt, persistence is a must-have trait for anyone who hopes to make it big in his business. So what exactly is persistence? Here's how Seth Godin defines it:
"Persistence isn't using the same tactics over and over. That's just annoying. Persistence is having the same goal over and over."

Do Things Differently

That's what winners do, isn't it? Apply new techniques and tricks to an already existing business model instead of trying to search for that new idea. You'll save time. ( And this is what I've been trying to do with this article too I guess :)

Learn Everyday

Really, the learning never stops when you are self employed. And you should never let it stop either. No matter how big your business grows, you should keep learning everyday and apply new techniques to make your business better.

Never Be Complacent

If organizations like Enron and WorldCom can bite the dust then anything can happen. No business, absolutely no business can be considered fool-proof. One mistake and the empire could crumble. Complacency is usually the first step towards this destruction. So better not be complacent.