Archive for October, 2011
Don’t Tell, Demonstrate
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011Imagine teaching someone how to use a hammer—in writing. You could explain where to hold the hammer, how to hold the nail and how to swing the hammer to strike the nail. But to someone who’s never seen or used a hammer before, will any of it make sense? Is he going to hold a nail in one hand and swing the hammer with the other if he has never seen how it works?
How a Subtle Change of Approach Improves Results
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011I grew up around horses. Lucky enough to have my own horse, I rode for years, competing in hunter jumping shows and dressage. Through this experience, I learned how to observe body language. A skin twitch tells me about a horse’s thoughts that are missed by most people.
My daughter has horse fever. She loves spending time at the barn and at riding lessons. While my parents still have thoroughbred horses, I don’t have any. My daughter takes lessons at a farm on the outskirts of town.
Should Info-Marketers Be Brand-Builders?
Thursday, October 6th, 2011BRANDS AND BRAND EXTENSIONS: Since we are all committed direct-response marketers, and prefer living in black/white worlds, we tend to poo-poo “branding”—and I do so often, but this is simplistic. For sake of simplicity and easy contrast, it confuses “brand marketing” with “image advertising.” In truth, they are two very different things.
In practice, if you’ve observed me, I have made a point of engaging in brand-building and brand marketing. After some prior strolls down dead-end alleys, I settled on the “No B.S.” brand. And I built it with name, newsletter masthead, book titles, illustrations, cartoons, photos, even my own bobblehead. And I have sought to leverage and extend the brand with several books and newsletters.
A Ruined Wedding Day
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011A bride, full of expectation and excitement, got ready for her wedding day. It was a destination wedding, where the bridal party and guests travel to somewhere special for the big day. She’d gotten her hair done. It was beautiful with the little baby’s breath flowers braided into it. All that was left was to [...]