Sometimes, the square hole needs a round peg.

Consider the case and point of Canada's "for sale by owner" franchisor Property Guys and a revolutionary new marketing strategy they've developed with Wizard of Ads partner Steve Rae and Roy Williams, the Wizard his ownself.

"For Sale" signs are a dime a dozen, right? You see dozens in every neighborhood these days (particularly state-side where we've got this whole 'foreclosure' crisis going on).  They begin to become "urban wallpaper" quickly enough, right?

Give a high five, then, to Property Guys for being the first in their industry to realize that 'doing something different,' in and of itself, is a good thing.  With direction from my aforementioned Wizard of Ads brethren, their graphics man Ryan Maxwell went to town and reeeeeeally got outside the rectangle.

Since first meeting these guys a couple of years ago, I always felt they were destined for greatness.  Here's just another example of the kick-ass mojo possessed by CEO Ken LeBlanc, who started the company on a lark with merely a C-note, and the talented team he has assembled around him.

The rebranding effort has earned them a nod from the Canadian Franchise Association.

And how about that new slogan?  "Sell Your Home, Pay Yourself."

Gold, Jerrry.  Gold!

 

Read About Ray Seggern

Prospective publishers are like prospective employers -- both want you to have experience, but neither wants to be the one to give it to you.

“Not yet.” you answer. “But I really think I have a great book here that given the opportunity…

“What’s your platform for communicating with people? How many people know of you and what do they know you for?

“Well, I own a small consulting business. I write a weekly newsletter and send it out through my website. I wouldn’t say I have a huge circle but...

“To be honest I haven’t had much of a chance to think about that. Between writing and my business… 

“I’m sorry. The manuscript reads well but it’s not our kind of project right now. Come back to me with a platform and a plan and maybe we can revisit things.”

Before the Internet, these conversations quashed millions of manuscripts. But thanks to the advent of print-on-demand (POD) companies like Lulu.com, small business owners with something to say no longer have to guarantee traditional publishers a certain number of sales to get their books in print.

Freelance writer and communications instructor Paul Lima was asked to guarantee 2,000 sales of his “how-to” writing book. No guarantee, no publishing deal.

“I am not a famous author, but I am making money and I like the feeling of independence that I have,” Lima says. 

Kudos to Paul Lima and all the other small business owners out there who are using technology to self-publish and sell their works through websites and seminars. You’ll still most likely need a publisher to get national distribution through bookstores. But you can certainly go the self-publishing route as a means of promoting yourself and your business while building a platform for future publications.

Read About Michael Drew

Dorothea Lasky didn’t follow the herd…

Read About Tom Walters

Here's a secret from the best producers of television advertising: write the words first. Then match the visuals to reinforce your message.

I can prove it. Turn off the sound and see which ads make sense. Then turn the sound up and try it again without looking at the screen. Most of the time the audio alone can carry the message. Most of the time the picture alone can't.

Many will claim television's power is in its pictures. They're wrong. Television's power is in it's ability to demonstrate.

Show the six-year-old making toaster waffles, or the clean dishes coming out of the dishwasher. Show how easy the prepackaged skillet breakfast is to prepare, or how even your arthritic Grandmother can open jars with the new cap snaffler.

Show people using your product or service and having great results, but match that picture to the selling message your words have already created. If your words alone don't carry the message, better rewrite until it does.

Read About Michael Keesee

Baby Boomer Misconceptions Persist

Given the amount of research and media coverage focused on Boomers in recent years, you'd think marketers would be far past viewing them as an undifferentiated mass of country club-goers who can barely operate their Jitterbugs.

Alas, you'd be wrong, according to the folks at Focalyst, the Millward Brown/AARP Services, Inc. enterprise devoted to researching Boomers and "Matures."

"You'd be surprised by the Boomer misconceptions that still exist in today's top companies, and even more so by how many are simply not paying attention," says Heather Stern, Focalyst's director of marketing and client development. For many, "it's still about educating them on the basics," she says. "It can be difficult getting this message across -- not only for us but for clients who are having difficulty in rallying their organizations around appealing to this market."

Media stories about those born between 1946 and 1964 are ubiquitous, but most treat the generation as a 77-million-member "monolith" that thinks, acts, behaves and buys in a single way, using headlines that paint either a very positive or very negative picture, say Stern and her colleagues.

Fighting fire with fire -- actually, media with media -- Focalyst last week dramatized the facts about Boomers with a release on the "Top 10 Boomer Myths," each refuted with data based on the 17,000+ Boomers surveyed as part of its 2006 Focalyst View study or other studies of the cohort.

"While much of this is not new news, we felt this research deserved repeating," says Stern.

"The Today Show," among others, picked up on the report, which summarized attention-getting stats such as: 72 percent of Boomers plan to work part-time or full-time when they reach retirement; a third are single; 37 percent have children under 18 living at home; 40 percent have virtually no net worth outside of home equity; one out of three have no basic retirement savings account; nearly four in 10 have no life insurance...yet 74 percent plan to make a home improvement in the next year (average cost: $6,000) and 92 percent plan to buy a major household item (average cost: $2,200).

The effort also drove home Boomers' active lifestyles and comfort with tech products and the Internet (82 percent of Boomers use the Net; almost half of those 50 and older visit video-sharing sites; nearly a third of bloggers are over age 45; more than 8 million women over age 45 use the Net to play online games...and so forth).

There were also some points aimed squarely at marketers:

-- Boomers are just as likely as younger generations to be motivated to buy a product or service based on an Internet ad (according to a new Focalyst/Dynamic Logic study, highlights from which are also soon to be released);

-- 67 percent say they're less likely to buy a product if the advertising is offensive to them;

-- 66 percent say that ads have gotten cruder in the past few years;

-- 61 percent wish that ads had more "real information" about products, and

-- 23 percent find ads geared toward their age groups insulting.

Most pointedly, the firm stressed the diversity within the generation, noting that more life events occur between the ages of 50 and 65 than in any other time in one's life. The typical Boomer experiences two major life events around career, family, finance or health each year -- ranging from buying a new home to starting a new job to retiring, they report.

The opportunities for marketers who take a segmented approach to Boomers "are wide and varied," but those seeking a single "Golden Rule" for approaching this generation are misguided, says Stern. "There simply isn't one," she says. "It depends on the product, the category, the medium and, most important, the segment you are trying to reach."

(Source: Marketing Daily, 04/18/08)

Read About Jane Fraser

Who among us doesn't feel the crush of a time deficit these days?

Randy Pausch does, as much as anyone.  He has become quite the personality since announcing he has terminal pancreatic cancer.  You may have seen him on television in recent weeks Pausch delivered his "Last Lecture," titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," at CMU on September 18, 2007. This talk was modeled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a hypothetical "final talk," i.e., "what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?"

Of course, for him, it really was a last lecture.

His book, largely based on the lecture, debuted as a bestseller last week.

Pausch is a fascinating individual, and in doing some research on him, I stumbled across his "other" lecture at Google Video.  Frankly, it is just as strong as his other, more popular work, and perhaps more actionable.

Read About Ray Seggern

If you're familiar with We Feel Fine, Presidential Watch 2008 is a non-partisan website that tracks public consciousness via the blogosphere, with a specific focus, obviously, on the current election

The site includes a map that identifies the 292 most influential sites in regards to the race, as well as a blog that periodically uses tracking and stats from across the web to offer analysis of the candidates' current standings.

In an era where finding unbiased information can be difficult, this site is a good starting point in tracking the happenings of one of the most exciting elections in American history.

Read About Ray Seggern

Eric Rhoads of Radio Ink Magazine writes some of the most important marketing pieces for business owners, not just radio people:

If I woke you from a deep sleep and said, "Quick: Give me three recession strategies for your clients' businesses," you could probably feed me some good ideas. If you were in the radio business in 1991, you gained experience in what  by being bloodied and beaten. Will those same recession strategies apply today? Yes, some of them will. But with every down economic cycle, the world is a little different. Look at how much the world has changed since 1991. And the way you assist your clients today is very different than it was in 1991.

Being Stupid And Predictable
It's predictable that businesses will cut back during hard times. It's also stupid. The problem, of course, is that hard times usually come right after the days of glory, and clients are blindsided. That's also stupid. Although it's human nature to believe good times will last forever, good businesspeople know they need to put some nuts in storage for the winter.

Those who reduce marketing budgets and diminish the quality of the customer experience send signals that they are in trouble, and they will sink faster than a life jacket filled with lead weights. I once went into a retail store that had about two-thirds of the lights off, making it difficult to see the merchandise. I figured the lights were off because business was bad, but I didn't want to do business with someone who didn't care enough about me to light my way. Customers are not very forgiving, even when they know companies have to do anything possible to survive.

What About Your Local Radio Customers?
Your customers must build market share with vigor just to stay even, which means pirating that market share from competitors. The competitor that has cut advertising is like a wounded sheep in a den of lions. Fortunes have been made during tough economic times, when businesses can double or triple their market share at the expense of their competitors, then get richer than they could ever imagine once good times return. Keeping your current level of advertising is smart if competitors have stopped. Increasing your advertising will speed traffic and increase market share more quickly.

The Pain Game
Every local retail business in your market is experiencing some pain at the moment. If their business is not off, their pain is driven by the expectation of coming declines. Is your radio station doing business exactly the same way it was doing business a year ago? Now is the time for a different strategy. Arm your sales organization with new tools, new information, and a new understanding of how to ease the pain. Doctors who relieve their clients' pain will have advertisers beating down the door.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy 
Not only are customers making silly decisions that can impact them negatively, I've been guilty of it too. What about you? The psychology of recession talk has us all a little skittish. It's become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yet those natural reactions are not in our best interest. Are we making the same mistakes we're advising our clients against? Are we aggressively marketing our stations? Are we increasing the size of our sales organizations rather than shrinking them?

I Hate Spending Money
I'll admit it. I've cut back. I've asked my people to cut back. Everyone I know has cut back. Yet I'm spending money on education because I'm smart enough to know I need a new perspective. This week I'm attending AdTech, a very pricey conference on new advertising technologies. If I don't attend, I won't have new ideas to bring to the radio industry and to my own business. Sure, I could lay low for a year or two until the economy turns, but I cannot afford to stay even a year behind on trends. Last week I attended a private marketing seminar held by Roy Williams that provided new ideas I can apply to my business immediately -- and that will help my clients generate income. I don't like spending the money, but this is an investment in growth at a time when others are stagnant. Are you seeking new ideas, or are you confident you can get through this economy on your own? Are you willing to stake your future on it?

What Should You Be Doing Now?
1. Create a new level of client intimacy. Be generous with your time and your ideas. Show clients step-by-step plans to grow market share.
2. Increase internal sales training. Teach critical principals to your sales team until they can do them in their sleep.
3. Focus on the creative message of the client. Increased frequency won't make as much difference as a strong message.
4. Practice what you preach. Increase your station visibility in the marketplace to your audience AND your advertisers. Give clients good reason to have you on their short list of places to advertise.
5. Create more product offerings. Seek new and fresh products to create interest from clients previously not engaged.
6. Set up client training retreats. Bring in outside experts to teach them how to grow their business now.
7. Be different. What can you do to be undeniable?
8. Do the math. More sales calls equal more sales. Increase activity.
9. Increase the size of your sales organization. More sellers make more sales.
10. Increase management involvement. Get out from behind the desk and out on sales calls. Your expertise is valuable to clients.
11. Increase learning. Read more, study more, train more.

Eric Rhoads
Publisher
Radio Ink

Read About Steve Rae

This is from Doug Lester, a former radio colleague and still best friend who is now a tax accountant in the middle of the tax season.He felt it was important enough to share and so do I: 

Steve:  Had to steal 5 minutes to pass on a story about customer service.....

Sue from our office, and her husband, took their three young daughters to Canadian Tire to buy 
the girls brand new bicycles-  their Christmas gifts, promised for the first nice weather in the 
spring.  
These are the first new, not hand-me-down, bikes the girls have had.  At the end of their first 
day of non-stop riding of their new bikes, they leaned them against the side of the house and 
went in for supper.  While they were eating, one of  their two dogs- a young labrador- was 
discovered chewing on the 5 year old's bike.  The dog had destroyed the sparkly, colourful 
seat and had made a good start on the plastic basket on the handle bars.  You can imagine 
the reaction- the little kid kind of crying with no tears-  just that shaking, sucking-in of air, 
silent sobbing.
Grandpa and grand daughter were back to Cdn Tire to find replacement parts the next day.  
I'm not sure who looked after them in Sporting Goods, but when he realized that the few 
weeks it would take to order and receive a replacement seat was far too long for a 5 year old 
to wait- he took her and her grandfather into the back, where he was able to locate a 
matching, fancy bicycle seat on a bike that had come back as a sales-return. He pulled it off 
the bike for them - no charge.  In fact, he told the little one's grandpa that he'd be willing to 
work a day without pay just to see how her face lit up when he handed her the new bike seat.
How long do you think she'll remember her first encounter with customer service at that Canadian 
Tire Store?

Read About Steve Rae

Looking for a good book to curl up with this fall? I’ve got just the read. It’s called, The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, and you can download a copy for free by clicking here.

Read About Tom Walters