Your unwelcome invitation to the AI communication Drop dru.g zone

Here's what's desperately MISSING from most marketing and business communications, especially now that the AI content and copywriting drug worm has entered the frontal brain lobes of many a business person or marketing exec - depth, connective sincerity and good old fashioned honesty and authenticity.

In other words... BEING DAMN REAL.

Most communications are NOT that.

You can't get AI to be that for you.

What most communications try to do is to try to be something the business owners, the entrepreneur, the entity... IS NOT.

And believe it or not, you certainly don't need an all-intelligent, highly expensive, analytical swot team to swoop on in to tell you that; you can figure that out on your own.

And it's not hard to do. (Don't listen in and believe the nitwits who tell you this is all too complicated and you'll bloody your knees and mangle your business if you all but attempt it.)

Because look, you can automatically sense the polished disconnect the moment you set your eyes on it.

You can flatly SEE the Photoshop touch ups on the communications.

It's like there's a personality makeover going on that has you and your business be, who you're not.

And when that happens, guess what; you've just psychologically and monetarily, lost a goodly number of your audience. They've mentally departed from your planet, even though they may still be customers, patients or subscribers on your books.

Now don't get them wrong or get mad with them. It's not their fault at all to behave like that.

They do, as we all do. We intuitively know when there's a stage performance act being put on, and we know when there's real authentic conversation going on. We can sense and feel it.

"We proudly serve our customers and exceed their expectations due to our concerted and diligent efforts to leave no stone unturned"

YAWN! Haven't you fallen asleep yet from reading that unflattering canned twaddle?

Now the trouble with that approach is businesses of all stripes and size, try to emulate that same type of thinking and language, believing their customers and clients are also a lot more sophisticated, who would be impressed and captivated by such proclamations. And so because of that, will be more inclined to want to read and hear such things, over and over again.

(THINKING POINT: You haven't got a similar version representing your business, have you?)

Now yes, there may be certain individuals who actually do want to read those kind of messages and who do want their egos massaged, and who do want their brains to be soothed, courted and romanced by such approaches. No question about it.

Though, what's probably true is the fact that most humans, affluent or non affluent, are normal people. What that means is we all (mostly) want to be communicated with genuine sincerity and authenticity. No personality disfigurement, needed.

Around 10 years ago I was in conversation with Steve Sims, CEO of a luxury concierge firm, Bluefish. He has clients who pay him a lot of money, a LOT of money -- for example, how much would you pay to have someone arrange it for you to be married in the Vatican, to have  private dinner for 6 of your best friends at the foot of the marble statue of Michael Angelo's DAVID, to play with your favourite rock or pop band? -- well, Steve looks like a bouncer, rides a Harley Davidson, has a goatee beard, primarily wears black t-shirts and an earring... yet, is 100% authentic. His clients LOVE him. His communications are as his personality - warm, rugged and deeply sincere. But get this: when Steve previously hired copywriters for his communications, he told me they made him sound all Rolexy and Champagney... and that was OUT of character to who Steve was. And, in fact, he began LOSING money when he was portrayed as being someone, he wasn't.)     

Sobering, no? 

Want to shine like a bright warm light in the lives of your customers and prospects?

Want them to connect and a deeper relationship level with you and therefore, will want to buy more and more from you?

Then, send them bright warm messages on a continual basis that actually DOES lift their lives... that DOES inspire them to want to take some type of action... that DOES connect and draw them closer to you on an ongoing basis.

And certainly, do NOT have your communications and promotions be deliberately uppity or polished. Don't have them be a photoshopped, photocopied, AI drug version having little to zero empathy, energy, passion or authenticity. 

You don't get to be your true authentic brand that way.

[HELPFUL RESOURCE]

My Never Blank Writing Programme. It won't ever have you being who you're not. It'll never have you be out of sincerity. It'll never deliver canned, off-the-rack communications on your behalf. Your customers and clients will only ever receive remarkable communications from you to match your remarkable products or services. Email for more information- raja.hireker@gmail.com

Could be your marketing's number one BIG IDEA.

Here's the NUMBER ONE idea, strategy, thing that I got whilst attending an 8 hour marketing and business building livestream on 5th November 2024, hosted by MR INTERNET. (A name I've now coined for him)

And before I declare what that number one idea is, let me give you the absolute BIGGEST idea that precedes the number one idea above.

Mystified?

Don't be. All will be revealed.

Announcing:

That ABSOLUTE gimongous mother of all ideas is...

PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO THE GOVERNING FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES.

And that's it.

Sorry to break that to you and to be a lead balloon party pooper.

There's no wild fanfare or red carpet roll out for that mother of all ideas.

Nor are there any apologies for not schexing it up to any level.

Because the governing overriding principles can't be messed with, meddled, shortcutted, or understated.

They're profound foundational stuff.

The stuff that makes any system, tick.

So what ARE the governing overriding principles that'll work for anyone in any business?

I'll list a few for you:

• Have an irresistible offer. Or even, a series of them.
• Know your marketplace, intimately. No guessing allowed.
• Keep communicating in a way others, aren't, and keep on communicating, truthfully, honestly, entertainingly. 
• Show up in a way others, aren't.
• Follow up religiously
• Handle complaints or concerns obsessively quickly and, with a smile.
• Drop anything that you can't get a measurable return on.
• Turn down the noise on anything promoted as a sure fire, quick fix revolution.

Just focussing on those will put you way ahead of where you're currently at right now.

Now when you marry those to the NUMBER ONE big idea I'm going to tell you about now, you'll be a dangerous lethal weapon.

And again, just like the above, what I'm about to share with you is nothing schexy, and nothing earth shattering and nothing that'll have your greed glands zipping and pinging into uncontrollable overdrive.

So, here it is:

Have a 48 hour implementation rule.

So what does that mean?

Simply put, everything you get or learn that's new, or some idea or strategy is brought back to life from the past, implement it, and... implement with speed.

Give yourself a 48 hour window for implementation.

And by doing just that, and look, you don't have to believe me just because I'm bringing it to your attention, you can just test this out for yourself on something small.

Because whan you do, you'll be startled at what you'll discover.

And guess what?

You just might get the addictive bug inserted into your head about implementing things and getting things done at a speed and level that has you energised, and upbeat about what you're doing and what you're up to.

Not only that.

Because of you leading the way with this way of being, you will, as a natural by-product, infect, inspire and instill this way of operating and doing things with everyone who is connected and affiliated with you and your business.

Now let me be very clear.

When I say have a speed implementation plan, I don't mean that you recklessly do things and cut corners, just so you can meet the implementation deadline. I'm not talking about operating in that way.

What I am talking about is having a deadline based mentality to what you do and what you want to create, because in that way, you'll be more alert, more aware, more receptive to what's going on in your business. You'll be more aware and alert in your marketing, your sales, your whole modus operandi than if you didn't have any deadline based implementation window to work within.

Because yes, you'll be more than tempted to stall and delay.

You'll be more than ready to go over things for the dozenth time.

You'll be more than convinced that delaying and pontificating represents 'busy' work.

Take this piece of writing.

I began creating it only 5 minutes after the idea came to me.

I didn't have the idea for it on 5th November and then just let it stew and percolate in the dusty cobweb corners of my tiny little mind.

It didn't happen that way.

And for most of us, things really DO happen that way.

We're lethargic about it.

We mull, and dwell, and pontificate over things when they can just get into motion, right now.

And guess what, new shiny object syndrome, new distractions, new ideas come in the way all the time. And yes, we think we're not deliberately doing it but we hang ourselves by that daily distraction cord nearly every single day.

It's no wonder it's the same people constantly bleat out the busyness line, and the overwhelmed line, and the info overload line.

And that's because there's too many unfinished loose ends (partly done campaigns, offer creations, lead generation, emails, joint venture proposals, business follow up...) all lying on the cutting room floor that needs tending to, that needs tying up and sent packing off into the marketplace before moving onto something else.

Want it so there's a clean slate and a clean operating table to work from?

Then create an implementation plan. Create a speed plan. Create a getting things done, plan.

Because that kind of systematised way of operating and doing things will pay you back in multiple ways, will bring you multiple rewards, will create a system of operation that'll have you approach life and business in a refreshingly open, straightforward, and simple way.

The results required, way.

If you want a sytematised way that'll have you producing engaging, irresistible emails and marketing communications, fast, and without fuss or frustration, then get the simple 5 page booklet here that'll show you EXACTLY HOW TO DO IT!         

     

 

The Ad, email, webinar, presentation, campaign... ISN'T your number one marketing asset. This thing... IS!

Most Owners and Marketers are flat out wrong about the importance and relevance of marketing.

Especially about what constitutes GREAT marketing.

Because look, you can easily think and believe that the ads you write or the emails you put out, or the presentations and webinars you put out, are the primary reasons for business success.

And on the face of it, you'd not be wrong. 

Because you can't really see any other reason for all business success that comes through the output that gets created.

And yet...

The KEY to one's ongoing success is the drive and unrelenting OBSESSION of the owner and leader.

What??

Yes, because the ingredients and nutrients of that obsession and drive, is what then gets packed inside any ad, or email or promotion or campaign or design.

In fact, that obsession runs throughout the entirety of the business's systems and processes.

It's everywhere. Top to bottom. Bottom to top.

Apple didn't just drum up great products, delicious design and desirable communications, right out of thin air.

No.

The businesses' success was driven by the obsession Steve Jobs has for what he wanted to create, and for what he stood for.

Disney didn't just magically produce a business that's endured for decades, that has people talking about it, and who keep on coming back, again and again and again.

Businesses like Apple and Disney aren't firstly about hiring the best marketing, advertising and communication bods. 

It's primarily about the magnificent Obsession Jobs and Disney had for what they wanted to create.

It's about being so good that others can't help telling others about you.

That's where the happy contagious infection happens.

The marketing, the ads, the promotions, all of that fell into line because of said obsession.

Without such an obsession, without such desire and clarity, businesses falter and splutter.

Owners then try to make up for things by turning to marketing and promotion.

That can work. For a short time.

But, those marketing surges and campaigns aren't fuelled and filled with the hot intense passion and desire the owners have for their businesses and ventures.

You can se the gaps and holes. The lack of passion and love for the products and services, leaks out.

That'll be immediately evident and obvious.

There'll be cute marketing tricks and gimmicks leading the charge.

And the lack of fresh creative ideas, the lack of energy, spirit and passion will be there for all to see.

And listen, you do NOT need to have a business the size and scope of Apple or Disney to benefit from having a raging obsession for what you do, for the products and services that you sell and promote.

The best, crazy good marketing and ads for your businesses are not a series of activities or a set of systems or processes.

It's a way of being. It's how you, the owner or leader, are structured internally for what it is you want to produce and create. It's about you having a burning, white hot desire and passion for what it is you stand for and what you then put out into the marketplace.

Your marketing and promotions not really working that well for you?

Then don't go and rifle through your ads and promotions for the answer.

Instead, look inside you, and check what your drive and obsession that you have for your businesses, is like. Check how really committed and turned on you are about what it is you're doing and producing.

Do that, adjust things, and soon you'll find you'll have created some of the best advertising and marketing for your business that you'll have ever had created.

It all comes from your obsession. 

It comes from being so good that others can't help stop telling others about you.  

Be THAT for your business, and then check your success. 

Because YOU are your businesses best marketing asset!  

Get FREE BOOK and proper quality Obsessional help via email to turn your marketing and business success, right around. Simply Click Here. 

        

The (marketing) questions you DON'T ask, can't help you.

Your number ONE asset, is something you ALREADY own.

That being...

Your brain.

More specifically...

Your ability to ask and answer questions IS your number one asset.

Yet, most rarely use that skill to help them solve their most pressing problems or challenges... to ask those searching questions in order to diagnose what's not working well enough. 

And yet, the asking of questions and getting answers is part of the solution formula.

But that's not the end of it.

You've now got to act, you've got to practically do something with the answers you've got to the questions you've asked because of the problem or challenge you were in in the first place!

Otherwise...

You'll be back to square one -- having an unsolved issue, problem or challenge. 

Let's make this practical: 

What could be a possible issue you want answers to?

How about -- why is our ad or promotion not as successful as we thought it would be? 

Now if you're an Owner who simply believes that you can't find answers to that question, that or you believe the common canned answers given out by agency owners, consultants and practitioners who say things like...

Don't worry, the market is all messed up at the moment...

It's okay, we just have to run it several more times before we embed the message in the consciousness of the marketplace...

We'll just pay for a bigger sized ad...           

It's probably the time of the month that's caused it...

Give it time, we're building your brand here so it takes time to create the kind of results and awareness we're looking for.

Although response is on the seemingly low side, we're moving in the right direction as we've had great comments from people who loved the ad/campaign.

...then you're heading for more of your money to be flushed down the toilet. 

It's far more profitable for you to ask those difficult and not so difficult questions that'll help you get to the bottom of things so you won't have to repeat those mistakes and errors of judgement that had your ad / marketing campaign, flop.

So what kind of questions should you be asking?

Well, there are literally dozens of them. And in this post, I'll give you a few of them so you can use them and apply them to your marketing ads and promos you've recently created.

But remember, YOU have to generate your own answers to the questions and then, take the necessary practical action based on those answers.

The Questions:

Have we identified exactly WHO our ideal customer target is, and is it reflected in our ad?

What are the emotional hot buttons we are focusing on in our promo piece, and does it reflect the same emotions and pains that are currently being experienced in OUR marketplace?  

Does the headline of our promo hit the right core issue?

Is our ad promo entertaining and compelling?

Is there a specific response mechanism that's easily identifiable?

Are we making an irresistible offer for the product or service being promoted, and does it make the reader drool over what we're offering?

Is the ad, all things to all people (a one size fits all, promo)?

If I had to put my mother's life savings on the line in order to fund this ad, would I do it because of the quality of the ad/promo?

There's obviously more you can ask. A whole lot more.  

Facts are...

You could get even more microscopic with your questions and by doing so, you'll quickly un-earth a intel treasure trove that'll help you create the kinds of ads and promotions in the future that'll be of a much higher quality and standard than the ones you've been putting out. 

Questions.

They'll not only save your bacon, but they'll also help you build the kind of quality, insanely profitable business you've always wanted.

Keep on asking them.

Because remember --

The questions you DON'T ask, can't actually help you.

Want big marketplace advantage and fatter profits? 

Then be a masterful question asker! 

        

Want to know what questions to ask that'll get your Email Marketing game good 'n profitable?   
Sign up for the glorious answers, here.

.  

Your marketing and sales results are created by YOUR system

Very few people like hearing that THEY are the reason for their poor marketing results, poor profits, poor morale, poor anything.

Oh, they of course love the celebratory din and back slapping when things go well. When sales are up, when profits are rising. 

But...

When there's low morale, low sales, low profits, high misery?

Then quite naturally, everyone else is to blame for that!

The marketplace's erratic nature is to blame.

Rising costs are to blame. 

Poor marketing advice is to blame.

Competition is to blame.

Government red tape is to blame.  

Customer hibernation is to blame.

Higher taxes are to blame.

...

And yet.. 

Despite all the above happening...

The core central message remains: 

You created a business and marketing system that takes into account, or doesn't take into account, all those external happenings.

Want different money results?

Then create a different marketing and business system that'll solve those problems for you.   

Now what you can't do is just pray and hope that what you're currently doing from a marketing, lead generation, lead conversion, customer referral and customer retention system, will some how magically produce a different set of results for you than it's currently producing.

Can't happen.

Won't happen.

Trying to force different results with the same operating system is not going to end well for you or your business.  

Like hearing it or not.

That kind of thinking is reserved for non-adults. For the wandering, unfocussed mind. 

Because each system is PERFECT for producing the results it gets. 

And that's a productive framework question for you to apply to any aspect of your business that's coughing and spluttering. (Major hat tip to Steve Sanghvi, Chairman of Microchip for that insight)

Best thing you can do for your business at the start of 2023 that'll spread throughout the entire 12 months ahead?    

Put your business principles, your strategies, your tactics, your marketing systems, your ads, your emails, your promotional campaigns... everything... through the SS framework --

"is each system I'm currently running and operating for the above elements of my business, is it producing the kind of results I want?"    

And when you do that and when you apply that simple one-sentence process, you'll find in some areas, you'll get a definite and categorical NO to the question. 

The good news about that is now you've got something to work with. 

You've got a system that needs to be tweaked, tightened or even, overhauled and recreated.  

And that's how you begin to create different results.           

And 2023 is all about producing different results. 

Stay the same, and you'll soon be yesterday's news. 

So, let's hear the core message again - 

YOUR marketing and sales results are created by YOUR system. 

And EACH system is PERFECT for producing the results it gets. 

Hint: Begin creating a NEW set of systems if you don't like the results you're getting!

[Want to create the kind of systems and communications that compel, inspire and sell? Then sign up here and find out how to do that. And, you'll also get your FREE BOOK on how to write emails that get read, opened and bought from]

Personality, Entertainment, Fun (that doesn't sound like most marketing communications, does it?)

Formulas

Templates

Frameworks

Done for you communications

Fill in the blanks

That kind of short cutting, the hack-the-communication and marketing system process, is gathering mucho online pace and momentum.

But why is that the case?

Because there are way too few creative marketing minds having the originality and brains to make their business, or that of their clients, be filled with personality and authentic ideas... to come up with interesting, fun and entertaining ways to present, promote and offer what's being offered.   

And that's super important. 

Because in today's business environment, if you plan to be like everyone else... to speak and communicate like they do... to use the same ideas and thinking they do... to give the same reasons and rationales they do for their products and services...    

Then no surprises here...your ideas and your copy won't stand out and get attention. It'll blend in and look like everyone else’s on the block. 

That'll of course mean you're not going to create any kind of unique difference and positioning in the marketplace. 

And yet, that's exactly what you have to strive for if you want that unique positioning.   

It comes as no surprise that we live in an attention deficit world where there's an obvious impatience in that most people want things, and they want them, now. 

They're easily bored. Easily distracted. Happy to flip onto something else in a heartbeat.

And that's why you need work diligently and differently, in order to not only capture attention, but to keep it and to continually keep it in an ongoing way.

Now that can't happen by guesswork, or by wishing and praying.

It takes a deliberate shift of thinking and a deliberate shift of perspective.

The problem with that?   

Many marketing 'Pros' and Owners suffering with 24/7 lazy-brain-itis.

The result of that?  

It's far more convenient and far too easy to reach for a canned, ready made, off-the-shelf solution when it comes to thinking, creating ideas, coming up with different unique angles to sell and promote. 

And when they do that...

They're not really realising that by employing that lazy recliner way of doing things, they instantly destroy using their / the businesses'... own personality in their communications. 

That's what happens when abdicating out to the wooden, off-the-shelf, solution -- you suffocate the core asset of the business -- its character, its essence, its personality.  

And if that wasn't enough... 

By sticking with being a commodity based communication business, the business destroys the whole communications and selling process from being fun and entertaining -- both for the Owner / Marketing Pro, and, more importantly... for the customer or recipient of the communications, promotions and presentations.

And look...

In today's marketing and communications world, we're all being starved from having communications being fun and entertaining.

Let's change that.

Want a clear cut example of how to bring the entertainment and fun factor into your communications? Then let me show you how I brought a yawnful presentation letter, back to life. (In fact, look at the whole communication piece here and ask yourself this core question - were you entertained, or not, would you buy the products, or not!?)  

(Important: it does not matter what business category you are in, or what you sell and promote - you can take the ideas you find in the communication piece above and see how you can apply them to your communications and promotions because I guarantee you that there IS a way to make your communications fun, interesting, entertaining.)    

  FREE BOOK shows you how to write entertaining emails that get opened, read and bought from.

       

Help, I'm all muffled... I don't have anything to write about!

What's the big business curse infecting many a business owner's mind?

"I can't think of anything new to write about" 

And that's a curse that's spread right across the whole communication smorgasbord.

• The emails
• The ads
• The sales letters
• The campaigns
• The social media posts
• The special reports
• The blog posts

And when you internalise the fact that your communications really are the heart and soul, the lifeblood and profit centres of most business, the whole thing warrants close scrutiny.

Because guess what?

A bored and switched off customer or prospect, will go elsewhere in search of the good time feeling, in search of a better happier experience, in search of the difference making that makes all the difference.

And that means, a whole lot of customers will soon bail if prodded with enough boringness, and as such... will take with them their referral and residual value profit centres -- and yes... they'll align it to some other business!  

So how can you inject the kind of newness, freshness, the joyful entertainment that enhances the readability factor inside your communications ...the very communications that'll have your customers and audience lapping up all you have to say and share? (And therefore, buy more from you, more frequently!)

Well, you do it by accessing your already existing content factory plant.

What?!!

That's right.

You need not go anywhere outside your sweet circumference in order to have you access the kind of material and content that'll bring the hordes to you.

That's because your content factory machine is already inside you. 

More specifically...

It's all logged and lodged inside the recesses of your incredibly ample and squishily  intelligent brain.

Now the key to getting to all that delicious content nourishment, is to jumpstart and trigger your brain into being that search and collect mechanism for you.

And how do you do that?

By prodding and poking it with a series of laser focussed questions.

Questions that'll help you uncover priceless, and an almost unlimited supply of money- making goody bars.

So what are some questions we can begin with that'll get the prodding into motion? 

(And do remember, the answers to the questions can be used as material and content in multiple media formats).

Who has been your most obnoxious customer, and why?

What specific thing goes on in your industry they want no-one to know about?

What's the most absurd 'rule' in your industry that you want to see banished and crushed?

What do customers in your industry generally hate that the majority of businesses do a lot of?

What's been your most successful product?

What's one of the most priceless things about your business that you've taken for granted, yet have been hiding all these years? 

What did you have to overcome to get your business to where it is today? 

What's an admission that you want to make and clear the air with?

Who are your business and non-business inspirations?

--------

As you're most likely beginning to see, there's an endless amount of material locked up inside your brain, which, if released and poured into your communications, will bring that missing newness, freshness, authentic spirit and energy into your business. 

And yes...

Your readers and customers will LOVE this difference making that you're choosing to make. 

And don't let it stop here!

Keep going back to that content factory plant and pull out all those goody bars by asking all manner of the sane, mixed in with the wild, weird, unconventional and unorthodox questions that'll produce the kind of entertaining answers that'll be the profit making gold for you. 

So let's ask that question again?

Don't have anything to write about?

On the contrary. 

Do the above and you'll have a happy filled mountain of the stuff that you can sort, sift and apply to your heart's desire. 

    

Want MORE proper email education that'll help you entertain more and help you sell more of your products and services? 

Here's where to go!

    

          

   

Why Bother creating boring limp ideas and marketing?

The marketing madness and idea stupidity, continues.

Let's see why that is.

All thanks to a company called Bother. 

(And the name itself 'Bother', is, as you'll soon see, rather dim and unoriginal on the choice and selection scale.)

BOTHER.

In essence, their angle is...

We bother (about taking care of the shopping) so you don't have to.

And what was the genesis of the thinking here?

Of many being bound together by an unrelenting burning, yet basic irritation of running out of this and that around the home, so wanted some solution to that. 

Is that a burning marketplace desire for a problem that needs solving that hasn't already been solved? 

There's a business with 57 people.

There's mention on the website of the business being backed and supported by a few well known businesses. 

To what capacity, that's not clear. 

Whatever proportion has been invested by the owners piling their own money into the business, or if it's loan or VC backed, there could be a long waiting game in the money being returned, based on the communication and marketing evidence. 

Whatever the case, there's a lot that needs re inventing and recreating. 

Let's touch on a few ideas.   

Take the promotional flyer to do with their business that's popped through the letter box today. 

What's the opening thrust here?

"£15 off your first shop"

Hmmm...

Anything to do with the rise in the cost of living? 

Don't know. There's nothing on the flyer to say that. (Tis a good idea to address the current conversation going on in the minds of one's audience) 

And below that money off your first shop...

There's an image of a list of products.

And... that's it.

Nothing more. 

No compelling story.

No personality.

No reason why. 

So let's see what's on the other side of this promotional piece.  

Mercy me... A headline!

Wow!

Let's dig in.  

"Finally, an eco-friendly way to shop that doesn't cost the earth" 

Now how many times have we heard a version of that cost saving thrust? Nothing new or exciting.  

And below that, a Here's how this works sequence of images along with some copy. 

Nothing mind blowing about it.

Nothing earth wobbling or amazing.

Nothing immediate or instant to have you get your mind racing or to want to make you whip out your money to be part of it.  

How could they apply some proper intelligence to the flyer without resorting to no thinking?  

There are multiple angles to choose from.

One angle is to take a leaf out of David Ogilvy's masterpiece book on ideas and advertising.  

Cleverly named... OGILVY on ADVERTISING! 

Now there are many ideas and angles you can be inspired by in that masterpiece book, if you care to look.   

One such inspiration is an ad to promote Guinness beer.   

And, it was masterfully done via promoting a guide to oysters. 

More specifically...

GUINNESS GUIDE TO OYSTERS!   

 

Now what's that got to do with anything?

Well, by educating and informing people about the various kinds and types of oysters, and by positioning Guinness as the Beer of choice, the connection between the two made people buy more quantities of both beer (Guinness) and oysters!

Oh, and here's what's said about the direct connection between beer and oysters:

Oysters and beer are a remarkable pair. The brine from the oyster not only complements and highlights aspects of the beer, it's washed clean by the beer's crisp carbonation, inviting you to eat another oyster (and another oyster and another oyster and…)      

So how can we transition the idea and employ something similar to Bother and their offering?  

Bother's Guide to The Most Run Out of Popular Products at Home

And then...

Listing 9 or 12 popular products, giving each one a diagram and a real life story and reasons why they run out quickly, etc. And, the different target groups of users can be represented in each different 'square or block'. 

That's not the only idea.

It's an angle.

And it's way better than the £15 off your first order version on the flyer.   

It's informative.

It's entertaining.

It's engaging.

It has personality.

It'll have some people who'll keep that flyer up on the fridge where they can see it.   

Clever, creative, intelligent marketing thinking always outperforms lazy thinking marketers and owners.    

Spin the marketing wheel and bank the dough (pointer 4)

It's that glorious time again.

Where we spin the magnifico marketing wheel and see where the pointer, points. 

And before we get into it, let me just straddle the soap box here and poke my pointy nose into things for a second to say that if you dismiss what you're reading here regarding these strategies, or you nod your head in happy agreement but you do nothing with what you're eyeballing, then it's as bad as being able to read, but not read, being able to walk, but not walk, being able to help, but not help, being able to drive, but not drive, being able to love, but not love. End of lesson.

And so the pointy pointer lands on....  

Raising Prices! 

I can hear the collective tension rise up inside the throats of many.

Here's what you probably know: 

Your prices are already way too low (on some of your products and services).

Now it's not a good idea to raise prices for the sake of raising prices. 

(If you're a low cost provider and your desired goal and mission is to be the lowest priced vendor, supplier, business or product provider in your marketplace, then this raising prices strategy will have nothing to do with you at all. Skip on by and enjoy the rest of your day) 

In raising prices... 

You've got to give reasons why. 

You've got to add additional value. 

You've got to improve the quality of your service or product. 

You've got to ensure the entire A-Z customer buying and post buying process and standards, are all raised and bettered.

What you can't do when raising prices is to trance someone into buying from you or hammer them over the head with some kind of sob story.

They'll sniff that a mile away. 

And it won't truly resonate or connect.

And yet, there are providers and services all over the place who are high priced yet providing little or additional extra value than their closest competitor.

They'll soon be rumbled as their pricing won't match the quality of their services.  

Of course, if your business has a personality and has a loyal rabid following for what it is you sell and promote, then raising prices won't be nearly as troubling.

In fact, when you go even higher in your prices with new product and service offerings, there'll be a certain percentage of your customer base who'll devour and lap it up.  

And they'll do that because they've already been convinced and have bought into who you are and what your products and services stand for in their lives.     

Test it out. Raise dem prices!

There are 3 other strategies on the marketing wheel that deliciously blend and merge into the raising prices one, and you'll get to see what they are over the coming days.

Spin the Strategic marketing wheel and bank the dough (pointer 2)

It's spin the marketing wheel time.

And, the lucky ducky strategy the pointer plops on just now, is...

Continuous Communications.

Tada! 

Yawn.

Well guess what?

Yawny and unsexy it might seem, yet... when you mail more, when you're in constant communication, when you're connected to your subscribers and customers...you'll get more eyeballs on your communications.

And that generally means...

You'll make more dough.

But don't count your money yet because I said it generally means you make more dough.  

It's this generally word I want to poke into a little more.

Because here's what WON'T bring in the dough for you when it comes to your communications: (And that's irrespective if you send one communication a day, a week, a month) 

• Making the whole communication as dry as toast to read. (there's zero personality being shown) 
• Not being at all entertaining. (i.e. being a dull, drab bore in print)
• Not having a different point of view to all others in your marketplace. (aka -- being a samey samey)
• Only selling, selling, selling and having nothing else of value to share or communicate. (We all like to buy, but not when a torrent of emails are only (and desperately) focussed on getting our money) 
• Making your offers as limp, unenergetic and uninviting as a pooped out marathon runner who hasn't brushed their teeth for days, yet wants to join your banging, late night house party.
• Having little to zero creative inventiveness and story telling prowess, thus making your communications sound and read almost exactly the same... each and every time. 

So if you're going to communicate, and regularly, do it in a way that makes it a joyful delight for your recipient. 

To tie this all together:

There's a creeping separateness that naturally happens when you stay out of the communication loop for too long.

And we all know that. 

In personal life and, in business.

And in business... 

The money numbers don't lie.

You don't want to let that lack of continuous communication happen, especially now that you have a little list to work from to fix things, where you simply... do the OPPOSITE.     

Let's spin the marketing wheel again tomorrow and see where the marketing dough making pointer, lands next.    

    

Want a regular dose of the kind of emails that'll do Taj Mahal wonders for your business?
Go Here. 

Spin The Strategic Marketing Wheel & Bank The Dough - (pointer 1)

 Let me destress your already filled-to-the-top marketing brain.

How?

By having you spin the following marketing wheel and see where the pointer lands for you.

HINT:

Wherever it falls, you're in the money.

Why?

Because EACH of the 12 is a proven tasty dish that'll make you happy and profitable.

But of course, only if you take the gift you get, and then apply it to your business, or to your client's business. 

We'll do one a day for the next 12.

So.

Let's SPIN.

So where do we land?

Customer reactivation.

What's that? 

It's looking at those customers of yours who haven't bought in a while (could be 6 months, a year, longer) and then, sending them a communication that has them be appreciated, acknowledged and cared for. 

But we're not done yet.

Inside that communication, you invite them to take advantage of a special gift or offer. 

That could be a money off voucher, a special intro price to a new item or service, a buy one get one free, a no cost consultation, a get this with that, a come in or click here for a special surprise gift.

Whatever you do, choose something. 

And not only that, have it be something of delight and advantage to those portion of your customers who have fallen off the buying and communication merry go round with you.

Because guess what?

When you reactivate a customer to get back into the buying groove with you, not only will you make that first come-back transaction something your customer will love, but you'll start to get them into a frequent buying pattern with you.

And that means...

... you'll increase their lifetime value with you

... you'll increase their referral value with you

... you'll have gained a converted ambassador for what it is you sell and market. 

The even better news about that?

Multiply out that referral and residual value by the number of inactive past customers you can now reactivate, and you'll find that you've been squatting like a mother hen on a fat number of golden egg assets. Assets that you can now mine and mint, upwards and outwards.

Golden egg news alert! 

You do not need to be a marketing wizard to put the above into action for your business!

You do however, need to know who you're communicating to, what you're going to be offering them, when you're going to be doing it, what your follow up process is going to be to those who reply and respond. 

Tune in again tomorrow. 

The money making marketing wheel is going to be spun again.   

FREE BOOK SHOWS YOU HOW TO WRITE ENTERTAINING EMAILS THAT GET OPENED, READ AND BOUGHT FROM  

                                                                                raja . hireker @ gmail . com 
                                                                        Marketing Consulting / Copywriting 

     

  

           

 

   

If there's NO JOY OR FUN in selling what you sell, then your ads and marketing communications are going to be as dry as toast (and yes, you'll sell way less than you think)

Do you really LOVE what you sell and promote? 

I don't mean that you say you love it on the face of things, but then on the other side of it all you know that you don't have many good things to say about your products or services that has you convinced and convicted that your product or service is truly valuable, that it makes a significant and measurable difference for those that buy or invest in it.   

Are you a TRUE BELIEVER that what you have to sell, that it has the absolute benefit and wellbeing of your clients and prospects right at the centre of it? 

Whether or not that's true for you just now here's what's super important: 

- it's hard to have a fun business and it's hard to create the kind of inspiring and joyously created communications and sales writing when you're half-hearted and half convinced about what you're promoting and selling. 

And no, you can't flat out lie and hype up your products or services to be something they're not. Because guess what, you'll soon be found out. You'll soon have multiple people banging on your doors asking for their money back. 

Be alarmed or not, but there'll be a few who'll want your head and will heckle for your business to be barred and banned!

We as a collective, are sick and tired of hearing and seeing the same dry boring communications and marketing efforts, all across the board. The kind of efforts that make us indifferent and unwilling to want to find out more. 

Frankly, the problem isn't that a product or service is boring or tepid.

(Because I'm convinced that if you look hard and deep enough, you'll discover and unearth unique fresh distinctions and advantages about your products and services it'll stand you so far apart from those selling and promoting what it is you do, especially because of how you tell the story about it).

The REAL problem is the lack of ideas and the creative application in selling what you sell.

The REAL problem is refusing to bring an element of fun, joy, happiness and real entertaining excitement to your marketing, advertising and communication efforts.    

And I don't mean you hype up your products and services in such a way that it creates some kind of mass hysteria or false buying frenzy. I'm not talking about doing any of that. 

I'm talking about creating the kind of communications that people love to read and inherently love to buy from.

And if you're like the majority, we want our experiences, the service we receive, we want that to be something that knocks us down because of how incredible and exciting the whole experience was for us. 

We're silently dying for that to happen. Even if we have to wait for 3 blue moons for that to happen.

But we don't need to wait that long. 

Because in steps Walt Disney to slap us into 100% attention mode. Here's what he DID with Disney, in every which way that was possible for him to do so:

Do what you do so well that people can't help but talk about you. 

There's the MIRACLE formula right there...

And when we apply that formula to our communications and our sales messages, when we make our communications and sales efforts fun, joyous, engaging, entertaining... your customers, clients and prospects who see and read your communications can't help but talk about you. They can't help but pass around the stories about you and your products and services to plenty of others. 

No one delights in passing and referring the bland and the boring to others.     

Now's the time to fix things so that never happens to you and your business. Ever.  

  --------------------------

(If you'd like to see further examples of what I'm talking about (you've already see a number of them in the pages of this blog) when it comes to creating fun and joy in your sales and marketing communications, then send an email to me at the following address: raja . hireker @ gmail . com )        

     

Why you should look, search, HUNT for the flaws in your marketing and business building efforts...

 If there's one MIRACLE that'll ratchet up the money numbers in your business, it's this;

Finding the flaws in what you're currently doing, and finding better alternatives to it. And then, employing them.

There's no gleaming Oscar award going to be given out for that piece of obviousness.

And yet, it's the miracle cure very few engage in.

Why don't they engage in it?

Because it calls into question that what you're currently doing, is somewhat wobbly and pear shaped.

So what of it?

Well, we can't really own up to all that, can we? Should we?

Because since as far back as we can remember, we've been instructed, told, forced even, to not show our weaknesses, to not show our flaws, to become better, to improve, to excel.

And if we do show our flaws, our lostness, it tells everyone else that we're weak, not up to the mark, a dunce head.

So doing something that goes against that conditioning, well, that's not going to happen for most of us.

And yet...

Rule breaking and guillotining our past conditioning and ingrained beliefs ARE the essential nutrient habits for creating the abnormal. For creating breakthroughs.

And here, in the marketing and money creating context, abnormal is anything that's not normal for you.

If you've a baseline figure of say 2-7k a month in sales, or 15 to 25k of sales , or hundreds of thousands a month in sales of your products or services, that's your current baseline norm.

And nothing is going to move that normal needle into the upward abnormal, unless you find and fix the flaws in the process and system that's currently creating the 2-7k or 15 to 25k, or whatever your number is.

And yes, ALL systems have flaws and leaks. 

All. NO matter if you're doing 1k a month in business or 1m. All systems and processes can be bettered, refined, improved.

And when you look inside a business, there are multiple impact points in the entire marketing and communication process that can be bettered and fixed. 

Not just in the ads and promotions, but in the way you price, the way you segment your target market list, the way you follow up, the way you create higher value products and services, the frequency with which you communicate, the way you create joint venture partners, how you handle no shows, how you create your referral systems, how you split your day up into 80/20 activities, the variety of your email subject lines.

The list is beefy as it is ongoing. 

And inside each one of those elements on the list, there are better alternatives you could be using and employing to get higher and better results. Because anything can always be measured, bettered and improved.

Let's get away from the business and marketing context of things for a while and demonstrate how this truism operates in other areas.

How do you think Tiger Woods became greater than great? through the years, he asked his coaches trainers to look for the flaws n his game and to fix what he was currently doing. He incorporated the findings and guess what, even though he was at the top of the game at that time, he became the dominant tornado force he became. All because of wanting to improve and be better.

How do you think top surgeon and author Atul Gwande improved his surgical techniques? He hired his past professor to coach him on improving performance because he felt stale, lethargic, uninspired, despite being a prolific surgeon. His professor showed him several habits and techniques Gwande was utilising in the operating theatre that could be bettered and improved. As such, he became evermore skilled in his surgical techniques and out of that, his own passion, demeanour and willingness for his work, took on newfound meaning and happiness.

Let me repeat this again-- ALL systems and processes can be improved.

The moment your mind is captivated and alive with the insatiable desire for you to be a committed hunter of how to better your current campaigns, communications, promotional offers, lessening product returns...

... the moment you're open to that kind of committed inquiry and analytical investigation, that's when you'll see and experience a rise and shift in the results and profits.

And once you start the process, you'll need to be tied down because you'll feel that delight and giddiness in your bones because now your sophisticated nose is on the right kind of hunt. 

You'll find yourself delving into all kinds of little nooks and crannies when it comes to you, your business and your marketing.. and you'll come up with all kinds of ways to better and improve what you're currently doing.

It's pure blissful magic when it happens because that way of being and showing up, will not only help you in your business and in your marketing, but it'll help you in every single area of your life if you put it all to the test.

But beware...

The longer you leave things as they currently are, then that's your chosen and accepted norm, that's your current standard baseline.

So ask yourself, and let me ask you also, what are you looking to change so you can get better business and money results; and in turn, feel happier, inspired, and more certain about your future?

https://rajahireker.com/what.pdf 

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A few of your absurdly diabolical staff and customer service reps ARE your marketing

There's a swooning gaggle of owners and copywriters who are insane.

Why?

Because whilst they're all desperately seeking the lighthouse beacon glamour headline and the flowing dancing copy to support it all...

...what goes on in their underground business bunkers goes almost un-noticed. 

Things like...

• Rude as hell, snarling customer (dis) service reps
• Poor communication timeliness from the business in solving customer related problems
• Zero empathy or sincere interest from the robotic automatons, reading as if magnetised to an insincere script.
• Little to zero follow up from the business to find out if the large purchase the customer made, was indeed a good and happy one for them.
• Consistently dolling out poor excuses for late delivery of physical products. 

Now this is extremely important: 

You can invest in the best marketing ideas and strategies in the world. 

You can pay top money for the most expensive, in-demand writers, marketing consultants and strategists out there.  

You can have the most appealing, irresistible offer backed up by a world class guarantee.

And yet...

If everything else in your business fails to keep to the benchmark standards you've set for it, then it's all a complete waste of money, time, and energy.

Doesn't mater if your ads and marketing pieces are dripping with more than a touch of Ogilvy, Hopkins, Kennedy, Halbert, Schwartz, Bencivenga.

Whatever customer sales stampede your ads, campaigns and promotional pieces might create, will get quickly uprooted, unknowingly, by your own internal saboteurs, the few absurdly diabolical staff and customer service reps who simply do not care about you, themselves, or about your customers and prospects.

Want to fix the rotten and couldn't-be-bothered, fraternity? 

Then go on an A to Z tour of your business and look at it from the perspective of your customers and prospects. 

And, do it surgically and microscopically. 

So when you do come across something that needs yanking out and replacing, then do it. 

Immediately and instantly. 

Because that's the only way to stop problems from festering and spreading.   

And that's the only way for you to really get your business to sparkle, profit and thrive.  

So please, remember, this forever more:

Everything in your business, EVERYTHING... IS your marketing. 

And so ask yourself the following question about any and all facets of your business -- every week, daily, if you like:

Here's the question --

Is THIS supporting our marketing efforts, or diminishing it?  

Do that several times each day and you'll quickly be running a business venture having little to no kinks, leaks or aberrations that'll get in the way of you making seriously good profits.