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 marketing wheel and bank the dough (pointer 3)

Let's get into spinning that marketing wheel and see where the pointer, points.

And by the way, there's 12 money dough strategies on the marketing wheel I've got and created. I could increase it to 20 or 30 if I wanted to. 

(And for certain forensic microscopic marketing and business digging I do, I bring those beauties out when I need to.)  

So let's SPIN!

Where's it landed today?

Let's see - it's landed on continuity (or read it as membership, or subscription, or recurring revenue.) 

Whassattt?

It's where you get get paid typically on a continuing monthly basis for providing a monthly service.

Whether that monthly amount is for a newsletter, or access to a private member’s area filled with desirable content, or a subscription to a version of a ‘book of the month’ type offering, or monthly access to a new product offering, or monthly coaching or mentoring, or any other hybrid version of the above.

Uh oh. I can hear more than a few Owners piping up... 

"Oh, but I'm not in a business that can do that! How could I benefit? This is all a waste of time for me. I don't have bags of spare money to do what you're saying. I can't I can't, I can't!"    

Well, the good news is almost ALL kinds, types and sizes of businesses, no matter WHAT they sell and promote, can have a continuity based element baked into their businesses.

Examples? Demonstration? Evidence? Proof?

Good shout! Wouldn't have it any other way. And as your eyeballs are dancing over the businesses below, don't dismiss your business from adopting, adapting and applying the ideas or strategies you've just taken in, to your business.   

A pizza, take away or other food based business: Create a monthly membership where each month customers get a £65 value subscription for only £40 to use throughout the month. If they use up their £65 worth of food currency tokens or vouchers within a few days or weeks, they can buy add-on vouchers for the remaining days in the month.

A jewellery or any other retail store: a special VIP membership can be created that allows current and new customers to receive a monthly value amount that can be redeemed against any item of jewellery, with the customer paying the difference in value if the voucher amount is exceeded. They can also receive special VIP buying privileges, never seen before offerings, entry to special invitation events.

A car service centre: A programme can be created where there are 3 levels of service options, with customers paying a monthly membership fee for servicing, receiving valuable tips via video or via a membership portal, even offering special deals on new cars where the service centre forms joint venture partnerships with local car dealers.

A pet grooming service: creating a monthly membership option where customers are eligible to bring their pets in for grooming and cleaning services at a favourable rate each month, with added on options and discounts on food and ancillary products and services provided by other vendors, with the pet grooming service taking a commission fee for engineering the various vendor relationships.

An Architect – an architect can team up with an interior designer, a house renovator, a landscaper, and other associated vendors, package the whole thing together as a unique service, and charge clients a monthly fee for access to the experts by way of advice and consulting, with some membership clients eventually being converted into large paying projects.   

The main thing here to note is when you create a continuity based element to your business, you'll have created an equity based system that pays you like clockwork, month in month out.

Nothing like having Continuity to put you into the Equity based business.

Because that's what'll give you INCOME FOR LIFE stability, security and certainty.

And when you compound out that actual recurring revenue value amounts, and put it on paper so you can gawp at the numbers you see before you (I don't actually advise it as it'll give you a stonking fat migraine when you see all the years of money that you've watched sail down the plug hole) you'll find it might just smack you into taking proper action so you can have a Continuity based revenue stream working for you in your business.

Time to put the money-making Marketing Wheel away for now. 

It'll come out again tomorrow. Get your notepad and pen ready. 

  

Your emails making it rain for you? Subscribers and customers loving your campaigns and launches? If not, go here to get a hold of the kind of emails and strategic thinking that'll thump your heart happy.       

         

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 

     

  

           

 

   

Email Marketing Q & A (Part 2 )

Q: Why do you think Email has been given a back seat recently as a marketing vehicle...is it because of social media marketing being so prominent?

RH:My take on it is that email, the proper use of it, will be here to stay as long as the internet is here and so that’ll be like, forever. Social media marketing has its merits, though all in good measure. 

It seems like whenever the next new shiniest marketing tool comes online, there’s this buffalo stampede that can be heard for miles, with everyone who has been sold into the idea and concept, touting it like it’s their online saviour. 

Which of course is just plain old hype and I suppose a business owner has to go through the experience to see that social media marketing isn’t as it’s cracked up and promoted to be. 

Yes, there are wonderful uses for it all but tell me a business that’s built its business solely on social media marketing and then you’ll have me as being an eager listener.

And the dirty little secret is that the big guns, you know, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Ebay… they’re using offline direct mail to grow their businesses.

Gasp. Who’d have thought that, right? 

I mean, shouldn’t they be using just social media marketing as they’re purely online businesses? Now you know. Okay, now, social media marketing used in conjunction with email, can be a powerful combination. 

But give me an either/or choice and I’ll pick email as a method of building a deep strong relationship with customers, as well as making regular sales like clockwork, I’ll take email, any day of the week, month or year. 

Now those who spurn email and its inherent uses and power, simply do not know how to use it effectively. 

And so what happens as a consequence? 

They bad mouth the media, based on their erroneous assumptions, based on false information, based on simply not taking the time and investing energy and flop sweat to doing it right. 

And let’s just take a look at this; email is just another format to communicate. 

Nothing more. It’s not the holy-grail. Neither is facebook or twitter or any other social media marketing platform. They’re all communication vehicles, just like the fax, the mobile phone, tv, video, letters in the post. 

And with all of those media platform or tools or vehicles, whatever I’ve just mentioned, if you don’t know how to effectively communicate using whatever media, you’re not doing as well as you thought.

And you can’t blame the media platform because if someone else is being successful at using it then it’s you, me, whoever is the mind behind the use of the communication tool in question; we’re the problem and not the media platform! 

If someone else is successful at it, and we’re not; we’ve screwed it up along the line, somewhere. 

Email Marketing Q & A (Part 1 )

Q: With most inboxes exploding everyday with one communication or another, how can a business stand out from the masses and get their email communications firstly, to stand out amongst the dozens of others that are fighting for attention. And secondly, how can one get their emails opened?

RH: You know, some really truly believe that there’s this special trick or a stealth ninja back door strategy that has their email always in the front of the email opening queue and so has it standing out from all other emails like Rudolph the Reindeer’s red nose. 

There’s no such strategy. 

And frankly, if you try to ‘trick’ the reader into opening an email and there’s no payoff for them in terms of a benefit or a value that the subject line seemed to have implied or promised, then you’ll be thought of as a slick trickster, a con artist trying desperately to win attention and you may have lost that customer or potential customer, along with all their referral and residual value for years to come. 

The authentic way to get your emails to stand out and to get them opened and to get them read and acted on, is to be someone that your customers and prospects like hearing from. 

To be someone they trust and revere, someone they have some kind of emotional affinity with. Someone who is liked, and look, that doesn’t come by accident. That doesn't happen by chance. It’s not something that happens like an instantaneous lottery jackpot win or something that you attract to you and have manifested just because of thinking about it but doing nothing to make it all happen. 

On the other hand, it’s something that does happen when there’s a definite desire and a want from the business owner or entrepreneur to connect, to really and truly deliver important, valuable and interesting communications and conversations to customers and subscribers alike. 

That’s the way to be looked on as a welcomed guest and not someone who is simply classed as an annoying pest because of showing none of the qualities in being a person of value and of being of an interest that people want to hear from and in fact, can’t wait to hear from because of the fresh, inviting and compellingly interesting communications sent on a timely and regular basis. 

And that actually is the way to build up a true personality driven business. And it’s something most businesses should opt doing because there’s a powerful and distinctive market place advantage in being that person or that business a person looks to amongst all others in the same business category or the same industry.

And that's because all other businesses will be looked upon as nothing but commodity based businesses, giving nothing more than an exchange of goods or services for money, and nothing much more. 

There’s much to be said about creating a personality based driven business because that’s where the true value is and believe it or not, people will pay more and stay longer with those kinds of businesses and organisations, than they will a nameless and faceless corporation that has no soul or no spirit or personality about them. 

NOTE: Are you keen to ramp up your  email marketing game? Want more from the written transcript of where the above interview came from? Email me and I'll give it to you. PLUS... I'll give you access to a powerful yet simple report on how to create personality in your  emails.

raja . hireker @ gmail . com