Once question I’ve been asked frequently by friends and business associates is this: “How are you able to help your clients increase revenues when none of our marketing efforts seem to be working as well as they used to work?”
There’s no short, simple answer to this question. And about a year ago, I sat down and tried to figure out the best way to help show our clients, colleagues and friends with small businesses how to put all of this into practice. What resulted was a 12-week marketing training program that we implemented for the first time early this year.
Before getting into more detail, I want to mention that we’re taking the major highlights of this process and presenting them in Sarasota in a half-day seminar on September 27th. Visit Results Now Marketing to find out all about it.
The results have been nothing short of mind-boggling. Instead of us actually providing services to these businesspeople, we’re simply showing them the process we use. It’s a strategic process, which means that it is transferable and can be adapted to just about any business.
One company put the techniques to work for them and, after having a website for 7 years that never made it anywhere near the top of the search engines, they put a brand new website on the front page of Google (for actual searches that their potential customers would run) in just a matter of a couple of weeks!
(They did it! We simply showed them how!)
That’s just the beginning… some of the strategies we show have multiplied the revenues in some of our clients within a matter of a few months.
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center prior to 9-11
It’s been said before… we’ll probably always remember exactly what we were doing that day.
For me, it was an early morning networking meeting at the now-demolished Sarasota Quay. I remember hopping on my motorcycle to leave the parking lot when a State Trooper pulled up and blocked the exit.
President Bush was passing by on his way from The Colony on Longboat Key up Tamiami Trail to head toward Booker Elementary School. It delayed my departure from the Quay for a while. I had completely forgotten he was in town, so I sat there on my motorcycle facing the road and watched as the entourage of black vehicles eventually went by.
Then, it was off to visit a client. I had to make a brief stop at the bank where, after making a deposit, I exited into an eerily calm morning. It was exactly 9:02am. I looked at my watch before getting back on my bike and I remember the distinct feeling: something’s wrong.
I hadn’t yet heard about what was happening in New York City, but for a Tuesday morning something really seemed oddly quiet. In the distance, a siren wailing added to the unusual sensation.
A few short minutes later, I arrived at my client’s office where there was absolute bedlam. Someone had heard the news and was desperately trying to get CNN.com or any of the major news websites to load up.
We watched in horror as we finally saw clips of the planes flying into the buildings.
The 9/11 Community Prayer Meeting
For me, the next steps were both immediately obvious and now a blur. Thanks to my friends Raj Doraisamy and Joe Brachle, as well as the entire team at Joe’s CSI Networks (then known as Computing Solutions), a full-scale effort was in place which by the end of the day yielded a community prayer meeting at Robarts Arena on Fruitville Road.
As many as 30-40 congregations in the Manatee and Sarasota County areas participated. Carolyn Mason, then mayor of Sarasota, was instrumental in getting us access to the Robarts facility at no charge. She announced the meeting at the city’s own vigil held downtown that afternoon. Jeff MacFarlane and the crew of The Joy FM, as well as many other media outlets, were instrumental in helping to invite the community to come out to pray.
From 5pm to 10pm, Robarts was open for people to come and go as they desired. Estimates at the time were that approximately 500 people had come and gone by the time the evening was over. My own lovely wife, Jill, sang for a good chunk of the evening. People like Cindy Wright and Carlos Ramirez helped provide music. Numerous pastors and other local ministers, including Dan Nawara from The Living Sanctuary and Richard Brantley from The Rock of Sarasota, came out to lead people in prayer.
That evening represented some of the best things about this community. A group of people in a wild time of uncertainty — we had no idea if we were in for other attacks or not — came together just hours after the first devastating tragedy of the day, and were simply there for one another. It was something for those who needed to reach out to other people… and to God.
It was an unforgettable day… for so many reasons. Thank you to those of you local citizens that helped bring some light into a very dark day.
It’s an absolute pleasure to spotlight local companies making a splash outside of our region, and so imagine my delight when I spotted this piece in the San Francisco Chronicle on our very own Gemesis Corp.
Published today, the story casts Gemesis in quite a positive light as an industry leader in cultivated diamonds, noting that Gemesis’ Stephen Lux was in the Bay Area to hold a show centered around the lab-grown stones. Judging from the Chronicle piece, the stones were received somewhat favorably by area jewelry retailers, and may be making some appearances in display cases in the coming months.
Hope everything goes well in your new test market, Gemesis… and on behalf of Sarasota, thanks to Stephen Lux and crew for representing!
The Sarasota real estate market continues to be something I’m paying close attention to. Why? Very simply: our local economy is inextricably tied to what this market is doing. When the housing market started to tank locally, it was the first domino in a long line. As inventory levels (representing the number of single family homes and condominiums listed as “for sale”) have climbed, construction and other business sectors related to housing have all dived.
So, a couple of recent tidbits from Perry Corneau represent good news. First, inventory levels are at their lowest in two and a half years. This is great news, and I can anecdotally attest that I’m seeing fewer for sale signs. What’s unclear to me is exactly what this represents…
Is sales volume actually up?
Are more banks in possession of properties now? If so, it seems to me that they’ve not been good at marketing the properties they own. And when foreclosure occurs (as opposed to short sales), these properties wouldn’t appear in the MLS anyway.
Have sellers given up on moving properties as prices have declined?
Another piece of good news: prices are still higher than they were 5 years ago. In 2003, the market was still on a major upswing, but of course the highest prices were 2-3 years later.
Based upon numerous conversations with those keeping their eye on the market, here are my predictions: prices will continue to drop and volume will begin to surge. For how long? I’m not sure, but it seems to me that the “bottom” of this market hasn’t quite yet been reached — at least in terms of pricing. There are a few investors who are starting to dip their toes into the water, but the buying frenzy that I expect isn’t here yet.
The best thing that can happen for this market is for transaction volume to increase. This will help prices bottom out sooner rather than later.
And… in the interest of full disclosure… I currently do not have any property on the market. 😉
With so much talk of recession… and some actual slowdowns — some of them serious, especially within certain industries — businesses have a tendency to cut back in areas that can make matters worse.
Marketing is at the top of the list.
If you know me, then you know that I’m not in favor of untracked, unmeasurable and expensive advertising anyway. So, don’t get too upset if you think I’m thinking mainly of advertising… I’m not. What I’m referring to are the systems in your business that produce new prospects and/or customers on a regular basis.
You do have some of those, don’t you?
If not, then the time has come for you to put some in place. And fast! If you do, then it’s important that you proceed with caution if you’re eyeing them in your budget.
2 Big Announcements
First… we are happy to unveil a shiny new blog site that just launched. It is focused on small business marketing and already has a few posts on it (some of which were gleaned from other publications for which we’ve written). This reflects the renewed focus in our business: Epiphany Marketing.
Secondly… there are a couple of big things coming in the next few weeks. So, this is an announcement about our coming announcements! But there will be some significant new opportunities for you as a business person to learn how to use applied strategy along with some free and low-cost technology to make sure that your future customers find you instead of someone else. It’s going to be big!
Here’s a hint: there will be something happening in Sarasota.
If you’re one of our many readers from across the US and around the world… not to worry, we’ve got something coming for you, too. Keep your eyes glued to this spot… and the new marketing blog, too!
Google recently added a setting to its Gmail service that allows users to always keep their sessions encrypted. It’s a really good idea to turn this one on if you want to keep hackers out of your account.
But I already login with https…
That’s true… the Gmail service handles your login in an encrypted fashion, but… unless you’re very specific about opening the site using https:// (or SSL), the service will authenticate your login and then switch you back to an http:// (non-encrypted) session. So… your password remains secure, but your session does not.
A tool is about to be unleashed to hackers that will allow them to get busy breaking into Gmail accounts. You’re particularly vulnerable if you access Gmail from a wifi hotspot or any public computer… which is one of the reasons we all have Gmail accounts, isn’t it?
Here’s how to make the change
Our “don’t be evil” friends have been kind enough to be very quiet about the new settings option, and then bury it so it’s hard to find. Here’s where to make the change:
Login to your Gmail account. Here’s a hint: use this secure login link.
Click on “Settings” (on the top, near the right)
On the “General” tab, scroll all the way down. I’m including a picture below for you, but click “Always use https” and then save your changes. Your settings will be remembered no matter what computer you login from.
Now you should be in good shape. Hey… when was the last time you changed this password? (You do change passwords regularly, right?)
I’ve gotten a lot of questions from friends and business associates about the Ad Surf Daily Cash Generator program. Now that the US Attorney’s office has seized assets and filed suit, with Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum right behind, it seems likely that the program will not continue.
A Few Facts
Initially, I was approached by people who wanted me to look at the program to see if it seemed legit. My friends know that I do not join multi-level marketing programs, nor anything that seems like it might be a network marketing venture. Nonetheless, I took a peek at this program to find out if there was anything suspect about it on behalf of those friends.
The first clue that there might be something “up” was that people were wondering if it might be a scam. Why? Well… the good old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true…” comes to mind.
Here’s the premise: you sign up for the program (even with a free account, if you prefer) under a sponsor. You then begin to “auto surf” ads every day. There are rewards for doing this, including the right to place a website of your own into the ad rotating system so that other people will be forced to view your site.
At this point, it sounds a little bit like a modified version of Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC). With PPC, which most people are familiar with because of the right-hand side of your Google search results, advertisers bid to have their ad show up on certain sites and then only pay when someone “clicks” on their ad.
Ad Surf Daily seems to provide a cost-effective way to do this… at first glance.
But what you quickly learn is that the vast majority of people who join (and later “purchase ad packages”) don’t actually have anything to advertise. So… the question becomes, “Why are they signing up?”
It turns out that if you “purchase ad packages,” (which the US Attorney’s Office has now labeled “investing”) you have the opportunity to “earn rebates” by faithfully viewing advertisements every day. I won’t get into the mathematics of it, but let’s just say that this appears to be highly profitable because you can earn more in rebates than you “purchased.”
There are numerous incentives and rewards built into the program that are designed to get you to purchase more ad packages. Also, as a member of the program, you are incentivized to leave your earnings in the program because the higher your “cash balance,” the more rebates you’ll be able to earn. You can even increase your rate of earnings by paying for a monthly membership at several different levels. There are even big rallies where you can obtain much larger bonuses by “purchasing” ad packages on the spot…
And… of course, there are commissions. This is where some of the biggest incentives are. This is the part where you convince your friends and family (or even random acquaintances, like some of the people who have spammed my inbox about this) to sign up under you.
I Smell A Rat…
If you’re around the participants for very long, you hear amazing stories of large cash payouts. You hear about credit card debt being wiped out, even millionaires being created. All of this occurs in short periods of time. You hear about the explosive growth. You hear about the founder, Andy Bowdoin, and his impressive award that was given to him by the President of the United States. You hear about his many successful businesses over the years. You also watch videos online which focus repeatedly on “we’re good guys” without providing any substantive information about why you should expect this program to continue.
But I have a fundamental question:
If the bulk of the customers have no need for the item they are purchasing, where is the value that this company is actually bringing to the marketplace?
In other words, they claim their goal is to be the biggest seller of online advertising in the world. They even claim to be threatening Google’s position as market leader. But one thing I’ve noticed… the people/companies buying ads from Google (and other PPC establishments) have one thing in common: they all have something to advertise.
One friend of mine has a local contracting business. My question for him was, “What are you advertising in the ASD system that people might be interested in purchasing?” The answer: his local contracting business. My next thought is, “What the heck does someone in Bolivia do when they see an ad for a contracting business in Florida?”
As a marketer, my next thought after that is… that’s a little bit like buying a billboard on a California freeway for your McDonald’s in Memphis.
Poor use of advertising dollars.
Not so poor, perhaps, for those who have a digital product with universal appeal, or perhaps those selling something that can be purchased and then shipped anywhere in the world. Again, however, the key would be that it has universal appeal.
Like… toothbrushes. We all need those, right?
Anyway…
Is It Sustainable?
Back to my fundamental question. How long can this program carry on — even if they’re careful not to promise to pay out too much money in “rebates” — when their basic product is not needed by the people who are purchasing it today?
Can it be that the only reason they are buying advertising is so that they can earn a rebate?
The answer is: absolutely, 100%, unequivocally, “yes!”
And that, my friends, creates a problem: as soon as the market figures out that:
a. there are better ways to buy advertising, and
b. this is only sustainable as long as there are more people willing to buy something they don’t need,
the whole thing comes tumbling down…
…not unlike a Ponzi scheme.
Precisely, by the way, what the US Attorney in Washington D.C., otherwise known as the Attorney General, concluded.
Is anyone guilty of a crime here? Well… that remains to be seen. In the meantime, no one is surfing the “ads.” No one is “purchasing ads,” and nobody is spending the $53M in cash that was seized while the investigation and the lawsuits proceed.
Bad news for those who used their life savings to buy something they didn’t need.
I’m admittedly a little biased on this one. OK… I’m very biased…
My gorgeous and amazing wife, who is a speech and language development expert, has just unveiled a shiny new downloadable audio program intended for parents of infants and toddlers.
Now… I’ve actually lived through the development of this material. Our beautiful 3-year-old daughter is one of the most articulate and verbal children I’ve ever seen in my life. So, not only do I know it works, but I’ve been encouraging Jill for nearly 10 years now to help other people understand this material.
Who Would Benefit From This?
If you’re an expectant parent or if there’s an infant, toddler, or preschooler in your life, you don’t want to miss out on this information. Until I married Jill, I was unaware of how significant the speech and language development of a baby was to their intellectual and — get this — even their physiological brain development. That’s right, what you do in your interactions with your little one can actually affect the way their brain gets wired as it forms and develops.
Complex Made Simple
Jill is one of the few people that I know who has that rare ability to take volumes of information and distill it down to something simple and actionable. So, while there’s a healthy amount of research and high level info for those that want to sink their teeth into it, anyone will find this useful. She provides very simple tips and techniques you can use to help your child develop.
$chool i$ awe$ome. I’ve got lot$ of friend$ and I’m $tudying and learning ton$. I’m so bu$y, I $imply don’t have time to earn any extra ca$h. I mi$$ you though and $o appreciate your ongoing $upport. I would love to hear from you.
Love,
Your $on
The Reply:
Dear Son,
I kNOw that astroNOmy, ecoNOmics, and oceaNOgraphy are quite eNOugh to keep even an hoNOr student running. Do NOt forget that the pursuit of kNOwledge is a NOble task, that putting your nose in your books is free and that you can never study eNOugh.
Love,
Dad
What is it about dads and money? When we think of Mom our thoughts are all flowers, hugs and appreciation. However, when our thoughts turn towards Dad things get much more practical.
Some relational experts say that this difference between the roles that dads and moms play and consequently the way we view our relationships with them is possibly why business on Dad’s Day isn’t quite what it is on Mother’s Day.
According to a BusinessWeek article published this month the projected consumer spending for Father’s day this year is $9.58 billion. Compare that to the close to $16 billion spent on Mother’s Day. The average consumer is expected to spend around $95 on Father’s Day, about 60% of what we spend on Mother’s Day.
Hallmark sold over 150 million cards for moms but is expecting to sell somewhere just over 90 million for dads.
Now this is usually where a writer would close the article with a wonderful sentiment about how we love our fathers no less than our mothers. Now that may be true but I want to go another direction.
The economic stimulus checks have gone out and consumer spending rose slightly in May. We all want to support economic growth and we all want to show dear old Dad that we love him as much as we love Mom.
So here it is, lets forget the $95. Let’s buy that electronic gadget that our dads really want and an extra card and take the spending up to Mother’s Day levels.
