What Makes an Ad Bad?
Bad ads are intrusive.
Used to be that adverting theory said that intrusion is good. Not anymore. Consumers won't stand for it. They want information when they want it. Do you think that TV advertising has been declining for any other reason than the growth of the internet? It is the internet that let's people CHOOSE.
And choice is the operative word in today's marketing. Giving people a choice is what we need to do to market our products.
Where you draw the line is up to you -- but we feel that an ad meeting any one of the following criteria qualifies as intrusive:
1. You can't turn it off. You can close a magazine and turn off the television, but you can't avoid spam.
2. It enters your home without permission. Pardon me, Mr. Telemarketer, may I see your invitation?
3. You're a captive audience. This can be in schools, in movie theaters, at a urinal, or waiting for your receipt at the ATM.
4. It doesn't support anything, or it costs you money. Radio ads support free programming, but you pay, directly or indirectly, for faxed ads and junk e-mail.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A Good Idea
My clients frequently ask me how I come up with my ideas; how I can be so creative? I tell them that its only the good ideas they see.
The bad ideas are under my pillow.
But people are sometimes afraid of bad ideas. They think they will look stupid or it will be criticized or, worse, waste time and money.
So what?
To get one good idea you need to go through a whole bunch of bad ideas; in fact we all fail more than we succeed. The greatest hitter in history, Ted Williams, only got on base 4 out of 10 times...in his best season!
The web lets you test ideas, prices, delivery options, headlines and even colors, layouts and copy. In fact, you can test as many ideas as you can control and measure them very, very quickly. How can you fail?
So why are we so hard on ourselves?
Is it because we fear failure or fear success (which has its own set of issues to be dealt with)?
Ask yourself how many bad ideas you have each month. If the answer is "zero" then the number of good ideas you have has to be "less" than zero.
The bad ideas are under my pillow.
But people are sometimes afraid of bad ideas. They think they will look stupid or it will be criticized or, worse, waste time and money.
So what?
To get one good idea you need to go through a whole bunch of bad ideas; in fact we all fail more than we succeed. The greatest hitter in history, Ted Williams, only got on base 4 out of 10 times...in his best season!
The web lets you test ideas, prices, delivery options, headlines and even colors, layouts and copy. In fact, you can test as many ideas as you can control and measure them very, very quickly. How can you fail?
So why are we so hard on ourselves?
Is it because we fear failure or fear success (which has its own set of issues to be dealt with)?
Ask yourself how many bad ideas you have each month. If the answer is "zero" then the number of good ideas you have has to be "less" than zero.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
You Matter
One of the all time marketing all stars on the planet is Seth Godin, author, speaker, consultant and internet guru. I wish I was as smart as him. He wrote an article a while back that I have held for New Years Eve. Its not really about marketing, but in a way it is about "approach"; the way we all view what matters to us, what is important and what works for us. And ultimately how we engage other people. So maybe it really is about marketing. I'll let you decide.
Please enjoy this.
You Matter
by
Seth Godin
When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter.
When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter.
When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter.
When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it, you matter.
When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean, you matter.
When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words), you matter.
When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller, you matter.
When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter.
And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.
On this eve of the New Year, I wish all of you love and laughter, health and happiness and peace and prosperity. Thank you for reading my blog and thank you for your comments and good wishes.
Please enjoy this.
You Matter
by
Seth Godin
When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter.
When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter.
When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter.
When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it, you matter.
When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean, you matter.
When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words), you matter.
When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller, you matter.
When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter.
And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.
On this eve of the New Year, I wish all of you love and laughter, health and happiness and peace and prosperity. Thank you for reading my blog and thank you for your comments and good wishes.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
The Comfort Zone
I took the week off; hardly opened the computer, but still addicted to Blackberry so was able to check messages and send some emails.
On Christmas day, I woke up in Santa Monica California; sunshine and 65 degrees, It was the first time, in many a year, that I woke up in a warm climate on Christmas It seemed strange to be jogging around palisades park, near the ocean, in shorts and t shirt.
This is usually the time of the year I get my winter gear out and jog through central park in the snow. That's when I feel all wintry. Hard to get Wintry in southern California.
Clearly, I was out of my comfort zone. And it wasn't a bad thing.
This change of venue did me good. I thought about new ways to use social networks to promote my clients business; books I want to read and new strategies I want to test and implement.
Want to get out of your comfort zone and get your creative juices going? Try some of these techniques
Listen to a TV news station whose views are opposite your views. See what you can earn. At worst, you'll pick up some ammunition to use in cocktail party chatter
Listen to your teenagers music or watch MTV, VH1 or Spike TV and get some new input about this key bowling segment (15 to 29 yr olds)
Visit different stores and test their customer service; what can you learn from them?
Read "Getting Things Done" by David Allen; a great book about managing your time and working efficiently
Sometimes, getting out of the comfort zone gets us thinking in new ways. Give it a try
On Christmas day, I woke up in Santa Monica California; sunshine and 65 degrees, It was the first time, in many a year, that I woke up in a warm climate on Christmas It seemed strange to be jogging around palisades park, near the ocean, in shorts and t shirt.
This is usually the time of the year I get my winter gear out and jog through central park in the snow. That's when I feel all wintry. Hard to get Wintry in southern California.
Clearly, I was out of my comfort zone. And it wasn't a bad thing.
This change of venue did me good. I thought about new ways to use social networks to promote my clients business; books I want to read and new strategies I want to test and implement.
Want to get out of your comfort zone and get your creative juices going? Try some of these techniques
Listen to a TV news station whose views are opposite your views. See what you can earn. At worst, you'll pick up some ammunition to use in cocktail party chatter
Listen to your teenagers music or watch MTV, VH1 or Spike TV and get some new input about this key bowling segment (15 to 29 yr olds)
Visit different stores and test their customer service; what can you learn from them?
Read "Getting Things Done" by David Allen; a great book about managing your time and working efficiently
Sometimes, getting out of the comfort zone gets us thinking in new ways. Give it a try
Sunday, December 20, 2009
A Day in The Life of The Internet
Some of us never realize how big the internet really is or how big it has become, so being the statistical geek that I am, I thought I would share some of this with you; kind of a friendly reminder of its importance and how much you and I have to learn every day just to stay in the game
Factoid #1: Over 210 billion emails are sent out every day…MORE THAN A WHOLE YEARS WORTH of letter mail. There are only 5 billion people in the world!!
Factoid #2: 3 million IMAGES ARE UPLOADED TO FLIKR every day; enough images TO FILL A 375,000 page photo album.
Factoid #3: Every day, information sent over the mobile telephone networks, if SAVED TO DISCS, IT WOULD TAKE 9.2 million disks, 1.7 million blu-ray disks and 63.9 trillion diskettes a day.
Factoid #4: 700,000 NEW FACEBOOK MEMBERS ARE BEING ADDED EVERY DAY; the approximate population of Guyana. 45 million status updates are recorded daily vs. 5 million tweets per day.
Factoid #5: 900,000 articles are POSTED DAILY BY BLOGGERS like me
What it means is obvious – what you actually do about “this new game” is another thing. Having a website and an email address is no longer enough.
The game is changing again. The rules are different.
Read more than ever before. I will pass on some books to you that are great reads for you to “bone up” on and will stimulate your creative juices. When you get finished with them, give them to other people in the center to read. Get them into it. Brainstorm new ideas.
Just remember, this new technology; these social networks that we speak of; they are all about building relationships, trust and honesty.
…and then you can sell them something that you KNOW YOUR NETWORK MAY WANT.
Factoid #1: Over 210 billion emails are sent out every day…MORE THAN A WHOLE YEARS WORTH of letter mail. There are only 5 billion people in the world!!
Factoid #2: 3 million IMAGES ARE UPLOADED TO FLIKR every day; enough images TO FILL A 375,000 page photo album.
Factoid #3: Every day, information sent over the mobile telephone networks, if SAVED TO DISCS, IT WOULD TAKE 9.2 million disks, 1.7 million blu-ray disks and 63.9 trillion diskettes a day.
Factoid #4: 700,000 NEW FACEBOOK MEMBERS ARE BEING ADDED EVERY DAY; the approximate population of Guyana. 45 million status updates are recorded daily vs. 5 million tweets per day.
Factoid #5: 900,000 articles are POSTED DAILY BY BLOGGERS like me
What it means is obvious – what you actually do about “this new game” is another thing. Having a website and an email address is no longer enough.
The game is changing again. The rules are different.
Read more than ever before. I will pass on some books to you that are great reads for you to “bone up” on and will stimulate your creative juices. When you get finished with them, give them to other people in the center to read. Get them into it. Brainstorm new ideas.
Just remember, this new technology; these social networks that we speak of; they are all about building relationships, trust and honesty.
…and then you can sell them something that you KNOW YOUR NETWORK MAY WANT.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Enrichment
Rajeh Sety is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon valley. His blog is Life Beyond Code.
His recent entry on "Enrichment" is worth reading and I wanted to pass this on to you, given the spirit of the holiday season. So here it is:
"We are all on a search- a search for more meaning in our lives. Through choosing to enrich other people's lives, you add meaning to their life and your own.
Some simple steps to follow:
1. Commit: Commit to lifetime - relationships that span events, companies, causes and geographic boundaries.
2. Care: care for the concerns of others as if they are your own.
3. Connect: Aim to connect those who will benefit and enrich each others lives in equal measure
4. Communication: Communicate candidly. Tell people what they should hear rather than what they want to hear.
5. Expand capacity: Aim to expand people's capacity to help them give and get more from their own lives.
The Litmus Test: If you are truly enriching someone's life, they will typically miss you in their past. They think their lives would have been even better if they had met you earlier.
You are only as rich as the enrichment you bring to the world around you."
His recent entry on "Enrichment" is worth reading and I wanted to pass this on to you, given the spirit of the holiday season. So here it is:
"We are all on a search- a search for more meaning in our lives. Through choosing to enrich other people's lives, you add meaning to their life and your own.
Some simple steps to follow:
1. Commit: Commit to lifetime - relationships that span events, companies, causes and geographic boundaries.
2. Care: care for the concerns of others as if they are your own.
3. Connect: Aim to connect those who will benefit and enrich each others lives in equal measure
4. Communication: Communicate candidly. Tell people what they should hear rather than what they want to hear.
5. Expand capacity: Aim to expand people's capacity to help them give and get more from their own lives.
The Litmus Test: If you are truly enriching someone's life, they will typically miss you in their past. They think their lives would have been even better if they had met you earlier.
You are only as rich as the enrichment you bring to the world around you."
Monday, December 14, 2009
"TRYITVERTISING
One of my followers dropped me a comment that this was originally a blank post. I am not quite sure how that happened, but no doubt it did, because I am editing it as I'm thinking.
I was going to write about an idea I had called "tryitvertising".
Simply stated, every 3 months, you sell your customer, via email, a pass for $5. This pass entitles the customer (and up to x# of people?) to get1 hour of bowling and shoe rentals.
Why would you do this?
Because it just might activate someone who has not been in the center in a while (remember, the average open play customer only comes to your center twice in one year!!) and you just might get the opportunity to sell that customer on the benefits of a specific short season league you are trying to form or get their interest on a about a special event.
Each pass would have a 3 month expiration and once it was gone, it is gone. This would be set up as an automatic bill that hits the customer's credit card every 3 months. No hassle for you, easy for the customer.
The customer must sign up for a minimum of 4 passes. So lets assume that 500 customers sign up for this; that would be $10,000 annually coming in over the internet? Bang, you have a money making machine while you sleep!
Any "triers" out there?
I was going to write about an idea I had called "tryitvertising".
Simply stated, every 3 months, you sell your customer, via email, a pass for $5. This pass entitles the customer (and up to x# of people?) to get1 hour of bowling and shoe rentals.
Why would you do this?
Because it just might activate someone who has not been in the center in a while (remember, the average open play customer only comes to your center twice in one year!!) and you just might get the opportunity to sell that customer on the benefits of a specific short season league you are trying to form or get their interest on a about a special event.
Each pass would have a 3 month expiration and once it was gone, it is gone. This would be set up as an automatic bill that hits the customer's credit card every 3 months. No hassle for you, easy for the customer.
The customer must sign up for a minimum of 4 passes. So lets assume that 500 customers sign up for this; that would be $10,000 annually coming in over the internet? Bang, you have a money making machine while you sleep!
Any "triers" out there?
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