Tag: The Write Concept Inc.

A Marketing Mistake to Avoid at all Costs

Posted on by Linda Anger

A friend and fellow marketing professional shared this story:

She had attended one of those super-sized networking events, where she was approached by a woman who mentioned that she was familiar with the non-profit for which my friend works, and in fact, was “good friends” with the president. Business cards were, of course, exchanged.

A week later my friend, an associate who attended the event with her, and the organization’s president all received “nice to meet you” cards from that woman.

She Gets:

A Thumbs Up for following up after the event.

 

 

 

A Thumbs Down for committing today’s Marketing Mistake: Unfiltered Automation.

 

 

An automated card service is handy when you meet new people and want to say “nice to meet you,” but before you dump all those names and addresses into your database and tell the system to send the exact same card to everyone, exercise a bit of patience and do some sorting. Otherwise, it may cost you more than the price of printing and postage – it may cost you your reputation.

If you met two or three people from the same company, in the same office, put them on different lists and send them different cards, or send a single card and mention all their names. My friend made it clear that the three of them felt the sender “insincere,” in that there was no consideration for them as individuals. She said it would have been more appropriate to send one card addressed to them as a group, or send a different card to each of them.

Consider this: if you are not giving your complete attention to details relating to your own business, why would a prospect trust you with their business?  Even a card in the mail is a testimony to your credibility and trustworthiness.

Make each piece you send count – every card, every letter, every email, every Facebook post – so your efforts don’t cost you way more than just money and time.

 

7 choices for Success and Significance

Posted on by Linda Anger

I bought this little book — Seven Choices for Success and Significance (How to Live Life From the Inside Out) — when it was recommended to me in 2011. It may be small, but it’s full of power and wisdom from a man who started with nothing and became a huge success.

image of "7 Choices Book"The author, Dr. Nido R. Qubein, came to the United States from the Middle East when he was 17, with just $50 to his name and little knowledge of the English language.  Today, he is the President of High Point University in North Carolina, and Chairman of the Great Harvest Bread Company, with 225 stores in 43 states. Read his accomplishments here.

 

Dr. Qubein states that the choices we make determine the person we become, and the seven choices included in this little volume are obvious at first, then become profound in his interpretation.

In the introduction, he speaks of the koi fish – the simple Japanese carp:

“If you put a koi fish in a fishbowl and give it food and water, it never grows to more than two inches in size. But, if you put it in a pond it grows to a foot in size. The koi fish grows proportionately to the environment in which it lives.  So must we, if we are to succeed and live a life of significance.”

The Choices

I’ll speak here of the first two choices:

#1: Choose Transformational Patterns, and 2#: Choose Energy Management over Time Management.

 

Transformational choices, Dr. Qubein states, are those that change the direction of our lives, and put us on a path to success and significance.  “The people I admire most don’t live their lives by a ‘TO-DO’ list,” he says, “They live their lives by a ‘TO-BE’ list.”  To be more generous, more patient, more learned, more reasoned.

Choosing energy management over time management: If you focus on time, Dr. Qubein says, you can be held back by transactional things. “I think in terms of energy,” he states. “Is this activity worthy of my energy?” We are like batteries;  we all have 24 hours each day, but if we fizzle out after five hours, the other 19 don’t matter.

Focus, Dr. Qubein says, on activities that contribute to the greatest value in your life and do more of them.

The final point Dr. Qubein makes is this: Success is secular. Significance is spiritual. Success focuses on tasks and goals. Significance focuses on purpose.

What choices will you make today?

 

Four Habits of Successful Speakers and Writers

Posted on by Linda Anger

In my decades as a writer, and my years as a speaker, I’ve learned that many of the habits of successful speakers and writers are the same.

There are nine habits of successful speakers, according to a recent article in Inc. Magazine. While I believe all nine are appropriate, I’ve chosen to focus on four.

The Four Habits

Care in Word Choices

Language tools such as alliteration, cadence, rhythm, and repetition are the hallmarks of masterful speakers. Great writers take advantage of the same tools, and realize that even straight fiction can have a rhythm, and even be poetic in its delivery.

Brevity

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address contained only 270 words, and is, to this day, one of the most powerful speeches ever given. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech? Just nine paragraphs. Writers, take a hint from them when creating essays and query letters.

Rewrite for Clarity and Power

On December 8, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt rewrote a single sentence in his speech to the American people after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He changed “a date that will go down in world history” to “a date that will live in infamy.” Way more powerful, way more compelling. Writers, too, must weigh the power of every word in every sentence, if they wish to produce great works.

Learn From the Masters

Great speakers and great writers alike recognize their own limitations. They study and emulate the best of the best in their field or genre.

 

The Changing Face of Marketing Options for Small Business

Posted on by Linda Anger

Stick around long enough and you begin to see patterns in everything, particularly in the changing face of marketing options for small business.

In his book Youtility, author Jay Baer speaks of the long-time marketing strategy called Top of Mind Awareness, or TOMA.  “When America had three major TV networks, it was easy to reach people with a single commercial,” Baer states.

The Media Challenge

But the TV market has changed, as stats from Baer’s book show. Consider the #1 TV shows over the last 4 decades, and the percentage of American households with TVs that tuned in:

1977: Happy Days (31.5%)
1987: The Cosby Show (27.8%)
1997: Seinfeld (21.7%)
2007: American Idol (16.1%)
2011: Sunday Night Football (12.9%)

The interesting thing in these numbers is not which show is #1 in any given decade, but the slow decline in the number of people “tuned in” to the #1 show. It’s not that we are no longer watching TV. We are, in fact, watching more TV than ever – but over hundreds of channels, and often viewing more than one screen at a time.  That makes it harder than ever to gain attention – and as Baer says, “You can’t promote to people you can’t find.”

The Solution

Throughout his book, Baer stresses the solution to the fractured media landscape and ultra-short attention span of entire generations is Youtility: Massively useful information, provided for free, that creates long term trust and kinship between your company and your customers.

The strongest points, in my view, are these:

  • If you sell something, you make a customer today. If you help someone, you may create a customer for life.
  • You have to understand what your prospective customers need to make better decisions, and how you can improve their lives by providing it.
  • Use Social Media to promote your useful information first, and your company second.

And the most important point:

Being useful must be part of your company DNA.

 

Fear vs Inspiration in Sales

Posted on by Linda Anger

Find their pain and exploit it… that’s the basis of most sales training programs. Find their pain, find their fear, and get them at the gut.

Yes, it’s true.

Going for the gut increases your sales. And the question remains: Do you really serve yourself and your customers/prospects when you come from a space of pain/fear?

If the Law of Attraction is invariable, then focusing on people in pain or in fear will bring you more of the same. That’s great, if that is the space you want to claim as your own. More people with no money, more people with bushels of objections, more people who live in fear of their competitors.

What if you came from a higher consciousness? What if the people you want to attract are those with a chronic positive outlook, the calculated risk-takers, the “I can do it” folks?

What if your elevator pitch was less about what info you can pack into an elevator ride and more about how much you can elevate the thinking and lives of the people you meet?

Just for Today

Look only for the Joy points:

  • Instead of “I help people who don’t know how to…” try “I help people who are excited to learn to…”
  • Instead of “I help people who fear that…” try “I help people who dream of…”
  • Instead of “I help people who lack…” try “I help people who have room for…”

We’d love to hear how your experience of the day changed as you looked for ways to elevate those around you. Please comment below.

Attraction Action

Posted on by Linda Anger

My good friend Terry Bean, founder of Unetworked – where he masquerades as Magneato Man – recently wrote a post about putting “Action” into “attrACTION” in the MCC+ Discussion Area, based on his extensive study and practice of the Law of Attraction. Always fascinated by the etymology of our language, I went to Ernest Weekley’s “An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English” for the low-down.

The English word “Attract” comes from the Latin attrahere, which means “to draw.”

Now, I am excited to consider that we can view “attract” from two perspectives: “to draw” as in “to draw it toward us,” which would be the “magnet to nail” image Terry uses in his branding, AND “to draw” as in “draw this picture.”

Terry said it well: When we visualize what we desire, we give additional power to the thought.

And I add: When we draw the image – on paper, with a pencil, I mean – that power grows even stronger, because we are putting our body into it, and that triggers stronger brain reactions.

Think you can’t draw, or have no artistic talent?  Slap a piece of tracing paper over that fancy car ad in the magazine and sketch the contours. Then fill it in with whatever bright, beautiful colors and intentions you choose.

Oh, and remember, that if you think you can’t, you can’t, so decide that you can and then go do it.

I’m making a commitment right here and now that I will hand draw / Illustrator draw a minimum of 50% of the images for my 3rd quarter vision board… anyone care to join me?

The Dichotomy of Social Media

Posted on by Linda Anger

F. Scott Fitzgerald said, Intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing thoughts in your mind, maintain tension between the two, and be able to function.

Here is the dichotomy of Social Media:

  • Social Media eliminates human contact and thus we, individually and as a people, suffer from isolation.
  • Social Media draws reaction from other humans and thus creates and strengthens our sense of community.

It is true—both are true.

In her book Alone Together, MIT Professor Sherry Turkle says that social media is dumbing down society, creating a society of people that have no idea how to function in a society of people.

Consider the plight of Simone Back, a British woman who posted her impending suicide on Facebook. Her 1,000+ friends held a lively discussion about the appropriateness of her post. One commented: “She ODs all the time and she lies.” None of them tried to contact her directly. Police weren’t notified until someone sent a text message to Simone’s mother 17 hours after her initial message was posted.

Can a Tweet or Facebook post take the place of a hug or a phone call, or save a life?

No.

And Yes.

There is the truth that Social Media draws reaction from other humans and thus creates and strengthens our sense of community.

While I was in treatment for endometrial cancer back in 2009, Social Media kept me sane and in touch with the people and networks I could not physically visit. On the days I spent seven hours in the chemo chair, I posted “chemo day, send me jokes,” and the jokes rolled in all day long, keeping me, the nursing staff, and the six or seven other people attached to IV poles laughing and having a great time, instead of withdrawn and obsessing about the poison coursing through our veins and the proximity of our ultimate demise.

And so Social Media—Tweets and Facebook posts—were my conversations and hugs and kisses for the better part of a year, and played a huge part in saving my life.

It’s been two years since my last day in the chemo chair. I’m beginning to have days in which I no longer associate my life with cancer, days in which I am absorbed in generating business, writing better articles and stories, helping my friends be the best they can be—days in which I actually feel the energy and creativity of the “ME” before I was diagnosed.

I posted the message you see below this paragraph after a recent check-up. In less than 6 hours, there were 85 “Likes” and 57 “Comments.” Since I grabbed the image below, the messages have continued to pour in. Each time my iPhone “dings” to tell me there is yet another response, I smile, pump my fist, and scream, “YES!” as loud as I can.

I am so grateful for the amazing people who surround me, even when I’m not aware that I am in their thoughts as much as they are in mine. I am so grateful that they showed up in force on Facebook yesterday, and reminded me.

Maybe the real isolation inherent in Social Media isn’t isolation from each other. Maybe, for many of us, it is isolation from ourselves—the distance we create between our feelings, hopes, fears, and the community in which we live.

Intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing thoughts in your mind, maintain tension between the two, and be able to function.

The answer may be just a click—or a phone call—away.

851 Pixels of potential Facebook Trouble

Posted on by Linda Anger

A New Zealand company lost 20,000 followers and their Facebook Fan page recently, all because they broke a cardinal rule attached to the Timeline Cover Photo function on the site.

The Cover Photo, generally 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels high, has its own set of rules which you agreed to when you created your page or switched over to Timeline. While  the lively debate across the internet questions what is appropriate and how far one can stretch the rules, business page owners and admins might want to take another look at the “terms and conditions” agreed to when the page was created. Here they are, straight from the Facebook Help Center.

Cover images must be at least 399 pixels wide and may not contain:

  • Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website.”
  • Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s “About” section.
  • References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features.
  • Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.”

All cover images are public, which means anyone visiting your Page will be able to see the image you choose. Covers must not be false, deceptive or misleading, and must not infringe on third parties’ intellectual property. You may not encourage or incentivize people to upload your cover image to their personal timelines.

Apparently, Facebook is not kidding about this, and has already pulled the plug on a number of businesses across the planet. Will yours be next?

What do you think about these rules? How does your Cover Photo fare against the rules? How far are you willing to bend the rule

3 Simple Tips for Effective Online Marketing

Posted on by Linda Anger

Effecting marketing generates momentum, right?

It generates buzz, builds your online friends, Twitter followers, the number of folks who “Like” your Facebook Page, and, eventually, fills your pipeline and bank account.

And, it’s a circle game. As you create and refine your marketing plans, keep these three things in mind:

The 80/20 rule: 80% of your Tweets and FB posts should be informative or educational material your prospects and clients really want to read. Only 20% should be “promo” material for your goods or services.

If you are posting the same info multiple times over several days (such as an event notice), change up the title or lead-in material.

The Momentum generated by Marketing should ALWAYS come back to YOU—that is, to your main website, blog, email, or some other “call to action” location.

Not sure how to generate Momentum for your business? Contact Us.

 

The Dropout Hall of Shame

Posted on by Linda Anger

So there you are, loaded with years of experience, capable of way more than most in your field, and every job posting you see that fits you to a “Tee” lists some sort of degree as the first qualification.

And, that would be the degree – any degree – that you don’t have.

Throw your discouragement out the window. You’re actually in great company.

Here are the top six on my list of current-day dropouts:

  • Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College after six months, saying “I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life or how college was going to help me figure it out.”
  • Peter Jennings,  top news anchor on ABC, flunked out of 10th grade and went to work as a bank teller at age 16.
  • Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell, Inc., dropped out of college at 19.
  • Bill Gates was 10 points away from a perfect score on the SAT. He dropped out of Harvard College after two years and never went back.
  • Steven Spielberg was denied acceptance to film school and dropped out of California State University in Long Beach.
  • Simon Cowell, TV producer, dropped out of school at the age of 16.

And then there are the Degree-less from History:

  • Henry Ford never completed high school.
  • Andrew Jackson, 6th president of the United States, never went to college.
  • John D. Rockefeller Sr., the first American billionaire, was a high school dropout.
  • Andrew Carnegie, one of the first mega-billionaires in the U.S., dropped out of elementary school.
  • Thomas Edison joined the railroad at the age of 12.
  • Benjamin Franklin had less than two years of formal education.

If they could succeed, so can you.

Einstein once said that he was no different than any other man except for one thing– that he never gave up, and stuck with a problem till he solved it.

Ray Bradbury, the gifted author of Fahrenheit 451, Dandelion Wine, and so many other brilliant novels, said “I never went to college. I went to the library.”

Now please, go to the comment box below, and leave your thoughts. There’s also a box you can check if you’d like an email notification when a new post is added to this blog.