David Young | Branding Blog - Marketing Advice and Advertising Strategy for Local Business Owners

Just a few seats left in Blog/Web Workshop

Roy Williams gave a nice plug to my blog/web workshop at the end of today's Rabbit Hole in today's Monday Morning Memo.

We'll be teaching the class using an innovative and relatively easy WordPress system. It's not the free blog you can get on WordPress.com, but it's an easier path than doing the whole self-hosting thing where you've got to buy hosting, do the FTP thing, apply themes, etc.

Who is the class for? If you've been using your computer for quite a while, but have never ventured out past the safe harbor of browsing and reading email, we can get you rolling. We've taken folks who didn't even know that there was such a thing as a right-click on their mouse and turned them into bloggers.

If you've experimented with pointy-clicky editing and content management systems quite a bit, you may find the course to be a bit more elementary than you would like. You are still VERY welcome to attend, but we may ask you to help your classmates along!

So, you'll walk away with a website and integrated blog. You'll have a much better idea of how the internet works and why blogs are a big part of the glue that binds it all together. You'll understand the basics of how a design is chopped up and applied to a site. You'll also get a bonus session where you'll develop the outline of an entire year's worth of blogging, or the outline to your next book.

You'll get all of that...if there's still a seat left.

Turning it upside down

This week's Monday Morning Memo is about asking new questions as you plan your advertising and marketing efforts in the new economy. It's always been about getting more of the same, but that isn't working any more.

We'll be asking the same questions in our Denver Advertising and Marketing Seminar on February 19 and 20. Day 2 has a segment called Marketing in a Recession. You'll want to be there.

The Goal is to Make The Phone Ring

As promised, this week Roy H. Williams shows how to write the ads that will get the phone to ring. And remember:

"Now let me make this clear: The goal is to make the phone ring. Whether or not the caller buys the advertised house is unimportant. The realtor just wants to meet folks who are thinking of moving.  He or she wants a shot at listing their current home. If the respondent doesn’t like the home you featured, the realtor will happily drive them to see some other ones."

For any Wizard Academy grads, he also announced that the reunion will be October 11. Anyone else scrambling to fit it into an already too busy October?

Boring but Valuable Formula #117: Repetition and Results

[Following the rabbit hole from today's Monday Morning Memo, will lead you to this fine piece of Wizardly Wisdom. We teach this to our clients, and this week Roy Williams shares it with all who follow the rabbit.  -Dave]

By Roy H. Williams

It’s a question asked by business owners in every town, village and hamlet. It’s asked by the cautious, the anxious, and the wise. It’s asked of every newspaper, television and radio rep.

“How many ads will I have to run before I begin seeing results?”

Monday Morning Memo: Customer Profiles

By Roy H. Williams (go to MondayMorningMemo.com to listen to this memo.)

I’ve never seen a business fail due to reaching the wrong people. But if you listen to advertising sales reps, “reaching the right people” will solve all your problems.

And guess who has exactly the right people for you?

Monday Morning Memo: Archetypal Patterns, Parts II and III

Two weeks ago, Roy Williams sent out Part I of a series on Archetypal Patterns.

Last week was Part II. Today, comes Part III.  For small business owners, these are mandatory reading.

I'm going to send you on an adventure. Read them both, but read them on his site. Be sure to follow the rabbit down the hole by clicking on the images in the memo. Keep clicking on images until you get to the bottom of the hole.

Warning: Don't follow the rabbit hole unless you have a few spare minutes to play in the woods.

Monday Morning Memo: Archetypal Patterns

Do athletic kids read Wheaties boxes, or do the readers of Wheaties boxes become athletes?

In part one of this series, Roy H. Williams helps us see how our brains strive to conform our lives to the patterns we pay attention to.

In today's P.S. on the memo, he mentions a seminar being hosted by our U.K. Partner, John Cassidy-Rice on May 13. Peter Nevland will be there. I've got travel plans elsewhere that week or I'd jump across the pond. If you can make it, you should. Hanging out with Peter is always a good time.

I think you'll like today's memo...

A Tour of Tigers

By Roy H. Williams

TIGER ONE:

Are you trying to Grow a business, Build a career, Overcome an obstacle?

"Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history." – Joan Wallach Scott

Ferocity is a wondrous tool.

STOP. Read no further
1.    if you are proud of your passivity,
2.    if you are offended by reading a vulgar word (as opposed to seeing it represented by a first letter and a series of dashes,)
3.    if you are angered by your own mortality.

TIGER TWO:

"When the stars threw down their spears and watered heaven with their tears, did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the lamb make thee? Tyger! Tyger! burning bright in the forests of the night, what immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry?" – William Blake, (1757-1827)

Yes, Blake was right. He who gently made the lamb made the tiger also.

Ah, ferocity is a wondrous tool.

Pursue your goals with ferocity and singularity of purpose.

[There's a lot more...continue reading at MondayMorningMemo.com]

What's In A Name?

If you're considering a name change for your company (or a name for a new company) in the coming year, you should definitely have a look at Roy H. William's latest Monday Morning Memo. It may also convince you to attend your first Wizard Academy.

You'll want to read the entire memo, but here's a quote:

Here's a general overview:

Open Big. Close Big. FMI-LMI

Make us see it clearly. "Memorable" is more important than "Accurate." Be accurate if you can. But above all, be memorable.

Verbs have magnetism. The most vivid order is Verb First, Object Last. But this is not a likely construct for a place name. "We train champions" is an example of verb first, object last.

Modifiers are a mark of weakness. Delete them at every opportunity. Mark Twain said it this way, "Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will edit it and the writing will be just as it should be."

Dissin' the Customer

The Cashier Con is the Monday Morning Memo from Roy Williams today. He's talking about a trend where businesses show their disdain for their customers by taking advantage of them through sneaky offers at the cash register. You'll recognize them. You'll nod your head in agreement.

I've also noticed a trend toward simply assuming your customers are stupid. Unfortunately, this is often (wrongly) justified by the acts of a few of your customers who really are stupid. For example, it just takes a few out of the hundreds of people on a 747 to act like knuckleheads and a flight crew starts treating everyone like babies for the rest of their careers.

I had a 6-hour layover in Los Angeles last month before flying to Australia. I opted to get a day-rate room at a hotel near LAX to freshen up, wash some laundry (I'd already been on the road 4 days) and rest a bit. This sign was actually in the bathroom. My guess is that some years ago, some poor soul clogged the toilet with too much paper and the manager or the maintenance guy had a hissy-fit resulting in these signs. They now insult the intelligence of every customer for the mistake, misfortune or even prank of one person. Guess what? I wasn't that person. Why are you yelling at me with your sign?

Do you have any signs, policies or procedures in your business that could be insulting to your customers? How would you know? The best course of action is to hire an outsider to come in and have a look around. We call it uncovery. It's the only way to see yourself real.