Month: November 2018

Do you sprinkle salt on your food before tasting it?

If so, Thomas Edison would not have hired you…

…and your marketing might suck.

When interviewing job candidates, Edison would offer them a bowl of soup.

If they salted the soup without first tasting it, Edison would disqualify the candidate.

Edison didn’t want assistants who assumed the soup needed salt or — worse yet — who acted reflexively without thinking.

Edison wanted assistants who acted on evidence.

Test the soup. Add salt only if needed.

Many marketers stumble or fail because they don’t test the soup.

The stumblers act on assumptions, or — worse yet — they act reflexively without thinking.

The best marketers act on evidence.

They measure results. They collect data. They test and compare.

As you market your business, ask, “How will I measure success?”

As you consider strategies and tactics ask, “How can I determine which approach works and which does not.”

Merely asking those questions, can make a huge difference — especially if you act on the evidence.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

In July 1968, a young sound engineer named Geoff Emerick grew annoyed with his employers and quit his job.

Geoff’s employers muddled through without him.

And fifty years ago this month, they released a double-album…

…with a plain white cover…

…entitled, simply, “The Beatles.”

So, yeah this really happened…

A 22-year-old sound engineer is hanging out at Apple Studios…

…with the most famous band in the galaxy…

…helping to record “The White Album” which was bound to go down as a masterpiece…

…and he walks out.

Really!?!?

But here’s the thing: The Beatles WERE really, really, really annoying to work with in 1968.

Constant bickering.

Endless recording sessions at odd hours.

Countless takes in search of (elusive) perfection.

You know the song “Sexy Sadie?” (If you have a vinyl edition, you’ll find the track on side three, right before the infamous “Helter Skelter.”)

It’s an OK song. Nothing special. It wasn’t on the charts. It’s not on any greatest hits album.

Guess how long it took the Beatles to deliver that three-minute song?

The Answer: 107 takes.

That’s a lot of takes. (Enough takes to drive a sound-engineer bonkers.)

Backtrack to April 1966. The Beatles recorded “Paperback Writer” in two takes.

Two takes was good enough.

The song was a No. 1 single the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, West Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Norway.

So why did The Beatles exhaust 107 takes to produce Sexy Sadie?

Because they could.

They were through touring. They had more money than Richie Rich. They had time to burn.

They were THE Beatles, for goodness’ sake. So big they could release an album with nothing (except their name) on the cover.

Here’s the lesson for you:

You’re not THOSE Beatles.

You’re not galaxy-famous.

You’re not THAT rich.

You have work to do…

…Just like those lads in April 1966 who were still busy touring and who didn’t have time for 107 takes.

You don’t have time for 107 takes, either. You don’t have time for seven takes.

Knock out that email or blog or social media post or podcast. Get ‘er done in one take, maybe two.

That will be good enough.

Don’t be sloppy.

But don’t be like the 1968 Beatles.

You and your business can’t afford it. And you don’t want to drive everyone around you bonkers!

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

Last month, I told you about conspiracy theorists who tried to “prove” that the moon landings were a hoax. (Here’s that email.)

In that email, I noted that many marketers remind me of the conspiracy theorists. They take a couple of facts and paste them together to create a wacky, inaccurate picture.

A few weeks ago, my friend Randy had a run-in with one such wacky marketer (let’s call her “Wacky”).

She yelled at Randy and nearly fired him. But he got the last laugh. 

Here’s the story…

Randy runs an event management company. Wacky hires Randy’s firm to plan and promote events.

Wacky’s company gets a speaker, buys some pastries and coffee and, with Randy’s help, invites a bunch of prospects to the event.

Wacky wanted 100 people to attend the event.

Sixty people attended.

Two days after the event, Wacky called Randy.

She said: “We spent a lot of money to promote this event.” That’s a fact.

She noted: “We drew far fewer people than we wanted.” That’s also a fact.

She concluded: “This was a massive failure. We can’t do this event again!”

Not so fast, Wacky.

Randy replied calmly: “This event was designed for your sales reps to connect with prospects and get new business. Have you talked to your reps?”

Wacky replied, “No.”

Well…Randy had spoken to the reps.

“The day after the event, one of the reps calls me and tells me he met his entire month’s quota at that one event. He signed up seven people!” Randy said.

Here’s the wacky math:

Big marketing spend
+ 60 attendees
= “Massive failure!”

Here’s the accurate math:

Big marketing spend
+ 60 attendees
+ seven new sales
= Massive success!

Wacky is like so many other marketers who don’t look at the whole picture.

Wacky thinks “Mission accomplished!” if she fills the room. But she doesn’t pay attention to the bottom line — whether the event drove any business.

If Wacky had her way, the company would have scuttled a successful marketing tactic.

Too many marketers think “Mission accomplished” if they collect a bunch of social media likes or email opens or website visits.

Or they think, “This doesn’t work,” if they don’t get as many likes or opens or visits as they expect.

But they don’t pay attention to what happens next.

What have you done to nurture the likers or openers or visitors?

Do the likers or openers or visitors become customers?

Wacky had no plan. She wasn’t even checking to see if any of the event attendees were moving through the sales funnel. 

In other words, after executing the marketing tactic, she was finished. No follow-up plan. No attention to the bottom line, 

Wacky, isn’t it?

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.