Category: Weekly Story

I don’t usually turn to psychopathic killers for marketing inspiration.

But sometimes inspiration comes from where you least expect it.

So let’s get right to some lessons from…

…ummm…

…Charles Manson.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of grisly murders committed by members of Manson’s “family.”

Over the last few weeks, television networks flooded the airwaves with news stories and documentaries about Manson.

I watched some. This is what I learned…

Manson recruited family members by targeting lonely, vulnerable young people.

He wooed them by saying, “I know you. I get you. I feel what you feel.”

One of the women who participated in the murders was interviewed later in prison. She said she fell for Manson after he told her, “We’re ugly.”

If you’re taking notes, the lesson here is not, “Attract prospects by criticizing their appearance.”

The lesson here is about empathy.

Manson said to her, “You’re ugly…just like I am. I know what you’re going through. I share your emotions. I feel your pain. I share your desires.”

As she tells it, she melted into his arms.

Manson demonstrated and then positioned himself as a trusted guide. He said, in effect, I can lead you to fulfill your desires and protect you from pain.

So far, that’s a pretty good template for marketers: Understand your prospects, demonstrate empathy, promise to be a guide to fulfill and protect…

…And then deliver a plan that keeps that promise.

For Manson, the plan was to commit grisly murders that would exact revenge on “pigs” and spark a bloody race war.

Bad plan. Turns out that stabbing and shooting innocents was not the ticket for those lonely, vulnerable young people.

Manson got the “prospect attraction” part right. But he got the promise fulfillment part wrong. Way wrong!

Thankfully, we’re not psychopaths! We’re ethical marketers.

Like Manson, we should try to understand our prospects. We should demonstrate empathy.

Unlike Manson, we should present a plan that serves the customer, that truly fulfills and protects. This means delivering products and services that improve a customer’s lot.

That’s the way to build a business and to stay out of prison. 

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me  at  tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.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.

I don’t usually turn to psychopathic killers for marketing inspiration.

But sometimes inspiration comes from where you least expect it.

So let’s get right to some lessons from…

…ummm…

…Charles Manson.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of grizzly murders committed by members of Manson’s “family.”

Over the last few weeks, television networks flooded the airwaves with news stories and documentaries about Manson.

I watched some. This is what I learned…

Manson recruited family members by targeting lonely, vulnerable young people.

He wooed them by saying, “I know you. I get you. I feel what you feel.”

One of the women who participated in the murders was interviewed later in prison. She said she fell for Manson after he told her, “We’re ugly.”

If you’re taking notes, the lesson here is not, “Attract prospects by criticizing their appearance.”

The lesson here is about empathy.

Manson said to her, “You’re ugly…just like I am. I know what you’re going through. I share your emotions. I feel your pain. I share your desires.”

As she tells it, she melted into his arms.

Manson demonstrated and then positioned himself as a trusted guide. He said, in effect, I can lead you to fulfill your desires and protect you from pain.

So far, that’s a pretty good template for marketers: Understand your prospects, demonstrate empathy, promise to be a guide to fulfill and protect…

…And then deliver a plan that keeps that promise.

For Manson, the plan was to commit grizzly murders that would exact revenge on “pigs” and spark a bloody race war.

Bad plan. Turns out that stabbing and shooting innocents was not the ticket for those lonely, vulnerable young people.

Manson got the “prospect attraction” part right. But he got the promise fulfillment part wrong. Way wrong!

Thankfully, we’re not psychopaths! We’re ethical marketers.

Like Manson, we should try to understand our prospects. We should demonstrate empathy.

Unlike Manson, we should present a plan that serves the customer, that truly fulfills and protects. This means delivering products and services that improve a customer’s lot.

That’s the way to build a business and to stay out of prison. 

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me  at  tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.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.

I was helping a client yesterday tune up her sales and marketing story so more customers would tune in.

I asked her, “What does Apple sell?”

She replied as many would: “Apple sells computers, phones, accessories…”

Then I showed her this video: https://youtu.be/yyNtm0LZiKc

It’s an ad for Apple AirPods (wireless, miniature earphones).

A brilliant ad.

If you want to discover how to tune-up your sales and marketing story, I encourage you to spend just two minutes watching the video…

…and then read on. (I’ll go refill my coffee cup while you watch).

My client watched the video, and then I repeated the question: “What does Apple sell?”

She hesitated.

I gave her a hint: Apple doesn’t sell AirPods.

Apple sells the outcome, the benefit that people experience from buying AirPods.

She smiled and said, “Apple sells spring in your step.”

Bingo.

“And…?” I asked.

Her eyes lit up and she said, “Apple sells a cure for the doldrums,”

Double bingo!!!

Watch the video. You see it, don’t you?

Not a single word spoken about the product. Just a story, about a young man dragging himself off his bed, dreading the day ahead, literally forcing a smile on his frowning face, trudging out the door with shoulders slumped, until…

…That music begins to play through those Airpods and…

Spring in his step.

Goodbye doldrums.

He’s literally sky-high, hanging out with the birds.

After we watched that video and discussed it, I asked my client, “What do you sell?”

We then had a great conversation about what her customers feel and the benefits they experience when they buy her products.

Her story’s stronger, and she’s more confident telling it.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me  at  tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.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.

A marketer was struggling to achieve year-over-year success. So he asked for help on one of my favorite online forums.

“What’s a new strategy or platform you introduced in 2019 that is working or really helped?” he asked. “I’d love to see what’s out of the box we could try.”

(Sigh!)

The first respondent offered this advice: “Attribution media mix modeling using machine learning.”

(Big sigh!)

Marketing doesn’t fail because you lack the latest, greatest, shiniest, out-of-the-box thing.

Marketing fails because you get one or more of these key elements wrong:

1. Your target market.
2. The message for that target market.
3. The media you use to deliver that message to that market.

More often than not, #2 is the culprit. The story and messaging need a tune-up.

I’m sure attribution media mix model using machine learning (I’ll call it “AMMMUML” for short) is super-cool and just the ticket for certain marketers in certain situations.

But with all due respect to all you AMMMUML vendors out there…

PLEASE, dear readers, do not chase the next shiny techno-tool or leap out of the box.

Start by trying to fix what’s in the box.

That means cleaning and updating your list to make sure it contains people in your target market.

That means tuning up your story to deliver more compelling content and pitches.

That means using tried-and-true media and proven tactics to deliver your tuned-up message to your well-defined target market.

Leaping “out of the box” to get the latest shiny thing won’t cure what ails your marketing.

Identifying the right market, crafting a compelling story and choosing media that gets your message to the market most efficiently — that’s what cures your ailing marketing.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me  at  tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.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.

Earlier this morning, I shot a quick-tip video that (I think) has some good marketing advice.

I propped my phone over my computer monitor. Shot the 2:30 second video. I saved the video to my YouTube channel. And then linked to it in this email.

The entire process took less than five minutes and cost me $0.

Why’d I do it?

To prove a point: The quality of your content is more important than the “slickness” of your presentation.

My video is not professionally produced. It’s not slick. It’s not pretty. But it still contains valuable content.

Here’s a link to that video.

Please let me know what you think.  

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me at tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.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.

I used to love Southwest Airlines…

…until I caught Southwest Airlines in a lie.

In fact, I discovered that Southwest lies to me — and you — frequently.

It happens when you book flights online.

I was doing that last night — booking a flight for my wife and me.

I entered the locations, dates and number of passengers. Then I pressed “Enter.”

Southwest listed the available flights.

I spotted the flight I wanted (perfect times, decent price)…

…but, darn it, there was only “1 left,” Southwest told me.

I needed two tickets so “1 left” wouldn’t cut it.

Hey, wait a minute! I had entered the wrong number of passengers in the search form. I said “1” passenger, not “2.”

So I revised and resubmitted the search.

Lo and behold, the “1 left” label disappeared from the flight I preferred.

As a test, I resubmitted the search, this time for “4” passengers. No problem. Plenty of seats available on my preferred flight.

More tests. I searched again for just “1” passenger. No more “1 left” label. Then I cleared my browser history (no more cookies on my computer to let Southwest know I had previously visited and searched). Now the “1 left” label was back.

Let’s face it. This shouldn’t surprise us. I suspected those “1 left” notices were lies.

Southwest isn’t the only airline that does this. The airline industry is just one of many that pulls this trick.

Businesses like to create urgency and scarcity to drive sales.

But they don’t have to lie about it.

Sure, it may be a little white lie. But it’s a lie, nonetheless. So yesterday I proved the lie that I suspected, and I booked the flight with a different airline.

How will your customers react if they catch you resorting to little white lies and tricks to drive sales?

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me at tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.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.