It was the last time I thought that whether or not I was successful depended on my talent or intelligence. It really comes down to hard work people. Ever since then, I have attacked each thing that I do not understand until I understand it. (John)
Another believer in effort over talent.
It’s true, maybe you only need a couple of days to do something great. Right now is the best time to test that for yourself.
“Information influence is the least effective form of influence.” (Ramit)
He’s got a lot of really good articles. The behavioral change ones are particularly good for us marketing folks.
First he spent 2 years and $100,000+ getting a Stanford MBA.
Then he spent the next 2 years and $10,000 learning the real thing.
It is interesting to see what happens when one exits the classroom and consulting office and makes his way down to the trenches.
What is the firehose feed? It’s what businesses like Seesmic, Tweetdeck, Peoplebrowsr, and FriendFeed get from Twitter: it is the full stream of Tweets (more than 10gigs a day). The problem is that to deal with it you need to be expert at dealing with large, changing databases, and if your business gets popular you must be able to build scalable databases that can serve out millions of queries per day. That’s beyond most developer’s skill sets, but that shows there’s opportunity for new kinds of businesses to build on top of Twitter. Which is why I wrote this note. (Scoble)
10 gigs of tweets per day? That is data-mining gold; who’s going to be the first to sell the pick axe?
THR: Do you feel any pressure to direct movies more often?
Abrams: There are so many things that I should not be directing. A lot of times I look at something and I think, “Oh my God, that would be amazing. I would completely f*** that up.” I just know that there are things I probably am not capable of, and then there are other things that I’m not sure if I am, and those are the things that excite me the most. The things that I know I could do are the things that I would probably screw up just as much. When you’re too in your comfort zone, it’s not necessarily the most creative thing. But I hope to direct a movie next year.
Italics mine. Source.
My life probably looked disordered to observers (not that anyone was observing it that closely) but my travels were a very deliberate effort to learn as much as I could about life, expressly so that I could write about it. (Elizabeth)
She’s talking about writing books, but same applies to copywriting, too.
What’s worse is that most of these addicts know intellectually that plowing through 14 hour work days is not actually a very productive way to get ahead. That more time doesn’t mean more valuable work done. (37signals)
Italics mine.
I’m always amazed when an ecommerce website (any site selling something - web app, membership, tea, etc) hides the humans behind the project.
Potentially even worse, most don’t have a figurehead for the organization, either. No one face to visualize when I think about the business.
This amazes me because if you’re selling something (anything!), people don’t buy it from your logo, your corporate entity, or your generic sales email address. They buy it from a person, preferably you.
I’m not a big Starbucks evangelist, but I’ve had some great experiences there because of the “lowly,” front-line workers. Now when I see a Starbucks sign, I don’t think about the “anti-corporate” stuff my friends hawk; I think about those specific, delightful interactions I’ve had before… and then walk my credit card right back in.
It isn’t the commercials or the advertising that brings me back. It’s the human interaction. The delightful human interaction.
Think about it: if you have a solid experience buying a car, will you recommend the dealership or the specific salesman? When my rep is on the line, I’ll make darn sure my friend knows exactly who to speak with. We’re inclined to do this because it builds rep with our friend and rewards the salesman for taking care of us before.
No matter what you’re buying, most people would like to know that a real, living human is backing that product… ready to offer support, positive emotional feedback, and congratulations on the excellent decision once you make it.
So, based on this thought process, here are 3 things to think about in your next marketing brainstorm.
1. How can you relate to and bond with your prospects?
When I market my own products, I want to show the prospect I am like her. People like people who possess similar traits.
So, have you faced similar problems as your prospect? Were you once in her shoes? Do you live in a similar geographical area? Were you once struggling with problem X - just like her? What was that like? How did it make you feel? How can you relate this back to her?
If you faced a similar problem as Ms. Prospect, what did you do to solve it? Have you developed a new way to alleviate her problem? (You know her Big Problem, right?) Does your background story show proof that your solution will help her, too?
2. How can you show your prospect you’re cool, likable, etc?
Answering this question assumes you know what she’d think was cool. Hopefully you did that research.
What cool, relevant stories do you have? Anything funny happen back when you were struggling? What cool stuff happens to you now that you solved the Big Problem? What road blocks is she facing right now that you could describe right back to her? Relating (casually, in a “peer to peer” way) to her on the “problem” level will often make her assume you know the answers, too. That’s money.
3. What is the interesting back story between you and your product?
This will help with your story telling and the transition to sales mode, too.
What is the reason your product exists and why are you so adamant that it can help others? What is the reason for the product existing? Is it the story behind how you discovered the solution? Can you describe how it changed your life once you used it? Have others seen fast, measurable results? What’s the story here? Why have you decided to evangelize this product?
Bonus: How does making this purchase translate to your prospect joining a tribe?
The truth is, we’re all silently searching for a group to be a part of, for people with similar interests who will understand part or all of us.
How can you turn buying from you into a feeling of joining a crew (waiting with open arms)? We all seek to be understood and we could all use another friend. By joining the special group that is your customers, how will she better connect with others? What sort of special attention will she get?
Remember: people like other people, not logos.
Plus, they hate being sold. But they sure love buying. And they like doing awesome stuff with other cool people.
Most would agree with me on this inherent human desire. That’s why I try to incorporate it as much as possible into my marketing. You might try it too; the results will probably please you.
