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Right now, I’m sitting in my movie theater room enjoying a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat – or as I like to call it, a little drink of heaven…

December was a great month for me. Not in terms of new clients, but because of the continuing education courses that I choose to invest in and go through. I had several conversations with one of the guys in my Mastermind Group that lead to a couple of powerful “ah ha” moments – for both of us.

The crowning moment was when I was watching an interview with Sylvester Stallone on the making of Rocky (interview is posted on the end of this blog post).

Often times we see celebrities and people of note and we forget that they were once just everyday people. At one time, Sylvester was a no name, less than B level actor. There was a time when no one knew who the guy was…

He moved to Los Angeles to try his hand at this acting thing.  At the time he wrote Rocky, he was so broke that he had just over $100 to his name.

He had to sell his dog because he couldn’t afford to feed the poor little pooch.

His apartment was so small that he could sit on his bed and open the window and close his door – at the same time!

He was in an audition, and as he was leaving, he stopped and mentioned to the producers that he was also a writer. He told them about the idea he had for Rocky and they told him to bring it by when he had it finished.

So Sly went home and wrote the script in 3 and a half days.

After they read it, they loved it. They offered him $30,000 for the script, but there was a caveat – he couldn’t be the lead role of Rocky.

With no money, a real crappy place to live, about ready to sell his dog – he turned them down.

Keep in mind, this is 1975 when 30k meant something…

They upped the figure… Again he said no…

They upped it more… Again – NO…

It finally reached $330,000 that they would give him if he wouldn’t be the lead role and that really caused him to stop and ponder the offer.

What would you have done in that situation?

Sly, thought to himself, “If this movie becomes a hit and I’m not the star, I’m gonna jump off a building or walk in front of a bus. I have to be the lead role!”

And so the producers gave in, paid peanuts for the script and took Sly as the lead role.

The rest, as they say, is history…

There are many lessons that can be taken from this story – none of which is based on the law of attraction. Sly didn’t think his way into the role of the century, he took massive action to make it possible! He even wrote the script just for him!

That is what massive, directed action can get you.

I hope you are like me and have decided to take massive action and make 2012 your bitch!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

The first thing you have to remember is that a News Release is a “news” item. It needs to “inform” people, NOT sell them something. For example, you are reading this article because you want to learn something that will BENEFIT YOU. You aren’t reading it just so you can buy something else. Your main goals should be in developing customers and clients that see you as the logical expert in your field. Of course, you want to do this while still making money.

People don’t care what mountains you had to climb, what seas you had to cross or what tribe of people you had to learn the ways of just to find a secret formula. Instead — they want to know WHAT the secret formula is.

Get the idea?

The sales circulars you print and mail sell your product. A News Release informs others about your product. Instead of your main objective being to sell the product and have the customer send in an order immediately, a News Release informs the customer exactly how your product will benefit their lives. This must be conveyed in the form of a “newsworthy” News Release. If you have a sales circular to sell a product, you can easily turn it into a News Release without much difficulty. It’s just a new marketing angle of presenting your product to the public.

The following is an example of a typical News Release for publishing services:

So many people are entering the mail order market these days, but so many of them are getting ripped-off by a bunch of hype. People are promised untold riches in a short period of time. The hype ads play with their emotions by making them believe it’s so easy to make money through the mail. It’s sad.

However, a new book has just been released to help solve these problems for the average person. For the first time in history — a REAL directory has been compiled listing the ACTUAL name and addresses of 179 honest and trustworthy mail order folks. People can write DIRECTLY to these people and receive FREE information to get them started in their own business now!

It’s unbelievable. Without trying to sell you anything else, you can get this book for only $4.95 — a price anyone can afford. Meet the real mail order dealers who care about their products and wants to help you get started doing what they are doing.

Only available from Graphico Publishing, PO Box 488, Bluff City TN 37618.

As you can see, this is a short but sweet News Release — however, you should be able to see the “newsworthiness” in it. It’s main focus is on the fact that most people get ripped-off when they start their first mail order business. The solution to this problem is a new directory that is available for the first time in history. The sell is slowly led into because the reader will naturally want to get their hands on this one. It doesn’t ask for money — it only tells the reader how to get a copy if they want one.

Here’s a great test for a real news release. Since your final sales pitch is included in the last paragraph — read the News Release aloud. Would it still be worth reading WITHOUT your sales pitch? If so, it’s probably a News Release.

News Releases come in many forms due to the product you are writing about. However, the basic rule of thumb still applies. If you’ve never wrote one before — it may be a little difficult. Don’t despair. Grab the latest daily newspaper and read some of their informational articles. Notice how each article is written and pattern yours after the same format. After you do a few of them — you’ll be able to “get the picture.”

When your News Release is written to your satisfaction, the proper way to submit it to a publisher is:

• Be sure and type it on a typewriter or computer.
• Standard format is double-spaced and not longer than two 8 1/2×11 pages.
• Be sure and put your name, address and page number at the top of each   page.
• Write the words: “For Immediate Release.”  at the top.

If you are only sending the news release to one publication — tell them   it’s a “first run.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve met with a client and they’ve told me that their product or service is for everyone and therefore they want to know how to reach the “everyone” market.

Rarely is it true that someone’s product or service is for everyone, but even if it is, pray that it isn’t. It is nearly impossible to finance the marketing to everyone.

I saw this postcard and immediately loved it. This storage company, which anyone with more stuff than space can use, has decided to niche their marketing. On this postcard, they are targeting contractors.

I really love the “Get a FREE 6-pack” with tour offer.  I kinda want to check out their facility just for that reason!

Love the offer. I just wish they had a sense of urgency tied to the offer such as “Move In Special for Contractors Available Through 12/15/2011″ or some such.

The real take away from this postcard is that they took a product that is for “everyone” niched down the offer to a segment of the population and targeted them. The next move for them is to take out the word “Contractors” and change it to another niche group and target that group. Dentists, Doctors, Mortgage Companies, etc.

How can you use this idea in your business? Tell us below.

John Brantuk from Glen-L Marine Design sent this email with article to me. It is a perfect example of a bank using “personality” to bring in the kind of clients they want and keep out those that would seek to rob them.

Chappell Hill is a small town between Houston and Brenham on Hwy 290.

Any would-be robbers planning to walk into the bank here had best think twice. There is a new sign in town. About a month ago, Chappell Hill Bank president Edward Smith looked at a sign on the front door prohibiting concealed weapons from his business and decided to make a policy change. Licensed to carry a handgun? Come on in, and bring your weapon.

The sign, now prominently displayed on the bank’s front door, says: “Lawful concealed carry permitted on these premises. Management recognizes the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as an inalienable right of all citizens. We therefore support and encourage the carrying of licensed concealed weapons.”

Smith said he made the policy change to send a warning to potential robbers, and also to express support for Americans right to bear arms. “We had the sign on the window, the red circle with the pistol inside and a line through. I started thinking. We’ve got this no gun sign up and a robber can come in and do what he wants. But if you’ve got a policy allowing handguns, he won’t know how many people are going to be in here carrying a concealed weapon. There may be some little old lady who’s mad at the government, and she’d love to use it” he said.

The bank has been robbed twice in the last three years, including last March when a Western-attired man walked in, ordered bank employees to fill a canvas bag with money and then fled in a pickup truck. The man, who did not brandish a weapon, has not been caught.

The sign has made Chappell Hill Bank and Smith somewhat of an Internet sensation. A photo of the sign has made its way around the world, and Smith has even been interviewed for the National Rifle Association’s radio network www.nranews.com/#/nranews. He’s also been contacted by other media outlets wanting to do stories. “It’s kind of gotten a life of its own” he said. Expressions of support have far outnumbered criticism. Smith has been contacted by officials from larger banks considering taking similar action, and has received e-mails in support from across the United States and even from England, Canada, and Germany.

“I haven’t gotten any from Chicago or California, which doesn’t surprise me”, Smith said with a laugh. “We did get a real nice email from an 88-year-old World War II veteran who said it’s about time somebody stood up in this country.” The NRA has even invited him to speak at an upcoming convention, but Smith said, “I’m still deciding on that.” Smith said he’s only received one negative e-mail, from an anonymous sender.

The policy change has also brought Chappell Hill Bank a handful of new customers and comments from people outside Washington County that they’d bank there if they lived here, said Smith. “I tell them that we’re a full-service bank and we’re on the Internet. They can bank online,” he said.

My wife asked me to drive over to Ikea to look for some knick-knack type of thing. After entering the top of their maze there was this quote on the wall. I don’t get it. Do you?

Professionalism sucks the life out of sales.

So many people try to sound all prim and proper and they alienate their idea customers. I’ll let you in on a little secret:

“People don’t trust companies. People only trust people.”

With Enron, Worldcom, Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, GM, etc., all going bankrupt, people do not trust companies. The more corporate you try to sound, in a poor effort to “sound” more legit, you slowly but surely kill your sales.

This can of Monster soda, oh I’m sorry – I mean energy drink, does a better job of communication with their customers that most businesses.  Here is what it says on the can:

People have been blowin’ up our inbox for years asking for a zero calorie Monster. We got it, but this ain’t soda pop, dude!

Making a zero calorie, zero sugar drink that’s good enough to earn the Monster M ain’t that easy.

Finally with a re-tooled energy blend, new sweetener system and hundreds of failed flavors, we absolutely got it right!

Monster Absolutely Zero helps fight fatigue, improves mental performance and focus, motivates you to work (I mean play) harder, so generally you feel pretty damn good.

Zero calories, zero sugar, killer buzz… Absolutely Guaranteed!

This is a great message on the can. It connects with the market. It reinforces the brand (see my October print newsletter for how branding doesn’t work. Not getting the print version? Sign up here).

This is “personality in copy.”

Does your copy sound like you? Or like a big stuffy corporation?

If you are looking to spend your advertising money, you will never find a shortage of places to spend it.

I picked up a couple of steaks to fire up on the new BBQ I received as a birthday gift. As I was putting my goodies in the car I saw this ad in the shopping cart:

Advertising on the inside of a shopping cart. Not the worst idea I’ve ever heard… I think…

Advertising always comes down to getting the right message in front of the right market. Years ago I had a real estate agent come to me for counsel. It turns out he was contacted by the salesman that sells the advertising space on shopping carts. The agent was told that the store was very particular about who they sell the advertising space to. This agent had been referred to them as a good, honest agent with solid integrity.

I refer to this as priming the mark…

It was several hundred dollars a month with a 6 month commitment. It seemed to me that he was looking for my blessing, not actually interested in what I had to say.

Immediate Response Advertising requires that the message you are putting out will impact someone to the point to where they can’t help but pick up the phone and call right then. It also requires that you get that message in front of the right prospects. Most people are not thinking about buying or selling a house when they go to the store. There are also a ton of people that shop there that are not idea prospects for a real estate agent. This is not a good use of your money if you are selling Real Estate services.

Now, there is an ad on the shopping cart that is in front of the right market (though message needs improving). It’s not the Ford ad (that again is a waste of money). It’s the Ralph’s ad for their club card. It is an excellent time to get people to registered for your club program when they are walking into your establishment. The audience is there to spend money and many would be receptive to “a good deal.”

He has left a footprint on the world that cannot be ignored or passed off as a fleeting thought. He was a driving force in the world. Here are some words from Financial guru Brian Westbury:

It took me awhile to warm up to the iPod, partly because I was not a fan of Apple Computer. My computer experience was driven by Windows software and Intel chips. The Apple Mac was from a different world. No matter how many times people would tell me that the Apple operating system was easy to use, I could never get used to it. I didn’t hate Apple. I hardly thought about Apple. But, when I tried to use an Apple product, I couldn’t. It was not user friendly to me. I was a Microsoft Windows guy.

But then I got an iPod as a gift and it was so user friendly that it was impossible to ignore. My wife and I gave an iPad to my 75 year-old mother and as she said “it changed her life.” I bought an iPad, and it is truly amazing technology. Every salesman in our company now has an iPad.

Steve Jobs and Apple were relentless in making their technology useful to everyone. And even a person who did not initially find their products helpful, has been brought into the fold. Steve Jobs did this. We all know his story – founder of Apple, drummed out of the company, but brought back in to save it. He was the consummate “entrepreneur.”

Many people use the term entrepreneur, but few truly understand it. Ludwig von Mises, in his book Human Action, carves out a special place for entrepreneurs in the world of economics. At econlib.org there is a searchable copy of Human Action – here are a few quotes from that book.

The entrepreneur is the agency that prevents the persistence of a state of production unsuitable to fill the most urgent wants of the consumers in the cheapest way. All people are anxious for the best possible satisfaction of their wants and are in this sense striving after the highest profit they can reap. The mentality of the promoters, speculators, and entrepreneurs is not different from that of their fellow men. They are merely superior to the masses in mental power and energy. They are the leaders on the way toward material progress. They are the first to understand that there is a discrepancy between what is done and what could be done. They guess what the consumers would like to have and are intent upon providing them with these things.

Like every acting man, the entrepreneur is always a speculator. He deals with the uncertain conditions of the future. His success or failure depends on the correctness of his anticipation of uncertain events. If he fails in his understanding of things to come, he is doomed. The only source from which an entrepreneur’s profits stem is his ability to anticipate better than other people the future demand of the consumers.

If all entrepreneurs were to anticipate correctly the future state of the market, there would be neither profits nor losses. The prices of all the factors of production would already today be fully adjusted to tomorrow’s prices of the products.

Profits indicate success for an entrepreneur and in this measure Steve Jobs was a massive success. Taxing away these profits, making profits evil, or regulating entrepreneurs with political motivation subtracts from the benefits that entrepreneurs bring to society.

The world needs more Steve Jobs, not fewer. The world is celebrating his life today and mourning his passing. I will always remember him as an entrepreneur– the one who didn’t give up until he found a way to get his products in my hand and convince me that they could help make me more productive. He did that. Steve Jobs, RIP.

He was born 6 weeks early on August 20th and he spent the next 25 days in the neonatal intensive care unit. Last Wednesday we were finally able to bring him home. Way cool!

Spending all my time at the hospital over the last month has left me little time to post on this blog, but now that he’s home, I’m back in the swing of things!

This is a fantastic direct mail piece that I received from another marketer who has a seminar coming up. It is a great piece that you should swipe and put to work in your own business.

It was mailed as an oversized postcard at 6×9 inches. This causes it to stand out in the mail. The font used, the color, very fitting for the message on the back.

Notice that a live, 1st class stamp was used. How many business owners would try and get away with bulk mail instead of paying for the full service option.

The back of the postcard is where all the fun is on this piece.

This mail piece is designed to look like an old style telegram. The cool thing about that is how fun that makes this piece.

The headline “SALES REVOLUTION TELEGRAM” is a news style headline. You can’t help but want to see what the rest of the piece says.

To continue the fun in this mail piece, you’ll notice the “[STOP]” at the end of each section. Just the way we remember telegrams from TV (since that is the only way most of us would have been exposed to telegrams).

There is a clear call to action – visit this website… There is an incentive to visit the website – a free gift. There is even a great deadline, though I’m not sure what the consequence is of not making the deadline.

When Charlie sent out this mail piece, this was either the 3 or 4th piece in a very good marketing sequence. The cost per piece, while important, was not the most important thing in this campaign. The most important piece in this campaign is the ROI. For every dollar spent, exactly how much was brought in.  Unfortunately, most business owners make their decisions based on the cost of doing the marketing strategy, and never even track the result.

This mail piece can be used in a variety of different industries. Chiropractors offering an adjustment. Insurance agents offering a seminar, insurance audit, etc.

How can you use it in your business?

In this video you will discover some of the successful strategies and two fatal flaws that this company is making in it’s newspaper advertisement.