As this blog post goes live, I’m not quite home from Thailand and back to work.
I should be back to work–it’s Monday, but my speaking/consulting/publishing business is on auto-pilot as I traveled in Asia.
During my trip, I used marketing automation to:
1) Share links to helpful articles on marketing via Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.
2) Generate two keynote requests from people who saw my posts.
3) Process several orders for my my info products–the money was directly deposited into my bank account while I was sipping Singha beer poolside in Bangkok.
4) I’ve “automatically” sent you this message to promote today’s webinar on how you can automate your business (details below).
All of the above are automated processes that were put in place before I left the United States. Best of all, I can tweak the processes a bit and repeat the entire sequence whenever I like.
You can use similar strategy to take an extra vacation this year!
What biz wouldn’t benefit from automated marketing?
Marketing automation has become all the rage lately as businesses try to find the best ways to take advantage of drip campaigns, e-commerce, and auto-responders.
Think about it. How can a prospect or client ever forget about you, if they are regularly being reminded about the benefits of working with you?
Plus, referrals, almost always the result of good timing, are much more likely to happen for you when customers and partners are always buzzing about you.
It doesn’t matter if you work for a small business or a Rotary Club. Automated marketing is your ticket to a more vital organization and a brighter future.
You can do this!
Today, May 14 at 2PM ET, I’m speaking on a free webinar with a few of my marketing buddies.
We’ll tell you everything you need to know about automating your marketing and growing your great business.
We’re all using a nifty piece of software called Infusionsoft.
As a satisfied customer and affiliate, I can’t say enough about how this great automation system has improved my business and my life.
There is no obligation and no hard sell, I promise. Just tons of great info on how you can automate your biz and get more time off.
I look forward to talking with you or someone from your team at 11 PM PT, 1PM CT or 2 PM ET time today.
Again, to get more info and to register for the free webinar, click on this link:
My clever friend Charlie Wollborg recently reminded me that it’s okay if Plan A doesn’t work. There are 25 other letters in the alphabet.
Charley’s correct. When it comes to marketing plans or e-mail Subject lines or which video to post, it’s always better to have choices.
Dan Peek is on the left
And that’s what the pop band America figured out when one of its founding members left the band just when all their hard work was paying off.
Dan Peek left the America in 1977, when the band was on top of the world, thanks to mega hits such as Horse With No Name and Ventura Highway.
Remaining members, Dewey Bunell and Gerry Beckley decided to press on with something other than Plan A. They produced many more hits as America and have kept their enterprise alive for decades.
Anyway, Dan Peek died last week, at age 60, but the band plays on, thanks to Plan F.
Always have a plan or two
An old, grim military maxim states: No plan survives first contact with the enemy.
Sure, things can and will go wrong.
Make a plan anyway. Have a plan B. And a Plan F.
Michael Angelo Caruso speaking in Jamaica
- Michael Angelo Caruso, Business Strategy Consultant, Detroit, Michigan
A while back, I did something most business people never do. Tweet this
I started giving away my products and services. And it’s the best thing I ever did for my consulting business.
Every Monday at 4:00 ET, I jump on a conference call to dispense free advice on how to improve your next presentation. Of course, everything is a presentation so we cover topics ranging from how to speak without notes to getting high click-through rates on your outgoing emails to delivering a one-slide PowerPoint presentation. The call-in codes are below.
Many callers are speakers who have to give a talk soon and want to polish their existing presentation.
Some callers are looking for tips on how to make their presentations more of an event.
Some callers are already customers of mine and have attended my keynotes or purchased my information products. Others have yet to do business with me. It doesn’t matter; I treat everyone very well with no strings attached.
You should consider giving away your products and services. If you cannot afford to give away any of your current products, think about developing a product that you can make available.
“Set the hook” by sample selling
Fisherman know that you have to “set the hook” when the fish nibbles at the bait. Setting the hook is that small jerky motion that pulls the hook through the fish gill. The hook is a reversed-barbed piece of metal that makes it difficult for the fish to escape once he takes the bait.
That’s what free information and free products do. I call it “sample selling” because its like giving folks a free sample of what you do so they become interested in spending money with you.
It’s an easy marketing strategy to implement and everyone wins.
Free call and great marketing advice
Michael Angelo Caruso
You can hear how I do this and get yourself some terrific speaking advice by being on the call this Monday, from 4 to 4:30 PM ET. And did I tell you that the call is free?
Use call-in number: 218-339-3600, access code: 686134#
What does your company give away to promote business?
I’ve recently had to update my resume so I can upgrade my job. I consider myself a good writer, but it’s been quite a challenge getting this project done. I’m still not happy with my resume and wondering if you have any tips for me. I’ve attached a copy to this e-mail message. Thank you!
Sara in Bloomington, Illinois
Hi, Sara-
A lot of the best jobs are filled without using the resume process. The best way to get a good job is through networking, which allows you to become recommended or “pre-approved” by a trusted third-party. More info on how to do this in a future post.
So now that I’ve told you that a resume doesn’t matter, let me explain how you can make yours better…
Your resume looks very good, Sara! I’m returning it to you with a few minor suggestions for improved grammar and syntax. I am also listing my advice on how to “punch up” a resume.
Tips:
- All the experts recommend a one-page resume
- Play down past jobs (use one or two lines max for each)
- Use present tense for present situation, e.g. “demonstrated” should be “demonstrates”
- Use parallel construction for bullet points; begin each bullet with an active verb
Bonus ideas
Here are a couple of special “Michael techniques:”
/Recycle the exact language from the job posting.
/That way, your resume is more likely to make you look like the perfect fit.
/The resume is a kind of meaningless tradition. It’s far better to secure the job first and then submit the resume as a required formality.
/So, how does one get the job before submitting the resume? Use online research tools such as Linkedin and Google to learn more about the company. Of course, you should visit the company’s Web site, but learn even more about the specific people involved such as:
- Who will be interviewing you?
- Who will you be working with?
- Who will be your boss?
- Who is your potential boss’s boss?
- What can be learned from their social media or YouTube activities?
Once you have the names of these individuals, search them online to discover anything you can, such as:
- Where they live?
- What church do they attend?
- Do they blog?
- What they’ve presented on (presentation pdfs often come up in this type of search)
The idea is to get into the same orbit of one or more of these people so they can get to know you and possibly champion your cause.
Caveat: Don’t be aggressive or even assertive when doing this. A sincere compliment when friending someone on Facebook will usually do the trick. You might contact the person to offer insightful research on one of their
favorite topics. Don’t necessarily make it known that you are applying for a job.
When you show interest in others, others show interest in you. -Michael Angelo Caruso, American author and speaker, (1958-present –ha!)
Then, when the moment is right, say something like, “Oh, by the way, the reason for my interest in xxxxx is that I’m thinking of applying for the xxxxx position.”
You’re on your way to a some useful information, an endorsement, a champion, and hopefully, a new job!
Here’s the story of how a crappy version of a song is getting way too much attention.
Part 1 of this post covers the message, a beautiful song composed and recorded by the late Dan Fogelberg.
Part 2 of the post shows how the marketing of a message is as important as the message itself. We’ll learn a little about Internet marketing along the way.
Marketing must be as good as the message, Part 1 of 2
Dan Fogelberg
Years ago, Dan Fogelberg wrote a beautiful tune about Christmas Eve and the bittersweet experience of running into an ex-lover. The song seeps with emotion and resonates with anyone who celebrates the holidays or anyone who’s ever loved.
The melody is simple and quite repetitive, but the tune is haunting. The arrangement features a plaintive oboe and a shimmery saxophone solo.
The song is titled, Same Auld Lang Syne. Pretty good marketing to out the word “same” in front of the title of the annual New Year’s eve chestnut, eh?
The lyrics are special and what make the song a classic. The story recounts love and time lost, the innocence of youth, and the throbbing emptiness of what might have been. Just when you can’t stand it any longer, the snow . . . turns into rain, and the sax solo buries your heart.
Same Auld Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg
Met my old lover in a grocery store
The snow was falling Christmas Eve
Stole behind her in the frozen foods
and I touched her on the sleeve
She didn’t recognize the face at first
but then her eyes flew open wide
Tried to hug me and she spilled her purse
and we laughed until we cried
Took her groceries to the checkout stand
The food was totaled up and bagged
stood there lost in our embarrassment
as the conversation dragged
Went to have ourselves a drink or two
but couldn’t find an open bar
Bought a six-pack at the liquor store
and we drank it in the car
We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
Tried to reach beyond the emptiness but neither one knew how
She said she’d married her an architect
Kept her warm and safe and dry
She said she’d like to say she loved the man
but she didn’t want to lie
I said the years had been a friend to her
and that her eyes were still as blue
But in those eyes I wasn’t sure if I
Saw doubt or gratitude
She said she saw me in the record store
and that I must be doing well
I said the audience was heavenly
but the traveling was hell
We drank a toast to innocence we drank a toast to time
We’re living in our eloquence, another old lang syne
The beers were empty and our tongues grew tired
and running out of things to say
She gave a kiss to me as I got out
and I watched her drive away
Just for a moment I was back in school
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home
the snow turned into rain
The song is a great success story. Not only was it a big hit for Fogelberg, but the tune comes back to life every holiday season. It’s a beautiful message that deserves to be heard over and over again.
In Part 2, we’ll learn how a lousy version of the song is getting tons of hits on YouTube–because it’s being marketed better than the other versions.
Dan Fogelberg has been dead for years, but Another Auld Lang Syne–his great song about New Year’s Eve and lost love–still resonates. The lyric articulates a common sentiment for anyone who’s ever run into an former boyfriend or girlfriend. Heck, the song resonates for anyone who’s ever experienced a lonely Christmas.
But in the social media age, special messages need special marketing, if they are to get attention. Let me relate a quick story that illustrates this point.
Mr. Fogelberg recorded this song many times before his death in 2007 and many of these versions have been posted on YouTube. It’s not easy to tell what vids contain before sampling them, so I started watching. Soon, I was paying particular attention to two clips that had a drastically different number of views, even thought they both had been posted about three years ago.
The third ranking on the search page was a live video of Dan performing Same Auld Lang Syne to a sold-out stadium. The graphic was a low-resolution photo of Fogelberg playing the piano. The crowd was immense and the excitement of the recording was strong, but the quality of the video was very poor.
The video had logged 859,243 views–not bad. It received another 25,000 views as I was writing this blog post! Here’s the #3 ranked video from the search:
The sixth ranking in the search showed a low-resolution closeup of hands on a piano. This video had only 65,822 views, but was a much higher quality video and much more enjoyable to watch. This video had received about 5,000 more views during the time it took me to write this article.
There is a vast difference in quality, right? I think you’d agree that the second video is not the same Same Auld Lang Syne! Yet, the crappy #3 ranked video had received over ten times as many views, mostly because rankings at the top of searches get more attention.
Which brings us to the value of marketing. The inferior video at the top of the search will continue to get more plays because of its title, tags, and the link is being circulated.
The better quality video will get much less attention over time, unless whoever posted the vid does a better job marketing it.
There are millions of messages out there like yours. How you market that message will determine who sees it. The marketing of the message is as important as the message itself.
______________
Author, Michael Angelo Caruso teaches Internet marketing at seminars and online. More information at www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com
In Part 1 of this blog post on product/service differentiation, I wrote about how I helped a large regional bank in Ohio distinguish itself from the competition by differentiating its customer service.
I explained to my audience–and in the blog post–how this is done in the restaurant business.
In this post, I’ll relate a story about how my old newspaper person accidentally provided service differentiation, which resulted in increased tips.
Back then, newspaper carriers were called “paperboys.” I subscribed to the Detroit Free Press, which was delivered without fail at 5:00 AM every morning. I was often awake at that time, but rarely met the carrier on the porch. I would hear the paper thwack against the porch pavement and then go out to retrieve it. So, I never got to meet my paperboy.
On Friday of every week there was an envelope in the paper from an “L. Baker” instructing for me to write a check, insert it into the envelope and leave it in my mailbox for the carrier to snag it.
One day, I found a note with the pay envelope. The note read:
Dear Customers,
For the next 4 weeks there will be a sub doing my route. I had my baby on Sunday, 4-01-95. She and I are doing fine. I will be taking a few weeks off to rest up. If you have any problems with your service, please call my manager, Joe Moore at 287-0610.
Your carrier,
Lisa Baker
Baby!? Lisa Baker? I had to rethink everything I knew about my “paperboy,” which, admittedly, was very little.
I also–and this is a key point about service differentiation–began to tip my papergirl quite heavily. I happily did this even though the customer service hadn’t changed. My perception of the service provider had changed drastically and I felt as I felt more obligated to ante up.
I don’t think Lisa had kept her gender a secret and I don’t think she disclosed her new baby to make more money, but I’ll bet I wasn’t the only customer who began to tip more.
The point is that customers often appreciate service providers who are just a bit different. If you provide a service, try to arrange customer interaction that is clever, original, fun or just plain human.
Photographs used to be a ceremonious, somewhat expensive way to create visual memories. In the digital age, however, pics are a very inexpensive way to create brands, including your digital footprint.
I’m fortunate to have worked with some of the best photographers in the country, including Bill Cowger, who is also a close friend. Recently Bill shared a few photography tips with me, some of which are included below.
Photos have always been images, but because the world can view your photos online, it’s now “Image” with a capital “I.”Here are at least 5 Cool Ideas, plus three bonus tips on how to take better photographs.
Cool ideas for taking better photos
1. Always carry your camera. Unless your cell phone takes great photographs, carry a digital camera with you at all times. The day you don’t is the day you’ll meet George Clooney or Angelina Jolie.
Note the asymmetrical architecture
2. Be a little “off.” Symmetry is not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s okay–even preferred–to have the photo subject be left or right of center.
3. Make your camera the “official” camera. How many times have people promised to send you photos and not followed through?
4. Be like a movie director. Dictate how it’s gonna be. Don’t be afraid to choose the best background or pose for yourself and anyone in the photo with you. Images are forever, right?
5. Play the angle. Camera flashes have a way of spotlighting any oils or perspiration on your face. Minimize these hot spots by never facing the camera directly. Always remember to tilt your face a little to the left or right.
6. Take two! Ask the photographer to take a few pics. It’s too time-consuming to snap a pic, have everyone look at it, get repositioned, snap another pic, etc.
Charming
7. Use a good photo editor. Crop, brighten, and otherwise “punch up” your pix whenever possible. Your image is at stake! I use a photo editing tool from Paint.net.
The cool photo to the left shows my Dad and me having some fun way back when. Notice the sloppy framing (Mom!), the dark tones, and the ugly wall hanging (Mom!).
The photo below has been cropped and brightened using Paint.net. The unsightly wall hanging was removed using PhotoShop.
Be careful when snapping photos and you won’t have to use PhotoShop.
8. Make your pics “lifelike.” Never take photographs of buildings, scenery or things when you can photograph people in front of buildings, amidst scenery or holding things.
Photos are persuasion tools
Ultimately, photos are used to “sell” something, whether it be a product, a service or a feeling. Have fun and good luck!
One of the gigs was a job for the agency of the Department of Defense called DMDC. (You know how the Fed loves acronyms.) DMDC stands for “Defense Manpower Data Center” and they serve those who serve our country.
Anyway, DMDC provides medical, dental, and education eligibility determination for military personnel. The domain of their e-mails is –”Pentagon.mil.” Pretty cool!
Here’s the best part. This agency hired me to teach them–are you ready for this–social media marketing! Turns out the Fed wants what all vital organizations desire–a well-established Internet presence, consumer education, effective communication, and to have a little fun.
We had a great session in Cali talking about how to effectively use Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and YouTube to brand and market their great agency. The government workers really enjoyed themselves as I showed them how to quickly grow their lists, get military personnel to respond to posts, and get more in touch with the people they serve.
Now, you can get the same great training for your company. I’ll help you at your day job or with your home-based start up. Many of my clients are people who tired of the grind and want to be consultants. Social media is hands down, the easiest, cheapest way to establish an Internet presence, build a brand and get customers in the door.
Join me for three one-hour phone calls starting September 7. Listen to the playback calls, if you can’t attend the live sessions. Space is limited! Get more info and register today.
This teleclass, Social Media for Business is a weekly, three phone-call tele-class September 7, 14 and 21. Each 60-minute call starts at 3:30 PM ET. A playback recording is available for 48 hours after each live call. All for less than $100.
You’re going to get more helpful social media advice in three calls than you’ve received in three years. Log onto your social media pages before the call and make changes in real time! I believe this is the best tele-class of its kind.
As with all my info products and services, you’ll get much more than you pay for. Follow my instructions and this program will help you achieve remarkable marketing results or I’ll refund your money.
Traveling in Scandinavia for a few more days. Leaving Stockholm today for Oslo. Again, the European experience reminds me that people are basically the same everywhere.
That being true, I find that it’s generally a good idea to tell people what they want to hear. This is the essence of good communication.
For example, people here in Sweden seem to like it when I thank them in Swedish by saying, “Tak!” and smiling. Wow, they just light right up.
When my travel mates and I ask for directions (yes, some men ask for directions), we want to hear people say things like, “You’re not that lost” and “It’s easy to get back on the right route.”
Here are two more phrases that seem to work just about every time:
1. “You deserve it!” Advertisers use this language all the time, especially when promoting spa services and the like.
2. “Happy birthday!” We like this phrase so much, we even enjoy hearing it from total strangers.
So, tell people what they want to hear. It’s easy to do this without compromising your values or straying from the truth.
What phrase do you use that works magic with people?
As this blog post goes live, I’m not quite home from Thailand and back to work. 
But in the social media age, special messages need special marketing, if they are to get attention. Let me relate a quick story that illustrates this point.
Dear Customers,
