Power Marketing

George TorokKeynote Marketing SpeakerCo-author of Secrets of Power MarketingGet your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas"Power Marketing on FaceBookMarketing Zoo on Twitter

Kitchens or Bridges: What are you selling?

Concrete Formations
Who would have guessed that from the company name? When I pointed this out to the business owner he seemed distressed that I didn't understand him.

He was selling kitchen counter tops that could be shaped as the customer wanted. It would look like marble at much less than the price of marble. But he saw himself as a concrete guy. Imagine a husband telling his wife that the concrete guy is coming to do the kitchen. Would she envision a cement truck backing up to the window?

When describing your product or choosing your company name consider what prospects might be looking for - in the yellow pages and online. Perhaps something about kitchens and custom shaped counter tops. I suggested that he rename his company or product with kitchen counter tops in the title. He looked at me as if I was strange.

If this was an affordable alternative to marble counter tops call it Faux Marble tops.











George Torok
Power Marketing

Click here to register for your free Power Marketing Tipshttp://www.torok.com/marketing/free.html

That's one powerful advantage that you have over the large corporations. They can't be personal so they try to compensate by spending tons of money on advertising. You can't compete with their budgets. But you can compete using your strengths and still win.

As an individual or small business you have the advantage of being able to use personal marketing. The bonus for you is that personal marketing doesn't need to cost much.

What are the 3 keys to personal marketing?

1. Be personal



To be personal means treating customers as people. Call them by name. Smile. Engage them in conversation - not just for selling to them. Discover some personal information about them. How can you personalize your service to please them more? Keep track of that in your database.

2. Have a personality

3. Exude confidence

Personal marketing is a powerful marketing strategy that is available to you. It can be both profitable and fun. Use it!

George Torok
Power Marketing

Click here to register for your free Power Marketing Tipshttp://www.torok.com/marketing/free.html

Treat your customers like royalty - but not kings & queens

If you treat all customers the same you will waste your time and money. You might also chase away your best customers who feel unappreciated.
Some customers are better than others. You should treat those high value customers better and they should know that they are special customers.
Categorize your customers into three groups, A, B and C. (You could call them Platinum, Gold and Silver.)

A are your best customers. They are highly profitable, hire you often and lead to other business. They are a delight to serve and you would like to spend more time with them.
Invest more time and effort in pleasing them. Contact them most often. Convey elite status on them, similar to the airlines and hotels. Look for ways to offer additional services and value to them. Learn as much as you can about them. Focus your marketing on finding more customers like them.

B are the in-between customers. They are easy to work with but not big profit generators. Look for ways to move them up to A status and make it clear that they are not yet A customers. If they like you they will want to be A status.
If they don't like you they will quickly drop to C status. Don't cry. That's a blessing.

C are your bottom rung customers. They are mildly profitable at best, require a lot of maintenance and might be difficult to deal with. Look for ways to automate your contact and downgrade the serve level to them. You want to minimize your cost or convince them to leave and bother your competition.
Treat your customers royally but not equal. This will reward you with a better return on your investment.

George Torok
Power Marketing

Click here to register for your free Power Marketing Tipshttp://www.torok.com/marketing/free.html

This photo surprised me.

The two men on my right were the greeters at this restaurant in Yazd, Iran. It was an Iranian restaurant. The food was terrific.

What surprised me?

When I entered the restaurant I was first greeted by the smaller man, then the larger man.
My memory recorded the second man as a giant.

But looking at this photo you can see that I'm noticeably taller than the giant. Curious how our brain plays tricks on us. I would have sworn that the giant was at least 7 feet tall and 300 pounds.

I'm about 6 feet tall and weight (still) less than 200 pounds.

Why did my brain record the facts differently than the camera?

Contrast.

The brain records new information in relation to existing information. When we learn something new our brain first searches for a way to relate that new information to the existing database within our brain cells.

Upon entering the restaurant, I first saw the smaller man, then I saw the larger man. The larger man was ordinary by himself. But the smaller man was so unusually small that my perspective was changed so much that the second man appeared massive in comparision.


George Torok

Keynote Marketing Speaker

Are They Pigs?


This is not about passing judgement. This is about having a clear picture of your best customers. Who are they? What do they look like? What are their values? What makes them laugh? What annoys them?

How can you package your product to fit their values?

For example:





If they are pigs you might rave about the latest fart app. You might have it on your phone. You might review the top ten.



Consider that one of the biggest selling iPhone apps is a fart app. For $0.99 you can make your iPhone make a fart noise. Disgusting to some but shear joy to pigs. If your customers are pigs, they will love the fart app. It's selling over 10,000 downloads a day.

I guess that I'm a prude because I would not want that on my smart phone - and I would never have thought of that as a product.

Read more here:
http://venturebeat.com/2008/12/23/iphone-fart-app-pulls-in-nearly-10000-a-day/

Go ahead - pull my finger.


George Torok

Marketing Expert & Speaker

Grab more attention

Your marketing must grab attention away from your competition. Everything in marketing is measured against your competition. Nothing else counts. And sometimes your greatest competition is complacency or sameness.


Use these four attention-grabbing pillars in your marketing.


•Contrast
•Conflict
•Comedy
•Connect


Contrast

The simplest way to stand out is through contrast. Contrast is the opposite of camouflage. Too many businesses use camouflage marketing. They promote in the same places and manner as the competition. There's no contrast, so prospects don't notice them. Camouflage is good for snipers but disaster for marketers. Contrast yourself from the competition by looking, sounding and acting different.


Conflict

Conflict is the biggest seller of the news. It's attention grabbing, emotional and graphic. You can inject conflict into your marketing by taking a controversial position. Make an offer that upsets your competition. Issue a challenge that stimulates conversations. Pick an enemy to which you are the conquering hero.


Comedy

Lighten up! We love to laugh. Make your audience laugh and they will pay attention to and remember your message. There's too much distressing news in our lives. You don't need to offer stand up comedy. You only need to make us smile. Volkswagen is still remembered for the funny advertisements that they ran way back in the 60's and 70's.


Connect

How can you connect with your target audience? Speak to their interests. If you don't know their interests - you have some research and thinking to do.

When you talk about issues that your target audience is interested in you immediately grab their interest. Discover what interests your best customers by asking them. For example, if you want to grab my attention, talk about personal marketing, presentation skills, marathon running or motorcycles. Those words immediately attract my attention.


Steal attention away from your competition with these four C's.

George Torok
Power Marketing

Power Marketing News

Marketing blog
Visit George Torok's marketing blog for more marketing insights, ideas and comments http://georgetorok.blogspot.com/


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Marketing Resources

30 days to more profitable networking
Get your networking skills in shape for better results

Do you want a provocactive, engaging and motivational speaker for your conference or sales meeting?

Do you want an executive briefing for your management team?

Call George Torok 905-335-1997
Toll Free in North America 800-304-1861

Forward this tip to your colleagues who want to gain an unfair advantage over the competition.
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To capture attention and convert more prospects into eager buyers - lead with success stories.

Results sell. The purpose of marketing is to make it easier to sell and nothing sells like successful results.

This is even more important during challenging times. If your clients and prospects are hoarding their money you need to attract their attention and their money with success stories.

Clients buy based on their emotions. Success mitigates fears and appeals to greed. Most importantly it offers hope. All three of these emotional changes can persuade clients to buy.

A good success story includes

1 Before picture
2 After picture
3 Catalyst


Before Picture

Weight loss and fitness programs do this well. With words, numbers or images describe the pain or challenge.

After Picture

Using the same parameters show the results as a sharp contrast. The contrast must be clear and be memorable. For example: lost 50 lbs in 45 days; improved business by 15%; saved 12% on shipping costs.

Catalyst

Give credit to the product or service that made the difference.


Where can you find your success stories?

Client Testimonials

A testimonial from your clients is the best source of success stories. Ask your clients how things have improved for them as a result of your product or service. Then ask for the testimonial. Thank them and use the testimonials.

Case Studies

You can analyze results across your client base and report the trends. Or you might conduct an indepth study of one or a few of your best clients. You or your staff might conduct a simple case study. Another option is to arrange for a college or university student to conduct a more scientific study as part of their course studies. The advantage to you is that this third party report carries more credibility. The students often do this at no cost to you.

George Torok
Power Marketing
PS: Forward this tip to your associates.

Power Marketing News

Marketing blog
Visit George Torok's marketing blog for more marketing insights, ideas and comments http://georgetorok.blogspot.com/


Daily marketing tips
Follow MarketingZoo on http://Twitter.com/MarketingZoo

Marketing Resources

Proof Reading for your critical messages
Fast and dependable proof reading

30 days to more profitable networking
Get your networking skills in shape for better results

Do you want a provocactive, engaging and motivational speaker for your conference or sales meeting?

Do you want an executive briefing for your management team?

Call George Torok 905-335-1997
Toll Free in North America 800-304-1861

Forward this tip to your colleagues who want to gain an unfair advantage over the competition.
Subscribe to Power Marketing Tips here

http://www.powermarketing.ca/free_marketing_tips.html

Thinking of running a promotion in February? Then you might be able to leverage some of these special days and celebrations in February.
-----------------------------


Calendar of Events/Publicity Opportunities
By Pam Lontos


If your expertise fits any of these topics, take advantage by sending out a press release to newspaper, television and radio stations, or call up the media directly! For example, if you are a doctor, nurse, medical expert or author who specializes in cardiology, you'll want to let the media know about your expertise for "American Heart Month," which is February. You can share your advice on how to build a heart-healthy diet, how to recognize thecommon symptoms of heart disease, and more.

Use these dates to create your own media opportunities by writing press releases on these topics, contacting radio stations in your area, or becoming a featured expert on television or in print:

- February is American Heart Month - During this time, the American Heart Association will shine the spotlight on their campaign, "Go Red for Women."This campaign strives to bring awareness to women about cardio vascular disease, which claims the lives of 500,000 women each year.

- February is National Black History Month - A month to celebrate the achievements and contributions of African Americans.

- February is International Boost Self-Esteem Month/Expect Success - These events were created to motivate people to seize new challenges, and emphasize the importance of expecting nothing more than one's best effort on any project or challenge.

- February is Time Management Month - A reminder that now is the time to get organized and follow through with commitments, particularly those that were made with the New Year.

- The first week in February is Publicity for Profit Week - A time to learn how to rely on someone else to gain publicity, but to develop a strategy one can implement to get his or her name out there.

- The second week in February is International Flirting Week - A week designed to celebrate the role flirting plays in the lives of singles seeking a mate, couples who want to spice things up, and total strangers exchanging glances.

- February 2 is Groundhog Day

- February 10 is World's Marriage Day - A day to honor the beauty of faithfulness, and the sacrifice and joy of daily-married life.

- February 14 is Valentine's Day- February 18 is Presidents Day

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Reprinted from 'PR/PR Pulse,' a free e-zine featuring tips and techniquesfor gaining publicity. To subscribe, send an e-mail to newsletter@prpr.netwith 'Add Me' in the subject line.

Pam Lontos is the president of PR/PR, a public relations firm that specializes in professional speakers, authors and experts. An author,speaker and former VP of Disney's Shamrock Broadcasting, Pam knows the ropes of getting you good publicity and how to use it to boost your bookings or book sales. She is also author of the new book, "I See Your Name Everywhere!" Call for a free consultation: 407-299-6128 or visit:http://www.prpr.net/.
-------------------------------

George Torok
Marketing Expert & Speaker
Free Marketing Tips

Marketing Blog Milestone: Post 251

Celebrate your milestones - that's good marketing. Reaching significant milestones in your business speaks to your credibility, stability and persistence. All those things scream lasting value.

This marketing blog has surpassed blog post number 250. This is post number 251.

Let's review some of the best and significant posts over the past two and 1/2 years:


1. It started with a confession and epiphany in January 2006.

Post Alpha - a new marketing blog
Just recently I remarked to a friend that, "Blogs are for hobbyists and dabblers. Serious business people don't have blogs. They have real websites."So here I am starting my own blog. Why?


2. A new marketing term is revealed and defined.

Barketing Defined
A few posts ago on this blog I introduced the term “Barketing”. Since then some of you have expressed an interest in that term and asked for further clarification. Where did the term originate? Right here on this blog. This is the first time in public.


3. An example of using controversy as a marketing tool.

Christian Crusaders want to discuss DaVinci
That headline in the Globe and Mail (May 19, 2006) caught my attention. Why? Because with the reported religious controversy over the movie, The DaVinci Code, this sounded like a different approach. And that statement is a positive one.


4. Lessons to make blogging easier.

How to Create Content for your Blog
The keys to a successful blog are: relevance, frequent updates and practicality. How can you create the content for your blog? Here are a few examples:


5. The best branding example I've seen.

Branding: Death Cigarettes
I heard the best yet “How to create your Brand” story on this podcast with UK entrepreneur BJ Cunnigham.BJ created a company called The Enlightened Tobacco Company in 1991, selling a cigarette called “Death Cigarettes”. It was presented in a black package emblazoned with a white skull-and-crossbones logo. Just imagine how this might appeal to the rebels.


6. A good example of bad marketing.

Travelodge Hotel Accuses You
At the Travelodge Hotel You Are Guilty Till Proven Innocent. At the Travelodge Hotel, (Burlington on the Lake) you are guilty till proven innocent. How’s that for customer service? How’s that for marketing?


7. The power of controversy and how it stimulates viral marketing.

Flick off!
How do you create a powerful viral marketing campaign? Clearly identify and know your target market. Really know them – what they do, where they go, how they think, what motivates them, how to grab their attention and how to speak their language. (How much of that do you know about your target market?)



8. A branding genius in the buff.

Richard Branson has Chahones
Richard Branson has ChahonesRichard Branson has chahones and he likes to show them off. Here he is running nude in the waves. Sir Richard thrives on challenge and controversy. He is the billionaire that has retained or reclaimed the boldness and brashness of a teenager. (How many boomers remember streaking?)


9. Example of partnering with a movie for cross promotion

Iron Man - the latest movie from Marvel Comics
Watch the trailer. It looks sharp. Looks like Marvel has successfully made the transition from comic book producer to movie producer. Several Marvel Comics have been transformed into movies but this is the first movie that Marvel had produced since they decided that they could do it themselves. (It's always enlightening to watch a child grow up.) Can you guess the name of the theme song for the Iron Man movie? Hint: The band is Black Sabbath.


10. Wake up call for small business - stop wasting your money on branding!

Forget branding, invest in relations
George Torok, Financial Post Published: Monday, May 12, 2008
The majority of business owners could be headed for disaster this year. Small business does best when it acts like small business. It does poorly when it blindly attempts to copy big business.The results of an Ipsos-Reid poll in March, 2008, should scare you. It found "a majority (59%) of small to medium-sized business owners have identified branding as a top priority."

----------------

George Torok
Marketing Speaker
Business Speaker

According to a study by Marketing Sherpa the $16.9 Billion Promo Products Industry is quietly raking in nearly three times more ad dollars than internet advertising.

Why is that? Their research shows that 76.1% of the consumers studied said they could remember the brand name of a company that gave them a promotional item in the past year -- versus 53% who could remember a TV or print ad from the past month, and even fewer recalled an online ad from the past week.
Promotional products are an old standby in our hungry-for-attention marketing world. Your name and logo on a golf shirt, coffee cup, or portfolio might get you more sales then spending the same money on Internet ads.

A friend of mine, Rick Maude, who owns a promotional products business, assures me that his business keeps growing. It seems that the race is on – to offer something new and different to put your logo on and get your message out there.

If it has been a while since you looked at putting your name on promotional products – view the online catalogue at http://adplus.promocan.com/

Marketing Sherpa, Inc. is a research firm publishing Case Studies, benchmark data, and how-to information for marketing, advertising, and public relations professionals.

You can visit their library of articles, reports and case studies at
http://library.marketingsherpa.com/search.cfm

You can view the summaries and some of the full articles free. They are, after all, a research firm. I do enjoy many of their case studies.

George Torok

I invite you to visit my recently revised site http://www.powermarketing.ca/

What a great idea.

Canada’s Top 40 under 40
According to http://www.top40award-canada.org/

Canada's Top 40 Under 40TM is a national program founded and managed by The Caldwell Partners to celebrate our leaders of today and tomorrow, and to honour Canadians who have reached a significant level of success but have not yet reached the age of 40.
The program is designed to promote mentorship and professional development by introducing these leaders to the established business community and promoting them as role models for young Canadians.
In choosing the recipients, the Board considers the nominees' achievements in the following areas:
Vision and Leadership
Innovation and Achievement
Impact
Community Involvement and Contribution
Growth / Development Strategy

You know it is a great idea when you see so many imitators. I don’t know who was first but I found several 40 under 40 recognition programs. Here are a few.
Western Australia 40 under 40
http://www.40under40.com.au/


The National Law Journal 40 under 40
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1115345118033


Chicago Business 40 under 40
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?portal_id=35&mpid=35&page_id=1840


Ottawa Business Journal 40 under 40
http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/40under40.php


Boston Business Journal 40 under 40
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/nomination/495


Now here is a slight variation:

Forbes Magazine under 40 Billionaires
http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/2005/03/07/cz_bill05_under40slide.html?thisSpeed=20000

I checked; my name isn’t there. I guess for two reasons.


The Point – when you find a good idea, copy it.

Of course I don’t know what the magic of the number 40 is; SO why not a 30 under 30, 20 under 20, 60 over 60 or 50 at 50?


George Torok
http://www.powermarketing.ca/

Entreprise Magazine

Here is something that you should read.

I have been writing a marketing column for Enterprise magazine for at least five years.

If you are in Canada and own a small to medium sized business you should be reading this magazine. The publisher Hayden Bradshaw consistently produces a first class business magazine.

Published five times a year. You can pick up Enterprise Magazine from Chapters and Indigo at $4.95 a copy – or save 25% and subscribe directly. For less than $20 a year you get a fabulous business resource.

Not only should you subscribe for yourself – but also reward some of your best clients or colleagues and order a subscription for them. That is less than $20. What a great way to help those special people remember you. And you could call them after every issue to point out an article that you liked, or question them about what they liked. It would cost you more to take them to lunch.

The current issue features Internet Security.

And my article is titled, “Zig Zag: Win by Being Unique”
13 areas of your business to address in standing out from your competition.

Register for your subscription to Enterprise Magazine here http://www.enterprisemag.com/index.html

Enjoy

George Torok
http://www.powermarketing.ca/