The Mr. Lizard Story

Two days ago my son’s lizard died! There was no fan fare, nor funeral, no burial!

My wife picked the smelly dead carcass out of the cage, tossed him (I say that loosely, I don’t think we ever really knew or cared to know what sex it was) in a plastic bag then threw it in the trash.

It was to be expected!

My son didn’t read up on how to take care of a lizard. He didn’t ask questions when we bought the lizard at the pet store. It was all a guessing game.

It took twenty three days! That’s it! Then he was gone!

I honestly thought Mr Lizard would last longer!

I run into so many business owners who like my son don’t take the time to investigate, read up on, learn about, or try to make sense of anything they do.

They operate by chance, by luck or blind sense.

Then they lose interest!

Or even worse… they keep doing the same thing over again expecting different results.

Now, imagine if my son were to replace his dead lizard with a new one every month or so… it would get old fast… and costly too!

You convince yourself, “I know it will work this time!”

But, sadly it doesn’t!

And, you’re back to square one…

Mediocre advertising that cost more than it brings in, non-passionate employees who are ready to jump ship at a moments notice, not understanding your true cost of doing business… I could go on and on, but until you change your habits… your business will end up like Mr. Lizard…dead and gone.

Stop saying, “I know it will work this time!”

Change your mindset!

Start saying, “How can I make it work this time!”

List all of the things that you could have done differently… then do them!

If your advertising is terrible, hire someone that understands how to truly market your business and boost your sales. Hire only passionate employees who are dedicated to your success. And, if you don’t understand your numbers hire someone who can translate those numbers to you and let you know what changes you need to make.

Stop playing the guessing game. Make it work! Take lessons from Mr Lizard!

Until next time,

“Live with passion”

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. I believe every entrepreneur has a Mr Lizard story. How they had this incredible idea or product, but because they didn’t care or cultivate the idea or investigate how to make it really pay off…it died a slow death. I would love to hear your story!

Getting Followers…My Twitter Experiment!

Several months ago, I wrote that I wasn’t a big fan of Twitter.

To me Twitter is too chaotic… it’s great for signing in and quickly posting my message on, then exiting fast… but to stay on all day and follow the conversation… well frankly, I’d rather do laundry.

Even some celebrities are finding Twitter more than they bargained for.

But for everyone that is dissatisfied with Twitter, there is those that are completely mesmerized by the service. They are loyal and some say they act like a “collective conscious” tapping each others thoughts. They bounce ideas off of complete strangers (people they wouldn’t communicate with or even give the time of day in the real world).

Unlike other social media outlets, Twitter opens up your posts to everyone… yes, even people you dont want seeing your posts can respond.

And being limited to 140 character posting is not without problems… you’ll see shorten words, abbreviations and weblinks to some unknown region of the internet. Nope, not a BIG fan!

Then I did an experiment!

I wanted to see how many new fans I could attract in a two week period without using any automated fan generating programs.

But based on my current posting schedule of 1-4 tweets a day wasn’t going to win me over a big fan base. Heck, it at taken almost a year to get 943 fans.

Then I hit on something!

If I were to increase my postings to 1-4 tweets per hour…would it increase my fan base? I was hoping!

Could I physically keep up the strenous task of posting up to 75 posts per day.

A-ha! (Yep, my a-ha moment arrived!)

As I mentioned in a prior post, I used a combination of social media simplifiers to make & schedule postings much easier. Okay if you didn’t read that post, I mentioned a few websites that make short-cutting social media a snap. (bit.ly, ping.fm and hootsuite.com).

Back to the experiment… by increasing the frequency of my posts I was able to add a total of 358 new followers in a 2 week time period. (3/14/2010 to 3/28/2010)

Okay, I know it’s not BIG numbers. Like I stated, I wasn’t using a program to farm new followers… this was real results.

The really fascinating thing was that people were engaging my Tweets, retweeting to others and interacting more with me.

My experiment in Twitter marketing had turned me into a believer.

Imagine the difference you can make with the right system.

Until next time,

Live with passion

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. In the amount of time it took me to write this post… I just gained an additional 10 new followers…it’s creepy and cool at the same time!

P.P.S. Would love to hear your Twitter success story!

The 8 Elements to an Effective Press Release

When was the last time you sent out a press release?

Did you know that you can generate “free” publicity for your company or event with the use of press releases?

I recently had the priviledge of interviewing Lisa Manyon for my “Passions to Profits” audio series. (Lisa is the President of Write On- Creative Writing Services LLC.)

Lisa is a brilliant copywriter and a dynamic publicity and press release advocate.

During the interview I got Lisa to “spill the beans” on creating effective press releases.

Actually, she was more than happy to do so!

Here is the information you need to have in order to create a winning press release.

There are 8 elements to an effective press release… miss any and you can kiss your free publicity good bye!

Timing: When do you want the infomation released? If your news needs to go out right away, you should state…”For Immediate Release”!

Headline: Use an attention grabbing headline! Keep it simple… no salesy hype here. Your goal is to get their attention, so they read the rest of your press release.

City of Origin & Date: I honestly can’t believe people miss this one! It’s so basic! Your city, state, month, date and year go here.

Opening Paragraph: The opening paragraph is your introduction. This is where you explain the purpose of your release. Why is the information of interest? Make sure it’s newsworthy!

The 5W’s: This is where you share all the details! The who, what, where, when and why! The 5W’s should take up the second paragraph.

The How: The third paragraph is where you make a case for your final point and include your call to action.

About: This is where you include your company information, your products or services and a bio.

Contact Info: This is where you share your contact information. The person who is going to respond to any inquiries and their title. The company name, phone, fax, cell, website and email should all be included.

There you go… press release creation in a nutshell.

So, what are you waiting for? Get going! Create your press release right now and start getting that free publicity.

Until next time,

“Live with passion”

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. If you really don’t like the idea of putting together a press release… Lisa has made the process simplified…just plug in your information and “blamo” a ready to go press release. Lisa calls this easy to use process – the Press Release Producer and it’s FREE to use. Just go to http://writeoncreative.com/pressreleaseproducer/ and you’re on your way to getting free publicity.

Running Around Naked

The first time I had to give a speech… I was nervous as heck!

I kept being told by others, to picture my audience naked.

That didn’t work. It just made me a drooling speech giver.

As time past, and I was presented with more opportunities to speak… I realized that the whole naked thing was sort of true.

They still had their clothes on.

But they were naked!

You see, they were coming to hear me speak… they were naked vessels needing the clothes I was offering.

Yeah, it’s one of those metaphors that has a hidden meaning.

It just took me a while to figure it out.

Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, feed him for a lifetime!

Give a man a shirt or pants, cloth him for a day. Teach him how to make his own shirts and pants and cloth him for a lifetime.

These people were running around naked and hungry craving for the knowledge and ability to feed and clothe themselves.

Everytime I teach, consult, write, or give a speech, I am helping someone to better themselves. They inturn can use that knowledge to help others.

When you teach someone (regardless if it’s marketing, business, organization, make-up tips, jump rope… heck you name it) you are giving them the knowledge necessary to clothe themselves.

Until next time,

“Live with passion”

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. Who have you clothed today?

Lessons from the Gambler

“You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,
know when to walk away, and know when to run.”

Sound familiar? It’s actually part of Kenny Rogers great song hit “The Gambler”.

It dawned on me the other day while listening to the radio… that this particular phrase in the song, although sung about a gambler and his love of playing cards, holds true to every entrepreneur.

You see, there are times we are faced with challenges in our business and we have no clue, no direction, no sense of urgency as to what we should do next.

Do we hold on and wait it out? Cancel it? Walk away? Or run?

Advertising your message to a “blind” market is like being the gambler. You are taking a chance, and you are putting all the cards out there. A blind market just isn’t ready for your message, they’ll just not the right fit. The are in essence the wrong market to be advertising to.

There lies the problem! Too many entrepreneurs are given to the belief that putting your ad message out to “blind” markets will get them work. And it may! But, in most cases the clients they receive from these blind markets are for better lack of words…not worth the hassle.

Yet, instead of learning how to effectively target the right market, they continue to go after “not worth the hassle” clients. Fold ‘em! Walk away! Run!

Then there are those entrepreneurs who don’t know how to, or have the patience to, hold on to a marketing piece or business venture that is working. Or they end up holding on to the wrong set of “cards” in the hope of making it pay off in some way.

We’ve all done it. It’s the gamble!

Knowing when to hold ‘em, fold ‘em, walk away and run… is a great rule to learn.

It’s not just for advertising and marketing (or card playing)… it can be applied to all aspects of your business. When to keep or fire an employee or a customer? Deciding if your next business venture is worth the risk. What will happen if I fold ‘em and walk away from the deal? What benefits will I reap if I hold on to what I have?

Don’t run your business on luck…be like the Gambler and apply his simple rules to help you through the game!

Until next time,

Live with passion

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. When you don’t know when to hold ‘em, fold’em, walk away or even run…contact me and I’ll help you through it.

I Bit The Legs Off A Camel!

You’re probably wondering about the subject line, aren’t you?

Eating the legs off a camel?

Had I not wrote it… I might be a bit curious myself!

If you’ve been following me on facebook… that headline might make sense!

If you haven’t been following me (which is cool too – means you’re not a facebook stalker)… here’s what Gina Schreck (a Technology Speaker) had to say…

“HA! I was wondering where you were going with that disgusting opening! “

Okay, I’ll spill it…

Here’s what I really posted…

“I bit the legs off a camel…
then a tail off a cat…
then the head off a dog…
I was still hungry so I ate…
the rest of the animal crackers.”

So double HA!

That’s the power of a headline…

…to grab us and pull us in.

Headlines when you used effectively have the ability to compel us to read further.

They build on our curiosity.

Yes we are curious, we want to know what happens next.

Did he really bite the legs off a camel?

As Gina’s reaction was dead on… “that’s disgusting!”

Guess what? The headline did what it was supposed to do.

It got her attention, didn’t it! In fact, it caused a reaction! She was disgusted!

If you read the headline and were compelled to read further, then it got your attention too!

Are you using headlines that grab attention? Are you using any headline at all? If you are still using your company name for your headline…well, stop it. It doesn’t cause anyone to feel compelled to call you.

Until next time,

Live with passion

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. Start using attention grabbing headlines in your ad copy and your website… and you’ll discover a powerful mechanism to attract and compel people to not only read your marketing but actually buy what it is you’re selling.

What makes you different?

When was the last time you surveyed your competition?

Or surveyed other companies not specific to your industry?

I mean really surveyed them! Down to the nitty-gritty.

You don’t need to be covert about it. No CIA spy stuff!

Nah! Just some simple phone and leg work here. Oh, and some notepaper and a writing instrument.

Make a list of your local competitors. If you’re trolling the phone book, jot down on your notepaper anything that might make them different or stand out from your service.

Next, call them. (I suggest you not call from your office, if they have Caller ID, you might be detected and your jig is up.) While on the phone, ask general questions. If you are too specific, it might give you away.

Say, you’re a service business (maybe a plumber) and you want to find out a little bit about the competition that moved into your neighborhood.

You might ask about pricing. What their guarantees are? What training do they have? You might even ask about licensing and if they are members of a trade organization. You could even ask for references. If they offer free estimates, you might even ask to schedule a free in home inspection.

Although pricing may seem like a concern… it really isn’t. So don’t start worrying if your competitors prices are much lower than yours. They may have no clue what their true cost of doing business is and just made their prices cheaper to attract customers.

Make notes on how they answer the phone. Are they courteous? Do they show knowledge of their industry? What is their specific guarantee? What forms of payment do they accept?

If you were able to schedule a no-obligation free estimate…this is another avenue of insightful information so pay attention. How does your competition dress? Are they wearing any insignia that would tell you right off the bat they are from XYZ Co.? Are they clean cut and nice in appearance? Do they smell good? (Although this question might baffle some men, women don’t appreciate foul smells.) Does the price include everything you want, or only for specific items.

Heck, I think you get the picture.

I’m sure you can come up with dozens of questions that you can use to scope out your competitors.

The question I always like to ask on the phone and then again when they come for the estimate is, “What makes you different? What’s so unique about your company?” If they are can answer this question, and do so in a comfortable manner, take notice… for this answer maybe the one that makes the difference in how you are perceived by your customers.

Until next time,

Live with passion

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. When you take the time to understand how your competition works, you will gain insight into how to improve your business.

Three Easy Short-Cuts!

Over the last two years I have found myself signing up for one social networking website after the next.

Maybe you have too!

It’s crazy, I tell ya!

Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace… just to name a few.

And holy smokes…the time involved to post to all these sites…UGH!

I thought there has got to be an easier way to do this.

I mean really, millions of people on these sites and someone has to have the answer. What I needed, was a way to free up time, an easy to us product that would make networking and marketing on these sites easier.

I downloaded program after program in hopes of finding something that would work to my liking. Not only was I getting frustrated but my computer was having a seizure from all the mismatched and overlapping programs running in the background fighting for usage. Then the crash! My computer had had enough! I removed all the programs and started over.

Then it happened!

In my quest to find the answers… I found 3 great short-cuts that I believe make social media marketing a bit easier. No downloads required!

The first one… www.ping.fm – a brilliant way to post your message once and have it delivered to all of your social networking sites. No longer do I have to sign in to all my individual social sites to post the same message. Nope! Ping.fm saves me so much time…that I actually get more writing done.

The next one… www.bit.ly – a fantastic way of shortening all of your long url’s into a easy to use short link. Most social sites limit your postings to 140 characters, with a shorten url you can be more creative with your posting. There are other url shortening sites, but I find bit.ly easy to use and your results are trackable, which is very cool!

And finally… www.hootsuite.com – an awesome way to schedule your postings. Say you’re going on vacation and you really don’t want to post while gone… not a problem… schedule ahead! Yep, you can schedule your posts in advance. It’s like Ron Popeil says for his Ronco products… “Set it and forget it!”

And it just gets better…

Hootsuite can integrate your Ping account! Now you can put all your posts on cruise control while you work, sleep or read. Post once, schedule later and “blam”…delivered!

Hootsuite even has it’s on url shortener called ow.ly – but I still prefer bit.ly. Ow.ly’s tracking results are sometimes delayed or don’t always give a true performance of the click-thru’s…but that’s my take… you can experiment and discover for yourself.

So there ya go… 3 simple solutions to maximize your social media marketing experience.

Until next time,

Live with passion

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com

P.S. It’s not rocket science! Even the Geico cavemen can use social media now!

The OnStar Effect!

“This is OnStar how may I help you Mr Jones?”

“Yes, my marketing sucks, what can I do?”

Discover three ways to put your website on steroids and
give it that “Onstar effect”!

Imagine, if you could call a 24 hour service and be connected instantly to a marketing specialist.

And why not?

Your marketing doesn’t turn off when you leave the office. It’s needs to be like OnStar… helping callers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Unfortunately most website need to be more interactive, more helpful and be able to answer customer questions at all hours of the day (or night).

Live chat is a cool feature to have on your website. It can provide that “OnStar like” live solution to monitor and deliver answers at any time. There a many companies that can deliver a live chat – but the one I recommend is www.chatwise.com .

How would you like to direct your website viewers to highlighted areas, or items you want them to be aware of…kind of like OnStar directing you through traffic… well I would suggest you check out www.getstandout.com. I actually did an interview with Charlie McDermott – for my “Passions to Profit’s” series – what an awesome guy (you’ll see him & his son on the “get stand out” site) .

Another tool to use in your 24 hour marketing toolbox is a toll free consumer information hotline. This is where potential clients can call and listen to a free recorded message about your products, services or special messages at anytime of the day. One of the best companies I ‘ve found to help you automate this process is www.automaticsresponse.com

Well, there you go, three awesome ways to keep your marketing delivering 24 hours a day directing callers right to where you need them to go.

Wait, that third one isn’t a website feature! I see you’re paying attention!

You need to think outside the box on this one! The free recorded message can be advertised on your website. So if viewers don’t want to chat, they can call and listen without fear of being pressured or swayed. “Listen to our free recorded message and discover 3 ways to put your website on steriods and give it that Onstar effect” – call anytime!

Your website doesn’t have to be a static billboard!

It does need to attract, and direct viewers to where you want them to go!

Until next time,

Live with passion

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. Go have some fun this weekend! Get out of the house! Go see a movie! Unwind! Do something! Take your mind off of business for 48 hours. Then on Monday, start implementing ways to attract & direct viewers to get more out of your website.

Tooting my horn!

People are talking about me… so I thought maybe I’d share with you some of the things they are saying…

“Rob you’re a genius for creating content for all your emails everyday,
keep up the good work!” – Charles Ra

“Brilliantly savvy! Has real insights & knows the triggers that get people to act on an offer!” – David Gruttadurio

“WOW. This guy is good. Very good. In fact, make that very VERY good. His advice is thought out… his strategy is sound… I have no doubt that his unique skills sets & devotion to over-deliver in value will serve him well!” -Issamar Ginzberg

“Believe it or not…all your topics are great and fantastic…it really helps a lot to me and my career” -Remus D. Siason

It’s not that I want to brag or make myself out to be better than someone else!

Well, maybe just a little bragging!

Who am I kidding, I want all the advantages I can get to overcome my competition!

You see, testimonials, when used effectively, can fetch more dollars, build credibility and deliver that extra “umph” needed to convince a potential client to use your services.

Did you notice I used the word “effectively”?

I cringe every time I see someone’s marketing piece and it’s filled with nameless testimonials. What were they thinking? Or how about, the one’s with initials after the testimonials? It makes you wonder if it’s real or made up! All credibility is lost.

Oh, and those real short testimonials, you know the ones… they try to invoke some sort of excitement, but usually miss the mark.

“…fabulous!”
“…thought-provoking…”
“…excellent…”
“…wonderful…”

The great thing about testimonials from “real” people is that they aren’t “salesy”. They inform, educate and inspire in their own voice in such a way that is more powerful than any cleverly crafted fluff piece.

Using glowing testimonials in your ads, emails, marketing pieces and on your website will let your visitors know that you’re worthy of their trust.

Getting someone to promote your product or service in their own words is a powerful, easy-to-use marketing tool that every business should be using.

Until next time,

Live with passion

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. If you aren’t currently using your clients testimonials in your ads, marketing pieces, website and blogs, maybe, it’s time you start.