Hot Island Business Lessons
If you are like me, during the winter days you long to be on a hot island, sipping a tropical punch... And an island resort isn't the same without at some point encountering a persistent vendor.
I have had two neat lessons from island vendors that speak to me during this challenging time in our economy... 1) Be creative and 2) Be thankful. Here they are...
Experience #1 - Creative selling
A couple years ago, Valerie and I enjoyed a little time out of the Southern Ontario weather for the warm sun and sand of Dominican Republic. The resort we stayed at offered a "free" group half-hour horse ride on the beach included. "If you like it sir, you can pay for hour, just you and the lady".
The cowboys of El Ranch Differente took us for our fun ride down the beach. When we got on, one of their team snapped each couples' picture then took off down the beach on a motorbike. I knew he was up to something.
After an easy ride on their docile trail horses, we found ourselves back at the beach side post. Set up in amazing speed was a display of rum bottles and Caribbean CDs, with each couple's picture on the label. How could you resist buying your own personalized bottle of rum and Meringue Music Hits? We paid for both.
The horse ride wasn't the product.
Experience #2 - Sell to eat
A number of years back we had a great holiday in Jamaica. One of the experiences there has stuck with me and I have referred to it many times.
On our last full day relaxing, Valerie stayed in the room for an afternoon nap while I visited the local parking-lot tourist market for some souvenirs. I walked out of the resort, up the street, through a gate and started browsing the aisles of booths.
"Hello sir... sir... Sir! I have something nice for you! Stop in for a moment please!"
"Mister, I have what you are looking for. Look at this! Do you have a wife, mister? I have fine dress!"
I was accosted by booth vendors on both sides who were very vocal about the offerings they had for me.
With a polite Canadian smile, I shook my head and kept walking... and walking. I was a bit turned off stopping in any booth with their aggressiveness. After a few aisles I left the market and headed back toward the resort.
"Gosh," I thought, "Why were they bugging me so much? They just made me want to leave!"
A little wise voice popped into my head and I had an "a-ha" moment, "Because they eat when they sell."
The light went on. These booth vendors most likely live in places like the tin shacks on the hillside we had been amazed about on our tour bus. When they sell they eat. What they lack in sales polish they make up for in boldness. No wonder.
As I walked I thought about how close they must be to the end of their resources each day. I wondered how life would be different for so many of us in Canada if we were that close to no food. We would work harder wouldn't we? We would be more motivated to close a sale, right?
I turned around and ended up buying a few souvenirs from that market. I left with an even better one... thankfulness. (Oh...and an increased appreciation of sales as a career!)
Rodney
2010 Olympics Countries Ranked by Medals per Capita
For Fun...
I have always been interested in a "Medals Per Capita" count... being that Canada has fewer people than many other countries.
Here is a spreadsheet count I am keeping... Countries ranked by Medals Per Capita... I will try to keep it up daily...
(Update March 1st, 2010... A wonderful Olympics for sure! Thanks to all who took an interest in these stats. Rodney)
Here's another good article on the subject...
http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/02/is-america-really-ahead-in-the-olympic-medal-count/36681/
Thanks Ken for giving me another table to follow :>)
2010 Olympics Medals per Participant - Countries Ranked by
2010 Winter Olympics Vancouver Countries Ranked by Medals per Capita
Good every few weeks...
...read an article in the Globe and Mail last weekend about Yellow Pages challenge to convince investors they have a growing proposition.
I very much agree that there are absolutely markets that need to advertise in the Yellow Pages...
But I did think one line from the article was telling...
"The last time Marc Tellier (CEO of Yellow Pages Income Fund) used his directory was three weeks ago.
“Air duct cleaners,” he says, flipping the tissue-thin pages of the book on his boardroom desk. Finding someone to clean your ducts, the cost comparisons, the scent of newsprint – none of this is sexy," he admits. "But it works."
When I ask people when they last used Google, they usually say "This morning." or "A couple hours ago."
Be where "it works" for your customers.
Google Local Business Center - Sweet!
One of the best kept secrets of Google services is "Google Local Business Center".
This service allows business owners to fill out their own Google Local information to be listed when someone searches on a relevant company search in your town or city. The listing can appear on regular Google search...
... Or on Google Maps...
You can also "trick out" your listing with video and pictures and a weblink.
A Google Local Business Listing is something we regularly create when we are working with a client who markets locally, using appropriate keywords in their listing so they can be found.
(Note: The neat reports feature shown in the promo video is appearing on our US client's listings but is not yet available in Canada. Still, Google Local is an awesome tool for Canadians especially since searchers in Canada are more conditioned to search for local results with city names attached to their keywords...)
Need help handling your Google marketing?
Call Arrowfinger today!
Rodney
How to add a picture and logo in Gmail signature
How to add a picture and logo in Gmail signature.
I have been searching for a solution to put pictures in my email signature in Gmail. I had been using a "cheat" by storing an html signature in a Google Docs document. This way you create a signature in Google Docs on a document and just open the file and copy and paste the signature into your email every time you need it. This sounds clunky but you do get used to it! I now am used to opening the document each time I sit at my computer (easily open with a shortcut on my desktop).
I think there is a better way!
Michael Aulia explains how to use a couple of the Google Lab features ("canned responses" and "insert image") to create this option. You do need to insert every time you want to use it but you can do this without opening other programs.
As well, it is better than trying to insert your signature as a picture only because some mail recipients won't see pictures but will still see the text. You can also color and size the text which many have wanted to do.
Good Luck!
Rodney
Twitter... bah! That is so last week!
Ken McCarthy is an Internet Marketing genius. Someone to take note of for sure. Here his rant on twitter puts words to my thoughts... Thanks Ken!
(As posted on Ken's blog)
"Confessions of a social media skeptic…
OK. April Fool’s Day was 15 days ago, but what can I say? I’ve been busy.
But there is a serious message here.
I know that some social media tools have attracted millions of users. I also know that social media can be used to “juice” SEO rankings and monitor and influence your marketplace.
Nothing wrong with any of this, but I’m seeing what I consider an alarming trend.
New marketers (and many old ones) are starting to make these tools their primary focus.
Big mistake
One thing that’s true for all marketers whether you make $1,000,000 a year or $1 is year is you have a finite amount of time.
Even if you can leverage your time with the smart use of vendors or employees, there’s no such thing as infinite time. Misusing time is a very expensive mistake.
Therefore, if you want to make the best use of your time (make the most money with the least effort), it pays to think through and focus on the things that matter the most.
“Social media” is not new
Social media goes back to the earliest days of the Internet.
Usenet and discussion boards were social media. User-generated content, community, real time feedback…all these things were happening 15 years ago.
Most people are aware of the name Arthur Frommer. If not, go to the travel section of the bookstore and you’ll see his name EVERYWHERE…Frommer’s travel guide to France, 2009. Frommer’s travel guide to Tahiti, 2009. Frommers travel guide to Las Vegas, 2009.
If people go there on vacation, the Frommer brand not only has a book about it, it also has this year’s edition and they hog the shelves of most US travel book sections.
Here’s what this master of info marketing has to say about social media:
“The whole emphasis on user-generated content is foolish. I was the first person to use it years ago with Europe on $5 a day…Then we realized it was being massively manipulated. Hotel operators were getting friends to send in recommendations. We dropped it twenty-five years ago.”
Frommer does have a blog so he’s not an Internet-agnostic, but he thinks the long term value of services like Twitter and Facebook as reliable information sources for people who have to make real decisions about the real world is dubious at best. I agree.
Serious info, for serious decisions
When it really matters, like dealing with an important medical situation, or business decision, or figuring out where to go on vacation and where to stay etc. don’t you really want to consult with a pro, either directly or through a book or serious web site?
By all means, be aware of social media and take the time to figure out the one or two tools that matter to your particular business, but if you’re looking for a time investment ratio, classic direct marketing (traffic + conversion) should take up at least 90% of your marketing time.
Remember, there are many, many people who’ve made and continue to make hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars applying the traffic + conversion formula that either didn’t have or don’t use social media.
In contrast, you’ll look a long time to find anyone who has built a serious money making business with social media as its driver. I’m not saying no one has done it, but the odds are against you.
Furthermore, I’ve never seen a single Internet marketing who took the time to understand and execute classic direct marketing principles on the Internet fail to make it.
The one things that pays every time
If you’re new to Internet marketing, or even if you’ve been around it for 15 years like I have, it always pays to focus on these fundamentals.
That’s why every year I bring the best and brightest Internet marketers in the world together to look at significant new trends like mobile marketing and improvements in tracking and testing tools through the lends of direct marketing. "
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