Imagine a new and different kind of professional gathering focused on bringing together GOOD people doing GREAT work... to collaborate, cross-pollinate, get connected and get inspired with each other.
The BADASS Conference:
BAD: For Top Dogs in Business | Arts | Digital
ASS: Audience = Speakers = Sponsors
That's the BADASS Conference. And YOU are warmly invited... soon. The Kickstarter campaign is just now getting its finishing touches and we should be ready to launch by Nov. 1... the event itself will be right here in Philadelphia, the Cradle of Liberty. It's a 2.5-day collection of AWESOMENESS happening in March 2013.
Meanwhile, you should know where this is all coming from.
Our foundational curiosity is...
What if we re-invented the conference format using the notion of "theater for business"?
More excitement, more energy, and one hell of an ensemble (starring YOU) giving it their all.
Or what would Comic-Con for business look like?
More possibilities... but the risk is that you won't "get it" or that you'd feel safer with a pre-set agenda filled with talking head keynote speakers and random breakout sessions that 99% of other conferences have. We don't do that. So you might not come.
Our core complaint is...
Most conferences and professional meetings fail to deliver lasting value. Still worse, they leave meaningful connections completely to chance. And they have no significant impact on the lives of attendees... and the role of those attendees is far too passive, too marginalized, and too much like watching bad TV without even the privilege of changing channels.
Perhaps you like watching late night reruns of COPS with the remote buried under those containers of old Chinese food on your sofa. Perhaps you're mouthing your words as you read this.
It's time to shake things up...
Our vision is a new kind of professional gathering: one that is for, by and about YOU, the participant.
Our risks are small, the challenges somewhat greater but certainly manageable.
The BADASS Conference is truly an UN-conference. Take your normal expectations and flip them upside down -- for example:
Most conferences have...
★ Glitzy website: We have www.Unconference.com ★ Overblown session promos: We don't know what'll happen til we get together for the Roundtable and Peer Session Signup. ★ Big name speakers: At our events, every participant is eligible to speak. The group decides. That's why it's called a PEER conference. ★ Ultra-expensive fees ($2,500-$7,500): We like deals so we're between 86%-95% off. Eat that, TED! ★ Elitist feel: Our audience (aka YOU) is always front and center. 'Nuff said. ★ Benefit the lucky: We benefit the Badass (aka YOU!) ★ All talk, no action: We build individual and group reflection and action steps directly into the event. ★ One-off vs. community: The relationships, connections and collaborations you start here will last long after you get home and will become a permanent professional asset.
You want in? If you're up for it, we'd love to have you join us.
Leave a comment in the COMMENTS section below and I'll let you know as soon as the Kickstarter campaign goes live...
Buyer persona marketing is not about knowing your customers or what they like to buy.
It's much more than that. It's about getting inside their heads to deeply understand their emotional drives.
Many of my small business owner and solopreneur clients claim to know their customer, yet they haven't really tapped into the potential of buyer persona marketing.
Once you finish this article, you'll own the 5 keys to unlock your very own pair of X-Ray goggles to connect with your best prospects so you can sell more, more easily and more often.
As far as small business marketing goes, you'll be stuck in the minor leagues until you realize that in order to know your customer, you must first create an archetypical buyer, based upon all the information you can glean from your past clients, prospects, and previous conversations you've had with folks who bought - and perhaps more importantly, folks who didn't buy.
What you need to figure out is the entire person, the whole picture. Once you begin to understand the psychological motivations and emotional triggers that make your customers buy a certain product or service, you can much more effectively market to them in a way that will put you miles ahead of your competition.
Understanding your buyers is a bit like taking apart a mechanical apparatus to see what makes it tick.
First, you need to know what problems your buyers are experiencing on a daily basis, or how they prioritize their time and the solutions to these problems. Your product needs to offer an emotional relief from one or more of these problems. In short, the buyer needs to NEED your product from an emotional standpoint, and they will then justify the purchase rationally after the fact. Humans are capable of rationalizing just about any behavior if it triggers an emotional reward. Bank on that with your product and let your marketing follow.
Secondly, work to identify the rewards your customers gain from purchasing your product. This ties back into the emotional reward, but try to understand exactly what the buyer gains from your product, on a very basic level. This will help you market to that reward and toward filling your prospect's emotional gap.
Just as you consider the rewards, also look at what the perceived barriers to success or reaching that reward are, from the customer's standpoint. This is the part of the process where you need to understand the thought process that each customer uses to either justify their emotional reactions or to justify not buying your product.
When you begin to build a model to break down these barriers, your product or service literally sells itself with little to no resistance from your customer.
Third, it is crucial to understand the buying process that your typical customer goes through. This is to say that you need to better understand each step of their emotional and rational justification for having your product in their lives. Do they compare other products to yours in an effort to sort out which one will offer the best reward? If so, you need to understand the other products they are comparing yours to. It is important to align your product and marketing solutions to their process for vetting information along with the emotional connection to the problem your product is solving for them on a day to day basis.
This leads to your fourth key - your competitive analysis. Which boils down to a simple answer to a simple question: Exactly how does your product compare against others from the standpoint of the criteria that your customers develop to help them make a decision?
These are questions that can be answered if you truly LISTEN to your customers and understand what they are telling you.
The fifth key is personal conversations. The fastest, easiest and most enjoyable way to figure all of this out is to ENGAGE your customer base in face-to-face real time dialogue. Yes, I'm talking about personal conversations, either on the phone or in person. Think about sitting down - at least monthly - with your clients and prospects over breakfasts, lunches, coffees. Can't make it in person? Use the phone or Skype and take them to a "virtual lunch" or "virtual coffee." Shouldn't take more than 30 minutes and you'll both benefit hugely.
Why? Because you'll learn firsthand the direct path to their own interests and emotional triggers - and you'll hear it in their OWN WORDS. Use THAT language in your marketing, and it's much more likely to resonate with others just like them!
When you begin to "sync" with your buyers at the deepest and most personal level -- and how they make buying decisions -- you're on your way to effective, attractive marketing that will draw clients and customers to you like a magnet.
What do you think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your experiences with buyer persona marketing...
This email just came across my desk from marketing speaker and marketing coach Machen MacDonald...
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The first 90 days of 2012 are in the bag. How did you do?
Are you on track for hitting your annual goals?
Consider using the powerful questions below to help you and your team reflect, re-calibrate and project increasing results.
Reflecting on Q1:
1. What was your biggest triumph in Q1? 2. What was the smartest decision you made in Q1? 3. What one word best sums up and describes your Q1 experience? 4. What was the greatest lesson you learned in Q1? 5. What was the most loving service you performed in Q1? 6. What is your biggest piece of unfinished business in Q1? 7. What are you most happy about completing in Q1? 8. Who were the 3 people that had the greatest impact on your life in Q1? 9. What was the biggest risk you took in Q1? 10. What was the biggest surprise in Q1? 11. What important relationship improved the most in Q1? 12. What compliment would you liked to have received in Q1? 13. What compliment would you liked to have given in Q1? 14. What else do you need to do or say to be complete with Q1?
Re-calibrating and Creating a Compelling Q2:
1. What would you like to be your biggest triumph in Q2? 2. What advice would you like to give yourself in Q2? 3. What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in Q2? 4. What would you be most happy about completing in Q2? 5. What major indulgence are you willing to experience in Q2? 6. What would you most like to change about yourself in Q2? 7. What are you looking forward to learning in Q2? 8. What do you think your biggest risk will be in Q2? 9. What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in Q2? 10. What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in Q2? 11. What brings you the most joy & how are you going to do or have more of that in Q2? 12. Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving & serving in Q2? 13. What one word would you like to have as your theme in Q2?
By investing just 15-20 minutes right now and really thinking through these questions you can dramatically impact the next 90 days in your life and in your business.
Here is special treat for you: A 45-minute content-packed interview with marketing coach and professional services marketing expert Stacey Hylen of Business Optimizer Coach.
Simply right-click the link below and select "Save File As..." "Save Target As..." or "Download Linked File..." and save the digital audio file to your Desktop:
Avish Parashar has just released a new book titled, "Say Yes, And!" and he has a great special offer for people who buy the book by midnight tonight, Feb. 28.
The book takes a fundamental principle from improv comedy - saying "yes, and" instead of "yes, but" - and shows you how that one simple idea can help you improve your career, your business, your relationships, and your life.
As a special promotion, if you buy the book today, February 28th, you'll get access to over $200 in free gifts, including PDF versions of two of Avish's other books and over 8 hours of MP3 recordings of some of Avish's most popular audio programs. That's over $200 in gifts in return for buying a $12.95 book.
First I have to tell you - I'm a business book junkie. I read 'em all. Big ones, little ones, famous ones, and hidden gems. All topics including sales, marketing, leadership, strategy, the how-to, the what-to, and the why-to kind.
And this books stands out.
Plain and simple, Avish Parashar packages essential wisdom, insights, and practical advice into a small concentrated form factor.
But don't be fooled - this is life-changing stuff.
One small turn in what you think and what you say CAN and WILL make a huge impact. Example after example pours out of this book and will soon spark ideas and memories in your own mind of times you took charge and created success - and other times when you chose the "Yes but" path and created your own obstacles, limits, and barriers.
Whether you are a business owner, corporate executive, sales professional, association executive, or non-profit leader, this book is for YOU. Filled with immediately actionable insights and concrete take-aways, this little book may trigger the biggest and best changes your team, your organization, and your results will ever experience.
Tell you what - STOP reading Amazon reviews of this great little book, say "YES AND I'll buy it right now." In fact, you may want to buy three - one for yourself, one for your boss, and one for the significant other in your life. Yes (and) the ideas in this book work as powerfully at home as they do at work!!
Marketing Mix: Book Review of "PAID TO SPEAK" published by the National Speakers Association
PAID TO SPEAK is a virtual MBA in the business of speaking. From marketing to positioning to product development to platform skills, it's ALL in here. Well-organized, tightly edited, and with a logical flow from one part of the business to another, PAID TO SPEAK is also unique in that it tells it like it is. No sugar-coating. And no trying to fleece opportunity-seekers into believing the speaking business is a fast, easy, and glamorous way to make money. [It is NONE of the three!]
Speaking professionally today is about thought-leadership, adding value to corporate, association, and entrepreneurial sectors, and understanding all the different ways that audiences and buyers want to access, use, and deploy your expertise. The book spans a wide range of business models, distribution methods, and revenue models. As it should - to reflect the current reality of many successful speakers (very few of whom have business models that look anything alike!)
The key value in buying a copy of PAID TO SPEAK, dog-earing it, highlighting it, and taking notes in the margins... is that you will emerge from the experience with a wealth of information, some clear decisions to make, and a game plan to put it all together in a style and manner that suits your personality, your strengths, and your preferences. This is no "one size fits all" template for "THE" way to become successful. There are MANY paths up the mountain - and PAID TO SPEAK should be your personal handbook, guide, and reference to get you there miles ahead of the competition!
As a marketing speaker and marketing coach for thought-leading professionals and professional services firms, I'm continually amazed at the stupidity of firms who just DON'T get the fact that their marketing messages are NOT about THEM...
Case in point - a Philadelphia area communications and design firm whose list I have been on for more than 7 years. They have never - NEVER as in NOT ONCE - sent me a single solitary message that was relevant to me, my business, my marketing, my design needs, or my ANYTHING. Not a shred of value in sight. Zilch. Nada. None.
Every single flippin' email blast they send out is about THEM, THEIR awards, THEIR staff, THEIR media mentions. I mean it's over-the-top ridiculous. I could go on and tell you - but I'd rather SHOW YOU...
For some bizarre reason, I'm removing their name to protect the guilty. I dunno - maybe it's the holiday spirit of thankfulness that I'm not this big of an IDIOT myself. (See previous post on the Real IDIOT's Guide to Social Media for the backstory on this acronym.)
I've used green bold text to show each instance of "I, me, my" syndrome in this incredibly self-centered, years-long and completely ineffective email marketing approach.
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Subject: Good things come in three for IDIOT Design+Communications
Good things come in three for IDIOT Design+Communications 25th Anniversary, ranked 7th and scholarship winner
[Unnamed town], PA - November 21, 2011 - IDIOT Design+Communications (ID+C), a brand design firm, is proud to announce three major milestones for the company.
ID+C celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2011. What started as a freelance graphic design job in 1986 has grown into a full service design agency serving the Northeast corridor from Virginia to New York. Their expertise includes integrative brand campaigns that span internal and external audiences. Branding initiatives include brand touch points that create and spark perception of brand positioning. ID+C specializes in employee communications and internal branding. According to President and founder, Susan Idiot, "I would have never imaged owning my own graphic design and communication business. It is the support of long-term clients and friends that has allowed me to do the work I love and for that, I am grateful." ID+C built their reputation in the industry on strong partnerships and would like to take this opportunity to thank each of their clients.
Ranked 7th Among Philadelphia Design Firms In July, the company was ranked Number 7 in the 2011 Philadelphia Business Journal among Graphic Design firms in the Philadelphia region.
[Blah blah Name Changed here too] Executive ScholarshipID+C wishes to extend a special thank you to Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) for their continued support and for awarding Susan Idiot the [Blah blah Name Changed] Executive Scholarship. Idiot used the opportunity to attend Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management's Executive Program on Branding. From elite scholars in marketing to an international contingency of fellow business owners and branding professionals, Susan Idiot gained invaluable insights into branding strategy. As a result, ID+C can assist its clients to discover and express their brands' positions and future direction in a dynamic, global marketplace.
IDIOT Design +Communications address block website phone number Susan Idiot
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Questions for YOU:
Is this the kind of email you would pass along to your best business colleagues?
Would you be motivated to go through your database and see who else could benefit from such a terrific email newsletter?
Would you rush to your web browser and immediately check out their site to see what OTHER valuable resources they have to offer you?
Finally, would YOU give these people your email address so they could spam you with their accomplishments, awards, milestones, and anniversaries and spend nary a second in 7 whole years talking about branding, advertising, communications, or marketing ideas that might help you, your organization, or your career?
Yeah... me neither. Click. Unsubscribe. Bye, bye.
BOTTOM LINE: Don't let this happen to you.
What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your thoughts on "I, me, my" Syndrome or share a success story of more prospect-centered email marketing!
If YOU try them, you'll be amazed with your results. (And when that happens, please stop by here again to leave a comment and share your success stories!!)
The first one is among the most powerful - and it's the marketing concept of overcoming inertia.
"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way."
Whatever your big idea happens to be - writing your book - launching your product - kicking off your new service - shipping your insanely great software - putting on your amazing conference - reinventing your career - birthing your awesome project - embarking on your new adventure...
This video clip speaks for itself (you should have your audio/speakers turned on):
What can YOU do that will impress people with YOUR versatility and talent?
These days, "being good" (or even great) is merely table stakes - you need to MASTER your offerings so your audience knows they're in the hands of a professional good enough to deliver A+ work while being confident enough to have fun.
Buyer persona marketing is not about knowing your customers or what they like to buy. 
This email just came across my desk from marketing speaker and marketing coach Machen MacDonald...
Here is special treat for you: A 45-minute content-packed interview with marketing coach and professional services marketing expert 
As a marketing speaker and marketing coach for thought-leading professionals and professional services firms, I'm continually amazed at the stupidity of firms who just DON'T get the fact that their marketing messages are 
Welcome to the first in a series of powerful marketing concepts... you can call them riffs, sound bites, or guiding principles.