Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

What do you think? Comments? Questions? Ideas? 

Let’s talk about YOUR product development strategy. This is about creating products with intention. And let me back up a step and define what I consider “creating a product” to be.

It could be you wanting to write a book, produce audio, video, or online assets, package a coaching or consulting program, or otherwise "productize" your expertise. It does not necessarily need to be a product you hold in your hand, although sometimes it certainly is.

Quick story. I was working with one of my clients who was a very gifted speaker who had been working a long time in her niche. She would go from keynote to keynote, seminar to seminar. Finally, she got tired of having 100% of her income tied to her personal time, attention and presence.

She said to me, "David I need products. And I have a crazy busy schedule coming up over the next 2-3 weeks with good opportunities to be in front of LOTS of potential prospects."

Mind you, she was NOT speaking to audiences of thousands – her typical audience was probably like yours – between 50 and 250 people at state and regional conferences.

She asked me, “What’s the easiest product I can create?” And we decided that the easiest product for her wasn’t a product at all – it was to package and sell access to her time and expertise. Later, products could be developed as a standalone revenue stream. 

So we created a single 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. Long story short, she emerged from those 2-3 weeks of speaking engagements with over $20,000 of coaching and consulting clients.

The point: your product strategy needs to fit YOU – your personal strengths, preferences, and the needs of your particular business.

If you love writing strategies, focus on writing products.

If you love coaching and consulting, develop coaching and consulting products.

If you love training, develop training products.

If you love video, develop video products.

The key to your product development game plan is to make it Easy, Effortless and Enjoyable.

_______

Want to kick your product development into high gear? Good news - the next Product Development Toolkit program launches on March 5 and we still have a few open seats remaining at Early Bird prices. Program details and registration info are online for you here. 

Marketing Coach: 6-Step Secret Sauce for Awesome Email Subject Lines

Guest post by Corey Eridon

How many emails do you receive every day? And across how many accounts? The Radicati Group reported that 1.9 billion non-spam emails are sent every day. Most people aren't reading every one of those emails (do you?), and the way people determine which ones to open and which ones to trash is by looking at the email subject line. It may be one of the smallest components of your email marketing strategy, but it's the keeper between the reader and your message. That's a pretty hefty 50-something characters.

As one of the most crucial parts of your email message, you should dedicate serious time to crafting that copy. But if you know the secret sauce for writing an awesome email subject line, you'll find you need less and less time as you practice and learn what resonates best with your audience. Next time you draft an email message, use this recipe to formulate a great email subject line that will help you get your message in front of more eyes.

The Ingredients

• Deliverability
• Actionability
• Personalization
• Clarity
• Brevity
• Consistency

The Recipe

Step 1 - Check for deliverability. There are two kinds of filters you need to get past: actual SPAM filters, and your readers. Readers have a BS detector up when checking their inboxes, and it's as sharp as a bloodhound's nose. Avoid spammy words like "free," "act now," and "limited time." Don't yell at the reader by using all caps, like "REMINDER," which is another spammy word that should be avoided. Also, steer clear of excessive use of punctuation marks such as dollar signs and exclamation points at the end of sentences.

Step 2 - Make it actionable. To have an actionable subject line, ask yourself one thing: does the reader know what he or she can do in the email? An email subject line is similar to writing a call-to-action; using verbs helps create the sense of urgency and excitement you want them to feel when reading your subject line. For example, a well written email subject line reads, "Meet the Legendary Ming Tsai at Blue Ginger," versus the less actionable "Ming Tsai at Blue Ginger." With the first subject line, I know I could do something in this email to help me meet Ming Tsai, as opposed to the second, where for all I know, Ming Tsai just went to Blue Ginger last night.

Step 3 - Personalize. The only way you can provide value to your email recipients is by knowing them...even just a little bit. And if you've segmented your subscriber list like every email marketer should, you do know something about your recipients! Your email subject line should reflect that you're sending something thatthey want. For example, a realtor may have a segmentation just for renters looking for an apartment in a certain zip code. Reflecting this knowledge in your subject line, such as "View a Vacant 2 Bedroom Apartment in Muskegon" will drive up the value of that email for the recipient.

Step 4 - Scrub for clarity. You know what your recipient will get if they open the email, but try to step out of your own shoes for a moment. Is it clear to an outsider? If your subject line is too broad, it won't resonate. This often happens when email marketers try to be witty with subject lines. If you can find a way to be clever and straightforward, go for it, but never at the expense of clarity. Can you further help recipients identify what the email is about by putting identifying keywords in the beginning of the subject line, alerting someone that their favorite item is on clearance? Include it at the beginning of the subject line.

Step 5 - Edit for brevity. You could write a haiku to your recipient, but it's to your benefit to keep the subject line as short as possible. A good rule of thumb is 50 characters or fewer. Not only do you want as much of it as possible to display in the email pane (especially on mobile devices), but people are quickly scanning their inboxes to decide what to read, and what to delete. The shorter your subject line, the less likely you are to get glossed over.

Step 6 - Ensure consistency. What the subject line promises should correspond with what is delivered in the email. Think about getting an email with a subject line that promises 75% off men's clothing, only to find out that it only applies to men's socks. The old bait and switch frustrates people and leads to lower open rates, lower click through-rates, and higher unsubscribe rates.

As with any recipe, testing is required for best results. Experiment with different verbs, reorder your words, and try different offers to see which ones resonate the most with your recipients.

Have you tested your email subject lines?

Use the COMMENTS are below to share YOUR email subject line secrets of success!

Here's another in my series of marketing and business book reviews - but not just any old business books.

Fire starters...

Game changers...

Show stoppers...

Books that will transform the way you think about your work, about your business, and - yes - about your life.

Ready? Take a look...

What do you think? Please leave a COMMENT below to share your experiences with this book, with this author, or with other game changing books that YOU recommend...

If you are looking to write a book, produce audio, video, or online assets, package a coaching or consulting program, or otherwise "productize" your expertise, keep reading... you'll like this post. 

You're getting a simple, repeatable process for guess-free product development that ensures you only create products that your target market will be eager to buy.

Here is your 7-step process in a nutshell: Scan, Survey, Analyze, Productize, Test, Package, Deliver.

Scan is step 1 and it's simple – do a competitive scan and see what else is out there that solves – or claims to solve – the same pains, problems, heartaches and headaches as your brilliant product or program. We’ll come back to that “claims to solve” issue a little later. But you have to know what alternative and competing products are out there. Otherwise, you’ll have a very hard time with articulation and distinction.

Survey is step 2 – you must survey members of your target market. When I work with folks individually or in groups, we do a very detailed survey step and you get models and templates of surveys that I’ve used and my clients have used with great success. The questions are simple – which of these aspects of the problem are most urgent for you? What are you looking to solve? What have you tried to solve it so far? Why hasn’t that worked? What would a “dream solution” look like that addresses everything you need solved?

Analyze is step 3 – this is where you collect and collate all the data you’ve received using simple tools like Survey Monkey or Zoomerang.com. I also strongly recommend more personal interviews during the analyze step where you can spend quality time with folks in your target market and learn more intimate details of what they are up against when dealing with your area of expertise. You need to go deep here – find the issues behind the issues. Surface the deeper needs that lie beneath the waterline of the iceberg that everyone else is claiming to help them with. This will put you miles ahead when it comes to offering what I call the “Ah, at last” solution.

Step 4 is Productize – this is where you start to put the pieces together. There are 2 parts to productize – one is writing zero-draft marketing copy. This is the skeleton of bullets, sound bites and short phrases that capture what your product does, what it means to them, why it’s FSB – faster, smarter, better than anything else out there. The second half of productize is to put the skeleton product out there – what I call the bones of your product – the snippets, scripts, tools, templates, worksheets, checklists, forms and other raw material – powerpoints, pdfs, whatever you have to throw at this thing, just make a big folder and put it all in there. Just do THAT, and your product will be between 50%-80% done.

All that’s left is editing, pruning, organizing and sequencing. Again, we have a system and a method for doing this, which you’ll gain access to if we work together. You’ll get more details on that later. (No pressure - I'm not selling it to you. It just happens to be awesome.)

Step 5 is Test. Testing is critical for 2 reasons – first, you’ll test your beta product with real, live prospects. The sound bite is this – "I’m in the process of developing a new product to address problems X, Y, and Z. Because you’re someone whose opinion I respect, may I send you the beta or draft product? I’d love to get your advice, insights and recommendations on how to make it better and more valuable."

You’re doing two things in this step – you’re doing live ammo testing AND you’re doing pre-marketing to folks in your exact target market. Sweet!

Step 6 is Package. The packaging step is both internal and external – internally, you are packaging up the final product. Edits, revisions, improvements based on your surveys and feedback. You’re making important enhancements that will make your product both more saleable and more valuable.

Externally, you’re working on the physical packaging if it’s a product (things like book cover design, CD or DVD packaging, graphics, and so on) and the marketing packaging. You’re revising your Zero-Draft marketing copy and making adjustments to what you’re promising to solve based on the feedback and the urgencies and priorities you’ve uncovered in your target market.

Finally, Deliver is Lucky #7. It’s game time – you’re primed, your pumped, your packaged. This is where you begin to offer your product for sale. It’s back of the room sales, online sales, you start to bundle and supersize your product with other products or programs you’re already selling. And, of course, if it’s a coaching or consulting package then you are literally also starting to DELIVER the program with your first batch of clients and customers with whom you’re working.

This process is simple – but not easy. Each step can take you anywhere from a week to a month, or sometimes more. You may need various people on your team to help speed the process. A ghostwriter, editor, graphic designer, web master, audio or video editing folks, a fulfillment company. When I work with people in the Product Development Toolkit, we work through all of this together to take away the overwhelm.

Another bonus that you’ll often find is that as you work through this process, you’ll sometimes come out the other side not with ONE product but possibly with TWO or THREE products.

The process lends itself to that. Maybe you end up with a version for men and for women. Or for salespeople and sales managers. Or for leaders and team members. There are often two or more sides to any type of product or program and these naturally emerge from the product development process as you’re going through it.

I’ll give you an example from my world.

When I wrote my first book, it was called Relish. It was a book about success in different areas of life - personal, professional, business, career, relationships, etc. As I was writing it, it started getting very top-heavy on the business side. I then realized I had enough content for two books, not one – so I published Relish and Relish for Business.

Same thing happened a few years later when I wrote my book Unconsulting. It was written for consultants, entrepreneurs and executives. Then I realized, I was writing and talking a lot with executives who hired consultants. So the second book project emerged, and this was actually my first book with a real publisher, HRD Press. That collection of advice to executives became The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Using Consultants. So just remember to be open to that possibility of your second or third product naturally emerging from your work on the first one.

Good news - and shocking coincidence: The next Product Development Toolkit group program begins February 5.

But it's not for you.

You wouldn't like it.

So don't even bother going over there to that page.

It is meant for OTHER people, not you.

Seriously. 

Whew - that was close!! Now please feel free to LEAVE A COMMENT below to share your experiences with developing high-value information products that package and promote YOUR expertise...

The awesome Yosef Klein who works at Click and Market in my old stomping grounds of Brooklyn NY sent me the following picture of the poster he created from my blog post titled 101 Success Tips in 3 Words. 

Check this out: 

Isn't this what we are all after when it comes to marketing YOUR awesomeness? 

Don't YOU want people putting posters up in their offices of YOUR ideas, tips, content and inspiration?

Damn... I know I do... 

I know Yosef does...

And you probably do as well. 

So here are 11 observations, learnings and ideas for YOU to make this happen in YOUR business.

1. People love lists. 
2. People love encouragement.
3. People love brevity.
4. People love audacity.
5. People love connection.
6. People love visuals.
7. People love quirkiness.
8. People love insights.
9. People love personalization.
10. People love specificity.
11. People love fun.

And thank you, Yosef. 

Dude - you made my day, my week AND my month.

You rock.

I appreciate you. 

_______

Tags: Marketing Speaker, Marketing Coach, Word of Mouth Marketing

What do YOU think? Use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on how YOU create content that is more shareable, more spreadable, more findable and more poster-ific!

1. Drink more water.
2. Watch less TV.
3. Action makes traction.
4. Try new things.
5. Hang in there. 
6. Get better daily.
7. Begin with enthusiasm. 
8. Finish with flair.
9. Celebrate small wins.
10. Eliminate wasted steps.
11. Aim higher sooner.
12. Never stop learning.
13. Start fresh today.
14. Write that letter. 
15. Practice deep listening.
16. Pay yourself first.
17. Seize the day.
18. Cashflow is king.
19. Life is good.
20. Eat more vegetables.
21. Thank your Mom.
22. Make others shine.
23. Ask me anything.
24. Think WAY bigger.
25. Focus your energies.
26. Now beats later.
27. Tweet more often.
28. Zig don't zag.
29. Marketing comes first.  
30. Hug your kids. 
31. Content before commerce.
32. Never sell alone. 
33. Don't get distracted.
34. Always ask "Why?"
35. Amp it up!
36. How doesn't matter.
37. Invite and engage.
38. You're already there. 
39. Make silly faces.
40. Get off email.
41. See the sunrise.
42. Simplify, eliminate, outsource.
43. Kiss your dog.
44. Fascinate to dominate.
45. Write it down. 
46. Keep on truckin'!
47. Love your clients.
48. Ask for help.
49. Value follows fee.
50. Never give up.
51. Decide, organize, act.
52. Sharpen your edge.
53. Lose some weight.
54. Hammer it out.
55. Doodle more often.
56. Drink hot coffee.
57. Expand your circles.
58. Consider crazy alternatives.
59. Chinese food rocks!
60. Use beautiful things.
61. Not so fast. 
62. Get a massage.
63. Unlock, unblock, unleash
64. Go for no. 
65. Blow 'em away.
66. More chocolate, please.
67. Fill your buckets. 
68. Don't shy away.
69. Give more generously.
70. Don't be scared.
71. Freshen it up. 
72. Go play outside. 
73. Thank your heroes.
74. Respond, don't react.
75. Sing real loud.
76. Schedule "me" time.
77. Bake a cake.
78. Live the dream.
79. Invest in yourself.
80. Fall in love. 
81. Seek the truth.
82. Avoid the obvious. 
83. Laminate your kudos.
84. Birds gotta fly. 
85. Fish gotta swim.
86. Potential ain't performance. 
87. Relationships are perishable. 
88. Kill your television.
89. Make that call. 
90. Hire the weirdo.
91. Speak more honestly.
92. Track your progress. 
93. Decisions drive momentum.
94. Take notes everywhere.
95. Look further ahead.
96. Stop playing small.
97. Sell the dream.
98. Deliver the goods. 
99. Never shortchange yourself.
100. You're so ready.
101. DO IT. Now!

1. Fewer resolutions. More resolve.

2. Increase your daily level of optimism. AMAZING things will start to happen! 

3. Be a lamp. Or a lifeboat. Or a ladder. 

4. Mean people suck. Don't become one of them. Not even for a second. 

5. Write more. Journaling, blogging, morning pages, notes to friends and loved ones.

6. Feature and leverage other people. Read this to find out how.

7. Be more gracious and more grateful.

8. Less excitement. More execution.

9. Let it go. Yes, you know EXACTLY what I mean. (Thanks again, Joe Calloway!)

10. Create a mastermind alliance or partnership. It will make all the difference.

11. Write your damn book already.

12. Drink more water.

13. In case of emergency, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead compartment. Secure your own mask before assisting others.  

14. Clean up. De-clutter. De-pile. 

15. Make more lists and use them wisely.

16. When it comes to social media: Post value (not ego); Retweet generously; Shout-out loudly; Thank abundantly.

17. Carry a notebook everywhere. Got an idea? Write it down. With today's date. And a "next action" step. Repeat.

18. Get more sleep. 

19. Do more of what makes you happy. 

20. If you speak or present regularly, your ideas deserve beautiful slides. This might help. And you totally need to read this (PDF) too.

21. If you DON'T speak or present regularly, you are missing out on the #1 way to boost your career, grow your business, and magnify your impact on the world. Want some ideas? I can help you (yes, it's free.) 

22. Nobody buys your products, services or ideas "sight unseen." So go get seen.

23. "If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough." ~ Mario Andretti

24. Read Getting Things Done by David Allen. 

25. Master your inbox once and for all. Massive freedom will follow. 

26. Tap into trends to generate more and better ideas for both your business and your life. Start here or here. (Read this to see how Harvard Business Review connects trend hunting with sales success, too.)

27. Stop worrying about the HOW. Focus on your bigass WHY and a small set of very specific WHATs. The rest will take care of itself. Honest.

28. Become more in tune with the time/space continuum. Seriously. Rather than wanting everything to happen "Now, now, and now" (which only causes overwhelm and frustration) focus more consistently on what you need to do "Next, next, and next." 

29. The three factors to your long-term success: 1. Your Authenticity 2. Your Expertise 3. Your Enthusiasm.

30. Replace "Who's going to let me?" with "Who's going to stop me?" (Hint: Maybe no one?)

31. Reflect on the shortness of life. This slide show of people we lost in 2012 may help remind you. And pack as much goodness as you possibly can (for you and for others) into every single day.

32. Always pick up the check and leave a big tip. 

33. You're pumped... You're peaked... It's game time... Bring it!

Tags: Marketing coach, marketing concept, marketing for authors, marketing for speakers, success tips

Please share this post with those you want to help. And add your own wisdom in the COMMENTS area below... 

Inspired by my pal Michael Goldberg of Building Blocks Consulting - who wrote this post - here are the Top 5 things to get excited about in YOUR business for the New Year and all of Lucky '13!

1. Books

Reading 'em. Writing 'em. Ebooks. Hardcopy books. All kinds of books.

As you may know, the DO IT! Marketing book is coming this summer from AMACOM and there's lots of cool developments brewing there... but let's talk about YOU... 

• Do YOU want to write a book? 
• Have YOU written a book that's under-marketed? 
• Do YOU have an ebook or information product that you're working on and just can't seem to finish?
• Do YOU have plans to develop a NEW book or information product - and just don't know where to begin?

Don't get stuck - let me help you take your first (or next) ebook, book, or information product over the finish line.

As for books to read - here are five recommendations for YOUR 2013 reading list:

2. Focus

Focus on a specific target market.

Focus on your "secret sauce" of expertise.

Focus on your most fun and profitable projects, prospects and programs.

And...

     Let...

          Everything...    

               Else...

                    Go...

3. Fitness, Toughness, Accountability 

As you may know, I've lost a tremendous amount of weight recently.

Sidebar: OK, my wife Vanessa HATES when I say that to people - it's 18 pounds in 90 days to be exact. (She thinks I make it sound like 100 pounds and she further thinks it makes people feel awkward when they haven't noticed. On the other hand, people whom I haven't seen in YEARS are shocked by my total weight loss of almost 40 pounds since 2008 - so to ME, it IS a "tremendous" amount!!)

The secret? The Charlie Newman hardass eating program plus twice weekly workouts at Nick's Gym.

What's the Charlie Newman program? Three things - all simple but not easy: 

1. No white stuff (dramatically reduce carbs, breads, sugars, etc.)
2. Drink a ton of water daily. More than is comfortable. More than is fun. More than you want to. Like you need to go pee 10 times a day. That is the right amount.
3. No food after 7pm.

The toughness comes at times like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve - when it's EASY (or even expected) that you'll go overboard and do things you should not do. Toughness says you don't go there. 

Accountability is the fact that I live with Charlie Newman - he's my son - and he SEES what I eat, HOW much, WHEN I eat it... and there aren't enough places to hide in our kitchen. 

So consider one of your goals - what's going to fuel YOUR fitness (financial fitness, marketing fitness, relationship fitness, physical fitness, etc)? And which kinds of built-in toughness and accountability mechanisms will you use to ensure your success?

4. Travel + Leisure

Yes, I mean both the concept - and the magazine. We get this magazine and it has opened my eyes to an undiscovered opportunity that YOU have if business travel is part of YOUR work...

In my work as a professional speaker and marketing coach, travel is a given.

How much you enjoy it and exploit it is 100% up to YOU... 

2012 trips have taken me to Columbus OH, NYC, Toronto, Denver, Shelton CT, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Atlantic City, and Winnipeg ("Brrr...") Future trips already planned for 2013 include Atlanta, Vancouver, NYC, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.

But there is a HUGE difference between the two words "trips" and "travel." You can take business trips and they look like this:

• Get to airport in your home city 
• Go through security
• Swallow stale air in thin metal tube for between 1-8 hours
• Land 
• Taxi to hotel
• See inside of hotel
• See inside of conference rooms
• Eat inside hotel
• Eat inside conference rooms
• Taxi to airport
• Go through security
• Swallow stale air in thin metal tube for between 1-8 hours
• Land
• Go home. Hug spouse. Kiss dog. Fall into own bed.
• Repeat as needed to meet your career or entrepreneurial goals

THAT, my friends, is not travel.

Travel is sightseeing, museums, restaurants, cafes, bars, shopping, exploring new places and discovering local experiences.

Question for you: How can you bake more TRAVEL into your TRIPS during 2013? I'll do my best - and hope you do, too.

Let's check in with each other over the next few months to see how we're both doing!

5. Giving away WAY more FREE stuff

Since November, I have made a commitment to sharing MORE experiences of value - for free - and making MORE profit-rich resources available - again, for free.

If you know me at all, you know I've always done this BIG-time. But I wanted to see what would happen if I ramped this UP to near-ridiculous levels.

• Would I burn out? (No)
• Would you? (Not yet - but we're just starting)
• Would anybody come (Yes - see below) 
• Would there be anything left for me to monetize and sell? (Apparently)
• Would people tell their friends and colleagues? (Yes - and thank you!)

Early Results:

In November, I presented the "Marketing Strategy Blueprint for 2013." We had 169 people register for that info-packed training call and it generated $4500 of client work. Good for you - and good for me. 

In December, I presented the "Sponsorship Strategy Blueprint." We had 161 people register for that training call where I laid out my VERY BEST fee-paid advice with no holds barred. That call generated $8100 of client work. Again good for you - and good for me.

Coming up later this week, YOU are invited to "Your Speaking Business in 2013" with my friend and colleague Andrea Gold of Gold Star Speakers Bureau and author of "The Business of Successful Speaking."

Join us - you don't need to buy anything and there's no catch. If we provide value and you want more, you'll know what to do.

Questions for you:

• Are you strategically giving away RIDICULOUS amounts of value? 
• How could you give even MORE? 
• What could you do to AMPLIFY your impact with your target market? 
• Whose HELP do you need? Partners, affiliates, mentors?
• WHEN will you launch your "WAY More FREE Stuff" campaign?
• HOW will you measure its success?

What do you think?

Use the COMMENTS area below to share what YOU are most excited about in YOUR business for 2013 and... 

1. Keep it short. No time to write? Cool - they have no time to read. 

2. Lists rock (like this one!)

3. Shoot a 2-minute video. Post to YouTube. Embed with 3 lines of setup. Optimize title, tags and description with your keywords. Boom - done. 

4. Interview other experts. Three questions max. Post and voila!

5. Interview prospective clients and customers. Promote them and their company. Repeat. Go to bank.

6. Review your favorite books on amazon - both related and unrelated to your main business. Optimize your amazon reviewer page and link it back to your home page.

7. Seek guest blogging opportunities on blogs that target the same topics and readership you are after. 

8. Invite both prominent and up-and-coming bloggers to guest blog for you. Same story, other direction. Genius!

9. Leave constructive, helpful comments on prominent blogs and media sites. Use an abbreviated signature file and link back to your blog.

10. Participate in Linkedin Groups and share your blog content/links in response to relevant questions and discussions. You raise both your credibility and visibility with this one tactic.

11. Don't overdo keywords and SEO on your blogs - people can tell and it makes you look a little creepy, robotic - or both. Write for humans and the traffic will follow.

12. Graphics, baby, graphics. Blogs are visual. Get an affordable account with iStockPhoto or one of the other stock photo sites. Grab unusual and interesting graphics and photos to spice up that wall of text. You'll be amazed. It makes all the difference.

13. Schedule it. Stick to it. Your blog is the command center of your online thought leadership platform. Shoot for 2-3 updates a week and amazing things will start to happen. Now is the time for you to... Get blogalicious! 

Keywords: Blogging for business, marketing expert tips, marketing speaker, marketing coach

What do you think? Use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and experiences on blogging for business and...

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!