Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

100% of Nothing

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What would it be worth to you to receive a steady stream of new customers with little or no effort on your part? Would you be willing to pay 10% of the revenue they generate? 20%? 50%? Or do you believe that you can’t afford to pay anything?

During a recent discussion, I was surprised that people said they could not afford to ‘give up’ 20% in commissions to reach new customers. If you have more work than you can handle, that might make sense. However, most of the people who take this position do so because they think it is ‘not fair’ that someone else would get a percentage of the money they believe is theirs. My question is: Would you rather have 100% of nothing, or a smaller percentage of something? [Read more…]

Enough About You – Let’s Talk About Me

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Many people tell me that they have trouble talking to others about their businesses. But many other people have the problem of not knowing when to stop. We’re probably all guilty of this now and then–I know I catch myself sometimes–but if it’s a habit it is costing you customers.

Telling too much can take several forms. You may go on and on about your business to the point where listeners get bored. The solution to that one is simple: sit down and shut up. Learn to watch your listeners for signs that they are losing interest. When you see those signs, make sure you switch the topic back to something they will find more interesting–them! [Read more…]

Don’t Do Today What You Can Put Off ‘Til Next Year

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Huh? Wait…what? Putting things off instead of doing them now is horrible advice, right? Then why are you saying that you can’t start that new project, launch a product or do any marketing until after the holidays or until you know how things are going to go with the economy next year? There are lots of excuses for not marketing now: I’m busy with the holidays, you can’t reach anyone now, no one will make a decision until January anyway, etc.

Wrong! Lots of business is happening now, and it’s not just holiday shopping. Hoping for publicity for your business? The newspaper is still being published everyday, TV news is still broadcasting, radio shows and podcasts are looking for guests, and so on. They haven’t stopped for the holidays, and neither should you.

This is a good time to keep in touch with your customers, too. Let them know how much you appreciate their business. Send out personal notes instead of mass-produced holiday cards. [Read more…]

Negative Social Proof Does NOT Work

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negative-social-proofWe’re all familiar with social proof. Techniques might include placing positive testimonials on your sales pages and websites to show what others think of our products. The idea is that by showing that other people like what you do, prospects will realize that they might like you, too. However, there is a form of social proof used by many marketers that actually backfires and causes sales to drop dramatically, and it’s what they call “negative” social proof. It works like this:
[Read more…]

Marketing Lessons from Billy Gibbons

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Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top
Photo by Alberto Cabello from Vitoria Gasteiz (ZZ Top) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
What can Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top teach you about marketing? Maybe a lot.

Pat O’Bryan recently wrote about some lessons Billy taught him during a photo session. There were several good points, but the one that struck a nerve with me was near the end:

He’s…created a persona. The Billy we hung out with during the photo shoot was all business. No BS at all. But, when he’s being interviewed, Billy falls into character, and that character has been consistent for over 40 years.

Billy Gibbons has created a public Billy Gibbons who is not exactly the same as the private Billy Gibbons. He has built that public persona into a brand that is instantly identifiable.

Pat says that he may fall short in this area himself, that he is “the same guy all the time, whether it’s speaking to hundreds of people at a seminar or sharing a beer with my buddies at the American Legion Hall in Terlingua.” And that has, by his own admission, probably cost him money.

There is a lot of emphasis put on being real and being yourself, and that is important. But with a caveat. Your public face needs to be a revved-up version of yourself. [Read more…]