Shawn White Joint Marketing

Red Bull does a great job of marketing without even mentioning their product. I can probably buy a product/energy drink that is better for me, but it probably won't make me feel as cool as Red Bull.

Effective Thanksgiving Message

Here is an effective message I have found...

1- Funny
2- Interesting
3- Logical Argument
4- Great Conclusion
5- Good Timing / Relevant Timing

I thought they explained there

Enthusiasm vs Experience

Here is an article analysing the loss of Sharon Angle

Great Arcile Written About the Sharon Angle Lost


I think it is interesting to analyze sales and marketing principles in different settings. When Sharon Angle was running for Senate she had every thing going for her including political momentum, popular message, and running against an unpopular incumbent, but wasn't able to win. The article lays out why Sharon Angle lost and explains the importance of Experience and Enthusiasm.

Why Meg Whitman lost

Here is another great article on why Meg Whitman lost...


http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/What-Loss-of-Competent-Uber-Rich-Meg-Whitman-Says-About-American-Politics-5645

Sales Technique Eliminating Distractions

Here is an interesting article about Oprah looking at a home.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1330965/Oprah-Winfrey-eyes-magnificent-New-Jersey-mansion.html

What is interesting is the sales technique that was used on Oprah...

Executive Leadership

1- Knew what she was doing
2- Ability to confront situation and what the right thing to do is
3- Do things the right way
4- Be efficient and frugal as possible
5- Bring people together to solve it
6- Problem solver
7- Listens to people around her and look at different points of view
8- Makes people feel heard and valued

Anyway those were some quick quotes from this campaign ad. As I have been working on a start up company I have thought a lot about Executive Leadership. Here is a quick link to a great site on leadership...http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leader.html

The web site on leadership talks about the three principles of Leadership

1- Be
2- Know
3- Do

Social Intelligence Leadership

Here is an interesting clip I found on leadership. How many people have bosses that they don't like? A lot of people don't like their bosses, but why? I think it has to do with the lack of social intelligence in most workplaces. The video will explain how to be more socially intelligent as a leader.

Billy Mays TV Seller

Billy Mays was a classic, he had a unique talent to build rapport with an audience, build excitement, and close a lot of sales. Here are five tips and product essentials that Billy used as outlined in the video.

1- It must solve a problem
2- It must have mass appeal
3- It must be unique
4- It must offer instant gratification
5- It must be demonstrable

By following these product essentials Billy was able to sell a lot of different products and become one of the most famous pitchmen.

Don't Criticize, Condemn, Or Complain

Here is another principle from Dale Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People. In my experience I have found that people want to be around happy, excited, energetic people as opposed to negative, pessimistic, and un-energetic people.

Enjoy

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

I read this book the first time a couple of years ago and I have been really trying to incorporate its principles in my business. Over the next couple of weeks I will cover the series of principles I have learned from the book.

Today I would like to talk about;...

"Arouse in the other person an eager want"

Basically this means you want to create a desire in the other person to want something you have or to want you to do something for you. Now this is easier said than done, there have been many people who have read the book, but few who can master it. Here are some steps to mastering it...

1- Know what the person wants
2- Present yourself in a way that will attract the person to you, your product, or service
3- Follow the sales process...1- Build Rapport, 2- Provide Value, & 3- Close the Sale
4- Execute...it is easy to read the blog and think of how it should be done, but it is quite different to do it in the real world.

Good Luck!

Leadership

Another bit of wisdom from Art of War Sun Tzu


"When the common soldiers are too strong and their officers too weak, the result is insubordination. When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the result is collapse. "

When you are a leader you need to be in a position where you have the personal attributes, knowledge, experience, and follow through/execution to have your people want to follow you and get the most out of them.

175 Million Spent and a loss

So this last week was election week as most people should know. The election that got most of my attention was the Governor election for California. It was a fascinating match up between a former Governor and a Billionaire. The political tide was totally shifted towards the Billionaire with the populous favoring her policies and many national elections going towards her party. She had the political momentum, the message and spent nearly 200 million dollars of her own money.....but still lost.

So why did she lose.......here is an excellent article analyzing her loss, but the quick summary is she was not able to follow the sales process to complete the sale.

She did not build rapport, trust, or credibility with the people of California, she did not provide value in form of a message, most people were distracted by the amount of money she spent, and she didn't close the sale. Personally, I wanted her to win, but she didn't.


Here is a link to a story about Meg Whitman's losing political campaign...


http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-steinberg-whitman-20101104,0,2090320.story

Art of War 6 Pride

Another Great Quote from "Art of War" Sun Tzu

"He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them. "

Business Strategy, Market Strategy, and Product strategy is a constant struggle, new competitors are entering the market and old competitors are becoming smarter and innovating. The customer benefits and the company needs to adapt because loyalty is becoming less and less important. If we treat our competitors & customers lightly then we will lose.

Art of War 5 Leadership

I read this from Art of War this morning and it reminded me of the essential elements of leadership.

"There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: (1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction; (2) cowardice, which leads to capture; (3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults; (4) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame; (5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble."


The three elements of leadership are:

1- Be: Do you have the personal attributes to be an effective leader?
2- Know: Do you know what to do? A leader without knowledge will look foolish
3- Do: You need to act, no one will respect a leader who doesn't act.

If you can follow the three elements of leadership and overcome the faults, then you can become an effective leader.

Communication The 4th Element

I continue to blog about communication because I think it is the most important part of business. There are  three aspects of communication namely:

1- What you say?
2- How you say it?
3- Body Language

While communicating with others these three components can make or break relationships.

 However, I believe there is a fourth aspect of communication.

4- Why?

         Why you said it.
         Why you said it that way.
         Why your body language was that way when you said it.

The 4th element explains your motive for communicating.  Understanding the why helps you communicate better and develops good business relationships.
Here is a quick video on understanding the motive...

Art of War 4

Continuing with my Art of War quotes


"Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
 (5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign. "

The same strategies used in war can be implemented in Sales and Marketing.

1- Pick your battles. 
2- Prepare for every opponent the same
3- Motivate all of your people the same
4- Stay prepared wait for when the person is unprepared
5- Allow the people in the battle to make the major decisions and don't interfere.

I should have a couple more quotes to come in the future