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ACTION PLAN MARKETING

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February 05, 2007

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Krista

Hi Robert
You are spot-on. I believe that not only is it a big marketing sin to be boring, it is also unprofitable and makes one look uncreative too. My husband and I always take the road not taken in our marketing and business approaches but we do it genuinely and we always aim to have fun. Using our blog for instance we poke fun/critique/lambast but deliver at the end a compelling marketing message/core to our readers who are our clients and yes, sometimes even competitors! And we realise we have so much fun doing it! Instead of saying, let's not bore our customers to death, how about asking: what creative/interesting thing can we do today to give our clients something gorgeous to talk about?

Jennie

I hate to admit it but I overthink many things, My art and my marketing, it's an industry that doesn't give second chances. My blog is my best marketing tool. because I specialize in nudes I try to keep most of my headlines a little cheeky, I have a saucy photo up that puts a face (and legs) behind my work. It's a bit risky but lends a fun air and also supports my work and generates an image and attitude. I have only received one condemnation and lots of good feedback.
The biggest thing is I am terrified of is taking risks, this is only a small one but it's a start!

Jennifer Oikle, Ph.D.

Thanks for your comments Robert. They are always right on!

Last week I decided to take a risk and write my second ever press release. I am a dating and relationship coach and had recently heard of Dump Your Significant Jerk week (Feb 4-9). I had a chuckle with that and realized that it fit nicely with my new workshop: Soulmate or Stalemate: 6 Steps to Finding the Perfect Partner. So I wrote up a press release and sent it out- figuring it was either a unique and fun angle that might get some attention OR people would laugh at it because it was ridiculously "not newsworthy." Guess what? I got to be interviewed on the Saturday morning news for our local ABC affiliate! And a local newspaper wanted to feature me and my class in an upcoming column. Wow! I never expected to get on one of the big 3 TV stations! And the interview went great because I was willing to be myself (with practice of course!)- sort of sassy, not stuffy. But believe me- both sending out the release and doing the interview took a ton of courageā€¦so if you have a creative idea- go for it- even if it scares you!

Jennifer Oikle, Ph.D.
Coupling Connection
"Turning Singles Into Happy Couples"
www.couplingconnection.com

Caryl Morgan

Hi Robert I'm going for risk, spontaneity and generosity by posting free to all single women who are alone on Valentine's Day, a book/e-book on internet dating which had become a labour of unpublished love for too long in my life.
Of course I will ask for their email addresses. But I am going on radio and in the press here in South Africa to talk about genuinely wanting to "coach" and help hurting singles "stay sane, safe and savvy in the sometimes choppy waters of online dating."

Rich Brooks

Your timeliness is uncanny.

Just last week I sent out an email promoting some Web marketing classes I'm teaching. I was sending this out to my local contacts (about 450), not my email newsletter list. I wanted to get people to subscribe to a new list so I wouldn't bombard all my contacts with an alert for every class I was teaching.

At the same time, I didn't want to lose them. So I tried a provacative subject line: You Won't Be Hearing from Me Again! The rest of the email was equally as snarky.

Two people responded that they didn't appreciate the tone. One contractor thought I was firing her. One prospect thought I was upset she hadn't made a buying decision yet.

Yikes!

So I sent out another email with the subject line "I'm Sorry" explaining what I was trying to accomplish.

That got OVER 100 RESPONSES, mostly telling me that people thought the first one was funny and not to change a thing. I got about 20 people specifically requesting to join the new list and sold 7 or 8 seats to different classes.

I also got one (going on two) blog posts about it, and made the front page of MaineToday.com (the online version of the newspaper chain here) with the first post entitled: The Votes Are In: I'm a Jerk!

Yes, but a successful jerk.

Mike Drips

Robert:
I love the newletter and blog but you need to be a tad more regular with the proofreading: retuning = returning. There's a few spelling errors in the newsletter today as well, but I can't recall what they are.
Not that I am in any position to be critical as I commonly make the same mistakes.
Keep up the good work though.

Carol Solomon

I try to be at least a little provocative. I think you have to have a way of getting people's attention. For instance, I did a free teleclass called "3 Sentences That Keep Coaches Poor". It created a LOT of curiosity, and I had fun doing it. Imagine! Having fun marketing!

Carol Solomon

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