Why technology is taking over our lives…and how to make sure it doesn’t

This opening could well lead into a full blown research paper touching on areas from our social lives…and relationships…to work and business.

For now, I’ll leave the first two categories for another day. I’d love to say for a rainy day…but I’m in Vancouver now and it rains almost everyday.

Okay, onwards.

Some call me a technology freak. I love tech, always have. I don’t consider myself a tech freak…I don’t run out and wait in line for hours huddling beside buddies in the cold with hot coffees.

But I do make it a point to know what new technologies will improve my business and the business of my clients.

It helps. Knowing how to find and use the right software or hardware can save time, money and frustration, not to mention increase profits…

…so this is all good right? Wrong. Many of us have fallen into the technology trap.

You know what I’m talking about. The guys and gals running around with their bluetooths and crackberries…so busy talking to the sky that many have forgotten how to sit down and have a face to face talk.

They don’t pick up the phone when they need to get in contact with someone and get something done…instead they send off an email.

That strikes me as odd…because it always takes longer to receive feedback or a decision by email.

Think about it.

Doesn’t it take 3-5 emails to set a meeting by the time you go back and forth with saying hello and that you’d like to meet? Then they give times, you give times. Then locations and more emails to say thanks and see you there. Couldn’t all that be done with just a quick phone call?

What’s worse is that email has no face. You never really know what someone is thinking or feeling with email. And that’s why misunderstandings are so common.

Now here’s another problem. Checking emails. I’ve met several executives that say they are so busy reading and replying to emails that they can hardly get out of the office…and when they do, their blackberry in hand chirps like a bird in the morning of a glorious sunny day.

We’re stuck. There is a notion out there that just because email takes only a second to arrive…the reply should be instant as well. Okay, maybe not instant…but don’t most people start wondering what is going on if they don’t get a reply within a few hours?

So what should you do about all this? The approach I’ve used and recommended to friends and clients that seems to work best is this:

• Plan each day in advance.
• Schedule certain times each day to check your email. Just like you schedule times for lunch or for a meeting.
• Another tip I’ve received is to only open email that you plan on replying to at that moment. Possible? The best way I’ve found to do this is to open an email, if I can reply right away I do. If not and if I can’t reply by phone, then I’ll mark that email as unread - so that when I open my email program the next time, I will remember to re-read and reply to that email.

You’re likely thinking that your clients expect answers from you all the time…and right away. But unless you are in a customer service position, I’d recommend making it clear to your clients that you will always respond to emails as quickly as possible…but that you can’t always do so right away because if you did, you’d be busy all day and wouldn’t be able to work with them and find ways to better service and provide for them.

They will understand that and respect it. Try this approach for 1 week and see the difference.

You can expect to get much more accomplished each day and your quality of work will improve because your focus will improve.

You know what it’s like…you’re in the middle of writing and a new email arrives. It distracts you and you forget the perfect words you were in the middle of typing.

So go on. Once you start this approach, you’ll never go back.

To your success,

Michael

Today I have a real treat for you. A video from a true advertising legend. But before we go there…let’s cover some background information…

The term “Direct-Response Marketing” or “Direct Marketing” may only be 46 or so years old (when Lester Wunderman gave it birth) but the actual application of Direct-Response methods have been in practice for hundreds of years.

In fact, according to Direct Marketing professionals Denny Hatch and Don Jackson, direct marketing dates back to 1600 when garden catalogs were sold direct to the consumer.

During my years of consulting on marketing and advertising projects and writing copy for companies around the world I’ve had the direct-response vs. general marketing/advertising debate countless times.

What’s the debate all about? Well, in summary it goes like this…

General advertising is what you see most of the time on the TV, in newspapers and magazines. They consist of amazingly creative advertisements that people often feel are “cool.” They get your attention and are widely accepted as being what advertising is all about. I should also mention that most awards are for these kind of ads. The goal here it seems is to do something different and be more creative. Unfortunately, with general advertising you often have no idea how effective each ad or promotion is. You may know that a campaign helped to increase sales, but potential success will never reach a maximum because strict tracking and testing lacks.

On the other side of the coin is Direct-Response. This approach is to communicate directly with your prospect and get them to take action…whether that means having them read a report, contacting you for more information, coming to a seminar or buying your product. Direct-Response is measured to the penny. Variations of headlines, images, offers, guarantees and more are tested…calculating results is common practice and allows you to know which ad or promotion directly benefits your bottom line.

Many in general advertising stay away from direct-response. They know very little about it and don’t want to. It’s not creative enough or seems to ‘foreign’.

It really is a whole other world.

You see with direct-response success isn’t a matter of creativity, or design appeal or even how well you write and your grammar for that matter. Direct-Response success is measured in sales and profit. And your ad or promotions are tested and tracked…leading to the ad with the highest ROI becoming your control which you test other ads against.

This ensures you have the most profitable ad running…and reduces the amount of money you spend on advertising that may or may not be working at its best.

If you know anything about me, you’ll know I’m a huge advocate of Direct-Response marketing. I love that fact that you can scientifically test and know what is working and what isn’t.

Many companies have good intentions…but it’s too bad so many still spend their hard earned cash on a guessing game…hoping their ads will pay off.

I don’t know about you, but I prefer knowing what will work and then making adjustments to ensure it does.

Here’s another reason I love direct-response. Because for a few hundred dollars you can know whether or not a product or service will work. You don’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars just to find out.

That’s smart investing don’t you think?

What I’m writing here definitely isn’t new. Click the link below and watch what David Ogilvy, one of the fathers of Advertising, has to say about this debate.

David Ogilvy Video

To your success,

 Michael

Anyone who has ever run a business knows how easy it is to lose sight of what first got you involved in that venture.

What motivations, inspirations and passions moved you to take your first steps on that often windy road of building a business.

In the haze of becoming profitable, competing with competitors, changing market environments…and let’s not forget getting your ass-kicked to the curb at least once or twice…

…all entrepreneurs fall down at one point.

What seperates the real success stories from all the other statistics are the people who keep getting back up.

But I digress. While the topic of will-power and commitment may be more important than any other in business success - it isn’t the topic I will cover today. Maybe next time.

Last week I read an article by Al Ries, one of this century’s marketing and branding greats.

What I’ve always loved about Al is his no BS approach. His work, and that of Jack Trout, guided me in my early years.

It played a huge role in opening my eyes to how much junk there is out there…and how much money is wasted by companies each year on useless, and worse-yet, hopeless marketing attempts.

In Al’s article he wrote that too many companies focus on their brands…and don’t focus enough on being a ‘leader’ in their category.

Companies get so worked up trying to better themselves that they forget to look around them and see how the market is changing.

The result is that you may end up with a great product…but the market has moved on and doesn’t want what you have to offer any more. Many times because some other product is now more relevant in meeting their needs.

The danger that Ries points out is that too often companies will succeed in one category and think that they can automatically transfer that success to another one. That they’re name/brand alone will guarantee them another gold medal.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Just because starbucks has won in coffee doesn’t mean they’ll win in coffee-flavored chocalates. For Kodak, just because they were so successful in film photography doesn’t mean they’ll succeed in digital.

The lesson here is to always know what is happening in the market around you. Never assume that your success in one area guarantees your success in another.

So what should you do?

Join your strengths with what the market wants, fullfill their needs and desires…solve their problems and you’ll be well on your way to success.

As always to your success,

Michael

PS. To read Al’s full article click here.

You’ve likely considered at one point or another where to put your money and get the highest possible return.

A few of the more common options include real estate, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and GICs. Each will give you a different level of return on your investment and each with a varying degree of risk.

If you’re a business owner there is another option. A way to invest that can often give you returns of 20%, 50%, 100% and more.

Plus the risk level is low. Mind you, you do need to spend a bit more time on this investment than the other more traditional methods…but you’ll be handsomely rewarded.

Okay already, what is this amazing investment, you ask?

It’s marketing.

You’re thinking that’s not an investment…that’s an expense I have of running my business.

Well, if that’s how you’ve been thinking about marketing you aren’t alone.

I’ve worked with many companies across several industries in more than 6 countries around the world and it’s a phenomenon that crosses all borders.

When a company tells me their marketing consists of some brochures written and designed by a graphic designer, a fancy flash website, a general advertisement in a paper twice a year and attending a trade show here and there…I understand why they view marketing as an expense.

They have no strategy and a bucket full of inconsistency — that isn’t marketing…it’s a half-ass attempt at showing off your brand — and it likely won’t do anything for you except cost you money.

But a well planned strategy with razor sharp copy integrated into all marketing materials and executed properly will bring you back $2, $4, $10 and more for every dollar you put in.

You do the math…that’s not an expense…that’s an investment.

Think about it. $5000 on your marketing brings you back $50,000.

Global corporations aside, look at any business owner that is making pools full of cash year after year - they get this concept.

Not all business owners are comfortable putting out money. They’ll say their waiting until they get more money to spend more on marketing…but they keep saying this year after year.

And it’s too bad. It’s a mindset.

 As soon as they get out of it and open up to the idea that marketing is they key component in their business to make them wealthy beyond their dreams…they don’t hesitate anymore.

Now here’s the key point. Not all marketing is alike. As I mentioned above…some marketing is plain Jane ‘communicate the brand’ and ‘explain who we are and why we are great’ - that’s rubbish.

The marketing I’m talking about uses time-tested proven methods to get:

• higher response rates from every marketing piece you use
• more customers walking through your front door
• customers perceiving you as the industry leader they trust
• increased sales, profits, and customer loyalty
• and more…

Great marketing isn’t about short-term tactics for the sake of seeing a jump in your sales chart. Great marketing puts you on a long-term path that will reliably increase your wealth and grow your business.

If you’re on the business side you owe it to yourself to start seeing marketing as an investment that will build your wealth for the long-term.

If you’re in marketing or copywriting or are a consultant it’s your job to educate your clients and show them how investing in marketing will give them the results they’re looking to achieve faster than any other method.

The result? When done properly…the best investment you can make.

To your success,

Michael
 

Today I thought you’d be interested to hear about: The One Word That Makes Or Breaks Any Business.

When I was thinking about what to name my latest company I went through a long process. In fact, I’ve worked on naming projects for large global corporations in the past.

I went through the motions and considered all key areas like functional names, invented names and experiential names. Each has its benefits and depending on the company’s business strategy you could make a case for each.

It’s not all fluff…there are some general rules you can follow. Like, if you’re a professional and want to have the focus on you, one person, then using your name as the company name makes sense.

If the focus doesn’t need to be specifically on you, and you’re interested in building a company brand, then a name that doesn’t rely on one person makes more sense.

So back to the naming challenge. When the dust finally settled I had registered Relagy Marketing.

Michael, what is that all about, you ask?

Relagy stands for Relationship Strategy.

My years in the business world and even before I entered it, told me that without a strong relationship nothing sticks.

You can’t have friends or spouses without having a relationship with them. Your relationship can have ups and downs…but if you don’t have a relationship with that person…you really don’t have anything with them at all.

The other day, when I told my uncle, who is a well-known international movie producer, that I was writing a book about customer service, marketing and relationships, he said “…you know Michael, it’s true. Even if you have a signed contract…it really doesn’t mean anything. It’s the relationship that counts.”

And you know what? You can’t have a long-term profitable business without having strong relationships with your customers.

It just doesn’t happen. Companies that focus on short term profits and are obsessed with ‘making the sale’ don’t last. Nope, they tend to go out of business in a matter of years.

Real relationships are what make you rich.

Try it and you’ll see. Be warm and welcoming to your customers, build a relationship with them and they’ll reward you with loyalty and boat loads of money.

Back to Relagy and what the Strategy part is about. Successful companies must have a strategy in place. They can’t run around with short-term tactics…and inconsistency.

A well crafted strategy has each action building on the previous one…everyone and everything working together to achieve the same goal.

While some people see the name “Relagy” for the first time pronounce it with a hard ‘g’ sound (the ‘gy’ is soft like the end of Strategy), I’ve had several compliments from business people once I’ve explained the name and meaning to them.

Okay. So now you know the background of the Relagy name and what it means to me. You can read more about this on our website at www.relagy.com/about

What I’d like you to take away from this though, is the importance of relationships. Treasure them. Whether personal or business - the more you put into them, the more they’ll give back to you.

They really are the most important part of any business.

Until next time.

To your success,

Michael
Relagy Marketing