The 'Best Customer Experience'

Here's from Kathy Sierra, delightful insightful marketing maven:

Some marketers believe the best 'customer experience' is: "customer experiences the true awesomeness of our brand".

But that is not so, she says. Instead...

The only true 'awesome customer experience' is where the customer experiences HIS or HER OWN "awesomeness" through new capabilities.

Amen. Marketing in transition.

"Yes, I blocked you bec of el em em..."

Readers: This person's talking about your competition. So relax.

The title was a tweet today from a guy with thousands of followers - to someone he'd blocked. Here's the rest of it:

"Yes, I blocked you because of em el em (hell you can't even type the letters without the vultures descending)"

I saw it and asked him what his experience was with MLMers - and he posted back:

"It requires aggressive + deceptive efforts. I Tweeted 3 letters once, and was spammed for weeks." (the 3 letters - mlm)

Aggressive I can deal with. But deceptive, not good. Vultures - not good either.

I got this (as one of a series) in my email last week:

"Can you say $10K over, and over with a Onetime investment of $275 and all that is needed is 2 folks......... That's it ...... For Ever!"

People really! What kind of hapless and ignorant people is this pitch asking for? Does anyone with ANY business sense really think a one time investment of $275 makes $10,000 'over and over'?

Oi vey.

Take QTs advice. If this is the competition you're up against, my readers, relax. The good peeps will be waiting for you.

How To Overcome Fear of 'No'

Win the big Customer Enchilada program.

If anxiety is keeping you from reaching out to prospects, or doing follow up, here's something that's helped me: JUST before you start writing or dialing the prospect's number, adopt this mindset:

"THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT"

No one knows for sure how to sell anything consistently. What works for one doesn't work for another. What works at one time doesn't work another time.

When I was recruiting in the San Francisco Bay Area some years ago, I got several HUNDRED resumes in the first three weeks, most of them OVERNIGHTED. When I went to LA two months later and ran the same ad campaign, I got about 30% of what I got in the Bay Area. AND the population in Southern CA is THREE times that in the San Francisco Bay Area! Same ads(!)

There is no "right WAY" to win over good prospects. Therefore we are all testing.

Will five of you test the "This is an experiment" mindset for your next 5 prospect calls or emails or posts?

Let me know how it changes:

1) what you say or write and
2) how you feel AFTER you have done it, regardless of whether they respond or buy, or not.

I'll send five of you who report their results - in detail - here in the Comments - the Customer Enchilada MP3 program ($99). Here is what you get in that 9-MP3 program.

P.S. "This is an experiment." Say it out loud, put it on a sign in front of you before and during.

3 Symptoms of Successful Entrepreneurs

From a Silicon Valley Pilgrim...an entrepreneur like us

First rate observations. See if this sounds like you. From Tales of an Entrepreneur

1. Successful entrepreneurs are relentless in their pursuits

I can't count how many times I've been taken aback by an entrepreneur's dedication to solving a problem, reaching a milestone, or achieving something everyone thought impossible. A good entrepreneur will baffle you with their relentless dedication in pursuit of a goal...

2. Successful entrepreneurs move in packs

Successful entrepreneurs are like wolves. They survive in packs. Since graduating ...several of our fellow...start-ups have remained in touch while others have drifted and either died or disappeared. We're very close with the founders...and we share things with each other in the utmost confidence, which is not something most start-up founders can do. It's almost like group therapy. Having a trust circle...con't

3. Successful entrepreneurs crave knowledge and are eager to share it

An entrepreneur who is not starry eyed and dreaming is an entrepreneur that will fail.

Almost every time I meet with a successful entrepreneur, I see that spark in their eyes. Maybe they just had a vision or just read a great blog post. Maybe they just solved a problem or they just learned about a new product. Whatever it is, they are excited to talk about it. Entrepreneurs are always searching for knowledge, and they can't wait to share it with you. You'll find that this is reflected in their products...

To sum it all up, he writes,

"successful entrepreneurs live in a distorted reality that they create for themselves. They have a vision that they pursue like food during a famine. Satisfaction is rare and never immediate. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to live in a world that doesn't exist yet: the world that you want to create." More here.

Does that sound like the entrepreneurial world you live in?

Quentin Tarantino's advice to aspiring movie makers and you

Quentin Tarantino's advice for film makers and you...warning some profanity in vid.

In the movies too, everyone wants to be an already successful film maker, not really go to all the bother of learning how. Anyway.

About 2 minutes into this video, someone asks if newbies have a chance to make it big like those guys did - since there is so much more competition these days. Everyone has a camera. Everyone wants to be an indie film maker, blah blah blah.

One panelist agrees. But not QT: His attitude:

Who cares how many people are out there making films? That crappy stuff isn't competition! You do this one thing and you'll be able to go around the world with what you made...even if you are new.

Go ahead and watch it. What's QT's one-liner YOU walk away with? What's that thing you gotta do to get what you want? And how does it apply to YOUR business?



First five winner get a house copy of How To Be An Awesome Sponsor MP3. Or something comparable if you already have that. Check stuff out here.

Good Bye Big Results Marketing (vid)

Here's an animated little vid (2 min) for those who like to see fun stuff set to music. Inspired by yesterday's post,

Recruiters: Dec. 1, 2009. Adapt Or Risk Being Sued by the FTC

I'll see about finding a different player so it doesn't cut off the end or have all the ads. Yuck. Sorry.

Recruiters: Dec. 1, 2009. Adapt Or Risk Being Sued by the FTC

"Everyone I've signed up is either dead or dying. How can I get someone who will DO something? Especially now that we can't lead with the big income anymore?"

Yep, after December 1, no more big income (or big any result) testimonials. Not unless you also tell what the typical results for the typical person doing the deal are. It's not enough anymore to say "results not typical." (See FTC release here.) The relevant language:

"Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect." More here. (ital added - kk)

No one who sells via big stories wants to tell you what consumers can generally expect. It'll ruin everything.

If anyone ever found out that almost no one makes much money (who's putting forth effort) in money making ventures, be it MLM or Internet marketing, who would buy? The big boys know this.

Several of the biggest Internet marketing 'make money' gurus have already announced their exits from the make-money business, moved it outside the US, or announced they'll no longer use income testimonials. See here.

I think the MLM/Network Marketing business has a much brighter future than some of the other options. Because - we don't need to sell based on giant (and atypical) income. Instead of marketing money, I suggest we market meaning.

Consider the advantages when you stop selling the money:

1. Peeps who quit ALL thought big income was going to come much faster and more easily than it does. The new FTC regs forbid those big income testimonials (unless you also tell, at the same time, the typical results peeps get). So retention should improve greatly. You didn't lure them with easy, big money. Right?

2. No big income stories means you won't miss anyone except the get-rich quickers. Because. While money IS one reason people start a business of their own, it is almost NEVER NEVER NEVER the main attraction. See here for the top three reasons Americans want a business of their own. Note: Money wasn't the reason the Google boys started their business, either (see here)

3. Last, money is not the reason thousands of folks stay in MLM, I mean the masses without much income. Here's why they say they DO stay in.

We can do the business for much MORE than the money. How about for the meaning it gives your life and that of others? I believe this is the only way the industry can remain a viable business option long term - to people who are long term doers, not screamers and hype-filled chatter boxes. Aren't you sick of them 'friending' you on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and littering your email box? Yuck. Get-rich-quickers.

“It's not the strongest who survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin.

Here's a little video I just made, to keep things on the light side. Work in progress. 3 minutes.

If you'd like to learn how to recruit with meaning, and create meaning testimonials, contact me here and perhaps I can arrange a class for your group or your company.

Dec. 1, new FTC rules take effect. Isn't it time for you and your babies to adapt your recruiting to the new FTC rules? You can. I'll help you. Do you believe meaning trumps money?

"The market for something to believe in is infinite" - Hugh Macleod