Marketing – general
My Books Are Free!
Well, sort of. Amazon has unleashed another monster. This one is called Kindle Unlimited. For a penny less than $10 per month, you can read as many ebooks as you want. The books have to belong to a special program that guarantees you'll only find them on Amazon, but there are over 600,000 (number supplied by Amazon) available at this point.
My two current books are in there. If all you want are my ebooks, then the price is about $7 total. But for three bucks more, you get access to so much more.
I'm not trying to shill for Amazon. They don't need my puny efforts. But if you read as much as I do, there's a wealth of fiction and non-fiction books out there. Some of them are crap, true. I'm sure people have thought that about what I've written. But I'm a member. The first 30 days are free – why not try it out? And you don't need a Kindle. You can get the Kindle software for every device you own and read books there.
So: Two marketing-related books FREE if you've got Kindle Unlimited.
Recognized Expert Status – http://amzn.to/1r6q3Vm
Membership Site Design – http://amzn.to/1nD937S
Excellent Service
I'm putting together a mobile audio rig for an upcoming project. Part of that will be to talk with others over Skype and record the content. In the past week, I bought two different external USB microphones. The first wouldn't let me hear anything without unplugging it. I emailed the manufacturer for help, and got a notice back last night that my email hasn't gone through because their site is messed up.
I bought a 2nd mic – a Yeti from Blue. Works and sounds great, except that again, I was having problems. Specifically, with Skype. I could hear things great now, but my mic wouldn't work with Skype. I even took their advice on the front of their website and made sure I had the newest version.
I bit the bullet yesterday and started a chat session with their support. After waiting 25 minutes, I was finally connected with Kowji, one of the reps. I told her the problem, and she wanted to access my computer. Of course, I was sitting in my comfy chair in front of my desktop, not at a table with my laptop. After some kajiggering (technical term!), I switched to the laptop and let her in.
Motivational Pix – Canfield
Don't worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try. – Jack Canfield
Build Your Own Recognition
One of the biggest worries, shared by most of my clients, is "How can I catch the media's attention?"
In today's world, you can be the media. Media releases – print, audio or video – are all fine things. But why wait around for someone to notice you when you're already doing most of the work? Just finish it up and distribute the final product yourself.
RecEx Interview Q&A
What is a Recognized Expert?
When people go looking for a product or service, they're often confronted with lists of people or companies that may or may not provide the solutions they're looking for. They're then faced with somehow deciding which of these providers is the correct choice. What do many people do? They ask their friends and family for recommendations. Most of the time, the mere recommendation is the only research we do to find a solution provider.
So how does a business person get to be the solution provider being recommended? By having the qualifications – the experience, certifications and testimonials – that set them apart from the competition. They can publicly prove their expertise in a number of ways. People see these proof materials, and recognize them for the experts that they are. They are granted Recognized Expert Status by the public.
Motivational Pix – Calhoun
Learn from your mistakes and build on your successes. – John C. Calhoun
The Correct Way To Run A Couponing Program
If you're not using some type of couponing system in your marketing efforts, you probably should be.
And if you are using one, you're probably doing it wrong.
Actually, in my opinion, most businesses do it wrong. The overriding rule of couponing is to ALWAYS ask for contact data when redeeming a coupon. If the person turning in the coupon is already a customer, verify that the contact info you have on file is correct.