How a Slip ‘N Slide = Phenominal Branding Power
Image by Respres on Flickr
Remember Slip ‘N Slides? You set up the slippery plastic on a hill or flat part in the yard, hook it to the hose, and turn the water on. Then, you run, jump, and slide down the length.
On the one hand, we have the Slip ‘N Slide. And on the other, we have small business branding–the act of puffing out your chest and crowing about why folks should hire you and not some other guy in a way that’s got intrigue and drama and story or at least a morsel of integrity.
When you put the two together, you get something like this:
It’s a Slip ‘N Slide’s worth of “Why Sprint is cool and on the pulse of what’s happening and therefore you should use our network.” The first time I saw this commercial, I thought, “Where did they get all those numbers?” (The second time, I figured it out: they made them up!) And I bet you had a similar thought. Had they just given you one number, you wouldn’t have been curious. But because they threw out so many, and did it with authority, you got intrigued and before you knew it, you were sliding straight down to “Their network sounds like the right one for me.”
That curiosity, that getting someone to *think* about what you’re saying, that’s how you get them on your brand Slip ‘N Slide. It’s no less attractive than setting up the real deal in your front yard in a neighborhood of children.
But, how do you do this when you don’t want to make up a whole heck of a lot of numbers? Easy. You simply tap into your prospect’s ability to make assumptions using a handy formula that looks like this: Something You Have/Do + Something You Are + What You Do = Desired Assumption.
In the case of the Sprint Commercial, it looks like this:
Specific Numbers Re: Hipster Hi jinks + Belief that Faster is Better + Cell Network = The best choice for hipsters who want a 4G connection
Let’s play with some others:
- Sophisticated + Siamese Cat Owner + Design = Sophisticated, slightly standoffish interior design
- Introverted + Surfer + Life Coach = Free spirited, good-at-listening coach
- Playful + Goofy Labrador + WordPress Design = Friendly WordPress Design
Now, to make this clearer, let’s take an example that doesn’t work at all. Say I wanted to give the impression that I’m the World’s Most Stylish WordPress Designer. Obviously, I wouldn’t play up these photos of Izzy:
Because, that equation:
xxx + Goofy Labrador (who’s usually muddy) + WordPress Design ≠ World’s Most Stylish WordPress Design
So, let’s think about things that I do have that do say stylish… Hmmm… I live in a 1964 Brick Ranch–sure, it’s wonderfully cozy and charming, but stylish? Nah. If Izzy were an Afghan Hound, he might help, but the way he’s snoring away as I type this… Nah. Aha! I also own an island townhouse that I decorated that’s been featured in magazines. That does indeed say stylish. So, that gives us an equation like this:
xxx + Stylish Home at the Beach + WordPress Design = (possibly) World’s Most Stylish WordPress Design
Now, what I’m missing is something that gives me that global perspective. Aha! My BA in Global Studies ought to do nicely. So, we get the equation:
Global Studies Major + Stylish Home at the Beach + WordPress Design = World’s Most Stylish WordPress Design
The way you use your Branding Slip ‘N Slide Equation is by always leaving the final part off. You want your Tribe to fill in the final blank. And, just as 2 + 2 always equals 4, your Tribe will also always come to the right conclusion. (Sometimes people who aren’t in your Tribe will do their math wrong and that’s fine. If people *in* your tribe are consistently getting the wrong answer, though, it’s time to tweak your equation.)
So, when you want your readers to really know you as the savvy, sophisticated interior designer, you show them photos of your work, talk about your Siamese, and don’t mention that you’re wearing mis-matched socks today (I’m not wearing any socks at all, but that’s neither here nor there).
When you want your readers to see you as friendly and approachable, you share muddy photos of your goofy dog (who is in dire need of a bath today…) and don’t mention that you kinda wish the phone wouldn’t ring any more for at least two hours so you can get this blog post written. (But, as soon as it’s posted, I’m happy to talk with you.)
And when you’re going for that free-spirited, yet introverted life coach, you share your great beach photos, lessons learned on a surf board, and favorite new musicians, but you don’t talk about how you really wish your clients would stop talking so much and start taking more action.
Basically, setting up your Brand Slip ‘N Slide Equation is all about filling in the blanks in a consistent, reliable way so that your Tribe can get to know you better. It’s about choosing which details to share and which to keep to yourself based on the relationship you’re building with them. Just as I save talk about guys I’m dating for my friends and not my newsletter, so too you can hold back certain details in your life. It’s not manipulative, it’s just editing (and, usually, it’s editing out the stuff they’re not all that interested in).
Today, put some thought into your own Brand Slip ‘N Slide Equation–trust me, this is math that’s actually fun (well, maybe not as fun as an *actual* Slip ‘N Slide, but at least it doesn’t require you to put on a bathing suit first!).
Educational Autoresponders: The Newsletter Substitute?
Have you balked at the idea of starting a newsletter because you just don’t see how you could stick to a regular schedule? Does the idea of committing to having something to say every Wednesday at 8 a.m. just sound flat out uninspiring?
If you’ve put off launching a newsletter because you simply don’t like the idea of being expected to show up in a certain way at a certain time, you’re not alone. And you just might find an educational autoresponder to be the approach your rebellious streak can put to work.
What’s an Educational Autoresponder?
An autoresponder is a program that automatically sends an email in response to an email trigger. So, if you’re away on vacation and set up an automatic away message, you’ve just created an autoresponder.
An Educational Autoresponder is a bit different. This is an email (or, more often, several emails on one topic) that people sign up to receive. It’s almost exactly like a newsletter except that you’ve already written all the messages *before* people sign up and the emails are scheduled to go out automatically at the interval of your choice.
So, you might set up your Educational Autoresponder to send out 5 email messages, one each day, for example.
How do you create an Educational Autoresponder?
When you’re ready to write up an Educational Autoresponder, start with your topic. Then, narrow it down as tightly as possible. So, let’s say that you are creating an Educational Autoresponder to promote a report you’ve written on identifying different types of insects. You might write an Educational Autoresponder dedicated to five different types of wasps and how to identify each.
It’s really important that you keep your topic tightly focused–you want to be able to present a complete and compelling “course” within just a handful of email messages.
Think of your Educational Autoresponder as a sort of Signature Article in five parts–an article that you could easily use to represent who you are, what you do, and why people should hire you (or buy your product). It needs to teach something complete so that readers don’t feel strung along, but you also want to make sure you don’t “give away your crown” by getting in so deep that your new readers won’t be able to apply what they’re learning.
Brainstorm the 5-6 components involved in your topic (if there are more than 5-6, your topic is probably too broad) and write each one up as a mini-article. End each mini-article with an action step or two along with a teaser about the next mini-article or how readers can get in touch with you for support.
How often should you send the emails?
Do your prospects generally make up their minds quickly or is your product or service something they need to consider at length?
For an industry like real estate where people often choose their agent very quickly, you’ll want to send your messages out in short succession–leaving a gap of 2-4 days between each message. For an industry like consulting where clients tend to take their time making hiring decisions, you’ll want to leave more time between messages and might send one message every 1-3 weeks.
In each email message, you’ll want to remind the reader when they can expect the next message.
How will you send the messages?
There are lots of great programs out there including 1-2-All (the program I use to send my own newsletter) and Aweber. I recommend both.
Some shopping carts even come with an autoresponder program built right in, so if you use a shopping cart, look there first. Also, most assistants these days are trained in setting up an autoresponder program, so if your assistant has a preferred program, start there 
.
The important thing is to use a program that’s designed to send “sequential autoresponder messages” so that you can simply schedule your messages and they’ll go out automatically.
If you’ve been really struggling with the idea of publishing a newsletter because it just plain feels too scheduled, an Educational Autoresponder can be a great compromise. It’ll keep your name in front of readers on a regular basis, build a list, and save you from having to think of something new to write on an on-going basis.
WordPress Warning and Chocolate Cake
I’ve got oodles of links to share today! If you happen to be in the office instead of out on vacation, enjoy today’s variety.
If you haven’t yet taken your Web Style Quiz, you want to do that soon. In the next few weeks, I’m going to start talking about how this quiz is the only tool you need to determine that all important Color Scheme. If that’s something you’ve been wrestling with, take the quiz and keep your eyes glued to this spot because I’m going to make it uber easy for you.
Second, my upcoming Client Attraction call was mentioned by Naomi Dunford at Itty Biz. She says really nice things *and* was kind enough to pull out specific sections of the letter you should pay attention to if you want to learn how to write your own copy. Her blog post would be well worth reading even if I didn’t make her list of stuff she loved this week, but, since I totally did, it’s officially a Must Read.
Way, way back at the end of July, I was invited to write a guest post for Keller Hawthorne’s FresheVenture.com site. It starts by talking about chocolate cake, and ends by revealing The Secret Ingredient to an Internet Business that’s More than Just Profitable (and, by the way, this ingredient is absolutely no less important just because your business is off line).
And, finally, if you use WordPress, there’s a nasty code spreading fast that doesn’t seem to be curtailed by an updated install. So, two things: BACK UP YOUR BLOG and also, make sure to keep an eye out. This particular code can get you kicked off Google and can also make your site impossible to log in to using Firefox if you don’t notice it right way. To protect yourself, make sure your WordPress installation is up-to-date, and that your plugins are up-to-date as well. Then, change all your passwords (including FTP) to something super secure. And, if you wind up a victim, I can fix it for you, so just get in touch and I’ll fast-track your project to get your WordPress design scrubbed clean immediately.
It’s All About Hats: Are You Wearing the Wrong One?
I formed a resolution to never write a word I did not want to write; to think only of my own tastes and ideals.
C. S. Forester
Is this your approach to your own newsletter or blog: to write only what you want, to think only of your own tastes? If you’re like a lot of business owners, your first, and only, consideration is whether or not you’re interested in a topic. To me, this is akin to thinking your best niche is people who are carbon copies of you. (Like life coaches who only work with women between 45 and 48 who have recently been divorced, have no kids, like to play the ukulele, and watch documentaries about parrots who save people from burning buildings.)
It’s not inherently wrong, but it is limiting, and probably not in the best interests of your readers (and, therefore, you).
If you were working for a big magazine, there would be writers, editors and a publisher. When you write and publish on your own, you have to wear all three hats (along with newsletter / blog designer, copyeditor, printer, etc.). Unfortunately, most small business owners focus exclusively on the writer and publisher hats, leaving the editor hat to collect dust. This results in content that excessively mirrors your personal tastes, that includes only the articles you wanted to write. This simply won’t deliver well-rounded value to your readers!
Let me give you an example. 90% of manuscripts received by children’s book publishers are about a child getting a new sibling. That’s because it’s a topic with inherent conflict that most writers have something to say about. But, wouldn’t it be silly if 90% of the books *published* were about new siblings–it simply isn’t necessary to have that many books on the topic.
When you wear your writer’s hat too much, your content may become the equivalent of being 90% about new siblings.
The publisher hat, on the other hand, is all about the bottom line. Where’s the money? How do we keep our advertisers happy? What’s the bottom line? Because it’s the publisher’s job to ensure the company stays afloat, the focus tends to be on profitability. To much of the publisher’s hat can lead to a blog or newsletter that’s overwhelmingly stuffed with self-promotion and advertising.
If you want to keep a balance in your approach, you need to take a step back and put on your editor’s hat. In fact, you really ought to spend the *majority* of your time wearing the editor’s hat. That’s because the editor is focused on selecting content that has lots of value to the reader– delivering the articles that readers *want* to read. This is what will make your blog or newsletter a success–wearing more of the editor’s hat.
To wear the editor’s hat, ask yourself these five questions:
- When’s the last time we published an article on this topic?
- Why is this of interest to readers?
- Is publishing this article of sufficient benefit to our advertisers? (For instance, if your company [your primary advertiser] is an SEO firm, you wouldn’t publish an article on swimming pool safety.)
- Are we keeping a good balance on the topics our readers need to know about?
- Are there any segments of our audience that we’re under serving?
In order to run a thriving newsletter or blog, you need to make sure you’re spending plenty of time being the editor. So, take off your writer’s hat, and take off your publisher’s hat, and be the editor.
And, if you happen to want to write children’s books and want to get published, stay away from the new sibling stories .
Cast Your Newsletter as Search Engine Super Hero!
Newsletters are magical things–they can attract customers, increase company profits, establish expertise and much more. But, did you know they can also help you increase your search engine rankings?
Your newsletter can help your search engine ranking by specifically focusing on your keyword phrases. Perhaps the easiest way to keep each issue of your newsletter relevant to your keyword phrases is to make a list of the phrases you target and brainstorm article ideas for each phrase. Then, as you write each article from your list, try to incorporate the keyword phrase into the title of the article, and, of course, use it regularly throughout your article (caution: don’t overdo it or your article will be awkward to read).
By posting archives of your newsletter on your website, you’ll be keeping each targeted issue available to search engine spiders. If you archive issues by subject (using your keyword phrases, of course) instead of date, they’re likely to help your rankings even more. Also, when archiving issues, make sure you use a standard HTML link (instead of JavaScript) to help search engines catalog each issue.
Another benefit to posting archives online is that other sites will frequently link to either the specific issue or your website, telling visitors about your newsletter archives. This can help boost your link popularity (along with bringing you some extra targeted traffic). You can make the most of such links by actually suggesting webmasters link to your archives.
Because you’ll be updating your newsletter regularly, search engines will give you points for regularly updated content. Plus, your site will be continuously expanding, giving spiders new information to index with each visit. And, when you’re posting each new issue, make sure it has a link back to your index page. As spiders go through the new content, you might as well register another link to your homepage.
Some publishers go the extra step of setting up a domain specifically for their ezine design, separate from their regular website. If you feel you have enough content to support both (without duplicating your content), this might be something to consider. Just make sure you have the time and energy to manage two separate sites as adding a new domain will take more time.
By focusing each issue of your newsletter on one or more of your keyword phrases, posting archives online, inviting webmasters to link to your newsletter archives, and keeping your newsletter updated, you’ll find your rankings climbing. Go the extra mile and set up a domain just for your newsletter and you may find yourself with two top ranked sites. As with any newsletter, remember, content matters most, whether your primary goal is more sales, or better search engine rankings.
You’re already producing a newsletter. It’s definitely worth the extra time training the newsletter to multitask and to see your site climb in the search engines.
By the way, none of this takes into consideration the additional benefits of adding a blog to your site–so you can boost the power of your newsletter even more when you use a WordPress design to deliver those archives. Pretty cool, right?
Why Napoleon Would Have Rocked at List Growth
“A man will give his life for a simple bit of colored ribbon.”
–Napoleon
First-grade-teacher Katrina decided to hold an awards ceremony mid-year to encourage great behavior during that time of year when kids tend to climb the walls.
She announced the ceremony a few weeks before it was to happen and told the kids about the different awards she’d be giving out–things like “Most imaginative color-er” and “Best at hand-raising.” As part of her announcement, she highlighted five specific awards.
“The student who does the best job finishing their homework between now and then will receive the “Homework Good Do-er Award,” she said. She had one student who struggled with his homework considerably. He often brought it back incomplete, usually a mess.
But something about her announcement inspired him and after the rest of the class had gone out to recess, he announced that he planned to win the homework award. For the next two weeks, he consistently presented Katrina with completed homework assignments–still with many cross outs and erased mistakes, but complete.
Two weeks later, he did indeed win that award–accepting it with a huge grin (and bow).
Everyone Likes to Win
Most people have way too much experience with failure. Maybe the boss requires too much. Or maybe a client’s upset because of a misplaced order.
We get home after a long day at work only to find more stuff to do–the house needs cleaning, dinner needs cooking, the kids need help with their math, the dog needs a bath… And since it’s impossible to get it all done, we go to bed thinking we “failed” at our day.
Is it any wonder we relish crossing things off our to-do lists? Is it at all strange that we pursue easy tasks that bring big rewards?
When you create a situation for your readers to win at, you brighten their day. Instead of your newsletter being yet another task “to be done,” it’s a bright spot in their days–something to look forward to.
Select Awards Right for Readers
Holding an awards ceremony for your readers might be a little tricky (after all, if your newsletter’s a typical email publication, you probably have readers all around the world). But that doesn’t mean you can’t let your readers win.
The Certain Way publisher Rebecca Fine holds a monthly contest for readers. The secret to making it work for her is that each entrant must read the newsletter in order to be able to enter. To see how she manages this, check out her newsletter.
Publisher Scott Stratten has run several promotional contests. He gives out points to subscribers who help him find new subscribers and the subscriber who wins the most points in the end receives a prize.
The trick is to think of a reward that will really be valued by your subscribers–however you choose to award it. For Rebecca, these rewards are often related to her readers’ financial education, while Scott often makes prizes of his products.
How Does This Grow Your List?
If you reward subscribers based on their helping you grow your list, clearly giving awards will help you add subscribers.
Even if your awards aren’t related to growing your list, though, they’ll still have an impact.
Remember, people like to win. And when you give them ways to win, it gets them talking about your newsletter. Get them talking about your newsletter, and you’ll see more subscribers joining your list.
When you let readers win, you’ll win too. Your subscribers will delight all the more in your newsletter which means they’ll actively work to get you new subscribers.
How might you set up your newsletter so that your readers can win? Give it some thought today.
