Tuesday, August 28, 2007

At Last! Tad becomes minorly famous (and how you can too)

Hey there,

How many pink spoons do you have?

It's an important question. I'll explain in a moment.

If you want to skip the whole story you can jump to this link:

www.youtube.com/radicalbusiness

but it will really make much more sense if you read on.

Before I tell you about how I am about to become minorly famous (and how you can too) I'd like to make a few safe bets.

I'd be willing to bet that when people meet you they like you.

I'd be willing to bet that your marketing materials will never be as powerful as meeting you in person.

Sure, your website and brochures and ads might sound good, but people are going to doubt them - after all - you have a vested interest in them buying.

I'd be willing to bet that when you really have a chance to explain how you do what you do and tell your story - that people are impressed and far more likely to do business with you.

Isn't there something about meeting someone - and getting to read their vibe - that matters a lot?

How many times have you heard of people meeting celebrities and telling their friends, "Wow. He was so down to earth. He wasn't pretentious at all."

I doubt most celebrities are that pretentious.

But most people are naturally suspicious.

And, sad to say, they're suspicious of you too.

Which is a shame.

After all, you're nice. You have integrity. You'd never try to lie, cheat or steal from them. But, until they meet you in person, they just aren't really going to trust you.

People trust their experiences, not your rhetoric.

I can't tell you how many times I've had folks come to my free intro sessions and come up to me afterwards to tell me, "You know, I've been to so many marketing sessions and I thought, 'Hmm. This sounds good but maybe he's just another hype filled marketing ass****.' But you weren't. You were really down to earth. I like you and I think I'll be coming to the weekend."

How can you do create this personal connection?

This can mean:

1) Teleseminars
2) Speaking at events
3) Running free intro sessions
4) Meeting with people one on one

But all of the above are very time intensive. You have to actually be there in person.

What if there was a way for people to 'meet' you that required almost none of your time?

Wouldn't that be useful?

I recon it would.

Before I tell you what I did - let me come at this from another angle and then tie it all together.

Word of Mouth is powerful, right?

But, why?

Because, instead of people having to take the time and energy and risk of meeting you in person (and being trapped in a two hour seminar that ends up sucking) they can hear about your experience. And since you're someone they trust and since you're independent of the business you're recommending - you can be trusted.

But sometimes, this isn't enough.

After all, can't you think of times when you have recommended some workshop or seminar or restaurant to someone only to have them never act on it?

Of course you have.

Why?

They hadn't experienced it for themselves yet.

They weren't sold on the relevance or value or the product or service for themselves (and maybe you aren't as credible to them as you thought you were - owch).

Imagine you're at an ice cream shop with a friend.

You want them to try the Mango Tofulatti. They shrug. You tell them it's the most delicious thing you've ever tasted. They seem unimpressed.

"Think I'll just stick with strawberry."

You keep trying to convince them but you are afraid to push it too far. After all, if you push them too hard they might decide to never try it just out of principle.

So, why don't they try it?

Well, if they spend five bucks on the cone and they don't like it, they're out the money and they know they could have spent that money on something they know they would have liked. Right?

But, what if you said, "Here, try this little pink spoon."

They do. They're curious after all, they just don't want to have to commit their whole five bucks.

Pink spoon marketing is powerful.

You give people a sample - not enough to satisfy - but enough to let them make an informed decision about whether or not they want more.

Do you have any of these for your business?

What are YOUR pink spoons?

Your pink spoons should fit a few critical criteria.

1) It should contain enough to let them know if it's a fit.
2) It should be something that your existing clients will actively WANT to pass on to their friends.
3) It should be low risk (or ideally NO risk) for people to try out.

Now, there's lots of different things you can do:

- Offer people a free buyers guide or special report on a critical topic
- Free downloadable audio files
- A Blog

etc.

But there's a relatively new medium that's available to you now - for almost NO money.

And I've just gotten into the game.

Online video.

It's a powerful way for people to learn about you, who you are and how (and why) you do what you do.

Instead of simply reading words - they can see you, read your body language and get a sense of who you are.

Again:

I'd be willing to bet that when people meet you they like you.

I'd be willing to bet that your marketing materials will never be as powerful as meeting you in person.

Online video fits the criteria below extremely well.

1) It should contain enough to let them know if it's a fit.

An online video can give them a chance to get as much or as little information as you want.

2) It should be something that your existing clients will actively WANT to pass on to their friends.

A link to an online video is incredibly easy to send. Youtube.com has made it brainless. And it's becoming more and more common to do. People are sending each other videos all the time. Remember: your clients probably love you. They want to support you. They want to spread the word - but you almost certainly haven't given them the tools to do so.

And your website likely isn't exciting or novel enough to warrant them sending it to folks.

But a cool online video?

Why not create one about your business.

I know - you don't know how. I'll address that in a second.

But, imagine the email from your client to a friend of theirs . . .

"You remember that organic restaurant I was telling you about? Check this link out."

"You remember that practitioner I was telling you about? Check this link out."

"You remember that eco-friendly house cleaner I was telling you about? Check this link out."


3) It should be low risk (or ideally NO risk) for people to try out.

Is there anything less risky than watching a video on your computer? No pushy salespeople. Nothing to print off. You can stop it (and restart it) anytime you want. No obligation to buy.


And it doesn't have to be perfect.

You don't have to spend thousands of dollars. It can be a quick 7 minute video shot on a friends camera of you giving a tour about your restaurant or your clinic.

The point is that people get to meet YOU before they take the risk of meeting you in person. And, right now, YOU are likely the critical piece to your businesses success. People are likely buying YOU as much as they are your product and service.

Online video gives your clients an easy way to introduce you to their friends.

It gives you something you can send to someone you meet briefly so they can 'get to know you better'.

Remember the days where you had to be famous to be on film?

Well, now you can become minorly famous on sites like www.youtube.com

And now, after two years of scheming, I'm finally on youtube.

And finally, at long last, minorly famous.

About bloody time . . .;-)

I have created my very own youtube channel. You can find it at:

www.youtube.com/radicalbusiness


**What EXACTLY will you find at this link?**

You will find about two hours of footage covering the content of my free intro. You can watch it all for free. There's no charge.

You will also find a clip of a few testimonials from my weekend workshop.

You will ALSO find the only footage in existence of me doing sleight of hand card magic. And I bet you won't be able to figure it out no matter how many times you watch it.


**How can YOU put up your own online videos?**

To be honest, I have no idea.

But I recommend the services of my friend Todd who helps people like me (who have no clue at all) to get their videos shot and online.

I can't rave enough about Todd's professionalism, class and warmth.

I don't get paid to endorse him. This email isn't a joint venture. He didn't know I was going to send this out.

But, if you're interested in getting some video online, I recommend you shoot him an email at info@3Dplayground.ca


And let me know what you think of my youtube channel will you?

I'm very excited about it (even if I wish I'd cut my hair before I did it).

We'll continue with the Irresistible Offer series next week.


Warmest,

Tad Hargrave
Founder
Radical Business
"helping conscious folk make more money"
tad@tadhargrave.com
www.tadhargrave.com

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