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Have you ever seen a nine word email?
I learned a great acronym from Col Fink recently, during a live workshop at Thought Leaders Business School. He calls these SPEAR emails: Short Personal Expecting A Reply Contrast this with LINEAR emails: Long Impersonal Not Expecting A Reply When we are nervous about making sales outreach, we confuse our communications by complicating it with all sorts of reasons to respond that muddy the message. SPEAR emails get responses. LINEAR emails don't. Have you ever heard of the 'nine [...]
Video testimonials validate your value at scale.
I know you're telling the truth. And you know it, too. But your future customers are unsure. Convincing a stranger to become a customer requires you to manufacture a huge amount of trust. You could create this trust slowly, over time, through a series of penance-like acts of devotion to prove your worthiness. Or, you can use third-party validation, by having others sing your praises. The endorsement of a third party is less biased, more authentic, and convinces skeptics [...]
Make your mission a part of your messaging.
You set the altitude of your mission statement. 'Have A Nice Day' is a mission statement, but so is 'Shit Happens.' The most profound mission statements are often the most simple. You've seen a great one on every map. 'You Are Here.' That's a mission statement, too. What's great about sharing a powerful mission is how advocates and champions come to support you. When you stand for something, you can become the channel for others to achieve their own [...]
Storytelling + Statistics = Case Study Formula
When I was waiting tables, I had a mnemonic trick I used to remember everyone's order without writing anything down: I would imagine their dish on top of their head. Halfway through a big round table of a dozen people, someone would say, 'Can you remember all of this, without writing it down?' and I cheerfully told them that I could remember everything, which earned me lots of tips. I remembered complicated drinks, side orders, and ingredient substitutions by [...]
‘Freelancing’ once meant ‘sword for hire.’
A 'freelancer' is literally a professional mercenary. Some kings and queens of the realm have their own sworn knights to fight for them in the joust. Other lords and ladies, and especially the rich merchants who want to set foot in court, have to rely on mercenary muscle. The 'free-lance' was a knight without colors in medieval times. For a price, you could hire this free-lancer to joust in your honor, and a victory would mean increased prestige for [...]
Writing your Anchor Brand Content
The human attention span is less than a goldfish. 8 to 12 seconds. That's how long we have, before we get distracted by something else. This isn't surprising, in a world where we are exposed to an average of 5000 advertisements every day. We have to be selective with our attention, just to handle the volume of demands. That's why it's so important to get to the point. Creating your Anchor Brand Content gives you a solid place to [...]