The Penalty of Leadership

Posted: 29th April 2012 by admin in Uncategorized

This  is a great piece of copy from a Cadillac ad from 1915 that ran once in the Saturday Evening Post. It helped Cadillac justify it’s higher prices.

“In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be merely mediocre, he will be left severely alone – if he achieve a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass or to slander you, unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius. Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountebank, long after the big world had acclaimed him its greatest genius. Multitudes flocked to worship at the shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could not build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river to see his boat steam by. The leader is assailed because he is the leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy – but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as the human passions – envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains – the leader. Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live -lives.

By Theodore F. MacManus

Do the right thing Michigan.

Posted: 14th April 2012 by admin in Uncategorized

Persuasion is asserting your will over others. In this definition, the concept of power comes in. Power is the ability of a person to put his will over others or over his followers. But in persuasion, no full power should be applied. The persuader should learn to be humble to accomplish his objective, so that the persuadee may give in. Therefore, the qualities of a persuader must come from opposite ends. He must be positive-minded but open to negative results; he must be insistent but must also know how to compromise.

Let us look at the essential qualities a good persuader must have.

First, he must learn to balance both sides. In the middle of a discussion, he should not always place too much emphasis on the advantages he will get from the deal. He should place equal or more consideration in the benefits that the other party will get. The persuader should try to anticipate the expectations of the person they are trying to persuade. Thereafter, the persuader’s benefits can be considered.

Secondly, the persuader must have a positive mind. He must show enthusiasm not only in words but also in actions. Gestures and facial expressions should be part of the conversation to make the person agree with the persuader. Let’s say you’re the persuader. Should the persons ask questions, endeavor to make your answers positive ones (of course, you cannot avoid saying negative ones if those are true).

Thirdly, the persuader should learn to compromise. Compromise here relates to a balanced negotiation. This does not mean giving up at all, but some things should be given up to make way for better ones. To do this, learn to balance the situation (first rule). No matter how enthusiastic the persuader is, the person might have his own conditions or decision factors.

These strategies are best applicable for sales persons or marketers who are closing deals with clients.

One more thing not mentioned above but I think is a universal rule that everybody should know, is the notion of being honest. You cannot persuade people if most you are saying are lies. Honesty is still the best policy.

Business to business and business to consumer marketing types have essentially the same fundamental principles. Both choose target markets and based from them, they make their marketing decisions, such as in coming up with prices of their service or good and selecting the type of distribution and promotion they would employ.

However, in the way the issues are addressed, there is a clear distinction. The nature of business buying is largely dependent on the professional buyers, multiple decision makers, and the potential of having long term relationships. This is unlike the business to consumer marketing, which depends on the single decision maker and has a short buying or sales cycle.

The business to business marketing generally focuses on functionality of the product rather than on anything else. It also has the capacity and resources to buy from the international markets.

The marketing does not focus on the emotional but rather on the logical decision making. If the business has to deal with a business that sells business, it if often that the business buyer has more knowledge about the product or service that it is looking for than the business marketing provider.

It is for this reason why the marketers must be wise and intelligent enough as to how to market, promote, and advertise their goods or services. Business to business marketing employs wider and more complex tactics. Anyone who wishes to utilize it must be patient and determined to learn the length of the ropes as there are many things to be learned about before one can actually use the methods involved in such.

They are appealing to a wider, more intelligent buyer group after all. Anything that the business to business marketer does will have to be based on what that intelligent target group wants, but does not also necessarily mean forgetting the end-users, which for this case, are the buying public or consumers.

You have to remember that the business buyer is buying your service or good because they believe that it will sustain their business, help improve its sales and profits by having wide consumer group patronizing it, and turn in more benefits for them.

What are the strategy differences?

In business to business marketing, the supply and demand made on a certain product or service is taken into account. The same is true in the kind of industry that the marketer is trying to sell the business for. Others to be considered are the trends in the wider market environment. It also has to deal not only with the direct business clients but their customers as well.

Business marketing targets comparably smaller base of clients, but these are the big clients in the industry. And because it is dealing with bigger clientele, it is expected that personalized marketing techniques are provided, so that the business buyer will no longer have to employ different techniques in order to sell the product or service.

And since the clients differ in their preferences, the business marketer might be required to tailor technique to each. And because of this, deeper relationship with each is expected to be developed between business to business provider and business buyer to meet the demands of each big client as well as to foster longevity in the industry.

BtoB Marketing News is a good website to visit to learn more. Click here.

Welcome Mang Radio – back to the family

Posted: 26th February 2012 by admin in Uncategorized

Mang was one of the first company’s I started in the 80′s. I produced concerts, managed entertainers, produced marketing campaigns, pr, radio ads and promotions.  I am glad that Mang is back after 19 years in mothballs. It is now being designed to be a 24/7 comedy radio network.  One small step at a time.

Mang Radio

 

 

I am glad someone important to me introduced me to Prem Rawat-Maharaji

Great Spot. Chrysler Ads are fantastic.  Here is the ad that ran during half time of today’s superbowl.


Leo Burnett "When to take my name off the door" from Lobo on Vimeo.

Writing an effective copy headline is a challenge if you know you”re going to issue a call to action in the end, and that action is something that people will be initially reluctant to do like subscribing to an e-newsletter or buying a product. If you want your readers to do something, you need to convince them right away and starting with the very first word of your headline.

Offer Something Right Away

If you have something to offer to your readers, something they need and in exchange for what you”re going to ask them to do, make it immediately clear with your headline. When people start reading something online and they aren’t actively seeking information, they want to know what they”re going to get if they continue reading and they want to know what it is right away.

Make It Urgent

People are generally prone to take action if they know they”re running against time. Create a sense of urgency with your headline by telling your readers that your offer only stands up to a certain date or that you”re fast running out of stocks. You can also make it a do-or-die offer; if they let this opportunity slip them by, it’s gone forever.

Take care, however, when using this type of headline as it comes with certain responsibilities. Make sure you withdraw your offer at the stated time. If you”re going to extend the deadline, you better have a good explanation ready so as not to lose your credibility.

Keep It Simple and Powerful

Online copies have to be simple and as headlines are a part of the copy, it stands to reason that they have to be simple as well.

Don’t bother using long and difficult words. They won’t make a difference if no one comprehends them. Aim for powerful words instead. These words inspire action and call strong images immediately to mind. “Make Your Business Live Longer” as a copy headline can be improved, for instance, if you replace passive-sounding words with forceful ones. “Make Your Business Survive” has greater impact compared to the previous headline, don’t you think?

Keep It Short

Yet another requirement for online copies is brevity and naturally, headlines must follow the same rule. As a rule, online readers scan what they read and consequently, they”ll be able to understand a five-word-headline more quickly than a ten-word one.

For a good copy headline, try to lessen the use of particles, prepositions, linking verbs, and other words that won’t make a difference to your readers.

Don’t Try Too Hard

Naturally, funny and witty headlines are better but trying too hard could backfire on you. If there’s no way to make a headline funny or clever then leave it simple. If you manage to get your message across then you’ve done your job.

Use Numbers

They”re easier to recall and they sound more impressive. Instead of simply headlining a copy with “Tips for Gardening”, you can substantially improve it just by adding a digit. “6 Tips for Gardening” encourage people to read more because they know they have six (more than one’s many!) tips to look forward to in a single article.

Review and Revise

You may think you’ve made a perfect headline upon typing the last word, but give it a minute or two and you”ll be able to view it more objectively. Good luck on writing those headlines!

Happy New Year

Posted: 3rd January 2012 by admin in Happy New Year
Tags: , ,

“The old year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The new year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!” Edward Payson Powell