Lotteries, Investments, Patience and Inversion
Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger made money by using a strategy that passed the test of time. At 97 years old, Munger attributes two things to his success: patience and inversion.
The Worth of a Dali
A picture is worth a thousand words. Confucius told us that. Or did he? Actually, Fred Barnard made up the saying to promote the use of images and called it “a Chinese proverb so that people would take it seriously.”
What Matters is What’s Remembered
When you advertise, you typically make bullet points of what you “want customers to know.” Giving a customer an education so he’ll have no choice but to pick you is as fanciful as it is arrogant.
If you can’t see, hire someone else to mow your lawn
For every IBM, there are 100 Blockbusters. For every General Motors, there are 100 Polaroids. You can bet the leaders in your category will one day be in trouble. You can catch and pass them.
Instant Gratification & Marketing
The chase for instant gratification in marketing often looks like “sales events.” Knowing when to use a sale and when to use other methods to get customers in the door makes all the difference.
Ira Glass on Great Advertising, Part 1
The first video covers Ira’s two basic building blocks of storytelling: the Anecdote and the Moment of Reflection. And in advertising terms, these are roughly analogous to Relevance and Credibility.
Your Competitors Are Bastards
Business is like writing. You have to find your own style and stick to it. Stop worrying about what the competition is doing. They're all bastards. Get inspired by things they don't understand.
The Marketing Funnel Cloud
I hate funnels. The thing we call a Marketing Funnel is really just a shorthand to remind us that no customer goes from “I don’t know who you are” to “here, take my money!”
The Asymmetry of Trust
You’re thinking about buying something and an acquaintance says, “Don’t do it; I bought that / hired them and it was a total waste of money. I got screwed.” Generally speaking, we believe them.
The Tale of Ted the Radio Tortoise and Harry the Anxious Hare
I spent a day with two HVAC company owners. Harry the Anxious Hare is closing barely 10% of his online leads. Ted the Radio Tortoise’s telephone team is closing more than 60%.
That’ll Do
Who is the “McDonald’s” in your category? The business you believe is getting an unfair amount of customers… in spite of their quality and competence. A few things are happening that you should find illuminating.
Your First Year In Mass Media Branding: 12 Milestones and a Timeline
A roadmap for TV and Radio that works. If your ad campaign is conceived to get real traction, you’ll see these first four milestones within the first three to five months...
Putting Funny Ads To Work For Your Boring-Ass Business – Parody
If the humor isn’t tied to the message; if you can’t talk about one without talking about the other, then any attempts at persuasion will be short-lived and not very memorable.
Are Your Ads Gossip Worthy?
You probably read this and thought: that’s an unrealistic expectation. Kind of like expecting an ad to “go viral.” Who gossips about ads, of all things? And why would anyone want people gossiping about their brand?
Avoid Scrapbooking Your Brand Visuals.
A “scrapbook company” doesn’t have the emotional connection to your brand that you do; so they give you a templated product that looks like everything else. Unremarkable.