Press. Profit. And Provocation.

The Fuzzy Dice web secret explodes sales

2005-11-04T08:11:00.000-08:00

The US Dept. of Defense spends over $2 billion each year for advertising its recruiting efforts to customers. Which means the Armed Forces has 3 things Librarians do not.

I'm a copywriter. And this is my confession:
The Fuzzy Dice web secret explodes sales.

Sometimes what I think is fuzzy the most is our thinking. For instance, last month I offered (pro-bono) to review your marketing collateral, dear Readers. And received none. Nada. Zippo.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces is making the CEOs of six very big ad agencies toss and turn each night while they dream of winning a mega $$$$ account. So the way I see it, the U.S. Armed Forces has three things U.S. Librarians do not.

#1. A product --that I'm distilling down to its simplest: the intent to kill -- to advertise.

#2. Two billion dollars to advertise that product.

#3. The knowledge that advertising works.

Somebody's playing La Dolce Vita. But is it the military? Or the library?

Maybe you think I'm treading murky water. But the way I see it, the library has a product that's priceless (so I just blew #1 in the list to smithereens). It's item #3 that, to me, seems to be what's killing libraries (because I do have a U.S. Postal Worker who's apt at delivering my packages).

Which leaves us with what's behind door #2. Today, then, I'm going to share with you a secret of Top Gun marketeurs. It's one I learned from a man who's created a sprawling real estate empire of 80+ websites that sell everything from information to electronics to $7,000 a pop armored suits (and not to the military). His name is Andy Jenkins. So he can take the credit (I'm always happiest just taking the cash).

What exactly is the fuzzy dice web secret and how can you make it work for you?

Here it is: you lasso more customers by greeting them wherever they are looking for someone like you.

The smartest and simplest way to sell (or tell) anything these days is online. Adopt Andy's way to sell online.

This means matching the way people search online to your sales process.

Suppose you have a library with many products. You might have a huge portal, linked to all your product lines (services, seminars, special events, book sales, catalog, etc.).

Trouble is, people don't go online searching for "a product line." When I typed "library" into my search bar, I got 1,520,000,000 results!

Yet almost nobody searches for "library."

But people do search for a single product. Like "Fuzzy Dice" (you probably know one library pal who has those spongy over-sized dice dangling from the rearview mirror right now).

Or they'll search specifically for "story-time for children ages 2-5." Since that's how people search, I suggest that's how you should sell. Have the producer of your website create landing pages specifically devoted to each of your spectacular products. Fuzzy Dice. Lambskin seat covers. Low ride wheel covers.

How to take Fuzzy Dice to market

You don't need a ton 'o Uncle Sam banknotes to support your star products' mini-web sites. Your equally vertical, dedicated, specific online ads and ezine marketing campaigns (intercepting your customer where s/he is ALREADY) that drive traffic directly to your product sites can now be supported by the age-old winning marketeur's tactic: go vertical and go deep.

Do you know the secret space on the web where your customers take cover? That intimate space read by the hyper-literate, highly networked, influential and sometimes affluent? Where the fanatics, pundits and even journalists, go daily?

The Blog.

Now you can target select spheres of New Yorkers, lawyers, evangelicals, gizmophiles, gays, conservatives, baseball, fans, foodies, liberals, scientists and dozens (perhaps billions) of Fuzzy-Diced (niched) bloggers.

More than click-thrus. Mindshare.

The best thing about advertising on blogs is that the bloggers are a close-knit community of regular readers, seeking information. (So for some of you, I've just axed your ad-guilt factor.) Rather than click-thrus to links touting free trips to Iraq (in exchange for say, blood), or soulless banners and ads regurgitated from giant random databases, use your relevant, smart ads on blogs to:

Combine an image (up to 150X200 pixels) and text (up to 300 characters) and multiple links.
Appear among peer content, increasing audience engagement with your message.
Sponsor influential blogs for a fixed period, saving money on longer sponsorships.

And to help you get out of the trenches, and onto the front line, here are tactics for writing your blog ad.

6 steps to writing a killer blog ad

Think: Headline + image + text block. Design your ad to use all 3 elements. Think of your ad as a text newsletter ad, plus an image, plus a headline.
Pop your words with formatting. HTML is easy peasy to bold and italicize words for quicker/scan readability. Choose to use on the words that might attract the right readers' attention.
Get hyper. You want people to click-thru to your product page. Use hyperlinks.
Provoke with image. Book covers and library posters are seldom the best image to draw readers' in (exceptions: combining elements of the two, a best-selling title). Still of the human face and locales are the #1 image sellers. Keep logo size small and text sans serif font for legibility. Keep images: big 'n easy. Uncomplicated close-ups.
Keep it short 'n sweet. Sometimes. The size quoted above is large. You can choose shorter (or no) images, call to action in a single text line or bulleted list. Web publishing is infinitely more flexible than the printed page.
Stir it up! Got a complex story or multi-faceted campaign? Create a few ads and change 'em out on the same blog in the same place. Create a control: your master ad, measure response. Then change just ONE element (i.e.: one word) and run it again. Keep beating your controls.

Intercepting your customers

The homework this month Readers, is for you to intercept your customers by traveling where they are. You may think it will cost $$ to place your blog ads on blogs. Maybe. Try this: creating blog ads (to start, you can build them in PowerPoint, then save them as a .jpg and program a click-thru website page in the image) and posting them: to your own company website and your own blogs.

If this is too much advertising, try taking the family to see "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio." Or take a peek at the Library of Congress' video-online ads [http://www.instream.com/instream/inStreamDemoMovie/movieloader_content.html]. If they can get the Ad Council to produce them for free, I've no doubt you'll find a way to negotiate your public-service ads for free all over the web.

Long live the library!

Let me know how it grows.

Tia Dobi is a copywriter and library fanatic living in Los Angeles. Reach her now at tiad@earthlink.net.

This article is a replica of what appears in publisher Marylaine Block's elite e-zine: "Ex Libris." Subscribers include: librarians, library directors, teachers, professors, analysts, information science students, and computer techies. A former columnist for Fox News Online, super-sonic information-world consultant known as the 'Librarian without walls,' Marylaine's work was mentioned in a "Wired" magasine article (penned by the tech reporter to the Los Angeles Times). Like bees to honey, 1500 persons added their name to her (already huge) e-zine subscription list. A perfect example of the power of the press. Why not put it to work for you today?

To customer-connect, think like Mark Twain

2005-09-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

“His value as a writer are his stories, the humour and the sympathies he has for his people—for the characters—and we’re drawn to it because we feel that we need that empathy ourselves.” – Arthur miller, playwright, speaking on Mark Twain.

I’m a copywriter. And this is my confession:
To customer-connect, think like Mark Twain.

Now what on earth could thinking like Mark Twain have to do with selling more of your services? Today, gentle reader, I’m going to show you a formula to help you have empathy with your prospects (patrons-to-be). Which, in turn, gets you more foot traffic.

But first, how did Mark Twain think? Well, he took the first, then the deepest, dip into the vernacular of Americans. The result is summed up in these advertising blurbs (from the 1800’s) used to sell his work:
“By the peoples’ author”
“He sees with our eyes”

Twain gave us our representative voice. Simply by caring about the way common people talked, he used those currents and rhythms in his work and created a worldwide audience that couldn’t get enough of him.

You can do the same thing.

How to be known as more than a (yawn) library.
Many of you want to get more people into your library. Some want more usage from their business services. Others want more teen visitors. No doubt your branch has so many exciting things going on under one roof. Only the masses need to know you exist.

The first way to get people thinking about your services is:
collaborate with your audience – get them involved even before you put pen to paper. Before you write that next brochure, flyer, website entry, promotion or poster, think about: what’s going on in your prospect’s mind.

And then, show empathy.

The first step:

What’s the problem?
Before Twain was writing best-selling tomes, he worked as a typesetter, then writer, for newspapers. And yes, he was a member of that group of people who like to "create pranks" (see this column June 23, 2005). His first headline depicted a disaster. That hadn’t happened yet. Is this effective? Let’s see.

Take your eyes off this computer screen and get your hands on today’s paper. Circle what catches your eye with a red pen. Which was it –- the advertising or editorial that hooked your attention?

All newspaper advertising has the same style headers. Maybe yours has something like:

Enjoy amazing harbour views – Restaurant
Get the word out about your event – Public Relations
Create your own web site – Web Training
Enjoy a career in piloting – Private Pilot’s School

Well. Do these ads get you excited? Are you compelled to find out more?

Like most people, you probably didn’t even see these ads.

So what did get your attention in the newspaper?
Editorial perhaps? All that doom and gloom about the tax hike? Or the child that’s missing? What this tells us is that we tend to skip all the nice benefit advertising and go straight for the jugular. The human brain is trained to go directly to the topics that are blatantly filled with pain.

Pain and problems are a natural magnet for the brain. Isn’t it true that when you drive, you hardly notice the cars next to you? You’re lost in your own reverie, listening to your radio.

Then suddenly, you see flashing orbs in the distance. The glitter of police car lights signals instant “Danger Roy Roger. Danger.” to your brain.

What’s happening here? The problem on the road catches your attention. Problems in headers do the same thing. And the advertisements for the evening news? Ditto. Problems of the day. Front and center, please. Like Mark Twain, these people are teaching you something.

And if it works so well for them time after time, isn’t it time for you to listen?

What’s on your prospect’s mind?
Maybe you like to people-watch. Just look at passers-by walking down the street. Is there zippittydodah spring in their step? Watch carefully. Notice that everyone walks around with some sort of consistent worry worry worry on their mind.

John Doe is a good example. Lately, John’s department hasn’t been getting as many sales as it should. It’s not a big deal-yet. He’s got a half dozen other things that rank higher on his problem list.

He’s on his way to pick little Suzie up from school, when out of the blue he sees a sign on the bulletin board that says: Not getting as many sales as you’d like at the office? It could be because your competition has free access to instant business intelligence data that you don’t.

Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech.

That’s the sound of John’s Nikes against the waxed floor. Ah. Now we have John’s full and instant attention. He can picture the pain. He can see the lost sales in dollar amounts out of his paycheck. He can feel the loom of dog-eat-dog competition at his heels. He’s not even sure what data the sign means, only that he knows that data is a good thing and now he’s not feeling so good.

His problem is out of the bag. And staring him right in the face.

Replace that with a solution statement –- does it work as well?

Yikes! A typical solution-based header for business library services would be Free Business Databases at your local library or something similar. Without an IF factor, the likelihood of John stopping for something like that is almost nil.

You can stop your customers in their tracks and say Hey! Look at me! This is your pain. We can fix it. And the good news gets better. Customers in pain will turn to the first source they find.

Why????

Because THAT supplier has taken the effort to identify the customer’s problem.

Like Mark Twain, see with your customer’s eyes. This stops him from focusing on 10 kazillion issues occupying his attention. Now let’s keep moving.

Learn how to create the problem.

Flagging down your customer
Find one thing that frustrates the heck out of your customers in relation to the product, service, seminar, or offer at hand.

Brainstorm for a one thing scenario. If there’s more than one, pick the one that gets the majority vote. Remember, this has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the customer. To find this problem, concentrate on what really hurts the customer.

It could be a personal hurt they’re feeling. A bone to pick within an industry. What hassles a sales rep or business person that would use a business library’s services? Ask your patrons what bugs them. By doing this, you’ll create a hook to hang the most important part of your marketing message.
(That’s you.)

It takes time to get the problem right. Make a list of potential issues. For a computer repair shop, those could include:

1) Speed of computers
2) Networking hassles
3) Quick ‘n easy fix-it service
4) Genuine spare parts
5) High cost of peripherals

Once you’ve stated the problem, create an attention getting problem statement.

Put the turbo boost back into your Pentium (problem = Pentium)
Take the messiness out of computer networking (problem = cables)
50% cheaper computer parts = 100% nuisance ((problem = wrong spare part)

Empathy. The key to problems.
People are inclined to buy services or products when marketers tap into their thinking, see things the way they do, and relieve their problems. Problems are the most powerful attention getter in your customers’ brains. Because it cuts through the information clutter. Snagging their attention.

Magazines, newspapers, radio and TV get your attention by using this factor very skillfully.

News uses problems to get your attention. Most advertising (how’s yours?) does the opposite. It uses solutions. Problems are more exciting.

We are naturally attracted to problems. Watch how many people are watching that building burn down (if you’re not watching it burn yourself).

By communicating with problem-naming, you quickly capture the right attention of the right customers for your product. Problems make people stop. To think. That thought process usually takes them into the future, where the problem may occur. Urgency is created.

Your customer’s biggest frustration is what you need to uncover. Highlight the message further (a little more brain pain). In turn, s/he will be interested in your message. So they can get rid of their pain. Voila!

Now you are the empathetic problem-solver.

Engaging the world
The homework this month readers, is for me to be like Mark Twain. By engaging the people in what’s important to them. Send me one service you’d like to promote, the material you’re using to do that, and I’ll audit it for you. Circle back next month and read the results. Meanwhile, create a problem, state it, and be the empathetic solution.

Let me know how it grows.

Tia Dobi is a copywriter and library fanatic living in Los Angeles. Reach her now at tiad@earthlink.net.

Your image is up for grabs.

2005-08-17T07:47:00.000-07:00

“I see it differently. I think the library should be the most important building in a community in our information age.” – 62-year-old entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, and multi-millionaire Matthew Lesko, responding to a press allegation that in today’s world, libraries are
becoming obsolete.

I’m a copywriter. And this is my confession:
Your image is up for grabs.

For instance, every time you go clothes shopping, isn’t your self-esteem on the rack?

Take Matthew Lesko. He brought his message above—and his trademark blue suit covered with yellow question marks—addressing a number of residents in Maryland. Lesko spent his own dime campaigning to save a library district there.

“I never leave home without it,” he said of the colorful outfit he uses to hawk his books on how to take advantage of government programs.

He’s made a career with garish clothing, a frenetic speaking style and information that can be obtained free from libraries.

Isn’t that some image?

And he’s not afraid libraries will undercut sales of his books.

“Actually, people steal them from libraries,” he joked. I speak at libraries all the time. I’d rather do that than give speeches where people pay me $5,000. People have more fun, and I have more fun.”

And that’s not all. Lesko’s image + efforts helped get attention, and the district voted not to dissolve.

Do you have an image problem?
Marketeurs worry about how others will see them and they take action; they take control of how they’re going to be seen. Donning outlandish Riddler-type suits and jumping up and down may not be your style.

But then again, it might be.

Today, I present to you an audacious act of rebranding, done by a group of people who are not usually thought of as being, well, audacious. Who are these people? Public librarians. In this case, teen librarians.

But first, let’s settle into agreement. Do you think teenagers see the library as boring, the equivalent of summer school? Good. Now we’re on the same page.

Except maybe in the state of Michigan. If you hang with teen librarians in that state, you’ll hear them recite a mysterious phrase. The term is “lock-in.”
Like, “Did you hear about how the lock-in went the other night in Kalamazoo?” A lock-in is when the library re-opens its doors after closing time, lets a bunch of teenagers in and then, once they’re all snuggled inside, locks the doors. And the kids can’t get out. Until the next morning. Does this sound like it could be a barrel of monkeys for the adolescents?

Apparently so. They love it. The lock-in is the state-of-the-art customer-and image–grabbing technique in today’s teen librarian’s arsenal.

“Every time I’ve done it, we’ve had at least 50 teens or more camped out between the stacks,” says Bill Harmer. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Bill hosts late-night car tournaments, and stocks the shelves with the latest Japanese comics. Or that he’s assembled the largest DVD collection in the entire state. Including video stores.

But last fall, Bill planned to take teenage library programming to a place where it had never gone before. To leave lock-in in the dust.

Welcome to the grand illusion
The plan was this: to stage a series of summer 2005 concerts, all over Michigan. But not the type of music normally associated with libraries: acoustic instruments, singing puppets, songs about B-I-N-G-O. This would be rock music. Screaming electric guitar licks. Needle-in-the-red drum poundings. Libraries. Notoriously quiet. Rock n’roll. Notoriously loud. Making something appealing by being the very opposite.

Card catalogs. Keyboard clacking. Harry Potter movie stardom. And this. A live, indie band from Detroit that calls itself The High Strung.

The band agreed to a 34-show library tour and didn’t think much about it. Living on $10 a day for the past 4 years, their usual gig meant playing in smoky bars and long-haired listener rock clubs. (Sometimes appearing in “Mo Townish” white uniforms. “I feel like a superhero when we wear those outfits,” says one band member.) But now they had promised to play every other day, all summer long. In an institution.

Two days before their tour started, they were more than a little freaked out. Maybe playing libraries didn’t exactly fit their image.

“I went to the library yesterday and the man showing me around said ‘This is your stage.’ It was like, the reference desk.”

“I feel like we’re almost going to be tamed beasts. Watch my language… get the liquor off the breadth. We should be in a cage.”

Perhaps The High Strung is the perfect band for the tour. They’ve all been to college. And like some touring U.S. bands, they’re huge library patrons. The truth is bands nowadays are in libraries all the time. Because the internet’s there and when you’re on the road it’s a valuable place to go. It’s their field office.

Are you ready to rock? Or?
Picture this. A gray carpeted conference room, florescent lights beaming overhead. Expenditures on the board. Nine to fourteen-year-old kids are swinging their legs over a metal stack of old library chairs. Parents and grandparents peering on.

Three young men in street clothes take the floor. The noise definitely catches the audience off guard. Nerves are full-tilt. Nobody knows what’s going to happen here. You’ve just put one of the loudest things known to man in a county library.

Most of the kids look puzzled. “Everything everyone’s been telling me to this point has been a lie,” their faces say.

No one in the audience moves, attentively passive. Just like watching somebody reading aloud during story hour. Between songs, the band throws in some library public service messages.

So here it is. The image of rock ‘n roll meets the image of the library. Head to head.

“Basically you’re being retained to make this institution that’s not seen as cool, cooler. That’s a big responsibility.” – The High Strung

As the show progresses, it seems less and less like a show in the library and more like just a rock show. At some of the library gigs, middle and high-school kids adorn the front rows, flirting with the rockers and getting autographs after the show.

By the time the head children’s librarian comes out, giving her version of, “let’s give it up for the band,” one thing’s for sure. This county library room has been rocked harder than it’s ever been rocked before. But the question is, was it rocked hard enough to actually change the image of the library?

Scores of kids were talked to in 3 different towns. Some were teen library card-carrying members. The rest just saw ads in the paper, or their parents did. Adjectives about the library before the show? A place for quiet activities. Afterwards? Two quotes that echo 100% of the surveyed results:

“Before it was just ‘ol ladies and now it’s young people. It’s a lot of fun.”

“Yes it did, it made me think that if librarians could make a library not very much a library, basically anyone could do anything,” said one ten-year old.

The High Strung enjoyed the library tour as well. Not surprisingly, they say librarians are better at organizing and promoting rock shows than most rock promoters. And have better pay etiquette. Of course, on a regular tour, they don’t have to stick around for a Q&A after every show.

“I think that a lot of kids, this is their first rock show. And I didn’t think about that angle when this whole thing started. So we’ve built a memory, their first memory of watching a bunch of men playing together, that’s an experience. Now the delivery of it all has a different meaning to me, it’s more weighted. This move here, or when I turn to Derek, we can do funny things… that’s an image in that child’s mind… so it’s not weighted with pressure but weighted with more meaning.”

Of course, if this is how you’re selling teens on libraries, then you’re going to have to keep booking rock shows.

Image marketing using Rock & Roll
Want to harness the power of rock to get your brand message out?
Darin Wolf, VP Clear Channel, who spent 11 years as a brand marketer at Kraft and Rolling Rock, reveals his dos and don’ts for marketing via rock concerts:

1. Set your objective (and be prepared to measure results)

For a branded entertainment project to work, both parties must understand the objective, which takes a fair amount of thought. “I’ve worked with a lot of partners who weren’t sure what they wanted,” he goes on. Is the partnership a volume-driving goal or equity driving goal and how are you going to measure it?

For example, at a concert in Central Park, Bank One invited anyone who applied for a Sony Card to watch the concert from a special viewing area close to the stage. “They had over 5,000 people sign up over the course of 24 hours,” Wolf says. That’s measurable data.

On the other hand, if you want to become associated with something “cool” or unique, measurement comes from quantitative analysis.

“Add a question to your quarterly questionnaire,” Wolf says. “If your goal is to associate your brand with hip, cool music, make sure that question gets into a survey before any events take place, and then again after the event.”

2. Existing property or original property?

Creating original content tends to be more expensive than aligning yourself with something that already exists. But it also gives you more control over the property.

T-Mobile wanted to create proprietary music property and sponsored five different concerts in five cities and produced them simultaneously in one night. Here’s how the T-Mobile product took center stage:

 Brand ambassadors walked the concerts taking pictures with T-Mobile phones then featured the pix from all five shows live on giant video screens. Other screens featured text from people using the phones for text messaging.

 The artist Ashanti waved a T-Mobile phone in the air (rather than the traditional lighter).

 Focusing the message platform on “with T-Mobile, you get more,” T-Mobile tied in another concert, announced that night. Tickets could be won in a sweepstakes while submitting text messages.

Existing property usually already has a following.

3. Expand content beyond one experience
Repurpose content, Wolf suggests. “Put it on a DVD, CD, Webcast, or infuse it into an advertising campaign. You’ve made the investment to get a live audience there; for people who can’t go, how else can you let people experience it?”

4. Gut instincts have merit
The most analytic among us may disagree, but Wolf believes that some of the best decisions come from the gut. “You have to be confident enough to know what your brand is all about so you can make decisions and attach yourself to properties that make sense,” he says. “It’s not that different from attaching yourself to a radio or TV spot. Ultimately, it’s got to be a gut decision.”

No doubt the kid who can’t be more than four years old, holding a deck of Pokeman cards in one hand and a stuffed bunny in the other, elbows covering his ears, bouncing up and down widely in his chair with a huge smile on his face as he listens to The High Strung at a library central reading room rock concert agrees.

"Vision is the art of seeing the invisible." - Jonathan Swift

Don't fake it
What Wolf proffers in principle can be used for any image campaign. Phil Dunn writes and consults for Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, and Pitney Bowes. Here he shares with us more about the art of differentiating a product's image so it stands out from the pack.

No matter what your industry, crowded markets force you to quickly grab customer attention or quickly fade into obscurity. To maximize profits and capture broad-based mindshare, you need to set yourself apart from the competition. How? USING DIFFERENT STYLES, TONES, AND ATTITUDES.

To borrow a jingle from a 1980's sitcom: "It takes different strokes to move the world." People are different, they communicate in different ways, and they appreciate different presentations. You can't sell Gameboy cartridges with the rigid tones and attitude of a PTA parent. However, you can use tone, attitude, and style to your advantage—if you can pull it off.

On television, commercials allow the voice talent to change attitude according to the product being offered. Truck commercials, for example, usually feature gruff, low, macho men voices as the trucks splash through mud and climb across rocky terrain. Financial companies feature reasoned, seasoned voices that are supposed to instill confidence in the viewers. Lingerie commercials feature a soft, sexy, feminine voice. Chances are, you're so involved in your industry that you're already talking the talk. If you've got the chops to make it work for you, by all means, use them.

The lesson here is don't fake it. Also, remember to sell your own particular product. For example, don't convince people to buy just any watch. Extol the virtues of your watches.

Creating your rock star image
This month readers, a modern-day Brighton librarian shows us how to promote her library’s rock concert with this write-up:

[Teen Programs]
7:00 pm
The High Strung Library Tour

Free all ages show! No pre-registration required.

The High Strung (drummer Derek Berk, guitarist/vocalist Josh Malerman, bassist Chad Stocker) are all about creating noise. They write heart-on-your-sleeve rock songs. Their music is downright catchy, with obvious roots in classic rock bands like the Beatles and the Stones. But, hey, this isn’t any retrofit. The band wins positive reviews everywhere they play, have been featured in local press nationwide, as well as national magazines like Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly, and has received accolades from critics like NPR’s Ken Tucker, who included their album These Are Good Times in his top ten of 2003. And now their on a library tour. Josh Malerman sums up the library tour best: “You don't need a big ol' stage. You don't need the bar and lights. What you need is a room full of people who want to hear good music and a band that wants to make that and play it for them. Why can't that happen at a library?” Exactly. Why not?

Encore! [Thunderous applause here.]

Let me know how it grows.

Tia Dobi is a copywriter and library fanatic living in Los Angeles. Reach her now at tiad@earthlink.net.

This article is a replica of what appears in publisher Marylaine Block's elite e-zine: "Ex-Libris." Subscribers include: librarians, library directors, teachers, professors, analysts, information science students, and computer techies. A former columnist for Fox News Online, super-sonic information-world consultant known as the 'Librarian without walls,' Marylaine's work was mentioned in a "Wired" magasine article (penned by the tech reporter to the Los Angeles Times). Like bees to honey, 1500 persons added their name to her (already huge) e-zine subscription list. A perfect example of the power of the press. Why not put it to work for you today?

Concept is king.

2005-06-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

“There’s a customer born every minute.” – Phineas Taylor Barnum, a man who survived our bloody Civil War, personal bankruptcy, and some of the worst economic panics in American history and still became a millionaire.

I’m a copywriter. And this is my confession:
Concept is king.

Don’t believe me? Then why do most people prefer to film the conception rather than the birth?

And what do I mean by ‘concept’? Well, there are many words that mean the same thing. These days, for example, the hot buzzword is ‘positioning’. A product is positioned or placed (through the spoken or written word) in such a way as to appeal to the consumer.

That ‘way’ is the concept.

Other terms commonly used are “Big Idea’, or ‘USP’ (unique selling proposition: see this column’s May 2005 issue), maybe even ‘gimmick’. Whatever it’s called, it means basically the same thing. You sell the sizzle and not the steak-the concept and not the product. (The only exception to this rule is when the product is so unique or new that the product itself becomes the concept.)

How a vision breakthrough can be your breakthrough
Joseph Sugarman is one of America’s top copywriters and entrepreneurs and the man who built several large businesses. All through the creative power of his pen. Joe calls selling the concept, not the product, “one of the most important and basic copywriting [selling] principles.”

Many of you know Joe from his Blublocker Sunglasses craze. [Blublockers are the original ultra-violet ray-blocking lenses that differentiated themselves by being the first sunglasses to enhance vision sharpness.] Once, to sell a chess computer, Joe ‘set up the sale’ by inventing a concept using the Soviet chess champion, Anatoli Karpuv. Not as a person who would endorse the product but as somebody whom Joe’s company could challenge to play the unit. Indeed, that’s what they did. Here’s the copy in one of the successful venture’s first ads:

Subheadline: Can an American chess computer beat the Soviet chess champion? A confrontation between American space-age technology and a Soviet psychological weapon.
Copy: The Soviet Union regards chess as a psychological weapon, not just a game. It is a symbol of Communism’s cultural struggle with the West.

So when Russian Anatoli Karpov competed against the Russian defector Victor Korchnoi, he had the entire Soviet Union’s resources at his disposal, including a hypnotist and neuro-psychologist. Karpov won. And with it the worlds’ undisputed chess championship. Karpov, however, has never confronted American space-age technology and in particular JS&A’s new chess computer.

Of course the copy continued to talk about the challenge JS&A was making against Karpov. That was the concept. They weren’t selling computers. The sale was the challenge against the Russian champion and as a consequence selling chess computers. It was taking a very staid product and giving the entire promotion a more emotional appeal. Over 20,000 units sold.

No doubt about it. Concepts sell products.

If you’re selling just the logical or technical features of your library’s products and services be careful. You’ll need a concept. You’ll do much better.

Sucker vision
I purposefully included the word ‘gimmick’ above because some of you have blocked vision when it comes to wanting to market. Some of you slap a ‘dishonesty’ label on marketing. Others have written me to say you want to promote more. Except that you’re creatively blocked.

One concept can help you both.

But first, let’s understand that, to ‘come up with a concept’ one simply has to: see things differently. And let’s face it. That can be excruciatingly difficult. But if doesn’t have to be. Not if you have: sucker vision.

Sucker vision isn’t as messy as it sounds. What I mean is this: what could a person say about a product that would absolutely positively resonate with that individual’s inner feeling tonality (or the target customers’)? Sucker vision isn’t wanting to be ‘suckered’ as in: duped. Try this word: drawn. Practicing sucker vision is an emotionally intelligent way of asking my logical brain to partner with my left brain to come up with a creative concept that maturates the feeling tone within to an outside product.

Like this. Grab one of your products and make something up about it. Pretend it could be another way or have another meaning. Move it around. Physically and mentally. Place it next to other objects. Try it next to something unrelated or that you have a hunch could be related. Photographs work really well. And since you have so much at your disposal, you could place things next to pictures of your targeted audience readily. Literally, placing your product. (Ideas can be written on plain sheets of paper and placed).

********************************

Tcudorp

The first job of an ad agency is to look at your product in every imaginable way: frontwards, backwards, sideways, upside down, inside out. Because somewhere, right there in the product itself, lies the drama that will sell it to people who want it.
There may be 10,000 ways to bring that inherent drama to the stage. And given a world in which “me-too” products multiply like mayflies, the drama may seem that much harder to find.
It is.
But every good product has it.
And every good agency finds it.

(Please note: The “t” in tcudorp is silent.)

This is one of my favourite advertisements that really captures the essence of today’s lesson. It’s a full-page ad that appeared in Advertising Age Magasine and produced by the Leo Burnett ad agency. - TD

********************************

You want to emote and evoke an emotion. Then you want to evaluate those emotions. Good? Not so good? Pleasure? Pain? These actions may come easily and quickly or may take more time. It really depends on how well you know and understand the product to begin with. [How well do you know your products and services?]

Then ask, “Is this true?” Is this conceivable and therefore, believable? (Right here we debunk marketing as inaccurate.] If yes, keep going at finishing that concept for your next BIG promotion. If no, how could you make it be so? How, where and in what ways can you position the product to have sucker vision?

You can have a lot of fun with sucker vision. You see, I’ve just turned around the normal, everyday, commonplace use of the word sucker and given it a new form. What a concept!

A BIG concept: The greatest showman on earth
You know, promoter P.T. Barnum never did say, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” It probably stemmed from one of his many imposters. And being a sign of the times. When he was born in Bethel, Connecticut on July 5, 1810, Barnum entered a period in American history when hijinks, hoaxes, and “humbugs” were becoming popular. It was a Yankee form of recreation that helped people break from their strict Puritan past. (Let alone no entertainment afforded by TV, movies, theme parks, Ipods, cell phones, computers, internet, the Pill, etc. etc.)

Hoaxes were in the air. Usually these hoaxes were created to drum up new business for their creators. For example:

- Edgar Allan Poe promoted a famous Balloon Hoax, where he wrote journalistic reports about a manned balloon flight across the Atlantic.

- Walt Whitman wrote fictitious fan letters and reviews to promote his poetry.

- Mark Twain wrote an ad in 1874 selling passenger seats on the tail of the comet Coy Coggia – and encouraged people to contact Barnum for tickets.

- In 1855 a daring hotel operator created a “Silver Lake Serpent” to encourage people to visit Perry, New York. They did, too. All wanted to see the monstrous tourist attraction.

- In the 1870s the city of Palisade, Nevada, increased its number of tourists by becoming “the toughest town east of Chicago.” People would visit Palisade to witness exciting gunfights and street brawls. What the visitors never knew was that the fights were staged. It was a hoax to increase tourist revenues.

Barnum learned that people in the 1800s often expected jokes. The public’s desire to see hoaxes often interfered with their ability to recognize a good thing when it stood right in front of them.

But Barnum did not believe in cheating his customers. They were fascinated by animals, evolution, and human “curiosities” (midgets, giants, etc.) We are fascinated by space aliens, life after death, and alternative medicine. People never change; only our focus of interest does.

Barnum simply got the public’s attention by being entertaining. (He entertained to get ‘em in and then kept them glued to their seats by: entertaining.) Concepts are a form of: engaging entertainment.

Tom Thumb was really a giant
Barnum was a master at conceptualizing. He gave the people what they wanted. His ability to ‘see and place things differently’ made him – and others – millions. And delighted the world.

Just one of his visions is the story of Tom Thumb. Barnum traveled to see a tiny poverty-born four-year-old boy named Charles Stratton who was shamed and pitied because of his stunted growth. Barnum renamed him Tom Thumb, taught him to sing and dance, gave him status by calling him “General,” and promoted him to the world by personally introducing “General Tom Thumb” to editors of major newspapers in New York City. Barnum created America’s first superstar. Stratton died, having lived a fascinating and fulfilling life for 43 years. With a tall bank account.

Create concepts to serve your customers
Barnum went after customers with a zest and zeal that few businesspeople have ever exhibited. He used every means of advertising, publicity, and technology available. He invented ways to help him achieve the goals he wanted. And he never stopped. He even managed to get his obituary published in the newspapers two days before he died, knowing the obituary of such a famous man would be treated as front-page news – and would help publicise his circus.

Barnum did all of this because he knew there was a customer born every minute and he wanted to reach those customers, just as you want to reach yours. And while you should always target your market, you also don’t want to limit your scope. Your market may be bigger than you ever imagined. Barnum wore no blinders. He went after planet earth.

And guess what? There’s nothing available to Barnum that’s not available to you. Right now at your library. Grab a piece of paper and a pencil. Write out all the points which best describe the nature of your product and some of the strong reasons your product would appeal to your customers.

And then create a BIG concept that draws ‘em in like bees to honey.

Let me know how it grows.

Tia Dobi is a copywriter and library fanatic living in Los Angeles. Reach her now at tiad@earthlink.net.

You gotta bulletproof your business

2005-05-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

“What makes you unique makes you successful.” – William Arruda, CEO of Reach, a recognized global leader in branding organizations and the people who belong to them.

I’m a copywriter. And this is my confession:
You gotta bulletproof your business.

Don’t believe me? Then try these latest library mottos on for size, look and feel:

Karrmann Library – “Your Passport to the World”

University of Hawaii at Manoa – “Ideas flow @ your library”

New Jersey Library Assoc. – “No Boundary/No Limits/Know your library”

Old Dominion University - “Supporting the quest for knowledge”

Managerial Technologies Corp. Library – “We search the net so that you don't have to.”

Somerset County (MD) Library – “Expand your mind: Explore your library”

Saxon B. Little Free Library (CT) – “Be a reader. Be informed.”

Now staff may write a tagline. But to bulletproof a business means to have a place of your own. That, no matter what, on a clear sunny day, or even while in a purple haze, your customer says “I’m not even sure why. I just KNOW I want THAT PRODUCT.” And to be that product of choice, you must promise big, bold benefits that no one else offers. And which no prospect can resist. That can only mean one thing. Differentiation.

Answering the question: Why buy?
Like all businesses, you want a steadier stream of customers, better cash funding flow and more profits (to buy more books and neat cool stuff) but you know that even if you service your customers better than your competition, if you don't get your message out there you won't be first choice. The problem is, no one is hearing your message as is, and it might not be the right one in the first place. You need a way to come up with the optimal message that will maximize your library’s presence.

You need a way to claim "top of the mind" awareness for all those potential customers out there, because you want them to think of you FIRST. You need a way that you become KNOWN as the only logical, rational, viable choice for supplying your type of goods and services. You need some way that gets you more library users while competing against more user choices in the marketplace. You need a way to get customers EXCITED about relating to you and forgetful of your competition. Something that will weld them to you with a loyalty that cannot be broken.

What you need, my friend, is a UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION, a USP.

"Your USP is Like A Maverick 'Pick-Up Line' That Will Have Customers Favoring You Over Everyone Else"
A USP is a marketing concept invented by Rosser Reeves in the 1960's. Reeves, who wrote Reality in Advertising, came to the conclusion that the only way to make customers come to you was to create an advertising message about your product that contained the following three characteristics:

1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: "Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit."

2. The proposition must be one that the competitor either cannot, or does not offer. It must be unique--either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.

3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e. pull over new customers to your product.

Reeves used this idea to create unique selling propositions for many consumer products such as Anacin ("The pain relievers doctors recommend most"), M&M candies ("They melt in your mouth, not in your hands"), Colgate ("Cleans your breath while it cleans your teeth"), and Wonder Bread ("Helps build bodies in eight ways"). With the USP, he built those products and companies into billion dollar giants.

The strategy of creating and then sticking to a USP is as powerful today as it was then, and is still used by savvy marketers to build million dollar and billion dollar firms. [Think: # of library patrons.] If you have the right type of USP for your product or service, that type of outcome is not out of reach.

Reaching the customer
Since that time, the idea of the USP, also known as a unique buying advantage, has slowly expanded beyond its original bounds.

I spoke with branding strategist William Arruda. Who defines today’s successful USPs in this way:

“A personal brand statement [William’s unique version of the USP] is a brief description that includes: Uniqueness. It’s evaluate is only available from you. A promise. Something you commit to. No matter what. And value. To those people who make you successful.” William further explains:

“A USP differs from a slogan in that a slogan is exclusively external. You develop a slogan to make a statement to the marketplace. It’s generally more acceptable to be witty and punchy. Your USP is your guiding post. One that’s used by every employee to make decisions internally. It can also be used outwardly in the marketplace of course. However, it stems from your brand core values. Those come from introspection [see article #3, Dec. 2004 in this series]. Every time you have to make a decision, bump it up against your USP to see if it's on brand for you.

The use of a USP, then, is much bigger than a tagline. [Also slogan, motto.] USP’s are what makes your business amazing and successful – which is inherent to both your employees and your customers. If a company allows employees to have individual USP’s – to uncover about themselves what makes each of them unique and amazing – then engages their people at that level, you’ve got super-duper performance in the workplace. Really understanding how much value every employee has to contribute. Which makes the entire organization outstanding. Which means they move up to a whole new level in the marketplace. That alone makes customers want to frequent your business more. What corporation wouldn’t want super engaged and super motivated employees with the permission to be at their best?

By understanding your individual brand and how you can deliver on the promise of the organization, the library’s promise in this case…how you could deliver in a way that’s effective for you… that’s the double entendre [the best form of copywriting] potential of a USP. An employee using her or his USP to deliver on the library’s USP.

Nordstrom’s does this. They give extra value through super customer service. Say they have two sales people in men’s suits. One’s gregarious, just loves people and is very friendly, the other an introspective, thoughtful creative. How can both of them deliver on the company’s USP? Easy. The first would have a party in the department when a new line of suits arrives. If you try to squelch that, he’d be miserable. If you forced salesrep #2 to have parties, she’d quit. Instead, she’s allowed to take photos of the new suits and mails them to her customers with a note ‘thought you’d like this’.

Now, we don’t know these individuals’ personal USP’s. But what we do know is that they’re both married to customer service. By individualizing their USPs with the company’s, both employees get the benefits of confidence. Which equals self-motivation. Your USP does the same in the minds of your customers. And new prospects. Confidence stated propels motivation incites action. Everybody loves you when you have a USP. Your company attracts better employees. Who love their jobs. And they nave no reason to leave. The same goes for your customers.”

A winning Unique selling proposition:

A Big,Overt Promise of BENEFITS for customers who buy the product or service. A REAL REASON to BELIEVE that the benefits claim is credible and that customers can TRUST that those promised benefits will actually be delivered. A DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE to those promised benefits that makes the offering unique and distinguishes the product or service apart from its competitors. The USP should be an ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE idea that can sustain a business for at least 5 years or more. It should be short, simple, memorable, attention getting, persuasive, motivating and compelling just by its WORDING alone.

You could spend thousands of dollars in advertising (or no dollars in the case of PR) and have extremely low or no results because of your poor planned copy.
It’s a fact of copywriting life. So here’s a secret to crafting your USP – or any good copy. Promote your best and strong benefit at first, not last. That's how you are going to create interest and then desire.

Federal Express created one of the most famous USPs of all times when it said: "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight." When Fred Smith founded Federal Express, there was no such thing as an airfreight package delivery service that could reliably deliver packages overnight in a consistent fashion. Everyone knows FedEx now, but the business of Federal Express is not so much the package delivery business as it is the business of delivering peace of mind. FedEx's customers fear late delivery, so FedEx composed a unique selling proposition that focused on delivering the peace of mind that the package would get there on time.

FedEx grew into the international, multibillion dollar giant it is today because of both its business design and its simple USP that it trumpeted over and over again in its advertising: "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” FedEx so organized its business structure and strategies, hiring, training, tracking capabilities, management rewards, uniforms, corporate communications, delivery methods and facilities ALL around the single promise of making overnight deliveries without fail. FedEx became focused on delivering upon that USP that they had determined was the most attractive one for the package delivery market. FedEx is organized (aligned) around that promised benefit.

Anyone can readily recognize that this USP promises the benefit of overnight delivery for customers. But the real genius of this USP escapes most people, which is the fact that it subtly offers a real credibility for that promise through the words, "positively, absolutely." Without those words, Federal Express's service promise would lose its singularity and believability. Those two words telegraph that this company means what it says … it means business … you WILL get your package delivered tomorrow.

Domino's Pizza, on the other hand, also grew into a super successful national franchise -- despite having literally thousands of local competitors all across the country - largely because of a simple business model and a simple USP that also greatly differentiated it from all its competitors. Domino's promised the pizza customer an experience that was rare in the pizza home delivery market. Its USP was "Hot, fresh pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed." Let's say that one again: "Hot, fresh pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed."

Before Dominos Pizza, your chances of ordering and then promptly receiving a "fresh and hot" pizza were "slim to none" since it usually arrived cold, late, and sticking to the top of its box. Definitely there was room for better pizza service. Dominos knew this, so they came out with their famous unique selling proposition - a true customer buying advantage - and they went national by sticking to their word. If you didn't get your hot pizza on time, you didn't have to pay and so the company organized itself around the promise of fast delivery.

Because most people already knew what pizza tasted like, Dominos didn't promise a tasty pizza or lots of tomato sauce or extra toppings. Dominos stuck to impressing you with one major promise … fast, reliable delivery of a hot pizza.

What was the believability factor to get over the pizza credibility hump? To make its USP believable and entice customers to give them a try, Dominos offered a guarantee. They promised that if your pizza didn't arrive at your door within 30 minutes, you'd get it for free. That one factor differentiated it from everyone else and enabled it to cream all its competition. Other pizza companies now focus on different USPs (Papa John's trumpets, "Better ingredients, better pizza) while Little Caesars promises two pizzas for the price of one), but you can see how powerful a simple idea can be in creating billion dollar businesses. Yes, USPs can take your library to the top, if you hit it right!

How to give your library a $1million face-lift. Without spending a dime.
Plaster this USP all over the place. “Free books. All the time.” Or, write your own USP and test it in all the places your name is in print. Can your competitor say the same thing? Or is it bulletproof?

Let me know how it grows.

Tia Dobi is a copywriter and library fanatic living in Los Angeles. Reach her now at tiad@earthlink.net.

Hypnotic Writing Sells

2005-04-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

“Thank you for reading this book. I trust you enjoyed it, were inspired by it, and maybe even experienced insights that will help you, too, go for and achieve your dreams. I wonder what you will do next. Dare something worthy.” – known as “Mr. Fire,” and one of the world’s best direct marketers, Dr. Joe Vitale in his book Adventures Within.

I’m a copywriter. And this is my confession:
Hypnotic writing sells.

Don’t believe me? Then toss out all your holding’s best-sellers. Timeless classics. Volumes of Shakespeare. Romance paperbacks. And Harry Potters.

C’mon. Couldn’t your library could use a little spring cleaning? OK OK. But you know and I know that year after year, time after time, book after book, some things never change. And that’s good reading. Which is borne of good writing.

That’s what you and I have in common. I write. You peddle books. We both want people to read. And what better time of year for waving the magic wand and enchanting people than with a spring promotional.

One in particular has got me up and running. Jumping up and down. Ecstatic actually. Is it the new IRS pamphlet touting their latest gizmo in e-tronic and tele-phony tax filing? Could be…. Or how ‘bout this. I’m a library fanatic. So it must be National Library Week. Hmmm… maybe maybe. Or… suppose it could be the rush of excitement surrounding the pre-release sales of the latest Harry Potter tome?

Well, almost. Actually, it’s this news release that appeared in my inbox at noon Pacific time yesterday that got my blood thumping:

Author Picks Fight With Harry Potter -- and Wins
#2 Bestseller Uses Internet in New Ways to Sell Books

(April 6, 2005) The Texas author of numerous books is
using a wild EBay auction, online allies, and a truckload of
bonuses to, as he says, "chase Harry Potter up a tree."

Joe Vitale's latest book "The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy
Steps for Creating Wealth (or anything else) From the
Inside Out" (Wiley, $29.95) hit #2 at Amazon and #2 at
Barnes and Noble yesterday and is still there today.

The latest Potter book -- still unreleased -- is #1.

"I've bumped Trump, and Da Vinci, and I'm going
after Potter," announced the author, whose book is
#1 in the business category.

His method has been grassroots and inexpensive:

First: He made an offer few could refuse. Go to
http://www.mrfire.com/factor and you'll see a list of
23 bonuses -- "ethical bribes," Vitale calls them --
for anyone who buys his book today. This encourages
sales in one day. Many people are buying hundreds
of copies to support the author. Vitale just extended
the deadline on these offers to midnight on April 6th.

Second: He has used allies to win the war. Vitale
contacted owners of large [e-]lists and asked them to do
a mailing for him. Most agreed, knowing it would be
good publicity for them to be involved in Vitale's
one-man underground campaign to sell books.

Third: Friends of his posted a creative auction on
EBay to sell two million books in one week. Whether
he does it or not will have to be seen. See the listing at
http://www.JasonMangrum.com/2MillionCopiesSoldOnEbay/

"I'm one guy and a computer going up against a fictional
character with a media empire behind him," said Vitale.
"Everyone said I don't stand a chance. But look - I'm
already #2."

Will he dethrone the Potter king?

Vitale, who is a magician in his spare time, waves
his magic wand and says, "Harry Potter oblivio."

"I have more tricks in my Internet bag," says Vitale,
who has made bestsellers before using his online
system. "Just watch my e-smoke."

# # #

Abracadabra
When I called Joe two hours later to chat with him for this article, he had done it. "The Attractor Factor" just hit #1 on Barnes and Noble, beating everyone from Trump to Harry Potter.

And the book is #1 in Business books on Amazon, and #2 there in all books.

This is historic.

No one has ever beaten Potter. In fact, Joe’s first printing of 20,000 sold-out completely, stumping his publisher (who’s in their 2nd printing as you read this).

What’s even more fun is that when I called, Joe was penning his NEW press release.

Now that’s press, profit and provocation in action.

And now, a word from the Hypnotic Marketer
DOBI: Joe, I’m jazzed. I can’t stop smiling. I was just writing a piece for my library marketeurs’ column, thinking how hard it can be for libraries to get the word out these days. Especially with so many budget cuts…

Dr. Joe: It’s a myth, Tia,that you need to have a lot of money and existing relationships and bonuses to sell books (or anything). It’s people who I don’t know at all that helped me do the impossible. I’m one man and I went up against a media machine; I chose to beat out Harry Potter simply because it’s the #1 selling book on the web right now. If it had been another book, then that would have been my target.

I made it a challenge; the marketing is a story in itself. I asked. I asked people to do things for me and they said yes! A man in Dallas who had read the book said he would volunteer his time to my Internet marketing cause. And he threw in a free offer to win a trip to people who purchase at least 3 copies.

I asked a company with an email list of a million names if I could have the names for free. For FREE. I told them a little bit about my book, how a testimonial said it could change humanity, because it can, and they gave me the list. [Joe has reader and life-changing testimonials – one of our top marketeur’s tools – posted on his site.] So we were able to do a million-person emailing. My publisher couldn’t believe it! The dollar cost of those types of lists start at $10 grand.

DOBI: So you made the offer irresistible?
Dr. Joe: Absolutely! I used the Internet to get the best leverage. I had to get enough book sales within a certain timeframe [Amazon and Barnes and Noble calculate sales hourly] to reach my goal of bumping Potter. So I offered a 24-hour [now extended due to the sell-out] 23-bonus ethical bribe.
Tia, tell your librarians what I teach everyone: You MUST be different in your offerings.

And that my book can make a difference in the world is attractive in itself. People can give them as gifts, this book has the potential to change humanity, lift people out of poverty.

DOBI: What advice could you give the readers?
Dr. Joe: Two things. First, ask away. Ask people to try your stuff, give you stuff, promote your stuff. And second, to put two copies of my book in every American library. One for the person who can’t afford to buy it, and change his or her life because it’s a transformational 5-step process to attract anything you want. The other for city officials. This book can help entire cities.

DOBI: What’s next in your marketing plan?
Dr. Joe: To keep selling books. It’s in all the bookstores and thanks to my 24 hour internet success, I’m doing radio interviews with the press. Which means I’m driving more online sales. I’m getting more email marketing lists, writing more news releases. Here’s my latest header “Texas author beats wizard using the internet.”

DOBI: I love Harry Potter.
Dr. Joe: I do too! Honestly, I didn’t think this would happen. I’m wired.

The real attractor factor
Sure, having a lot of people buy a book can be a wonderful thing. But like library cards, you want them to USE it. What got me excited about the book wasn’t so much the book itself. In fact, the press release doesn’t talk too much about the book does it?

Look at the style, the look and feel, the personality of the press release. These factors represent the brand – the behaviour – of the product you’re offering. And perception of behaviour translates into usage of a product.

Joe’s press release has some good old fashioned hypnotic writing going for it.

- The header (80% of readability of any writing stems from the headline. Think a book isn’t judged by it’s cover. Ok. Try its title) is informative, lively and tells a story. It also uses two other tools of great press writing: picks up on a trend (Harry Potter) and mentions one of the press’ pet loves: how-to market stories.

- The sentences are short, written in present tense and make for tiny, bite-size paragraphs.

- No acronyms.

- All the info about the product is condensed into tight writing: who, what, when, where and in this case, includes the price (gutsy).

- The release quotes the author, another gutsy move. If the topic is sexy (in this case it is – there’s a lot of ‘wins’ here) then choosing a company spokesperson who has something interesting to say works.

- Lots of tie-ins to celebrities and/or well-known names.

- The author isn’t afraid to let us in on his how-to secrets. How-to’s are the #1 seller to both the press and the public.

- Joe’s information includes ways to see/get the book. No typos or broken links. Which means no fumbling around for the reporter. [I removed his publicist’s contact at the top and his boilerplate at the end.]

- The idea of selling two million books in a week is both wacky and interesting. A reporter could take any of the paragraphs and work with that alone as an angle. Gutsy is good.

- Joe places himself as the underdog. There’s an angle here.

- Asking a question makes people think. Smart move.

- That Joe is a magician in his spare time is also an interesting tidbit.

- The release ends on a fun and challenging note. At the time, Joe was at #2.

- The writing is inverted pyramid style: imperative facts up front, quote, broadening and supportive information ‘for colour’ at base. If the press only printed the basics, (name, price of book) Joe’s a winner.

- The words are easy to understand. The release could be read aloud and still be followed. Remember: 4th grade reading level.

- And most important, the words paint pictures. Hypnotic writing is the magic of the reader seeing the words. With each paragraph, little stores are painted. Painting stories is why most people go to the library. They may want to read one. Or are working at painting one of their own.

What story are you promoting this week?

Let Freedom Read
The Buddha said “Desire is the cause of all suffering.” Now what do you suppose he meant by that? Simply, this “Misunderstood desire is the cause of all suffering.” And what do I mean by that? Well, when there’s more to something that meets the eye. When there’s an underlying passion so real, so strong, so beautiful, that it hurts to not get it out. What? Let’s take a look at this.

Here’s a sample press release posted on the ALA’s site as a choice for you to use during National Library Week.

For release National Library Week
April 11-16, 2005
Contact: (name, title, phone number)

[Name of Library] reminds users there’s something for everyone; encourages residents to support their library

(CITY, STATE) – It’s National Library Week, a time to celebrate the contributions of libraries, librarians and library workers to their schools, campuses and communities.

“Books. Magazines. Videos. CDs. Databases. Internet access. You name it. The [name of library] has something for everyone,” says [name and title of your spokesperson].

As part of this annual event, the [name of library] will be hosting the following programs and events:

List your programs here.

National Library Week 2005 marks the fifth year of The Campaign for America’s Libraries, a multi-year public education campaign sponsored by the ALA and libraries across the country to speak loudly and clearly about the value of libraries and librarians in the 21st century. More than 20,000 libraries in all 50 states are being reached by @ your library®, The Campaign for America’s Libraries.

“National Library Week is not only a great time to see what’s new @ your library but also a time to stand up and speak out as a library advocate,” adds [spokesperson]. “There are lots of opportunities to help the [name of library] -- including [list your volunteer opportunities, ie joining the Friends group, offering to read to children, becoming a homework tutor, joining in the book sale, promoting a program, petitioning for more funding, appearing at a town hall meeting on behalf of the library etc.]

For more information about National Library Week and about becoming a library advocate, visit the [name of library] at [address], call [phone number] or see the library’s Web site at [provide URL].

###

Isn’t it time to think radically different?

“This is a masterpiece!!!! It’s a bona-fide, tear-jerkin’ mind-numbin’, heart-warmin’ miracle!”

“I could not put this book down. The writing is real, gutsy, and unconditionally honoring of life.”

“Fascinating, thought-provoking and informative. I learn something new every time I read this book.”

- 3 quoted testimonials from the backs of some of Joe Vitale’s books.

I just go nuts at Christmas
Have you ever heard that song? A guy with a funny accent sings about how he essentially, just goes nuts with all the good stuff, good feel and good fun he has at Christmastime. Well, now’s your time to go nuts.

It’s National Library Week for the nation’s sake! Are you having fun with it?

Go on, light a fire. To that ALA press release. And then light one under your assets. And re-write YOUR very own. Your story, your words, your library, your fun. Which will be the spark that ignites your community.

And like one man, Joe Vitale, blow it sky-high.

Let me know how the flame grows.

Joe Vitale’s #1 best-selling book “The Attractor Factor” can be found online at Wiley Publishing, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or one of Joe’s kazillion websites: www.attractorfactor.com

Tia Dobi is a copywriter and library fanatic living in Los Angeles. Reach her now at tiad@earthlink.net.

It's not who you know. It's who knows you.

2005-02-25T06:39:00.000-08:00

“It got to the point that whenever someone in our company used the bathroom, you could read about it in the trade press” – David Ogilvy on his start from a 2-man shop to his ad agency’s rise to worldwide acclaim.

I’m a copywriter. And this is my confession:
It’s not who you know. It’s who knows you.

For instance: Kenny G. has sold over 75 million records. Only Kenny doesn’t know 75 million people. He’s not a talkshow host. Or a spokesperson in a major ad campaign. So how does he do it? The answer is in these 71 words:

"Know how to sell your wares. It is not enough that they have intrinsic merit, for everyone does not bite the substance nor look within. Most go where there is a crowd, and go because they see that others go. Also, to offer a thing only to connoisseurs is a means to universal interest, because people either believe themselves to be such, or, if not, they find the lack incites desire."

These marketing words of wisdom are from one of the greatest marketing minds of all times. A 17th century Jesuit priest by the name of Baltasar Gracian.

Products don’t sell on stand-alone merit. It's what you say about the product that motivates a prospect to buy. Even a free product selling solely on the basis of its quality is an idealistic thought, but it's simply not reality. For instance, everyone loves libraries, but libraries can't live on love alone. Fortunately, there is an almost free method to generate “madness of the crowd.”

Great selling is Salesmanship in Print
Showing how people experience your product is the way to go. And the best way to say that is via: The power of a 3rd party. One that’s going to effectively position you and your company as experts in your field, so that when your prospects are looking for solutions to their problems, they find you.

And that would be: the power of the other information junkie. The press.

What I'm talking about here is publicity. In the form of a news release. Done right, it's far and away THE most effective form of advertising that you can possibly do.

News releases are refreshing stories sprinkled throughout the media that keep us sane. My requirement is that they sell. What that means is that they're such a pleasure for the editor to read she can't help but print it.

And weighing the relative value of information is a matter of educated guessing, psychology, and news instinct.

Then there’s the return factor.

The power of the press. Release.
Kim Reed is the west coast head of publicity for USA Network, overseeing virtually all entertainment programming on the channel. With 5,000 press releases to his credit, I asked him if measuring direct, monetary return on investment is possible with a free publicity campaign.

“This is a very long discussion. Publicity campaigns, by and large, are not measurable with the exception of the number of media breaks we get. The impressions are weighed, not really measured. How many print pieces broke, how many on-air stories ran? If you're trying to translate that into dollars, or even some kind of ROI, it's difficult. The closest we've ever come is translating the amount of print we get vs. how much a comparable amount of advertising would have cost. It's a hollow argument, though, because that presupposes that the campaign included advertising and was budgeted for it. One of the great benefits of publicity is that it's basically free [except for that expensive lunch you have to take the writer to].

But when all is said and done, at the end of the day, it only comes down to this one thing. It’s who knows you.”

Understanding Release basics: Terms to see you through
News story: although one immediate end result of your sent news release, it’s also the basic elements of a publicity campaign. It starts with the 1st unleashing of your story to the media in the form of a news release.

The term press release is commonly used; technically press refers to print media. The proper name news release targets both print and electronic media.

Release types: Different types of news stories support your campaign: 1) kick-off or announcement 2) Follow-up 3) Wrap-up. Each news story merits its own release. Multiple releases = maximizes your campaign.

Angle: What’s the hook that makes your story new news? Use a fresh angle for every news release. I.D.’ing different angles = creates additional news stories that increases your campaign’s audience.

Tone: Campaigns can be humourous, serious, shocking, educational or whatever you want it to be. Set the tone. Set the pace. And keep it.

Market considerations: In small to medium-size markets, news about people often receives the most play. In medium to large-size markets, local stories with national implications, or ones that reflect national trends can have better pick-up. Keep your perspective: what’s happening today in local + national issues that you can weave into your release?

Structure: The inverted pyramid is the preferred format. Start with a lead sentence answering: who, what, when, where, why. Stay specific to support your announcement, including attribution to the person(s) responsible for the action or info. (Some reporters don’t read past the 1st paragraph). Use quotes from principals or 3rd party testimonials. Final paragraphs are background information. And a great place for stats.

Header and sub-head: Pulling in 80% of a release’ readership, the headline should be brief and attention-grabbing. All good researchers (that’s you) will have a 2nd way to say the same thing. That’s the sub-head.

Boilerplate: The boilerplate is the last paragraph. Standard information about your company, founding dates, location, parent organization. [Most publicists miss out by not making this a: Unique Selling Proposition. Stay tuned to this column for how-to write a $million USP].

A sure bet!
"It is great when you have a great product to sell," says Dani Porter, who five years ago chose to put her marketing skills—once used to promote some of the country's major casinos—behind libraries.

Whether looking for large gifts, promoting innovative programs, or luring people to casinos, Porter says, "It's all about relationships." The difference is that "working with libraries seems important, and there is never a dull moment." Though she believes in the power of marketing almost as much as the importance of libraries, she knows not all libraries have the resources for a full-time promoter. "If there is a way, combine people with different strengths, put together ten to 20 hours per week, run a library column in the local paper," she advises. "You would be surprised at what people pay attention to."

How to use publicity to your advantage
Most salespeople [any person with any product made specifically for use by any other person] spend their life making unsolicited calls and visits, beating down doors and windows, climbing over barbed wire fences, burning up shoe leather, and inventing excuses to go see people who don’t want to see them.
Now I’m here to release you from that bondage because truly: It’s all in the wrist.

There’s lots of ways to use free PR to your ‘it’s not who I know it’s who knows me’ advantage. Hooks are the #1 sales tool of any release. They’re also your main PR hook, because librarians are RESEARCHERS.

How does this help your library become in demand, with the customers chasing you, and onto something really big.

If you became obsessed with the idea of magnetically attracting customers. You become a marketing maniac, hunting for every conceivable way to get people to come to YOU first.

You can.

Well there's a major shift in thinking you have to make before this can ever happen. Here's the best way I know to explain it:

Nobody who bought a drill actually wanted a drill.

They wanted a hole.

Therefore, if you want to sell drills, you should advertise information about making holes – NOT information about drills!

So you can do what I do. Unlike other publicity hounds, I send ‘Ten Angles for Editors’ with every press release.

This is what I call “Information Marketing” and it's the central concept behind my marketing system.

“Come in, please come in, and take some knowledge for free, no limit, keep going, gorge on it if you want, no, it’s not a trick, a come on, a free sample and then we’ll bill you later, or we’’ll paper your head with banners and popups” – author Larry Beinhart in his political thriller The Librarian.

Give the press more than what they ask for. Take your story, and add ten 1-2 liners about how else this information can be used. Listed questions about your subject and related subjects are the best format. Why? It gets the reporter thinking about more than just one way to use the info. And it’s her job to constantly churn out information product.

Questions will make her want to call you for the answers. So don’t be surprised if you get a returned call to your faxed release. But maybe it’s not about the main story idea.

That’s OK. Like Kenny, getting your name in gilded lettering is the key.

When you make the transition from product marketing to information marketing, a whole new world opens up to you. Suddenly your website, your flyers, your radio PSA’s everything else become 100% to 1000% more effective!

I can't begin to tell you how important this is. Once you get the hang of this, another huge breakthrough happens: Suddenly the doors to free publicity flung wide open. As soon as you go from being a “product marketeur” to an “Information Marketeur,” magazine and newspaper editors will love you.

Don’t forget. Be sure and post your free advertisements (press releases) on your website.

And the Academy Award Goes to…
Contest question: What is the most prestigious award of the American Library Association? The award for the most new members signed? How about recognition for helping more kids read? Accolades for initiating best library partnerships? Celebration of the longest-running centennial celebration? Fiscal funding fitness and finesse?

Well, no. Instead, it’s the John Cotton Dana Award, sponsored by H.W. Wilson, honoring outstanding library public relations! Which could include any of the examples listed here. Or maybe your library’s current (or soon-to-be) campaign.

How’s about a little press and provocation for your neighbourhood library? Afterall, isn’t it the only place like it in the world?

A-ha. I thought so. And now, gentle reader, I’m going to ask you to become an information marketeur to the press with this 1st step. One that’s suited specifically to your profession, and can help put libraries on the map and off the charts in America. Simply, compile a list of 6 media reporters in your neck of the woods. Write a short pithy phone script introducing yourself as a direct factual informant to that reporter. Someone s/he can count on to provide accurate info in a pinch, deadlines and all. If Kenny can play to millions of fans, how many can you have with what you say? This ‘feet-wet with-the-press’ will guarantee more people know you. Plus, help you to master the pro-communications industry. And reap its sweet rewards.

Let me know how it grows.

Tia Dobi is a copywriter and library fanatic living in Los Angeles. Reach her now at tiad@earthlink.net.

Only the power of intent propels.

2005-01-06T06:03:00.000-08:00

"Having lost hope of ever returning to the source of everything, the average man seeks solace in his selfishness'" - Carlos Castanada, in his book The Power of Silence.

I’m a copywriter. And this is my confession:
Only the power of intent propels.

Propels what? Everything. You. Me. Metro buses. Sales. O.K. This you believe. Or you find yourself ending up in the wrong place a lot of the time. But how ‘bout Castaneda’s quote? Thankfully, in the human realm libraries are the source of everything. And librarians are not your average women. Or men. (Fact check: http://www.warriorlibrarian.com/; http://www.njlibraries.org/Resources/). And librarians certainly aren’t selfish. Just take a look at their salaries. (Or see previous 2 statements).

So what is propelling librarians, or at least libraries (and even the image of) into 2005? Well, for starters, the American Library Association (ALA) has signed a 4-year deal with TV sitcom star and comedian George Lopez. For some of his storylines to include literacy, reading and libraries. (Will the producers be literate enough to film at America’s favourite library just 35 miles down the road in Cerritos?) The ALA has also introduced its national library campaign “The Smarter Card.” An across-America first, is ‘smarter’ the smartest word for a smart card? (Stay tuned to this series as we uncover copywriting secrets that propel your intent - in future issues).

Here’s something fun. And profitable. “Their long legs sliding smoothly over the soft, backlit couch, eyes making contact with no one, lest their piercing stares be seen, 12 Dallas County Librarians posed for a 2005 calendar shoot,” says a Dallas County News Online article. God bless America. God bless those librarians. Indeed. Their product is selling like hotcakes. (Note to marketeurs: Include area code in all published phone numbers. And Internet link to product. Ensuring both work will also appeal to your customers spending choice).

Of course, the grandest futuristic library announcement (for today anyway) is that Google is creating a digital card catalog and searchable library for the world's books, scholarly papers and special collections. Will libraries have to rethink their central missions as storehouses of printed, indexed material?What is the core intent of a library? Because of its vastness, is it realistic to think a library can have just one core intent? Stick with me and let’s see.

Brand stickiness
"Our world is about to change in a big, big way," said Daniel Greenstein, university librarian for the California Digital Library of the University of California, which is a project to organize and retain existing digital materials.

Instead of expending considerable time and money to managing their collections of printed materials, Greenstein said, libraries in the future can devote more energy to gathering information and making it accessible--and more easily manageable--online.

But Paul LeClerc, the president and chief executive of the New York Public Library, sees Web access as an expansion of libraries' reach, not a replacement for physical collections. "Librarians will add a new dimension to their work," LeClerc said. "They will not abandon their mission of collecting printed material and keeping them for decades and even centuries."

Hmmm, not being a librarian, my life is constructed around this mission. “[The desire] to create campaigns and write the words that send the sale of products through the roof [is irresistible].” For me, personally, I attempt to return to the source of everything on a daily basis, and I refuse to be the “average” that Castaneda describes. And last month’s article invited you to delve into deep library questions like: Who are we?” (Just in the knick of time, given the immediate future posed by Google and others.)

The power of intent
Now, Google's founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, have long vowed to make all of the world's information accessible to anyone with a Web browser. Which exemplifies the intent of intention: Learning to co-create your world your way. Brin and Page need libraries. You need customers. Google lives its intent naturally. It’s ingrained. Intention is something you can feel, connect with, know and trust. It’s the source of all creation. In all its forms. Thoughts. Behaviours. Products. Business decisions.

Purpose carries with it a vibe that cannot be denied. It’s the law of attraction. (Thankfully, we didn’t manufacture it or we’d snuffed ourselves out eons ago). But we can tap into it! Yes, there are extraordinary benefits linking to indexed texts on the web. Too, there are infinite benefits increasing the library experience for yourself and others when connected to a shared intention. Afterall, who will own the Google project? Google? The Ivy League of Libraries? The book authors? Corporate sponsors? Banner advertisers? Someone on the other side of the world? Me? You?

United we brand
Remember that ad “Be A Model. Or Just Look Like One”? We know the campaign worked really really well. How? Because its premise was an undisputable law. The selling words of modeling school are based on this Truth of human behaviour: “Ownership is everything.” Actually, the feeling of ownership is enough. Feeling = reality. We own via experience. This may be ‘the experience economy,’ and in actual, it always has been. (Circa caveperson days.) How can we make participating at the library a better experience?

For the answer, let’s turn to a man who has won 300 national and international advertising awards. As an art director, then writer, this always creative director has built companies into household names. Dell, Apple, Kia, Cisco, California Cooler, Reebok. And smaller, local establishments. Black Angus Restaurants, Jerome’s Bar-B-Q, and David Grisman’s Acoustic Disc Records.

Today, Mike Moser gives his time and talents to schools, non-profits and small businesses that were having a hard time being seen and heard in this marketing-saturated culture. More than 2 decades of working at the top with the crème de la crème sales talents resulted in Moser creating a brand roadmap. Because all successful marketing campaigns and companies use a similar tool, and theirs are proprietary, Mike has published his. And right now you can cash in on the first key to projecting a unique, external brand. Which is understanding your company’s internal character.

Solid to the Core
I touched on this last month. Some of you wrote in asking for more guided specifics. You either had: too many words. Not enough. Or word choices that you felt didn’t reflect your organization. Here’s a list compiled by Mike and the book “America’s Greatest Brands” (2001). Circulate it to each of your departments and let them convene. The goal? Choose up to 8 items. Then narrow it down to: 4.

Community
Nurturing
Innovation
Value
Diversity
Reliability
Trust
Positive Outlook
Irreverence
Underpromise, overdeliver
Teamwork
Family
Competitiveness
Entertainment
Connection
Authenticity
Commitment
Disclosure
Fun
Performance
Simplicity
Comfort
The Golden Rule
Health
Responsiveness
Education
Pragmatism
People
Sense of urgency
Precision
Safety
Affordability
Integrity
Knowledge
Quality
Cleanliness
Fairness
Security
Honest
Advanced Technology
Growth
Customer focus
Creativity
Accountability
(Pick your own)

The rules. When making your choices, keep the answers to these questions in mind:

Which values (behaviours) are so inherent, that if they disappeared your company would cease to exist as it is?

Which ones does your company consistently adhere to in the face of all obstacles? What are you committed to 100% of the time?

Does the word passionate come to mind as you apply a value?

Which core values does the culture(s) you serve value?

Write your company’s tombstone epitaph. “If we went out of business today, what would our customer miss?” (i.e.: “Amazon.com” I would miss their selection and value”.)

Are your core values people oriented or product oriented?

Get personal
Essentially, we’re answering the question: “Why do you exist?” So you can return daily to that ‘source of everything’. And furthermore, what sets you apart? So you can embrace your stamp of individuality.

To get people outside your organization (that would be everyone else except you) to understand and buy into the core values you’ve listed, including a paragraph explaining why that particular value defines your company is good practice. This can help new employees, too, understand how and why you position yourself in the marketplace the way you do. By the way, it also prevents management schizophrenia. And empowers employees to make consistent, in-the-moment decisions without running to ask “the boss”.

Here’s one example from a brand roadmap:

Expertise and substance (from Corporation for Supportive Housing): “Every message should be grounded in facts. Every solution should be actionable and relevant to the lives of our tenants. Every message should make that person or organization want to be a part of our workable, proven solution to relevant information having to do with supportive housing for the chronically homeless. Information is power in this culture. We need to have the information and wield that power to get things done.”

The best information gadget this Holiday
There is no limit to the press profit and provocation one establishes with intention. Each community needs community. Every business needs data – especially marketing, advertising and communication firms. (OK, add the other trade types here.) All schools need learning. People crave entertainment. What are you waiting for? With $billion deals in the news, you can enjoy what the big boys have. Publicised intent.

Why wouldn’t it be juicy to send out a sparkling press release announcing your library’s brand in 2005?

A-ha. I thought so. And now, gentle reader, I’m going to ask you to check out a book. And then delve into it. “United We Brand,” by Mike Moser. Use the detailed, easy worksheets. To propel your intentions into 2005 and beyond. Transition into a happy New Year. Carry this vision: “During an earthquake, a bowl of blue jello." For instance: Sudden moves may be on the horizon. Expect fresh ideas or actions to soon initiate an unusual business alliance. Promotions, improved income or fresh opportunities may all be on the agenda. Stay alert to highly creative projects. This will help you to master the pro-communications industry. And reap its sweet rewards.

Let me know how it grows.

Tia Dobi is a copywriter and library fanatic living in Los Angeles. Reach her now at tiad@earthlink.net.

This article is a replica of what appears in publisher Marylaine Block's elite e-zine: "Ex-Libris." Subscribers include: librarians, library directors, teachers, professors, analysts, information science students, and computer techies. A former columnist for Fox News Online, super-sonic information-world consultant known as the 'Librarian without walls,' Marylaine's work was mentioned in a "Wired" magasine article (penned by the tech reporter to the Los Angeles Times). Like bees to honey, 1500 persons added their name to her (already huge) e-zine subscription list. A perfect example of the power of the press. Why not put it to work for you today?

Librarians make the best marketeurs.

2004-11-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

Simple snapshots you and I understand. Which is why even Einstein kept it down to E=mc2 despite reinventing everything science stood for.

I’m a copywriter. And this is my confession:
Librarians make the best marketeurs.

Don’t believe me? O.K. Let me ask you this: Who are the best researchers on the planet? Don’t librarians study the way content is referenced, organized, and sourced? In fact, once upon a time a university librarian taught me a key difference between librarians and normal people. “Librarians understand the structure of information,” she said.

I’ll buy that. Describing the 1st cut of Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall,” film editor Ralph Rosenbloom called it “The product of a chaotic collection of bits and pieces that seemed to defy continuity.” “We will be humiliated!” exclaimed co-writer Marshall Brickman. Yet somehow “Annie Hall” went on to win Best Picture and 3 other Academy Awards. So what happened? Stick with me for today’s article and you’ll see.

New! Fresh! Original! The viewing lens of today’s library
My mission: To turn you on, turn on America and turn on the world to the value of this product we call: the library. And how to do that? Start where you do. With the gift of research. Let’s flip through some real-life fact-finding examples:

Research Story #1: Alex Hailey: researched and wrote “Roots.” For twelve years.

Research Story #2: James A. Mitchner: didn’t publish ‘til he was 40 years old. Visited the countries and areas he was interested in writing about, interviewing countless people, as well as reading more than 200 books for background material for each of his books. Result? Careful research created a 50-year publishing career. And Mitchner winning the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for “Tales of the South Pacific.” It was his 1st novel.

Research Story #3: Mary Kay Hill: suburban housewife with 2 teenagers. A lady who lived her research. Questioning her own life, she wrote about what she knew. “Carpool: A Novel of Suburban Frustration,” was rejected 9 times. One rewrite later, it was bought by Random House. Becoming a Literary Guild main selection. Then, Viacom bought the rights to turn it into a movie.

Research Story #4: An unknown writer wrote a successful action-adventure film that was released by a major Hollywood studio. The original script featured a number of detailed dramatic rock climbing scenes. And one of the things that originally interested the producer was the writer’s obvious knowledge and passion for his subject. What that producer still doesn’t know is that the only climbing this screenwriter ever did was on the shelf of the New York City Public Library. Where he learned absolutely everything he knows about pitons, pickets, hoists, and carabiners.

Research Story #5: Two reporters had a nagging feeling about a burglary at a local hotel. They did months of research, pursued every lead, and wound up revealing a scandal called “Watergate.” Woodward and Bernstein became national heroes and Nixon resigned from office.

Research Story #6: On the opening night for the musical “A Chorus Line,” co-author and first-time writer Nicholas Dante told a reporter, “What you saw on stage is 90% true; our life stories.” The story went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for best musical. Becoming one of the longest running shows in Broadway history. And a major motion picture.

Research Story #7: Ben Hamper: riveter in a Detroit factory. “I was so bored,” he says, “that I started writing just to move the minute hand. I would think of things and as soon as I released the rivet gun, I’d write down a line. I’d take it home at night and try to expand it. Although it was hard because there’d be grease all over it.” His work paid off. “Rivet Head. Tales from the Assembly Line,” was published by Warner books. It became a selection of the Book of the Month Club and Quality Paperback Club. The movie rights were optioned for $100K. He gets $400K more if the movie gets made.

Research Story #8: A library director in California was handed $40M for a new building. What was the 1st thing Waynn Pearson did? Research. For how long? 9 months. Only then did his team create this learning destination: “Club Med for the Mind.” Just 2 years and 2 months later, the Cerritos “Experience” Library was selected “Best Public Library in America” by Reader’s Digest Magazine.
[Check out photos of this amazing library at <http://www.ci.cerritos.ca.us/library/library.html>]

Hmmm. Alot can happen when you research this thing called You.

The Power of a Good Brand Story
Cut to Woody Allen’s dilemma. What was the movie missing? Meaning. Eventually, 45 minutes of the film were spliced out, more data searching meant new ideas were written in and “Annie Hall” was a smash hit. As Mr. Allen so eloquently put it “Thank God the public only sees the finished product.”

Ever wonder how your visitors see your product?

Now, my first research question to market Fortune 500 CEOs, wannabe rock stars and startup micropreneurs is the same, “What’s your story?” Here’s what happens: nobody has a 10-second martini monologue (you can call it an “elevator speech” if you’d like). It’s not an easy question for anybody to answer. Before we can sum it all up for today’s audiences’ short attention spans, we need to have thought it all through. Like Einstein and Allen, there’s a whole lot of unseen effort that goes into the public performance.

I know too, that, no matter what I’m called in to do (write a brochure, craft Web content, create a name or promotion to get more people in the door) there’s a deeper need. More significant work to be done. And here it is:

Develop a better understanding of who the company is, whom they serve and what it is that binds them together in lasting and profitable relationships.

And that takes: Crafty research. And that’s why librarians are the best marketeurs in the world. But the research doesn’t end with data. Otherwise you have jagged pieces that end up on the cutting room floor.

Or as the rock band Who says “Who are you?”
Do your visitors see your story? Do they get it? Because there is a story. That unites you to the people you work with. And binds you to the people you serve. It’s a special kind of epic – strategic, building on itself chapter by chapter over time. And one that grows as it responds to changing customers, markets and products.

Your story is your key business driver

Like every great novel, report, DVD, CD and database within your 4 walls, the more coherent and compelling, the more it will power the success of your enterprise. (I always say that Shakespeare was a great sales writer. Just look at how many people read and perform his works. And for how long.)

Here’s how to weave a good tale. (As always, it’s in the words, natch!) Clarity. Consistency. Character.

Clarity. First-up: know what you wish to say. This is the content of your brand: who you are, what you do, who you do it for, why it matters to them, how you interact with them. And how it’s all different from anything else in the marketplace.

Consistency. Then, make sure you say and show it the same way. All the time. This is how your words, actions, employee behaviours, business accomplishments start to work together. Building unity.

Character. Finally, give it a little oomph, ahhh, flair. And panache. Let your personality shine. That’s what brings you to life at an emotional level. Emotions are where people live. It’s why they want to connect with you!

Where do you work? A data depository? Or an imaginary?
Are you ready to rev up your most erotic organ of all – your imagination? Because the moral of a story is the core idea or truth that the story expresses. And impresses. And you gotta dig deep to find it. That’s the missing link between understanding the structure of information. And knowing that a message must emote and evoke emotions.

Booming businesses and successful people do this. Take Madonna. Even though she’s a creative chameleon, her core story has remained the same for 2 decades. (Radicalism). The Boy Toy-Material Girl-Spiritual Woman found her heart and soul story. And she uses it to sell and serve. Very, very, well.

Ultimately, you want your research to unearth mental visions that answer the root question of existence: “Why?”

Why do you decide one decision? And not another?
Why do your customers need you?
Why are you better at meeting their needs than anyone else?
Why does your logo, website, interior, card catalog look the way it does?
Why do your press releases and flyers read like they do?
Confidential to managers and marketeurs alike: Why would a customer or money-funder make that critical decision to use your products and services over those of anyone else?

Now we’re talking!
And the more you tell, the more you sell. The process is a natural one. Once you’ve done this research, you can go on to create important communications tools. Messages that keep your people on point. Speeches that rally investors. Copy and design that convey your identity to consumers. With the power of clarity. And brevity.

Why wouldn’t your library love to be the world’s best storyteller?

A-ha. I thought so. And now, gentle reader, I’m going ask you to conduct your research. Answer the questions. And then: distill it down. Simplicity is essential. Your brand image is money in the bank. Don't ever change it. Carry this vision: A tight formation of airplanes streaking through the sky. Take some time out this month to decide your image. Try: a noun and an adjective. This will help you to master the pro-communications industry. And reap its sweet rewards.

Let me know how it grows.

Tia Dobi is a copywriter and library fanatic living in Los Angeles. Reach her now at tiad@earthlink.net.

Communication must make money

2004-10-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

A man's life in these parts often depends on a mere scrap of information.” – Clint Eastwood, in the 1964 spaghetti western ‘For a Few Dollars More.’

I’m a copywriter. And this is my confession:
Communication must make money.

Don’t believe me? Then stop reading. The rest is for your competition. (You know, Amazon.com, Starbucks, Disneyland, television, video games and all forms of fast culture). Look, you’re an information junkie. And so am I. Fortunately for the both of us, so’s the press. I hope you’ll stick with me for today’s article and the rest of the series to see why this is so important.

Everywhere a choice choice.
Today's buyers are increasingly overwhelmed with data, information and choices. In the US, for example, the average household receives 100 TV channels and some digital cables distribute several times that offering; supermarkets carry 15,000 to 25,000 SKUs; the number of titles handled by the average magazine wholesaler has doubled in 10 years to about 5,000; over 40 billion web pages are linked to the Internet. How can the mind reasonably process that outpouring of data? The answer is that it can't! That is precisely why marketing your information product with singularity is essential.

Imagine people consciously making your library their first choice. And now they can. Because you’re going to become an informant. I know, I know. You’re already the best knowledge and fact providers in the world. What I mean is: when you become a press and mass-media informant, your buyers (America’s citizen-consumers) will flock to your doors. And your databases.

Top of the card stack
You become a promoter – an informant en masse – through marketing your library. Thus creating a dialog between two trading groups who need to communicate effectively in a highly noisy environment. In other words, you talk to people well and with pleasure. Some marketing information is creative enough to touch the heart. Making stores like Ikea, Barnes & Noble, and Toys 'R' Us into weekend destinations. What’s your goal? To get indexed at the top of the mind — when the individual is in the market to buy. What’s the best way to do that? Understand the communications business like a pro. Does your library becoming a weekend destination sound good to you? How about having brand evangelists flock to your brick and mortar everyday? The place to start, then, is with a marketeur’s primer for the over-educated.

Glossy words that build business

Sound bite - your summed up answer to the posed question, “What’s your story?” Core truths are key business drivers. The script is simply: short + authentic.

A company’s story that develops a better understanding of who they are, why they exist, whom they serve and what it is that binds them together in lasting and profitable relationships.

Brand - the emotions you and your product emote and evoke, based upon your and your product’s behaviours. Behind every brand is: a compelling idea, a resolute core purpose and supporting values [behaviours] – a central organizational principle from which all marketing and on-the-job activities originate.

Your brand is your greatest form of passive income. It is your preceding reputation as well as your lingering perception.

Trust - what every business needs to be enjoyable. Has 5 elements: dependability, honesty, competence, customer orientation and likeability.

One of the best ways to convey each of those elements is with “proof sources,” or customer testimonials.

Customer - one who comes under your care, protection and guidance. One who uses your product or service. One who may use your product or service in the future. One who used to use your product or service and stopped because of a flaw in your product or service and you need to win back. Because you know your product or service is truly all that good.

Today’s marketeur knows everyone is her customer: consumers, bosses, co-workers, salesclerks, neighbours, etc.

Marketplace - your one and only targeted customer.

Who you ‘do onto’ in a strategic way with pleasurable communication for mutual benefit.

Marketing - considering the best ways to bring in new business. Finding the right people for your product. Mechanical sequence of communications sent to a certain target, offering your service. Which takes on a kazillion forms, including: public relations, sales promotion, advertising, direct response, give-aways, event staging, business cards, jumping up and down while waving your arms, etc.

The best of all ways to index above your competition is, of course, to market a better product.

Copywriting - the right use of words to create mental images. Writing that’s used in all forms of marketing. It must educate. And give reasons and benefits making the reader react. This is not magical or mystical. It’s no different being absorbed in a good movie. Or being riveted by a good book.

Words that maturate in your customer’s mind so she goes from thinking, “I need a ___” to saying “Gimme that product!” The provocateur.

Slogan (also logline, motto) - marketing can be successful on words alone. Loglines are a trusted ally. By distilling your product’s benefits down to 1-5 sentences, they pack a sales wallop. Moving brands from one that your customers prefer to one your customers insist upon.

Know: the writing formula: Get it right. Write it tight. Slogans are taut, speedy, emphatic, core, clear, low key, intelligent pitching.

Testimonial - the power of the 3rd word, of having a neutral party shouting your name from the rooftop. Press, friend and foe alike will always listen to a person-to-person referral. Great testimonials, properly positioned (i.e.: on the outside of your building like my neighbourhood library) are: priceless promotion.

Word-of-mouth is the purest and most powerful form of marketing. Don’t leave home without it.

Press release - refreshing stories you write about your library that get sprinkled throughout the media. For free. And keep its viewers audience sane. One requirement is that they sell. What that means is that they’re such a pleasure for the editor to read she can’t help but print it.

Press releases answer the question, “What’s the new news?”

Public relations (Publicity) - an art of stirring up interest to promote your product or service. Good publicity leaves others singing your praises. Mentions in the press via news releases, articles and interviews, it’s the free ‘your name in gilt lettering’ that builds the credibility that builds a business.

Publicity builds your identity, increases your visibility, creates name recognition, gets your message across and compels people to invest their trust, time and money in you. The press.

Advertising - the words + pictures used to reaffirm a brand's core values (behaviours). Paid-for print space and broadcast air and Internet time comes only after a product has reached credibility in the marketplace via media and press publicity.

Advertising must resonate with consumers. You need customers to think, "Yes! That's what the brand stands for."

“The majority of campaigns fail to give consumers enough information.” – Advertising Kingpin David Ogilvy, in the industry bible ‘Ogilvy On Advertising.’

The Sale - a transaction that results from a company’s understanding the customer; having the necessary expertise and experience to make a significant and lasting difference to the customer. Creates a meaningful opportunity for the librarian to be a genuine consultant, developing valid relationships with prospects based on knowledge.

Being indispensable to customers.

Exaltation - the feeling you and your customers get as you celebrate and appreciate yourselves and each other as a result of talking about your business, training your employees, and teaching your clients how to use your products and services. The common good. The real meaning of wealth.

The profiteer.

Relax. It’s only information
And the more you tell, the more you sell. The process is a natural one. This is why communication must make money. Even non-profits absolutely need to generate income. But here’s the best part. All the overflow must go back into the running of the business – not the CEO’s pocket.

Why wouldn’t your library love a thick bottom line in addition to its great text life?

A-ha. I thought so. And now, gentle reader, I’m going to give you a research assignment. Take some time out this month to visit your favourite library (the boss won’t mind). Look for 3-6 stories of companies (similar to where you work) that have put into their marketplace any actions exemplified in the glossy words. List all the ways it could be a good thing. This will help you to master the lingo of the pro-communications industry. And reap its sweet rewards.

Let me know how it grows.

Tia Dobi is a copywriter and library fanatic living in Los Angeles. Reach her now at tiad@earthlink.net.