My dad sometimes buys everyone in our family a lottery ticket when we’re home for the holidays. That’s as close as I get to the lottery. Some days though I feel like business owners ask me how to win the “internet lottery”. The “internet lottery” is where you don’t have to do very much work to promote yourself and in fact Google does all the work for you. It doesn’t cost that much to play and it doesn’t take very long to find success. Sound like a lottery doesn’t it? The problem with the internet lottery is the same problem with the real lottery. You’re better off not participating at all. You’re better off depositing your time and energy into something more authentic, more personal and more likely to succeed.
I started my business one year ago. I help businesses use the internet to grow. Every day I work with people who want to be where I am in my business. Others want to be where the co-host of my podcast Cliff Ravenscraft is. Others want to be where my friend and favorite author on careers is. Here’s what I tell them.
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Share "it"
This post is dedicated to Veruca Salt.
The girl who wanted “it” all to herself.
You’re not the first one to come up with it so stop trying to keep it from everyone.
What is “it”? That doesn’t matter.
“It” is something that you want to make money from doing or selling.
“It” could be a process or a phyisical product.
“It” is something that you hope to keep secret because you’re afraid someone else will profit.
This week I decided to start sharing “it”.
The “it” in my world is how I connect with creative people, create compelling content, capture people’s attention and conduct on-line classes. I’m sharing “How to conduct on-line courses for profit” over the next two weeks because “it” isn’t something I should keep to myself. My “it” will help other people spread their ideas by empowering and educating them. My great friend and business coach Justin Lukasavige of www.CoachRadio.tv will be joining me as well.
Pretty much free…
I don’t know what your “it” is, but you should really consider letting “it” go. I’m not charging anyone to learn my it but I am sharing how and why I do on-line classes within a paid community called Free Agent Academy. FAA is an on-line community of people who want to pursue self employment or simply improve their existing business. The good news is that they have a deal where you can join for $10 and you get 10 days of access. I’ll even give you your $10 back if you don’t think it was worth it after the 10 days. Listen, it might sound scammy but it’s not. I’ve been a member of FAA for over a year and the leadership is great, the members are smart and the content is solid. You can learn more about the community by going to www.TryFaa.com or by clicking on the “TryFAA” button on my web site www.AndyTraub.com.
Freedom
It’s very freeing to share your “it” because then you can move on to another “it”. Great stuff was never meant to be kept secret so share “it”, whatever it is.
"Social Media Expert" – Results may vary
There’s more than one kind of expert maintaining a blog or publishing articles. The lazy ones are the aggregator, absent professor and grim reaper. The rest (thought leader, linchpin, cool kid) vary in their frequency but are at least capable of original ideas.
1. The thief – No original content or no links back to original content.
2. The aggregator – Little original content and no original ideas.
3. The thought leader – Watches the market place and connects what COULD BE in business with what IS in social media.
4. The linchpin – 80% of their content is their own, they reference other content only in order to show an example to follow.
5. The absent professor – They call themselves an expert but they post about once a month b/c they’re too busy at their full time job.
6. The grim reaper – Advertising is dead! Print is dead! All you need is a fan page! Wal Mart will die without a “tribe”! (Social media is the answer to every problem in the world but they never offer a road map on how to make their ideas happen.)
7. The cool kid – They post every other week but when they do they’re full of wisdom b/c they’re too busy running a successful company to post content every day. They’re living it so they don’t talk about it as much as do it.
Two important questions:
1. Which ones are worth following?
2. If you’re in the field, which one are you?
Take away the price tag
We’ve all heard it said that the best things in life are free. That’s true really. The air I take in, is free. The children that God gave me, were free. My wife who loves me so well, was free. Why is it surprising then that some of the best business that we can participate in has no cost associated to it?
OK realist I know that we can’t live off of free but that’s not my point. Last Friday I offered a group of 63 people a chance to sign up for 30 minutes with me to ask any questions they wanted. Seven took me up on the offer. No catch, not PayPal transfers, just free advice. Here is one story:
Paul and Jenette McEntire are very gifted people who just so happened to also be married to each other. Jenette does graphic desing work and Paul is an extraordinary photographer. You can find his work at http://www.paulmcentire.com/
We spoke for over 30 minutes because they were the last call of the day so I had a bit of extra time. In that short time I basicallly tore apart their front page and we all agreed to create a different experience for vistiors to their web site in the future (stay tuned, they’re still working on the changes). Funny thing happened after we talked through how to improve their web page. They said what a lot of people say when I offer free advice, “I feel like I should pay you for this.”
Somewhere in the next few minutes it was decided that they would send me one of Paul’s photographs as a sign of their appreciation. They sent it, it’s beautiful. It’s on my desktop now and I think of them often. I make a living charging businesses to help them improve their web presence but one day last week I opened my doors without charging admission. My day of “free” brought me two new friends, a beautiful photograph and the assurance that I can help people, that my advice is usually good. My “free” day cost nothing but I gained a lot. Try free every once in awhile. You may find out for yourself that the best things come out of hiding when you take the pricetags away.
We’ve all heard it said that the best things in life are free. That’s true really. The air I take in, is free. The children that God gave me, were free. My wife who loves me so well, was free. Why is it surprising then that some of the best business that we can participate in has no cost associated to it?
OK realist, I know that we can’t live off of free but that’s not my point. Last Friday I offered a group of 63 people a chance to sign up for 30 minutes with me to ask any questions they wanted. Seven took me up on the offer. No catch, not PayPal transfers, just free advice.
Here is one story:
Paul and Jenette McEntire are very gifted people who just so happened to also be married to each other. Jenette does graphic desing work and Paul is an extraordinary photographer. You can find his work at http://www.paulmcentire.com/
We spoke for over 30 minutes because they were the last call of the day so I had a bit of extra time. In that short time I basicallly tore apart their front page and we all agreed to create a different experience for vistiors to their web site in the future (stay tuned, they’re still working on the changes). Funny thing happened after we talked through how to improve their web page. They said what a lot of people say when I offer free advice, “I feel like I should pay you for this.”
Somewhere in the next few minutes it was decided that they would send me one of Paul’s photographs as a sign of their appreciation. They sent it, it’s beautiful. It’s on my desktop now and I think of them often. I make a living charging businesses to help them improve their web presence but one day last week I opened my doors without charging admission. My day of “free” brought me two new friends, a beautiful photograph and the assurance that I can help people, that my advice is usually good. My “free” day cost nothing but I gained a lot.
Try free every once in awhile. You may find out for yourself that the best things come out of hiding when you take the pricetags away.
Television advertising is the only way to go!
(If you don’t like sarcasm then please stop reading now.)
Television advertisements are the ONLY medium I suggest you promote your business with for the following reasons:
• Consumers believe your claims automatically
• No one skips commercials
• People often send copies of tv commercials they like to their friends on VHS tapes
• It’s very affordable compared to creating excitement through on-line communities
• You have my attention because I am watching tv primarily because I want to see your commercials
• 30 second commercials give me plenty of time to remember your location, phone number and the details of your special.
• You can change your ad instantly!
• The #1 activity people do while watching tv is sleep so you’re guaranteed to penetrate their subconscious mind. (the sleeping part is true…subconscious mind penetration, not so much)
Social media isn’t the ONLY way or the BEST way to market all brands and services. Television advertising is expensive for most and ineffective for just as many because of its limitations. If you disagree with me answer this question in the comments section. If you own a DVR how many commercials do you watch during an hour of television watching? I’m just sayin’…
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