Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Jeff Has a Brush With Sanjaya Fever
I can't believe I'm writing a post on American Idol.

I've never been the least bit interested in it, never watched it.

But everywhere I turn, lately, I see articles about "Sanjaya Fever."

I've read enough to learn to that Sanjaya is a contestant whom many AI afficiandos believe has no business sharing the stage with other, more talented contestants.

I don't know whether that's the case and I don't really care. But what I've read teaches some pretty interesting marketing lessons.

Supposedly, Sanjaya manages to survive each week based on the obsession that preteen girls have with his boyish good looks and unconventional style. While other contestants strive to look professional, Sanjaya consiously strives to stand out with weird hairstyles and in-your-face fashion choices.

I don't know about the preteen girls conspiracy theory, but I'd bet that his support stretches to a lot of people who vote to keep him on simply because they're curious what weird getup he'll come up with next week. And that brings us to the first marketing lesson that Sanjaya teaches:

Being different sells.

Most inexperienced marketers try to blend in. They're afraid that if they appear at all different from everyone else, they'll be seen as amateurs. That's why so many websites, ads, and sales copy are mind-numbingly forgetable.

But be a little different and people will notice. Be a lot different and MAN, will they notice!

You've got to be smart about it. Not every way of being different is good. Would voters keep Sanjaya on if his persona was the ultimate geek who didn't realize how uncool he looked? Probably not.

But Sanjaya's persona as an I'm-gonna-be-who-I-am-no-matter-what-the-big-bad-music-executives-say rebel struck a chord with enough people to keep him on the show this far and probably a little farther.

Don't be afraid to be different—in an intelligently planned way. Setting yourself apart from the crowd gets you noticed. And getting noticed can mean sales.
Jeff


P.S. There's another marketing lesson I see in Sanjaya fever, too. But I'll save that for tomorrow.

In the meantime, if you want to find out other ways to stand out in your marketing, check out the free, downloadable book, "7 Hidden Psychological Secrets for Maximum Sales" that I'm currently featuring in the free ebooks section of my site.

Labels: American Idol, marketing, promote business, Sanjaya

Can You Tell the Difference Between Success and Failure?
One of the things I love about being a BANABU student (I'll explain what that is in a moment), is the great emails I get from BANABU founder Mike Kemski all the time.

Today's really hit me like a 100-pound sack of soggy wheat paste.

Mike said:

"There is only one difference between the person that seems to have that
perfect life and the person who seems to get beat every time they try...

"The person that has the success and great life gets back up, shakes it
off, and realizes that they got knocked down but the fight's not over.

"The people that fail are the people who get knocked down and think they
lost for getting knocked down...

"Just remember this...

"The people that quit when they get knocked down from lifes blows call
it failure.

"The people that get up and keep on moving forward towards their goals
and desires call it experience.

"Are you going to have a life full of failure or a life full of experience?"

Jeff

P.S. That's right, I promised you I'd explain what BANABU is. You might say it plays an essential roll in my ongoing personal growth. It provides a no-nonsense, no-loopy-loopy-wishful-thinking roadmap for becoming the kind of person who is capable of reaching your dreams. I highly recommend it as a great starting point for your journey toward success. Check BANABU out right here.

Labels: BANABU, goals, mindset

Are You Using What-Ifs to Create Wows?
Lately I've gotten hooked on a new TV show.

What does this have to do with Internet marketing?

I'll explain in a moment. First let me tell you about the show.

It's called Raines, and it's about a police detective who suddenly starts seeing dead people.

It has a deliciously devious twist, however, on other TV shows where psychics help people by getting tips from the dead.

In those other shows, the psychics help the ghosts because these psychcis are so good-hearted.

Raines, on the other hand is a tough, cynical homicide detective. He helps the dead people he sees just to get them to go away. It makes for some hilarious dialogue.

And he's not seeing the actual ghosts of the people, either. What he sees is a figment of his imagination, made up entirely out his own picture of the person. That, too, leads to some hilarious moments. Sometimes new evidence makes him think differently of the person and that person transforms before his eyes.

So what does this have to do with marketing? Just this. Sometimes you can create something entirely new simply by putting a different spin on something that already exists.

I picture the creators of Raines sitting down over a few beers some time ago. I picture their conversation wandering into how much they hate these shows where oh-so-serious and oh-so-tenderhearted do-gooders solve people's problems with help from ghosts.

I see one producer saying, "Hey, what if you had some tough, cynical cop who suddenly starts seeing dead people when he investigates their murders? He doesn't want to believe it, but they won't leave him alone until he solves their case."

Another producer chimes in, "Yeah, and what if they aren't ghosts, but just figments of his imagination. They can't solve the case for him because they can't tell him anything he doesn't already know."

The first one shoots back, "Perfect! That means they keep changing in his mind the more he finds out about them."

The other replies, "Like, he could think this one young woman is a sweet little girl next door. Then he find out she worked for an escort service. Poof! Suddenly he sees her as this hard-bitten hooker with a smoke in one hand, a drink in the other, and an instant set of double-D's!"

The first one says, "Yeah, and she gets ticked off at him because she doesn't like the way he changed her!"

I don't know if the show will catch on. But the approach they took to an established and successful idea is worth noting.

They started with with an idea that already existed and had proven successful. Then they took that idea and asked, "What if...?" They added their own, distinctive twist and came up with something totally new.

You can do the same thing in your business. What is there in your niche that has always been done exactly the same way? Look at it and ask yourself "What if...?" What if you pushed it in a different direction? What if you took the way everyone expects it to be and turned it upside down?

Most great marketing ideas aren't completely original. Most of them follow this pattern of putting a unique spin on something tried and tested.

But looking for a way to put your own unique spin on what's already there is a habit to develop.

Will every idea you have be a home run? No. You'll have a lot more whiffs than home runs, especially at first.

But the more you develop this way of thinking, the better you'll get at it. And you never know when you'll knock the ball out of the park.
Jeff

Labels: creativity, marketing