I’m writing this post as:

1. A woman carrying a baby boy in her belly who’s three days past his due date.
2. A Content Lover.

It’s a YouTube video condensing 24 hours of targeted niche content - content that, while niche, happens to also be HIGHLY universal - into under three minutes.

It’s “The Mom” sung to the William Tell Overture.

Now, I wish I could tell you who the comedian is performing this witty, spot-on nagstravaganza, but I simply don’t know. That’s one of the drawbacks of user-generated content - proper attribution too often falls victim to the viral tides. Which, I suppose, is a good lesson for those of us looking to create our own vlog series or YouTube clips for our lives and/or business. PLEASE, let’s remember to brand ourselves - and A-Ha  Ourselves! - whenever possible! 

“How do I ‘A-Ha Myself!’ with a YouTube video?” you say? 

Here are a few suggestions:

• Add a quick graphic at the beginning and end directing viewers and fans to your website
• Include an audio shout-out to your website and/or company name somewhere in your clip
• For the low-tech folks: hold up a hand-written, hand-held sign in front of the video cam

The point is, let’s be sure to give enthusiasts, tire pokers, press, bloggers, and stumble-uponers a chance to find out more about us if they want to take that ride.

Besides, these days, some of the most powerful, dynamic connections and opportunities are happening “by accident,” on a whim, just by clicking a link or writing an email in a little slice of time, spat of daydreaming, pocket of procrastination, or dally into dawdling.

Okay, no more content lectures. Enjoy “The Mom”!!!!!

Click below to use your fave social media tools:

Hide Sites

Posted in All About Content, How do you "A-Ha Yourself"? | 2 Comments »

This entry was posted on Monday, October 1st, 2007 at 10:13 am and is filed under All About Content, How do you "A-Ha Yourself"?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Ever hear of a “hook”?

It’s that clever angle - a powerful and uniquely-positioned entryway - into an article, press release, or other piece of communication that grabs your readers’ attention and compels them to take the bait into your world.

Author and Communications Guru Jonathan Kranz enlisted a bunch of his “Bulgarian friends” to nab MY attention and lead me to this fab article on www.RainToday.com.

As Mr. Kranz explains:

By “Bulgarian,” I mean a proof point or intriguing “thing” that makes your promise credible or at least provocative. Bulgarians can be:

• Numbers: Use statistics to quantify the value of your benefit:
  • TrackStar’s Automatic Verification Data Eliminates 30% - 35% of Home Delivery Errors
• Stories: Demonstrate your benefit in real-life action:
  • Learn How Bling Co. Leverages TrackStar to Reach New Markets in Record Time
• Secret Ingredients: Introduce something new and unfamiliar into the benefit message:
  • Transportation Transformation: TrackStar’s “Feedback Loop” Corrects Addressing Errors In Real-Time

He goes on to show you how you can “recruit Bulgarians” to help you with your special reports, articles, press releases, white papers, and smorgasbord of other marketing materials - and specifically in that all-important HEADLINE.

What I love about Kranz’s article is he invokes all the tricks and tools he talks about in this article - weaving a story about a copywriter’s before-n-after victory, using lots of quick examples to demonstrate his point, showing how numbers in headlines can make all the difference - skipping along the whole way, hand in hand with his favorite Bulgarians.

In fact, I think it’s fair to say this:

Using “Bulgarians” effectively is a prime and wonderfully fun way to “A-Ha Yourself!”

Click below to use your fave social media tools:

Hide Sites

Posted in All About Content, Fun With Marketing, How do you "A-Ha Yourself"? | No Comments »

This entry was posted on Friday, September 21st, 2007 at 6:37 am and is filed under All About Content, Fun With Marketing, How do you "A-Ha Yourself"?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

No sense making it harder than it has to be. Start with the easy ways to “A-Ha Yourself!” - put your boldest insights into joy-filled action - and work up from there.

1. Write an email to a person or business that caught your attention. It may be one-on-one, or it may be through their marketing efforts, but if a person or business makes an impression on you, let ‘em know about it!
2. Comment on a blog or website. Let the blogger or site owner know you came, you read, and you enjoyed it.
3. Blog. Design the blog around your business, passion, or expertise. In the best case scenario, those are the same things.

4. Write useful articles to your target audience. Assist, inspire, answer, inform, educate, debunk, entertain! Then send out to ezine publishers, magazines, article directories, and more. (We use and recommend www.AhaArticles.com.)

5. Submit a press release. Got news, an upcoming event, seasonal tips, a new product or service, etc.? Sanctify it with a press release to your local media, and with online services like PR.com, PRWeb.com, or MarketWire.com.

6. Create a social networking page for yourself and/or your business. We’ve got one on Squidoo, and we’ll be getting in the MySpace and Facebook games next.

7. Teach about your topic. Whether it’s a speaking engagement, class, workshop, seminar, webinar, or teleclass,
get in front of an audience and let loose on the things people need and want to know most in your field.

8. Serialize your knowledge. Create a series around a theme, process, set of steps, bag of tricks ‘n tips, crazy shtick, you name it. Don’t just go for the written word, either. Try out audio (we use and recommend www.AhaAudio.com) or have fun directing a few YouTube videos.

9. Send out ezines, newsletters, or autoresponders. Build an opt-in list and start sending them regular doses of user-friendly, info-rich content relevant to their lives. Repeat! (We use and recommend www.AhaCart.com.)

10. Last but not least, get yourself a website. Preferably a real website, with a dedicated domain, and matching email addresses. (That means no you@gmail.com, @hotmail.com, @yahoo.com, @aol.com, etc. We use and recommend www.AhaWebHost.com.) Make it easy to read, engaging, and make each page its own relationship-building experience. And don’t forget one clear call to action on each page!

We were inspired to write this blog post because someone took the time to “A-Ha Herself!” with us, and we took the bait - hook, line, and sinker. Her name is Mary Leedy of CandlePassion.net, and she dropped us a line on our comment form to let us know she heard Allen on an Ali Brown call, which is what inspired her to check out our blog and sign up for our Inciter ezine.

She reeled us in (to continue the fishing metaphor - can you tell we got our son a fishing rod as a new-big-brother gift, though he doesn’t know it yet?) with great storytelling on her About page, and a compelling Team Vision page that details her R.I.P. Roaring Business philosophy.

What’s more, she’s passionate about what she does, she actively takes the steps to share her mission and vision with others, and she’s an advocate of the Golden Rule. Basically, she’s an “A-Ha Yourself!” natural, and we really dig that about her.

Click below to use your fave social media tools:

Hide Sites

Posted in How do you "A-Ha Yourself"? | 1 Comment »

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 8:53 pm and is filed under How do you "A-Ha Yourself"?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Some companies “A-Ha themselves” better than others. Honest Tea is one such company.

To be fair, they have a few grand assets in their favor:

1. They’ve been growing, learning, and improving as a business for nearly a decade.
2. They’ve got a PERFECT name - one that describes their product, mission, corporate intentions and values, AND is a working homonym for prime virtue (one that’s hard to come by in these hyped-up, slick-willied times).
3. They’ve got clear-sighted, realistic, high-idealed leadership behind their mission and message in the forms of their laid-back visionary and TeaEO Seth Goldman, and former business professor and genuine student of life, Barry Nalebuff. (Read their story here.)

Allen and I had the opportunity to hear Seth talk, and to make his acquaintance, at Stonyfield Farm’s Entrepreneur Day in March of this year.

In front of more than 100 small business owners, solo-preneurs, and enterprising professionals from all over the country, Seth talked about “The Thermos Stage” of Honest Tea back in 1997/1998, when an idea for a less-sugary, more satisfying beverage fueled a decision to quit his “real” job and concoct drinks in his kitchen, which led to a taste-testing with Fresh Fields (now Whole Foods) just five weeks later, which led to a jaw-dropping order of 15,000 bottles, which ultimately led them to a stellar first year: $250,000, to be exact.

But that was just the beginning.

The next bunch of years Seth called “The Neither Land Zone.” While Honest Tea enjoyed steady revenue growth ($1 million in 1999 became $1.9 million in 2000 became $3.2 million in 2001 became $4.6 million in 2002 became $5.5 million in 2003…Can ya dig it? It’s all on the history page of their site…), this was a real Trial ‘n Error phase. Lots of botched batches, experiments in marketing gone awry, sprinkled with outstanding kudos from Inc. magazine, Visa, and the Natural Foods Industry. (They were the Grand Prize winners of the “Dream Big” award, which is a salute to their blossoming vision and “A-Ha Yourself!” moxie.)

Basically, this phase of Honest Tea’s growth was all about branding, marketing, and selling tea. But a successful business can’t thrive in this space for too long without boredom, burnout, or a dire sense of futility for all involved. Eventually, a biz either stagnates and dies, or - as Seth said - “…evolves into a broader idea…”

Idea evolution is the route Honest Tea took, and it catapulted them to The Breakthrough Stage.

First, there was a clarity to their vision: Authentic. Organic. Healthier. Socially responsible.

They were no longer a company obsessed with products or systems. They became a company that stands for a set of ideals, principles and values; one that shares learning tools, leverages talent, market position, and passion to make the world a better place.

A company with a bold mission becomes more than the sum of its parts. Suddenly, a bottle of liquid is a promise of something better, an expression of commitment, and a lifestyle choice.

Such integrity behind a brand excites consumers and employees alike. And as privileged as we are to be citizens of the United States, most of us are starting to realize we can exercise our buying power in better, more thoughtful and globally meaningful ways.

Honest Tea gives us a way to do just that. What we especially like about Honest Tea is they don’t preach. They INVITE. Just one visit to their recently revamped website and you’ll see what we mean.

One thing Seth said really resonated with us: “Sometimes you know what you’re about, but you don’t have the same backbone as the people around you.” Ain’t that the truth, tho’?

And he left us with six leassons that ANY entrepreneur or small business owner could use in a pinch:

1. Make sure you know what you stand for.

2. Choose your friends wisely.

3. Don’t raise more money than you need.

4. You have find BALANCE, and you have to start with it early.

5. It’s HARD. It takes work. Don’t be frightened.

6. Do what you’re passionate about. Period.

It turns out Seth has indeed chosen his friends wisely, as he and Stonyfield Farm’s Gary Hirshberg have an obviously strong connection, as friends and fellow business radicals.

And since one of Stonyfield’s most effective and celebrated marketing practices is their affinity for blogs and blogging, may we be so bold as to say Honest Tea is a prime candidate for launching and cultivating a blog of their own.

Addressing issues around sugar consumption, fair trade practices, and the benefits of going organic - these and more are issues and missions ideal for a company like Honest Tea.

Keep an eye on their growth and progress. We predict they’ll be leaders in the pursuit of a better, healthier, more conscious life and lifestyle.

Click below to use your fave social media tools:

Hide Sites

Posted in How do you "A-Ha Yourself"? | No Comments »

This entry was posted on Monday, August 13th, 2007 at 12:04 pm and is filed under How do you "A-Ha Yourself"?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One of the three A-Ha Yourself!/Dignity Marketing “Power Tools” we recommend to clients is article marketing.

Well, we recently received an email from fellow entrepreneur Richard Villasana (who we met at Adam Urbanski’s “Attract Clients Like Crazy” boot camp last year) about how his first experience with article marketing was a veritable home run.

Hey you two,

How’s everything going? How’s the family?

I would like to share an idea that could prove beneficial for your
business. We all read articles for news and education. One of
Adam’s PR recommendations is to call or email the author of
any article that we really enjoyed and provided us with great content.

I took this advice and contacted the author of an article on the
U.S. Hispanic market. The author was so pleased with my comments
that I offered to do a follow up piece. You can see the results in
the latest edition (June 2007) of CRM, Customer Relationship
Management Magazine. To read my article entitled “Lo Conseguimos”,
go to http://tinyurl.com/2vl5no. 

If you would like to access the audio version, go to
www.themexicoguru.com/crmaudio.html and then click on the
play button right above “Podcast”. If you want to hear more of my
audio articles, you can sign up at the bottom of the page.

There is so much PR and credibility you can develop with just one
article. I found this tip to be excellent and again I wanted to
share this with you. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you
have any questions or comments. I’d enjoy hearing how your
business is doing, how’s the family and whatever else comes to mind.
Sometimes it’s just nice hearing from people who are doing more in
life than just clocking in at work.
 
Have a great weekend.
 
Saludos,
 
Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
International Speaker
rvillasana@TheMexicoGuru.com
www.TheMexicoGuru.com

Easy, fast, effective. Nice job, Richard. Way to hit it out of the park on the first try.

Click below to use your fave social media tools:

Hide Sites

Posted in All About Content, How do you "A-Ha Yourself"? | No Comments »

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 14th, 2007 at 1:53 pm and is filed under All About Content, How do you "A-Ha Yourself"?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

By now you’ve likely seen The Secret, that ambitious 90-minute info-tainment flick delivering a high-concept, high-energy overview of The Law of Attraction.*

I’m a fan of the movie and of creator Rhonda Byrne’s overall spunk and vision. I’m also a fan of their forward-thinking branding and content initiatives. A few of the highlights include:

• The fact that they made the movie available as a $5 download without a bunch of obnoxious hard up-selling, so cost has never been a barrier to getting the idea out to the masses on an international level. (BTW, the pink-spoon sampling approach has been integral to their overall sales success!)
• A robust and generous website that lets enthusiasts and knowledge seekers get into the story and spirit of it all, with membership areas, printable pdfs, visualization tools, and simple idea-enhancers, like this printable check from the universe.
• Consistent brand voice, energy, content quality, and visual integrity through and through. Not an easy endeavor, but wildly important for world domination.

The Secret is the fearless thrust of a bold idea into the ether — inspired by insight, stories, and optimistic thought leaders — built on the premise of 1000s of years of the world’s most enduring people and legends.

What’s more, the peeps behind The Secret haven taken this bold idea and leveraged today’s tools of technology (not to mention, TALENT POOL!) in fun, creative ways so their message gets out to as many people as possible.

Sure, they’re making a bunch of money, but the MESSAGE reigns supreme. That’s what makes it so very successful.  

An “A-Ha Yourself!” success story if there ever was one.

*A few people I’ve spoken with have read the book instead, but I think the movie is far more effective and efficient, quite frankly. It’s sleek, visual, captivating, and gets the concepts out through a diverse gathering of talking heads, from quantum physicists to authors to passionate idea evangelists. The book loses the multimedia wallop. The information’s there, but you don’t digest it the same way. I’m sure it’s a fine companion piece to the movie, but if you have to choose between either the movie OR the book, go with the movie, ok?

Click below to use your fave social media tools:

Hide Sites

Posted in Brand Funk, How do you "A-Ha Yourself"? | 1 Comment »

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 at 11:36 am and is filed under Brand Funk, How do you "A-Ha Yourself"?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One of my personal “How Do You A-Ha Yourself?” examples (and heroes) is my amazing and fabulous friend (and now best-selling author!) Lisa Steadman. (Read Lisa’s “A-Ha Yourself” case study here.)

Her most recent coup is a two-segment feature on NBC’s Today Show. In less than six minutes, you’ll get to see one breakup survivor get a makeover, another one bask in the spotlight of a Movin’ On party, and of course, you’ll get to see The Relationship Journalist herself chat it up with Mr. Al Roker.

Last month I met up with Lisa in New York City for a couple of lavish nights at the famed Waldorf Astoria. Lisa and her new book, “It’s a Breakup, Not a Breakdown,” was a hit at NYC’s Book Expo (although Lisa learned the hard way that not all book signings are created equal!). She also had a radio rap session with the goddess of single girls herself, Ms. Candace Bushnell. Isn’t that a hoot!

Her forward momentum right now is positively THRILLING to behold. She’s saying yes to all the right things - from TV appearances to becoming a guest columnist on other websites to pursuing joint-venture partnerships (which can’t be named right now due to legal mumbo jumbo). Lisa Steadman knows who she is and where she wants to go.

If you’re in need of some “A-Ha Yourself” inspiration, look no further than Lisa. She’s doing everything right!

Click below to use your fave social media tools: