Do you feel successful? I don’t.
Yes, I have moments of euphoria, usually after I’ve written something pretty good – but it’s not long before I decide I’m useless.
So I read about a seminar in “power talking” and “communication skills” with great interest – especially when it said that 80% of people fail at work because they don’t “relate well” to other people …“a clear case of failed communication”.
.
Well, the seminar was cheap, the course leader is practically a genius – “multi skilled as an Occupational Psychologist, Executive Mentor, Presenter and Counsellor” – and the subject is highly relevant.
But the copy put me off. As far as I or anyone else who cares for the English language might be concerned it was indeed a case of failed communication. It had more clichés and jargon in it than a politician’s speech.
I was promised “user-friendly, high-level skills” and “solution-focused communication techniques”. There was obsessive use of expressions based on the word “impact” – “impacts on”, “impactful”, “high-impact” and “positive impact”. And naturally that shop-soiled word “engage” popped up (why not “intrigue” or “interest”?)
If that’s how people who teach communication write, it explains a lot of the mindless tripe we all have to plough though – in documents, on the internet, in meetings: everywhere.
Every day you are trying to get colleagues, bosses, customers – maybe family – to do what you want. Whether you like it or not, life is one long sales pitch – and most of that selling is done in writing.
So how do you avoid boring the hell out of people? How do you write well? It really matters, as two old colleagues, Ken Roman and Joel Raphaelson, revealed in their splendid book “Writing that Works”.
It seems that when the Chief Executives of top U.S. firms were asked what they would most like to change in business, the majority pleaded: “Can someone please teach people to write better?”
Now if you’re wondering where all this has been leading, let me ask you a question.
Would you or your colleagues be interested in three short webinars on how to write better? I have been teaching this for nearly 30 years, and my normal rate is £5,000 per day. But if enough of you are interested I will do them for £39 each.
In my time I’ve written books, scripts, articles, ads, brochures, presentations, speeches, emails, editorials – you name it – and got paid for them all. I’ll tell you what I’ve learned.
The last time I did a seminar on this subject it was for the world’s largest conference organisers. People said the were “inspired”. I can’t guarantee such giddy heights of joy, but I think you’ll find it worth it.
Can you take a second to email me and say if this interests you? Just write saying yes or no to Drayton@draytonbird.com.
And, just so I know where you’re coming from, do me a favour and type in ‘marketing sleuth’ anywhere in the email.
Thanks!
Best,
Drayton
—————————————–
Website: www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com / www.eadim.com
Filed under Drayton Bird by on Jun 5th, 2010. Comment. 
Are you interested in getting 10 hot new video products
that you can sell as your own?
I’m talking about products you can put your name on, change any way you want and make 100% unique to you.
Does this sound like an easier way to create products
versus spending hundreds of hours on painstaking
product development?
You bet it does!
No one likes spending all that time creating products
or even worse, paying someone thousands of dollars to
do it.
Through Jeremy Burns’ newest Source Code Gold Mine
package, you can forget creating products or paying
out the nose to have them created for you.
http://www.sourcecodegoldmine.co.uk/
You get 10 hot video products with private label rights
that you can customize any way you see fit for huge
profits!
Imagine being the next Internet marketing guru
attaining all of the credibility & cash that comes
with it!
This isn’t impossible! With just a little bit of
customization, you’re hot product line is ready to
rock and ready to sell.
You will not only be able to make money selling
products but you’ll be able to make even more money
back ending your other products to your new customers!
If you’re tired of all the other money making
opportunities and affiliate programs, this is exactly
what you’ve been looking for.
All you have to do is raise your hand, say “Yes, I
want my own hot line of cash producing products” and
that will be your reality.
Check out this awesome collection of profitable
video products right here…(Just wait until you see the
graphics and site packages that come with each site!)
http://www.sourcecodegoldmine.co.uk/
Best,
Rezbi
P.S. By tomorrow you could have your own complete
business setup with 10 hot products you can sell for
100% profit! Click here to get started right now…
http://www.sourcecodegoldmine.co.uk/
Filed under internet business by on May 11th, 2010. Comment.
Do you think the British are morphing in some weird way?
We were always known as a pretty dull, phlegmatic bunch, compared to the excitable French, the fiery Spanish and the sexy Italians.
Well, something strange seems to be happening in business.
Across the road from our offices a building firm says it’s passionate about whatever it does. Pret-a-Manger is passionate about food. The North East is full of passionate people – and passionate country, too, so their posters claim. And Churchill are passionate about insurance.
Do these people have no sex lives, I sometimes wonder. (Though it certainly proves that many agencies are pretty passionate about copying each other.)
More to the point, all this passion reminds me of a big mistake many who sell to businesses make. That is to assume that business decisions are made on rational grounds and emotion doesn’t come into it.
This is nonsense – and to prove it I often ask audiences whether they can think of anyone they work with that they hate. It never fails to raise a laugh of recognition.
Only human – with feelings
Don’t you agree that the way we love to label things often does more to confuse than help?
We talk of above the line and below, of b2c and b2b. “Consumers” and “Business people”. Is that how our customers see themselves? Do they have lines running through their brains?
They are all human beings. And we know perfectly well what things motivate people when we sell make-up, a car or even a hair-remover. People want to be looked at, admired – and definitely not shunned.
In business they want what? To be looked up to, admired – and definitely not shunned. To be successful, quoted as examples for other people to emulate – not seen as losers – in life or business.
Pretty similar, right?
So we repeatedly find when selling to business that if something isn’t doing well, a dash of passion makes all the difference.
- For an express delivery firm we suggested delivery managers could go from zero – never noticed till something went wrong – to hero by relying on them.
- For a credit collection firm we focused on the stress credit managers experience when trying to reconcile the conflicting demands of the finance and sales directors.
- For a telephony service we wrote about the rage touch-tone services inspire in most people and contrasted it with their solution.
The truth is that you don’t grow a second head on your way to the office; and you may spend more waking hours there than anywhere else. It’s not necessarily less interesting or emotional a life than the one you spend at home. It is often more so.
People lie, cheat and finagle their way to whatever business goal they may have. And they kill for money – which is what most business revolves around.
Man is not a rational animal at work any more than anywhere else. He (or she) makes decisions on emotional grounds then tries to find logical arguments to explain them away.
So, if you want better results when selling to business, look in your heart – then use your head to find a way of explaining why the emotional argument makes sense.
A few people have asked for comments on various things. Thanks. Keep ‘em coming.
Best,
Drayton
P.S. This is number 9 of Drayton Bird’s 101 free helpful marketing ideas. You can sign up on the link below for the rest.
—————————————–
Website: www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com / www.eadim.com
Click here to get 101 free helpful marketing ideas. Marketers from all over the world think they’re a pot of gold.
Filed under Drayton Bird, advertising by on May 8th, 2010. Comment.
Profit from Facebook!High-Impact, Low-Cost Social Marketing That Works! With more than 80,000,000 affluent, savvy members, Facebook is todays fastest-growing marketing opportunity! But traditional marketing methods wont work here. In Facebook Marketing, best-selling author Steven Holzner reveals new social marketing techniques that do work, and shows you exactly how to make the most of them. Using true case studies, Holzner introduces powerful new techniques from todays s (more…)
Filed under marketing by on May 4th, 2010. Comment.
Review
“…an invaluable, practical guide to marketing for those new to the subject…” (Marketer, September 2006)
Review
“…an invaluable, practical guide to marketing for those new to the subject…” (Marketer, September 2006) “…useful, practical and, above all, reader–friendly…this book certainly takes me to a new level…I heartily recommend it”. (Oldham Evening Chronicle, March 2007)
See all
(more…)
Filed under marketing by on May 1st, 2010. Comment.
