Wizard Wisdom

From my inbox:

Dear Scott, When telling it like it is... “It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.” - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone In this issue: Connection Vs. Control You Need to be Near and Far Sighted to Grow a Business Introverts and Extraverts Wizard Academy upcoming seminars: Fight the Big Boys and Win 20-21 Jan 2009 Boom Your Business 19-20 Feb 2009, Denver, Colorado Connection Vs. Control By Michele Miller, Wizard of Ads Partner & Co-Author of "The Soccer Mom Myth" "A business can’t create connection. It can only give its customer the information and experience she desires so that SHE can connect your brand with all that is good and right in the world." Truth is an onion. The real, core truth of a concept is concealed beneath layers that most people ignore or neglect. You can always go deeper. You can always peel away one more layer. Maybe you’re afraid, because the very layer you caress between your fingers is the one that everyone else believes to be the essential truth. It’s the layer that everyone else focuses on - the layer upon which everyone else’s marketing strategies, advertising campaigns, and mission statements are based. But you’re not like everyone else, are you? When it comes to capturing the heart of the female customer, the overriding mantra being chanted by marketers today is: Connect with her and all is well. Connect with her and all is well. Connect with her and all is well… Too many marketing-to-women strategies and campaigns have failed on the concept of “connecting” with the female consumer. It’s not about connection. It’s about CONTROL. Connection is a process. Control is ownership. A business can’t create connection. It can only give its customer the information and experience she desires so that SHE can connect your brand with all that is good and right in the world. Giving her control means: 1. Information is not withheld. You provide all of the answers to her questions, before she even has a chance to ask them. 2. You strive for transparency. There’s no fine print, no shell game. Phone calls are returned, mistakes owned up to. 3. You give her the peace of mind to know that you are taking care of everything that can and should be done. Peace of mind means that when inevitable mistakes do occur on your part, it’s very easy for her to forgive you. 4. She feels like she’s having an honest dialogue with you. She has a voice in your relationship, and feels valued. It’s up to you to give her the control she needs. Total control provides every possible opportunity to let the customer decide where you fit into her world of connection. What do you want your customer to feel - out of control, or in control? What are you doing to ensure that she feels in control? Do you have a system in place for information, transparency, and dialogue? That system could be the key to the fanatical customer loyalty you dream of. Go ahead. Peel down to control, then let her do the connecting. She’ll love you for it. The Editor: Michele has limited days available each year for speaking engagements. For your next event hire Michele and learn where marketing is headed and how to keep your business light-years ahead of your competitors. You Need to be Near and Far Sighted to Grow a Business There are basically two ways of seeing: 1. the way things are. 2. the way things ought to be. Do you find yourself moaning about lack of resources, and wishing that things were different? Follow the advice of Teddy Roosevelt, who said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Now that we've established the wisdom of a pragmatic, clear-eyed worldview, let's examine the equal-but-opposite wisdom offered by that other hemisphere of your brain, the right. What might happen if a person simply rejected the way things are and insisted on seeing them as they ought to be? 1. First, the person would be considered irrelevant, an impractical dreamer. 2. If persistent, they'd become a nuisance. 3. Then a renegade, a rebel, a lunatic and a heretic. 4. Finally, a serious troublemaker and a borderline criminal. 5. Later, the founder of a movement. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Mahatma Gandhi. Martin Luther King. "Every man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds." - Mark Twain "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends upon the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw I'm not trying to be mysterious when I say I agree with both of these equal-but-opposite worldviews. We must do what we can, with what we have, where we are if we are to accomplish anything in the short term, and we must be the crank with a new idea if tomorrow is going to be better than today. The Editor: Do you possess a balanced way of seeing? Introverts and Extraverts By Roy H. Williams Run the following ad in any newspaper: 2006 Honda Civic DX 4dr, White, 63,000 miles, $8,100. Call 555-1212 These are the questions you’ll be asked by nearly half your callers: “What year is that Honda Civic? Is it a 2-door or 4-door? What color? How many miles on it? How much are you asking?” I know this because I bought and sold an average of 3 cars a month for the first several years Pennie and I were married. I’ve answered these questions many hundreds of times and in every instance the information was in the newspaper ad. I always wanted to ask, “Where did you get this phone number?” Then a few years ago Dr. Richard D. Grant taught me the difference between introverts and extraverts. Introversion and extraversion don't refer to shyness and boldness. They refer only to how you charge your emotional batteries. Introverts gain energy from internal contemplation, centering, and quiet time. Extraverts gain energy from external people, places, and things. I’m an introvert. Those car questions were asked by extraverts. Contrary to what introverts like to think, extraverts aren’t stupid. They simply prefer the spoken word to the written. Books are written for introverts. Audiobooks are recorded for extraverts. Introverts rarely say what they are thinking. They say only what they have thought. Introverts think to talk. Extraverts talk to think. When introverts get stuck, they close the door, turn off the radio, take the phone off the hook and go deep inside themselves to find the answer. When extraverts get stuck they strike up a conversation with someone. This gets the mental flywheel spinning again and sure enough, within moments, out pops an idea. Extraverts get their best ideas during conversation. Although nearly half our population is introverted, the US maintains a strongly extraverted social etiquette: Focus groups measure the opinions of extraverts. Churches plan social events for extraverts. Companies hand out promotions to extraverts and sales trainers teach us how to sell to extraverts. Do you remember the old sales adage, “close early, close hard and close often?” This may be a sure way to keep your extraverted customer engaged in conversation and “flush out” their true objection, but you’ll just as surely alienate your introverted customers. Good luck with that. Extraverts think introverts are socially inept. Introverts think extraverts are noisy. What extraverts call “reaching out to someone,” introverts call an invasion of privacy. Extraverts prefer to work in teams. Introverts do their best work alone. Given their polar opposite preferences, can introverts and extraverts work well together, become partners, be happily married? Absolutely. The key to showing courtesy to an extravert is to listen to them more than you think is necessary. Maintain eye contact, nod your head and smile. The key to showing courtesy to an introvert is to give them time and space for reflection and processing. Don’t bombard them with questions or subject them to a barrage of jabber when they’re “all peopled out." Give them an uninterrupted hour to read the mail and they’ll soon be ready to hear about your day. Do it however works best for you, but keep your emotional batteries charged. Happy Holidays. Previous stories, just in case you missed them: Exponential Little Bits The Must Read Articles of 2008 by GrokDotCom What to Expect in 2009 Sending out a Flyer? 2 Factors You Must Understand How to Survive a Family Business A Closing Thought "Education either functions as... 1. an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity, or 2. it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world." - Paolo Freire Have a great Christmas break. Craig Arthur Wizard of Ads PS. Need help to attract more customers and grow your business? Australia Call (07) 4728 4866 or email craigarthur@wizardofads.com North America Call 308-254-2732 or email daveyoung@wizardofads.com Call 440-610-9746 or email tomwanek@wizardofads.com We will never try and sell you. You may punch us in the arm really, really hard if we do. Call or email to book a FREE alignment meeting. No obligation. No pressure. It is at this meeting we both decide if there is a fit between our 2 companies. It is only then can we explore your options. We will never try to sell you. Call (07) 4728 4866.

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