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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Cultural Shifts Bring Enlightenment
Photo credit: Sara Goldsmith
I am currently working with someone from another part of the world on a test venture. Although putting together the test venture was relatively easy, that was due largely to our having a pre-existing relationship.
More problematic was my partner’s understanding of the venture itself.
We grew up in different cultures. Worse, our cultures were, in many ways, exact opposites of one another.
I am American, where we truly have an embarrassment of riches. In America, we have so much wealth that it actually takes conscious effort to recognize it all.
Water and electricity are pumped into our homes without interruption. Smooth, well maintained roads allow us to move freely about. We have so much food that it sometimes spoils and gets thrown away before we get around to eating it. TV, radio, phone service, free libraries, schools, police and fire protection, curbside trash pickup… The list just just goes on and on.
We have hundreds of channels on TV and dozens of restaurant choices within a few miles of practically every home in America. We have abundance coming out our ears.
As a consequence, what do Americans value? Scarcity. Anything which is rare has value. Anything one-of-a-kind has tremendous value. Things that are antique and for which more can’t be produced — reproductions are not the same thing — have value.
Contrast that with my partner, who grew up in a third world country where everything is scarce. Electricity gets turned off on a regular schedule because the grid can’t support continuous delivery. Food and water are not things to be taken for granted. There are few cars because so few can afford them.
In that world, the very concept that scarcity has value is something completely alien.
It took some lengthy discussions but once we each understood the context of one another’s way of thinking, it was a smooth partnership.
The same applies to your relationship with your customers. While the differences in background and thinking may be less extreme, it’s no less important that you take the time to understand your customers and properly explain yourself to them.
I Don’t Need to Outrun the Bear…
There is an old joke whose punchline goes “I don’t need to outrun the bear, I only need to outrun you!”
Photo credit: Darren Blackburn
Along similar lines, there is a humorous expression, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
Both of these expressions have been on my mind lately as, to me, they both represent sort of the same thing. That is, the concept that I don’t need to be the best who ever lived at what I do. I don’t even need to be the best who is currently alive. Heck, I don’t even have to be the best I know.
Being best is nice and it’s absolutely a goal I strive toward, but all that’s really necessary in order to be successful is to be my best. If I am competent at what I do and if I always give my best and am always finding way to improve, then I’m already a winner.
Someone looking to work with a copywriter probably isn’t looking to work with the best there is. For a lot of reasons. Perhaps they can’t afford the best. Or can’t wait months for that person’s schedule to free up. Or maybe they don’t even know who the best is and have no real way of finding out.
As long as I am able to do a good job and increase sales, then I am delivering value. As long as that value is far greater than what I charge for it, then I’m giving my clients a good deal.
By the way, this same principle holds true for any profession. I don’t need the greatest dentist who ever lived, I just want someone to fix my tooth. I don’t need the engine whisperer, I just want someone who can fix my car and get it running.
It’s liberating to realize this!
Click any of the icons below to retweet these passages from the above article.
Remember, we’ll donate money to charity for every retweet. No purchase necessary. You retweet, we donate. It’s that simple.
I Don’t Need to Outrun the Bear…
How “I don’t need to outrun the bear, I only need to outrun you!” applies to marketing.
I don’t need to be the best who ever lived at…
All that’s really necessary in order to be successful is to be MY best.
As long as I deliver value that is far greater than what I charge for it…
I don’t need the engine whisperer, I just want someone who can fix my car.
Stumbling Into Profitability
Just stumbling along.
I don’t think anyone would argue it’s the best route to success in anything.
Still, it seems to be the path most of us follow whether we plan to or not. In fact, it’s the planners among us — myself included — who are typically most guilty of following a stumbling, meandering path.
I don’t profess to know a solution. If I did, this would be a very different article. I don’t even know that a solution is necessary. Sometimes we discover fantastic things when we wander.
The number of wonderful surprises I’ve come across in my own personal wanderings is far too numerous to count. By way of offering a sample, let me share just a couple…
Just Because an Idea is Good, Doesn’t Mean it’s Viable
I once had an idea for a line of manufactured products. It was a good idea; dare I say, even a great idea. I spent quite a long time working on it. I researched source materials, thought up marketing ideas, built and tested prototypes, calculated cost and pricing, did market analyses…
All went very well. Everything was about as in line as a new venture could expect to get.
Except for one thing.
It was a manufactured product.
Mass producing it would require machinery and equipment. Even used, the equipment needed was prohibitively expensive.
There are No Gods at the Altar of Originality
For most of my life I have worshiped at the altar of originality. That is to say, I prided myself on being a unique and original flower in a sea of common, three-leaf clovers. My love of originality even extended to my entrepreneurial pursuits.
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial bent, but my love of originality meant that whatever I did must be new and unique. No merely running a gas station or buying into a franchise for me. No using someone else’s business model that’s already been perfected and proven to work.
Such thinking was sorely to my own detriment.
Many years passed where I struggled to lift my ambitions to great heights while watching so many others cruise easily past me on their own routes to success. So much time wasted. So much effort squandered.
I still love originality but now realize it can hold a place in my life without being my whole life.
Now I sell stuff on eBay, I am one of thousands of copywriters, one of hundreds of thousands of teachers and one of millions of authors. When I let go of my need to be original was when I finally started seeing some measurable success.
$5 Million or 5 Daughters?
Photo credit: Janet McKnight
Asked, “Which would you rather have: $5 million or five daughters?”
Without hesitation, the man replied, “Five daughters.”
What?! Who in their right mind would choose such a thing?
A man who currently has eight daughters.
————
Okay, that was a humorous story but it makes an interesting point. The value we assign to most things is relative.
Diamonds and gold would likely have no value if you were stranded on a deserted island. In a deep flood, even a simple canoe will be more valuable than the most expensive luxury car.
Where am I going with this?
Once again, the answer isn’t entirely clear to me.
I heard the story about the five daughters and, aside from the humorous value, it triggered a cascade of semi-formed thoughts and ideas. This post is a partial exploration of those.
As a copywriter and a marketing consultant, understanding motivation is a crucial thing.
At its root, all motivation is based on value assessments. Given a choice between two things, people will generally choose the one which they believe will give them the most value.
However understanding the value that others place on objects and activities is a slippery slope. For instance, given a choice between watching TV or reading a book, most people will choose TV.
Why? I think just about everyone would agree that reading a book is intrinsically more valuable than watching TV. But that value comes at a price in terms of time and effort expended.
Suppose I offer to sell you an apple for $1 or a candy bar for $1. Those who place a very high value on health would be more likely to choose the apple while those who value pleasure would likely choose the chocolate.
Now suppose the apple were only ten cents but the candy bar was still $1.
If everyone presented with that deal had $1 and were willing to spend it all, the percentage of who chooses which option probably wouldn’t change much. A few who might otherwise have chosen the chocolate might now choose the apple if they value still having money left over, or if they were very hungry and could buy several apples rather than just one candy bar.
What if you had at least ten cents but far less than $1? You could buy the apple now or put in a hour’s work to earn enough to buy the chocolate. How many more would value the speed and convenience of the apple they can afford over the time and effort spent to get the chocolate they can’t?
This may seem a ridiculous example when we’re talking about small inexpensive items like apples and candy bars but what about the difference between two rather expensive and purely discretionary luxury items? Let’s say a jet ski or a motorcycle.
Assuming both were equally appealing, what would be the result of applying the exercises above?
More importantly to a marketer, how can I make my product seem more valuable than the alternative?
Click any of the links below to retweet these passages from the above article.
Remember, we’ll donate money to charity for every retweet. No purchase necessary. You retweet, we donate. It’s that simple.
Which would you rather have: $5 million or five daughters?
Who in their right mind would choose such a thing?
The value we assign to most things is relative.
In a flood, a canoe will be more valuable than the most expensive luxury car.
Understanding motivation is a crucial thing.
At its root, all motivation is based on value assessments.
This may seem like a ridiculous example.
How can I make my product seem more valuable than the alternative?