Five levels of marketing

Opening a business is a scary, challenging, exciting adventure. On the birthday of our baby business, the hard part of marketing our business begins. Will customers come in? Will they come back? Will they love us enough to share with their friends? Will we have enough customers to buy our product to stay in business. The greatest gift a customer can give a business besides his money is sharing positive experiences with friends.

Marketing is a discipline most people don't understand. There are basically five phases to marketing that happen in the mindset of customers.

1. Awareness
2. Trial
3. Reminder
4. Loyalty
5. Sharing

The first step in marketing is awareness. If customers don't know you exist, you'll have a hard time surviving. If you spend more money on a high traffic location and attribute part of your rent to your marketing budget, you'll save in the long run making customer aware you exist. It's really important that you ramp up as quickly as possible in this step because time is money. And you probably sunk most of yours in your new idea. So the quicker customers start coming in, the better chance you have to survive.

Once customers are aware of your existence, you have to solicit trial. A customer that doesn't try your product will never know if you're any good. Trial comes from creating a compelling reason for a customer to stop in. Some discount. Some have giveaways. Others have a special grand opening that creates energy around the building pulling customers in. The trial step in building customers is where you'll find out if they like your product or not.

Most business owners think they've made it at the trial stage. A lot of customers coming in, checking out the offerings, maybe buying product. Sales are high. Spirits are high. Expectations are usually low from the customer perspective.

Once a customer has tried a product, there has to be a compelling reason to return. If the product doesn't fill a perceived need or if the company isn't perceived as superior to its competitors, the customer will probably not come back. Using reminder tactics as marketing can be very wasteful. Direct Mail is seen to be one of the best forms of offline marketing to a customer. Yet a 2% response rate is considered successful. The profit from the response usually doesn't pay for the marketing itself.

But if you do get return business and the reminders start working, you may be on your way to a loyal customer. A relationship with a loyal customer is a marriage. Once they become loyal, they see past the business's shortcoming. They accept and love the business for what it is.

When you can identify your loyal customers, your biggest return on marketing investment will be from them. The more they share stories and the more they refer you to their friends, the busier you will get. That's word of mouth. It happens by being awesome to a group of people. Be careful not to use your new loyal customers. You wouldn't want to lose that customer you worked so hard to get.

A story about cows

I hate cows. It comes from my youth. The neighbouring farmer never tended to his fences and the cows used to trample my dad's landscaped lawn. Mowing it was a challenge with beastly hoofholes. The lawnmower wheels would get stuck in them forcing me lift and tug on the mower only to be met with a new challenge a few feet away.

Mowing was my job. Taking time away from valuable playtime, I hated mowing anyways. So the addition of potholes made my disdain even greater as I directed my anger toward my thousand pound nemesis.

Cows are good for two things: Hamburgers and Ice Cream.

There is nothing special about cows. Cow lovers will argue that they are pretty. That they are the backbone of our economy. I have one word for Cow lovers: Blah!

We learned in school that a dog goes woof, a cat goes meow and a cow goes moo.

Wrong!
Cows don't moo.
Have you ever heard a cow wail away? Mooing is not in their vocabulary. The french say that a cow goes "meule". More appropriate in my opinion. Even the French need to give the sound more emphasis. A cow sarcastically screams from their stomach a sound that repeats no less than three times. The sound is a cross between a cat in heat and the sound of someone getting punched in the gut.

Between the sound of these beastly demons and their escapades on virgin lawns, I loathe them.

Despite my loathing, I have learned something great about cows. They are everywhere and no one cares about them except those that benefit from their existence: the farmer's family.

There's nothing remarkable cows that forces the average person to stop and take a picture of them. I don't ever remember seeing a Facebook post or a picture tweeted on cows. No instagram, Pinterest. No first page news in the local newspaper. Nothing. Because no one cares about the unremarkable.

Businesses can be like cows. Unremarkable with the only ones caring about them being the owners friends and family.  50% of businesses fail in the first two years of operation because enough people didn't care enough to continue supporting the cow-like enterprises.

If you want to get into business, do your family a favour. Don't become another unremarkable cow.

In Seth Godin's epic book, "Purple Cow", he explains how a purple cow will gather attention. It will force a bystander to pose questions. People will talk and share the remarkable while contributing the popularity of the cow. This cow is different. It isn't normal. It's beyond remarkable. It's shareable.

And most importantly, in its remarkability, it becomes memorable.

We have enough cows. Don't contribute to the problem. Be part of the solution. You'll benefit greatly both financially and emotionally. I hate cows. I love purple cows.

We need more of them.

Help wanted

In general, people have a major weakness. We don't get help when we need it.

I'm not sure if we don't like to ask for help or we don't have the tools to recognize that we could use a helping hand.  We put on the brave face and project a position of strength so no one thinks we're weak. The inability to seek help when needed is a fragility. In trying to be strong, we become weak.

It must come from childhood experiences. Think of the things we've heard when we were hurt as children. Adults would say things like:
"Your tough, tough boys don't cry",
"You're not hurt",
"Take it like a man",
"Suck it up",
"Stop crying".

There is no one to blame. The adults were reiterating what they heard in their childhood. We perpetuate the problems as we continue to reinforce these same behaviour with our own children.

As an adult, I am wired to not ask for help. It takes every ounce of my humbleness to seek out help. I don't even like to ask a neighbour for a hand.

This year, I'm working on an exciting project. There's a lot I don't know. I have a choice.
1. Seek out help, pay for good advice and kickstart the project into high gear.
2. Learn how to do it myself, make a bunch of mistakes and eventually, hopefully, get my project off the ground.

Do you see the dilemma? I have a choice. I have to spend time or money. The one that is least important to me will be the one that I will spend.

Even if money is most important, I will waste more of it in the second option as I make small mistakes that will cost me.financially.

There is only one right answer. The wrong answer will waste both resources.

As we start to understand ourselves, we will realize where certain beliefs and actions originate. In analyzing the effects of our upbringing, we learn that the longer we wait, we waste both time and money.

It will cost you some money to get the right help. But getting no help will cost both time and money.

Cry when you skin your knee. Someone will help you. I guarantee it.

Oh beard, where art thou?

At fifteen, little black strings penetrated my baby face to declare that I was a member of the male subset of the human race. I felt special. I was growing up. I was no longer a child needing to be told what to do.

Some called it peach fuzz. Others asked if the cat licked my face. It didn't matter.

I was a man.

There was the goatee experiment. My facial hair was like a pair of women shoes. I could do different styles with different outfits. Three days after a shave and the follicles would re-emerge from their hiding place to take their rightful place on my face.

My first job out of school did not permit beards. I was allowed to have a moustache but I felt sleezy with one. Too many bad 70's memories reinforced a decision that I didn't want to be associated with THAT crowd.

So I went bare face as the wishes of a job. During my time at the anti-beardite company, I met a wonderful woman who became my wife.

She didn't like facial hair because it irritated her face when I kissed her. I liked kissing her, so I had no problem with compromising with a daily shave.

20 years have passed. I still like kissing my wife, but I wanted one last beard. One last beard to end all beards on my face. It's winter. There are no worries about tan lines. They are no concerns about it being too hot. I am still a man. So I let it grow.

Some of the black hairs have retired and moved to warmer climates. The new owners of my face don't take care of their property. They lack personality. They are bland in their colourless environment. They co-exist with their black brothers. But they're taking over. Each day, more of their white friends are moving into the neighbourhood.

Worst is they're moving to other parts as well. Soon they will control the whole territory. I could paint the neighbourhood. But that would be fake. I am a man so I take it like one. I'm an older man.

Better to have hair still growing than not have any at all.

For one last hoorah, my beard continues to grow. It is the longest it has ever been.  I feel like a different man when I look at myself in the mirror. I don't like it more or less. It's just different.

And different is what I needed right now to get my butt in gear for this year.

It's working. Now to figure out the kissing thing...

Winners vs losers in pro sports

I love watching the sports highlight package every morning. Watching the finals in any sports competition is something that gets me excited. The storylines, the individual players, the characters create a play suitable for Broadway or Hollywood. The excitement and exuberance with winning is a vicarious moment.

In observing recent interviews by two professional athletes I saw the difference between a winner and a loser. Both athletes are considered all-star performers at the elite level. Both have had personal success in their respective journeys. Neither have won the championship in their elite sport yet. One is destined for greatness and one is going to struggle to get his name remembered with the passage of time.

Phil Kessel is a professional hockey player. He is a consistent point per game player, which puts him in the top 5% of all players in the NHL. He has been criticized as a selfish player, a player that can't make others around him better. In his sixth year with the Toronto Maple Leafs, his coach got fired. When asked what he could have done different to prevent his coach's dismissal, he called the reporter an idiot. He asked the media scrum if they thought the firing was his fault. He got mad. If this was the only flare-up, I would not pass judgement. But it's not. The team's leadership, which Kessel is included, stopped saluting fans after a fan tossed a jersey on the ice in disgust for their poor play.

His attitude to the media may be an indicator to his attitude in the dressing room. If it is, a poisonless team cannot be built around him. He's rotten. He's a good player, but probably a bad teammate. His character is now being questioned.

Andrew Luck is a professional football player. He was drafted first overall in 2012 NFL entry draft because of his total package as a player/professional. Even as a 21 year old kid, his professionalism makes Kessel look like a child.

Last weekend, Luck had to play a football battle which could have been scripted the "Best quarterback of all time" vs "The next one". Luck is "The next one".

In the media scrum, one reporter asked Luck if he could take the "Great" one. Luck's response was one of quickness of wit. He asked, "Do you mean like one on one?". With a reference to a boxing duel or a basketball match, he broke the question with humour. He then said, "I don't face him, our defense does. If our defense does a great job and I do what I'm supposed to, we could beat their team".

He rephrased the question to a team approach. He didn't look at individual glory or praise. He knows it's a team game in which he plays a leader's role.

Luck used the media to promote his team. Kessel is used by the media to promote the media.

Luck will win a championship because he already thinks like a winner. Kessel may not. He thinks like a loser.

Respect can not be earned

I like to zag when everyone else is zigging. The road less traveled can be frightful and a delightful experience at the same time.

One of my zags has to do with respect. Most believe respect has to be earned. I disagree.

Respect is given, whether we like it or not. I had to respect my parents. If not, there were consequences. I had to respect my boss or I got fired. I have to respect my wife or she will eventually leave me.

Get the point?

It is not respect that is earned. It is trust. If I don't know you, I may withhold trust as I get to know you better. As I observe your behaviours, your personality, your thoughts, I will grant you little bits of trust along the pathway to a trusting relationship.

We trust our parents. They cared for us when wild dogs could've eaten our eyes out. There's a primal trust there.

I respect my parents because they respect me.

Giving respect to a complete stranger's thoughts, actions, beliefs when I first meet them comes from the need to be courteous and polite.  They deserve my respect until they don't. They lose my respect as they lose respect for me.

There's a simple duality. You'll have my respect on day one. Respect me back and you'll have it to the end of time.

Where this whole respect thing gets hard is when I think of the relationship with children. I love our kids. But they don't always respect us. Silly little manipulators don't know any better.

In reviewing my respect values, I found that I disrespect my little manipulators in return for their childish banter. They need my respect no matter what.

As is usual, there has to be an exception to the rule.

Karma

My kids' favourite expression is "curse you karma". They stole it off a cartoon they used to watch.  When I'm disciplining them, they say that karma is waiting for me. Karma is their answer to right all of the wrongs of their world.

In a 9 year old's words, the definition of karma is that bad things will happen to someone who does bad things.

She doesn't see the other side. Good things will happen to someone who does good things too.

Although I believe the laws of attraction are true. We manifest into our lives what we do and want.

Karma gets blamed. Karma gets congratulated. Karma gets too much credit.

Can we agree that bad things happen to good people? And good things happen to the bad guys. Is it not our perception of those things that influences our opinions of the result?

Recently a friend complained about crap that happened to her only to be hit with an even deeper problem. She then wished bad karma on the perpetrator who caused her latest angst. I've been there. I knew exactly how she felt. The burning anger that needs to point blame on someone else. Is it not easier to blame someone else for our misfortunes than take 100% responsibility for them?

When we get beaten up, negativity distorts our vision and instead of figuring out how we can dust ourselves off, we wish ill on someone else and thus perpetually continue to attract crap into our lives.

When we are clear of anger, we know this can never work, but emotion knows how to cloud our view.
The negative thoughts are within us. They are daggers piercing our own soul. In wishing bad karma on someone else, we poison our own future. And we don't realize it.

Another friend who is a cancer survivor has a view of the world that is filled with rainbows and unicorns.. I've never heard her talk bad about anyone. Cancer slowed her down but did not disturb her eternal optimism.

Everybody has crap in their lives. Everybody has happiness. It is what we focus on that expands our universe. It's our choice what manifests into our future.

So if you have a choice, why wouldn't you choose happiness?