How to do advertising that WORKS – finally
October 13, 2009 by Michael Lake
Filed under Advertising, Design, Featured, Persuasion, Premium, Video Content, Writing
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Have you given up on advertising? Do you find yourself thinking that it’s too expensive to put an ad out there only to get very little or no response? Have you concluded that maybe advertising just doesn’t work for your type of company or prospects?
Well, the real answer is probably that your ads were just poor ads. Without knowing some fundamental principles of advertising, it really is a game of chance as to whether or not your advertising will work. Most small businesses fill a space on a page or time on radio or TV with features they find compelling about their product or service, then sit back and hope for the calls to come in. At least a trip to Vegas would be more entertaining. Hey, go see a show!
Can I get your card?
October 31, 2009 by Michael Lake
Filed under Branding, Design, Free, Writing
You like to hear that, don’t you?
It means that someone is interested in you and what you offer. You’ve made a connection, and maybe the beginning of a relationship Perhaps they’ll even buy from you.
Here’s mine. Thanks for asking!
If you clicked the link and are looking at my card, what are you doing? You’re reading. You’re thinking about it. You smiled. You’re giving it some attention. More than others you are handed?
So what happens when you hand someone YOUR card?
Your business card is likely the first experience the recipient has visually with your brand, (outside of your good looks!). Most people glance at it then put it in their pocket. That’s what you usually do, right?
Is it the same quick glance people are giving to your advertising and your web site?
Look at my card. An approach I took to getting attention was to make fun of myself, and to do it in a way that draws attention visually. A red handwriting font is hard to miss. Humor is also a great way to get Read more
The secret to how YOU can move mountains
October 22, 2009 by Michael Lake
Filed under Free, Inspiration, Motivation
Ever since I bought my iPod Touch a couple years ago, my two sons have loved one particular game. It’s a stupid little game, but they can’t get enough. Carrots fall from the sky and the bunny at the bottom of the screen must catch them by the player moving the iPod left and right. The catch is that tin cans are falling also and if the bunny gets hit four times by a can, game over. You score one point for every carrot the bunny catches before being canned to death.
The highest score my 8 year old has ever gotten was just under 100, and his 5 year old brother has never gotten above 30 or so. Oh, and the record is held by their 10 year-old cousin who got 109 recently.
But all that changed at a local pizza parlor a few days ago.
Dad tried his hand at it while waiting for our large mushroom pie to come out of the oven. Within about 2 minutes, I quickly racked up 177 points to my boy’s amazement. It’s nice to be a God!
My eight year old grabbed the iPod and Read more
Your ideal life: Take the 30 day challenge
October 5, 2009 by Michael Lake
Filed under Free, Inspiration, Leadership, Motivation
Christine Regan here. I was thinking this morning about ‘my ideal life’ and started asking – what would I want to experience every single day for me to feel that I was living my IDEAL life. I decided that it might be fun to do a 30 day challenge and see if I experience my IDEAL life for 30 straight days and see how that felt. So what does that mean…see the description below and if you’d like to be a part of this 30 day challenge email me back and we’ll put you on the list…There is no cost of any kind to do this challenge. It just takes a desire to identify what you want and then proactively experience that every day.
The Ideal Life 30 Day Challenge is an exercise to help one identify and articulate the experiences that they would like to feel day in and day out for 30 days in a row. I chose 30 days because I want to sew the seeds of success and help people transform their lives.
Step 1. Identify Your IDEAL Work Day
Identify in detail the 3-5 (or whatever number it is for you) things that you would like to Read more
Insufficient funds: The cure for the common cause
October 2, 2009 by Michael Lake
Filed under Free, Health, Marketing, Residual income
A serious affliction is infecting a large number of people who aren’t even aware of the affliction, much less that they’ve been carrying it for a very long time. It’s invisible to them, and even though they are vaguely aware of the symptoms, they actually believe that these symptoms are a sign of health. They therefore nurture and justify their affliction with their entire identity.
Sounds serious, doesn’t it? Well, the affliction I am writing about is what I’ll call the Wealth Scarcity Mentality. It also goes by the other name: Starving Artist Syndrom. It affects 1 out of every 3 small business people (I made that up). Exactly how many people it affects, I have no idea, but as you read this think about yourself.
There’s one group of people–a profession–that I see as consistently plagued by the wealth scarcity mentality. And to help address this, my wife, Christine is leading a provocative workshop at 7PM on November 5 at The Nurtured Spirit in Warwick to speak to these professionals on this very topic. Specifically, the group to which I am referring is Read more
