I heard a radio commercial for an urgent care clinic. According to the com-
mercial, the staff can handle everything "from a minor injury to life-threaten-.
ing medical care."

I thought one rule of medicine is "First, do no harm." Maybe it's really- If all
else fails, then do harm."

If that's the case, I'd rather avoid that clinic.

Be careful what you or your marketing person writes. Even if the above mes-
sage doesn't register consciously, it may register subconsciously. In that
case, listeners will be hesitant going to that clinic but may not realize
(consciously) why. S/he will be uncomfortable about it or afraid. Maybe it
just won't feel right. Don't let this happen to your prospective customers.

If they need what you sell, please be sure your message encourages them
to buy.

I'm sure the advertiser & sales copy writer thinks what was written means
something different. But I learned in a college communications class:
1- What matters most is what the message means to the recipient.
2- Communicators are responsible for message encoding & decoding.

Lee Orchard, the communications professor, demonstrated great communi-
cation skills even when he wasn't teaching them.

Stephen Covey seems to have a similar mind-set. When I read what he writes
or hear him speak, I feel his passionate beliefs come through. That's as val-
uable as the content he communicates.

I'm sure Stephen Covey would agree with this - If you've built up enough
trust in people's minds, they're less apt to totally misunderstand you. They'll
realize the message does fit you or the situation. They'll know you meant
something better than what it seems you've said or written.

We tend to communicate when we don't know we're communicating. We
also communicate messages we don't know we're sending.

                                     What Was That? #4

I thank comedian Wayne Cotter for pointing out Trident (a brand name of
sugarless gum) is a Latin word meaning three teeth. He figures when some-
body only has three teeth left, then it's time to use sugarless gum.

I don't know if its name has interfered with its sales. Maybe it's good Latin
is considered a dead language. (I was wondering how people communi-
cate in the afterlife.)

My advice is - Be careful what you call your products, services & businesses.

Yes, it's a good idea to name your services to give them distinction. (No, I
didn't write you should de-stink them, but if it's necessary then do that too.)

Which seems more appealing to pay for 1) carpet cleaning or 2) Carpet
Shampoo & Fluff? A name like this may entice people to ask about it, which
would give you a chance to explain it to somebody who is interested. That
can be good as long as the name isn't confusing.

Carpet Dirt Extraction sounds like it might hurt like a dental procedure. It
seems like it may leave a cavity in their wallets, too.

                                            What Was That?!?!?  # 5

A business's name can differentiate a business from all others. A name
can describe the business's Unique Selling Proposition. A business's
name can present problems in the present & future.

This time I won't disguise the business's name because it would weaken
the point I'm trying to make.

If you were going to rent an expensive, new model-year car you may rent
one from Hertz or Avis. If you wanted one that's not fancy or expensive you
may rent one from Rent-A-Wreck.

I heard a Rent-A-Wreck jingle, it was "Don't let the name fool you."

If the name was going to be a problem, they should have chosen a better
one before they started the business. Or maybe I just don't get the joke.

Bud Abbott & Lou Costello joked about a company's previous name -
"Hertz U- Drive." Hertz has been very successful after shortening the name.
I'm somewhat surprised it's so successful with a name that sounds like
HURTS.

But for a while, Hertz was the only nation-wide car rental company. So,
people had to choose Hertz or small company.

                                         What Was That?!?!? # 6

In the course of one hour I heard two commercials starting with dramatic
sounding music, then an announcer says, "Now that I have your attention ..."

I used to work for that station so I have a feeling a sales rep wrote those com-
mercials. If one of them did write it, that would make it even worse. WHY?

Imagine a radio rep playing a commercial like these for you on his/her tape
recorder. The same rep that may have told you radio commercials get &
hold people's attention.

Now, if radio commercials do their job well, (getting & holding the audience's
attention, which some do without gimmicks) so they can sell a product/
service, why would it be necessarily to use dramatic music? Why have an
announcer say, "Now that I have you attention ..."

Yes, it's good & necessary to have commercials sound different because if
they sounded alike, listeners would be bored. But these commercials des-
cribed almost say, "The audience doesn't really listen, so we have to grab
their attention."

If an audience doesn't really listen, then advertising on that station probably
won't work.

On A Similar Note-

I've heard testimonials from country singer/songwriter Clint Black & former
Lovin' Spoonful member John Sebastian. They said radio really gets results
because their songs became hits.

With all due respect for Clint and John, who are both talented, they major in
music, not marketing. I major in marketing with a (very) minor in music.

People listen to music radio stations (as opposed to talk radio stations) to
hear music. They rarely, if ever, tune in to hear commercials. So, radio will
tend to get better results for songs than for product and services.

Since I major in marketing, I tend to pay attention to commercials, but I most-
ly listen to hear music.

What's meaningful is when advertisers give testimonials about radio adver-
tising getting them good results.

Some advertising sales reps write good sales copy but it's important for
you to remember they're hired & pressured into selling air time or space.
So, chances are, they won't spend much time writing good sales copy.
Why? Because it doesn't directly bring in money to pay their commissions.
Sales managers look. at the amount of money reps bring in more than the
sales copy.

Don't take it for granted advertising sales reps know what works in the med-
ium they represent. Unfortunately, most don't even want you to know if your
advertising is working. Since if it's not, you're apt to stop using their service.
   
Even the best marketing consultants don't know exactly what will work in
every situation. It's important to test different things in commercials & ads.
But only test one thing at a time.

For example, if you're testing a headline, you'd put the same copy and art-
work in each test ad. The only thing different would be the headline.

                                     WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?!?! # 7

I heard a radio commercial for a car dealer's "Sign & Drive" promotion.
Just come in & sign up & drive away with no cash outlay & no first payment.

It'd mean I won't have to pay anything, right???? Because if I make a pay-
ment, it'd be my first payment. The only way I figure they'd be able to weasel
out of honoring an offer like that is by demanding a lump sum credit pay-
ment.  Then it wouldn't be a first payment, it'd be an only payment. Some-
thing that would be billed later or by a financial institution. But I'm not a law-
yer, so I'm not sure how they'd weasel out of it.

In answer to the obvious question- No, I have better things to do than to go
there or wait on hold while the car dealer tears his hair out.

The lesson: Be very careful how you write your offers or you could end up in
a lot of trouble. If somebody else writes your advertising copy, read it very
carefully. Find how others interpret it, if they don't understand it, don't use it.

In some cases, it's very important to have a lawyer read your ad copy, so
s/he can keep you from getting into trouble.

Another lesson is- While you or your copywriter are writing your copy, antici-
pate questions and objections so you can deal with them in your copy.

Even if you have a fault-finding mind like mine- Try to sell your product/
service to true prospects.  They'll ask questions & raise objections.

.<<This is a speck of dirt on your monitor screen. That's right, you can't
scrape or wash it off. I can sell exactly what you need to get rid of it.
W-What?? H-How would I know there's a speck on your monitor screen?
Oh, of course. S-sorry about that. I-it IS on the p-page.

      Be Careful What You Name Your Business or Products/Services

I'm disguising the name of this business to help them avoid more embarass-
ment than they've already caused themselves.

Imagine getting a direct mail piece from a company named Olson Design
Services. Do you think you may reduce it down to its initials just to keep it
brief? If so, it'd be ODS. Plus their logo features those initials.

Let's check the definition of odious (it's what ODS sounds like, right?).

According to Webster, odious means- offensive, arousing odium. Odium
means- hatred, dislike.

Would you want to do business with anybody who is odious? I didn't think so.
Also, I advise you to avoid a name that may be reduced down to ODM.

Before you use broadcast media, be sure your copy & your business name
sound right. Some words sound like other words. Example- A business
named "Island Terrace."

Think of how that name sounds coming through a cheap speaker with some
static by somebody who isn't paying close attention. To me, it sounded like -
"Island Terrorist." So even a great name can sound negative, even ugly.

I realize none of this advice about names may make any difference, but do
you want to take a chance on a name turning people off?

It's vital to have an appealing name because it can make a difference bet-
ween success & failure. I'm not claiming a name should make a difference,
but I'm sure names do, according to what I've heard, read & experienced.

Never approve broadcast copy without hearing someone else read it aloud.
It's even best to read print media copy out loud to hear if it's smooth or not.

Documents contain information. Xerox  is "The Document Company." But
information is useless if nobody remembers it & can't find it. Finding it can
be expensive when the search is extensive. Plus, until the information is
found, a company is not solution bound. Waiting for answers can be more
expensive than finding it.

Xerox needed a way for itself & its clientele to keep producing documents - -
information. Xerox also has scanning software to take printed words & turn
them into ditigal/electronic data.

So it was worthwhile for Xerox to encourage people to keep producing
more documents. It could do it by making documents & information in gen-
eral, easier to store, retrieve & use.

Xerox acquired a software program called "askOnce." A very simple name,
but the implications are deep.

Retrieving data from multiple sources makes using information more expen-
sive because of the labor required to find its sources & the time spent wait-
ing while someone looked for it.

askOnce makes it possible to search various intranets, extra-nets, the inter-
net & databases. A researcher "asks" the program, just once, to find the
information.

This saves time & payroll, gets results faster & sooner. But think what it
does for Xerox also. Xerox profits from selling askOnce. People aren't shy
about producing more documents, because whether the information is print-
ed on paper & scanned later or just kept in digital form, Xerox profits from
that too.

Two more quick examples- I've heard Michelin, a tire company, encouraged
people to use (wear out) tires by publishing travel guides. Visa, the credit
card company, encourages businesses to accept its cards by advertising
them as places of interest. So, when people hear how good something is,
they want to use it or go there. Then Visa's cards get used more, so Visa
charges more fees.

Visa cards also get used to buy plane tickets & to rent vehicles.

Lesson- Think of ways to make it easier for clients to use your product/ser-
vice, so they'll use it more. Then profit from selling the ability to do things
more quickly & easily. Plus, you'll profit from increased use.

        Don't Play Follow The Leader Unless ... You're The Leader

Since I have 3 children, I've heard many children's songs too many times.
One is about 10 in a bed.

"The little one said, 'Roll over, roll over.' So, they all rolled over, and one fell
off, then there were nine on the bed."

This whole thing continued until just the little one was left on the bed.

This tends to happen in business, but usually the big one says, "Roll over."
Smaller ones figure the big business is successful because of it's roll over
practice, so they roll over and end up falling off.

That may be true, it may be successful because of it's roll over practice, it
gets the others to roll off. Let that be a lesson to you. Don't imitate anything
until you know how & why it works. When you know those, then you can adapt
it & test various forms of it to find the best way.

The most successful business in a category may be successful because it's
not as badly lost as the others. Think about what's been happening in retail-
ing. At different times, K-Mart & Sears, Roebuck were the top retailers, until
someone else came along with something consumers liked more. Those
companies kept making the same mistakes & people kept buying from them
until the people got what they considered to be better offers.

Notice what happened though, the new winner didn't entirely  copy or follow
the old leader.

The break-through came when somebody broke with the norm. To get bet-
ter results, do something different. Once somebody becomes a recognized
leader, s/he stays in the lead unless s/he screws up badly and/or somebody
else does something the target market likes more.

If that leader has a huge lead, a lot of marketplace rapport, and millions of
dollars, a little follower is NOT going to take away that lead unless what I
wrote above happens.

Some things should be emulated or replicated, but be careful about whom
you imitate. Unless you know the whole story don't copy what another busi-
ness does. You may want to experiment on a small scale & track results,
but don't jump in blindly.

Wal-Mart has low prices, - WHY? Because it only brags good customer ser-
vice, but it doesn't do anything about it. It has a very small employee-to-cus-
tomer ratio. In other words, it keeps its payroll costs down.

It also squeezes low prices out of their suppliers as well as other conces-
sions to lower its costs. It isn't just because Wal-Mart buys in big volumes.
Large volume buying does help, but it's not enough. Of course, Wal-Mart 
would  like people to believe that's why they charge so little.

This causes suppliers to keep their payroll & supply costs low. Everybody
in the Wal-Mart retail chain cuts back on things - - including product quality.
Yes, Wal-Mart has a decent return policy. They'd better or people will stop
taking chances on what they sell.
 
If you - 1) don't have clout to force suppliers to lower your costs; 2) want to
give actual good service; & 3) sell consistently good products; your prices
have to be higher to cover this if you want to stay in business.

Business isn't a poker game where you have to match everybody else's
bets to stay in the game. If necessary, make-up your own game.

You've probably already heard a quote attributed to Thomas Edison,
"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." Or "Genius is 2% inspir-
ation and 98% perspiration."

When we were talking about intelligence, a former co-worker (on a janitorial
job) told me, "If you were a genius, you wouldn't be here."

I didn't seriously claim to be one. But then I asked him, "Where would I be?"
Apparently, he didn't have an answer because he didn't offer one.

Do you think if somebody is a documented genius, someone hands him/her
a million dollars and says, "Here, think of something."

Even (us) geniuses have to work for a living. This means I get an extra 1-2%
of inspiration, so I only have to perspire 98-99%.

I recently heard a genius's brain is the same size of any human brain.
Geniuses are awake & aware of things. Think of it this way, geniuses are
alert, so they notice & recognize inspiration. Then they figure out how to use - "perspiration."

They ask themselves and others, "What about this can I apply to that? How
can I make that application effective." They observe the results -- or lack of
results -- then they ask the same or similar questions.

Thomas Edison had the inspiration to invent many things but they each re-
quired him to do some work to perfect them. He tried thousands of experi-
ments to perfect a long lasting filament for a light bulb. Since then, others
have perfected his basic design. Those experiments represented a lot of
"perspiration." 

Jay Abraham said a person can be a marketing genius if s/he will test
enough approaches. What you need to do is test things for your particular
situation & application. What worked for somebody else in a slightly differ-
ent situation, may not get you the same results. There are always some dif-
ferences. It's necessary to be alert enough to notice those differences.

A way for you to do this in marketing is - Look for marketing messages that
would compel you to buy. If you know the company using that message is
successful & has been using that message, it may (but may not) mean it's
a successful message.

Be aware any marketing message you see or hear may not have been pre-
tested. Or you may be seeing/hearing a message being tested. So, don't
instantly emulate it on a large basis until you test it for your own business.

If you try something but the results are mediocre, work on it some more.