An Important Marketing Lesson From a Hot Dog Stand
While in Chicago few weeks ago, I stumbled across a marketing lesson in the strangest of places: the Wiener’s Circle in Lincoln Park.
Wiener’s Circle is a hot dog stand that’s normal during the day but gets wild at night. It’s utter chaos. The gals behind the counter harass and crack jokes at their customers’ expense. Give it to them, and they’ll give it right back five times as hard. I couldn’t stop laughing. If you don’t know what to expect, you’ll be shocked by what you hear. (Look them up on Yelp.com or YouTube.com for the scoop.)
READ MOREThe “Hidden” Hot Button to Getting More Prospects to Say YES!
Many buying decisions are made in response to an emotional trigger. So whenever you buy something, it’s always a good idea to step back and see if you can figure out what the emotional trigger was that motivated you to do it. Because if something works on you, there’s a good chance it will work on your customers, too.
READ MOREThe Dangers of E-Mail, Part 1: The Angry E-Mail Effect
You open your inbox, and there it is … an e-mail, waiting patiently for you to read it and respond. A few seconds, a few quick keystrokes on your laptop, a click of the send button, and your response is shuttled instantaneously to its recipient.
READ MOREWhat Makes an Entrepreneur?
A few weeks back, I visited my hometown (yeah, I grew up in Cucamonga, what’s it to ya?) to see my family. Pop still lives in the same house he bought just after WWII, and it’s hard for me not to feel like I’m 15 again when I’m there.
READ MORELearn Something New Every Day
“You can learn something from everyone, every day. Even when I’m speaking at a conference, I always listen to the other speakers’ presentations. Because you never know what useful idea or process you’re going to pick up.”
READ MOREDo You Really Want to Make Money?
It may seem like the purpose of every marketing campaign is to make a profit. However, many marketers and business owners actually lose money on acquiring new customers.
There are three basic scenarios when launching a marketing campaign. You need to determine which scenario fits your business best.
READ MOREYour One-Stop Shop
A new business recently opened a few blocks from the Early to Rise offices. But it seems to have an identity crisis.
The small shop has perplexed potential customers by offering not just vintage designer threads, but also vegan organic food. And they proudly proclaim this dual identity on their front window sign.
READ MOREHow to Keep Your Promises
You put together a team of people to help you with preparations. And you interview a dozen more before choosing “Jeff” to handle all the event details. He makes a very compelling pitch. He knows the best audio-visual teams in town. He has contacts with the best caterers. And he knows the perfect designer to create your banners and signs and brochures.
READ MOREThe 5 Faces of Your Customer
One of the most profound business books I ever read was Permission Marketing by Seth Godin.
The ideas in the book were very innovative at the time. The Internet and e-mail marketing were still young, and, like the Wild Wild West, most marketers and business owners were still trying to “wrangle it in” and figure out how to leverage the Web’s possibilities… and, more important, turn those possibilities into profits.
READ MOREHow to Build an Instant Business
If you read the advice of many “small-business experts,” you’ll be told that you should expect to wait at least a year – possibly more – before your start-up can begin to see a profit. That’s what I was taught when I studied business administration in college – and it turns off a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs. “I can’t afford to wait that long,” they think. “I need to make money NOW.”
READ MOREThe Worst Way to Make Marketing Decisions
“Why do marketers like ETR and AWAI send me 16-page direct-mail sales letters when the copywriter could have said the same thing in 1 to 2 pages?” Betty writes. “The prospect might even buy out of gratitude for not having to wade through those 16 pages, and breathe a sigh of relief instead of snarl a nasty expletive.”
READ MORERescue Me?
Have you ever been in the middle of an online purchase and, for whatever reason – pre-buyer’s remorse, second thoughts – decided not to continue with it and backed out of the sales page? If you did, I’m sure you’ve seen those little windows that magically appear on your computer…
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