In their seminal marketing book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!, Al Ries and Jack Trout argue against the concept of line extension—which is exactly what Daniel is trying to do with his products. The “law” is this: trying to introduce new products under your established brand is […]
Initially my plan was to respond in the comments section, but I think it’s worth addressing the questions my intital thoughts raised with another official post.
First, Rick, who says the Internet isn’t necessarily the final alternative to dumping the yellow pages. He’s right, Google and search engines are a bit of the Wild West right […]
I visited with a friend who manages an independent bookstore last week. As he toured me around the newly-expanded store, I noted the absence of rack upon rack of music CDs that populate most [Christian] bookstores.
“Why don’t you sell more CDs?”
My friend explained:
CDs are expensive to stock
People download individual songs from their home computers to […]
Have you heard about Derrie-Air, the new “green” luxury airline? They tout themselves as “the only airline that plants trees to offset every pound of carbon that our planes release into the atmosphere.”
They expect their passengers to help protect the environment, too. Because it takes more fuel (i.e., more carbon emissions) to haul heavy planes […]
How much do you spend on yellow page advertising per month? If you’re in the $0.00 - $0.00 range, it’s dollars well spent. Anything over zero dollars? A colossal waste of money.
Back in the mid 90s I learned about a study that showed 60%-82% of the people who go to the yellow pages already knew […]
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met at conferences who moan, “Ohhh, I forgot to get business cards made!”
They smack themselves upside the head for not having the foresight to bring along those tiny–yet essential—pieces of cardstock to exchange with everyone they meet.
If you’re just starting out and can’t afford fancy-dancy, custom-designed […]
What, exactly, is marketing?
I was a panelist at a writers’ conference marketing seminar when someone tossed that question at me. I gazed at the sea of 300+ faces and my mind went utterly blank.
“Uh…marketing is all the stuff you do to help you sell your product or services,” I stammered.
Not an academy award-winning performance by […]
What is your product worth?
The simple answer: Whatever someone will pay.
The complex answer: The Goldilocks’ price. Not too much, not too little.
When blue jeans were first introduced in Japan the manufacturers wanted to create a market. So they priced the jeans at $5.00 a pair. They were a bargain. They didn’t sell. They took them […]
Lesson # 4 in Daniel Franklin’s 10 Marketing Lessons is obvious, but it’s often overlooked: Tell everyone about your product. Everyone. Everyone. Everyone! (Yes, I’m repeating myself at the risk of being crude—thank you very much Paul Simon.)
People or companies wanting to promote themselves often focus their energy primarily on mass media—getting the word out […]
We’ve been exploring 12-year-old Daniel Franklin’s 10 Marketing lessons and today we’re going to expand on lesson # 3: Building a customer base by giving away product. While the idea isn’t new, it’s recently hit pop culture in a major way.
Radiohead received a massive amount of media exposure when they offered a limited time, “pay […]
