The Wizard Times

"If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges. "
Pat Riley

"Let's Lead the Recovery!"
by Clay Campbell

I have said, and have heard other business owners say "We're Not Participating in the Recession" and I understand what we all mean by that. But this past week at Toastmasters our “Table Topics” discussion was “being positive” when you are surrounded with negative. This morning I received an email from a client with an attached newsletter from a guy named Doug Fleenor. He said that using that phrase "We're Not Participating in the Recession" could do harm instead of good. I agree.

He said:
“Late last fall I used the same line in a presentation. Afterwards, a woman came up to me and reminded me that a lot of people don't want to participate in the recession but that hasn't kept them from losing their jobs. While she didn't say so directly I could sense that maybe the recession was hitting home for her whether she wanted it to or not.”
A better way to state that would be: "Let's Lead the Recovery!" That is so much better! That’s much more Positive!

10 Ways to Lead the Recovery.

Read an inspiring motivational book. Take a look at my list
Listen to some positive, CD’s ( Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, and my favorite Jim Rohn)
Hang around with positive people; avoid the negative ones.
Pray (statistics show people who pray are happier and more positive than those who don’t)
Do something for someone who can’t do anything back for you in return.
Write out your goals on a piece of paper and stick it on the fridge. Have some goals that are short term, (this month) mid range, (6 months) and long term (2-3 years)
Tithe. Give some money away to Scouts, the Red Cross, missionaries, etc. It always makes feel you better to give than to receive. Clean out the stuff from your closets you don’t use, and take it to the Salvation Army.
No matter how hard it is to do it, you must save some money; even if it’s only $5 a week. Having a little stash of cash makes you more optimistic that you could make it through a difficult time. Strive for a goal of saving $1000 in cash.
Plan to go to either a motivational, or fun/educational, or inspirational seminar in the next six months. It would be great to go to find one that would have all three in one meeting; but that may be difficult to find. But go find a seminar that inspires and motivates you.
Start a “thank you file”. I have a sizable thank you file now, that I started a few years ago. You should start one that has thank you notes from people who appreciate you, like you, and love you. (If you don’t get notes like that refer to item #5)

So I say let’s lead the recovery; let’s stay positive; let’s stay at it and persist. This famous quote of President Calvin Coolidge, “press on” is the attitude for us to adopt.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Calvin Coolidge

10 Things Never to do in Your Advertising. Never. Never. Never! by Roy Williams

In the Monday Morning Memo of March 23rd Roy Williams had this timely advice for advertising in this economy. Since I own my own business, I concur whole heartedly.

Never promise everything you plan to deliver.
Leave something to become the delight factor. That unexpected, extra bit you deliver “because we love you” will go a long way toward helping the customer forgive and forget any areas where you may have fallen short. Great ads are written in three steps: (1.) How to End. What will be the Last Mental Image your ad presents to your customer? Begin with the end in mind. (2.) Where to Begin. A clear but interesting angle of approach will gain the customer’s attention. (3.) What to Leave Out. Surprise is the foundation of delight. What will you intentionally leave out of your ad so that you can deliver a delightful surprise? What will you leave out so that the imagination of the customer is engaged?
Never begin a sentence with the word, “Imagine”
If you’re planning to take your customer on a journey of imagination, plunge them into it. “The wheels of your airplane touch down, but not in the city you were promised - ” “You must now choose between two good things - ” “If you had more enemies like these, you wouldn’t need friends - ”
Never include your name in an ad more often than it would be spoken in normal conversation.
Cramming your name where it doesn’t belong is AdSpeak. Back when Americans encountered one thirtieth as many ads each day, the rule was to repeat the name of the advertiser as often as possible. Do this today and your ads will sound like they were written in the 1940s.
Never conjure an unpleasant mental image.
Fear and disgust work face-to-face, but they often backfire when used in mass media. Conjure these unpleasant emotions in the minds of the masses and you’ll leave your listeners with a vaguely bad feeling attached to your name. They’ll want to avoid you, but they won’t be able to recall exactly why.
Never respond to a challenge from a competitor smaller than you.
Drawing attention to a smaller competitor makes them larger in the eyes of the public. Conversely, if someone bigger than you is foolish enough to shine their spotlight on you, dance in it.
Never claim to have exceptional service.
Most people won’t believe you. And those who do believe you will expect more from your staff than they can possibly deliver. It’s a lose/lose proposition. Rather than promise exceptional service in your ads, tell the public something objective, factual and verifiable that causes them to say, “Wow. Those people really serve their customers.” Never praise yourself. Do things that make the customer praise you.
Never mention the recession.
I understand how tempting it is to say, “In order to help you combat the recession we’re offering - ” But all that really does is remind the customer that now is not a good time to be spending money.
Never make a claim you don’t immediately support with evidence.
Unsubstantiated claims are the worst form of AdSpeak. Give the customer facts, details and objective proof if you want to win their confidence. Specifics are more believable than generalities.
Never use humor that doesn’t reinforce the principal point of your ad.
Here’s the litmus test: If remembering the humor forces you to recall the message of the ad, the humor is motivated. Good job. But if recalling the humor doesn’t put you in memory of the ad’s main point, the humor is unmotivated and will make your ad less effective. Sure, people will like the ad. They just won’t buy what you’re selling.
Never say things in the usual way.
From billboards to storefronts to packaging to messages on T-shirts, ads whisper and wheedle and cajole and shout to win our attention. A 1978 Yankelovich study reported that the average American was confronted with more than 2,000 advertising messages per day. But that was 30 years ago. When Yankelovich revisited the study in 2008, the number had jumped to more than 5,000 messages per day. The mundane, the predictable and the usual are filtered and rejected from our consciousness. Win the customer’s attention with words and phrases that are new, surprising and different.

Perhaps now would be a good time to have a complimentary meeting with a Wizard of Ads Partner. Links to their websites and blogs are listed down the right side of The Wizard Times. Hundreds of their articles with free insightful advice can been seen at www.americansmallbusiness.com 2009 would be a great year to attend a class at the Wizard Academy 21st Century Business School in Austin Texas. What is the Wizard Academy?

See you next week.

Clay Campbell
Wizard of Ads

PS. Need help to attract more customers and grow your business?