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Author: Tom Nixon

  • Do Less. Sell More. Here’s Your Permission Slip.

    Do Less. Sell More. Here’s Your Permission Slip.

    I’m giving you permission to take a day off. Or perhaps, many.

    Not that you need my permission.

    Nope. Instead, you have to give yourself permission. 

    Permission to do less. So you can sell more.

    Since When Is Less Really More?

    Of course, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

    But if you feel like you’re constantly marketing, constantly selling, and have this nagging feeling it’s never enough—or worse, that you’re actually doing the wrong things!—I have good news.

    You can stop.

    Or, at least…stop most of it.

    You know it to be true in your gut, but it’s hard to convince your head of it: you simply can’t be everywhere at once. And you can’t be all things to all people.

    But the temptations are difficult to ignore: Marketing FOMO is real: the Fear of Marketing Omission.

    But you absolutely have to give yourself permission to get over it.

    If you won’t, I will…

    Stop That. Start This.

    Effective immediately, strip away everything in your marketing plan that’s not generating significant return on investment, however you measure it. (You are measuring, right?)

    I’ll even let you decide which metrics are important. Is it sales? Leads generated? Warm and fuzzies, like accolades and recognition? Vanity metrics, such as clicks, likes and comments on social media? You decide!

    But chances are, if you’re like most startup businesses, sole proprietors or service professionals trying to build a book of business, results are hard to come by.

    That’s actually good news. It allows you to wipe the canvas clean—guilt-free!—and start fresh.

    Here’s the new plan: Pick one.

    That’s right. Out of the 5-10 marketing activities you’re currently engaged in, get rid of them all…except one.

    Actually, two.

    But I’m going to give you the second one, as a non-negotiable. Because it’s the single-most effective marketing tool out there. And too many marketers ignore it at their own detriment.

    Marketing’s (Not So) Secret Weapon

    Last week I promised to share with you the one marketing tactic that consistently achieves the highest ROI of anything out there, regardless of vertical or market. 

    Did you guess what it was?

    The answer may surprise you: It’s email.

    What the WHAT??!?!?

    Old-school, boring, analogue, my-boomer-father-still-reads-his…EMAIL?!?!?!

    Yup. It can also be the most affordable.

    When’s the last time you checked your email? If you’re like the statistical average, you spend nearly 6 hours a day in front of your email. If I need to find you, I know where to look.

    And there are no gatekeepers between you and your audience. No algorithms to overcome. No editors to pitch. No pay to play.

    Okay, Fine. Seems Obvious, but What Should I Choose for my Other Tactic? 

    So, if you’re still reading, email marketing is going to be the workhorse of your marketing strategy going forward. But it won’t be alone. I said you can pick one other platform to focus on.

    But that’s not true. At least, not all of it.

    What I’m going to show you is how email, combined with the one other perfect platform aligned to your unique audience’s preferences and affinity, is the new marketing model of the future. It’s the fix to what’s broke out there. And you’ll be among the first to adopt it.

    Take that, competitors!

    (Be not afraid: It’s what Brian Clark is using to build 7-figure businesses for himself and others, all without a single employee or investor. It’s all about being Unemployable. And that’s a good thing. If it’s good enough for him, it should be good enough for you.)

    When paired with email, this single tactic will check all of the boxes in the PESO Model of Marketing. It will take care of:

    • Email marketing

    • Digital marketing

    • Social media marketing

    • SEO (search engine optimization)

    • Content marketing

    • Inbound marketing

    • Lead generation and nurturing

    • …and even a little bit of sales, to boot!

    So how do you identify that one other perfect platform to pair with email? That depends on who you are…but more importantly, who they are.

    By “they,” I mean your audience.

    And everyone’s is different.

    So I can’t in a a single blog post just pick something for you. 

    But I can offer you the process to figure it out for yourself.

    In fact, I have a free audio course (yes, 100% free!) that walks you through the process to cut away the clutter, zero in on the single most effective platform for you to reach your target market, and to starting doing way less, in far less time, expending far fewer resources…all to greater effect than anything you’ve been struggling with the past!

    Doing less; selling more.

    How to Get It? Shoot Me an Email, of Course!

    Yes, it’s that simple. To enroll in the free audio course, simply shoot me an email (info@creativemillco.com), and I’ll enroll you personally.

    I’ll even send you a permission slip to do less and sell more!

    That’s it from me for now. Until next time…

  • 11 Things a Failed Music Career Taught Me About Marketing

    11 Things a Failed Music Career Taught Me About Marketing

    It might be hard to believe looking at me now, but a full-time music career and pursuit of rock-and-roll stardom preceded my foray into marketing and public relations. That’s me in the center down there…looking too cool for school.

    But what I learned as a starving artist back in the early 90s taught me the basics of nearly everything I do today as a marcom professional. In order for us to survive, it was all about promotion…and I mean, literally, “survive.” Here, then, are the 11 lessons I look back on and draw upon even today (musicians always “go to 11”):

    1.) Video killed the radio star. The birth of MTV in the early 80s totally reshaped the music industry. Video gave adoring fans instant access to the personalities behind the music, and labels had to rethink the way they packaged their artists. It was not enough to sound good anymore, you had to visually appeal to your fans, and give them a side of you the music couldn’t otherwise convey. Brands and B2B marketers need to do the same. Video conveys personality, passion and persona far better than the written word, yet many businesses are slow to leverage the power of what can be extremely affordable video communications.

    2.) Nothing travels faster than word of mouth. Good or bad, word of mouth will travel faster than your ability to control the message. If your band had a lousy live performance, people would scorch you. If you rocked live, your following would quickly grow. The same goes for social media today. People are talking about brands all day on social media. Are you listening? Are you engaging with the conversants? Are you keeping up with word of mouth?

    3.) Publicity is platinum. Record reviews, live show write-ups and artist profiles were invaluable to the indie artist (in an era before the emergence of social media). Get your band in the press, and you would gain instant credibility and raised recognition. No one needed to know that you as the artist peddled your CD around with free pizzas to get access to the reporter…and no one needs to know a PR firm is behind the scenes generating your company’s publicity today.

    4.) Constant contact. Third-party and indirect communications are clever and vital, and all…but never discard the power of direct communications. Back then, it was the periodic mailing with upcoming tour dates, sent via postcard to our database. Today, this can take many forms, from e-blasts and newsletters to compelling print communications artfully designed and packaged…all of which will serve to keep your company top-of-mind among current and prospective customers.

    5.) You’re nothing without a database. Pursuant to the above, you simply MUST maintain a current database of vital contacts, including customers, prospects, referral sources, vendors, associates and friends of the firm. It sounds simple and self-evident, but you’d be shocked how many companies we talk to who have absolutely no database established. This is like planning a concert and not telling anyone about it. Or sending out a show announcement without mailing labels. (I would know…my keyboardist tried it once.)

    6.) Advertising works. That is, if you have a measurable call to action. (Image advertising also works, but is a lot more difficult to measure.) The grunt work of being in a band performing at college towns in the early 90s included the exhaustive process of “flyering the gig.” This meant illegally adorning every tree, streetlight, kiosk and powerline pole on campus with flyers promoting the gig at the local bar. How did we know they work? On the flyers, we asked people to mention the “free shots” at the bar upon arrival. The bar owner didn’t care much for the tactic, but we knew the flyers were working.

    7.) Your fans will do your bidding for you. If truly engaged, your fans become your greatest asset. They aren’t afraid to tell their friends how awesome your band is, but you might be. Brands, by the same token, need to empower their “fans.” Give them a place to gather (social media communities like Facebook and LinkedIn), let them engage with you so that they feel like part of a movement (Twitter and other social media), give them tools to spread the word on your behalf (sharable content on your website and public content communities such as SlideShare, YouTube and Flickr). Most small companies today ignore social media as a marketing strategy. Big mistake.

    8.) If you can’t get signed, put out your own CD. The barrier to entry for a local band was the ever-elusive record contract. Without it, no one could get to the music, at least not on a large scale. So many local bands simply recorded their own CDs, distributed them independently, and grew their followings organically. Today, companies perceive a barrier to mass communications being the difficulty in engaging a mass media outlet to spread the word about an event or other news story. But content communities like YouTube, Flickr…and the sheer breadth of the Internet’s reach allow any brand to be a mass communicator. They have the option of simply creating the content themselves and using the available online channels to spread the word. Like the local indie artists, nothing is stopping them but their own imaginations, budgets and level of commitment.

    9.) Not all bands should toot horns. All of the marketing in the world won’t work if you’re not honest about what you’re selling. Marketing is often spin, but it can’t be spun out of control. Social media is keeping brands more and more honest these days. Keep that in mind when you’re communicating your product’s or service’s strengths to your key audiences. It’s like the band that uses studio tricks and effects to make their album sound masterfully polished…but then can’t pull it off live. You WILL get found out.

    10.) Grow your hair out and wear second-hand clothes. Brands need to be known for something—big brands and small businesses alike. In music-artist terms, you need to have an “image.” Do some in-depth soul searching to discover what yours is—and what you want it to be—then carefully craft that message for all to behold. Preach that message internally, and live it always externally. Be consistent, and be recognizable.

    11.) Have fun. Life’s too short to sweat the small stuff. In other words, “Rock on!”

    (For those who are interested, and for those who don’t believe me, see more about Jes Gru, the band that was, here, here, here and here.)