We had to put Gypsy “The Wonder” Dog in a kennel. Wait… it’s a Resort and Spa for dogs. The place we always use is called Best Friends Pet Care. And they always go out of their way to make us feel special.

Study and take notes on how they create an experience instead of a transaction

When we dropped off Gypsy the staff fussed all over her, and told us how much they liked her personality. Of course being the proud parents of Gypsy “The Wonder Dog” we got a real kick out it.

Now, Gypsy only understands a few words… some of which she chooses to ignore on a regular basis. Some of her more words are: cookie, scooby snack, walkies, car ride, do you want to go?

So, with her limited English… most of the praising sorta went over her head. Although she did enjoy the pets and back scratches.

About half way through our vacation Becky was checking her email. And excitedly showed me an email we got from Gypsy…

Having a blast at Best Friends Chestnut Ridge…wish you were here!

I’d love to tell you all about it, but since I can’t talk my Best Friends agreed to send this photo along to you instead.

See you soon!

Love,

Gypsy

Attached to this email was a picture they took of her in the Play Room. Of course my wife started forwarding the email around to friends & family. She thought it was so cool to get an email from Gypsy telling us how much fun she was having.

Here’s the picture…

We came home & went to pickup Gypsy…

We got back this past Saturday, and went to pick up Gypsy. The girl behind the counter quickly pulled up the records on the computer. She then started telling us how much fun it was to have Gypsy stay with them. We were given the report cards to look over.

The report cards are comments left by the staff members who are taking care of Gypsy. There is a place to leave comments about how things went. Most of the comments said things like: “Gypsy is such a sweetie! She really is a cuddle hound… Gypsy is always a treat to have stay with us!”

How do I know what the comments say? Simple, my wife has kept all the report cards! I’ve been reading them while typing this post.

I then handed them Gypsy’s leash so they could go get her from the back. We paid the bill and waited for one of the staff to go get her.

But, wait it didn’t stop there…

There is a large screen TV hanging up behind the counter. It usually shows rotating pictures of the “Spa & Resort”. Usually it has a live shot of the doggie playroom. And you get to watch the other dogs romp around playing with each other. It can be fun to watch most of the time.

As we watching the picture changed. It was showing the picture of Gypsy in the playroom she had sent us in the email. The caption read something like we have arrived to pick up our best friend Gypsy. Of course we got a big laugh out it, and it was a nice touch.

This is getting long so I’m going to stop here. In a couple of days I’ll talk about some of the marketing lessons. And how you can apply them to your business.

But in the mean time… why don’t you add your comments here & tell me what you think made this an experience vs a transaction.

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In times of economic uncertainty even getting a job interview can be tough. There are less jobs for people to apply for because companies are tightening their belts. Some are even laying off to cut costs. That means more people are competing for less openings.

However with the right marketing approach you can secure those tough to get interviews.

What does this have to do with online marketing, or blogging?

Plenty!

The copywriting & marketing skills you pick up online can be transferred to other areas of your life. These skills work because they are being targeted towards people. The same people who are online are the same people making hiring decisions. Plus, today most resumes & cover letters are read online.

Copywriter Rebecca Dean proves this in her latest blog post titled “How I Sold Myself In 23 Minutes” She used her copywriting skills to land a job interview in 23 minutes.

Here is how she did it…

Now that I’ve been a successful copywriter for some time now, I decided to put my skills to work on my cover letter. The result? I got a call for an interview merely 23 minutes after I emailed my cover letter and resume. The hiring manager really liked the unique approach I took to my cover letter called me right away.

Want to see it?

I thought you would… here it is:

THREE reasons why I believe I may be
the candidate you are searching for
regarding the telerecruiter position.

Rebecca goes on to give 3 compelling reasons why she is the right candidate for the job. An excellent example of direct response copywriting.

It reminded me of a headline I used to land a job interview within 2 hours. (Hey, it was before this newfangled internet thing) I faxed a cover letter & resume for an advertising sales job. The headline read…

Strong marketing works online, offline, in good times & in bad. Don’t think what you do in one area doesn’t transfer to another part of your life.

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It’s not uncommon for many people go though a whirlwind of emotions trying to make a buying decision. Especially with a large purchase. They want to make the right decision… they are afraid of making a mistake, and looking foolish.

So, how do most people approach a buying decision?

Most people when they decide to buy something they will do usually do the same thing. Start asking around to see if anyone has purchased what he or she is thinking about buying. They want to find out if anyone has any experience with the company or person.

It’s called word of mouth marketing, testimonials, social proof or any number of names.

But really they are looking for someone who has a relationship with the company or person. They want to find someone they trust who has had some kind of experience with this product, or service. The best scenario is to find a trusted relative, friend or co-worker who will give a good endorsement.

Ultimately they are hoping to leverage that relationship into a positive buying experience.

Lacking a close associate with a positive experience they have to rely on another purchasing method. And this is where the stress can begin.

Most people know that marketing is about putting your best foot forward…

Every company is jumping up and down screaming – “We’re The BEST! We Have The BEST QUALITY, SELECTION, SERVICE & PRICES!!!!” They spend all of their time, energy and money talking about themselves. How great they are… and most consumers don’t care about any of that.

Help enough people get what they want, and you’ll get what you want. – Zig Ziglar

Pretty good advice. And I’ll bet you’ve heard it a 100 times before. This one of Zig’s most famous quotes.

But what does it mean?

Simple you have to stop screaming and listen to the customers. They are eager to tell you exactly how to market them. Customers are looking for solutions to their problems. All you have to do is hear it and give them what they want.

But did you know that by listening to your customers that it will build a relationship? You see by listening to your customers and responding to them; you are having a conversation. And those conversations will naturally build relationships.

Customers will start to trust you because you are listening and providing a real solution.

That’s my take on it… How about you – What is your take on this?

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It was cool to see the scenic sights & all the Olympic venues. I was surprised at the amount of activities going on up there. Especially when I considered it a winter sporting/resort area. But there are plenty of summer activates to participate.

The wife & I have started to get into trail hiking this year. We were excited to spend a couple of days hiking the trails. Unfortunately we were rained out Saturday, but that turned out to be a good thing.

Maybe the rain would stop after lunch

We decided to stop in a local deli for a sandwich & see if we could wait out the rain. It’s called the Saranac Sourdough Deli, and is across from the Comfort Inn on Saranac Ave in Lake Placid.

The food was excellent. As was the owner… I think her name was Eileen (Not sure about that). She was super friendly & made you feel comfortable as soon as you walked in the door.

There are a lot of us tourist running around town. And the only way I could tell she was talking to a local was she greeted them by name.

Lesson… It’s the experience stupid.

Yes the food was excellent. They bake many defend kinds of Sourdough bread & use fresh quality ingredients.

The description on the menus is very entertaining. For example the line for the Mountain Woman Combo… “Ladies, I’ve got your back”

But, it is the overall experience that makes this place so much fun to have breakfast or lunch. You are warmly greeted when you come in, you are treated like a regular & you are served great food.

Did you notice all the bases are covered?

They did such a good job with the overall experience we automatically went there for breakfast the next day. We didn’t even consider another place.

If you are ever in Lake Placid I would highly recommend eating there.

That is the simple formula to getting repeat business. So, how can you apply this to your business? Let me know in the comments below.

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So, why am I telling you all this?

He is giving you a chance to get a book he co-authored titled “Million Dollar Marketing Secrets” for a mere $7… shipping included for residents of U.S., Canada & the U.K. Any one outside of those three countries leave a comment on his blog, and he will get in touch with you privately. This a real book that will be shipped to your door.

I have a copy of this book, and it’s loaded with priceless marketing information. J.P. Maroney got 21 top marketers to each contribute a chapter to the book. Here are a few of the co-authors; Clayton Makepeace, Michel Fortin, Ray Edwards, Ben Mack, Ryan Healy, Jason Moffatt…

Ryan says the chapter by Clayton Makepeace is worth $7 alone… but in my opinion every chapter is worth that and more.

The deadline on this offer is Friday morning May 9th when Ryan wakes up. I’m not sure when Ryan wakes up on Friday mornings… or for that matter any day of the week. So, my suggestion is to head on over there and grab a copy while it still fresh on your mind.

Here is the post at Ryan’s blog: http://www.ryanhealy.com/marketing-book-birthday-gift/. Head on over there scroll down, click on the paypal button and get this book.

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Here are three reasons why you should start a blog.

1. It’s the best form of marketing and branding you can do for your online business - One of the easiest ways to market your business is to build trust with your market. Relationships and trust build a sense of community. And when you have a sense of community there is no need to use hardcore marketing to make sales.

2. You can use a blog as a direct line of communication - Ryan Healy in his post titled Copywriting Is Not the Most Important Skill said: “It’s my belief that communication is the most important skill you could ever learn.” A blog opens a direct line of communication between you and your readers. This is a great platform for communication. In fact many times you start getting feedback within hours of posting… priceless information.

3. A blog is easier than ever to start - The tools to start a blog are easy to learn & use. You can have a blog started within minutes if you choose to use one of the free services like blogger.com, wordpress.com, or typepad.com. If you wish to host the blog on your own domain, you can be up and running within a couple hours. Where else can you start a business so fast, or so inexpensive?

One of the complaints I hear is people hesitate to start blogging because they believe it would take huge amounts of time to write a blog post everyday. Many people abandon their blogs because they cannot find the time to write blog posts. They are caught up in a busy life, and it tough to carve out the time.

It would take me hours to write a simple blog post…

I had the same problem. It use to take me hours to write a simple 300-word post. It was agonizing, slow and frankly became a drag. I would go through spurts of writing several posts at a time…. then go weeks, even months without posting. My blog looked like it was abandoned at times.

I finally made the decision to figure out how to write faster. After trying many methods without much success… I finally figured it out. I found a speed writing technique, and modified it to make writing blog posts. I can now write a regular blog post in 10 minutes or less. It has been working great, and producing great results.

I’ve recorded this technique, and will be releasing it as a new product called “10 Minute Blog Post”. In it I show you how to write a blog post in 10 minutes. You get to see how I prepare, write and edit a blog post. You get to look over my shoulder as I write one of the posts I wrote for this blog.

Tomorrow Thursday May 1st “10 Minute Blog Post” will be released…

Of course there will be special pricing. Now, I have to warn you these recordings are not pretty. I’m not a professional presenter, and my Camtasia skills suck. It ain’t going to win any awards… it ain’t even going to be nominated.

So, if you are looking for pretty, flashy recordings with fancy graphics… save your money. This is not the product for you. But the information is valuable, and that’s what’s important… how to write a blog post in 10 minutes.

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This year is the 1st year in awhile I’ve not worked as a tax preparer. It was nice, but being a tax geek I missed the challenge.

The IRS places a hard deadline for everyone to file his or her taxes. And if you don’t… the penalties and interest start piling on. There are serious consequences for failing to file your taxes. At the most server level you could end up spending time as a guest of the penal system.

Why are the consequences so harsh? Easy if they don’t make it so tough… hordes of folks will “forget” to file their taxes.

Working in the tax industry I found it amusing how the tax season works. It starts in late January when people start getting their W2′s from their employers.

People who are due a tax refund rush in to get them done. They can’t get their money fast enough. It’s around 2-3 weeks of wall-to-wall customers.

Then the month of March… Crickets! The challenge during this time is trying to stay awake. I got an appreciation for how the Maytag repairman felt.

Starting in April the pace picks up. And as you get closer to the 15th it gets busier. The customer pace becomes more frantic as does the customers level of stress.

By the 15th some of these people are in a near panic… and most of the time it’s because of their own doing.

I’m amused by the fact that even with all the pain the IRS will impose for missing the filing deadline… people still push the envelope.

The marketing lesson is… no matter when you put a deadline on your offer people will wait till the last minute. You will have people that miss the deadline, and want special treatment.

Light Your Offer On Fire With A Deadline discusses more about why the IRS tax deadline is an awesome marketing lesson.

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Are You A Prolific Product Developer?
Terry Dean lists 7 ways to create products. Writing an eBook is not the only way. Bookmark this one for future reference.

You’re Fired!
Robert Plank is a prolific product developer. He has already launched 24 products this year! This post is asking if you were we own employee running your online business, would you fire yourself? I have to admit I didn’t have to fire myself… but I did have to give myself a written warning.

How Not to Advertise
Ryan Healy got an email that tried to be clever, and it backfired. It didn’t even have a call to action?!? Wow!

Copywriting Q&A Answer Time
Stephen Dean answers the copywriting questions that people got to ask him in the comment section of his blog. He answered both of my questions. This post is loaded with good copywriting information.

Create Successful Business Procedures By Using Standardization
Richard Lee give some good advice about establishing systems in your business. He give a detailed layout of how to setup systems. Worth heading over there and checking it out.

Have a good weekend.

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