This is a BRILLIANT example of a retail shop that knows the value of testimonials and “case studies”… It is so good, it’s self-explanatory!
Archive for the 'Innovation and Creativity' Category
Many business people search for complicated (and expensive) ways to grow their businesses… Often, the simplest and easiest things create the biggest results. This TED TALK video is an example of the concept of finding hidden assets in your business BY CHALLENGING preconceived thoughts and ideas.
In this video, Terry Moore challenges you on how you tie your shoe laces… Chances are you are not doing it properly!
The moral of THIS STORY is… chances are you are making other mistakes in YOUR business or career that are just as easy to fix!
As you know, I am a proponent of Antimimeticisomorphism. This is an example of that kinf of out-of-the-ordinary thinking. This is a sign for a convenience store in Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
If you come across across examples like this – people doing out-of-the-ordinary things to create extra-ordinary results, please contact us and we’ll share them with our readers and subscribers. Of course we’ll hyperlink back to your website or blog so you get FULL SEO value for your contribution!
As a reader and/or subscriber to this and my other blogs, you already know that I have a holistic approach to life and business. I live and promote a “purpose driven life” that requires that you find and follow your passions.
To help find your purpose and passions, you can begin by asking yourself the following questions:
“What are you interested in?”
“What are you passionate about ?”
“What are you good at?”
“What do you do in your free time?”
“What do like to do without anyone paying you to do it?”
Recently, I came across a software company and their logo, as well as their peculiar name which peaked my interest.
Can you tell what the founder’s passion is?
If you don’t see it right away – step away from your computer screen several feet and it’ll jump out at you!
This is an example of TERRIFIC BRANDING – just not leveraged exponentially. I keep telling my clients that here is nothing worse for a business to do something great and keep it a secret…
Now the secret’s out!
Across Italy, police are cracking down on Ferrari and Lamborghini drivers, but not because they are driving too fast.
Italy, like so much of southern Europe, is drowning in debt, so police are pursuing drivers to make sure they are declaring – and therefore paying taxes on – earnings that would allow them to afford cars worth as much as half a million dollars.
The lesson here is that as a business, you want to adopt antimimeticisomorphism thinking – simply put, think differently to get different results.
If you are struggling to find new leads for your business – start looking at WHAT your clients are DOING, WHERE they are going, WHO they are spending time with…
If it works for the police in Italy, it might just work for you!
For example, want to deal with better clients? Look at the help wanted ads – companies who are HIRING are doing better than the ones who are laying off workers. Want more out-of-the-box ideas like this to grow your business? Contact us.
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk away.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Here is my Exponential Mindset Thinking Twist:
If you are Joshua Bell in your industry or marketplace, are you playing YOUR instrument in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Hmmm…. Something to think about the next time you spend time. money and effort on your next sales and marketing promotion.
Watch this video and ask yourself the question – would you sit down?
When I explain Antimimeticisomorphism to my clients, I always specify being different for a deliberate purpose without being provocative.
This commercial pushes the envelope and makes the point without being offensive or being too serious.
Thank you to Andrew Powell of Montreal, Canada for forwarding it on to me.
We all know how effective Apple’s commercials and advertising are, but why are they so persuasive?
In this instance it’s the singular focus on benefits rather than features. In our Killer Kopywriting System, we explain this in full detail, but for today’s blog post ‘exercise’, just watch this video and see if you can do the same for ONE of your products and/or services.
You’ll quickly realise that you revert to FEATURES rather than benefits, which is one of the reasons why Apple outsells its competitors. The other is because their products are way, way better!\
Here’s the thing you really need to fully grasp – people BUY BENEFITS – NOT features. If you want to sell more, you simply need to translate the technical merits of your product or service into “What’s in it for me?”
Easier said than done, but well worth the investment. It’s the single most effective way to increase sales.
We all remember playing around with a Rubik’s Cube, getting close to solving it only to scramble it even more… Those frustrations are not all that different from business owners who try to grow their businesses…
Now there’s a special tool to help you grow your business – it’s called a Marc-Ka-Ching Kube!
I recently blogged about jargon and other overused words to avoid. Today’s post is a tongue-in-cheek look at how new words are created…
CARPERPETUATION (kar’ pur pet u a shun) n. The act, when vacuuming, of running over a string or a piece of lint at least a dozen times, reaching over and picking it up, examining it, then putting it back down to give the vacuum one more chance.
DISCONFECT (dis kon fekt’) v. To sterilize the piece of candy you dropped on the floor by blowing on it, somehow assuming this will “remove” all the germs.
ECNALUBMA (ek na lub’ ma) n. A rescue vehicle which can only be seen in the rearview mirror.
EIFFELITES (eye’ ful eyetz) n. Gangly people sitting in front of you at the movies who, no matter what direction you lean, follow suit.
ELBONICS (el bon’ iks) n. The actions of two people maneuvering for one armrest at a movie theater.
ELECELLERATION (el a cel er ay’ shun) n. The mistaken notion that the more you press an elevator button the faster it will arrive.
FRUST (frust) n. The small line of debris that refuses to be swept onto the dust pan and keeps backing a person across the room until he finally decides to give up and sweep it under the rug.
LACTOMANGULATION (lak’ to man gyu lay’ shun) n. Manhandling the “open here” spout on a milk container so badly that one has to resort to the “illegal side “.
PEPPIER (pehp ee ay’) n. The waiter at a fancy restaurant whose sole purpose seems to be walking around asking diners if they want ground pepper.
PHONESIA (fo nee’ zhuh) n. The affliction of dialing a phone number and forgetting whom you were calling just as they answer.
PUPKUS (pup’ kus) n. The moist residue left on a window after a dog presses its nose to it.
TELECRASTINATION (tel e kras tin ay’ shun) n. The act of always letting the phone ring at least twice before you pick it up, even when you’re only six inches away.
Have you ever wondered why success gets harder as you become more successful?
It’s because of your opportunity costs that keep rising as you get more and more successful mixed with a short term focus on “making deals” and taking care of emergencies instead of working “on” the business…
It’s quite a dilemma that paralyses many entrepreneurs. They know they could do better, but remain stuck in the Vortex Of Mediocrity™.
So how do you break out of this stranglehold?
Simple – MAKE time to get away from the business. It can be a long weekend or ideally a whole week. PLAN for it so you’re not stressed and you don’t cheat.
Remove yourself COMPLETELY from the day-to-day pressures and DISCONNECT completely.
Then ask yourself the following questions:
- If I was to start over again, what would I do differently? What would I change?
- If I was a competitor, how would I exploit me/us?
- What are we really good at?
- What could we be really good at (or better at)?
- If I knew I could not fail, what would I try?
- What is the #1 complaint of the industry/marketplace that I can solve?\
- What am I not doing that I should be doing?
You can’t have the thoughts to start to answer these questions while you’re knee deep in the intellectual quicksand of day-to-day operations.
You need distance.
You need your personal journal (you might even give MindMapping a go!)
You need to do this otherwise you’ll stagnate.
I do this exercise every year at Christmas time which conveniently coincides with my New Year’s Resolutions.
If you have a business trip planned, consider extending it by a day or two and take those unfamiliar surroundings to start the process. Once your business is done – check out of THAT hotel and check into another one t0 completely shift your mindset. I mean it. Pick a hotel near the beach, mountains or go upscale or totally rough and tough.
Make sure there is CONTRAST so that your brain registers the new impulses.
It’s necessary to jolt your system into a new realm, to get a new perspective.
Give it a go and see what happens!
As The Exponential Growth Strategist, once of the cornerstone principles of exponential marketing is uncovering hidden assets. This real life example made me take notice because it’s utterly brilliant!
The only improvement I could make to this creative idea is to identify the balls to the matches played and sell those at a premium. (I asked, they don’t do this).
Exponential Marketing has a cornerstone concept: Add value to your clients and they will come back and refer more clients to you. Easier said than done.
That’s why I’ve included a simple example: An Australia Post Postcard Fact Sheet that helps clients prepare their documents for direct mail.
The question for YOU is “What basic information, like this can you make available to your clients?”
The more information you make available, the easier it will be for them to do business with you = you’ll sell more.
When you’re exponential, you create Pathways To Profits™ that guide people through the path of least resistance preemptively, smoothly, creating a memorable and hopefully unique experience they will want to repeat themselves and advocate to others.
This is what we help our clients do – create a Business Building Blueprint™ that summarises these processes so everyone in the business knows what to do and ideally, automate them leveraging the Internet so the business transforms from an effort-based model to a value-based model.
As a business owner or corporate executive, you’re always looking for ways to be more creative and innovative to find fresh new ideas to make your next sales or marketing campaign a success. In an attempt to determine how great thinkers achieve their great outcomes, British marketing consultant Simon Sinek believes that he has stumbled upon a simple method to codify the way innovators think. He calls it the Golden Circle. In the YouTube video below he shows why it pays to be cynical.
Thank you to Ian Faulkner for providing this link, it’s much appreciated!
What the heck is antimimeticisomorphism?!?!
Simply stated, it’s the opposite of mimetic isomorphism – an academic term that explains what we all know to be true. “Monkey see, monkey do.”
As industries mature, competitors increasingly use the same strategies and techniques to market, sell and deliver their products – in effect commoditising them.
Antimimeticisomorphism means doing the opposite.
Not just to be different, but to be special, out-of-the-ordinary with a PURPOSE.
Because it’s a mindset, it takes time to adopt the ability to see and create boundless opportunities and uncover hidden assets within your business, career or life.
It’s what makes the super successful and ultra wealthy who they are.
EXTRA-ORDINARY.
Because the alternative is – well ORDINARY.
Want to learn more about antimimeticisomorphism?
You can Google it and you’ll find thousands of listings – all pointing to me.
I have two websites dedicated to antimimeticisomorphism, the first is the site that explains antimimeticisomorphism and the second are examples of antimimeticisomorphism.
On my Personal Coaching Blog, I have a whole category of antimimeticisomorphism examples.
As you can see, this is a foundational element of my Exponential Coaching Philosophy.
Have a look around and enjoy the discovery process – you’ll quickly realise that the more fun you have, the better your results will be!
If you’ve been transfixed by the catastrophic events in Japan, you’ve seen and heard the media’s insatiable appetite for fear mongering.
I heard a quote ” Facts Whisper, Fear Screams” that I thought was appropriate and timely.
I am staging my Killer Kopywriting Workshop this weekend in Sydney – if you want to attend, give us a call on 0421 516 689.
Anyway, as I prepare my content for the workshop, I am going to include examples from the Japanese tragedy because so many lessons can be learned.
First, the misinformation and need for NEGATIVE propaganda prevails all media – we know that “STORM WARNING” gets more attention than “ANOTHER NICE DAY”…
But the fear mongering has reached a climax in recent times. Whenever there is doubt, a extreme, provocative word will be used rather than its more realistic, subdued alternative.
Why this is important is because with your business marketing , you need to do the same – using your own ethical and moral compass to guide you.
Example #1: Japanese Radiation Fears
We’ve recently heard or read the headlines that are a variation of this: “Radioactive traces have been found in Japanese milk“.
What about this headline…? ”
Radioactive Milk Only A Danger After 58,000 Glasses
I prefer the second one – don’t you?
Have a read of the article for an outstanding example of Killer Kopywriting.
Example #2: Nuclear Reactor Explosion and Vaseline
William Tucker published a book called Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Power Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America’s Long Energy Odyssey.
In it, he adroitly explains nuclear power with a brilliant analogy to Vaseline?
“Nuclear Power is it prohibitively dangerous? Is a nuclear reactor an atomic bomb waiting to explode? And the perennial question — what are we going to do with all that horrible nuclear waste?
Let’s start with the idea that a reactor can explode. The next time someone asks you this, answer them, “Do you have a jar of Vaseline athome in your medicine cabinet? And if so, do you lie awake at night worrying that it’s going to explode like a jar of napalm and set your house on fire?”
Look on the side of the Vaseline jar. It says “petroleum jelly.” It’s made out from oil. What is napalm? It is jellied gasoline. Can’t Vaseline blow up like napalm? Obviously not. But why? Because they contain different fractions of petroleum with different volatilities.
It’s the same with uranium. There are two types of uranium — “isotopes,” as we say. (They have different numbers of neutrons.) U-238 (238 neutrons) makes up 99.3 percent of the natural ore. It sheds a couple of protons occasionally but its half-life is 5 billion years and it’s relatively harmless. (The longer the half-life, the less “radioactive” an element is.) Uranium-235 is the powerhouse. It can split in half — “fission” — releasing huge amounts of energy. But U-235 constitutes only 0.7 percent of the natural ore. It’s so sparse it can’t undergo the “chain reaction” that leads one breakdown of an atom to produce others.
As a result, in order to set of a chain reaction you have to “enrich” the U-235 to a higher percentage than the natural ore. This is extremely difficult because it can’t be done chemically — they both have the same chemical properties. Instead, you have to build a factory the size of a Ford plant and separate them by various techniques such as running them through magnetic fields or whipping them around in centrifuges. That’s what we did in the Manhattan Project.
But there are different degrees of enrichment. In order to produce the nice calm chain reaction you get in a nuclear reactor — enough heat to boil water — you enrich the U-235 from 0.7 to 3 percent. That’s reasonably doable. In order to enrich up to bomb-grade material, however, you have to enrich to — can you guess? — 90 percent. That takes a long, long time and a lot of work. The Iranians have been trying to do it for years and haven’t gotten very far.
But that’s the reason a nuclear power plant can’t blow up like a bomb. It’s like the jar of Vaseline in your medicine cabinet — there’s not nearly enough of the key ingredient in there to explode.
It’s also the reason why it’s much more difficult to build a nuclear weapon than most people imagine.”
Now if you can communicate with the same level of clarity as Mr Tucker has demonstrated you’re set!
If not, you should seriously consider attending our Killer Kopywriting Workshop – your business’ future depends on it whether you want to admit it to yourself or not.
