Posted by:
Troy White
July 2, 2009
Issue #706
in this issue:
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When Walt Disney headed up a cowboy parade … and how it applies to your business
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How to get thousands of people working for FREE
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The $2,000 a day secret that would make even Pamela Anderson proud
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Challenging your customers to “step up to the plate”
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Finding out who ELSE stands to gain from your success (and the financial repercussions to your business)
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And Much More!
Fellow business builder,
I am fascinated with the strategies businesses are using to grow fast and consistently. Not the one-time magic pill solutions that are so prevalent on the Internet today – but long lasting, sustainable marketing practices that any and every business should be using.
You have heard me discuss the Wild West Wealth Summit before, but I have not dug in deep and shown you some of the reasoning behind this event and why the Wild West theme has worked so well for them.
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Posted by:
Troy White
May 29, 2009
Issue #684
Fellow Business-Builder,
Recently, I spoke at a three-day small business conference in Canmore, Alberta. A hop, skip and a jump from Calgary where I live, the 45-minute drive takes you into this incredible little mountain resort town called Canmore.
The host of the event took out the speakers for dinner on Friday night to this place she had been raving about.
The Trough is an eclectic upstart that has figured this service business out. I realize I previously wrote about Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant lessons, but this weekend was a sign that the owner has been watching some of the “Kitchen Nightmare” shows and learned a thing or three.
Considering the short time they’ve been open, their two recent awards as one of the top 10 new restaurants in Canada shows how good of a start they got.
When you first walk in, it is nothing to oooh and ahhhh about – but that very quickly changes.
It’s unassuming as you enter (classy – but not over the top or trying too hard to be something it’s not) … and quite cozy on the inside (seating ~50 max).
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
May 14, 2009
Issue #59
Two real life case histories that prove
only savvy marketers are fit
to run growth-oriented companies
Dear Business-Builder,
It’s so predictable, you can set your watch by it …
Armed with only a skeleton staff, meager resources and big dreams, an eager young entrepreneur slaves 60, 80, and often 100 hours every week for years to grow his business.
He does everything right: He develops or acquires top-notch products. Watches overhead like a hawk. Reinvests every penny of profit. Becomes a student of great marketing and sales copy strategies – and a past master at implementing winning campaigns.
When it comes to sales copy, he never pulls a punch. He goes for the jugular – as far as the law and his ethics will allow – demonstrating the value his products bring to customers’ lives with edgy, can’t-put-‘em-down promotions:
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Posted by:
Troy White
February 20, 2009
Issue #426
Fellow Business-Builder,
Never before has such foul language proved itself as a major business tool.
By now, I do hope you have heard of Gordon Ramsey, host of “Kitchen Nightmares” and “Hell’s Kitchen.”
If not, I would highly suggest watching the “Kitchen Nightmares” show sometime soon.
First, a WARNING: Thin-skinned folks need not tune in.
If you cannot handle foul language and incredibly abrasive personalities, do not watch Gordon’s show!
He is rude, loud, in-your-face, and LOVES swearing to get his point across (and everything is a point, so pretty well every sentence consists of swear words).
I am not going to go too much into Gordon’s past, but, rest assured, this ex-professional Scottish football player has a list of credentials that is long, and highly admirable.
He is now working on his 25th restaurant and many of them have multiple Michelin stars to their name (the most recognized and influential culinary ratings guide). He has multiple best selling cookbooks, 4 television shows and a DVD series, to name a few.
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Posted by:
Troy White
February 13, 2009
Issue #438
NOTE: Something VERY important and timely happened this past week around this article. I was meeting with Kory Basaraba, who penned this letter, along with someone who works at the furnace company, who ran the campaigns. When the subject of this letter came up, I was disgusted to find out the owner of the company STOPPED using the letter.
After getting incredible returns like they were with this letter, the owner decided it wasn’t worth the effort to keep running the campaign. To him, it was a lot of work, and expense (steak dinner certificates), and he honestly believed that it wasn’t worth the expense!
Sad … but far too common to skip over. I see mistakes like this being made way too often.
Let me ask you this: where else can you invest $1 and get back $6 within a month or two? To me, I would not stop investing that dollar until it stopped returning a profit. But many people look at the $1 they have to invest, and forget all about the $6 they get back. To them, they consider the $1 a cost … and go back to doing things their old ways (like spending $1500 a month on Yellow Page ads that return 5 phone calls and 1 or 2 sales … an actual number I know is accurate for their business).
We all say "I would NEVER do something like that!" … But I am willing to bet you have. Now is the perfect time to go back over what worked best for you in the past couple years … and run it again. I have a promotion I have run every President’s Day (which falls on Family Day in Canada), for the past 3 years. Each year it works as well as the previous year … and you can bet I am running it again next Monday!
This entrepreneur’s reaction is not all that uncommon … and I urge you to look back over your past promotions to find out which ones worked best … then question yourself on why you haven’t run it again. And if you haven’t run it recently … now is the perfect time!
Don’t worry about the $1 you have to invest… worry about how many times you can invest that dollar … because you are almost guaranteed to get repeatable results as the last time you ran it. When the campaigns stop returning a profit, ONLY THEN, do you stop running them.
It’s very easy to get caught up in all the new things you would like to try in your marketing … but never forget about where your real money comes from … systems that are proven to work!
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