Monkeys, Sticks, and the True Nature of Insight
Posted on 08. May, 2012 by Glenn Livingston, Ph.D. in Blog, consulting, conversion, Copywriting, Emotional Marketing, Hyper Responsive Marketing, Information Marketing, Inspiration, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Are monkeys really capable of “insight?”
And what the heck does this have to do with making more profit in YOUR business anyway?
Listen and learn my friends 
Marketing Lessons from My Dogs
Posted on 23. Apr, 2012 by Glenn Livingston, Ph.D. in Blog, conversion, Copywriting, Email Marketing, Emotional Marketing, Hyper Responsive Marketing, Information Marketing, Inspiration, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Hey, maybe this is cliche’, and I know I’m definitely not the first one to say it, but every marketing project starts with enthusiasm and passion. If you don’t have it, it’s really WAY more difficult to get over the rough spots.
See someone do something you think you could emulate? Sometimes even if you’re wrong, it’s worth the effort and you DO get partial credit for TRYING. Consider the little guy in this video:
You’ve gotta believe he saw someone playing, maybe his master.
Then, during the day when his master was away, he took his time and started wailing away…
Who knows where he’ll be after HIS 10,000 hours of practice?
While I’m on the topic, there’s an MP3 interview with Sharon and I below talking about everything OUR dogs taught US about marketing… worth listening to!
For what it’s worth,
PS – Do you ever feel alone in your marketing quests?
PPS – Did you join my live webinar club for the $5 trial yet? (As of time of this posting)
Make More Money By Turning OFF Your Advertising
Posted on 10. Apr, 2012 by Glenn Livingston, Ph.D. in AdWords, AdWords Cost, Blog, Campaigns, Content Network, conversion, Copywriting, Decision Making, Hyper Responsive Marketing, Information Marketing, Inspiration, MSN, Overture (yahoo search marketing), Pay Per Click, Quality Score, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Traffic
If the escalating expense, difficulty, and time to generate a high volume of profitable internet sales is crippling your growth–or crushing your morale–I’ve got a very important audio for you to hear today…
Because it’s entirely possible that…
“You Can Make More Money by Turning Off Your Time Killing, Morale Crushing, Migraine Inducing, Pain-in-the-Ass Advertising System!”
Listen to this interview with Ryan Levesque, my partner in an extremely weird new marketing experiment which just might be your saving grace
Make More Money By Turning OFF Your Advertising
Posted on 10. Apr, 2012 by Glenn Livingston, Ph.D. in AdWords, AdWords Cost, Blog, Campaigns, Content Network, conversion, Copywriting, Decision Making, Hyper Responsive Marketing, Information Marketing, Inspiration, MSN, Overture (yahoo search marketing), Pay Per Click, Quality Score, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Traffic
If the escalating expense, difficulty, and time to generate a high volume of profitable internet sales is crippling your growth–or crushing your morale–I’ve got a very important audio for you to hear today…
Because it’s entirely possible that…
“You Can Make More Money by Turning Off Your Time Killing, Morale Crushing, Migraine Inducing, Pain-in-the-Ass Advertising System!”
Listen to this interview with Ryan Levesque, my partner in an extremely weird new marketing experiment which just might be your saving grace
Profiting from Instant Market Segments
Posted on 25. Feb, 2012 by Glenn Livingston, Ph.D. in Blog, Hyper Responsive Marketing, Information Marketing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Today I want to share an MP3 on one of the most LUCRATIVE techniques in my marketing arsenal…
In fact, when done right, this technique is SO powerful I’ve literally seen it boost response overnight by 300%. (You can download the mp3 above, or listen at the bottom of this post)
AND I have at least one student (Ryan Levesque) who two years ago went from spinning his wheels to making over $250,000 in one of his businesses, simply by implementing this technique in that business…
(Disclaimer: it’s unlikely you’ll experience this level of explosive growth)
Recently, Ryan and I did an interview revealing HOW this technique works exactly (and how he’s using it)…
Okay, so what’s this lucractive technique? And how does it work, exactly?
In a nutshell, it’s this:
First, you start by asking people a few CRITICAL survey questions…And then you automatically FUNNEL those people into different sales sequences based on HOW they answer those questions.
Sounds simple, right?
It is, except…
There are a few subtle SECRETS which are the KEY to making this strategy work (One of them is something in Psychology called the “Forer Effect” which I’ll get to in a moment)…
But first, I want to mention this: You see, this “survey funnel” technique is something I’ve been trying to get my students to do for YEARS… (And when people SEE this technique and the results it can give them, many times they WANT to implement it in THEIR business…)
But most people get STUCK on the actual IMPLEMENTATION, simply because they’re not a “Geek” and don’t have the programming skills to set it up properly…
So they give up, often leaving BIG MONEY on the table…
Or worse…
They walk away from a break-even business that could otherwise become WILDLY profitable – with just a few minor tweaks to their sales process…
In other words, the challenge to making this technique work, has always been something I call the “Geek Gap”…
That is, until now…
Because one of my most successful students (Ryan) has partnered with Jack Born (Perry Marshall’s marketing manager) to come up with a way that automatically FUNNELS people into the sales sequence that’s MOST likely to get them to convert. (Their solution is brilliant, actually!)
AND if your site is built using WordPress, this simple method completely eliminates that “Geek Gap” I talked about, because it requires ZERO programming to set one of these funnels up. (Once you see how this works, I’m willing to bet you’re going to rush to set this up on your website too…)
In fact, you can see exactly how the technique I’m talking about works right now by visiting:
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www.InstantMarketSegments.com
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(By the way, it’s worth checking this out – even if you’re just curious because Ryan gives a “behind-the-scenes” look at what’s made one of his businesses so successful… And he reveals the POWER behind that “Forer Effect” I mentioned earlier…)
Now I need to mention, I know because Ryan’s giving away one of the big secrets to his success, he won’t be keeping this up for long, so if I were you…
I’d go ahead and check this out now while you’ve got this open and you’re still thinking about it:
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www.InstantMarketSegments.com
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My warmest regards,
Dr Glenn
PS – Because Ryan feels like he has me to thank for learning this technique, he’s willing make the automated solution he’s come up with available to my subscribers for less than HALF of what it costs the general public – through February 29th ONLY… So if you’re even just the least bit curious, go ahead and click on the link below so you can see how this works now:
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www.InstantMarketSegments.com
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PPS – For absolute clarity InstantMarketSegments.com is the 1/2 price site Ryan has set up for people coming through my affiliate link, whereas you can download the FREE MP3 where we discuss the technique below. I suggest you do both. (Actually, I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t when they see the price, unless they’re allergic to money)
Weird Psychological Marketing Fact #1
Posted on 27. Dec, 2011 by Glenn Livingston, Ph.D. in Blog, conversion, Copywriting, Emotional Marketing, Hyper Responsive Marketing, Information Marketing, Inspiration, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
I thought I’d end 2011 with a series of contrarian psychological marketing insights. After all, what good’s being a marketing shrink if you don’t get to talk about it, right?
Seriously though, there are a few things I think marketers casually banty about as if they were psychological fact which really bother me… And there are others which tell only HALF the story.
So let’s start there with…
UNUSUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL MARKETING FACT #1: “Impulse Isn’t Everything”
Impulse isn’t everything.
Yes, it’s true you’ve gotta appeal to the Lizard Brain with greed, lust, envy, jealousy, etc in order to induce action on your offer. (Which is one of the reasons I’m fond of saying “try to appeal to the lizard brain without seeming like a lizard”)
But the other half of the story is, this only produces TRIAL BUT NOT NECESSARILY REPEAT…
Satisfying the lizard brain is only PART of what we need in this world…
As sappy as it sounds, the other half is help mastering our environments, our relationships, our place in society, and life as a whole.
Don’t get me wrong, you won’t get ANYWHERE trying to sell people self-actualization, self-improvement, or simple self-mastery solutions unless you can link them to the lizard brain…
It’s just that lizard brain satisfaction is a necessary but not sufficient condition for REPEAT purchase and customer loyalty.
So it’s not enough to sell luster and shine if you’re selling shampoo…
Or even to sell the emotional end benefit (I feel attractive)…
To really take the market you need to sell the aspirational character… how your product is going to MAKE YOUR PROSPECT INTO THE PERSON THEY WANT TO BE…
Think L’Oreal “Because You’re Worth It”: when a woman buys L’Oreal, she’s not just trying to look sexy, she’s supporting a character trait which translates to self-care across a wide variety of life areas… she’ll also more likely invest in vitamins, a gym membership, life insurance, a spa, etc
Or think Gillette “The Best a Man Can Get”: a guy’s not just buying Gillette razors to get the cleanest shave possible, or to attract a desired mate… he’s partaking of the best the world has to offer alpha males, and this informs WHO he wants to be across market categories
Or Intel “Intel Inside”: when you buy Intel, you’re not just getting a high speed processor, you’re committing (whether you know it or not) to recognizing, developing, and leveraging the value of intelligence across many areas of your life…
Or Kodak “Share the Moments, Share the Life”: when you buy Kodak, you’re not just getting sharp pictures, or even crystallizing memories… you’re committing to family and community as a value you want to demonstrate as a person… it enhances your sense of participation in life with others, and re-affirms your desire to build more of these relationships as part of WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON…
See what I mean?
These brands engender MASSIVE REPEAT PURCHASE and loyalty because they’ve managed to integrate themselves with the user’s aspirational self image!
What you should be asking yourself now is, WHAT KIND OF PERSON DOES YOUR PROSPECT BECOME when they purchase your product or service? Is your advertising set up to support this message?
Onward and Upward in 2012,
Dr. G
PS – When you join Hyper Responsive Marketing Secrets you affirm yourself as a person who gets enormous leverage for their time and consistently “organizes and executes around priorities” because you know HALF your profits are driven by only ONE in 2,000 visitors. This radical paradigm shift not only transforms your business, but syncs with your commitment to apply the 80/20 rule throughout your life to achieve maximum results with minimum time. Join now
PPS – Keep your eyes glued to your inbox for “weird psychological marketing fact #2″, coming soon.
I Am Human Bug Meat
Posted on 10. Jun, 2011 by Glenn Livingston, Ph.D. in Blog, Decision Making, Hyper Responsive Marketing, Inspiration, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
My 5 Most Important Warnings for Internet Marketers:
I got ALL these bites in LITERALLY under six minutes
(That’s gotta be a new world’s record… someone call Guinness!)
OK, so Wednesday morning I woke up with nice, clean arms.
True, I was whiter than the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man combined, but I didn’t have even a single bite.
Then Sharon called to say she had to work late, and so I got it into my head to hike the Caps Ridge Trail up Mt. Jefferson… a stunning 5,000 footer in the White Mountains. (It stays light until 9 pm now up here… it’s like getting two days in one!)
I also thought “it’s so hot out, even though I never hike in short sleeves, today’s the day” (In the 90s this week… a rarity for New Hampshire, where our state motto is “Live, Freeze, and Die”)
So off I went… two hours in the car, 4 litres of Fiji Water in my back pack (always gotta be Fiji!), my boots, poles, short sleeves, and big bottle of sun block to keep me nice and white. (Because I don’t tan, I burn)
When I got there, Jefferson Notch Road was CLOSED. (The 7 mile dirt road which leads to the trail)
But there’s just something about the 4,000 footers in the Whites that calls to me…
So I decided to tackle Mt. Hale instead, because the trailhead is only 15 minutes away, and it’s another mountain I’d been wanting to knock off my list.
What I FORGOT was you absolutely do NOT want to hike near a shallow stream or still water in June unless you enjoy feeding the gnats and mosquitoes…
The trail head was more buggy than usual, but I blew it off thinking that I wouldn’t notice it once I got moving.
About half way up the trail I ran into a guy who said “it’s unbelievably buggy on top, not sure I’d continue if I were you”.
But I dismissed this warning too, thinking “he’s just an inexperienced hiker… kind of a wuss”. (Yeah… like real men are supposed to wear bee hives as lampshades at parties, right?)
So I continued on up to the top.
At the summit I thought “this isn’t so bad”, so I took off my pack, took out my sardines and rice (a guy’s gotta eat), and prepared to enjoy a meal.
Well…
You know how people tend to say “there were a thousand bugs after me”… and you take it figuratively, meaning “there were a LOT of bugs”
I’m NOT talking figuratively.
I’m being LITERAL.
At least 1,000 bugs came swarming.
I’ve never seen anything like it…
It was like being in a horror movie (remember the scene in “Wilbur” with the rats?)
I couldn’t get my pack on quick enough…
And run for my life.
I’ll never forget it.
Well…
The bugs did NOT follow me off the summit. I really don’t know why… maybe there was some electromagnetic force which kept them up there, maybe they were “defending their turf” and were just happy when I left, but for whatever reason I was free of them within 50 yards.
And the trip down was relatively uneventful, except for a nice 70 year old man who turned out to be a psychotherapist, horribly lost in the woods. (I took him back down with me and gave him a ride to HIS trailhead… we head-shrinkers have got to stick together!)
So why did I tell you this story?
Because when you want something bad enough–a business goal for instance–sometimes you’ll ignore repeated, obvious, strong warnings in pursuit of it.
Granted, persistence is a necessary character trait for entrepreneurial success, and if it weren’t for hard-headed, stubborn business people innovation would never occur.
But on the other hand, there ARE paths that don’t need to be retread, problems that don’t need to be repeated.
Here are a five I’ve seen literally hundreds of times in the course of dealing with coaching students, customers, and peers:
- GET THE MATH RIGHT!: If there’s one mistake which kills marketing projects way over and above all others it’s this one. In fact, I’m going to coin a new quote right here and now “the stronger the dream, the weaker your math ability”. I’ve seen hundreds of coaching students, Glenn Club members, clients, friends, and peers plunge straight on to their “deaths” all the while completely convinced their dream MUST catch on. Really… ask yourself how much (specifically) you’re planning to make when the business model is mature, estimate your cost per visitor, cost per lead, cost per sale, refund rate, customer service costs, chargebacks, lifetime customer value, available traffic, etc. and put it all in a big spreadsheet. Do it NOW while you’re thinking about it, before your dreaming brain takes over and tells you “I think it’s gonna be OK because you’re such a great marketer”, or because the product idea is so cool, or because nobody else is doing it. If you don’t have math on your side, you don’t have ANYTHING.
- DON’T ASSUME YOU CAN TRANSFER A JOINT VENTURE MARKETING SUCCESS INTO PAID ADVERTISING CHANNELS: Joint Ventures carry two very, very powerful advantages which disappear when you move to paid traffic (1) the endorsement of someone with a relationship with their list and (2) the relative absence of competition at the moment of contact (in contrast to PPC, for example, when there are 20 other vendors on the page competing for your prospect’s attention). Most successful JV projects I’ve seen were limited to JV traffic (and possibly SEO). On the other hand, you CAN and usually should pursue joint ventures in the opposite direction… if something is profitable in paid media, there’s probably a lot of money on the table to be picked up by working with your competitors.
- DO RESOURCE PLANNING BEFORE YOU LAUNCH: You’ve probably heard me say this before… In internet marketing, “the name of the game is staying in the game until you win the game”. Most people crap out of the game not so much because they can’t manage Google, or don’t know how to advertise, or have a bad product, or aren’t making any sales… most people crap out of the game too soon because they run out of resources. What resources? (a) Money; (b) Time; (c) Passion for the Project; (d) Moral Support. (In the How To Choose Profitable Markets system Terry and I spent quite some time making the point that your very market choice should be determined by your resources, and provide a spreadsheet/blueprint to help)
- DO YOUR FRICKING RESEARCH: Most of you know I used to get paid between $100,000 and $500,000 to do marketing research for large companies. What you don’t know is that the way the internet has evolved, there are now literally dozens of ways to get the same information for free. Someone could make a business out of just compiling consumer language from the buyer reviews on Amazon.com alone… it’s absolutely amazing! There’s absolutely no reason to play blind archery anymore.
- SELL RESULTS, NOT PROCEDURES: (Thanks to Perry Marshall for this one). For example, my wife’s been developing a web-video infomercial service for entrepreneurs. She really is among the best in the world at her craft… but the problem is, people don’t want infomercials, they want CUSTOMERS. So I’m helping her develop a model where the client simply covers her costs of production (usually just a few thousand dollars), and then they pay for phone calls and sales instead.
Now, no one’s invulnerable to the allure of the mountain top.
We all trudge ahead on our journeys despite the warnings and clear signs on the road.
Dreams are the stuff of life.. they make us human…
And nobody’s more prone to them than I, as evidenced by my lovely bug-meat story.
But above are the 5 most important warnings I want engraved on my tombstone for all the entrepreneurs that ever come visit me OK?
Onwards and Upwards,
Dr. Bugmeat
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