business Archives - Daniel J. Lewis

Review of Scott Stratten’s Book, UnMarketing

June 20, 2016 by Daniel J. Lewis Leave a Comment

[easyazon_image align=”right” cart=”y” identifier=”1118176286″ locale=”US” src=”https://danieljlewis.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UnMarketing-by-Scott-Stratten.jpg” tag=”danieljewls-20″ width=”200″]Business-owners and content-creators need marketing, at least until that can be delegated to someone else. Scott Stratten's book, [easyazon_link identifier=”1118176286″ locale=”US” tag=”danieljewls-20″ cart=”y”]UnMarketing[/easyazon_link], is a concise reference for modern marketing as well as a challenge to overhyped ideas.

[easyazon_link identifier=”1118176286″ locale=”US” tag=”danieljewls-20″ cart=”y”]UnMarketing[/easyazon_link] may not be your most marked-up book. There aren't amazing quotations on every page. But it does contain page after page of actionable advice, case studies, and inspiration to help anyone who needs to “Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.” (That's the book's subtitle.)

I've seen Scott Stratten speak a couple times before and I greatly enjoy his style. He's straightforward, honest, and filled with insight. But he never takes himself too seriously and his presentations are always fun.

Stratten's writing style is no different. It's both authoritative and entertaining. You'll get great marketing information as well as plenty of laughs, especially from the footnotes. Of course, a book called “UnMarketing” would be a very different approach from most dry marketing books!

While reading [easyazon_link identifier=”1118176286″ locale=”US” tag=”danieljewls-20″ cart=”y”]UnMarketing[/easyazon_link], I didn't highlight a lot of things Scott Stratten said, but I did find plenty of new inspiration and ideas I can apply in marketing my own business and content.

Scott Stratten is good at representing common human feelings about marketing and customer service. With that understanding, he's able to present marketing ideas that will truly connect with other people. Some of the ideas seem so obvious that I would think, “Of course that would work!” But most of us have our heads so buried in our work that we miss these obvious opportunities to stand out.

“UnMarketing” is the perfect title. It's like zombies who move like they're alive, but behave like they're dead. That's why we call them “undead.” Stratton's work is the same. It's about marketing, but it's about not marketing. It's really a book secretly about amazing customer service and relationships disguised as a book with “marketing” in the title.

I read UnMarketing within a week and have plenty of ideas to last for years. My favorite chapters were “Hierarchy of Buying,” “Pull and Stay,” and especially “Viral Marketing.” These chapters do have highlights in my copy!

Inside, you'll learn about engaging online and offline; in-person and over the Internet; and attending events and hosting your own events.

I highly recommend [easyazon_link identifier=”1118176286″ locale=”US” tag=”danieljewls-20″ cart=”y”]UnMarketing, by Scott Stratten[/easyazon_link]. I suggest you read it straight through, and then re-read the chapters that inspired you the most. Most of the chapters are short enough to read in only a few minutes. Scott clearly knew UnMarketing would be a great reference book, too, because he includes a helpful index in the back.

This isn't the “SELL SELL SELL” kind of overhyped marketing. It's practical, effective, and engaging.[easyazon_link identifier=”1118176286″ locale=”US” tag=”danieljewls-20″ cart=”y”]Get your own copy of UnMarketing[/easyazon_link] and tell me the biggest insights you gained!

Review of Jeff Walker’s Launch book and Product Launch Formula

September 5, 2014 by Daniel J. Lewis 2 Comments

If you make any kind of product, I highly recommend Jeff Walker's book [bl id=”1443″]Launch: An Internet Millionaire's Secret Formula To Sell Almost Anything Online, Build A Business You Love, And Live The Life Of Your Dreams[/bl]. This guides you through his perfected Product Launch Formula® to launch products well.

I'm in the information business. I create training products, one-on-one consulting, group courses, and software services for podcasters. Ray Edwards highly recommended [bl id=”1443″]Launch[/bl], and I knew that I wanted to launch products better. So I purchased the book and read it in a couple weeks.

Jeff Walker's story is amazing—almost too amazing to believe. But like everyone else, Jeff started with little or no influence. His Product Launch Formula has helped others launch more than $500 million in sales, and he has made millions off his own product launches following the formula he figured out.

This is not magic, luck, or “get rich quick” fluff. I'm very alert to that kind of stuff and I strongly avoid it. (Sometimes, I think I resist it so much that I also resist legitimate, proven marketing strategies, to my own hurt.) [bl id=”1443″]Launch[/bl] contains stories of people who got their start with a meager $1,600 product launch all the way up to more than a million dollars in a launch.

The first thing you have to know is that influence is the most important factor. Influence is divided into two sides: how many people you reach and how well you can inspire them to take action.

Yes, product launch successes rely heavily on numbers. But before you have a massive following, you have to start your momentum somewhere. We all started with zero!

Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula, as presented in his [bl id=”1443″]Launch book[/bl], is simple and effective.

Build an email list. Offer an incentive like a free report, ebook, video, or autoresponder series. I recommend Aweber or MailChimp for email lists.
Provide valuable content before your launch. In a series of emails, address both a problem and its solution. Each “prelaunch content” is an opportunity to build trust, authority, anticipation, reciprocity, and other “social triggers” (I'll mention in a moment).
Launch with urgency and bonuses. After building up enthusiasm for your product, launch it with extras that early buyers can appreciate, and make the launch offer expire at some point.

That's my quick summary of Jeff's Product Launch Formula. It makes total sense and I think presents more value and builds better relationships that simply launching and announcing a product's availability.

This all works because of “social triggers.” These are psychological things that inspire us to take action on something. Jeff covers several in Launch, and several more in his Product Launch Formula course . Here are just a few to give you the idea.

Trust—By creating valuable content that isn't focused on selling something, your audience will begin to trust you.
Authority—When you consistently create content that is accurate and helpful, you become respected as an authority and influencer on the subject.
Reciprocity—Following the Product Launch Formula, you're giving away great information for free. If that content helps or entertains your audience, they'll feel more like reciprocating when they have an opportunity.

Jeff discusses many more, and the relationships between each of them, in his book [bl id=”1443″]Launch[/bl].

I know a big object you may raise, and I did, too, “He has this success because he has a big email list already.” It's certainly true that the larger your following, the more leverage you have for bigger action and thus more profitable launches. But Jeff Walker's Launch book and Product Launch Formula course also explain the idea of a “Seed Launch”—launching something with no list and not even a product!

Build an email list, even if it's tiny. I recommend Aweber or MailChimp.
Ask your list what they want to know about the subject your product will address.
Answer their questions in a series of messages.
Expand on the answers to develop the product.
Launch!

It's brilliant! You're taking your current knowledge, discovering the needs and wants of your audience, finding ways to meet those needs and wants, and then providing the solution in a relevant product you can launch to an audience that already needs and wants it.

Each chapter of [bl id=”1443″]Launch[/bl] starts with a story of someone's launch. These stories are inspiring and relatable. There are stories of people with barely any money but a great idea, people launching new businesses, and already-successful people expanding their reach with something new.

I have plenty of highlights of actionable items, powerful paradigm shifts, and effective reminders throughout my copy of [bl id=”1443″]Launch[/bl]. I plan to use this formula for my upcoming podcasting products and services.

Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula isn't just about dollars, either. It's about building momentum that will lead you from success to success. Yes, you'll have failures, as Jeff has, too. But failures are easier to overcome when you already have momentum—even from small successes.

I think that Product Launch Formula can work even outside the world of launching products. You could easily use the same strategies to launch a podcast, a conference, a community group, a fundraiser, a new blog or website, and more.

I highly recommend Jeff Walker's [bl id=”1443″]Launch book[/bl] and, by extension, his Product Launch Formula course.

Did you read [bl id=”1443″]Launch[/bl]? What did you think and how are you planning to implement the strategies?

10 things I won’t share on social networks that you may not want to, either

July 25, 2014 by Daniel J. Lewis 2 Comments

Photo Credit: gfairchild via Compfight cc

We've all been there. A late-night tweet, a questionable Facebook photo, a deeply held belief that was just offended.

I've decided to make my own list of stuff I won't share on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or any social network. Most of these are things I would recommend that you avoid sharing, too. But I'll write this from my perspective.

1. Relationship problems

Whether I have a disagreement with my wife, breakup a relationship, or get angry at a friend, social networks are not good places to vent.

This is where I can struggle the most with passive-aggressiveness. I, for one, know that some people can really have a hard time not being passive-aggressive!

Instead of sharing my relationship problems with the world, I should talk directly to someone who can actually help. Even better, talk to the other person in the relationship and resolve the issue!

2. (Bad) stuff about clients, employers, or employees

If I share anything bad about business associates, it reveals bad things about my character. I would essentially be talking behind that person's back, and it's fully possible for them to find out.

I also need to think about how this looks to potential business associates. If I said bad stuff about other people I worked with, you may be concerned about what I'd say about you if we work together.

Sometimes, it may even be a good policy to say nothing about a full-time job or clients.

3. Location-revealing updates (rarely)

Yelp, Foursquare, Path, and many other apps can make sharing my location fun and sometimes rewarding. But I don't like telling the world that I'm not home.

I think it's okay to check-in and share special events. But you probably don't need to see every rest stop I visit in competition for the mayor of the porcelain throne.

4. Opinions on highly controversial moral or political issues

Remember passive-aggression? Highly controversial moral issues are more hot topics that can raise hate, hurt, and rarely help.

I think it's fine to discuss these things online, but I would only do it with a limited list of my friends whom I know will appreciate and intelligently discuss it.

I made this mistake big time before and it still hurts today.

5. Food

Sharing recipes is cool. Recommending places to eat can be cool. Posting a photo of my Centuple-Stuffed Oreo™ could also be interesting.

But photos of whatever I'm about to eat—since I'm not a food reviewer—is probably not interesting to almost anyone else.

6. Alcohol

This is definitely a personal choice and may not apply to you. Whether I drink alcohol is up to me. But I have chosen to never publicly endorse alcohol. I know I have minors and Christians of greatly varying beliefs following me.

I'm not saying alcohol is right or wrong, but I like the teachings of the Bible that says to not cause others to stumble because of what I may accept as freedoms.

7. Profanity

Another personal issue, but one that reflects on character and self-control.

I don't use profanity at all, and you'll never see me use it in an actual post. In the rare event that I share something with profanity in it, it has to be really good and I usually give a disclaimer.

I think the Bible is clear that Christians shouldn't use profanity, so I have chosen to not only limit my words, but also keep my attitude in check. (Sometimes the uncontrolled emotions are worse than the words themselves.)

Strong profanity can look bad to employers and potential employers. But maybe profanity is part of your edgy branding. So this is another thing that is really up to you.

8. Every reshare request

“Raise money for spotted puppy awareness!” “Please share this AMAZING thing from SkyMall!” “Please help unite the world around whirled peas!”

There are plenty of good causes to support. But I can't and won't give in to every request to share some cause or campaign. It's not that I don't care, but I just don't think it's something that fits my branding.

Yes, I do reshare quality stuff from others, regardless of whether they ask. If I know them well and they are personally asking me, then I'm more likely to fulfill the request in order to help them. But my social profile shouldn't look like the Foundation for Everything Campaign.

9. Only personally created content

Newsflash: social-networking is about being social. If I want to be social, I shouldn't always talk about myself and only share my stuff.

I often try to start or join conversations and reshare what others post. I'm regularly consuming great content from other people, and I try to share that with my audience.

I don't think it's always “spam” to share one's own stuff. There should be a balance.

10. “Follow Friday” (#FF) and other mention spam

“Follow Friday” was fun in the old days when very few people were on Twitter. Now, it's essentially spam. Have you followed anyone recently because of a #FF tweet?

If I really want to recommend that you follow someone else, the best way for me to do it is to write a quality message explaining why.

I also avoid and try to get out of mention-spam tweets with simple messages. For example, “Happy Monday! @Adam @Bob @Charlie @David @Erin @Frank @Gale @Harry @Irene @Jack @Kevin @Steve”

And for the love of everything beautiful in this world, please do not reply to these tweets by mentioning me and everyone! “@Matt Thanks! @Adam @Bob @Charlie @David @Erin @Frank @Gale @Harry @Irene @Jack @Kevin @Steve”

These are ten personal rules for what not to share on social networks. I know you may disagree with some of my own rules, so tell me why and share your own rules for what you will or won't post online.