PRACTICE MARKETING blog

Ever wonder how Bush won … “again”? No president has ever been re-elected with such low approval ratings. All it took was the right strategy… a new documentary DVD reveals how it happened through candid interviews from both sides.

Personal brand marketing strategy goes hand-in-hand with political campaign strategy!

In my audiobook INSTANT BUZZ, I actually reveal one of the most Influential books on the Bush campaign, as quoted by the RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman. It’s referenced by Matthew Dowd (Chief Strategist Bush 2004 Campaign) as he’s interviewed in this great interview-driven documentary:

In Fall 2006, film makers, James D. Stern & Adam Del Deo, released “…So Goes the Nation” through IFCfilms. It recently came out on DVD; watch it!! Study it!! And tell others… I think it’s the next best Secret. Last night, I saw the documentary three times in a row… including the directors’ behind-the-scenes commentary.

Sadly the DVD (and the trailer below) is packaged in typical “pro-liberal/anti-Bush” garb (obviously that didn’t stop me). But the movie is so much better than propaganda.

Camera crews {in typical realityTV form} follow 4 everyday campaigners through their trials and tribulations in the most pivotal state in the election (Ohio): 2 on the Kerry 2004 side, and 2 for the Bush Campaign 2004. As an activist who’s dedicated years to grassroots organizing, it was very reassuring to me.

While this narrative provided great suspense (even though we all know the ending), I loved the interviews: 8 TOP INSIDERS ON BOTH THE KERRY CAMPAIGN & THE BUSH CAMPAIGN GAVE CANDID INTERVIEWS on “What in the world were they thinking????”: ~1~ Mary Beth Cahill - Kerry Campaign Manager ~2~ Ken Mehlman - Bush 2004 Campaign Manager ~3~ Matthew Dowd - Chief Strategist Bush 2004 Campaign ~4~ Mark McKinnon - Media Director for Bush 2004 Campaign ~5~ Terry McAuliffe - Democratic National Committee Chairman ~6~ Tad Devine - Communications Director for Kerry Campaign ~7~ Ed Gillespie - Republican National Committee Chairman ~8~ Paul Begata - Clinton campaign advisor (former co-host of CNN CrossFire)

Both sides explore one of the most important marketing strategy decisions: PERSUASION or MOTIVATION? Which won?

Click to BUY THE DVDor visit the …So Goes the Nation movie website.

Documentary Trailer:

Listen to one of my favorite parts of “…So Goes the Nation” in my podcast. Mark McKinnon, Bush Media Strategist, describes how he set up Kerry to blunder!

~Watch ‘…So Goes the Nation’ & share it as a gift.

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In the attached podcast, I’m coming back from a 2nd meeting I had a with a financial planner… I recorded the Anecdote:

Adversity/Aspiration: The financial planner was going after the typical “wealthy business owner” market. He wanted to make his marketing efforts more effective. He knew his marketing wasn’t focused, but didn’t know exactly where to begin.

Advice/Actions: My podcast showcases how I started to help him explore & define the right target market Community. Listen how we’ve started to uncover the answers to these questions: 1) What are the common Demographics of your target market community? 2) What’s their mindset, Psycographics, symptoms, aspirations & adversities? 3) What are their common hobbies & Habits that exhibit their community belonging? 4) How does your community spend Money on complimentary & competitive products & services? 5) What are the names of the Clubs & media to which your community attend/subscribe? 6) What is your personal brand (rational & emotional) Appeal to this community?

Advantage/Achievement: ~ With one of my 45-minute exercises, the financial planner can now immediately differentiate himself from the vast competition. Of course, he’ll need to improve his specific expertise and competencies. And he should adapt the 6 Buzz Streams for this Community.

~ His name will immediately pop into the minds of his colleagues as they’re in front of the right people. They’ll know the two of them will connect well! And what Catchphrases to say to perk interest.

~ He can identify & focus on clever channels that pinpoint his community’s hobbies & habits. His marketing collaterals will immediately spark interest… with the right words, imagery, and anecdotes.

~ How else can a unified target market Community help?

Listen to the audio anecdote. Take the time to answer these 6 questions for yourself. Have you answered them correctly? I gave you a quick thumb-rule at the end of the audio. What’s your personal brand Appeal? Describe your unified target market Community in the comments.

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Last year I wrote a quick book, “101 Thumb-rules from the Top Business Advisors.” It works as a great Idea Journal. Moreover, it reminds us of many lessons we may know already — and those we can always work on. For example:

Want to manage your time better? Want to tackle your to-do list the right way? My podcast shares a pivotal thumb-rule is that often repeated by my father, and quoted by our clients.

BTW: There is a difference between a thumb-rule and a cliche… I cleared it up the audio.

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I visit the offices of many business advisors. And very often I still see an inkjet shuffling out fuzzy flyers, makeshift brochures, etc. There is a better way to make D-I-Y marketing collaterals stand out. Like I summarize in the podcast, “it’s the little things that make a difference.”

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On-line search (e.g, Google) have walloped Yellow Pages.

Free on-line classifieds (e.g., Craigslist) have walloped newspaper listings.

Blogs & podcasts (e.g., VikramRajan.com) are “democratizing” editorial & radio broadcast….

And D-I-Y video websites (e.g., YouTube) are beginning to take its punch at TV… “Viral videos” of stupid kids barely does it justice.  Internet-based video is hot, here to stay, and is growing in popularity, relevance, and integrity. These sites offer you an opportunity to showcase your Personal Brand messages in vivid detail.  While professional videographers & editors cannot be substituted, you can stay amateur and use many of these {marketing} channels for FREE….

Online Video Industry Index

Written by Emre Sokullu and edited by Richard MacManus

There are now so many companies vying to be the next YouTube, it’s easy to lose track of them all. So let’s take a look at the entire online video industry and categorize the major players. Our thanks to Ali Dagli of Savvian, for providing us a lot of the useful data listed here.

In this post we’ve summarized the latest video industry innovations under the following categories:

• Video Sharing
• Intermediaries
• Video Search
• Video eCommerce
• Video Editing & Creation
• Rich Media Advertising
• P2P (Peer To Peer)
• Video Streaming
• Vlogosphere

Read the whole Index on this blog: Online Video Industry Index

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1) Want to ensure your brochure content explains benefits?

2) Need to make sure your prospects are engaged by your proposal?

3) Having trouble writing out an outline for your seminar?

4) Having trouble keeping your seminars interactive?

5) Want an easy way to come up with ideas for your blog posts, podcasts, & articles?

Would you believe my quick podcast answers all this?!

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I go to A LOT of networking events… through chambers, professional/trade groups, etc.  If you don’t… you should:  It’s a great way to not only prospect directly, but to develop a word-of-mouth referral network, and to add to your e-mail database.

Those of us who are active in our business community may become “sick and tired” of seeing “the same people” over and over again.  First of all, we’re ‘obligated’ to say hi.  And after I do, I tend to say, “Alright… we know each other, let’s meet some new people!”

But there’s another way to make the best of seeing familiar faces… as my podcast explains.

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There are 4 main ways to have your website rank higher in search results with Google, Yahoo, MSN, or AOL. These aren’t magic tricks, secrets, schemes, or trickery… it makes sense once you know what search engine “spiders” (like Googlebot) look for. We aren’t wizards or gurus… we manage specific controls, including:

#1) Have a lot of the right keywords within the tags & within the content on your website. Content should read naturally, yet be chock-full of relevant keywords; web content editors & consultants (ahem, ahem) can help you find the right balance.

Do not force it to happen; e.g., you may notice strings of keywords on the bottom of pages. Not only does it cheapen the look of your site, the evolving “organic” or “human language” search algorithms will roll their eyes at it as we do.

#2) My 2:54 minute podcast reveals another step you should take. Done well, it can even trump #1. The attached audio also offers you the quickest way to actually make use of the tip!

Do you know the right answer? Comment below. Why is {my podcast tip} considered so highly by search engines? What’s the logic?

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