In this episode of Bullhorns and Bullseyes, Tom Nixon and Curtis Hays geek out (in the way that only true geeks dare!) on three powerful marketing models that shape how they plan campaigns, create content, and measure success.
If you’ve ever wondered why some campaigns flop while others convert like magic, this episode is your masterclass in doing it the Bullhorns and Bullseyes way—from the top of the funnel to the flip at the end.
That is the art of effective communication.
What I learned in sixth grade holds true today. If you’re using your marketing content and messaging to TELL people why they should engage with you, nobody will relate.
But if you SHOW them—through storytelling, testimonial, metaphorical allusions, emotional connection—your story will resonate. And be remembered.
Allow me to show you how…
If I told you my life story, would you care?
What if I asked you tell me your life story?
Eugene M. Schwartz’s The Brilliance Breakthrough: How to Talk and Write So That People Will Never Forget You should be (and often is) considered to be the “bible” of effective copywriting and storytelling. One of the many tenets Schwartz embraces is the notion of making the reader (or the customer) the hero of the story you’re trying to tell.
Too often, we put the capes on our own backs. And that’s where the writing falls short.
Adrian Lurssen tells the story of when he went to see Nelson Mandela deliver an address in his home country of South Africa. He still draws upon the experience today, but in the most unusual context.
As Adrian has recounted this tale to Jay Harrington and me on an episode of The Thought Leadership Project podcast, he likens this notion of a praise singer to how we considers thought leadership content to work on behalf of the expert that shares it.
See how…
One of my all-time favorite movies was Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King, staring Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges and Mercedes Ruehl. The movie’s key lesson — as told through a parable — is one that I think applies to much more than just life and love. The parable of The Fisher King and the movie from which it is taken provide a useful allegory for effective messaging, positioning and branding.
In a key moment in the movie, Robin Williams’s character tells the story to Jeff Bridges’s character:
If you’ve read “Do Less. Sell More.,” you know that I remain a strong advocate for email being a non-negotiable component to your digital marketing mix.
But if you still need convincing, consider this article just released by Tilt, a thought-leadership platform for content creators: “8 Stats Show Email Subscribers Worth A Lot More Than Social Media Followers.”
"You need to build your content strategy on rented land. In fact, you have no choice."
This somewhat unconventional wisdom sparked some interesting thought and conversation between Jay Harrington and me on a recent episode of The Thought Leadership Project podcast.
At issue: Should you be putting your content on your website and placing it behind “gates,” or sharing it freely on social media and elsewhere?
What if you could do fewer things, that look less time, and actually have more success building your business and selling your services?
That’s the premise behind my new book, Do Less. Sell More.: How Entrepreneurs are Building Seven-Figure Businesses without Breaking the Bank, Working Like Dogs, or Losing their $#@%!
Joe objected, "But I'm NOT a thought leader. Why would anyone listen to what I have to offer?"
Just because you don't regard yourself as the preeminent voice in your space doesn't mean you can't offer insights. You don't need to be a certified "Thought Leader" to have observations, experiences, theories, command of basic principles, inquiries and perspectives.
Content is working its way down the sales funnel farther than ever before. While we have historically thought of content in terms of “content marketing”—which generally lives near the top of the sales funnel—we should now be thinking in terms of “content business development.”
But if you’re serving your network and people you’d like to include in your network, by providing them with either things of intellectual value or by raising their profiles somehow, that’s not selling...it’s serving.
You know it to be true in your gut, but it's hard to convince your head of it: you simply can't be everywhere at once. And you can't be all things to all people. So stop doing what’s not working, and do this instead.
Last week I promised to share with you the one marketing tactic that consistently achieves the highest ROI of anything out there, regardless of vertical or market.
Did you guess what it was?
The answer may surprise you…
The problem with the modern marketing paradigm is that it's still just too much for most small business owners, entrepreneurs and individuals building their own professional services practices. And with attention spans being what they are nowadays, where even a long tweet seems like a hefty pull, it's too much for the audiences we're looking to attract as well. Here's what's happened over the years: We kept adding and adding to the marketing stack, and we never took anything away!
But I have, as you might’ve guessed, a proposed fix to this problem…
