I was getting a tour of the city with a friend I met at a 5-day training when our London taxi driver suddenly began educating us on “The Knowledge.”

This education came after I asked for his candid recommendation about which London car service was the most reliable to hire.  Our driver’s answer was immediate, simple and straight-forward.

“Anyone you see driving a Black Cab in London must pass a test called The Knowledge.  The Black Cab drivers have already passed this test which demonstrates that they have an intimate knowledge of the streets in London,” he said.

“If you want to get to your destination faster and more reliably, just hail-down a Black Cab – like the one you’re in – and you will be delighted with the service,” he added.

It was a solid recommendation because the night before the taxi driver I chose wasn’t in a Black Cab and wasted twenty minutes of our time looking for a restaurant on a side-street he couldn’t find. 

He obviously didn’t have The Knowledge.

The 2 Rules of Marketing: If you want superior knowledge over your competitors to win every marketing game you play, you must first learn two important rules.  I teach my students these 2 Rules because they’re both critical.

Rule #1:  “Know your Market.” 

Rule #2:  “Never forget Rule #1.”

The Market for the London taxicab driver is the mental map they’ve memorized of the 320 main (standard) routes through central London, as well as the 25,000+ streets within the major arterial routes through the rest of London.

It’s mind boggling!

Acquiring The Knowledge really means that a taxi driver must master all of the routes and streets contained in “Blue Book” (known as The Guide to Learning the Knowledge of London) put out by the Public Carriage Office which regulates licensed taxis in London.

Training for The Knowledge: During their training, would-be cabbies (known as Knowledge Boys and Girls), will typically seek-out the many routes around London on motor scooters.

They can easily be identified by the clipboard fixed to the handlebars and showing details of the streets to be learned that day.

According to the “Blue Book,” taxi-driver applicants must be “of good character”, meeting strict requirements regarding any criminal record, then first pass a written test which qualifies them to make an “Appearance.”

During their Appearances, these Knowledge Boys and Girls must (without looking at a map) identify the quickest and most sensible route between any two points in metropolitan London that their examiner chooses.

For each route the applicants must recite the names of the roads used, when they cross junctions, use roundabouts, make turns, and what is “alongside” them at each point.

The memorization required to pass The Knowledge oral examination is utterly massive.

“Each Black Cab driver must learn the key London routes, as well as the ‘points of interest’ along those routes including streets, squares, clubs, hospitals, hotels, theaters, embassies, government and public buildings, railway stations, police stations, courts…

… diplomatic buildings, important places of worship, cemeteries, crematoria, parks and open spaces, sports and leisure centers, places of learning, restaurants and historic buildings,” reports Wikipedia.

What Ignorant Marketers Do: In the business world, most entrepreneurs choose to ignore the importance of thoroughly “knowing their Market.”

They don’t take acquiring marketing knowledge seriously as they should, and they often “outsource” their marketing responsibilities to unqualified people outside of their companies.

These entrepreneurs are like the millions of other cab drivers in cities outside of London who drive their passengers around without precise knowledge of how to get to their final destinations.

Sound familiar?

The net result of this lack of knowledge is to waste a lot of money and time on strategies that get them lost and even lead to becoming irrelevant to their customers.

What Knowledgeable Marketers Do: The best marketers have the same attitude of London Black Cab drivers because they have the reverence to seek and acquire The Knowledge about their target markets.

There are far fewer of these marketers, but they are the wealthy ones because they are the leaders who have superior insights and situational awareness about how to undercover the most profitable niches in their target markets.

Look, throughout the world there are millions of taxi drivers.  In the UK alone, there are probably a few hundred thousand taxi drivers.  But less than twenty thousand have The Knowledge of the Black Cab drivers in London!

That’s the type of marketer I want you to aspire to be.

I want you to become a marketer with the “knowledge-passion” of a London taxicab driver so you can learn to know every nook and cranny of where your Market exists.

Fact #1: Black Cab drivers with The Knowledge have the ability to decide routes immediately in response to a passenger’s request, rather than looking at a map, relying on satellite navigation, or asking a controller by radio.

Fact #2: The Knowledge is the world’s most demanding training course for taxicab drivers, and applicants will usually need at least a dozen “Appearances” (attempts at the final test) after preparing an average of 34 months to pass the test.

Fact #3: The oral exam was  initiated in 1865, and has changed little since.   Medical tests have discovered that London cab drivers developed a bigger hippocampus – the region of the brain where info about locations is stored.

If you want to be ready for The Knowledge about your target market, you must know the answers to the following 5 important questions.  This is what is known as your Marketing Executive Summary:

1. What is the URGENT PROBLEM of your target market?
2. What is your UNIQUE SOLUTION to this problem?
3. Why is your target market STUCK with this problem?
4. What’s the step-by-step PROCESS to get them unstuck?
5. What’s the first ACTION STEP to your unique solution?

What To Do Now: Re-read this post.  And if you live in the United Kingdom, be advised that I plan on visiting London again for a 1-day training in November.

If you’d like to attend, please let us know through our Online Help Desk. In the meantime, please comment and share this post with other who also feel it’s important to acquire more knowledge about their target market(s).

I’m sure you’ve followed the David Letterman extortion plot saga.He had affairs with female staff members and when faced with extortion he went public and admitted his failings with transparency and humor.

Letterman has received good grades in his response to the negative publicity. And his ratings are up 38% since the disclosure.And while Letterman’s ethics and response have been debated at length, in this article I focus on a lesser known celebrity’s response to negative publicity.

I chose this example because the issue is one more common and sympathetic: weight gain from a previously “hot” body.

Here’s the headline from The Huffington Post: “Nicole Eggert Fat? Baywatch Babe Takes on Weight Critics In Funny or Die Video”

The Situation

Nicole Eggert played lifeguard Summer Quinn in over45 episodes on Baywatch, the TV show from 1992-1994.

As such, she spent many an episode in a red two-piece bathing suit and developed her own sex symbol appeal. Flash forward to today. Some 15 years later. Nicole Eggert is now 37, has had a child and not a real surprise, gained some weight.

Naturally, the tabloids shared some unflattering photos. Followed by the usual round of whispers and gossip.

At this point Nicole Eggert faced a choice on how to respond. When confronted with negative publicity there are typically three ways in which to respond…

1. Ignore it and hide
2. Be reactive and defensive (damage control)
3. Be proactive and go on the offensive

Nicole’s Response to the Negative Publicity 

Nicole Eggert chose to go on the offensive. She followed a technique that’s proven successful in everything from martial arts to political strategists like Karl Rove. Turn your opponents strength against them. The video Nicole did via Funny or Die did exactly that. The thing that had glamorized her in the past, the slo-mo running down the beach effect was featured, this time to comic effect.

Of course, there is the very noticeable jiggle of a few extra pounds at work, thus skewering the “babe” imagery from the past. What’s evident here is Nicole Eggert is comfortable in her own skin, even as there is a more ample supply of it compared to her Baywatch days. Nicole Eggert responded with humor and confidence to the negative publicity about her weight gain. She not only took her recent physique in stride but also in a funny and involving way.

The Results

The video made the first pages of authority sites The Huffington Post and Salon. As the Salon article stated, “The video would seem — well, if not terribly witty, then at least a nice dose of female empowerment, a move that simultaneously strikes a blow toward the tyranny of the paparrazi and places Eggert back in the public eye on her own terms.”

Even more encouraging were the hundreds of comments to these stories. The tone of those comments was universal in support of Nicole Eggert and her physique as a “real woman.”

Metrics from Nicole Eggert’s “Fat Video” response:

1. Video viewed over 755,000 times in eight days
2. Numerous articles and stories on mainstream news and entertainment sites
3. A search of “Nicole Eggert” on Google shows 5 listings on the first page of Google are about the “fat” video

Conclusion and UPDATE:

I have since learned that Nicole Eggert will be starring with Kevin Federline in the upcoming season of the reality TV show, “Celebrity Fit Club.” As a result, many have called Nicole Eggert’s video response more of a publicity stunt than a demonstration of female empowerment.

My take? It’s both. And that’s OK. So what can we learn from all this? Humor, when used appropriately can be a powerful weapon in combating negative publicity. Obviously, humor needs to be used selectively. And real screw-ups need to be admitted as same. You don’t use humor to make light of an oil spill, for example.

In the final analysis, when using humor, there is a risk it can backfire. But kudos to those that refuse to let others define who they are and what they’re all about. Especially when the real story is more skin deep.

What is your comment on this article? 

Please comment and share on all five and here they are in reverse chronological order:

The 4 Most Reliable Tele-Interview Questions
Click here to go to this post on September 24, 2009

Worldwide Survey to Define “Abundance”
Click here to go to this post on July 21, 2009

Why Multitasking Destroys Your Productivity
Click here to go to this post on April 28, 2009

History Of The “Entrepreneurial Revolution”
Click here to go to this post on March 3, 2009

3 Marketing Lessons Learned From Geese
Click here to go to this post on January 20, 2009

A daily “deep dive”  into material you’ve learned from in the past – blog posts, articles books and audio programs – is a great way to re-view and re-learn with a fresh and brand new perspective.

My suggested “deep dive” review (5 blog posts above) will take just 30 minutes out of your day, but the fresh new perspective you gain afterward may last you a lifetime!

My Morning Ritual: I do a “deep dive” into familiar content every morning which I call my Morning Review.  I do these “deep dive” reviews right after I wake up (about 6am Pacific Time) … before I check any email, voice mail or even plan my day.

I set a countdown timer for 30 minutes and then off I go deep into the material I’ve chosen the  evening before.  I learned this morning ritual from my good friend, Bob Proctor and I’ve been doing it consistently for the past 3 years.

Although the five posts cover completely different topics, they all had over 50 comments from readers so I’m certain you’ll find them interesting and comment worthy ;-)

After you’re done with your deep dive, visit my Fan Page at www.ProductiveToday.com and check out the video tips I post every Monday.

Your comments are appreciated and please share this post if you found it helpful.

Gary Ryan Blair

Listen to the Replay…

During this 60-minute Virtual Book Tour, Gary reveals why “every detail counts” and why goals count and why vision counts… basically, why “EVERYTHING” counts.

He also talks about sections of his book such as Joy, Diversity, Failure, Quality, Rewards, Focus and Commitment… just to name a few.

Click here to add this book to your library.

There we were, sitting in my dining room waiting to eat lunch when Eric Lingenfelter, my web development director, asked this interesting question:

“What’s the world’s greatest ’squeeze’ page?”

I thought about it.  My other team members thought about it.  We eventually went around the table with rapid-fire attempts to give the right answer.

But to every answer Eric kept shaking his head smiling and saying, “Nope, nope, nope, nope …” until I finally asked him what he thought was the world’s greatest squeeze page.

“The world’s greatest ’squeeze’ page is …

Drum roll …

Take a guess …

Oh, c’mon … take a guess …

After you make your guess, grab your mouse and click ->->->

That’s right …  Facebook has the world’s greatest “squeeze” page.

You can call it a home page.  You can call it a squeeze page.  Whatever you want to call it … it works!!

Just for kicks, let’s call it a Free Membership Squeeze page.  That’s what it is, isn’t it?

Look, what is Facebook asking you to do?  They’re asking for your First Name, Last Name, Email, Password, Gender (M/F) and Birthday.

Facebook is the world’s biggest and fastest growing social networking platform because it has the world’s greatest squeeze page.

What if Facebook had a home page with a traditional sales letter or splash page that tried to convince you to opt-in, or get free membership, or give your birth date?

Wouldn’t a traditional landing page create a bottle-neck or obstacle that may have halted Facebook’s meteoric growth and opt-in rate?

I have no idea if you agree or disagree with me. But what I do know is that I’m starting to model Facebook’s Free Membership Squeeze Page concept.

You may have already seen it when I promote my Productivity Thursday training calls that consistent take place on the 1st Thursday of each month.

Before I started utilizing the Free Membership Squeeze page strategy, I had no consistent way to get students on the calls and the multiple call times caused confusion (9am Pacific, 5pm Pacific, 6pm Pacific).

After I started utilizing the Free Membership Squeeze page strategy, life is easier because not only do I get opt-ins, but I also get new Members!

These new Members get access to my Productivity Thursday Teleseminars (1st Thursday of month) with convenient notifications through our Members Area.

The Point: The point of this post is not just to encourage you to model the Facebook squeeze page.  My point is to open your marketing consciousness to new possibilities of techniques, templates and tactics that have right under your nose all along.

What To Do Now: Please comment on this post and let me know if you agree or disagree that Facebook has the #1 world’s greatest and most effective squeeze page.

Benjamin Levy

Listen to the Replay…

During this 60-minute Virtual Book Tour you’ll discover why Benjamin feels that his new book is for anyone, even if they have a bad memory.

He also review his time-proven techniques on how to remember names, why it matters and his F.A.C.E. method of boosting your memory!

Click here to add this book to your library.

Your listening audiences typically fit into four distinct learning styles Kolb uncovered and they are: WHY learners, WHAT learners, HOW learners and WHAT IF learners.

Which of the four learning styles do you feel that you fit into?

Regardless of your learning style, I believe anyone can become a great interviewer if they focus on what Kolb’s findings over 20 years ago.

To make it easy for you, here’s the questioning sequence template I utilize in my own interview that is a trusted friend to inoculate me from embarrassment or and criticism from blowing an interview:

1. WHY is (TOPIC) so important for our audience to learn more about?

2. WHAT is (TOPIC) by definition?

3. HOW does (TOPIC) work in a step-by-step process?

4. WHAT IF our listeners utilized the strategies you are teaching us about (TOPIC), what would their live be like in 30 days, 90 days, 1 year?

Just fill-in your topic of interest where you see “TOPIC” above and you’re good to go!

You can also ask questions about obstacles or strategies or questions that are specifically relevant to your topic and audience. But the four questions you can’t live without are the WHY, WHAT, HOW and WHAT IF questions.

I consider them my four most trusted servants to extracting the nectar from the fruit of any of my Tele-Interviews.

Although I don’t get caught-up with the percentage breakdowns of each learning style, I do follow a certain sequence based on what I believe to be their attention levels.

Fair Warning: I have no scientific evidence that support my next recommendation, other than my intuition derived from conducting over 1,200 Tele-Interviews in 15 years.

My experience tells me the correct sequence of questions are: WHY, WHAT, HOW, WHAT IF.

The sequence I utilize is counter-intuitive because most other interviewers, including Larry King, Barbara Walters and Oprah will typically ask the “WHAT” question first.

But I choose to ask the “WHY” question first because my experience has taught me that WHY learners are the least patient and tolerant of the four types of listeners.

I know lots of WHY learners and I find them to be easily distracted.  Auditory stimuli and bright, shiny objects easily sway their attention away so it’s critical to focus your interview on them first.

Next come the WHAT learners in the interview sequence and then the HOW learners, followed closely by the WHAT IF learners, which is what I believe I am :-)

Again, I can’t scientifically substantiate the sequencing recommendation above, but the Tele-Interview rave reviews I get from my students and colleagues support that my sequence is spot-on.

What To Do Now: Give me your comment about this post. Do you agree or disagree with my  recommendation?

When you’re done commenting, I want you to create a questionnaire template for your next interview, no matter what communication medium you choose to utilize – Teleseminar, radio, TV, hot seat on-state, face-to-face or whatever.

Practice it.  Utilize it. Learn from it and you’ll find that your interview style will evolve from good to great.

In “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” author David Meerman Scott explains, “The Internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on media. Blogs, online news releases and other forms of Web content let organizations communicate directly with buyers.”

In the past, the media, as gatekeepers, deemed who received exposure and who didn’t. New PR offers many ways to reach prospects, buyers and key influencers directly.

And yet with so many choices available, it’s easy to over emphasize technology and tools while core activities like strategy development often receive short shrift.

For that reason, I present “The 4 Pillars of the New PR.” (Complete with handy mnemonic device for easy reference: each pillar begins with the letter “S.”)

New PR Pillar #1: Strategy

Strategy is “the what” and tactics are “the how.” The “what” could be anything from your brand personality tokey business outcomes you expect from your marketing. Your strategy should also include successful positioning compared to the competition.

For example, what values does you product, service or company represent? Do those values permeate your marketing—and if not—why not? One of my most important values is humor. Humor helps me engage my audience whether live or remote, as well as overcome the dry subject matter of search engine marketing.

New PR Pillar #2: Story

The most glaring mistake I see is announcement-driven messaging rather than story-driven content. Announcement style press releases work if you are Apple announcing a new ipod. But with 5,000 press releases published daily, an announcement driven approach won’t effectively breakthrough the clutter.

To overcome that challenge, consider developing a “Persona” and weave that through ALL of your marketing, not just your articles and press releases.

A Persona is a role or character you create for yourself. For example, I have several customers that use a Persona of “The Underdog.” I’ve seen real estate and investment pros establish the Persona of “The Contrarian” to combat the recent doom and gloom of today’s housing market.

Of course, there are many other ways to enhance your story, like finding the right angle. Try piggybacking on current events. That way your message is relevant and you ride a wave of interest already created on that topic.

New PR Pillar #3: Search

Perhaps the biggest benefit of Online PR is its staying power. Old PR was often transactional and temporary. With New PR, optimize your content correctly, and your release can be found online for weeks, months even years—by journalists and buyers alike.

4 best practices for optimizing your PR for search:

1. Put your keyword phrase in the headline and 3-4 times in the body copy.
2. Include your keyword phrase is in the first paragraph and the last.
3. Use a paid press release site (PRWeb, Webwire, PitchEngine) over free sites. (Paid sites have greater reach and credibility.)
4. Go beyond just optimizing text: include images, audio, video and caption those elements with your keyword phrases.

New PR Pillar #4: Social

The widespread social media impact of New PR is just beginning. In “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations” authors Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge shared, “By driving New PR from a social-centric position, companies can identify the right groups of people, determine their needs, uncover their channels of influence and use the tools and words that will reach and compel them.”

They further add that New PR is about “communicating with, not to” and that there is a shift from away from spin and towards relevance. They identify another critical shift: from a broadcast machine (one-to-many) to community participation (many-to-many.)

To become more community-centric, many press release sites have added social media enhancements. This includes video, images, slide shows, and connections with Twitter and Facebook.

Here’s an example of a social media release for Alex Mandossian’s Virtual Abundance Expo. This is definitely not your grandfather’s press release!

In summary, New PR is one of the most powerful methods to effectively reach prospects, buyers and influencers. Use the four pillars as a filter to make sure you are maximizing both your article and press release marketing.

To learn more about the New PR, I invite you to claim your FREE Instant Access to my Optimized Press Release Template at www.30MinutePR.com

Please add your candid comments and feedback. 

Dave Crenshaw

Listen to the Replay…

During this 60-minute Virtual Book Tour, Dave
reveals why "multi-tasking" is a destructive
force to anyone’s workday and how to avoid it.

He also talks about sections of his book such as, "The Lie," "The Exercise,"
"The Truth" and the "The Deal"… just to name a few.

Click here to add this book to your library.

And by the way, this also works for more experienced writers and experts.

Your First 10 Articles

If you are serious about creating articles and the traffic that comes with them, then these are the simple steps I want you to follow:

Step 1 - Pick a specific topic in your niche that you know well. The more specific the better.

Step 2 - Make a list of 7tips you would give to your ideal client about this topic.

Step 3 – For each tip craft 35 – 50 words of explanation on how to use the tip.

You now have your first article. Now here come a few more …

Step 4 – Now write a separate article on each tip. Expand on what you began in the first article. Explain the what and the why and give a little bit of the how. This will take you a little bit longer, but the good news is you already began each of these articles in the first article.

Now you have 8 articles – the first 7 tips article and now the 7 articles created from each tip. Seven plus one equals eight, at least where I went to school.

“OK, but where are those other 2 articles Jeff?”

Hang on, here they come.

Step 5 – Think through and identify the most frequently asked questions from your customers and ideal clients about your niche. Identify the top 2 questions. Write an article for each one. This is easy for two reasons – one, the question takes up some of the article, and two, you know the answer to the question.

And there are your first 10 articles.

Bonus Tip – Why couldn’t you do this over and over for multiple topics in your niche? You’ll quickly and easily crank out a lot of articles this way.

And to help you continue to craft great quality articles quickly and easily, now I would like to invite you to claim your FREE Instant Access to 2 of my Instant Article Creation Templates when you visit http://www.TheArticleGuyBonus.com.

You’ll get get two “plug-n-play” article templates – just plug in your info! And you will also get a 30 minute Audio Replay of a teleseminar about writing more articles in less time than you ever thought possible.

From Jeff Herring – The Article Marketing Guy and The Great Article Marketing Network.