I was watching TV this week and came across a video that I couldn’t resist sharing with you. Have you see the television infomercial featuring the Amish made heaters?

If not, you must watch it here.

This video is very prescriptive for us marketing folks. Why? Because it proves that some people just don’t THINK before they buy!

Don’t get me wrong, I love and admire Amish people. I grew up working in a wonderful small town and Amish community. However, let me ask this question: how many Amish people do you know that use electric heaters?

Even better, do you really believe that the Amish craftsmen are making the electric heaters?

In both cases the answer is almost certainly NO. However, people continue to buy these heaters because of the perceived quality of the craftsmanship that Amish provide.

So, my point is this video is prescriptive in terms of a great offer, but a fundamentally flawed aspect of integrity of that offer. YET, people continue to buy.

Here’s my take on things – people genuinely aren’t real good about buying. Secondly, consumers are deeply flawed in behavior.

What does this mean to you?

It’s great to watch infomercials and see the psychology that goes into constructing an offer. It usually goes something like this.

Have you ever experienced [name a big problem/frustration here]. If so, [product name] solves [frustration #1], [frustration #2], and [frustration #3]. The company or product was created by because of .

This product is [talk about why it's special] and is only available .

Now, and this is the most important part…

PEOPLE LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT AND SERVICE FROM OTHER PEOPLE!

The best thing that you can do is gather testimonials about what others are saying about your product.

Finally, close with a limited time offer and doubling the offer with some FREE BONUSES. AND, all of this together – creates a pretty powerful formula and really does work.

While the Amish heater video is quite funny and off base, there are several things that you can learn from and incorporate into your marketing today.

If you need some advice for your marketing plan and your business, my team and I are just a few clicks or a phone call away.

Enjoy those infomercials and have a great weekend,

Jason Duff
Founder/CEO
COMSTOR Outdoor
888.354.2591

P.S. To receive your complimentary copy of Marketing on Main Street delivered right to your inbox every Friday, click here.

The death of a family member or close loved one can be emotionally draining. Most of us have experienced the range of difficult emotions often felt in the hours and days immediately following a death. And in that same critical time when we’re focused on supporting our family and friends we must also make important decisions on behalf of the deceased. Having the right funeral team can make a great difference.

The Hogenkamp Funeral Home team has been assisting families in making those important decisions for five generations. Founded in 1874, the team provides a full range of funeral services, cremation services, partial services, shipping services, and pre-arrangement services. In addition, Hogenkamp Funeral Home offers monument and memorial merchandise sales.

“We take the time to care about the families we serve,” said Scott Hogenkamp, director.

The business is family-owned and operated – and has been since 1874 – and serves Shelby, Darke, Mercer, and Auglaize Counties.

To learn more visit www.hogenkampfh.com or call 419-628-2341.

One of my all time favorite televisions shows is Mister Roger’s neighborhood and of course it’s iconic theme song: “It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine? Could you be mine?”

The popular children’s show captivated young and old alike for more than 25 years.

I was thinking today if Fred Rogers was still living how shocked he would be of the current state of many small towns and communities. The truth is….for many, beautiful days are few and far between today.

While many areas are struggling, that doesn’t have to be the reality on your street or community.

Here’s why:

Even in a struggling economy with high energy prices, many small businesses are not only surviving, they are THRIVING. Why? Because many small business owners are investing in their business by making things faster, smarter, and better and because they are now using unique, street-smart, guerilla marketing techniques.

It’s a fact; many of the small old ways of getting your message out just don’t work anymore.

One of my passions in life is community revitalization. I’ve put my money where my mouth is and have invested by purchasing downtown historic properties, recruiting new businesses to occupy them, and supporting those businesses with powerful marketing tools to help them grow.

I am doing this because I feel that now is a great time to invest and be included in the BIG CHANGE that is underway in how we market and promote our businesses.

I’ve helped hundreds of clients use focused and strategic marketing techniques to gain recognition, increase customer retention, and get massive exposure. One of the first and easiest ways to start this process is by getting a HUGE outdoor billboard sign.

Here’s a few quick ways that you can use your billboard sign to build your brand and dominate the minds of your local market.

- Post pictures of your billboard design on our website
- Print up vehicle magnets of your billboard design for your car
- Display a miniature version of your billboard inside of your business
- Turn your billboard into banners and placing it directly onto your store
- Use your billboard as the front (or back) to your business cards/greeting cards
- Take your best customers on a field trip to your billboard and capture video testimonials

Our graphics and marketing team is ready and willing to give you FREE SAMPLES before you spend your first penny.

If you are interested in seeing what we can do for you, click here to watch the video on our website and enter your information to get a free step-by-step BILLBOARD MARKETING SUCCESS KIT NOW!

Make today a BEAUTIFUL day,

Jason Duff
Founder/CEO
COMSTOR Outdoor

Nestled on a string of islands in the middle of Indian Lake is a special place with as much good food as there is beer. The name of the place might be a mouthful, but so are the tasty burgers.

Cranberry Resort Waterfront Bar & Grill has served locals and visitors since 1947. Find a seat outside and you’ll soon realize why. It’s hard to beat the view from the large outdoor seating area right on the water.

It’s a happening place in the summer with more than 30 boat docks welcoming guests to the resort. Rocking live entertainment compliments the great food. The plentiful menu is sure to appeal to kids and adults alike.

But don’t forget about the cold winter months — Cranberry Resort is open Wednesday through Sunday to serve the ice fisherman and snowmobilers. You can’t beat the $7.95 or less homemade lunch specials! Escape the cold and enjoy a heaping helping of your favorite comfort foods.

One more thing! Help us usher in the summer by stopping by the Indian Lake Boat Show March 2-4. Boats new and used, prizes, raffles, and good fun promise to make the 56th Annual show a good one. Get the details at www.indianlakeboatshow.com.

Cranberry Resort Waterfront Bar & Grill
bruce@cranberryresort.net
937.842.4947

I found a surprise in my mail box this week. Something that I totally was not expecting. Before I share with you what I received, here’s a little more about my daily mail opening ritual that may surprise you.

You may think I’m crazy, but I actually SUBSCRIBE to “snail mail” marketing lists because I like to see the kind of things that companies will send people.

Why? Because these letters and offers contain valuable nuggets that I use on a regular basis.

Direct Mail Response Marketing is one of the oldest forms of advertising and it’s something that you can use to your advantage in everything that you do.

Here’s my quick 5 minute inbox review process:

1. What can I immediately throw away? (these are the things that fail to catch my attention and unfortunately is 50% of what I receive - POOR MARKETING!)
2. What pieces can I act upon? (delegate, open, and/or file – bills, invoices, and inquires)
3. What can actually make me want to buy, act upon or SAVE (coupons, promotions, helpful resources, thank you cards, hand written notes)

The last of my three step process is the MOST important and it’s those items that end up in a very special folder that I call my “MARKETING SWIPE FILE.”

The piece of mail that I received this week is certainly something that has marketing merit and is a classic example of an effective marketing strategy. So I might as well SPILL THE BEANS!

This week, I received a PERSONAL HAND-SIGNED LETTER from the President of the United States – Barack Obama.

While you and I could debate all day on if getting a letter from the President is a treasure or a travesty – I’m not here to argue about politics. Instead, I’m here to talk marketing.

The letter was not only personally addressed to me, it was hand signed by President Obama himself. In addition to the hand signed letter, he sent me a signed picture too!

I received the letter because I recently traveled to Washington, DC advocating for small businesses and had the opportunity to be speak to President Obama’s administration about the importance of job creation in rural America. (This is an issue that is VERY important to me.)

While this opportunity was special, what impressed me is that someone in the Administration took the time to follow-up and request that President Obama thank me for sharing my thoughts, even if some of them were contradictory to his Administration’s views.

You see, letters work. Why? You can build an important emotional connection with your clients where MOST of your competitors will not.

For example, you can send a personal “Thank You” note after each business transaction along with your bill or invoice. You can send a personal note along with a birthday card or an anniversary card.

These little personal notes will do wonders for establishing your relationship with your clients. It makes you a real person and gives you a “personal touch.”

And because most of your competition will send their bill, get their money and be on their way, without making an emotional contact, this gives you a tremendous competitive advantage!

So the next time you go to the mail box, think about what you are receiving and how you can act upon it and even more importantly, think about the power of writing letters and what it can do for your business.

Your friend in marketing,
Jason Duff
Founder/CEO
COMSTOR Outdoor

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!?

O.K. I get it, you are either a great fan and will respond to me – or you may be like…what’s the big deal?

Having just returned from meetings in Indianapolis this week – I can say with confidence that the city has already started the pre-party. My hotel was just a few blocks from the Super Bowl Village which is an entire City within itself. The area features a 800+ foot zip line, a full schedule of Emmy-Award winning entertainment acts and “fire and ice” lounges that hold enough food to feed an entire army.

It was impressive to see the results of people, passion, and opportunity come together for such a HUGE event!

The reason was I was in Indianapolis this week was not the Super bowl. Actually, it was something much more interesting to me – MARKETING!

I participated in a very special “mastermind” meeting led by one of my mentors. If you haven’t heard of a “mastermind” before, don’t worry. Most people haven’t.

Let me give you the IMPORTANT CLIFF NOTES.

Masterminding is when a group of people get together on a regular basis to share ideas, tools, and high quality advice. And when a mastermind group gets together, they talk about their challenges. Yes, you heard me – CHALLENGES. The things that keep us up at night. These could be business challenges or personal challenges. But the mere idea of getting people together and ‘brainstorming’ can lead to very powerful insights!

The truth is, it can be very difficult to make big changes in your business completely by yourself. TRUST ME I KNOW! But STRENGTH comes by utilizing a collective group of people who share advice, provide ideas, and help provide accountability to achieving goals.

Because this knowledge has been so powerful for me, I wanted to share three easy steps on how you can create your very own personal mastermind group.

3 EASY Steps to Create YOUR Very Own Mastermind Group

1. Sign up for a FREE Conference Call line. Yes, you heard me right – FREE! Free Conference call provides you with a personalized conference number and access code for group calls. Click here to request one

2. Invite 3-4 other people to participate in your group and establish basic ground rules for the goals of each call. The ground rules may consist of highlighting the importance of sharing great advice, maintaining confidentiality and accountability to hitting goals on each call.

3. Schedule a 1-hr call using a date frequency (week/monthly/quarterly) that is good for the entire group that each group member can PROMISE to commit to. The truth is, you have the ability right now to create a WINNING team that not only helps you, but provides you the opportunity to learn and grow together.

Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. – Vince Lombardi

Now stop reading, start doing, and start building YOUR perfect business Super-Bowl team!

P.S. Know someone who may benefit in receiving a FREE COPY of my weekly newsletter? Feel free to hit FORWARD and share with your friends and co-workers! It’s easy to SIGN UP here.

Your friend,
Jason Duff
Founder/CEO
COMSTOR Outdoor

I was doing some math this week and came up with some interesting numbers. If 20 years ago you and I would have had the wisdom to purchase 100 shares of Apple stock, that initial investment today would be worth 4000% more than what we paid for it. 

Sounds like a pretty good return, huh? 

We can’t go back 20 years, but what we can do is learn from Apple and try to replicate the company’s success. I want to share a few quick pointers that Apple has taught me that you can start implementing today. 

Now, don’t worry, I am not going to get all techie about the amazing things that Apple’s products can do. Instead, I want to share with you a few nuggets of wisdom that can take your business to a whole new level. 

Before I do that, I have an important question: Why is that people will stand in line for HOURS, even DAYS to get the newest, greatest Apple product? 

While Apple makes great products, this isn’t the only reason why people will do absolutely crazy things to get their hands on one. 

The truth is Apple creates demand for everything that they do. But how? 

Apple puts the customer first. 

Apple’s goal is creating an unsurpassed user experience. This is their number one priority. Everything else is related to how customers respond to their products. 

Apple doesn’t ship too often. 

Apple updates their products just once a year. They ensure each product launch is thorough and polished to perfection. It means they don’t wear out their audience with lots of noise and chatter about mediocre, minor updates. They make a limited number of products available at each store. They also have a great deal of secrecy about what they are doing and some may argue leak information that creates even more buzz for their products. 

Apple hires great people. 

Have you met any Apple employees? They are very well trained about Apple and its culture of creating a positive user experience from the time you walk into a store until the time you walk out with a hand full of purchases. Also, they have a GENIUS bar full of people who are willing to help answer questions which most customers are too embarrassed or intimidated to ask. And an entire training team to show you the ins and outs of your new gadget. 

Apple under promises and over delivers. 

From beginning to end, the experience of buying and enjoying an Apple device is seamless and delightful. Apple packages their products carefully so even the box and wrapping are a pleasure. 

Every day I am learning from Apple and working to implement these strategies and others into my business. If you’ve yet to learn how COMSTOR Outdoor can help you create interesting, powerful and compelling marketing, click here and tell us where you’d like us to send your FREE billboard marketing-for-success package. 

P.S. Exciting News!!! For those of you who may be looking for high impact marketing in the Lima/Allen County area – I am excited to share that we are building 4 BRAND NEW billboards on US 309 and SR 117. They are located near the Wal-Mart Supercenter, Sam’s Club, and hotels and shopping. Average traffic count is over 20,000 cars per day! If you’d like more information, hit reply now and I’ll get you all the important details. 

Have a great weekend!

Jason Duff 
Founder/CEO 
COMSTOR Outdoor

Yesterday, Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, went dark and staged a blackout.

Yes, one of the most popular sites on the internet turned off their service! In case you didn’t see it, when you visited the website the screen would show the site for just a few seconds and then a large black headline popped up to say, “Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge.”

Google also made a statement and staged their own peaceful protest by placing a large black square over the logo of the web’s most popular search engine. If you put your mouse over the square a statement appeared that read, “Tell Congress: Please don’t censor the web!” If you clicked on that link, you then had the option to get more information and/or contact your representatives to tell them how you feel.

Each of these companies and many more joined in a protest again SOPA (The Stop Online Piracy Act). Click here if you want to learn more about SOPA.

Now, my goal here is not to get into a political discussion or debate, instead I want to give you three powerful marketing lessons that I learned from this week’s events.

Lesson #1: Less is more, be simple with your message. Google and other websites around the Internet found ways to use simple images to block access to their site or restrict access to normal content. When designing everything from brochures to billboards, it is most effective to use as few words or images as possible.

Lesson #2: Create a clear “call to action.” While many people design great advertisements, even some of the best marketing people I know forget to create a clear and simple, “call to action.” What is it that you want your prospect to do in order to learn more or buy your product or service? Ideas include: Contact us, Order now, Share with friends and family, and Sign-up for e-newsletters. If you tell them what you want them to do, you’ll immediately increase your chances of them doing it.

Lesson #3: Encourage others to participate and get involved. Because of the leadership of Google, Wikipedia and others – thousands of sites across the Internet followed their lead and this was because each of them encouraged their tribe to join in. Over 1 million tweets have been created because of this movement. When you launch something, considering teaming up with another organization or company in your area or industry so you can cross promote. For example, this week Bellefontaine’s Peak Performance Entrepreneurship Center teamed up with the restaurant Six Hundred Downtown to achieve a sellout crowd for a successful business workshop. Because of this partnership, both the restaurant and the seminar were extremely successful.

BONUS TIP – Changing up the status quo has a massive payday. Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If you keep doing the same thing with your marketing, you shouldn’t expect any better results and well…you might be INSANE!

The statements that Google, Wikipedia and thousands made this week created shockwaves of buzz, attention and action. With these three simple steps, you can do the same for your business and we can help.

If you are interesting in learning how we can create a POWERFUL, OUTDOOR BILLBOARD design for you, click here now and watch the video on our website and enter your name and email to schedule a strategy call today.

Click here now to watch the video on our website and enter your information to get a FREE BILLBOARD MARKETING SUCCESS KIT!

Have an awesome Friday,

Jason Duff
Founder/CEO
COMSTOR Outdoor

I had a big breakthrough this week that I wanted to share with you.   No, it’s not the fact that it’s snowing outside today which the skier in me is excited about.  The advice that I want to share this week is about the importance of outside perspective.

I recently had lunch with a mentor of mine who has known me since my days of sporting my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle PJ’s – so without taking specific numbers let’s just say for a very long time.

During that lunch conversation she asked me for one of my business cards and as she read it she asked…”so what is Outdoor Media?”  I replied quickly and said – it’s BILLBOARDS!  Those BIG colorful advertising signs on the sides of the road.

“Oh really?” she said.  “I had no idea that Outdoor Media was actually BILLBOARDS!”

Listening to her question and watching her reaction was a BIG Aha! moment because I recognized my mistake of assuming that my friends, family and network know exactly what I do.

I thanked my friend for the feedback and shared with her that I was going to seek more outside perspectives about how I can be clearer about my business and its services.

So, my question to you is: how are you going about getting outside perspective for your marketing and your brand?

She went on to confess that she’d been interested in getting a billboard for some time, but that she’d always assumed that they were too expensive.

Right then, I shared with her our prices.  A billboard was actually the most affordable option out of the three marketing mediums that she was considering.

I thought to myself – this is a huge opportunity for me to re-evaluate what I have written on my business cards, website, e-mail footer and correspondence with others so it is PERFECTLY clear on what we can do to help our clients be successful.

So, to clear things up – we create amazing marketing using outdoor billboards.  We have 400+ great billboard sign locations in Ohio and Indiana.  BIG LEAGUE Marketing on a Small Town Budget.

We design FREE samples too.  You pay nothing!  If you’d like some information or think there is something I can do to help your business, hit me up by replying to this e-mail.

If not, keep up the great work with your business and have an awesome weekend!

Your friend,

Jason Duff
Founder/CEO
COMSTOR Outdoor

I hope that you had a great New Year’s! Welcome back to reality. It’s been a little hard for me to adjust as I just returned from a week off spending time with my 78-year-old grandparents.

They have been roughing it out living at Siesta Key. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Siesta Key was recently voted the Best Beach in America. Not only is it one of the most beautiful places on the planet, the weather isn’t too bad either. Warm sun, beautiful beaches and delicious seafood.

My grandparents are in their seventies, but you would never know it because they look and ACT 20 years younger! I’ve always wondered – “what’s their secret?”

The truth is, they didn’t always have the lifestyle that they enjoy today. In fact, my grandmother often shares stories of what it was like for her and my grandfather to wash and make their own clothes and even save money by using newspaper as toilet paper – OUCH! It was difficult to be able to save, but she shared one key ingredient for success – WILLINGNESS TO EMBRACE CHANGE.

My grandmother still lives that philosophy. She has an iPad, she Skypes, and even posts updates on Facebook. She’d tell you that many of her friends make fun of her, but the truth is…she doesn’t care. She loves her connectivity and wouldn’t live any other way.

This got me thinking. Life is always in a constant state of change. What am I doing to embrace it?

There is great change happening in the field of marketing. The same old techniques don’t work any longer…yet THOUSANDS of business owners still pay big money in doing the same old things. So, here’s my question: What are you doing to re-energize your business? How are people learning, reading and seeing you? If you don’t readily have answers to these questions, it’s O.K. today…but I encourage you to take some time to think about it.

…AND feel free to let me know if there is anything I can do to help you during this process.

Best wishes and happy marketing,

Jason Duff
Founder/CEO
COMSTOR Outdoor

P.S. Check out the cool video below sharing some big things that we are working on in 2012! If you like movie trailers, you will love this video. Because you are a valued subscriber to my list, you will be the first to take advantage of new services that we are launching. If you can’t wait and want to have a conversation about a need you have right now…it’s O.K. you can e-mail me and I will do everything I can to help. Watch Video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD0ePMlWNrM