I’m sure you’ve heard the adage “those who can’t , teach.” I hear it often…but that’s because I’m a professor and every so often, a feisty undergrad will quote this to me with a smug look on his or her face. Yes, I remember that at grading time. But I digress.

I worked in the advertising industry for over a dozen years, and while there are many areas that I feel completely comfortable teaching, I have to admit talking about word of mouth and social media occasionally makes me anxious. I read and write about both WOM and social media, I’ve conducted studies, and I’ve interviewed dozens of businesses that are successful practitioners of both WOM and social media.

This summer, though, I had an opportunity to develop a strategic word of mouth and social media campaign. In a matter of hours, I turned the corner from Monday morning quarterback to being in the new media trenches.

My friend and colleague, Lauren Kessler, published a terrific new book this August (it’s called My Teenage Werewolf, where she embeds in the life of an average American middle schooler—her daughter Lizzie. The book is “hilarious and insightful’ according to several reviewers, including me.). Lauren took me out for coffee one afternoon to ‘pick m brain’ over a campaign for her book. I offered to find her an intern, and I thought that, along with a little oversight, would be my involvement with the project.

But when the intern bailed and the publication date approached, Lauren and I found ourselves working together to create buzz for the book. She is fortunate to have a publisher that set up some interviews and sent the book out to some major reviewers, but they didn’t do a lot of personal outreach to start word of mouth.. And that’s where I came in.

Here is what I learned:

1. Know your product and the product’s audience.
Lauren’s book was a journalistic observation of her daughter’s life…so it crosses a line between reportage and memoir. I spent two days devouring the book, and thinking about who I thought would read it. Some parts were laugh out loud funny, some parts heartbreaking, and the parts where Lauren wove in some of the expert thinking on brain development and the differences between teen girls and teen boys was astonishing.

So who is the audience for this book? We both knew it would be Moms: moms of teens, moms of almost-teens, moms who had grown up daughters who would appreciate the ‘look back’. We knew the moms had to like to read, who weren’t opposed to reading literary nonfiction, and who had active desires to better understand parenting. With this in mind, we could find much more focused places to promote the book. Which leads to the new insight

2. Dig deep to find the niches.
Armed with knowledge about the potential consumer, we sought out book clubs and ‘mommy bloggers’ that might be interested in the book. We were surprised to find that many book clubs had strict guidelines: fiction only, business books for and about women, etc. We avoided those. We also avoided mommy bloggers who focused on infants and pre-school kids.

For the rest, we contacted individuals to tell them about the book and point them to the web site so they could learn more. It took a few days of trying several dozen keyword searches on Google to unearth the best prospects, but it appears like this is worth it: positive feedback is coming from many different places.

3. Old media planning concepts don’t die.
I was trained as a media planner, and these skills helped me assess some of the possibilities that are out there. Take, for example, bloggers. Some bloggers just want a copy of the book, some want us to place ads on the blogs, some want 50 copies of the book in order to have an online book club. Every book, like every ad, has a cost associated with it, and publishers these days aren’t willing to mail out free copies to just anyone.

Many bloggers toot their high page views, but it is important to assess unique page views to get some idea of monthly reach and frequency. My own benchmark is even if a site gets 100,000 page views a month, it ought to get at least 10,000 unique views in order to be worthwhile. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by those big page view numbers. Dig a bit deeper into the data.

4. The personal touch can work.
I sent personal messages to bloggers and book club organizers inviting them to learn more about the book at the book website. I told them where I found their contact information, and addressed them by name where possible. In addition, Lauren also offers to visit with book clubs, either in person locally or via skype or the phone.

Her generosity sets her apart from the mass mailings of publishers. As a result, we’ve had several book club organizers request more information, and we think a few will even interview Lauren for their blogs. It takes effort to connect at a personal level, but it can make all the difference.

These were our first steps. In our next post, I’ll share more information with you and let you know our results.

- Kim

©2010All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

In the spirit of full disclosure you should know that I like to goof off – to take vacations as often as I can and skip work which is exactly what I was doing two weeks ago with my wife – cycling the San Juan Islands, off the coast of Washington. We spent our second night at the delightful Kingfish Inn on Orcas Island.

Our room had a perfect view of the bay and the Olympic Mountains along with a porch to sit and admire the view from. The room was spacious, the bed comfortable and the towels big and fluffy. And all we had to do for dinner was stumble downstairs to the packed restaurant where the food was excellent – especially the peach blueberry cobbler.

The friendly owners Lori and Bob seemed to have it all too. Their inn was busy and their restaurant was selling out most nights of the week – and they lived in one of the most beautiful spots I’ve been to. It all sounded wonderful until…

…they started telling us about their work schedule.

Bob was at the restaurant by 7:30am in the morning, cooking breakfast for the guests and prepping for the evening meals. Then late in the afternoon, just as he was finishing up, his wife Lori would arrive to take over with managing dinner at the restaurant.

Most days they hardly saw each other except for those where Bob worked from 7:30am until 10:30pm.

Bob and Lori were living in paradise but with little time to enjoy it and despite having built up a successful business in a few short years, were trying to sell it and move.

What went wrong?

On the face of it, Bob and Lori were doing everything right. They’d picked a great location, paid attention to all the details, were focused on their customers – and always willing to put in whatever hours it took to make it work – and in doing so had become slaves to their business.

Are you a slave to your business too?

Almost every entrepreneur and small business owner I know makes the same mistake. When in doubt, they work harder putting in endless hours so that while their business may be successful, they don’t have time to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

How about you? Is your goal to work harder, put in more hours and have little time to enjoy family or friends or…

…is it to do the opposite?

Instead of working harder, wouldn’t you like to work smarter, to manage your business so that you could quit at 4pm every day. Or take weeks off at a time to take vacations with your family and friends?

Discover how to work less, and make more >>

One last tip.

If you’re a control freak with your business – welcome to the crowd. Most entrepreneurs and small business owners are too. According to Bob’s wife Lori – he even insists on making his own applesauce when he bakes applesauce cake.

Paying attention to the details is important – but more important is setting up systems so others can do it for you even if it’s finding someone else to make applesauce that meets your standards.

Find out how to get your business and your life under control >>

- Charlie

P.S. Kingfish or bottomfish – which are you? More importantly which do you want to be?

Discover how to make your business work for you instead of the other way around. Get started >>

©2010All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

If you want your website to rank high on major search engines such as Google, your best shot is to develop a list of targeted keywords and then build specific webpages with content focusing on these keywords.  SEO tip: it is done best before the webpage is built; first you develop the seo strategy then implement by developing a targeted webpage focused on your targeted keywords.

Step 1 – Keyword Research
Develop a targeted keyword list.  Once you develop your targeted keyword list you need to use a keyword research tool to research the terms in your list that are being searched and will also give you other suggestions of keywords that you may want to target.  There are plenty of free tools available, just do a search on any major search engine for keyword research tool.

Step 2 – Content Development
Build individual webpages that target the better performing keywords on your list.  The content of the webpage should target the keyword phrase you chosen for that webpage, mentioned three to five times within the page copy.  It is also very beneficial to title the page using your chosen keyword phrase inside of a H1 style tag.

This will tell Google and the other major search engines that the chosen keyword phrase is what the webpage is focused.

Your Meta content which includes your Meta title, Meta description and Meta keywords should focus on the targeted keyword phrase.  Your Meta title and Meta description is what will appear on the search results page.  Both needs to include your targeted keyword phrase.

It is usually best to mention your targeted keyword or keyword phrase twice in your Meta title.  For example “Philadelphia Bankruptcy Lawyer – Bankruptcy Lawyer in Philadelphia”.

Step 3 – Linking
In order to maximize your chances of receiving high search engine rankings for the targeted keyword phrases you have chosen to target, you need to have both internal links pointing to this page and external links pointing to this Webpage.  The internal link should come from your homepage and any other page that Google has indexed.

The name of the link should be the targeted keyword phrase if possible, such as “Bankruptcy Lawyer”.

It will be very beneficial to gain external links pointing to the specific webpage that you are targeting.  This is referred to as deep linking.  You can submit this deep link to some directories that allow deep linking.  Some directories only allow you to link to your homepage or will charge a fee for a deep link.  It may be worth $5 for this deep link.

SEO tip: Make sure that the name of the link is descriptive and uses your targeted keyword phrase; “Bankruptcy Lawyer in Philadelphia”.

You also need to develop external content in the form of articles and press releases.  Write value added articles focusing on the keyword phrases that you are targeting.  These articles should not promote your business or Website or the article directory will not accept the article.  It is very important to write an article that brings value to the person reading it.

You can add some direct deep links within the article pointing to your targeted webpage.  It is important that the link names are keyword driven.  If you are writing an article on bankruptcy law, you can add a link within the article to your webpage using a keyword phrases such as “bankruptcy law” or “bankruptcy lawyer”.

Each article directory has its own rules when it comes to how many links you can add to an article.  Some allow zero link backs, while other article directories will allow three or more link backs.  All article directories will allow you to link to your webpage from a resource area below the content of the article.  Make sure the link name is keyword driven “Philadelphia Bankruptcy Lawyer”.

It is typically free to submit your article to article hubs. Do a search for top article hubs or top article directories to find a list to submit your articles.

It is also very beneficial to write a press release focusing on the keyword phrases you are targeting.  You will need to hire a company to send out your press release to the appropriate News Websites such as Yahoo and Google news.  There will be a fee for this service which varies greatly between press release submission services, depending on many variables.  You should research your choices and go with what will work best for your business.

- Jason

©2010All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

Customer surveys are useful for gathering all kinds of marketing data, and when they’re completed they make great bird cage liners.

Oh, did you want your customer survey to provide you with useful data?  Forget it… that’s not what they’re good for.  Unless you mail a bajillion of them survey results are unreliable. What?  Hell yes! Bajillion is a number – ask my 6 year old daughter.

Most customer satisfaction surveys don’t work because the surveys aren’t designed well.  Survey Information requested is too much, too personal, or just plain unnecessary. The satisfaction survey winds up being 8 pages long and only 1 person in 10,000 fills it out correctly and sends it in.  Problem is: you never know which one.

Solution: Use the “Hidden-objective” survey technique.
You may never have heard of this style of survey because… I just made it up.  Well, I created it several years ago for a client who used it and then went on to become a billionaire — I think it was because I designed his survey so well — and now he’s left me in the dust to continue to drive my 10 year old mini van, but that’s another story I won’t go into now.  This is the first time I’m writing about it, though.

Whether it’s an web survey, employee survey or just a marketing survey for your own customers, in the hidden-objective survey we may – or may not – base the success of our survey around the answers.  Actually, answering survey questions may not be our objective. Our objective may be to use this format of a survey tool to inform customers, or advertise a new product. Now that I’ve cleared that up, let’s get back to watching TV.  Oh, sorry, sometimes my ADD gets way ahead of me.

OK, let’s move on and pretend I’m working, as my wife is watching and I can’t go to “those” websites any more, or at least not right now.  Let’s see… oh yea… customer satisfaction surveys.

Another one of my favorite survey research techniques is the “Key-Question” survey. This is where we hide one or two impotent questions, sorry, Fraudian slip.  Oops.  Another Freudian slip.  So — most survey questions are fluffy and don’t matter, but one or two are the specific hidden key-questions of the whole shebang that make the customer survey relevant.  Confused?  Let me explain while my wife is hanging around pretending to not watch what I’m doing.

The Hidden-Objective Satisfaction Survey

Our hidden objective may be “to inform readers about a new product or offering,” or “bring an advertising message to prospects and clientele.”  In other words, it’s a slick piece of advertising, designed to look like a satisfaction survey.  Ever consider that?  No, most people don’t.  That’s why I get the big bucks.  Or I may any day now.

My own hidden-objective as a direct marketer is usually to generate a phone call or have people raise their hands and ask us to call them.  “Furgetabout survey shmurvey,” my NJ clients say, “If the phone don’t ring… you get axed.”  I grew up on the streets and this has real meaning.  We send something in the mail, the phone bedder ring.  He really meant “axed.”

Suppose, for example, you’d like to introduce a new product to the insurance industry, your new LTCI that now includes coverage for massage therapy.  Yes, grand papa would love that therapy, at say, a local massage parlor. Hey – it’s close by and it says “Massage” right there on the door.

So in the nice cover letter you send with the customer satisfaction survey – and you know me, everything is sent with a nice cover letter – you ask the reader for a quiet moment to take your quick 5-question market research survey.  No one minds a “quick 5-question survey.”

To increase participation you could enclose a crisp dollar bill for taking the survey, but it would be much better if you sent that money to me.  To increase response tell the reader you’ll let them know what the survey results are.  Viola – instant permission to call, fulfilling our objective.

“Did you know the Jeff Dobkin agency offers long term care including paid coverage for massage for your loved ones?”

[ ] Yes     [ ] No    [ ] Please call

“Do you think your grand father would like a nice soothing all over body massage?”

[ ] Yes     [ ] No    [ ] TMI* (*Too Much Information)

OK, I my have been a little over the top here, but we’re all adults here aren’t we?  Ha. You didn’t think that last question was part of the survey but it was.  Fill out the rest  of the questions and I’ll send you a dollar.  And the results.  Just send it in with a $10 processing fee…

Here you can see we don’t really want an answer to these questions – that would be too much information (TMI) about grand papa.  We just want to inform clients of this new product and service that we offer, and we do it in the form of a customer satisfaction survey. Market research surveys get high readership.  Clever, huh?

The “Actionable Key-Question” Survey

We continue our survey questionnaire, and turn it into an actionable key-question survey:

“Have you planned for good care of your grandfather in his later years?”

[ ] Yes     [ ] No    [ ] Don’t know

“Are you worried about your grand parents care as they get older?”

[ ] Yes     [ ] No    [ ] Please call

Key Question Customer Survey Tip: You can see we are now asking a key question that if clients answer in a certain way we can take action.

The rest of the survey questions?  Who cares?  It may not matter, because if this question is checked “yes” or “please call” it worked!  We fulfilled our hidden objective – remember that from a few paragraphs ago – by generating a lead: a customer asked us to call.  We call them – which makes this survey 100% successful.

But since I have one question left, I’ll ask:

“How long has it been since you have had your insurance policies reviewed?”

[ ] One year [ ] three years  [ ] don’t remember

This seemingly innocent question is really a Super Actionable Key-Question – and kind’a gives us a “reason to call” if ANY of the boxes are checked. Doesn’t it?  If this was my survey I’d toss in a few more innocuous throw-away survey questions just to make it look more legit.

So, if you’re designing a customer satisfaction survey, even an online survey, first decide on the objective; then design the survey to fulfill the objective.

If the objective is to call or be called, insert just one or maybe two relevant “key questions” that you can act on.  Make the rest of the survey questions easy.  OK, I gotta go… I have some stuff to do on the Internet – my wife just left to go food shopping for the week at the 7-11 and she’ll be back in 20 minutes…

- Jeffrey

©2010All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

I was sitting in my client’s office last week listening to him describe all the creative and costly ways he finds new customers, then lament his failure to retain those customers.

Later, as I drove away from his office, my mind drifted back 20 years to a fishing trip and the marketing lesson I learned while on it.

It was the summer of my junior year in college. I was working as a bartender on an island dotted with hundreds of fishing ponds. One day, a friend asked me to go fishing with him. Always game for a new adventure, I agreed.

After work I found him busily preparing for our fishing adventure. I was amazed at all this entailed.  He gathered, prepared and organized rods, lures, lines, tackle, worms, nets, knives and refreshments. Then he loaded his truck, hooked up the rowboat and drove to the pond. This all took about 3 hours and we hadn’t even cast our first line.

Then it happened! After 45 minutes, he felt a tug on his line and said, “Oh, I got a big one.” With great finesse and patience he reeled the fish in, lifted it out of the water and set it carefully in the boat and said to the fish, “Hey, George!”

“You know this fish?” I asked.

While he removed the hook he replied, “Oh, yeah. I’ve caught George many times before.”

I was stunned by his words, but even more so, by what he did next. He threw the fish back in.

“What are you doing?” I whined, “You worked so hard to catch him!”

He replied, “It’s called ‘Catch and Release’. I’m just fishing for fun.”

And now 20 years later I think of that fishing trip whenever I discover a business owner who has a great marketing plan but no customer retention plan. I call it Catch and Release Marketing. Are you just marketing for fun?

- Colleen

©2010All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

Although each set of business negotiations is unique, there are a number of themes that are common to all kinds of negotiation. One of these is that negotiations are like a game.

For example, to engage in negotiations requires at least two players. There are set rules and ritual moves and maneuevers. At any one time, one side or another may be in the lead. And, like a game, people come away having won or lost even if they are ready to engage again the next time round. Here are 10 rules of negotiation based on a coaching handbook for squash.

Rule 1: Get Match Fit

Get fit for negotiations by practicing in everyday situations, from buying a car to ordering a meal.

Rule 2: Be the Server

In squash, the server has the advantage of deciding how the point is played. Seize the advantage in negotiations by always making the first moves.

Rule 3: Follow the Ball, not the Player

In negotiations, stick to the issues. Don’t get distracted by the personalities of the other side.

Rule 4: Move Quickly to the T

The T is the centre of the squash court. Whoever occupies it commands the play. In negotiations, the T is where you need to be when you set the agenda, command the pace, and determine each move.

Rule 5: Have a Range of Shots

The best squash players are those with the widest range of shots. Likewise, be a negotiator with the best arguments, gambits, and tactics.

Rule 6: Anticipate where the ball will go

Think ahead. When you make a proposal or respond to one, think ahead to where it takes you.

Rule 7: Stay in Crouch

The “crouch” position in squash is the ready position. The equivalent position in negotiations is the ìtoughî position. Being tough means focusing on your aims and the aims of your side.

Rule 8: Stay Alert

After a good shot, youíre at your most vulnerable. Donít listen to the crowdís cheers and bask in the glory. Stay alert.

Rule 9: Have a Reason for Every Shot

Like each shot in squash, think through every move you make in negotiations.

Rule 10: Don’t Relax until the Final Whistle

Remember, the game isn’t over until its over. The other side are often at their most deadly when they sense the end is near. Strengthen your resolve on every point whether itís the first or the last.

Follow these 10 points and you’ll always be able to control what happens in your business negotiations.

You’re also likely to win at squash too.

- Eric

©2010All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

If you’ve been receiving my posts for even a little while, I’m sure you’ve come to view me as a serious, thoughtful, dare I say… highbrow kind of person.

And while I appreciate your kind words (thank you), it will probably come as a shock when I reveal the following: When the Sunday newspaper arrives each week, the first section I read is the comics. In fact, and as long as we’re telling tales today, I should mention that there are weeks where the only section I read is the comics.

But wait, it gets worse. Because in recent months, it appears I’ve managed to corrupt my son, Evan. Now, he too is following in my intellectually curious footsteps by doing the same. Take a minute, I know it’s depressing.

And yet, there is one, small, silver lining within this storm cloud of 21st century unlearnedness… it gives Evan and me an excuse to have an in-depth conversation every Sunday morning.

Here, for example, is an excerpt from a recent father-son bonding interaction…

Me: “You know Evan, Monty was hysterical today, but I thought Doonesbury was way off. And as usual, I don’t have the slightest idea what Zippy the Pinhead was getting at.”

Evan: “Yeah, whatever Dad. See you later.”

Granted, some father-son conversations are more in-depth than others, but I think you get the idea.

In the course of our research, Evan and I have also uncovered one critical fact: The comics that they publish in the summer are decidedly less funny than those during the rest of the year.

Indeed, it’s as if the comic writers and newspaper editors of America have colluded to deliberately publish the weakest strips during the summer months, when fewer people are reading. Never mind WMDs, my friend – this is what I call a conspiracy.

And yet, my own comic paranoia aside, it does actually make some sense in the comic strip world. After all, why use your best stuff when people are less likely to read it? Why not just wait for them to return in September, and in the meantime, coast along with the near-reject material?

I mention this today, not because I’m using my own near-reject material in the summer, but to warn you away from applying this same logic to your E-Newsletter.

Because while it may work just fine in the world of print newspapers, it’s got one BIG problem here in e-mail marketing land: You’re always just one click away from a reader opting out… forever.

Here’s what I mean…

If you don’t like the comics in today’s newspaper, you don’t cancel your subscription. And even if today’s poor showing causes you to turn the page with a negative opinion of a particular strip, well, it will be right there next week and the week after that to possibly catch your eye again.

With e-mail, it’s one strike and you’re out. All a reader need do is click the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of the message and she’s off your list for good (assuming you’re a responsible e-mail marketer). In practice, that means you can never afford to sit back and publish a “throwaway newsletter.”

Some data for those of you less comically inclined: Every time I publish this newsletter, some (apparently insane) readers opt out. The last five newsletters had opt out rates of:

0.201%
0.248%
0.264%
0.204%
0.242%

Compare this to what happened last week. I sent an announcement to all of you regarding Blue Penguin’s upcoming birthday party. This e-mail, by contrast, had an opt out rate of .355%. Quite a bit higher.

Why the difference? There’s no telling for sure, but I’m guessing the extra opt outs were made up of people who didn’t realize that the invitation was from me (since it looked different from the newsletter); people who consider a birthday party event off target when what they signed up for was an “E-Newsletter on E-Newsletters;” people who hate ice cream; and other reasons I’m not even aware of.

The point is, every E-Newsletter you send carries with it the risk that someone will see something they don’t like, and opt out. Remember, some number of your readers are always near the edge – as e-mail marketers we literally hang by a single thread with every mailing.

Bottom line: The greatest number of opt outs will always occur (ironically) in response to your newsletter’s arrival; it’s the arrival that prompts action.

When you bring inferior content during the summer – whether that’s “no newsletter this month, have a great summer” empty messages, thrown together topics, or (worst of all) “reruns” of past newsletters – you increase the likelihood that more readers than usual will leave.

So you’ve got two content options during the summer. Either don’t publish at all (not a great choice, but at least one which causes minimal damage) or continue to give readers the best you’ve got, issue after issue after issue.

- Michael

©2010All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

I continue to talk with a number of small business owners who still think that if they just hunker down and just hang on a little longer that the economy will return to normal.

That is not going to happen.

As Thomas Friedman says in his book “The World is Flat,” the transition that the US is going through will be painful for many large and small businesses. The key is to take advantage of this transition and rethink your business so that it is positioned to take advantage of this changing economy. But, that will require changing the way they do things, and that is uncomfortable.

Many small business owners and managers prefer comfortable problems vs. uncomfortable solutions. They are willing to live with the problems they have rather than try to re-think how they will change and adapt that business.

In other words they just want to keep on doing things exactly the way they were doing them and expect things to get better. The old saying “if you keep on doing what you’ve always done – you’ll keep on getting what you always got” is no longer valid. The new saying is “if you keep on doing what you’ve always done – you will get less!”

One way to begin rethinking your small business is to hold a retreat with all employees and managers.

The purpose of this retreat is to put together a new plan and prepare to implement that plan.

So how do we change our small business paradigms? Paradigms are common. Every business owner or small business manager has a set of business paradigms that govern the way they think and act towards the situations they find themselves in. Paradigms are functional. They help us distinguish what is important and what is not.

Have you ever heard the saying “I’ll believe it when I see it?” Well, the paradigm effect reverses the common sense relationship between seeing and believing. Another words, our paradigms can cause us to “only see what we believe,” as a result, we are unable to clearly see the situation as it really is, but only as we perceive it to be.

We must remember that there are several different ways we can tackle a business problem. We must be careful not to let our paradigm become “the paradigm” or the only way to do something. Paradigms, too strongly held, can lead to paradigm paralysis, a terminal disease of certainty.

It is best to remain flexible in turbulent times and keep what author Joel Barker calls “paradigm pliancy“. Try using these action oriented questions to help you change your business paradigms and develop successful solutions to your business problems.

1. What is a business challenge you are currently facing in your business?

2. How could changing your business paradigm or your problem solving approach, help you create a profitable solution?

3. What new problem solving approach could you try?

4. Who else in your organization needs to be involved?

5. When will you begin tackling this challenge?

- Tom

©2010All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

When I’ve written about the 80/20 Rules I was taken to task by several readers who vehemently disagreed with the concept that 80% of one thing comes from only 20% of something else.

One reader we’ll call him John, wrote : “I’ve just read your most recent success newsletter. I must say that I’m appalled that you refer to and believe in the old Pareto law.”

“Did you know that Mr. Pareto lived in the 16th century? Believing in the 80-20 law is like believing that Earth, our planet, is flat.”

“My experience shows that the 80-20 law, or the Pareto law, is unfortunately most managers’ comfort zone. And yours, it seems.”

“If I do 80% of my sales with 20% of my clients, I’m within the accepted parameters, so I’m doing well. Eighty percent of my sales are generated by 20% of my sales force, so we are still okay.”

A second reader, let’s call her Susan, had these comments:

“First of all…there is no 80/20 rule. It’s like saying the moon is made of green cheese.”

“The Pareto Principle… which is where the whole 80/20 thing evolved from… is a statistic derived from a study done in the 1800’s by a guy, named oddly enough… Pareto, when trying to determine the distribution of wealth and land amongst Italians.”

Joseph Juran’s Vital Few vs. Trivial Many
First of all, a few things need to be explained:

The concept behind the 80/20 Rule – also called The Pareto Principle – is that a little bit of one thing generates a great deal of something else.

The Pareto Principle was created by Dr. Joseph M. Juran, a pioneer in the development of quality control programs in the 1920s and 1930s.

Juran observed that quality defects were unequal in their frequency, i.e. when a long list of defects was arranged in the order of frequency, a relative few of the defects accounted for the majority of the defectiveness.

This same phenomenon – which Juran called ‘The Vital Few and Trivial Many’ – also existed with respect to employee absenteeism, causes of accidents, and so on.

Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) an Italian economist who studied the distribution of wealth in Italy, didn’t create this principle, Juran did. He just didn’t choose to name his principle after himself. He chose to name it after Vilfredo Pareto.

A Great Example Of Customer Analyses
Going back to John, he continued with these thoughts:

“We did the following exercises with some of our clients: every client is either A, B or C.

“When you start the process,
* A is all the clients that fall within the famous 20%.
* C is all the clients a firm doesn’t want: the non profitable client that cannot be turned into a profitable one.

The client that is always late paying his bills, the client that buys minimal amount, once a year, the crybaby type of client that uses most of the time of a sales rep as well as one customer service rep, etc. In short, the bad business clients by the company’s standards.

* All the other clients are rated B.

“The sales people then have to review all of these “B” accounts within a given period of time, usually 6 to 12 months. And to develop plans of actions to turn these accounts into either A accounts or into C accounts and eliminate them.

“Leaving a client in the “B” status is not an option.

“The results were flabbergasting: the sales went up like a rocket.”

Confirming the 80/20 Rule
As I read – reread and read again – John’s e-mail I felt that he was in fact confirming – and applying – Juran’s theory, i.e. the 80/20 Rule, of the important few and trivial many.

John’s company identified what his A clients looked like and then decided that they would only focus on those quality clients. They had no interest in any prospect who didn’t measure up.

And as he said:

“The results were flabbergasting: the sales went up like a rocket.”

This is the point I am trying to make: When you’re able to identify the things that work. The things that are getting you great results, do more of them.

And stop doing the things that don’t get you the desired results.

Once you know your priorities and #1 goals and objectives, you’re able to focus your time, effort, energy, resources and money on the things that give you a big return and a huge payoff.

That’s what the 80/20 Rule is all about: Generating LEVERAGE.

* Identify the qualities/characteristics of your best clients and look for more of them.
* Study which of your products are most profitable and sell more of them.
* Review your list of things to-do and only work on the tasks that will have a huge payoff.

The flip side is Negative-Leverage, where a lot of effort generates little or no results. Wasted time! Wasted energy!

Unfortunately, that’s what many of us experience each day. We spend 8, 10 or 12 hours each day doing work, tasks, projects and activities that don’t give us any tangible results. And we wonder why we’re working so hard but not getting ahead in business or in life.

Look For Better Prospects
Apply the 80/20 Rule to your prospecting and your sales will soar.

Use the telephone – and ask better questions – to qualify your prospects and you can spend more time with interested buyers and less time with non-interested tire kickers.

If someone isn’t going to buy, I would much rather be told ‘no’ early in the conversations, than work with him for 30, 60, 90 days – or more – and then be told that they aren’t going to place an order.

- Jeffrey

©2010All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

Ever hit your finger with a hammer when you were hanging a picture on the wall? It hurts! Make this painful mistake once, and you’ll swing more carefully the next time, and try to improve your aim. With practice, you’ll hit the nail on the head and get the job done.

Is your marketing also missing the mark? That will hurt your bottom line. Banging away with the same failing marketing strategy is like hitting your finger over and over, all pain and no gain. Believe it or not, I know many small business owners that do exactly this. 

Ron was one of them. He mailed 5,000 postcards to generate leads for his business. When he only got one response, he tried again, with the same result. 

Ron had a web site that was only bringing in a trickle of leads, so he hired a marketing firm to rewrite and rebuild it at a cost of $40,000. What happened? The new site was even worse than the original one. He stopped getting any leads at all from the web.

Ron was spending more and more and getting fewer and fewer leads and sales. I wish I were making this up, but I’m not. Ron is only one example of many I could tell you about.

Want to avoid making the same marketing mistake?
Use this link to find out how to get results with your small business marketing >>

What was Ron doing wrong?

Ron was missing a lead building marketing strategy, one that converted prospects to clients and instead was focused on the individual marketing tools, postcards, ads, and websites.

A hammer is just a tool and if you don’t know how to aim it you’re going to do damage to your fingers and the wall and maybe even need a bigger picture to cover the hole you’ve made. And, if you’re missing the nail and hitting your fingers, an even bigger sledge hammer isn’t the solution either.

Ads, postcards, websites and any other marketing tool you use only work when you know how to aim them. Ron didn’t have a marketing strategy to help him target his marketing efforts. Worse, the marketing firm he hired took $40,000 of his money and gave him a handful of marketing tools that got even fewer results than the ones he’d had.

If your marketing isn’t generating the results your business needs, the answer isn’t spending more on doing the same thing or just shooting wildly and hoping for the best. That’d be like hammering your fingers again and again.

The answer is finding out what works to get results. To make your marketing bring in more business you need to know the triggers that prompt prospects to respond and the simple steps to take to get them to become buyers.

Have you ever spent money on marketing that didn’t get the results you wanted? Ready to stop wasting your valuable resources and finally find out what works?

Use this link to hit your marketing targets >>

- Charlie

©2010All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..