From the field – Mad Men, Small Biz, Authors, Science and Gurus

Image by Napalm filled tires via Flickr

What is the ONE thing that will increase the chances of healthy sales for a 1st time author?

I have to put in a plug for viral marketing. If done right, it can be a great avenue. This could include many social media channels, such as YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter, etc. I’m a firm believer that viral marketing doesn’t replace traditional marketing methods – but supplements it.

Let me add a couple of stories on Viral Marketing. A musician had his guitar broken by United Airlines. Since he couldn’t get it paid for, he devoted a series of 3 music videos to the event. If you Google “United Breaks Guitars”, the three videos will come up. There’s a Wiki article regarding this at secure.wikimedi…. I especially like the first one at youtube.com/wat….

Here’s an example of a customer I worked with. He had a silent video produced on golfing at youtube.com/wat… and I had a cameo role.

For the record, the most popular YouTube video I encountered is SpongeBob SquarePants in China at youtube.com/wat….

I think this is how they got the word out about the Harry Potter theme park in Florida. While they had a marketing budget and approval to go in any direction – guess what? They leaked the idea to 7 popular bloggers. The source for the blogging story is HubSpot. I think the webinar was entitled “The New Rules of Viral Marketing.”

And don’t forget to investigate the library and college speaker circuit.

Good luck and much success.

To another blogger: How is running a small business like Halloween?

Starting a business is scary. It’s as scary as Halloween. Or me watching all those horror and monster movies on TV, keeping in the spirit of Halloween.

Your post is very good. Get some friends or professional acquaintances to help. In the US, we can also get free counseling from these excellent resources:

1. Small Business Development Center Network – asbdc-us.org….

2. S.C.O.R.E. – score.org/index….

There’s also a free Internet course on small business operations at My Own Business – myownbusiness.o….

None of the resources I mentioned is “for profit”. But they can help you survive and make a profit. Your post does great work in pointing the way.

Say! It’s time to get back to AMC and watch another horror or monster movie.

To another blogger: How Mad Men brings inspiration

I’m happy you chose to mode your blog post around the AMC hit series Mad Men. I have read other blog posts saying the Mad Men approach to advertising won’t work now (i.e. http://is.gd/gA7DD). Don’t know! Yet if people follow the steps you outline – it will.

I do know that Don (i.e. Mad Men) always came up with the big ideas. Maybe it’s due to the factors you suggested. I believe so. I sincerely hope it’s not the 3 martini lunches – nor the string of affairs – portrayed in the show.

I especially like the section on “digging for inspiration”. I believe that this story is attributed to Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins. He was coming up for an idea to pitch for a brewing company. They gave him a tour of their brewery. Claude wanted to show how they brewed their beer. A company spokesperson say everyone brewed the same way. Claude mentioned that nobody showed the process before. He then devised a successful campaign around that process.

I did find an example of a blog post with an opposing viewpoint on Mad Men at blog.hubspot.co… But please note, they didn’t cover the fine points you made.

How a commenter chastised me with a quote from Krishnamurti

Commenter

I thought I’d share a quote with you from U.G. Krishnamurti that pertains to your blog, please don’t take offense. “You assume that there is such a thing as truth, you assume that there is such a thing as reality (ultimate or otherwise) – it is that assumption that is creating the problem, the suffering for you.”

Answer

I’m very familiar with Krishnamurti and I’ve read a bit of his work. You see, I live very close to the national headquarters of the Theosophical Society in America. Theosophists can be a “bit strange” at times. However, I can visit their library, and he is one of their historical stars.

Yet I do have criticisms of Krishnamurti, just as I have of other writers – like Eckhart Tolle. Krishnamurti is just rehashing stuff you find in Gautama Buddha, just as Tolle rehashes stuff you find in Ramana Maharshi. Tolle has one redeeming quality. He has the same name as Eckhart von Hochheim, better known the as Meister Eckhart.

I can’t understand the spiritual. I prefer to stick to logic and science.

You always quote Albert Einstein in your emails. If you follow the logic involved in astrophysics or quantum mechanics, you come to contradictions that would defy any logic.

Can a cat be alive and dead at the same time? secure.wikimedi…
How can we comprehend a universe of many dimensions? secure.wikimedi…

Remember it was Albert’s comprehension of science’s grand mysteries, that brought him to the spiritual.

“God does not play dice with the universe.” – Albert Einstein

What would you do if you won Powerball – would you still write?

Actually, you would do something that ignites daily passion, if you won the lottery. Otherwise, how many cars, vacations, houses, etc., could you really enjoy? You might not write copy. Maybe you would dabble in fiction, non-fiction, article writing, etc. But if you are a writer, you probably continue to write.