Hey There,

Perry Marshall here - you've been on my SmartMarketing newsletter list
for a long time, and I'm just dropping you a line to let you know this
list isn't active anymore.  However... I've got several other lists
that are *very* active, all marketing related.  You can sign up for
any or all:

-9 Great Lies of Sales & Marketing
http://www.perrymarshall.com/9

-Five days to Success with Google Adwords
http://www.perrymarshall.com/google

-Attract More Customers with White Papers
http://www.perrymarshall.com/whitepapers

And as things come up - like teleseminars, or my infamous, occasional
"Late Nite Pajama Jam", you'll get notified of those too.

Enjoy!

Perry Marshall

1508 Ridgeland Avenue | Chicago IL 60402

From: Perry Marshall
March 17, 2003  12:36pm

Good afternoon!

  In a minute I'm going to jump into today's newsletter,
but first a quick reminder:

  At 10am Wednesday I'm doing a 60 minute teleseminar

'Simple Lead Generation Tactics for Busy Sales People'

in which I'll outline a complete lead generation system,
give case studies, and interview Mr. Eric Ruth, an
Inner Circle member who used an inexpensive strategy
to book over $100,000 of business in 90 days.

  You can register at
  http://www.perrymarshall.com/319

  Tuition is $18.95 but there's no charge if you use
this special Priority Registration Code for subscribers:

  4461

  If you registered last week, you will receive
your confirmation email tomorrow.

  OK.  Now, for today's newsletter - Part 2.

  'How To Re-Define What You Sell To Make It
Vastly More Appealing -- Without Changing What You
Deliver At All'

  In coaching sessions with new members,
one of the first things we discover is that what
they *thought* they were selling isn't really what
they're selling at all.

  When you make this 'shift' -- which is usually
pretty simple -- what suddenly happens is that the
response to your website, emails, advertising or
whatever -- suddenly doubles or triples overnight.

  No joke.

  The interesting part is, what you actually
deliver changes little, if at all.  It's really a
matter of tapping an unused asset that previously
lied dormant.

  Find out how people are getting these great results
by clicking here:

http://www.perrymarshall.com/marketing/3-17-2003.htm

  Sincerely,

  Perry Marshall





If you no longer wish to receive communication from us:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/r.asp?ID=8158262&ARID=0

To update your contact information:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/r.asp?c=1&ID=8158262

Earlier today I told you about my teleseminar on March
19, "Simple Lead Generation Tactics for Busy Sales People."

   But I goofed.  I forgot to give you the access code.  With
this code, you can get in free instead of the normal price
of $18.95.  Your Priority Reservation code is:

    4461

and you can sign up at http://www.perrymarshall.com/319

    I look forward to having you on the call!

Sincerely,

Perry Marshall

Good Afternoon!

   Last time I surveyed everyone to see what topics you
are most interested in.  Hundreds of responses came pouring
in from all over the country.

The top two items were:

# 1. Simple lead-generation tactics for busy sales people
-and-
# 6. What to do IF... The company you work for is clueless
about sales/marketing & expects you to work miracles with
both hands tied behind your back

   I got lots of emails on this -- here's a classic example from a
subscriber named Gary:

>> I would appreciate any statistical information on B2B cold calling.
>> The new VP of Sales is a huge advocate of B2B cold calling, he insists it is
>> very effective. He also wants us to call prospective customers who have
>> requested information via email. I'm all for doing anything to increase
>> business I can't find any information to support his approach, the more I
>> research this, the more I am convinced it will be a waste of time.


   See my reply to Gary and the first installment of
"Simple Lead Generation Methods for Busy Sales People - Part 1" at

<a href=" http://www.perrymarshall.com/marketing/3-6-2003.htm ">Click here</a>

   You'll also be able to register there for my free March 19 Teleseminar on
this important topic.

  Visit http://www.perrymarshall.com/marketing/3-6-2003.htm right now!

   Sincerely,

   Perry Marshall

   P.S. This teleseminar is limited to 150 people.  To register for the free
teleseminar, visit http://www.perrymarshall.com/319 right away.

I need your input for newsletter and seminar topics for 2003.

  What marketing, sales and business issues are you
interested in hearing about?  What is the trickiest
problem you're trying to solve right now?

  I'm making plans for my email newsletter, my "Friday
Fax Update" and a series of group teleconferences.  Input
on your specific challenges is extremely important to me.

  Just hit 'reply' and tell me what you'd like to discuss.

  Thanks!

  Perry Marshall

  P.S.  If you haven't been getting my "Friday Fax
Update" and you'd like to receive it, just include your
FAX number in your reply.   If you don't want me to send
any more emails to you, that's fine too.  Just let me know.
Thanks!

Dear Subscribers,

    This is Perry Marshall, and today's newsletter
highlights the single most important key to
transforming unpleasant manual labor, grunt-work
selling to "Marketing on Autopilot."

    Marketing on Autopilot means your marketing
system does the grunt work instead of you.

    The secret to Marketing on Autopilot can be
summed up in three words:

    *PUBLISH OR PERISH.*

    Or to put it another way, until your sales story
is written down, you tell it and over and over
again -- and most of the time, you tell it to people
who aren't really worth your time in the first place.

    Marketing on Autopilot requires that your sales
message be written down (or on tape - or video -
anything that can do your work without you
being there.).

    Ideally, not just part of it, but ALL of it.

    Stay with me here... this can be a whole lot easier than
it sounds.

    Almost 2 years ago, I was a *very busy* National
Sales Manager at a small company.  I made a list of
the most common questions that customers asked
every day and turned them into a series of three magazine
articles.

    Most of that stuff had never been written down before.

    And yes, it did take extra time, and I had to do most
of this during the evenings and the weekends.

    But those articles are STILL producing sales leads.
Plus, I recycled that information so our website would
do more work for me and I could spend less time working
the phones.

    Did I forget to mention that becoming a published author made
me a quasi "celebrity" in my industry and opened many MORE
doors?

    It was WELL WORTH the trouble.

    OK... I know what you're thinking right now:

    "That all sounds really great, but I'm not a writer."

    I have a friend in Toronto named Steve Manning who
teaches a crash course on "How To Write a Book on Anything
in 2 Weeks or Less, Guaranteed."

    Steve's not joking about the "2 weeks" part.  And what's
more, Steve's methods are not for "writers," they're for everyday
professionals who recogize the truth of "Publish or Perish"
but don't know how to move past Square One.

    Steve has mastered the science of "speed writing"
and after just listening to ONE of Steve's tapes, I
discovered a cool shortcut that DOUBLED my writing speed.

    That was three years ago, and I now use Steve's methods
every single day.  This year I published about 1,000 pages
of material, including two books -- in the midst of running
a consulting business, dealing with three small children,
and chasing my wife around the house.

    Click here and discover how to get your stuff written fast
so your website, advertising and marketing do your
work for you while you're on the beach, at the golf course,
or smooching with your honey under the mistletoe:

http://www.HyperTracker.com/go/perrymarshall/writeabook/

    Have yourself a great Christmas season!

    Sincerely,

    Perry Marshall

    P.S.:  I'm getting rave reviews on my "Nine Great Lies
of Sales & Marketing" email course.  WARNING: This is
very "Politically Incorrect" and you may find parts of
it offensive.  However, it does tell the naked, unvarnished,
liberating truth about sales and marketing.  Click here:

http://www.perrymarshall.com/marketing/9lies2.htm


Perry S. Marshall & Associates |  www.perrymarshall.com
+1(708)788-4461 | Fax (708)788-4599

To remove yourself from this list, send a blank
email with "remove" in the subject line.

Dear Subscribers,

   This is Perry Marshall, and I'm sending you this message
to let you know I've written a nine day email mini-course
called "The Nine Great Lies of Sales and Marketing."

   You can opt-in to receive it for no cost by sending
a blank email to:

perry1-27567@...

   And you'll receive one installment each day.

   It's about all the dangerous, insidious half-truths
that immobilized my sales career for years.

   The thing that's so dangerous about them is that
they all seem "obvious" and so TRUE on the surface!

   That's why I believed them so long.  But in reality,
they were like parasites, quietly sapping my productivity
and robbing me of income, energy and satisfaction every
single day.

   So what are the nine lies?

   You'll have to sign up to find out.

   Just send a blank email to:

perry1-27567@...

and you'll receive the first installment starting
today.

   You can remove yourself from the list any
time you want.  But don't worry - no junk e-mail,
just the nine lies course.

   Enjoy!

   Sincerely,

   Perry Marshall

Was there a dry eye anywhere on the Eleventh of September
last year?

   I remember calling Laura from work: "Ummm... have you heard
anything unusual this morning? Why don't you put the kids in
another room and turn on the TV?"

   It was a day that broke the heart of America. Indelible images
of towers crumbling in slow motion. Dreams swept away in ashen
clouds of gray. Endless loops of somber imagery streaming through
the airwaves as a new reality sinks in.

   20 years ago, these words were written of war torn Belfast Ireland,
describing courage in the face of adversity:

   There has to be an invisible sun
   Gives its heat to everyone
   There has to be an invisible sun
   Gives us hope when the whole day's done

   Autumn sorrow gave birth to a new spirit of unity in America.
Who would have thought that high school students across the
country with bare midriffs and baggy pants would pledge
allegiance at candlelight vigils? Who would have predicted that
"God Bless America" would be the watchword of our day?

   I believe in miracles. I believe in guardian angels. If you
don't, I'm not offended. But doesn't it seem like there was a
lot of both that day?

   Personal accounts told to me: A pregnant NYC advertising
executive calls in sick that day - for the first time in seven
years.

   Newlyweds booked on that ill-fated flight from Newark to
San Francisco, bumped to an identical flight: Same
destination. Same departure time. Different airline. They
witnessed the flaming tragedy through their airplane
window as they flew by.

   The coincidences are so profound that what you believe
about this really says more about your own belief system
than it says about the facts at hand.

   Where was God when New York was burning? He was
helping thousands of people somehow, inexplicably, show
up late for work on a Tuesday morning. He was placing
sentries who calmly directed secretaries and executives
alike to safety. Though He'd been summarily dismissed
from our schools, businesses and even churches, He still
showed up for work that day.

   We lost 2819, not 28000. That's miracle in my book.

   And last December when I wrote our family's Christmas
letter, I couldn't think of a better metaphor for the Christmas
story: New York firefighter charges up a smoke filled stairwell,
knowing he'll never come down. God's Son comes to shoulder
the sorrows of the world, knowing His life will end in bitter
suffering and cruel death.

   Duty calls. Both entrust themselves to God's severe
mercy. "Not my will, but Thine be done."

   One of the things I remember most was the condolences
and comforting words we personally received from friends all
over the world - Germany, Sweden, Australia, Japan, Brazil...
One of my brother's friends in China even cut her hair short as
a sign of mourning.

   And most of all, our good neighbours in Canada.  Most of us
Americans weren't even aware - but nearly every car, home and
apartment balcony in Canada had an American Flag waving proudly.

   Thank you so much.

   Tragedy reminds us how short life is, and how precious our
freedom is.  What could more appropriate than for frenetic
business people to pause and be reminded that we only get
one shot at this fragile thing called life?

   Tonight across our country there will be thousands of
memorial services, both small and large.  Won't you take the time
away from your busy schedule and attend one?  I'll be joining
you as we remember and pray for our nation.

   Sincerely,

   Perry S. Marshall


Feel free to forward this to a friend.  To add or remove yourself
from this list, email news@....

Hi Everyone,

It's Perry Marshall again with a courtesy reminder
that the LIVE! 1-hour teleseminar I told you about
yesterday is scheduled at 8pm Eastern (5pm Pacific)
today, Thursday, September 5.

If you want to learn the time-tested principles to
streamline complex and high-dollar sales both
on- and off-line ...

If you want to uncover more ways to generate
more qualified leads for corporate purchases...

Then you'll want to listen to what Alex Mandossian
has to say this evening.  Tuition is $39, but you
get to attend free as my guest if you use the
Priority Reservation Code I've listed below.

Your Priorty Reservation Code: AM-3964

To register, please use your Priority Reservation
Code at the following Website to sign up now:

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=18803

This exclusive teleseminar is limited to only
150 registrants, so it makes sense to go there
and register now.  (Sorry, no exceptions)

See you then!

Perry Marshall - President
Perry S. Marshall & Associates
(708) 788-4461

Hello Subscribers,

It's me, Perry Marshall.  I'm writing to alert
you about an important teleseminar scheduled for
this Thursday, September, 5th at 5pm PDT (8pm EDT)

I will be interviewing a colleague of mine
who is acknowledged as the one of the top Web
traffic conversion strategists in the world. He
has personally taught me how to convert more
prospects into customers ... even when I was
on a tight eMarketing budget :-)

His name is Alex Mandossian, and I'm interviewing
him for 1-hour LIVE! to reveal his "Tested Principles
Of Web Traffic Conversion."

I hope you can make it, Subscribers, because ...

Although the cost of the teleseminar is $39.00,
I've made special arrangements with Alex to allow
my personal guests to attend at zero cost!

But you must use the Priority Reservation Code
shown below to get the $39.00 waived. Here it is:

Your Priority Reservation Code: AM-3964

This exclusive traffic conversion teleseminar
is limited to only 150 registrants ... taken
on a first-come, first-served basis.

(Sorry, no exceptions.)

Use your personal Priority Reservation Code
after you click the link shown below:


http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=18803


Call me if you have any challenges with the
registration process, okay?

See you then,

Perry Marshall - President
Perry S. Marshall & Associates
(708) 788-4461

Dear Subscribers,

    There's an old saying:
"Pioneers usually return with arrows in their backs."

    That ugly truth is all too familiar to me.

    Has there ever been a time when you could literally
see the writing on the wall, when you knew in your gut
that a new technology or trend was going to happen,
and all you had to do was figure out how to profit
from it?

    I've been there.  Seven years ago I saw
that a particular technology in my industry was
*going* to fly.  I KNEW that a network called
"DeviceNet" was destined to become very popular,
and I recognized this before most others did.  I threw
all my weight behind it and started promoting like
crazy.

    Eventually I made a lot of money with DeviceNet,
but only after two lean years of "baloney sandwiches and
ramen soup."  It was VERY tough going, because
it took a lot longer than I thought it would.

    Simply put, if you don't have a precise strategy for
marketing new technology, you'll probably starve to death
before you hit paydirt. That's the downfall of having a
"better mousetrap" and it's the #1 reason why engineers
and inventors fail in business.

    Over the last 5 years I've developed an entire plan
for promoting hot new technologies that I call
"Missionary Work On The Cheap" which I teach
to my consulting clients and students.

    Now... what do you do AFTER that technology
has become mainstream and everybody else
sees it too?  Then you have an entirely different
set of problems: the rat race becomes populated
with tougher, smarter, faster rats - along with a host of
charlatans and wannabes.

    Such is the case with Internet marketing today.
In the early '90s, only a few saw the opportunity for what it
truly was.  Now everybody does.  Heaven help the guy
who decides to figure it all out on his own in 2002.

    Today's letter features Ken McCarthy, whom I've
introduced in previous newsletters.  Ken's going
to tell you some of his story of being a "pioneer"
in Internet marketing.

    Here's Ken...


Ten years ago, I faced a decision not unlike
yours. The year was 1992 and a friend had
just introduced me to the Internet. I was
intrigued to say the least.

"You mean that I can access the Library of
Congress catalog from my own PC and it doesn't
cost anything? And I can send mail anywhere in
the world without paying for postage or printing?"

I thought to myself: "If this ever takes off,
it's going to change the world - and it's going
to be a great way to make money."

In 1993, starting a business on the Internet
seemed impossible. Hardly anyone understood
what the Internet was and no one had any idea
how to make money from it.

I had a tough decision to make. I was the owner
of a direct marketing agency that specialized
in direct mail. I was making good money, but
the fact was, I was miserable. Working with
clients was driving me crazy and more than once
my efforts made someone else rich, while I
got the crumbs.

I was definitely ready for a change and the
idea of marketing online and on the Internet
was thrilling to me - but I had no idea how
I was going to pull it off. There were no
books about it, no course to take. There
weren't even consultants you could hire.

The only way to learn was to make a MASSIVE
investment of time, money and energy. How
massive? Let me ask you. Would you be willing
to spend over $20,000 and add a second 40 hour
a week project to your current responsibilities
and work without compensation for over a year
just to learn something that looked interesting
but was totally unproven?

That's the decision I faced in 1993. I'd be kidding
you if I told you that I knew what I was doing
back then. I didn't have a clue. But there was one
thing I did know: That if I didn't do something,
ten years from now I'd be in the same rut I was
in now and a lot less happier about it.

In 1993, I made the decision to make a total
'no holds barred' investment in my future.
I took no vacations. I STARTED my daily Internet
research at 5 PM and would often work way past
midnight. If I had to spend a few thousand
dollars to fly somewhere to attend a conference
where I *might* learn a few useful things, I
did it.

Obviously, my decision paid off very well for me.
I set out to become one of the world's leading
experts in Internet marketing, and nine years later,
after the boom and the crash, not only are my businesses
thriving, but my *students* are making more money
than the average doctor or lawyer. And they're
working a lot less hours, with a lot less stress.

I don't know why you subscribed to this series
of e-mails.

Maybe you're an Internet professional and you're realizing
that there is a lot to the business that no one ever told
you.

Maybe you have an Internet business and you want to
make it grow dramatically, but don't know what to do.

Maybe you haven't started your Internet business yet
and you're searching for reliable guidance on how to do
it.

Whatever the reason, I can guarantee that the "System"
training is the answer if the question is how do I
achieve maximum success in Internet marketing.

How can I be so sure? Because I've been at this for
longer than there even was an Internet industry. I
probably have attended more conferences, read more
books, personally conferred with more real experts
on the subject of Internet marketing than just about
anyone on the planet. There is simply nothing like
the "System" training available anywhere else at
any price.

If you haven't read the details, go here:

http://www.hypertracker.com/go/perrymarshall/sys2/5900000

Based on the success the students of the first
training are enjoying and the demand for seats
for the September training, we will be raising
the tuition to at least $2,500 next year. Our
European marketing partner is offering the
"System" training in London in the fall for $2990
British Pounds which translates to well over
$4000 US.

In short, it will never be this easy to participate
in a full fledged "System" training as it is
right now.

If you're still not sure if this would be a wise
investment for you, go back to the web site and
ignore the sales copy. That's right. Blot it out
of your mind entirely. Instead just read and listen
to what our students say about the training - and
compare it to ANY seminar or educational opportunity
available today.

http://www.hypertracker.com/go/perrymarshall/sys2/6000000

If you see Internet marketing as an important
part of your future, then the "System" is an
investment that truly makes sense.

Ken McCarthy
Founder and Chief Instructor of the "System."

~~~

Feel free to pass this along to a friend!
To take yourself off the list, send an email to
news@...

Dear Subscribers,

For today's newsletter I've got a special
guest, Ken McCarthy.  Ken did the world's
first ever seminar on Internet marketing
way back in 1994 with Marc Andreeson,
founder of Netscape.

Ken has continued to stay at the forefront
of what really works on the web today:

http://www.hypertracker.com/go/perrymarshall/sys2/56

Two weeks ago Ken and I had a conversation
about the Internet's place in today's
advertising

The economy is sluggish, and Internet
marketing in particular has become
ruthlessly results accountable.  And the
web has now become a very serious competitor
to all other forms of advertising media.

Here's Ken, with his unique historical perspective:


"My guess - and it's pretty much
what I've been saying since 1998...

People will continue to be foolish, but
there won't be the excess cash for them
to float on as there was in the 1990s.

People who persist in being idiots are
going to find the next ten years to be
very difficult. Direct marketers and
sales oriented people will inherit the
earth as they did in the 1930s.

A lot of great fortunes were started back
then. People forget that. Just to take
two examples, radio and TV stocks were
high flyers in the 1920s boom and they
crashed hard. For example, Warner Brothers
went from a high of 64 1/2 in 1929 to a low
of 50 cents a share in 1932. Wouldn't you have
liked to be buying Warner Brothers stock in
1932?

But even though their stocks crashed, some radio
and motion picture companies - and a lot
of other well run businesses - blossomed in
the down times. In fact, the down times - low
rent, low wages, low operating costs - made it
easier to start and expand well run business
ventures.

To sum this up, people who deal in hot air
are going to go hungry. People who deliver
value will thrive."

http://www.hypertracker.com/go/perrymarshall/sys2/57

Ken and his crew will be in Cincinnati Ohio
on September 27-29, serving up the finest
information available today on turning the
web into a lead generation & sales gold mine.
I'll be there and I hope to see you there too!

Details at
http://www.hypertracker.com/go/perrymarshall/sys2/58

Best,

Perry S. Marshall

Feel free to forward this to a friend!  To take yourself
off the list, email news@....

Dear Subscribers,

   I had a somewhat embarassing lesson
in parenting that I'd like to tell you about in
today's newsletter.

   My son Cuyler, 3 1/2, is an emotional little boy.
When he's excited, he's a vibrating buzz of
ecstatic energy.  When he's sad or mad, the
tantrums are instantaneous.

   Like many 3 year olds, he's volatile.

   Well I have a confession to make:  I'm volatile,
too.  My knee-jerk reaction to a fit - or being
disobeyed for the 2nd or 3rd time  - is to get angry.

   We've all seen this in our own homes, or the
grocery store checkout lane:  Mom or dad is
out of control because the kids are... well, out
of control.

   It's a vicious cycle.  And as much as I hate
to admit that I sometimes perpetuate this, I do it too.

   Laura and I had a lengthy, rational talk about
this problem.  And I realized that I was not
following a systematic, predictable pattern of
discipline.  I was just getting mad.

   That NEVER works.  And I know better.

   So we agreed on a consistent discipline plan
that starts with a gentle but clear "in your face"
conversation and continues with more serious
action if the behavior continues.

   It was amazing how easy it became to NOT get
angry after we had a system in place for dealing
with problems.  The difference:  Directing my
energy in a random, destructive way vs.
focusing on a very clear objective and a rational
solution to the problem.

   It takes just as much energy to be random and
unproductive as to be deliberate and proactive!
It's just a matter of how we channel our energy.

   The marketing maniac part of me couldn't help but
see a parallel to how companies approach their
sales and marketing problems.

   Most direct their energy reactively - pounding the
sales people on the 26th of every month, throwing
money at problems with no precise definition of
success, and slashing funds even for productive
campaigns whenever there's panic.

   Consider the Internet, where the days of free
and easy are over.

   Most companies direct their money and energy
towards 1) glitzy graphics, and 2) excessive
technology.

   In a website, fancy graphics and technology are
generally not financially productive.  A good IT
department does not an effective website make.

   Example: 90% of "Flash" presentations actually
drive customers away.  Seldom is Flash used to
tangibly illustrate something that's easier to
communicate visually than in print.

   In contrast, the following are THE most
proactive, financially rewarding places to
invest in web development:

1-A singular purpose and vivid call to action

2-Plenty of traffic from search engines, affiliate
links, pay per click, directories, and outside media

3-Converting visitors to leads and sales dollars
with excellent sales copy

4-Precise measurement of site activity and
continuous improvement

   The difference is as dramatic as my parenting
lesson!  And it can be insanely profitable.

   But 96% of business-to-business websites do
NOT follow this formula, even though companies
may spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on
them.

   Now if you do a search on "Internet Marketing"
you'll find a long, long parade of "experts," most
of whom are moonlighting wannabes with little
or no real experience or success.

   I've been doing Internet marketing for almost 5
years now, and I've generated at least $7 to $10
million of sales with the sites I've put together.

   And in my experience, there is one person in
the world today who has done the finest job of
assembling the entire web marketing process
into one cohesive SYSTEM.  His name is
Ken McCarthy.

   Ken did the world's first Internet Marketing
seminar with Marc Andreeson, the legendary
founder of Netscape, way back in 1994.  And
Ken's not a hypester.  When there's nothing new
to say, he's silent.  But when he speaks, I listen.

   Last spring, after a couple years of relative quiet,
Ken announced that there WAS something new
to say.  So I accepted his invitation and attended
his now legendary "System" seminar in April.

   It radically changed my own marketing game.
3 days after I came home, my own site traffic
tripled and my cost per sales lead dropped by 60%.

   The key to Ken's system is that he has brought
together the world's foremost REAL practitioners
on the four subjects I listed earlier.  It was a
highly focused, three-day experience of intense
learning and discussion.

   It sold out in 22 days.

   Now Ken's doing "System 2" in September, and
if you have any kind of "real" business on the
Internet, you just can't afford to not go.

Click here to learn all about Ken's System 2:

http://www.hypertracker.com/go/perrymarshall/sys2/44sm

# # #

   One of the true keys to properly directing
your marketing energy is simply getting as
educated as possible before you start a
marketing campaign.

   Experimentation is vital, but learning from
others first is even MORE important.

   This year I'm spending more on my personal
marketing education than I spent on tuition
and books in my FIRST THREE YEARS of
engineering school.

   And I wouldn't consider NOT making the
investment.  I've been doing so for quite some
time and it's the ONLY reason I'm earning 5
times today what I made as an Acoustical
Engineer after graduating from college.

   Again, if your business depends in any way
on your website, Ken McCarthy's System 2
seminar is the Real McCoy:

http://www.hypertracker.com/go/perrymarshall/sys2/55sm

   By the way, I'm going too.  I hope I see you
there!

   Any questions?  I'd like to hear from you.
Email me - news@....

Yours,

Perry S. Marshall

P.S.  Feel free to forward this to a friend.  To take
yourself off my list, just reply with ' remove ' in the header.

Asking Forgiveness

6/1/2002

     The Catholic Church is in dire straits these days, and for good reason.  In
many cases, the charges of priests' impropriety has been met with hurried
avoidance.

     Today I read a different account in the newspaper, though.  Milwaukee
Archbishop Rembert Weakland, who had an illicit rendezvous with parishioner and
then paid him $450,000 to keep silent about the matter, made a full confession
before God and 400 others Friday.

     On the front page of Today's Chicago Tribune, above the priest's picture,
was a quote: "I apologize to all the faithful of the archdiocese which I love so
much, to all its people and clergy, for the scandal that has occurred because of
my sinfulness."

     His previous attempts at avoidance were declared over.  There was no more
denial.  Only an open confession of wrongdoing.  And a plea for forgivness.

     The response?  A standing ovation from a tearful audience of 400.  And a
front page story in Chicago's leading newspaper by an impressed reporter.

     Not many corners of the church are getting a standing ovation these days. 
And they sure aren't getting much respect from the press.  This was a notable
exception.

     There are two lessons here: The one on the spiritual level, the other on the
level of our everyday interaction with people.  One that all of us in sales and
marketing should note and remember.

     First, the spiritual lesson: You ain't getting forgiveness if you're too
proud to ask for it.  If you do ask, it's only a prayer away.  This was one of
Jesus' core teachings.  One that is too-often ignored, even by ministers and
priests.  No wonder people are cynical about organized religion!

     The practical lesson:

     People know the score.  We all know what's right and wrong.  And can easily
see it... especially in others.

     Everybody at that service KNEW he had done wrong.  Father Weakland had two
choices: Turn and run, or come clean.

     He decided to come clean.  He just admitted it.  He asked for forgiveness.

     It's pretty hard to dismiss someone who appears before you, admits they've
done wrong, and humbly apologizes.  It's pretty hard to be cynical about a
person like that.  As a matter of fact, we usually feel safer with a person who
has done wrong and fallen, than with a person who *appears* to have never fallen
at all.

     I was in a situation where a HUGE potential customer had decided to design
my product into their product.  This involved enormous amounts of software
integration and we did NOT have enough technical support to assist this
customer.  Arguably I should never have tried to get the account in the first
place.  I'd bitten off more than our little company could chew.  From their
point of view it was a total nightmare.  It was very tempting for them to just
find another vendor.  And there was very little I could do about it.

     But here's what I did: I called the engineering manager twice a week and
asked how it was going.  He would tell me tales of horror, all the bizarre
tricks and work-arounds he had to do.

     And I would listen.  And apologize.  And see if I could help in some feeble
way.  If I could, I did.  The customer would grumble and complain... and then
continue, satisfied that his vendor sympathized with this plight.

     Last I checked, that customer had done over a million and a half dollars
with the company.  My contrite hand-holding - and the efforts of everyone else -
saved the sale.

     In addition to the lesson about honest apologies, I realized something else:

     Empathy always goes further than competence.  As twisted as it sounds, it's
really true.

     Your product / service undoubtedly has shortcomings.  But willingness to
admit those shortcomings will actually make up for them!

     Most of us severely underestimate the power of an honest apology.  But it
not only shows humility, it's also evidence of courage.  And in a world of
cowards and cynics, people can't help but respect that.

Best of Success,

Perry Marshall
www.perrymarshall.com
news@...

(C)2002 Perry S. Marshall & Associates

Dear Subscribers,

Here's your copy of my latest marketing newsletter.

After reading just today's issue, you'll have enough
information to double or triple the profitability of your ads,
mail campaigns, press releases and website.

Speak to me!  I'm always eager to hear what you have
to say and I always respond.

Sincerely,

Perry S. Marshall
(708)788-4461

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Rock Solid Formula For Effective Ads
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What REALLY works in an ad is the same thing that works when
you're face to face with a potential customer.  You say
exactly the same thing in the ad as you would in person.

Because advertising is selling in print.

How do I know this works?

Because all the advertising I've ever done, I've measured.

When you make changes and measure again and again, you
get feedback.  Colder...warmer...warmer...colder...warmer...hot!

Most companies don't "sell in print."  They just give
you nice pictures and cute slogans.

What they get is ads that create awareness, but don't
sell anything.  And they can't prove otherwise, because
they don't measure the results in the first place.

Today I'm going to give you two formulas.  One that most
big companies use (and works poorly) and one that works
GREAT.  (it's the one that all companies who carefully
measure and improve their advertising use).


*The Unsuccessful, "Conventional" Advertising Formula:

1. Cute picture + entertaining slogan or pun

2. A few sentences about how great some product
or institution is

3. A website, phone number, and possibly an address -
with no compelling reason given to call or visit.


*The Successful "Selling in Print" Advertising Formula

1.  A headline that makes a bold, clear statement of
tangible value - and makes you want to read more

2.  A STORY that explains what's unique and special
about what you're offering - with pictures as necessary
to support the story

3.  A call for your reader to respond to you in a very
specific way, with a very persuasive reason to do so.


I'm flipping through the April 29 issue of NEWSWEEK right now.
Here are examples of each right out of the magazine:

Formula #1 Example

1.  Clever slogan:  It says "Be Brilliant. Be Sharp."

2.  A few sentences about how great their new PDA is

3.  The company's website.

There's a big picture of kids building a sand castle.
Tells you *nothing* about this very sophisticated,
very capable new product that's probably very cool.

What a waste.

But a few pages later, an example of a good ad.  From
an insurance company, no less:

1.  Headline: "How can a 529 plan help your college
fund?

2.  Story: Explains how new tax laws can boost
your child's educational fund and give you more
tax breaks, with a list of advantages.

3.  Offer: "Call now for your free guide!"  Explains
in detail how 529 plans work, also offers a free
"education savings review."  Uses a special phone
extension so they knew how many calls come from
each magazine they advertise in.


Although there are several things that would
improve the second ad, I'm certain it generates
TEN TIMES the sales as the first one.  Writing
good ads takes a lot of thought and hard
work.  And most of all, salesmanship.

You should ALWAYS use Formula #2.  Formula #1
is just lazy and it doesn't produce results.

Oh yeah, and one other thing.  A million dollars' worth
of advice:

Use this SAME formula in EVERY form of communication
you have with EVERYONE.  Letters, emails, press releases,
website, articles - you name it.  It's the most rudimentary formula
of human communication that there is.  It's as old
as language itself.  And nobody will ever trump it.

I always use it because it just WORKS.

In the next issue: An "acid test" for good headlines.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reader Feedback

Mitch Axelrod from New Jersey said this about the
"Conversation inside your customer's head" issue:

"Thanks, Perry for the newsletter. thought-provoking.
What does it say if the Simpson's, Malcolm and the
Osbournes are among your favorite Tv shows?
Probably in need of some time off :-) "

Mitch is already a very successful marketer, but I told
him that with a mind like that he's sure to get a rabid
following from Generation X!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Praise for my 21 Secrets audiobook continues to
pour in!  Here's one from Paul Tesini, President of
Diamond Technologies in Maynard, MA.  Paul is one
of the sharpest hi-tech sales people I've ever worked with,
so I was excited to get his positive remarks:

"I listened to the extremely professional, extremely
entertaining, extremely captivating CD you sent.
I have been planning on stepping up marketing this
year (keep putting it off).

Sign me up! Lets go!"

~~~

You can get a free copy of the CD, just visit
www.perrymarshall.com.

If you've already listened and would like a friend to
receive a free copy, email his / her name, company,
and street address to me at news@....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To subscribe or unsubscribe, email news@....

(C)2002 Perry S. Marshall & Associates
Phone (708)788-4461  Fax (708)788-4599
www.perrymarshall.com

Dear Subscribers,

Here's your latest issue of the
Perry Marshall Marketing e-Letter.

This is a two-way conversation,
so when you have a thought, speak up!
I always love to hear your comments and I
always respond.

Sincerely,

Perry S. Marshall
news@...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  I n   T h i s   I s s u e
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-The thing you must always do before
waging war

-Jelly Bellies & the art of catering
to fetishes

-Marketing System in-a-box for tech & B2B
sales

-George Thomas of Contemporary Controls
interviews...ME!

-Plug into a hi-tech business visionary

-Readers talk back to me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A wise man is strong, and a man of
knowledge increases power.  For by wise
guidance you will wage war, and in
abundance of counselors there is victory."

-Solomon
Statesman, Industrialist and Business Writer
940 BC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jelly Bellies & The Art of Catering
to Fetishes

This from Bryan Sink, the Asian
Correspondent for Perry S. Marshall
& Associates...


Like Jelly Bellies? The little mini
jelly beans that come in 60 different
unusual flavors, like tangerine, buttered
popcorn, raspberry, Dr. Pepper, Kiwi,
French Vanilla, Pina Colada, etc.?

I do. Someone sent me a nice big
box of them by mail recently. Got me
thinking.

You can buy them in bulk, scooped
out of a bin. Or you can buy them in a
pre-wrapped bag. Or you can buy a box,
like I got.

The box I have is a 20-ouncer with
handsome print on the front and back
(extremely colorful), a guide on the
inside top of the box with several
'recipes' (2 A&W Root Beers + 1 A&W
Cream Soda gives you a root beer float!)

There's a full-color printed insert
with even more recipes (1 Top Banana + 1
A&W Cream Soda +1 Coconut = Banana Cream
Pie), and a sheet telling you exactly what
flavor is in each little mini compartment.

Also on the printed insert are toll-free
numbers and a web address
(www.jellybelly.com), and on the back
a list of all the new flavors that
they want you to try and e-mail them
telling them how you liked them.

If you visit the website in search of
more fun recipes, you'll get a bunch
of recipes that include kinds of Jelly
Bellies you don't already have. So
you have to go buy more.

And they sell all kinds of gift
packages. My box of 40 flavors sells
online for $11.95. And scads of other
options too.

Not to mention the Taste Bud Club.

Here are the perks:

-Be among the first to learn about
and TASTE the newest flavors!

-Jelly Belly Taste Bud Club members
(U.S.) receive:

-A uniquely designed Taste Bud Club
T-shirt

-A prestigious club membership card

-Mr. Jelly Belly holding the American
flag (lapel pin)

-Chances to win Jelly Belly prizes

-Members-only special offers on Jelly
Belly merchandise

-Samples of selected new Jelly Belly
flavors in each mailing

-A fun-filled quarterly newsletter
mailed to your home with all the sweetest
news

-Two-year membership for only $14.95

You can also take tours of the
California offices and Wisconsin warehouse.

And you might remember this:

"Jelly Belly became the favorite candy
of President Ronald Reagan, who made
the beans a staple in the Oval Office
and on Air Force One. (President
Reagan's passion for jelly beans
inspired Blueberry flavor, which
was cooked up so he could serve red,
white, and blue beans at his inaugural
parties.)

A candymaker in Hollywood came up
with the idea in the 70's. Obviously not
only a good candymaker's craft, but
marketer's craft as well.

Clever? I think so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There's a lot you can learn from those
Jelly Bellie folks.  What are they
really doing here?

-The printed guide that comes with the
package of Jelly Beans is a superb
involvement device.  Probably only
costs 3 cents to print.

-There's nothing like using a recipe to
get customers physically involved with
the product!

-That quarterly subscription program is
a stroke of genius!  They might not
break even on the $14.95 but it drives
untold numbers of rabid Jelly Bellie
fans to stores each month.

***If you sell some "mundane," un-
glamorous product, you could give away
free Jelly Bellie memberships
along with your monthly newsletter,
and use it as a way to collect names
and addresses.  That has a heck of a
lot more lasting effect than a chance
to win a free Palm Pilot!***

My friend Tom Hoobyar of Asepco
(www.asepco.com) makes pharmaceutical
valves, and Tom does something similar:
He has a monthly contest to win a
free bottle of Napa Valley wine.  He's
been doing it for 8 years and it's
been phenomenally successful.

He says: "Are people in the Pharmaceutical
industry going to switch to our valve
for their $40 million process, just because
we sent them some wine?  Of course not.  But
it makes us more human - an element that's
sadly lacking in industrial companies."

I did an audio interview with Tom, and
it is THE most insightful discussion
I've ever had on combining hi-tech with
hi-touch.  Just superb, thanks to Tom
and his dedication to excellence.

Everyone who owns my "Marketing System
In A Box" will receive a copy of it in early
May.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marketing System in a Box

***My "marketing system in a box" is
the world's first toolkit that gives
technical and B2b sales people templates
and examples that they can quickly turn
into sales leads, orders and cash...

And replace telephone prospecting and
rejection with free publicity and guerilla
marketing.

To get more information, email me
with your street address:
system@.... ***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

George Thomas interviews... ME!

Geoge Thomas of Contemporary Controls
is quiet almost to the point of
seeming shy, but he's a very sharp
guy.

You don't just stick a pencil behind
your ear and run a hi-tech company
for 27 years.  But that's what he's done.
A well-managed company that's really
going places in these turbulent times.

George interviewed me for his quarterly
newsletter, The Extension.  Although
there's some industry specific lingo
that not all of you will know, this
is a great snapshot of my views on
marketing.

Read the interview at
http://www.ccontrols.com/ExtVol3N2.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plug into a high-tech business Visionary!

My friend Jim Pinto writes the best
hi-tech e-zine I get.  I ALWAYS read it
and it's ALWAYS fascinating.  It covers
new technological developments that will
affect us not just next year but 10, 20,
30 years out.  With articulate insight
and financial analysis about robotics,
computers and aritificial intelligence.

Not to mention the inside scoop on many
hi-tech companies - the secret boardroom
level conversations and compensation
deals.

Jim built a company, Action Instruments,
for many years, then sold it to Invensys.
Jim's retired now and is an active,
insatiably curious, information-rabid
rennaisance man.

If you want an eclectic blend of news,
technology, finance and sharp conversation,
check out Jim's e-news and subscribe:

http://www.jimpinto.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Readers Talk Back To Me

On the "Conversation Inside Your
Customer's Head" article, John
Rinaldi of Real Time Automation
said this:

"Survivor is a hit because everyone
has 1 (or a lot more) people they would
vote out of their office tomorrow if
they could. Good newsletter."

Bryan Sink adds to the list of
TV shows that "enter the conversation
inside America's head":

"Ally McBeal (30-something and
desperate for love and security in
life), the Simpsons (20-something and
outwardly hacked at the whitebread
world though inwardly very comfortable
with it), Friends (20 to 30, hungry for
sex, but afraid of commitment), The
Practice (over 30 and wish they had
that same moxy combination of brains and
heroism), Baywatch (20-something and ever
longing for that tropical sextopia),
and more ...

I completely agree."

Comments?  I'd like to hear yours,
too.  Email news@....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please pass this along and invite
a friend to subscribe!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, email
news@....

Copyright 2002 Perry S. Marshall &
Associates, www.perrymarshall.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Subscribers,

Welcome to the Perry Marshall e-letter!  This
electronic newsletter is a two-way conversation,
so be sure and email me with your questions and
comments.

Feel free to pass this along to others!  To subscribe
or unsubscribe, send an email to:
news@....

Sincerely,

Perry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In this issue:

-The Conversation Inside Your Customer's Head

-Happy Birthday to me - and a special birthday gift to you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE CONVERSATION INSIDE YOUR (CUSTOMER'S) HEAD

In my "Cold Call Curse / 21 Secrets" tape, I talk about
"Entering the conversation inside your customers' head."
Today I'm going to relate that incredibly important
concept to popular television shows.

Why do so many people like Oprah?  Seinfeld?  Jerry
Springer?  Survivor?  Cheers?

The other night I had dinner with a couple of very insightful folks.
We had a fascinating conversation about those TV shows:
Why people like them.  Why they relate to them.  Why they
tune in every week and what those programs say about the
people that watch them.  What they say about the conversation
that's already going on inside America's head.

Popular TV shows say a lot about Americans. The shows
we like say a lot about us.

One of the most accurate ways to tell what kind of
people watch a show is to watch the people on
the shows - AND the ads that go with them.

Have you ever noticed what they advertise on the
Jerry Springer show?

1) bankruptcy and personal injury attorneys
2) GED classes and low-rent trade schools
3) DNA and "who's the father" tests
4) rent-to-own furniture
5) $99 divorce kits

And of course we all know that Jerry Springer features
the finest and most upstanding citizens in our communities.

Current / upcoming topics: "Springer's Sex Circus," "You Made Me
Cheat," "A Mistress, Two Cheaters And A 3-Some,"
"Raging Lovers Confront!" and "Cold Hearted Mistresses."

Well let's face it.  The folks who watch Jerry Springer watch
it because it jives with what they're constantly thinking about.
They watch it because they relate to it and it matches their
perception of reality.  It enters the conversation (or argument)
that's going on inside their heads.

What about Oprah?  It's a completely different set of people
who watch that show.  Oprah talks to average to upper-middle
class women about the conversations going on inside THEIR
heads, the struggles, the problems, the challenges.

She emphasizes looking inward, taking responsibility
and solving problems by being proactive.  And her sidekick,
Dr. Phil, functions as the loving but tough father figure who
presses people to face tough decisions they've been avoiding.

Oprah has her finger on the pulse of America.  She knows
what buttons to push with people.  Observe her ways and be
wise.

What about Seinfeld?  Seinfeld is about senseless, obtuse,
funny and neurotic relationships.  It's very unreal, but I believe
that people like it because it closely resembles the randomness
and senselessness of the places where we work and hang out.

In every episode of Cheers, somebody "loses."  But everyone
sort of "loses together."  And everyone can relate to that to
needing a place where "Everybody knows your name."

Survivor is another interesting one.  That show hit America
like a ton of bricks almost two summers ago.  Nobody can forget
how Survivor resonated with people, especially the first season
it aired.  The bikinis, the complex interpersonal relationships, the
politics, the intense competition, and getting "Voted off the
island."  How completely American!

Those shows, and the advertising that goes along with them,
are successful because they enter the conversation that's
going on inside the head of a particular slice of the viewers.

Your marketing must similarly resonate with people.  It
must be a clear reflection about WHO and WHAT your
customers love, hate, desire and fear.  And it has to
have emotional human hooks, just like all those
popular TV shows do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today (April 10) is my birthday, and to celebrate, I'm giving
away slices of my time.

That's right - everyone who contacts me via email between
today and Friday 4/12 can schedule a 15 minute consulting
session.  We can discuss whatever marketing or
business challenge that faces you.

There's a lot of things we can discuss: advertising,
publicity, Internet, direct mail, publishing, sales
strategy, product definition.  Your great new idea
or campaign.  And yes, we will talk about how to
enter the conversation that's inside your customers'
head.

Just decide what you want to discuss and make sure it's
a short, organized, tightly focused list.

Just email news@... with a suggested
day / time and I'll schedule a slot for you within the next
few days.

Best of Success,

Perry S. Marshall
news@...
www.perrymarshall.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Perry Marshall Marketing e-letter
(C) 2002 Perry S. Marshall & Associates
March 28, 2002
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm always on the lookout for people outside of
the industrial world that I can learn from.

Here's a BRILLIANT example of the power of
emotion in marketing, from a wildly successful
entrepreneur in China. He's taken the whole
country by storm with a pricey language
course called "Crazy English." Quite a challenge,
since learning English is a very tough assignment
that involves LOTS of hard work and commitment
over a period of YEARS.

My brother Bryan has been an English instructor in
Southern China for two years now, and he sent me this
story. Compare Stone Lee's "Crazy English" to
whatever foreign language class and textbook you
had in high school... I think you'll see why this guy
is more popular than your Spanish teacher probably
was :^)

***

If you travel around China and happen
to stop into any bookstore, you'll
probably see ads on the wall featuring
a spirited-looking Chinese man screaming
madly into a mike in front of a crowd of
thousands. 'Crazy English' the poster says.
It's an ad for a comprehensive English
program administered by a well-traveled
Chinese man named Li Yang, or Stone Lee as
he's known to westerners.

'Crazy English' is an immensely popular
English course that you can take. It's
primarily self-taught, but involves the
purchase of literally hundreds of dollars
worth of materials if you're really
serious about it - flash cards, books,
tapes, a monthly magazine, videos,
everything. The course is usually kicked
off by attending one of Stone Lee's huge
rallies where he dances and struts and
makes you laugh and cry and gets your
whole self involved in a fun kickoff to
learning (or perfecting) your English.

Everyone in China knows about this guy;
his picture is everywhere and his ads
show up in magazines and on billboards
all over the country.

The program itself is genius, and I
frankly wish the same thing were available
to westerners for learning Chinese: you
can get a subscription where every month
they'll send you a set of tapes and a
mini-magazine that takes passages from
recent news events and entertainment and
prints them out AND puts them on tape for
you to hear, replete with footnotes and
translations of difficult expressions and
everything. So for example, you can hear a
selection from Bush's State of the Union
address, or hear and read a 5-minute
dialogue from the new Harry Potter movie,
etc. and have it explained to you.

Folks will pay as much as 7000 RMB
for a full purchase of all the materials
and subscription to the magazine/tape service.
That's $850, which is about six months'
income for the average Chinese worker.
Not cheap!

Stone Lee is, frankly, not as much a
teacher as he is a brilliant marketer.

My very first week in China, I ate
lunch with him. Yes, he actually came
to the Guanfang Hotel and gave a 45-minute
presentation of his program here. It
furnished a nice kickoff to my arrival
as their new teacher, which I much
appreciated. And he had with him his
girlfriend, a young 30-something from
Miami who says she'd take teaching in
China over teaching in the US any day,
simply because the Chinese are so hungry
to learn, whereas American kids are
arrogantly blase about education.

***

Just a few quick observations:

1) This guy is in technical sales. What
could be more technical than learning
a new language?

2) This guy understands how people
really learn! People don't learn much
sitting in front of a book. People learn
by involving their entire self in the process.

3) He's taking a very tedious subject
and making it fun. You should do the
exact same thing with your area of
expertise! If what you do seems boring,
MAKE IT FUN.

4) Remember that Stone Lee has to
convince his audience that learning
English is fun and worthwhile not just
once, but EVERY SINGLE DAY. He
has to be relentless.

Once I asked a friend, who was a
manufacturer's rep, what was the best
"company training" meeting that he'd
ever been to. He thought for awhile and
replied that it was the time that, at the
end of a 2-day training session, they had
a well-executed "game show" where the
contestants (the reps) had to compete for
prizes based on how well they had learned
the answers to important questions.

It works on reps and it'll work on customers,
too!

In my "21 Secrets" audiobook (free for
the asking if you don't already have a
copy, just send me an email), I talk about
the importance of emotion in marketing.
This is a prime example!

Got stuff you wanna discuss in the next
newsletter? Email me: news@...
and we'll tackle your questions.

Sincerely,

Perry

P.S. Invite others to subscribe! Feel free to
forward this newsletter to a friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perry S. Marshall & Associates
Marketing & Lead Generation Systems
for Technical Sales People
(708)788-4461
(708)788-4599 fax
www.perrymarshall.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every Christmas season, the music industry re-hashes the old
Christmas tunes and serves up all kinds of new music for the
Holidays.  This year, pop divas Toni Braxton and Christina Aguillera
have their own Christmas albums; sitting right here by my computer
are some fun CDs I've been listening to -- 'Merry Axemas' which is a
heavy metal guitar Christmas album, and 'Celtic Christmas'.  A Quincy
Jones CD called "A Soulful Celebration" which is a rockin' African-
American version of Handel's Messiah.

Yesterday I picked up a fun new CD by Mannheim Steamroller, who
rocked the world 15 years ago with a sizzling pop version of "Deck
The Halls." You still hear their innovative arrangement frequently on
the radio and in stores.

If you've paid any attention at all to the music this season, you
realize that the possibilities of re-inventing and refreshing songs
that are 50, 100 or even 500 years old is literally endless.  We'll
all be hearing exciting new versions of Jingle Bells for decades to
come!

If a 100 year old hymnn can be re-done by hundreds of artists every
year and never wear out, then you can do the same with your marketing
message.  It's called improvisation, and it's the same thing people
in Jazz have been doing for years with tunes by Ellington and Cole
Porter.  They take the familiar old melody and build a new structure
around it.  It's fun and the possibilities are endless.

So how do you do that in your marketing efforts?  First you have to
define the melody.

In marketing, the 'melody' is your Unique Selling Proposition, or
USP.  It's the one or two sentences that you've spent hours, days or
weeks hammering and polishing -- whatever it takes -- that describe
exactly what you do and why customers should come to you instead of
anyone and everyone else.

Once you've got that down solid, you improvise.  You use analogies,
other parts of your message, borrowed ideas from other people's
messages, and you re-spin and re-invent constantly.  You do this with
your direct mail, email, advertising, magazine articles and press
releases.  Fundamentally you relate the core of what you do to some
new thing, some event or new offer that you have.  And you tirelessly
crank it out.

Because even if YOU are tired of it, the rest of the world hardly
notices unless they hear it over and over again.  Re-inventing it,
while retaining the integrity of your essential message, keeps things
interesting and new for your customers and prospects.

If you're having a hard time with this, go buy yourself an innovative
new Christmas album and listen to what they do with those tunes.  All
they're doing is combining new ingredients with the old, and you can
do the same.

You must combine your marketing message with current events,
interviews with interesting people, or new packages and promotions.
Once you learn the art of marketing improvisation, you'll never run
out of ways to get new customers!

Merry Christmas,

Perry

Every few years I read something that sheds new light on the murky trends of the
future; in the past Paul Pilzer, W. Edwards Deming and John Naisbitt, to name a
few, have been very enlightening.  Just read another one of those today.  Here's
a somewhat lengthy but fascinating article by Peter Drucker -- what follows is a
clip from a technical ezine I get (www.jimpinto.com) and a hyperlink to
Drucker's article.  Not marketing stuff per se, but still very relevant to all
marketers.

Perry

~~~

PETER DRUCKER ON "THE NEAR FUTURE"

At 92 (born 1909), famed sage and management guru Peter Drucker is
more than ever incisive, challenging and mind stretching. In his
latest articles, published after 9/11, he explains how the future
will differ from today and what needs to be done to prepare for it.

The "new economy" may or may not materialize, but there is no doubt
that the next society will be with us shortly. In the developed
world, and probably in the emerging countries as well, this "new
society" will be more important than any "new economy". It will be
quite different from the society of the late 20th century and
different from what most people expect. Much of it will be
unprecedented. And most of it is already here, or is rapidly emerging.

In the developed countries, the dominant factor in the next society
will be the rapid growth in the older population and the rapid
shrinking of the younger generation.

Will the Corporation Survive? Peter Drucker insists that it will, but
not as we know it. In the future there will be not one kind of
corporation but several different ones. Legally and perhaps
financially, it may look much the same; but instead of there being a
single model adopted by everyone, there will be a range of models to
choose from.

Drucker - The Near Future (Part I):
http://www.cfo.com/printarticle/1,4580,0|83|AD|5641,00.html

Drucker - The Near Future (Part II)
http://www.cfo.com/printarticle/1,4580,0|83|AD|5642,00.html

Have you ever had a car you hoped your customers, associates and co-
workers would never see?

I had a car like that - actually I've had several.  One in particular
comes to mind.

2½ years ago I was national sales manager for a company which was
exhibiting at a trade show in Chicago, and this particular evening in
March 1999 we?d planned a dinner meeting for our reps and
distributors from across the country to motivate and educate them.  I
drove my rusty 1984 Toyota Tercel station wagon to the show and
parked it several blocks away.

At the end of the day a couple of people asked me if they could get a
ride to the dinner meeting.  It was kind of difficult to say no.  So
the president of our German partner company and some sales reps
followed me to the car; I popped the hatchback so they could put
their briefcases in the back, and they noticed the jugs of water I
was using for coolant - the radiator had recently sprung a leak.

I hadn't topped off the radiator for a few days and the level was
getting low just then.  I was too self-conscious to add water before
we drove off.  As I drove I watched apprehensively as the temperature
gauge crept towards the red.  I could just imagine the engine blowing
in the middle of downtown Chicago, two blocks from the restaurant.

We had the meeting and I did my level best to pump everyone up about
selling our network technology.  Nobody said anything to me about the
car but someone later joked to my boss: "Mike, you really need to pay
this guy better."  I was in earshot, and I replied that a few months
ago, I'd had the money to buy a car (actually enough for a used car,
or maybe a down payment for a new one) but had chosen to invest in
the company instead.  The German company president told me buying the
company stock was a much better investment.

I had in fact made that exact decision just two months earlier.  And
I continued to drive a crappy car to work just this year, when it
became financially wise to replace it with a much newer one.

As for the investment, I just cashed in on that last week.  I more
than doubled that investment every year, making 7x on the money.
That's enough to pay cash for a new car - which is NOT how I plan to
invest it, by the way.

Sometimes it IS advisable to spend your money on a nicer car,
especially if your clients are going to ride in it.  But you must do
so as a logical business decision, not based on your emotions about
driving an impressive set of wheels.  And if you're trying to decide
whether to invest your money in a car, or a "real" investment, that
should be a no-brainer.

A year after that March 1999 sales meeting, one of the guys who
attended told me that in early 1999 he'd lost his biggest customer,
sending his entire business into a tailspin.  At that trade show, and
prior to our sales meeting, he was seriously considering closing his
doors and just getting a job.

Whatever I said that night motivated him to persevere, and a year
later had turned things around so completely that he sold his company
for a half million dollars.

The old cliché is really true: It doesn?t matter where you are,
what matters is where you're going.  When you?re on the move, people
can sense it and they'll follow you, even when things look ugly on
the exterior!

The most uncomfortable conversation I ever had with my wife's
parents was not the day I asked if I could marry their daughter. It
was the explanation I made at the age of 21, ten months into our life
as newlyweds – the phone call about why I'd just been fired
from my perfectly good, not-too-difficult warehouse job.

"Well Ron, at first this was kind of funny, you see… Tony and
I had this really hilarious idea… we made up this fax that
explained how the company's stock had just taken a severe
nosedive, they were closing all their branches and would make every
effort to make payroll for the current week… We were just sure the
folks in Omaha would know it was a practical joke, but then the lady
thought it was real and started crying. She faxed it to Arkansas who
faxed it to Minneapolis, and… well, the CEO didn't think this was
quite as funny as we did."

Such was the end of the best-paying job I'd ever had up to that
point, complete with a rather tense phone call to the in-laws.

You would all recognize the name of this particular industrial supply
company if I told you. And, yes indeed, I learned that Fortune 500
companies take their stock prices very, very seriously. There's
nothin' funny about money in Corporate America, no-siree Bob!

Eleven years later, it's a funny story, but at the time it was a
devastating blow to my tender ego. It was really the beginning of a
whole series of events that has shaped my life since. At the time, I
defined success as "Never get fired from a job, and never flunk a
class." If that was the definition of success, then I was
suddenly a 50 per cent failure. It really messed me up. I was taking
summer school at the time, and all the sudden I couldn't concentrate
on my thermodynamics class. I started falling behind… pretty soon
I was flunking quizzes and the relentless pace of a double-speed
summer class was overtaking me. I was forced to drop the course and
forfeit all my tuition money. So I was a 100 per cent failure.

Then, at the next job I found (yet another lowly warehouse position),
one day I stopped in the computer department office to ask if a
little field could be added to the database. My deeply paranoid and
rather incompetent supervisor took great offense at this and fired me
for going over her head. Now I was a 150 per cent failure.

This was a summer of humble pie, at the impressionable age of 21. My
wife was extremely supportive and I eventually got back on track, but
this series of minor disasters left a deep impression. So when a
friend invited me to join him in a business startup that required me
to sell (to an engineer, a 4-letter word!), he didn't have to
remind me how volatile life in a company can be. He also didn't
have to explain that occasional, serious doses of rejection are as
inevitable as death and taxes. So I accepted his proposal with a
strong mix of excitement and fear.

Along the way, I picked up an aphorism by motivational speaker, Zig
Ziglar: "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you can
learn to do it well." This is a fundamental belief that all
successful people share – in stark contrast to my "never get
fired, never flunk a class" philosophy, which is how mediocre people
define success.

In the years since my summer-of-humble-pie, I've failed much,
much more than I've succeeded. A pre-Internet business project,
119 presentations in a row and nothing but "no"s. Two years
in an engineering design job where none of my major projects saw the
light of day. Two more years of fruitless "missionary work" in
Chicago, eating baloney sandwiches and ramen soup, and a whole series
of other large opportunities and projects at the same time, all of
which eventually slipped through my fingers. My boss, whom I both
liked and respected, was at the end of his rope. He wished I would
just sell some sensors or circuit boards or something, and was quite
weary of this un-profitable, cutting-edge networking stuff.

Push came to shove. I was no longer a college student, but a working
man with a baby at home and a mortgage. I pleaded with my boss:
"I want to succeed at this. This is what I want to do. Just give
me a couple more months, I'm sure I can close some of these deals".
He replied, as politely as he could: "You know, Perry, I could have
this fantasy about, say, being a politician. But that's just not what
I am. You're a good engineer and you're a good problem-solver.  I'm
really sorry, but you're not a salesman." He showed me the door.

One week later I started yet another job at a teeny startup product
company with very little name recognition, no reps, no distributors
and few customers. My position: national sales manager. I was the
best they could afford at the time. We figured there was a market for
industrial networking boards and software, and I was allowed to sell
anywhere I wanted, as long as nobody had to buy me a plane ticket.

This time it clicked: my career took an 180-degree turn virtually
overnight. Business started moving, and four years later, it's
still growing at a healthy pace. I have ownership in the company,
which is great because the shareholders are in the process of selling
it to a much larger company.  That's a great "game over" for just
about anybody!

They say you learn more by failing than succeeding, and there's
truth in that. But you can only understand what doesn't work in
the context of what does. There were very definite reasons for that
"180." Here are some things I learned:

-Don't partner with uncommitted people. In 1996, I had a clear
shot at doing the first DeviceNet retrofit (a new network technology
at the time) in all of Ford Motor Company, and I spent a month
collecting signatures and drawings so it could move forward. The
company I represented lost the drawings and basically puked all over
the whole project. I needed a facial egg scraper. I was committed,
they were not. It was really doomed to fail from the beginning, I
just couldn't see it at the time. Things were quite different
later, when I had engineers on hand who would commit to finishing
projects successfully.

-Don't sell things that people don't want. Most folks have
heard that Harlan "Colonel" Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken
fame pitched his chicken recipe to more than 1,000 people before he
got a single taker. As the story was told to me, he added salt to his
ten spices, and then the very next prospect – presentation #1009
– was a taker.  The recipe he had before the salt addition was
very, very close to what it needed to be. Likewise, you can start
with a really, really great idea, but after the first pass, it's still
not usually what people want. Minor tweaks to the design make a big
difference, especially when it hits the "sweet spot."

-Hard work and determination alone are necessary, but not sufficient.
Colonel Sanders could have made 1,000 more presentations, driven his
car until the transmission fell out, spent every dime of his $105
social security cheques, prayed for success and recited positive
affirmations every morning in front of his mirror. But he still would
have come up empty-handed, had he not been willing to change what he
was selling.

-Look for opportunities that capitalize on your true talents. The
boss who showed me the door once said to me, "You're always
trying to solve problems. Why can't you just sell connectors?" In
that job, my engineering background was more of a distraction than an
asset. I should have seen the handwriting on the wall right away, but
I ignored the warning signs. Once I got into a situation where my
technical skills were essential, life got a whole lot easier.

Each of us has a list of "THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN 10 YEARS AGO." You
just read a few of mine. But as I look at this list, most of these
are things I would have known much sooner, had I only been paying
closer attention.

How about your list? It's seductively easy to be preoccupied with
the way things should be, while ignoring the way things really are.
The diligent student of Harsh Reality rarely fails a final exam.
Failure is not much of a failure at all, so long as we learn from our
mistakes.

Do you have a terrific failure story (or success story)?  Share it
with me: email newsletter@... - I'm sure other members will
enjoy hearing about it in the next issue.

Best,

Perry

Do you remember where you were when John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan or
John Lennon were shot?  Or when the Challenger space shuttle went
down?  No doubt you'll remember where you were today as well,
when you learned that the World Trade Center in New York City was
demolished by hijacked airplanes.

I'd just arrived at the office.  The story broke, and after
seeing that the news websites were hopelessly jammed, we grabbed some
radios and started listening.  With reports of further hijacked
airplanes and disasters, it was apparent that this would be an
ongoing saga and not just a single event.  El Presidente dismissed
everyone and I went home.

At home, after absorbing the sci-fi-esque images from television, I
was compelled to pray for the victims and their families.  Laura and
I gathered the kids together in the living room; my five year old
daughter sat on my lap and I explained to her in very simple terms
what had happened.  My voice broke as I prayed a simple prayer,
expressing the desperate need of this drama.

Of course it continues to unfold even as I write.  I need not
elaborate on the throbbing scene of victims already dead, those
trapped and desperate, those who narrowly escaped with burns and
severe injuries; shattered families, bereft spouses and children;
entire lives that will never be the same after today.

Yet thousands of people in other parts of the world are literally
celebrating this event.  In fact it is the crowning glory, the Magnum
Opus of some triumphant terrorist group.

One is sorely tempted to dismiss the terrorists and their supporters
as a wild aberration of human nature, the work of a deeply psychotic
individual.  And while there is truth in this, I have a very sincere
confession of my own to make: I've entertained daydreams of
blowing things up myself.  An inner violent streak, a knee-jerk
reaction to being slighted or offended that very, very few people
have ever seen.  How about you?  When the guy cuts you off in heavy
traffic, don't you want to retaliate too?

While there's a huge difference between thinking of it and doing
it, history and personal experience show us that such violence is
intrinsically human.  We may try to shrug this off as some
unfortunate artifact of our evolutionary past, but try giving that
explanation to a six-year-old boy whose daddy isn't coming home
from work tonight.

One of the most powerful movies of our time is Schindler's List.
There's a scene in this movie where a bunch of young thugs
viciously attack a helpless old man.  I remember realizing, "The
only difference between me and them is, my prejudices have been guarded
and suppressed, while theirs have been nurtured and cultivated.  But
fundamentally, they're just as human as I am."

Saint Paul reduced the human problem to one single powerful,
inescapable sentence: "All have sinned and fall short of the
Glory of God."

OK, so why am I interrupting my normally chipper marketing e-zine to
talk about this grim subject?

Other than the fact that it's an immediate, riveting, attention
getting headline event (which is a good enough reason for any
marketer to deviate from his routine), the lesson here is too vivid
not to miss.  I feel I'm morally obligated to call attention to
the larger lesson.

Recently I received an e-zine about `How to use the 7 deadly sins
in your marketing.'  The author explained how you can activate
the
emotions of Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Covetousness and
Sloth in your customers, via your advertising.  It was actually
fairly insightful, and there's no doubt that Madison Avenue has
completely mastered the exploitation of sin.  But the author was
totally oblivious to the true reality of vice and virtue.

How can we say anger, envy and pride are good in ourselves and our
customers, but bad in terrorists?  What's the difference?
Terrorists are customers too, for someone.

The truth is we've all got these vices, and the solution starts
with painful admission.  In the next days and weeks, people
everywhere will roll up their sleeves and begin to deal with the
painful aftermath.  You probably heard about hundreds of people lined
up around New York hospitals, volunteering to give blood.  There will
be many stories like that, and I hope to participate in some of those
myself.  But we must not forget what today's events also teach us
about the failings of human nature – and that we're all human.

J.R.R. Tolkein, author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings,
said, "Most people think they're a body that happens to have
a soul.  The truth is, we're all souls that happen to live in a
body."

Imagine the difference between those two perspectives, say, for
someone who's trapped in a burning building.  One must always be
prepared.

It's a bad news / good news deal: back to St. Paul again:
"The wages of sin is death [and we saw enough death today!] but
the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ."  Freedom
for the soul is free for the asking, all we have to do is admit the
failure of our humanity and our need for help.

Sincerely,

Perry

~~~

P.S.:  This afternoon I received warm condolences from a couple of
friends in Germany, as well as comments from my brother in China.
I'd like to share them with you:


"We all here in Germany abhor the things happen in the last hours.
You and all Americans will have the assistance from the Europe
population.

kind regards

    Uwe"
~~~

"Dear Perry,

I have heart it in the radio at first and I thought it was something
like the movie Independence Day.

It's real and I can't belive it.

I haven't the right word in my head but in my heart I have a strong
feeling of sorrow about the American Nation and all the people who
must die without sense.

I am so sorry - Hans-Juergen"

~~~

"All's fine here in Lijiang.

	 Got a phone call from an American friend about 10:20 p.m.
(10:20 a.m. Eastern time), telling the news and asking if he could
come watch CNN. I turned on the TV just in time to see the second
tower collapse, live.

	 He and 7 others arrived ... and sat in relative silence for
about two hours. No words can describe the emotions you feel - the
sadness with horror, perplexity and fear.

	 Now it's 3 a.m. Need some sleep but, like all of you, still
at peace knowing that the King of the Nations is so wise and good.

Bryan

"... Therefore we will not be afraid,
Though the whole earth should change,
Though the mountains should slide into the heart of the sea ..."

Bookstores are a favorite hangout of mine,
and I especially like the ever-popular Borders /
Barnes & Noble approach: Drink coffee,
listen to music, read whatever you want,
and stay as long as you like  Plus it's a
terrific place for a cheap date.

One the things I always like to do is grab
a few magazines about some unusual topic,
just to see what turns up.  There are hundreds
of magazines, so it's easy to find something I
know little about.  Nearly any magazine
represents a very narrowly focused interest
and audience, so it's always a window to an
interesting new microcosm.

Recent visits to the bookstore have
enlightened me to the worlds of others:
Asians living in the USA, connoisseurs
of romance novels, the punk rock
scene, writers from the deep south,
musicians who do ambitious multi-track
recording projects at home, Ferrari
owners and rifle collectors, to name a few.

Professionally I do a lot of work with
industry trade journals, and prior to that
I published articles for a hobby magazine,
written for guys who build stereo equipment.

And I've noticed something very consistently:

Generally the BEST advertising is found in
"enthusiast" magazines which center around
people's hobbies and personal interests.

Examples: The ads in "Guns & Ammo" consistently
convey passion for finely crafted firearms, the thrill
and challenge of chasing game in the wilderness.
Clearly written by guys who like to get in their
4X4 on the weekend in hot pursuit of game.

In "Electronic Musician" I saw a very well written
two page ad for a rather expensive Mackie 20 channel
mixing board.  It had lots of pictures and captions,
each describing very specific features and benefits;
the ad was written in 8 or 9 point font, lots of text.
It was clearly attempting to tell as much of their story
as possible.  I read most of the ad myself, even
though the chances of me purchasing such a product
anytime soon are less than zero.

Why?  It was interesting.  It educated me about
the finer points of such a product, why I should
care about seemingly unnecessary features like
"parametric EQ."  It described these things with very
relevant, emotionally charged copy.

Buyers like to be educated.  I know for a fact
that some people will read an ad like that from
beginning to end three of four times as
they receive multiple issues.  They may
not make a purchase until two years later, but I promise
you they'll remember the ad that educates them and
impresses them with the manufacturer's philosophy
and thought process - much longer than they'll remember
the beautiful glossy ad with a big picture and logo
and a short paragraph that really says almost nothing.

Those enthusiast driven magazines have the best
writing, the best stories AND the best ads, because
they're driven by passion.  I should mention that hobbyists
(ie home musicians) are usually pretty thrifty as well,
and spend their dollars very carefully.  The competition
is tough, and advertisers can't afford to be sloppy
with their message.

The WORST advertising is found in professional,
business-to-business trade publications.  Most of the
ads there are designed to impress, not educate.  They
usually succeed in doing neither.

Actually in a trade journal, if you can inform and
educate in an interesting way, you don't have to
buy an ad at all.  You can submit articles and
the editor will usually publish them, so long as
they don't blatantly "push" your product.

Next time you're reading a magazine about your
favorite 'thing' - whether it's golf, sports cars, heavy
metal music or stamp collecting - compare it to
some ho-hum trade magazine about database
management or plastic injection molding.  The
difference is dramatic.

The point to be made is that the trade journal
people can learn a lot from consumer magazines.
You can easily improve your advertising and
your message just by emulating the guys that
are passionate about what they do - the guys
who do it on the weekend for fun.

And if you do something that's "ho hum" like
plastic injection molding -- in an enthusiastic
way -- you'll stand head and shoulders above
all the other Larry Lunchbox types who are
just peddling another product.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you want to put your business on the Internet
but you've leery of the technical details and expense?
I've got a great package for small business owners
and organizations, under $300 for a custom,
professionally designed and hosted website for 1 year.
See http://www.usedtapes.com/site.asp

Sincerely,

Perry

Hey Folks,

I'm copying you on a really good piece of advice from Jeff Mayer.
What I like about this is a great tip on rubbing shoulders with
really successful people - by jumping in and helping them out 'behind
the scenes.'  It's easier than you may think to do what Jeff
describes here - almost everyone can use an extra hand.  And of
course sometimes the crumbs that 'fall off their table' can take you
a long way.

Enough from me... Here's Jeff.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PASSION, FOCUS & COMMITMENT
by Jeffrey J. Mayer

Two years ago I met Albert Mensah - http://www.QuestForYourBest.com.
Albert had just placed 2nd in Toastmaster's "World's Greatest
Speaker" contest.

Several hours later I happened to see him walking around. I offered
him congratulations for doing so well, and asked him this question:
"How will you leverage your success in this contest?"

He didn't have an answer, but as we spoke he realized that he wanted
to become "The World's Greatest Speaker."

Over the next two years, Albert's worked as hard as anybody I've ever
met. He's learned his craft by speaking for almost anyone, at any
time, in any place.

He would speak at local schools; breakfast, lunch and dinner
meetings; and local charities - for FREE.

He wanted the practice, the experience, the exposure.
And most importantly...

He knew that there would always be someone in the audience who would
need to hire a professional speaker. And he was right. He always got
a handful of paying jobs from his free speeches.

He wanted to learn from the pros. So he called people like Les Brown,
and asked when he would next be in Seattle. When Les said he would
be in San Diego the following week, Albert asked if he could help
with the back of the room setup, and flew down to help Les out.

When he introduced himself, Les invited him to dinner, and added
"What would you like to know?"

When he found that professional speakers were coming into Seattle,
he would offer to pick them up at the airport. Why? To learn from
them.

Albert's done this over and over, with some of the brightest,
smartest and most successful people. He has learned his craft from
the Best-Of-The-Best.

[Reprinted with permission from "Jeffrey Mayer's Succeeding In
Business Newsletter. (Copyright, 2001, Jeffrey J. Mayer, Succeeding
In Business, Inc.) To subscribe to Jeff's free newsletter, visit
http://www.SucceedingInBusiness.com.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Doug, an equipment sales representative, hired me for a consulting
session over lunch.  He was struggling to overcome the long sales
cycle that is typical of his market, as well as fighting the
credibility problem that a "small guy" naturally has when
he's competing with big companies.  He's in a business where
a mistake can cost a customer big money, so customers are skeptical of
"small guys."

I discovered that he's held a number of jobs where he installed
the kind of equipment that he is now selling.  He has some expertise
that could certainly save people money.  Selling that expertise would
help his cash flow and raise his credibility.

My advice to him was to add a "consulting department" to his
business.  That is not difficult to do since he is something of an
expert already.  (Most people ARE an expert in something, they just
don't realize it.  What about you???)

The problem is, when you're a salesman, people view that
expertise with a jaundiced eye.  They figure you've got an
ulterior motive, even if your advice is solid.

I told him the way to overcome that is to write articles for trade
magazines (industry-insider publications serving the business-to-
business needs of specific professions) and become a resource for
those reporters and editors.

After customers read your name enough times, they just assume
you're an expert (which is probably true anyway) and your
perceived value automatically goes up.  You can sell as a consultant
instead of as a salesman.

This is easier than you think.  Trade magazines are a bit different
than newspapers and news stand subscription magazines.  They're
usually free to qualified subscribers, supported entirely by
advertising, and they have thin editorial budgets.

When a reporter needs information, often the subscribers (users)
won't talk.  That's because their competitors are all reading
the same magazine, and they don't want to give their secrets
away.

So most of the time, reporters have to turn to manufacturers
(vendors / suppliers / advertisers) for expertise.

This naturally creates a credibility problem for the magazine,
because it's just interviewing all their advertisers.  It
reinforces the impression that the magazine is just a thinly
disguised, incestuous marketing medium.  (Not that this impression is
always false, you understand!)

A "small guy" like Doug then is a perfect resource for
reporters, because he's a more `politically neutral'
information
source.  He's a local or regional specialist, not a big
manufacturer.  All he's got to do is get in front of them on a
regular basis with press releases, articles and useful information.

Pretty soon they'll call him with questions and quote him in
their stories.  They'll refer to him as a "specialist" or
"systems consultant" or whatever he calls himself.

So he grows a collection of articles and quotations from these
magazines and re-cycles them: Sends them to customers and includes
them in his literature.  That's how a salesman becomes a
celebrated industry expert.

*  *  *  *

Many of my newsletter subscribers know they should have a website,
but don't.  They don't want to muddle through all the
technical details, and they know that hiring a company to build a
site for them will cost thousands of dollars.

I was discussing this with my webmaster, Vivek.  So he put together a
special "getting started" package that looks like this: You
get a
domain name of your choice ( www.YourName.com ) AND 5 email
addresses ( such as You@... ) AND a functioning website for
one year AND the services of a professional webmaster (Vivek) for one
year.  Vivek will literally build the site according to your needs
and maintain it for you for one year.

It only costs you $299.  That averages out to $25 per month, less
than $1 per day.

That's ridiculously cheap, you say.

That is correct.

How is this possible?

First, Vivek operates from India, where solid expertise and web
hosting services are much less expensive.  That's the main thing.

The other thing is that there are some limitations within this
special price:

1) At this price, the site can have 10 web pages max.  (Which is
probably enough to tell your business story, don't you think?)
2) The price includes 2 updates per month after the site is
built.
3) Standard html only, no fancy stuff like live databases –
that's extra.
4) Vivek's a very busy guy and he can only take a very limited
number of new customers.

You ask: Will this be cheesy and unreliable?

No, it won't.  In my humble opinion the www.usedtapes.com site Vivek
built for me is sharp and runs like a well oiled machine, see for
yourself.  Your site will be professional and reliable.

With a deal like that, you can't lose.  Many of you will get back
the $299 investment just by getting one or two new customers, right?

Contact Vivek at vivek@... and you can discuss the
possibilities with him.  I don't know of a better deal out there!

Sincerely,

Perry

Four years ago, my wife Laura bought me a special fathers day gift:
A live concert ticket to see a band I'd been hoping to catch for a
long, long time.  It was a cool summer evening at the Indianapolis
Deer Creek Theatre, an open air concert venue.  On stage: Rush, one
of music's most enduring rock bands, on tour after a 4 year hiatus.

Rush consists of three musicians, but my attention was drawn to center
stage, where drummer Neil Peart - widely regarded as "the Michael
Jordan of Percussion" - displayed astonishing skill for three
unrelenting hours of musical virtuosity.

I had always liked Rush's music and admired Neil's percussion
in particular.  Rush's music is intense, complex and abstract.
It is puncuated by constant key, lyric and time signature changes.
No two measures are ever identical.  Peart weaves a complex tapestry
of fills, transitions, point and counterpoint with hairsplitting
precision and technical prowess.

For some reason I'd always just assumed that he was improvising
as he played.  That notion quickly evaporated as I watched and
listened that night.

I roughly calculate that during those three hours of music, he played
over 100,000 "notes" on his drum kit, and what was not clear to me
before, just listening to CD's, was plainly obvious in person: Every
time those sticks hit the cymbals, drum skins or bells, it was 100%
memorized, planned and rehearsed, down to the millisecond.  ALL of
it.

Quite frankly, I've NEVER seen any musician so focused and
concentrated as he was.  It was as though the bass and guitar
player and his drums were the only objects in the entire universe.

The total effect was awe inspiring.  The most spellbinding moment was
during a spectacular drum solo -- not a self indulgant orgy of
frenetic activity, but a ten minute performance of driving, eclectic
rythms and melodic skill.  A montage of Fred Astaire and Ginger
Rogers film clips on the video screen behind him synchronized with a
three part composition.  A mesmerized audience clapped in time with a
rock solid groove, as he punctuated energized night air with
perfectly executed, awe inspiring cadences.

If a world-famous, professional musician with 30+ years of
experience, millions of dollars of equipment and a likely excess of
natural talent not only shows up to work exquisitely, exhaustively
prepared and rehearsed, but ALSO works with such intense
concentration that it makes a remarkable impression on me from
the 28th row, then the rest of us mere mortals had better be
prepared when we show up to give a sales presentation.

Now don't get me wrong - you don't have to be anal about it.  Actually
since sales is a two way conversation, and since the customer should
be talking MORE than you, there's bound to be improvisation.  But DO
NOT 'wing it'!  Even if Neal Peart was making it up as he went along -
- even if he was playing random requests from the audience of Beatles
and Beach Boys Cover tunes, he would still be operating with hundreds
of well-practiced rythms, transitions and fills, putting the larger
pieces together on the spot, and NOT having to think very much about
the granular details.

And so should it be for you.  You should know the objections and your
answers.  You should know all the elements of your message and your
road map.  You should be able to take your presentation apart, put
it back together ten different ways, and start anywhere in the middle
whenever you wake from a deep sleep.

***

I'd like to introduce you to my webmaster, Vivek Samyal.  Vivek
is the brains behind http://www.usedtapes.com, which 'under the hood'
is a pretty complex beast.  He's a very skilled web designer,
programmer and database specialist who does conscientous,
quality work.

For the remainder of the summer, Vivek is available to help a handful
of clients.  If you're interested in creating a new website, or
improving an existing one, Vivek can help.

He can build anything from a 2-3 page, simple site to something
elaborate and complex with live databases, memberships, and
interactive content.

Vivek is very patient.  He'll always make sure you get exactly what
you're looking for, even if he has to re-work something a couple of
times.  Plus he can help you with other issues like name
registration, hosting etc. etc. which a lot of people get hung up on
when they're starting out.

Here's what you should do right now:

Send an email to vivek with a detailed description of what you are
looking for, and he will give you a price and schedule estimate.
His email address is web@...

Vivek will probably only take on the first 2 or 3 people who get
to him first.  He's already working on two different projects for
me, and he's got a growing family (baby on the way) which
will naturally cut down on the number of new projects he can
take.  So if you want him to help you, you better email him
RIGHT NOW!

Have a great 4th of July weekend!

Perry

A few weeks ago my wife Laura took our three small children to Friday Night
Story Time at Borders Bookstore.  The kids went in their pajamas and a lady read
stories to them (which is a great customer attractor, by the way!)

My oldest son, Cuyler, who's two and a half, is strong willed and has a very
short attention span.  This night was no different than any other – the lady
read the books while Cuyler wandered all over the children's section of the
store, pulling things off of shelves, pressing buttons on the electronic books
that make sounds, doing everything but listening.

That is, until she started reading a book called “No, David!”

Cuyler was instantly mesmerized.  He walked over to the lady and stood right in
front of her, looking at the pictures and listening to her tell the story, until
she was completely finished.

In this book, David's mom shouts “No, David!” while he reaches for the cookie
jar, tracks mud on the white carpet, sloshes water out of the bathtub, runs
naked down the street, bangs on pots and pans, plays with his food, eats with
his mouth wide open, picks his nose, plays baseball in the house, and breaks a
vase of fresh flowers.

This lady was reading Cuyler his diary!  This book was like, a 5 minute slice of
his own life.  And he was drinking in every word.

Then at the end:  David's mother says, “Davey, come here.”

You turn the page, and…

David gets a great big cuddle from mom, who says, “Yes, David, I love you!”

Cuyler REALLY likes that part.  A LOT.  Whenever I read him this book (we bought
it for him, of course) the names “David” and “Cuyler” are interchangeable.  I
get to the end of the book and say “Yes Cuyler, I love you!” and he giggles and
snuggles with me and loves every minute of it.

Bottom line: This simple book has just 60 words and 19 beautiful illustrations,
yet it totally captivated a two year old boy.  Heck, even I relate to it!

Why?  Because it tells Cuyler about David.  And Cuyler is just like David. 
Cuyler feels the same way David feels.  It read Cuyler his diary, the one about
his daily dose of No's, then reassured him that his mommy still loves him.

What you must know is that “No David!” embodies the very essence of “Magnetic
Marketing.”  I'm not simplifying things one bit when I say that what works in
sales, works for all of the same reasons that Cuyler likes this book.  “No
David” starts with empathy and ends by addressing very basic, keenly felt fears
and desires.

When your sales message contains both of those ingredients, it's bound to work. 
If those ingredients are missing, it won't work, no matter how 'impressive' you
think it is.

You can learn more about “Magnetic Marketing” by clicking on
http://www.usedtapes.com/mm.

* * * * *

I'm about to tell you about one of my best website and software development
secrets.

This is a strategy that Microsoft and many other large software companies use
extensively.  I use it too.

The secret is simple: Spend your time on marketing, not building web pages. 
Don't do it yourself, and don't hire it out to some marketing or graphics agency
either.

Have it done by someone in a FOREIGN COUNTRY.  (Yes, Microsoft has a lot of
software development done in places like India, Russia and Hungary.  Technical
Support for Hotmail is done from the Philippines!)

By the way, most of those Dot Coms who burned through millions of dollars and
failed, never figured this out.  Some companies spend many, many millions of
dollars building websites.  Now that is almost unimaginable to me, because I DO
know how to build a website, and it's not that hard to do.  It certainly
shouldn't cost hundreds of millions of dollars!

But either way, it IS a time consuming and/or expensive activity for a busy
entrepreneur.

Website development typically costs $50 to $100 per hour in the US, more if you
have it done by a large, well-known company.  Hard core software development (C,
Visual Basic, Information Technology apps, Databases, etc.) costs more than
that, typically $100 to $200 per hour.

But not in INDIA!

You can hire a very skilled Indian webmaster or software developer for one third
to one tenth what it would cost you in the US.  And since email makes the world
a very small place, it doesn't make much difference whether your webmaster lives
in Baltimore or Bangalore.

(Actually, Bangalore is even better, because when you send him an email at 5PM
US time, he receives it a couple of hour later when he starts work, and will
probably get back to you before you arrive to work the next day.)

So, you ask, how do I find a good webmaster or software developer in India?  And
isn't it rather complicated to administrate this?  And how do I know who I can
trust?

All I can tell you is the name of a young engineer that I've been working with
for the last 2 years.  His name is Vivek, and he built my website,
www.usedtapes.com.

I should explain something about my site: It's much more complex than a typical
website, because it runs a sophisticated database program that handles passwords
and user registrations for classified ads – visitors actually interact with it. 
And Vivek did a very good job with this project.  Another site which Vivek
built, a more conventional html site, is www.futureach.com.

Vivek can built a standard website for you, maintain it, plus provide domain
name registration and hosting (i.e. the ENTIRE package deal) for just a few
hundred dollars per year.  A sophisticated website is more, but not by a huge
amount.

Are you one of those people who STILL doesn't have a site yet?  Or are you
wasting your time fooling around with your PC instead of developing your
marketing message and SELLING?  If so, Vivek might be just the guy you need.  Or
some of you might want to produce a CD-ROM for your company, or write some
“real” software, and you cringe at how much this could cost you.

Why not get a quotation from him?  You can get in touch with Vivek by sending an
email to web@....  He's responsive, talented and honest.  He gets my
highest recommendation.  I really don't think you can do better than this.

Sincerely,

Perry

Have you ever thought about writing a book? It is not as difficult as it might
seem. Sign up for our FREE course and we'll show you how you can write a book in
as little as two weeks.  Visit
http://www.writeabooknow.com/welcome/write113now

My friend Jimmy is a fighter if I've ever seen one.  20 years ago he
was literally a street fighter on Chicago's south side.  Then, at the
age of 23, Jimmy waged a fierce battle with cancer and won.  He came
away with scars, but recently at age 38 he got a new lease on life:
the medical report said there's still no cancer.

His confrontation with life and death clarified his understanding of
winning and losing.  Consequently he's one of the finest sales people
I've ever seen in action, and certainly THE most talented sales
person I've worked with personally.  Right now he's in the process of
slamdunking a $5 million / year long term contract with a large
corporation.

(One of these days I'll convince him to make himself available to
you, my clients, for consulting...)

Here's what Jimmy has to say regarding sales in a team environment:

I believe contingency plans at best add uncertainty and at worst add
a degree of chaos to any situation, where a measure of agility is
needed.

My beliefs are based on fighting an ugly disease and the side affects
caused from fighting... and anything else I have ever done.  I want
each of us to be well off in every way - unbelievably successful...
and I don't want anyone else to know when we make it.... like
the "quiet professionals" Special Force personnel aim to be.

Below are some insights gained while reading "Special Forces" by Tom
Clancy.  SF's look for agility... because of the extreme
circumstances they find themselves in.  I feel these are identical to
what any successful sales team needs.

"Flexibility means you can adapt, change; it means you are not rigid
or hidebound... but it is a reactive characteristic...  A way of
responding to problems or situations rather than mastering them."

"Agility is a proactive quality...  Those who have it have an edge in
almost every situation..."
[i.e it means to master and pursue...]

"Agile people are hard to find in every aspect of life...  Agile
people are often seen as rebels, mavericks, or misfits... and usually
to the detriment of ... a long-term career."

Yet, these are the type of people who are needed in sales ... and
especially in a start-up situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Can I do a little bragging?

If you were to ask Jimmy:

"Who knows more than anybody about getting LOTS of sales
leads for not much money?"

He'll tell you:  Ask Perry.  He's the king of sales leads.

And much of what I learned about THAT subject, I learned from Dan
Kennedy.  You can turbo charge your marketing efforts
with an ongoing dose of expertise from Dan: see
http://www.usedtapes.com/mm/

Sincerely,

Perry

Are you too busy to read fiction?

Want to understand people?  How they
think?  What makes them tick?
What makes them human?

Read a novel.

In college, my English professor Dr.
Knoll was the best professor I'd ever
had by a country mile.  As a matter of
fact, he was the best teacher I've ever
had, before or since.  67 years old, a mind
sharp as a razor, a gifted communicator
who could bring profound insight to almost
any subject.  Probably the most "well read"
person I've ever met.

Dr. Knoll had a very interesting bit
of advice for prospective medical
students.  "Read lots of NOVELS," he
would say. "Don't kid yourself that
being a doctor is about technical
stuff.  A good doctor understands
PEOPLE.  Novels, fiction and literature
teach you about people.  70% of patients
problems are mental not physical,
at least indirectly.

Medical schools turn out medical
researchers.  And medical research
has nothing to do with the real
cause of most people's `medical'
problems."

If this is good advice for a doctor,
then it's a rock solid recommendation
for marketers and salespeople.  Advice
I'd ignored for a long time, by the
way, until my wife plunked a novel
down in my lap last month and said,
"Perry, you HAVE to read this book."

She finally got through to me.  She's
been reminding me that I spend too
much time working and not enough time
enjoying the good things in life.
Kind of like that line from `The Shining'
by Stephen King: ALL WORK AND NO PLAY
MAKES JACK A DULL BOY.

Just in case you can't figure out what
to read, here are three fiction titles
I've read recently.  All three of these
were books I couldn't put down once I
was into them:

Foreign Bodies by Hwee Hwee Tan – Set
in Singapore, a story of a young man
framed for a crime he didn't commit,
and his friends efforts to reverse
the circumstances.  Insightfully Asian,
totally "Generation X", and stunningly
well written by a 23 year old woman.
An angular metaphysical theme probes
GenX's search for meaning in a cynical
world.

The Street Lawyer by John Grisham – A
yuppie lawyer in Washington DC has a
near scrape with death and gets exposed
to the hidden reality of homeless people,
which jolts him into quitting his job and
fighting for an invisible class of people
that gets pushed and shoved by the
oblivious middle and upper classes.
This book draws together two REAL worlds
that you may never otherwise experience:
big city, big time law firms (which
Grisham writes about with great skill) and
the hidden world of soup kitchens and
homeless shelters.

Dreamcatcher by Stephen King – The
undisputed ruler of the horror genre
and one of the finest novelists of our
time, Stephen King weaves a complex
tapestry of masterful character development,
colorful and cutting dialogue, multiple
subplots, gripping suspense and mind
bending abstraction.  This book is
about the invasion of an alien in
the mind of the book's hero, and
his deadly race to save humanity
from a lethal virus.

(This book was a birthday gift from
my wife, who wrote inside the cover,
"Because you need more pleasure in
your life.")

I've read all of these books inside
a span of thirty days.  Fiction reads
much faster than non-fiction.  But for
those of you who think it's a waste of
time, here's something to consider.

All of these books, particularly
Dreamcatcher and Foreign Bodies,
develop multiple three dimensional,
lifelike characters with great
skill.  The conversations are so
realistic, the description so
superb, that you are irresistibly
drawn into the story.  You experience
compelling empathy with the characters
in the story.

I dare say that very few copywriters
and advertising people –
even the superstars that earn $25,000
per sales letter – can actually
write as well as the top novelists.
But what's good about their copywriting
is the same stuff that's good about a
novel – it has so many emotional triggers,
so much empathy and so much humanity
that the reader gets absorbed in the story.

And yes, good advertising copy always tells
a story.

Novels will stimulate your imagination
like nothing else, and they WILL sharpen
your writing.  NOT a waste of time.  And
can I tell you something else I've
discovered?   Similar to my "pink
Cadillac theory of killer sales people,"
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smartmarketing/message/19 )
I've found that most good sales people and
marketers are avid readers too.

***

4 years ago this month, I was desperately
struggling with a number of difficult factors –
wrong product, wrong message, wrong
understanding of `sales psychology' –
the commission checks were actually
declining, and I was going deeper in
debt.  I went to "Success 97" in Peoria,
Illinois, and purchased Dan Kennedy's
Magnetic Marketing Kit.  Within a year's
time, it literally turned my sales
career around.

This week I have a very special offer
to make to my subscribers: I got my
hands on a very small number of Dan
Kennedy Magnetic Marketing Kits –
complete with the outstanding Midas
Touch tapes and a six month Kennedy
Inner Circle membership with a series
of genuinely powerful bonuses.

If you've been thinking about increasing
your sales effectiveness with smart
marketing, it's time to stop procrastinating.
Click on www.usedtapes.com/mm to find
out all about it.  And please remember:
once these are gone, they're gone!

Sincerely,

Perry