Brain Dead Phone Messages

Have you ever tried calling yourself to see what happens?

No, this isn't an existential meandering. It is a customer service rant.

I had to return phone calls to three people and here's what I heard:

1. A fax beep. Please disconnect your fax machine from your phone line. Nothing is worse than hearing the shrill fax siren in your ear. Okay, maybe a paper cut is worse.

2. Dial the person's extension. That might be fine IF the person actually left an extension number to dial. If you leave a phone message, leave your extension number. Otherwise you'll hear the phone directory from hell.

3. "Please enter the person's first name." Have you ever had the greeting that lets you ask for the person by their first name? Sounds cool until you realize there are about 37 ways to spell Jennifer. And if your name is Rick, but people know you are Richard, they'll never find you. Simple solution: leave your extension number or direct dial number. After all, you left a message for them to call you -- why are you making it difficult do to so?

3. Long advertisements for your seminars. It is one thing to say your are an author or a speaker, or visit www.mycompany.com. But don't launch into a 3-minute ad for your seminar. I timed it.
If a reporter can't get hold of you fast, they won't try again. Same for your customers.


Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Have you ever been misquoted?

When I was in journalism school, the first thing the professors had us do was interview a classmate. It helped to build rapport with other students and let us practice our new interviewing skills.

But it also gave us a shocking insight into the news writing process.

There wasn't a person in the room who didn't think they were misquoted!

Why was that? After all, we students had no need to intentionally misquote someone.

It was because people don't always express themselves clearly and reporters don't always hear clearly either!

I wish there was a way to improve human communications, but I'm sure you'll agree that everyone from your boss to your kids misunderstand you from time to time. Why shouldn't reporters?

Oh well, not to make light of the situation, because it is very serious if the reporter mispresents you. So the question of the day is, "Have you ever been misquoted and what did you do about it?" Please submit your responses to the blog for everyone's benefit.


Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Space Mountain: The Final Frontier of Peer Pressure

Remember the first time you drove a car?

Wasn't it the biggest day in your life?

Same is true for my niece who is 9-years old and just drove her first car at Disney World's go kart ride.

She was really thrilled because:
1. She was 51 and 7/8 inches and the sign said you had to be 52 inches. She just passed by standing up very, very straight.

2. She could do it and her sister, who is a year younger, couldn't.

3. She could drive for the first time -- and it wasn't just a kiddie bumper car ride.

However, her enthusiasm passed when she realized that her friends back home told her the best ride was "Space Mountain," the roller coaster ride with a long, long line.

I'm not sure she really likes roller coasters, but she sure does react to her peers. And if they say sitting in a roller coaster and holding on is better than driving a car for the first time, then who am I to argue?

Space Mountain was all she could talk about.

So if you are marketing to the under 10 set, remember that peer pressure is the big factor, not internal motivation.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

My, what big ears you have.. The better to brand Disney, my dear

When I was growing up in the 60's perhaps the biggest status symbol was a Mickey Mouse hat. You know, the black beanie with the big ears and your name stitched on the front.

It was the sign that your family went far away to the best theme park in the world.

People wore their ears with a badge of honor. Yes, they looked like dorks outside the Magic Kingdom, but the power is in the brand. They wore crowns.

You could see them coming with the big ears and their name stitched in front.

What great branding!

But the minds at Disney thought: How can we make this even better?

They did.

Now they have a distinctive logo on the front of the hat: the Mickey Mouse Club. Or a leprechaun in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Or one of several other Disney themes and characters.

What happened to the wearer's name?

It is still available, for an extra fee, to be stitched on the back of the beanie.

Call me crazy, but I have to hand it to Disney. They weren't happy by just branding the cap with the ears. They had to put another picture or logo on the front to reinforce the message.

I guess I'm still a traditionalist, but I'd rather they kept the black hats the way they were. But times change and if people want pink caps or tie-died caps or gold caps, them let them.

I just admire Disney for leaving no real estate unbranded.

Speaking of which, there is a utility pole with wires that looks like the Mickey Mouse logo with the ears. That's right. They are tied in with the utility grid. But instead of having a dull cross-pole, their pole looks like their logo. Absolutely brilliant. My beanie is off to you folks at Disney!


Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

It's a small world after all

My favorite ride at Disneyland is "Its A Small World" which features a cute song and thousands of puppets that portray the peoples of the world. I'm delighted that my nieces and nephew liked it so much they wanted to go on it a second time. Fortunately, there was no line and we even stayed in the same waterboat.

As we entered the ride and heard the music playing, I could hear a woman in the row behind me take out her cell phone and call someone. That's right. In the middle of the ride, she calls someone. Then she hands to phone to each family member on the ride so they could talk to grandma or whoever was the mystery caller.

I couldn't believe that she felt it was more important to call someone than to experience the ride -- and to interrupt her family's experience of the ride to talk to someone.

Couldn't she wait until the ride was over? For pete's sake, the lines at Disney are long enough that you could call everyone in your phone book while killing time on a ride! But no, she had to call DURING the ride.

Wait a second, folks, I'm not ranting here. Well, I am, but I really have a point to make and it is probably the most important point I'll make all year. I'm that serious.

Because of what she did and when she did it, I finally realized that we are undergoing a sea change in communications.

For her, it was MORE important to SHARE the experience with someone who was not there than to enjoy the experience as presented by the provider, Disney. She could have called grandma before the ride or after the ride, but no, she felt it was important for grandma to hear the music and maybe even see a photo if her cell phone was equipped with a camera (aren't they all?) AND to have her children talk to grandma during the experience.

For her, this phone call ENHANCED the experience! (Forget my displeasure in overhearing the conversation. I think we can all agree that cell phone users don't care what happens to people around them who can listen in on their private calls).

I'm not sure what to make of her, frankly. But I do see her as the point person for a new trend that is changing human interaction (I told you this would be heavy).

The signs were all around me and I failed to see them for what they really were:

I've seen people like her at baseball games who will call their friends at home to tell them they are at the game.

I've seen people like her at baseball games who will call their friends who are AT the game and stand up and wave to them -- with their backs to the field so they can't even see the game!

I've been a maniac in thinking these people were rude rubes who have no life.

But I made the mistake of lumping the people who drive their car and talk on the cell phone along with the people in the waiting rooms who talk at the top of their lungs with the people who are at an event and make a phone call.

Now I realize that I've missed the landmark a hundred times over.

These people are creating their own experience with their friends and families by using their cell phones.

I'm not sure what to make of this. Are they self-centered egotists? Are they so family oriented they block out the world? Are they bragging to their friends that they are here and you are not? Are they sharing the experience with a bed-ridden relative who can take pleasure in the event because they are being thought of at this very precious moment?

I really don't know. All I know is that something BIG is going on and it will affect everything we do.

We are becoming a cell phone nation and its implications for changing human interaction is huge.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Disneyland Trilogy:

I took my nieces (ages 9 and 8) and nephew (age 4) to Disney World the other day. As the ad says, "Tickets, $300, airfare, $500, hotel $200, food $100, souvenirs, $50. The experience was priceless.

I also learned a few valuable marketing lessons which I'll share in three other posts to this blog.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Free Publishing Teleseminar: 60 Tips in 60 Minutes

If you're a speaker, consultant, or expert, publishing is one of the most powerful tools in your marketing toolkit!

Join Us As We Reveal 60 Tips to Building a BOOMING Business Around Your Books!

Please join us for our FREE Teleseminar...
Click here to reserve your spot:

This teleseminar is at no cost. But you MUST register to reserve your place and get the call details:


http://snipurl.com/seminar60book

===
Building Your Business Through Publishing with David Newman and Steven Rowell:
60 Tips in 60 Minutes
===
Thursday, March 16, 2006

2 PM (Eastern)
1 PM (Central)
Noon PM (Mountain)
11 AM (Pacific)

Sign Up Now!



=== About David and Steven ===
Steven Rowell began his corporate career with Disney and then moved on to create his own successful consulting firm.

His proudest accomplishment, however, was his success in writing his book, "Clean is Not Enough!" and watching that book build his business to an all-time high in 2005.

Steven is known among other speakers, experts and consultants as "The Idea Doctor" because of his amazing ability to see the connections between publishing, passion, and profit.

David Newman helps people start a business, and helps businesspeople grow their business. David has written 7 self-published books and has #8 coming from HRD Press this Spring. His 9th book is sitting with an agent and is right now under consideration by two of the largest business book publishers in the country.

David has also built his business around his books, including speaking, training, and 1-on-1 consulting.

As managing partners of I'm Booked(tm) Partners LLC, (http://www.imbooked.com) David and Steven spend a lot of their time helping authors and experts create, market, publicize, monetize, and sell their books in new and interesting ways.

Learn firsthand from the co-founders of The BookCamp(tm) 60 valuable rapid-fire tips that you need to know to accelerate your publishing savvy and build your business around your expertise.

This teleseminar is at no cost. But you MUST register to reserve your place and get the call details:


http://snipurl.com/seminar60book

If you can't attend, perhaps you'd like to order the CD for just $19.95
http://snipurl.com/cd60book

Or order the transcript for just $9.99
http://snipurl.com/transcript60



Hope you can join us for the call!

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Referrals the right way with Bob Burg and Ivan Misner

Bob Burg, author of "Endless Referrals" did a teleseminar with Great Teleseminars the other day and interviewed Dr. Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI, the largest professional networking group in the world.

They shattered myths about networking and offered tips on doing it the right way.

I took away these pointers:

- Networking is farming, not hunting. You are planting seeds to build relationships for the future.

- People might not need to buy your services today. But they will remember you for the future when they do.

- Build trust and sales will come.

- Ask how they started their business. It is a great conversation starter.

- Don't ask the "what causes you the most pain?" which many other books do. People don't feel comfortable talking about their problems yet.

- Networking is about giving and helping, not about passing out business cards and asking for business.

Bob has started the "Endless Referrals Club," a series of teleseminars produced by Great Teleseminars in which he interviews many leading thinkers who can help you build your business.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.PRLEADS.com

Howard Sterm Takes on CBS

Howard Stern. Love him or hate him, he undoubtedly lives up to his claim of being "The King of All Media."

He is taking on CBS now. Who cares what the legal details are? I don't care.

The point is that when he found out that he was being sued, he started attacking CBS. He took the lead. He set the agenda. He put CBS on the defensive.

No one is better at playing David vs. Goliath than Howard Stern.

He took on the FCC.

Now he's taking on CBS.

And he always come out on top.

What can you learn from Howard Stern?

Experts like to stand on a high hill. Maybe it is better to play the underdog and fight against windmills.

What can this mean for people who are trying to change the world?

Look at Ralph Nader. That is, look at the Ralph Nader of the 1960's when he took on the entire automobile industry when he crusaded for safety in vehicles. He played the David vs. the car maker's Goliath.

He won.

If you want to battle titans (as I know some of you are trying to do) look to these two unlikely heroes for inspiration.


Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Media training tips from John DiPietro

Coming from a news media background, I have a pretty good idea of how the mind of a reporter works. They can be very skeptical and cynical people.

During the time I have been a client of yours, I have had some good success in getting call backs and interviews from queries that I have responded to. The other thing is this:

I ALWAYS DID RESEARCH ON THE WRITER PRIOR TO THE INTERVIEW.

I always read one of their other pieces, then COMMENTED ON IT TO THEM. This brought me into a more friendly relationship with them. If you ever want to do a tele-gig on pre-interview homework, I would be happy to do one with you.

I think that the research I did on the two people who interviewed me yesterday really did some good!


John DiPietro
Author, Speaker, Marketer
www.johndipietro.com
508 829 9949
Author of "You Don't Have to be Perfect to be Great!"


Thanks, John.

What tips do you have to gain favorable attention from the media? I'll post the best ones here!


Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Coaching Wizards Teleseminar Presents Larina Kase, psychologist

Build Your Own


6-Figure Coaching Business


Presents... Larina Kase



Dan Janal interviews Larina Kase -- psychologist

Seminar date: March 2, 3. 2006, 2-3 p.m. EST USA
These seminars are great for anyone running a personal services business -- like coaching or consulting.



Register for the teleseminar here:





Click on this link to order the CD for $19.95.




Are you visual? Order the transcript for just $9.95.

Click on this link to order the transcript





Larina will share her insights on these questions:

Demographic

1. What is the focus of your coaching practice?
2. What is the primary benefit your clients receive?
3. How long have you been a coach?
4. Why did you want to be a coach?

Self-Actualization

5. What is the most rewarding part of being a coach?
6. What is the most frustrating part of being a coach?

Starting your business

7. Many people morph into coaching from some other job. What were you before you were a coach?
8. How did this background help you become a good coach?
9. How long were you a coach before you started making a full-time income from coaching?

Marketing your business in the early stages

10. What were some of the biggest mistakes you made when you started your coaching business and how did you overcome them?
11. What marketing mistakes did you make?
12. What were some of the best moves you made regarding marketing?
13. What mistakes did you make in managing (administration) the business?
14. What were some of the best moves you made regarding managing the business

Pricing your services

15. How did you set your fees? Hourly? Project or Value based?
16. How did you come to that decision?
17. How did you justify those prices to clients who are unfamiliar with the prices of coaches?

Growing your business

18. How do you get new business?
19. How do you keep current clients?
20. Do you think you run your business differently than other coaches? If so, how?
21. What roles do advertising, websites, ezines and blogs play in your business, if any?
22. What role does referral marketing play in your business, if any?
23. Do you host seminars or retreats?
24. Is speaking a part of your business growth strategy. If so, please 18. explain your goals.
19. Is book writing/publishing part of your growth plan? Please explain why it is or isn’t.

Managing your business

26. How many hours a week do you work?
27. Percentagewise, how much time do you spend on clients/marketing/administration/other business pursuits?
28. Do you have a staff – onsite or virtual?
29. What tasks do they perform?
30. What advice do you have for managing them?

Balancing your life

31. How do you balance your work life and your personal life?
32. Do you have any children living at home?
33. Are you married? Does your spouse play a role in your business?

Final Thoughts

What would you tell a coach who is starting out, on a dark, dreary day when everything looks bleak?


Register for the teleseminar here:

Click on this link to order the CD for $19.95.

Are you visual? Order the transcript for just $9.95.

Click on this link to order the transcript