July
2

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You’ve seen em. With apologies to the legendary Ron Popeil I’m going to have to throw a bit of a typhoon on this parade.

Marketing gurus love to play with the analogy and for the most part suck eggs at it. In my own twisted sense, I tend to tear into bad analogies like a freshly shucked ear of corn. Can you relate? Sure you can, because I’m good at this stuff.

What does the term “autopilot” mean to you? I picture a 757 from the front end in frame one with two goofy pilots holding their arms over their heads shouting “look mom, no hands.” Frame Grab 2 sees smoke in the cockpit and those same hands working feverishly to fix the problem. You can fill in the third frame anyway you would like. If you remember the psychology test I wanted you to take way back at the beginning of this adventure, you’ll have an idea how you’d probably end this story. In any event, draw your own conclusions as for me, the story is always more entertaining than the ending.

I like to give the devil his due, so here goes. For very established businesses replete with huge customer or subscriber bases, certain aspects of business are better handled through the likes of autoresponders. Do autoresponders increase your business by 400% as I saw somewhere? Probably not. I wrote recently about embracing technology as it related to an RSS discussion. To be sure, technological advances have made internet business (and business in general) much more powerful and manageable. The simplicity and power of loading up an autoresponder with 10, 12 or 25 messages and setting it to deliver to a subscriber base is a powerful thing. Personally, I’ve tried some different systems and would highly recommend AWeber if you’re ready to try this approach. With the Devil crunching joyously on that kibble, let’s discuss why I don’t personally use these devices…shh….don’t look at him directly…just let him crunch away…and come with me.

What’s the biggest voting block of people in the US today? What’s the biggest purchasing power group in the US today? They are one and the same and no, it’s not teens or yesterday’s X, Y or whatever letter we’re up to generation. Give up? Odds are, you’re one of em.

If you think Baby Boomers aren’t ruling the world yet, you need to crawl right back to whatever rock you have been living under and take another RIP snooze. Some argue that this trend has peaked, but to be sure there is still a whole lot of Flower Power out there! So what exactly does this have to do with automating my business you may ask? Well, plenty.

How many Baby Boomers do you know? I’m not sure I typically think of this generation in the Websters Definition Sense of being born exactly between 1946 and 1964, but definitions aside, let’s roll with it. I tend to think of them as the generation that is just a tich older than myself. Whatever.

Think of your own Boomer contacts. What are their general perceptions of the “computer age?” Yes, as in every group, you find exceptions to the rule and tons of Bill Gates arguments galore. Is not this guy the veritable poster child for the computer age? Is he not also a Boomer? Yeah, yeah, yeah….Whatever.

The majority of folks I know in this bracket are computer savvy (to a point), have raised 2.3 kids, a dog and a significant other (or two), are financially secure having for the most part managed this as a result of working for someone else, and are looking forward to the golden years of retirement. They view the computer as a necessary evil embracing it largely for gleaning information and entertainment. They view the utility of the computer and everything associated with it from the perspective of how it can make certain aspects of their lives run a little easier. However, by and large they do not pay their bills on-line, bank on-line, and don’t much trust any on-line monetary transaction whatsoever. Sure, there are exceptions, but when you compare Boomers to say today’s College grads or even the 30 something crowd, they are very different in their attitudes and approach to computer culture.

The point I’m making is that depending on your niche audience or market penetration demographic, you may want to think hard about your “marketing” approach. There are those people and companies out there more than willing to spend hundreds, thousands or more at (for example) 4o whatever cents a pop is up to vs. handling these things more cheaply and efficiently on-line, and many of these type are slow to warm to autopilots and responders.

Think I’m wrong? I’ve had any number of conversations with folks about the myth of the 3,000 mile oil change and yet, there are people in my very own family who simply won’t come around to a different way of thinking. The power of the computer is awesome, but the power of a lifetime’s upbringing can also be equally strong if not stronger. When marketing exclusively on-line, realize you’re already at a huge disadvantage in many eyes in the all important “trust” category. Give options and be accessible as a real person. I promise a response within 48 hours and do not use an autoresponder system at all anymore. I generally respond much quicker, but I live and promote a simple business philosophy, “Under promise and Over deliver,” which in essence is the antithesis of most of what we see on-line these days. Until next time, remember:

Don’t Be a Dipstick!

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June
28

Not that Oxyclean spokesman Billy Mays can compete with this week’s biggest known stars to die, but nevertheless, one has to wonder what is going on?  First Farrah succumbs to Cancer and only hours later Michael Jackson dies as well.  Farrah was the oldest of the bunch but still not terribly aged at 62.  Both Billy and Michael were 50.  Strange indeed.  Nevermind Johnny’s side kick Ed McMahon also left us…though he was old.  May they all rest in peace.

APTOPIX Obit Fawcett

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June
16

As Politician’s play with people’s pocketbooks, more and more “people” are taking matters into their own hands. More and more folks are switching to Amsoil to save fuel and to put a 100% American Made Oil into their toys, trucks, cars, tractors, you name it. Who Can Blame them? It’s not just big oil making headlines these days. Thanks to Big oil and the likes of big oil politicians, more and more folks are seeing the value in Amsoil. I’ve known for several years how much better our products are. I’ve known how my engines will last longer than those running on petroleum crappola. Now, more and more others are also finding out. Join the business today. Get your FREE CATALOG and see for yourself.

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June
7

AMSOIL expands opportunities for Dealers!

This year, AMSOIL will be offering live webinar opportunities covering a wide variety of business and sales topics. A webinar is a live (real-time) meeting that you can attend via the Internet through your computer. You will be able to see and hear a presentation covering a topic of interest to AMSOIL Dealers or customers.

In order for Dealers to participate in the webinar, they will need a computer with Internet access and a set of computer speakers or a headset that can be plugged into the computer. If Dealers are unable to attend the webinar live, the presentation will be made available for viewing at a later date.

All registration and participation with the AMSOIL Webinar Program is handled at our webinar technology partner’s website at iLinc.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE REGISTRATION AND ACTIVE SESSIONS PAGE

  • Use the link to the page above to register for upcoming sessions and view pre-recorded sessions.
  • Once you have arrived at the registration page, check the box next to the title of the session you wish to join and then click on the “Register” button.
  • After submitting your first and last name and email address, you will be emailed a link that you can use to join this session up to 20 minutes before its scheduled start time.
  • You can also return to this main page and click on the “Join a Public Session” link to the left of the “Register” button to join any active sessions that you are registered to attend.
  • To view any pre-recorded sessions, you can also click on the “Join a Public Session” link to the left of the “Register” button
  • Please remember that you must allow email from the webinar provider emailservices@ilinc.com through your email filters in order to receive your invitation.

Ready To Take Advantage Of Our Business Opportunity?  Sign Up Today!


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May
31

Hello folks!  Today I want to tell you about a new plug in I found courtesy of Jeff Johnson.  And Yes, it is free.

Contrary to much of the common ideology out there, you must have a blog.  I don’t care if you are Sears or Donald Trump.  I don’t care if you make money hand over fist WITHOUT a blog.  You will double it with one.

Lots of folks go the free route with blogger which is fine if you want the world to know you are cheap and aren’t serious about your online presence.

For those who are serious,  most have come to the rational consensus that Word Press has just about the best blog platform, tools, assistance, etc… on the planet.  You can grab a FREE Word Press blog and then do as I did, and hire a  professional to trick it out.  In a Word, NINJA is the man!

Now to the find.  Although this plug in is in beta, it is fantastic.  It optimizes your Word Press Blog (or at least tells you how to do it yourself, what you need etc…).

TWO WARNINGS!

If you have an established blog with years of posts (as I did), you need to know what you are doing.  I didn’t, but Jeff bailed me out in minutes and I’m golden now.

FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS.  Since Kindergarten we’ve been told to follow directions, and oh about that same length of time, we’ve been ignoring said advice.  DON’T.  His tutorial and walk through is spot on.  There is no way of screwing up anything if you follow the directions.

If your blog is NEW or just a few months old.  Don’t worry, just FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS.  You will be impressed with this plug in let me tell you.  It took me about 10 minutes to get my blog better optimized for search engines than it has ever been (and I already did ok there).  Best thing about Word Press and the plug in stuff is once you’ve set it up, it runs on auto-pilot.

Grab Jeff’s Plug-in today and see for yourself.

Enjoy!

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