Andy Andrews asks "what's the smartest thing your dad ever did?"
Andy Andrews, camera in hand, asked a number of people “what’s the smartest thing your dad ever did?”
The answers he got were quite remark-able. In this short but incredible video, you’ll meet some truly normal people and a few well known celebrities as well.
Andy points out the value of having a mentor. Mentors do more than just offer advice. They invest in the outcome. They participate in the development personally. They make sure that some steps are taken and some expereinces and results are achieved.
We could all use and benefit from having a mentor or two. Quality advice and strong active supporters makes a whole lot of difference in a scary world filled with challenges and risk of disaster.
The real question then becomes is what do you do when you receive guidance and help from a mentor.
So the next question I wish Andy would ask of people, is this:
What the smartest thing you ever learned from your dad?
I know my dad would love to hear the answer. Even though I’m in my mid-fifites, he might be really surprised and happy to hear me share this with him.
Seth Godin teaches smart marketing, the power of storytelling, and purple cows
Seth Godin looks at the world and sees things differently than the most people. He also has a remarkable talent when it comes to communicating what he observes and concludes.
There are a whole bunch of very important and insightful statements that he makes in this video, which he gave speaking to Google in 2007. This 48 minute segment covers material from his book “All Marketers Are Liars”.
One of the crucial ideas he conveys here is that technology simply doesn’t matter as much as marketing. Smart marketing is what creates success.
Who do you tell your friends to go see? Who do you tell your colleagues to go to for help? Who do you recommend when someone needs something?
This is where you need to be.
Another question is do you deliver your messages to people who want it when they want it? This is the essence of his permission marketing.
Then the real meat of this presentation (and Seth is a vegetarian) is all about how successful marketers convince people to believe a story.
Stories convince people because they make people feel a certain way. This is the challenge of marketing — to deliver on the story.
Another idea he covers is how the goal of creating a purple cow, that amazing remark-able product, that is so incredible you share it with ten of your friends because it is just so cool.
One superb nugget he delivers is that he compare how a super successful company spends ten times the money they spend on marketing on the design of the product. The average company spends ten times the money they spend on design on marketing and advertising.
Which one is more remarkable?
I see the same thing with people who write books. In my situation, the best book is easier to achieve success with. Want to get lots of publicity? Write a good book.
Jeff Slutsky, author of Street Smart Marketing, describes how to improve sales success by asking questions
Jeff Slutsky, author of Street Smart Marketing, is not only educational, but he is hilarious. His stand up and go for it tactics are based on years of experience in retail.
What a hoot! He’s a great salesman and a great teacher.
In this wonderful short video, he explains and drives home one of the most valuable things a sales person can do. Look at how you can improve sales success and the dollar value of a sale by focusing intensely on serving the clients needs, wants and desires.
Now in the world of targeted PR that I operate in, there are several really basic questions that I ask my clients which I use to help identify the right market, the right media and then the right message. For example, think about who your customers are. Then ask yourself “what do they read, watch or listen to, especially when they are in the mood to buy what you are selling?” This is how we target the right markets and the right media. The next key questions is “how can you help the people you can help the most?”
Then you can develop the best topic and the key talking points for an interview or a problem solving tips article.
