Simon Payn's Effective Customer Newsletters

Book Review: What Would Google Do?

What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis. See his blog at http://www.buzzmachine.com.

If you've been feeling left behind about how the internet is changing business (anything from the falling fortunes of newspapers and the music industry to how people are making big bucks selling personalized t-shirts) this is a worthwhile book.

If you're already up on The Cluetrain Manifesto (the now-ancient in Internet time document that first said that "markets are conversations" and have been following the best blogs on Web 2.0 (as it is achingly called), then you won't learn that much that is new.

But for me, who is half-way towards "getting it" and just now getting up to speed (Hey, I'm now on Twitter..) I found it a worthwhile read.

While the title points to Google, it's about any company that is doing business differently and reaping the rewards.

Here are the main takeaway points, as I saw them.

Customers are now in control, not you (just see what happened when Jarvis posted his rant about Dell on his blog.)

Be open to opportunities and link to those who complement your service/product. Be networked.
Be open to the public, not just for the sake of links from Google but also for a new connection with customers.

Niches rule - the mass market is less important.

Listen to your customers - really listen. Give them control over where your product goes. (I find this is very useful for my own product - customers tell me what they want, I make what they want, I make money.)

Make mistakes (that's OK) but confess to them and learn from them. Be honest; don't hide. Say sorry I screwed up, here's how I am going to make it right.

Move quickly. (I think that gives entrepreneurs a huge advantage over big biz - just look at GM...)

Distribute your product widely. Go to where the customers are, don't expect them to come to you.

The second half of the book is devoted to various industries, with Jarvis speculating on how they can develop (or not) in a Googlish way.

Some of his ideas are good (I think he's spot on in media - also one of my favorite topics) but seriously off base with real estate (he says the only advantage real estate agents offer is access to the MLS - take that away and they have little use. I disagree - a good real estate agent earns their fee by their consultancy and marketing services. Indeed, a good real estate agent is essential if you are to buy or sell wisely.)

In summary - an inspiring read for anyone keen to keep up with the whirlwind changes going on. Particularly important right now, as it could be argued that the current economy will speed the changes - making those who get it winners; those who don't get it dead. I found the book gave me lots of ideas for my business.

[Update March 30: Simon Owens contacted me with a link to his article that interviews the Cluetrain authors, ten years after the manifesto was first published. It's worth reading, particularly in the light of Jarvis' book. Read it here.]

Book Review: The Contrarian Effect (and how to get some free copies!)

I read a lot of books, but I don't review many on this blog. Just the ones I think are particularly relevant to my readers - and ones I believe you should take a look at.

The Contrarian Effect, by Michael Port (he of Book Yourself Solid) and Elizabeth Marshall, is one such book.

It's about the battle that is going on right now between the "old" style of sales and the "new" style of sales.

The old style is the cold calling, the closing techniques, the sale to make targets.

The new style is relationship-building, permission-based communication, relevant and targeted offers, and your positioning as a trusted adviser rather than salesperson.

You probably know which side I come down on. After all, newsletters, as Michael and Elizabeth agree in the book, are a great way to build trust with a prospect (and client).

The Contrarian Effect is a manifesto for the new style of selling. It makes a good primer for salespeople who are finding the old ways don't work as well as the did.

Importantly, it gives examples why the new - contrarian, as they call it - sales style is more effective than the old. (I would have liked more detailed, more concrete examples, but this is a short book - two hours reading - so it wins on ideas-you-can-grasp brevity.)

For anyone still doing sales the old way (and there are many - I had one on the phone with me the other day) this will be a shocking breath of fresh air. It has that "I won't believe it until I try it" quality.

And for anyone who has already bought in to the theory because they have tried it and know it works, it provides a pocket-size reminder.

I have 5 copies to give away!

I bought a whole bunch of copies as part of an auction held to launch the book, so I have some to give away. (I'd probably still be buying a whole bunch anyway.)

I'm looking for detailed examples of how you have used a newsletter (either print or electronic) to build a relationship with your clients and prospects. I want to feature them on this blog and in an upcoming book. I'm not looking for stories about my newsletters, just any newsletter.

The first 5 I receive will get a copy. Send your experiences to me at support@readytogonewsletters.com

Why it's worth embracing The Dip

Here's a book you need to read if you're in business, are in a career, or are in a relationship.

The Dip, by Seth Godin, styles itself as the little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick).

Here are the main takeaways.

If something is worth doing, it's worth being the best in the word at it. That 'world' can be quite a small niche - a market segment, for example - but it's worth being the best, not settling for mediocre.

Anything worth doing has some pain attached. That's The Dip - the time and effort required to go from a beginner to an expert. It's what separates the mediocre from the great. It's what separates the law graduate from the judge; the Sunday morning tennis player from the regional champion; the salesman just scraping by from the best in the company.

Anything worth doing has The Dip. And the bigger The Dip, often the more worthwhile the project is.

But... you've got to recognize when you are facing a Dip and when you are in a cul-de-sac.

A cul-de-sac is boring and it's not going to lead to anywhere great. It's just jogging along in the mediocre lane. It's something you're never going to be great at. Or it's something that's not really worth doing.

Indeed, if you're in a cul-de-sac - or you think you might be heading into one - then you should quit.

Why quit? Because there's no point heading down a cul-de-sac and wasting your time.

Now, if you decide you're not in a cul-de-sac but you're just facing The Dip, then you should stick at it.

Quitting in The Dip is just stupid. It's like the guy who constantly changes lanes at the checkout because the current lane seems slow. It's OK to change once because you realize you're in a cul-de-sac lane. But if you keep changing, you'll never get to the place where they're bagging your groceries.

Instead of quitting in The Dip, you need to lean into it. Embrace The Dip. That's the only way you'll get to the other side.

Indeed, working at The Dip is what makes an aim worthwhile. The Dip is part of the accomplishment.

This a short book - you'll read it in an hour. But it clearly presents a concept that is key to accomplishment in anything. A concept that is key to life.

More info:

Read Seth's blog about The Dip.
Read Seth's manifesto about the Dip.
Buy The Dip at Amazon.

How to stand out from the crowd

One of the greatest -- and most important -- tasks a business faces is to differentiate itself from its competitors. Doing so gives that business an enormous marketing advantage and in many cases allows it to charge premium prices by avoiding the trap of commoditization.

But how to do that?

A book by Sam Horn, POP! Stand Out In Any Crowd, will be an enormous help, mainly because it's packed with useful 'how to' information on top of the usual theory.

It goes like this. A business should own a concept that is Purposeful, Original and Pithy (POP -- geddit?), says Horn. If you follow those rules, you'll have a greater chance of creating an idea that catches on. (And when something catches on, it can spread like wildfire.)

So far so good. The real value in the book comes in the subsequent chapters which show you how to play with words and concepts to create an idea that POPs.

First, Horn asks us to think deeply about our business. What problems does it try to solve? Who is its target audience? What is it offering? From this, you develop a list of core words which you then go on to use with various techniques through which to develop your concept.

From here on, it's word games. Fun word games, at that. Here's an example, the Alphabetizing Technique. Horn tells us to take one of our core words and "talk" it through the alphabet, changing the first syllable to match the corresponding letter. For example, what do you call it when a teenager has a haughty attitude? Bratitude. Or a plane trip that takes you as a tourist over beautiful scenery? Flightseeing. (I saw a book published in the UK last month called Affluenza -- about the psychological problems being increasingly faced in modern, affluent societies.)

Here's another one - the Rearrange Cliche Technique. Use an online cliche dictionary (there are a few of them, apparently) and enter in your core words. If any of the answers are intriguing, profound, funny ...write then down. Then, replace or riff off the key words in that cliche. Switch the key nouns or verbs to make a play of words. Horn gives the example of the time she was a guest on a Toronto TV talk show the same day that songbird Shania Twain (she's from Canada) was visiting. But her visit was canceled due to an unexpected storm. The headline in the paper the next morning described the thousands of disappointed fans who didn't get to see their hometown hero: Never Shall Meet the Twain.

As a former headline writer, I think this is all jolly good fun. But more important than that, jolly useful too.

So I've been trying to use this book to find a POP phrase for my newsletters business. I haven't found one yet, but I'm nearly there. What do you think of these concepts? (BTW, I hereby copyright these terms, so don't go stealing them!)

Rapportage -- reporting that creates a relationship with readers.
Textpert -- becoming an expert in your field through publishing articles.
Gluesletters -- newsletters that make customers stick to you like glue -- to stay, not stray.

I'm getting there. What do you think?

Hey, if you can come up with something better, and I end up using it, I'll buy you Sam Horn's book. Just leave your ideas in the Comments or send me an email.

Anyway, I highly recommend POP!. You can get it via Sam's website or at this Amazon link.