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Did you watch the NFC Championship game yesterday? The Green Bay Packers hosted the New York Giants on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field in The Ice Bowl II. It was a balmy 0 degrees with a wind chill of -22 degrees when the game started and the temperature dipped to -4 with a windchill of -24 by game's end. Who in their right mind would sit there for almost 4 hours watching a bunch of grown men beat on each other? The Packer Faithful of course. With millions of television viewers watching wouldn't you love to get some free publicity? Well let me introduce you to the Packer Bikini Girls.
You have to be bold (and willing to get cold!) to get free publicity like this. These girls are definitely making a name for themselves!!
The New England Patriots are a perfect 18-0 this season heading into the Super Bowl. They've won more games this season than any team in history. If they win the Super Bowl they'll finish a perfect 19-0, a feat that is equal to some of the greatest accomplishments in sports. To finish the season 19-0 would be an incredible accomplishment because the NFL prides itself on parity, with very strict rules that help the poor performing teams get better through higher draft choices and easier shedules.
This goes way beyond sports and there's a lot to learn from how the Patriots run their football operation. Professional football is a huge business in the US generating billions of dollars in revenue every year. The teams earn billions of dollars in ticket sales, concessions, parking and even more in souveniers. The players earn millions of dollars per year playing the game and even more through endorsements. Sporting good manufacuters like Nike, Reebok, and Adidas earn billions of dollars. The television networks earn billions every year and the list goes on and on.
So how did the Patriots become perfect, so perfect that this is their 4th trip to the Super Bowl in 7 years? It starts at the top with the owner, Robert Kraft. No owner in sports has enjoyed such a tremendous run in recent years and it's all because Kraft created a plan and he's following it to the letter. First he brought in a great management team. Then a great coach, Bill Belichick. The Patriots built a team that consisted of average players that were completely focused on playing as a team, not feeding their own ego. There were no superstars on the Patriots, just players that were 100% committed to the organization and the plan created by Kraft and Belichick. If your ego grew too big, your were gone. If you wanted too much money, you were gone. Players are clamouring to play for the Patriots, even at below market salaries because they want to win. Many of the Patriots including quarterback Tom Brady take salary cuts so the team can bring in the right players for the system. And boy is it working!
How can you build a perfect business like the Patriots did? First it starts with you and you're attitude. Put your ego aside and create a plan that will make your organization strong. A strong organization and a clear plan attracts strong employees. Strong employees that are focused on executing your plan attracts faithful clients and customers. Faithful customers rave about you and your company to their friends and the momentum builds. Once the ball gets rolling look out! You have to follow your plan, review it regularly and update it when necessary. And don't forget to enjoy the ride, just like the Patriots are doing!
Until next time,
Ted
Apple is a media darling. For some reason they can do no wrong in the media. Everyone loves Apple's commmercials and advertising. Everyone loves Apple's products. Everyone loves Steve Jobs, who is God to all Mac users. Everyone loves the cool look of every Apple product. What isn't there to love about Apple?
Well, the quality of their first generation of products gives everyone reason to hate them. Look at the awful track record of the iPod when it was released. My kids had so many hardware problems with their iPod. I sent my daughter's back for repair at least 3 times. The battery died, the screen died and the hard drive died. When it broke the 4th time the warranty was expired so we moved on to the newest generation.
Look at the iPhone which had an estimated return rate of 29% by some experts (the real number will never be released by Apple) The battery failed over and over. The screens failed over and over. The first generation of the iPhone would be considered a failure by any other company.
And finally the Mac. Users are passionate about their Macs even though they cost 2 to 3 times more than a PC and have a very limited selection of software. They are the coolest looking computers but what good is sleek hardware if you can't buy the software for it. This probably explains why Apple has only 5% of the personal computer market according to IDC. With the fantastic advertising and marketing plus the most passionate users in history you would expect a 95% market share.
So with all of these failures why does everyone love Apple? I own an iPod (very old one I must say) but no other Apple products. I like their advertising and their computers are far superior to Dell's but they don't run the software I need for my business. Actually the new Mac's will run Windows-based programs but I don't want to shell out $2500 for a computer when a $600 Dell will do the same for me. But for some reason I like Apple and Steve Jobs. In spite of their awful track record of first generation failures, i still consider Apple a high quality company.
Apple has built a reputation of creating innovative products that meet the consumers desires. People don't need Apple products, they want them. The very best customer to have!! Apple sees a need and fills it. MP3 music became all the rage in the 90's but it could only be played on a computer. Apple filled the need by creating the iPod which is one of the most success products in history. Nobody needs an iPod but everyone wants one.
Nobody needs an iPhone but everyone wants one. Who wants to surf the internet on that tiny screen? Or check email on that tiny screen? My neck and eyes hurt thinking about it. But I want an iPhone because it's cool. It's a status symbol.
How can you create a trust level for your business as deep as Apple has created? It's pretty simple actually. Find a need and fill it. Give your customers what they want and charge at least double what you think it should cost and they'll be begging for more.
Until next time,
Ted
Steve Jobs has done it again. Apple announced the world's smallest laptop yesterday at MacWorld., the MacBook Air. The MacBook Air features a 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display that has a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. The backlighting saves power and provides "instant on" response from the moment you turn it on. The device has a slightly wedge-shaped profile. It weighs about 3 pounds, and sports a thickness of 0.16-0.76 inches. It's 12.8 inches wide and 8.95 inches deep. And it carrys a hefty pricetag of $1799.
Every year Apple dominates the headlines with a huge product announcement at it's annual user conference in San Francisco. The buzz is unlike anything else in the tech world. Last year it was the iPhone. This year the MacBook Air. How does Apple do it every year? Everywhere you look there's something about MacWorld and Apple. With all of this buzz, why doesn't Apple dominate the personal computer market? They still have less than 10% of the market which is amazing because they are by far a better computer according to most experts.
Apple always has innovative designs and features. Every product they release is sleek and easy to use. The iPods and iPhones are unlike anything on the market. Apple's computers are also better looking, faster, and the operating systems is lightyears ahead of Microsoft. Apple is always a generation or two ahead of Microsoft and it's clear that Microsoft steals everything Apple does in it's operating system. So why doesn't Apple dominate the market?
It's because Apple's hardware sucks. Everything Apple releases breaks within a year. I can't tell you how many iPods I've purchased for my kids. Within days the cases were scratched, the batteries sucked. the displays faded out, the hard drives crashed and they just stop working. The newer iPods are better but they are far from perfect. So why do people keep buying iPods when they know they'll break?
The iPhones had a huge return rate when it was first released. Batteries died, the screens blanked out and they were full of bugs. Some sources say that 29% of the iPhones sold in the first month were returned. It's impossible to verify that number because Apple won't say but everyone I know that purchased one had problems.
So why do people love Apple? People pay 2 to 3 times more for Apple products and the quality sucks.
Why don't people hate Steve Jobs like they hate Bill Gates? Why aren't they dominating the personal computer market? The passionate Apple community is as strong as ever and they're willing to pay anything for any product Apple releases. Plus they'll never say a bad word about Apple no matter how many problems they have with the hardware.
How can you build brand loyalty for your business that is as strong as Apple built with it's users? i'll explore how Apple did it in my next post.
Until next time.
Ted
I'm convinced that Seth Godin does not sleep and lives on an intravenous supply of energy drinks. How can one person write so many great books and continuously pump out tons of valuable information. Of course we all know that he must have a team of crack researchers that scour the internet constantly and I'm sure they use an array of tools that work 24/7. But the quantity and quality of information is phenominal.
Here's a recent post on Seth's blog that leads you to some valuable information if you're a social media junkie. A list of social news sites that will keep you up for days. Take a look at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/more-marketing.html but make sure you don't get lost! I bet you'll start scanning these sites and the next thing you know it's morning and you forgot to go to bed.
Sign up for updates on Seth's blog because I'm sure it will improve your bottom line (if you actually drag yourself away from your computer and implement his suggestions!)
Until next time,
Ted
Have you been watching the NFL playoffs? Brett Favre is 38 years old and he's having one of the best seasons in his entire career. He's running around like a mad man and he's having a ball. It's so rare to see a professional athlete actually having fun playing a game. Most athletes are under so much pressure that they look stressed beyond belief and often make mistakes. Not Brett. He's a total wildman completely out of control on the field.
Brett Favre is the anti-quarterback. The stereotype quarterback is Roger Staubach or Joe Montana. They're polished, composed, and always under control. They practiced their plays over and over and always threw with picture perfect form. Every move was choreographed and they rarely looked out of control on the field. Both quarterbacks were cool as a cucumber even when the pressure was on.
Brett Favre is anything but under control on the football field. He scrambles like a madman, throws the ball when he's falling over, throws more interceptions than most quarterbacks and looks horrible some days. But you know what? Brett is a winner. He makes the impossible plays and wins game after game at the very end. He does whatever it takes to win the game even if it means taking huge chances. Sometimes the chance pays off and sometimes it costs him the game. But when Brett takes a chance when the game is on the line he pulls it off almost every time. Brett is a winnner and makes the game fun.
A few weeks ago after throwing a long pass to his receiver, Brett was running down the field for the next play. It was very cold that day in Green Bay so he ran up behind one of his lineman and gave him a huge slap on his butt. The lineman jumped into the air because it hurt so much and turned around ready to fight. He saw it was Brett messing around during the game and he laughed.
Yesterday in the game it was snowing so hard in Green Bay that you couldn't see the field. In the middle of the game, Brett makes a snowball and hurls it at one of his players. Later in the game one of his teammates hit him back with a snowball loosening up the team. The Packers went on to win both games easily because they were loose and having fun.
Do you take chances with your business? Are you having fun or are you so stressed that you hate coming to work every day? Take a queue from Brett Favre and let loose at work. Have some fun and enjoy yourself. When your customers see you're having fun and enjoying yourself, they'll be back and I'm sure they'll be talking about the crazy business owner that's having a ball at work.
Until next time,
Ted
Tags: belief, Brett Favre, Brett Favre snowball, butt, cucumber, football field, green bay, Green Bay Packers, having a ball, having fun, Joe Montana, lineman, mad man, madman, nfl playoffs, playing a game, professional athlete, Roger Staubach, slap, stereotype, wildman
Yes it's true. The rumors have been swirling for weeks and now we know they are true. The king of Social Media Colin McDougal is going to be our next guest speaker at The !2 Days of Christmas in January Free Webinar Series. Colin will be teaching us how to create lasting relationships with clients and prospects using Web 2.0 and Social Media.
Colin is the author of The VEO Report and The Constant Conversation, where Colin teaches us how to create and continue compelling conversations on social networking and social bookmarking websites. Colin is a master affiliate marketer and the nicest guy you'll ever meet! Here's a picture of Colin and me in his "office" at a recent internet marketing conference.
Join us for a 90 minute webinar where Colin will teach us how to use Web 2.0 to generate massive traffic to your website and earn serious cash selling products online. The Webinar is Tuesday January 15th at Noon Pacific, 3 PM Eastern time.
Sign up for the webinar here:
Until next time,
Ted
StomperNet just launched SMARTS, it's new Web 2.0 coaching program today for $1397 or 5 payments of $297. Is a 10 week coaching program worth $1397? The StomperNet guys are known for providing high-quality information and they proved it again by launching their highly successful video series Going Natural 2.0. They overdelivered on their buzz buildup and I'm sure they'll overdeliver in their coaching program. StomperNet will give you everything they promised and more.
The bad news is that I've heard that many of the members of StomperNet were overwhelmed by too much information and too many technical details. The StomperNet faculty is fantastic but they often overwhelm everyone with too much tech talk. Most people glaze over when they hear too much tech talk and their brains turn off. StomperNet goes for $800 bucks a month and has made many people rich online. Unfortunately most people that signed up were overwhelmed and got nothing out of the program except a huge debt on their credit card.
I'm so happy that I didn't have to drop another $1400 on another coaching program. Luckily I found a great mentor a few years ago that teaches you how to build a successful online business without overwhelming you with tech talk. Jack Humphrey is a master teacher and explains the most complicated subjects in a way that everyone understands. And the best part is that he teaches everything you'll learn in the SMARTS system and more for only $29 a month!
Check Jack's coaching program out at http://netbizexpert.com/r/socialpowerlinking
Until next time,
Ted
Tags: article submission sites, blogs, google, nbsp, news article, social bookmarking sites, social media, social networking sites, social-bookmarking, social-networking, top computers, top web, video slide, web-2.0, web-2.0-websites, yahoo
Robert,
Thanks for the great post at http://actionplan.blogs.com/weblog/2008/01/coming-attracti.html?cid=95923992#comment-95923992
I'm going to spend more time writing articles, ebooks and blogging about making money online using Web 2.0 techniques. I've been very successful using Web 2.0 to promote my websites and blogs so it's time for me to teach others. I'm going to do free teleclasses and webinars to show people how easy it is to generate traffic with Web 2.0. There's nothing better than getting tons of targeted traffic to your website!!
I can't wait to attend your live events this year. I really enjoyed your presentation at The Bay Area Consultants Network in San Rafael last year. and I can't wait to see you in 2008.
Thanks for helping us all succeed!
Ted
