Continue reading »]]> In 1985 when the original “We are the World” was first released, my friends, co-workers, and I were big fans of the song. It ended up being a huge hit.

>
Earlier this year, when Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones decided to do a 25th anniversary remake of “We are the World”, I was curious as to who would be singing in the updated version. There were many artists that participated I was quite happy with. They included Barbra Streisand, Josh Groban, Celine Dion, and Fergie to name a few. However, I will say that I did NOT care for the rap and hip-hop singers toward the end of the song. I also thought Jamie Foxx did a terrible job on the introduction. For an actor, he could have delivered the scripted lines much better. Nevertheless, I did buy a copy of the song from iTunes.

>
Since then, there have been a number of impressive “We are the World” remakes by “amateurs”. The first one I saw out of the gates is the version by Tyler Ward and his group. Tyler’s version has a very nice look and even has a humorous bit at the end.  The audio quality for this YouTube video is quite good albeit a shortened version of the original’s 7-minute song.

>
The next “We are the World” remake that I learned about was the version by Lisa Lavie and her group that CNN reported on. This one tries very hard to give everyone a bit of spotlight time and goes the full 7 minutes unlike Tyler Ward’s shortened version.

>
As you can tell, I am a fan of this song and the creativity it has inspired on YouTube. If I find some really great remake versions of “We are the World”, I will add them to this post.

Continue reading »]]> As an MBA alumni who became an author, I have been invited by Webster University to attend the Webster University Alumni & Faculty Authors Book Signing & Reception in St. Louis, MO on October 9, 2009.

When I attended Webster University for my MBA well over a decade ago, I did the academic work at the Orlando campus.  I have never been to St. Louis and looking forward to finally visiting the city and the Main Campus being at the heart of the academic action.

I will be bringing out my digital camera and camcorder to capture some memories of the experience.

Continue reading »]]> This was first published on The TurnKey Publishing Blog.

===

As the names implies, educational marketing is a specific type of marketing where you engage potential customers and clients through education and consultation.  It is about taking a leadership but also an expert, instructional, and training role in engaging customers and clients.

Done well, it is a collaborative well and there is goodwill on both parties.  Done poorly, customers and clients feel that the power of knowledge and expertise is being used against them as an unfair advantage leaving them feeling dissatisfied from the experience.

Educational marketing is often used in large businesses where a high degree of technical understanding is part of the customer-buying process.  The computer hardware, computer software, Internet, medical, and pharmaceutical industry are large-scale examples of businesses that engage in educational marketing efforts.  Even late-night infomercials engage in educational marketing when they demonstrate how to use new, innovative products.

In smaller businesses, doctors, attorneys, accountants, electricians, plumbers, and auto mechanics also actively engage in a form of educational marketing.  They have to educate their customers and clients as they market and sell to them.  Done well, everyone is happy.  Done poorly, it becomes a distasteful experience especially for the customer and client.

Educational marketing is quite pervasive in many businesses even though business owners and managers do not necessarily use the term educational marketing.  They simply know they have to teach their potential customers and clients.

In this article, I focus on discussing educational marketing as it relates to consultants, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and other high-achieving business professionals.  Doctors, attorneys, accountants, small business owners, and entrepreneurs all fall into the group of people I focused on and work with.

These are people who often represent the human face of businesses they own or work for.  How they perform as individuals is a direct reflection of their business.  The individual-company relationship cannot easily be separated with the business.

Fundamentally, there are four basic ways potential customers and clients learn during the educational marketing process.  They can read, listen, see, or do.  They can read text information such as books, brochures, newspapers, ads, and other media.  They can listen to a live or recorded audio program such as a speech, training, or presentation.  They can see (watch) a video (such as instructional tapes, videos, and DVDs) or a live demonstration through a class, workshop, or seminar.  Or they can practice on or work with the product itself such as product and software trial periods.

I believe powerful educational marketing tools include published books, audio programs, and videos.  They are powerful because they are also the same tools used in credibility marketing.  In fact, successful educational marketing efforts result in a dual benefit.  Good educational marketing also translates to good credibility marketing. (You can read more about Credibility Marketing in another article I wrote.)

Even in a seemingly irrelevant business such as leasing single-family homes, we have had great success with ongoing educational marketing efforts using our website. Everyday, we “teach” our applicants through our website using text information and videos and our dedicated telephone information hotline through pre-recorded audios.  We expend relatively little information on a personal level but we “teach” our potential customers 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.

We actively use publishing principles in the real estate side of our business.  We don’t publish books per se for our potential customers but we do publish information on our web pages.  We don’t publish formal audio programs for our potential customers but we do create audio recordings on our dedicated telephone information hotline.

However, if I were to actually sell our homes for commissions as real estate brokers do, I would not hesitate to write and publish a book and audio program on the subject.  They are great business calling cards, symbols of my expertise and credibility, and they would teach my potential clients what they need to know to buy, negotiate, inspect, and finance a home.

I am an advocate of using published products as part of any educational marketing strategy. Even if books don’t get read, they command the highest respect out of all the media available including newspaper ads, brochures, radio, CDs, videos, and TV.  This stems from the academic and scholarly symbolism we attach to books to this day.

An author is often bestowed by the public with expert status on the subject they have written and published on. I often say, writing and publishing a book is like getting a GED for the college degree. Depending on the subject and quality of your book, it may be like you getting a Bachelor’s, Master’s or even a PhD degree.  The difference is that it takes far less time, money, and effort to write a book than to earn an academic degree. Becoming an author is a worthwhile investment for any high-achieving business professional, entrepreneur, consultant, and CEO.

Publishing a book or an audio program are excellent ways to engage in educational marketing.  In addition to being great business symbols and calling cards, they help teach and spread your message. They empower your potential customers and clients with your expertise, knowledge, and wisdom.

In closing, I am a huge advocate of Educational Marketing.  Large or small business, you will have to educate your customers and clients about your business, product, and service before you can sell them.  Educational marketing should be part of your overall marketing strategy.

Continue reading »]]> This was first published on The TurnKey Publishing Blog.

===

Despite what you might have heard, credibility marketing is about marketing your brand, company, mission, and yourself. Credibility marketing is not about directly promoting your products and services.  And it is certainly not about the hard and quick sell.  Credibility marketing is about investing and reinvesting in your company brand, message, and mission.

Credibility marketing is about developing and enhancing your presence, stature, authenticity, and respectability so that when you (or your company) has something to say, potential customers and clients will not only listen, they will believe you with minimal skepticism.

Often, this is about sharing information about your mission and what values you stand for.  You are also measured by the authenticity (believability/honesty) of the message you convey and portray.  Authenticity can sometimes be hard to determine but listeners look to their gut to determine if someone is authentic.  However, it is true that good acting can deceive others into thinking that you are authentic when you are not.

Closely aligned with authenticity is congruency.  You will also be measured by your congruency.  Congruency is the measure and appearance of how you (and your company) behave, act, and respond as it relates to your public message.  Are you company actions and responses always consistent with your company’s mission, brand, and messaging?  If not, how often are you inconsistent?  If your congruency factor is low (less than 70%), your company may be perceived as inconsistent or, even worse, hypocritical.  The polar opposite of congruency is hypocrisy.  Many have a high distaste for hypocrisy.  It is the fastest away to kill credibility marketing efforts.

I believe a powerful way of enhancing and building credibility is the willingness to acknowledge imperfect aspects of yourself and your company.  A willingness to express humility, self-deprecation, and imperfections can greatly enhance your credibility. It humanizes your company in the face of other marketing campaigns that say they are “perfect, flawless, the best, the greatest, etc.”

I am not subscribing to openly sharing your critical weaknesses and Achilles Heel so that competitors and others can take advantage of you but showing that you have an ongoing philosophy to self-improve can be an asset to building credibility.

Another powerful way of building your credibility is through education.  Educating others is about sharing expertise, knowledge, wisdom, and empowering others with valuable information so they can make an informed decision even if that decision means not buying your company product or services.  Short-term, you may lose a sale but in the long-term, you will create goodwill and be remembered favorably for the next buying opportunity.

People who educate place themselves as an authority and expert figure when they teach, train, and instruct others. As a teacher, trainer, instructor, and expert figure, your credibility is almost automatically enhanced.  People are listening and learning from you.  They are opening their minds to you.  They are more receptive to you.

One reason I am a huge proponent of publishing books and audio programs is that authors are often considered experts and teachers in what they write and speak about.  Of course, that is not true in every case and every person.  But in the professional and business world, authors are still much fewer in number than college graduates.  In fact, for most “average” people, their chances of personally knowing someone who is an author (even an unknown one) is much lower than they knowing someone who is a college graduate.

Becoming an author is one of the best ways to build, enhance, and even jump-start your credibility.  Holding a book you authored and published in your hands is a powerful symbol that shows your expertise in a subject matter or field.

As I often say, writing and publishing a book is like getting a GED for the college degree.  Depending on the subject and quality of your book, it may be like you getting a Bachelor’s, Master’s or even a PhD degree.  The difference is that it takes far less time, money, and effort to write a book than to earn an academic degree. Becoming an author is a worthwhile investment for any high-achieving business professional, entrepreneur, consultant, and CEO.

In closing, I am a huge advocate of Credibility Marketing.  Large or small business, if you don’t have credibility, people will not believe what you have to say or sell.

Continue reading »]]> A recent incident made me think of how people live their lives.  There are those who try to live an open life and reach out to others.  And there are many who say they do the same but when you find out more about them, listen to their words, and watch their actions, they really live in darkness and fear.

For people who really know me, I am actually a somewhat shy, quiet, introvert. And yet, my public persona and outward personality is very much opposite of who I am inside.  I have learned to improve my personal skills. I travel, speak, socialize, publish, write books, and have several websites that I manage. Essentially, anyone that wants to find me or learn more about me can easily do so simply by Googling my name.

Interestingly, I generally get two general reactions.  There are those who find it interesting and fascinating that I have this semi-public, online life. They are attracted to it and follow it. And then there are others who are repelled by and find it offensive.  These people generally do a hit-and-run.  They say something nasty and I don’t hear from them again.

What I have learned is that “like people attract other like people” or “people are attracted to other people they aspire to be”.

I have chosen to live this semi-public life for many reasons.

#1, I am held accountable to a higher standard in both my personal and professional life if I know people are watching. After all, many of us can get sloppy, lazy, and fat in the privacy of our homes.

#2, I found that living in quiet, obscurity being an unknown actually hinders the goals I want to achieve in life. The fact is the more people you know (or those who know you) can make your life much easier.  If you do things right and stick to your convictions, people know who you are and what you stand for. They learn to believe you, respect you, and trust you.

#3, I attract those people and business opportunities that I would not have otherwise if I had not put myself out there.  It is amazing how many personal friends, business associates, and customers that have come into my life as a result of putting myself out in the light.

#4, I can better affect positive change within my life, other people’s lives, and the communities I participate in as a result of the influence a sustained personal online presence has.

To be sure, I like my privacy just like anyone else but I believe there is a such thing as living in the underground.  Most of us have some kind of skeletons in our past lives. We must all come to terms with them in our own way. Many times, those skeletons we assume that are so bad turns out to be quite common. Sometimes, we are our own worst critic and judges when it comes to those skeletons.

As I said earlier, I can quickly determine the true nature of a person by what they say, what they do, and how they respond to things. When I encounter someone who chooses to live in the dark and underground, I respect their decision but I know I will have to go another direction that is more empowering and inspiring.

And when you meet confident, powerful people who put themselves out in the light, taking risks, living life fully, who have made peace with themselves, that is extremely invigorating and inspiring.

I make it a policy to stand my ground and not let toxic and dark people impact my life. Normally, I will do my best to avoid the person or situation but if they get into my face or otherwise try to negatively impact my life, then I will not hesitate to stand my ground and assert yourself.

Unfortunately, I have learned in life that sometimes “being nice” is taken as a sign of weakness.  Some people will only respond and respect you when you take a more assertive and even aggressive stand.  To me, it is strange but true.

In any case, in the months to come, I will be ramping things up even more in a big way. I am excited by what I have planned and will soon be implementing. I am intentionally being vague because I want more time to formulate my thoughts.

People who want to live in darkness and obscurity will run like roaches into the night when the upcoming light shines even brighter.  And those people who have been interested and excited by what I have done thus far, will have even greater reason to come back and find out more.