Smart Marketing

5 things you didn't know about Jay Lipe (and probably don't care to)

Tom Pick over at the WebMarketCentral blog tagged me, so in the spirit of Christmas giving, I’ll respond in kind. Here then are 5 things you probably don’t know about me (and probably don’t care to):

 

1. I’ve played drums since I was 11. My favorite band to play with is called OMJB, an 18-piece jazz band that plays the likes of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Tommy Dorsey. Its band leader is none other than Jay A. Lipe, my dad.

 

2. I got an A on an 8^th grade English project by engineering a real-life escape from the classroom. To do this, I climbed out a 2^nd story window and jumped to the ground. I don’t believe the teacher was rehired the next year.

 

3. I set our house on fire when I was a teenager. Bored, I started throwing lit matches out our bedroom window. A short while later the doorbell rang and when I answered the door, 3 strange men told me “we were driving by your house and noticed it was on fire.” I was grounded for several months, after all fire engines from our village came to put out the tiny little fire.

 

4. A buddy and I water skinny-skied (slalom water skiing while completely naked). After we each made a circle around the lake, the phone rang and it was a couple of girls from across the lake who saw the whole thing. Man, I was embarrassed.

 

5. My brother threw a dart into the side of my head. Playing downstairs one Sunday morning, I jumped out of a box right when he threw a dart. Luckily he had just lobbed it. With the dart still stuck in the skin right below my temple, I ran upstairs screaming and woke my parents up to show them what had happened. Imagine waking up on a Sunday to see your son with a dart stuck in his temple. My guess is each of them suffer from nightmares around the incident.

 

OK, the game is now on. Tag you’re it, Jim Logan, Jim Berkowitz, and Joao Plantier.

 

 

Keeping up with the Rule of 7 - AWeber's autoresponder shines

Marketing's Rule of 7 states that it takes a minimum of seven points of contact to transform a cold prospect into a buyer. Seven is the minimum. Points of contact can be measured in personal communication (e.g. phone calls, networking, face-to-face sales calls) or non-personal  communications (e.g. emails, direct mails, publicity mentions).

So, armed with this Rule of 7, what is the best marketng tool to help achieve seven points of contact (and more)? It's an autoresponder series offered by companies like AWeber. 

The reason an autoresponder series is so powerful is because:

• Most website visitors don't order on the first visit.
• They don't know enough about your offer to order the first visit.
• They're busy with other projects.
• They might not have the money to purchase immediately.
• They're still evaluating other products or services and haven't made a decision yet.

What does AWeber's comprehensive system offer you?:

• Visitors request information from you via email or through your web site, and it is automatically delivered to them within seconds automatically!
• The name and e-mail address of each subscriber is automatically added to your AWeber database, saving you endless hours of data entry!
• Personalized follow up letters are automatically sent to each of your subscribers at regular, predetermined intervals, building trust and rapport between you and your subscribers!
• You spend more time with your family, since AWeber is doing so much of your work!
• Your efficient AWeber follow up account converts subscribers into customers without intervention from you!
• Save time, reduce stress, build customer loyalty, increase conversion ratios, and make more money!

If you're interested in taking a test drive of this powerful system, visit AWeber's site. This is one of only a handful of products I wholeheartedly endorse.

The Lipe Code of Marketing Ethics - Can you live by it?

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that other businesses in this world (L&G Business Solutions for one) have sworn to live by my Lipe Code of Marketing Ethics.

I included this Lipe Code of Marketing Ethics in my new book Stand Out from the Crowd; Secrets to Crafting a Winning Company Identity because I think marketers are showing an alarming lack of ethics in their actions these days.

Maybe if we can get enough people to swear to the Lipe Code of Marketing Ethics, we can start a permanent trend towards marketing... from the heart.

For a refresher, here is my Lipe Code of Marketing Ethics:

• We will always be clear and truthful in our marketing communications.

• We will never intentionally deceive or mislead our customers. If we do, we’ll apologize—immediately.

• We will fully disclose, in the large print, all pricing information.

• We will always respect the privacy of our customers.

• We will always give buyers the ability to opt-out; quickly honoring their desire to do so.

• We will stand behind our products if they fail to deliver on their promises.

• We will listen to our customers’ needs and concerns, and make every effort to incorporate their input.

• We will not use strong-arm tactics to get people to buy.

• We will always document claims, testimonials and comparative statements.

• We will always accept responsibility for the consequences of our actions.

So what do you think? Can you pass this along to someone who might benefit from it? The future of marketing is in your hands.

Search Marketing Standard-A valuable marketing tool for all internet marketers

The latest issue of Search Marketing Standard magazine just arrived and my hat is off to Boris Mordkovich and Andrey Milyan for their fine work again with the publication.

I learn a bunch of new things from each issue of the magazine and this edition is no different. In this winter edition, some of my favorite articles include "Branding; A Better Path to Search Engine Rankings", "Defining Click Fraud" and an excellent article that compares two keyword research tools; Wordtracker vs. KeywordDiscovery.

If your business counts on search engine marketing for clicks or revenue, or you just have an interest in keeping up with one of marketing's most dynamic marketing tools, check out Search Marketing Standard.