The Book on Marketing: Offer Prizes.

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I wrote yet another book! This one is pretty big, actually, with over 90 chapters, all of which are rather meaty. The book, The Book on Marketing: No More Excuses for Marketing Inaction, can be pre ordered or, depending on when you see this, purchased by clicking the link HERE. A new chapter will post daily for close to 100 days and then the book will be available for immediate purchase instead of just preorders.

I also released the rough drafts of the book chapter by chapter on my website and you can read what I wrote and get the gist of the chapters. Honestly, you don’t even need to read the book. There is enough information between the blog postings and the resources pages found HERE that the rest of the book might just be fluff.

With that said, the blog is a very first draft, mostly notes, of the final book. It’s out of order and a tad messy. This gives you a peek inside my writing process where I do the technical, eclectic part first and the voice tends to change depending on the topic I am discussing and the research I did for the chapter. Paraphrasing from common knowledge sources in the first draft gives it that eclectic look and feel. So please, enjoy my scattered brain and typos in this draft of The Book on Marketing: No More Excuses for Marketing Inaction.

The book itself its a much easier format to read plus adds a lot more of me into it as it goes on with real world, easy to grasp examples where I could put them and honestly, I would truly appreciate your purchase.

Offer Prizes.

Seth Godin discusses this in his book Free Prize Inside. Go to the "Edge." In essence, the idea is that while your rivals target the "center," you look for opportunities to target the "edge." Although it distinguishes you from your rivals, it is not always your USP. For instance, the initial edition of that book had a big "Free Prize Inside" label and was packaged in a cereal box.

Some more examples: 

  • In the summer, a massage parlor takes its chairs outside.
  • A security guard company offers uniforms for its guards that include that of Beefeaters, 
  • Buckingham Palace guards, high-security paramilitary guards wearing camouflage, 
  • Matrix-style garb, or even stylish white-collar uniforms.
  • A neighborhood bar created their own unique jukebox with 26,000 tracks by ripping their 1,798 CDs into a computer.
  • In Manhattan, a restaurant makes regular customers wait while giving VIPs an unlisted number to skip the line. Interestingly, this appeals to both parties (the VIPs love to get right in, and the average folk feel special by going to an exclusive restaurant where celebrities dine and the wait is longer due to its popularity).
  • There are many all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, but only one of them offers services for obese guests.
  • Like everyone else, NakedNews.com reports the news in the manner of television, but they wear less.
  • Ever notice how grocery stores reward their worst patrons? The poor schmuck buying heaps of goods (and worth much more to the store as a client) has to wait in the biggest queue, while those with the fewest items have their own special express lane. What if a grocery store created a dedicated line for its top clients, along with extra baggers and other tools to expedite the check-out procedure?
  • The seven days a week that Commerce Bank is open. Do you believe that some individuals would want to be able to bank on Sundays? Furthermore, Liberty Bank provides free ATM use. Even ATM fees from other banks' will be covered by them.
  • A church in New York City hosts a BBQ every year to raise money. People travel great distances to attend because if they miss out, they must wait an entire year to return. For the same reason, the German club in my neighborhood celebrates their German Festival every two years.
  • Business Rent-A-Car Car doesn't emphasize rentals at airports. However, they are the first people you call if you require a rental car for a few days while your automobile is being repaired. They also pick you up!
  • A lawn care business realized that waiting weeks for a lawn care quote was excessive in the world of rapid Internet purchases. They may estimate a service's cost before their prospects have even been approached by using satellite pictures and publicly available tax information. They now drive down the street throwing each Frisbee onto the lawn after attaching a tag with the property address and asking price on each one.

Thank you for reading this little piece of The Book on Marketing: No More Excuses for Marketing Inaction. If you received any value from what you read, I ask you to please consider purchasing this book by clicking HERE. Thank you for everything!