Here’s something really worth checking out! I’ll be there for sure!

Get the Media to Do Your Marketing For You

Visibility Expert Nancy Marmolejo has just announced her latest teleclass to help entrepreneurs position themselves as sought after, recognized experts.

Nancy enjoys a flurry of free PR and effortless marketing, now she’s ready to share that with others.

How to Get Free Publicity and Attact New Clients With the Power of Your Expertise, taking place April 1 and 8, will show business owners how to take what they know and turn it into a marketing strategy that will attract new clients and free publicity.

She created How to Get Free Publicity and Attract New Clients to meet the needs of people who want the information she teaches in a short time frame. (Nancy’s coaching program, Spotlight U, offers an intense 6 months of coaching and mentoring for a select group of entrepreneurs.)

Over 2 teleclass sessions, she’ll cover how to:

- Identify which of the 4 stages of expertise you’re currently in and how to quickly move into the “credibility spot” (without credibility, no one will listen to you)

- Learn over 29 quick and simple ways to become a recognized expert in your field (and how to quickly implement at least 1 in the next week.)

- Clearly understand the scope and value of your expertise so you can strategically use it to create products, form joint ventures, and open doors to bigger opportunities

- Discover how to create your own Visibility Blueprint with your best content topics and a timeline at your fingertips

- And much, much more.

Nancy is known for her creative, spirited style. Her teleseminars are always fun and informative, with plenty of opportunities for “spotlight coaching” , her version of the hot-seat.

Learn how to get the media to do your marketing for you by checking out the class now… remember space is limited and it is sure to fill. The class starts April 1, so act now!

http://www.profcs.com/app/?Clk=2324502

Hope to see you on the calls!

Lou

As Guerrilla Marketers, we are (or at least we should be) acutely aware of the lifetime value of a customer. We know that it costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than it does to sell to an existing customer. So what are the true costs of a lost customer? If you’ve lost a client due to poor customer service, you’ve not only lost that sale, but likely future sales from that customer. But the true costs go well beyond that one dissatisfied customer.

It used to be that if a customer had a bad experience, they’d tell a handful of people. Today, in the Internet age, that one customer’s wrath can go viral and spread like wildfire. The damage to the “offending” company can be devastating. Take the well-documented tale of “Dell Hell.” In case you hadn’t heard of that PR disaster, journalist and blogger Jeff Jarvis had some misfortune with a Dell laptop, and his experience was so bad that he blogged about it. Word of the Dell Hell incident mushroomed, and soon the Internet was littered with similar complaints vilifying Dell. The public outcry became so loud that it got the attention of CEO Michael Dell, who eventually sat down with Jarvis to try to make peace.

Although that particular story had a relatively happy ending, with Dell going on to address the complaints and become much more proactive in the area of customer service, you can only imagine the millions of dollars in lost sales due to the terrible press. One man’s bad experience – a single, lost customer – led to a firestorm of negative publicity and lost customers for Dell.

Next time you’re wondering what one customer is worth, think about Dell Hell and the true costs of an unhappy customer. It can mean the difference between a lifetime of ka-chings or a lifetime of disappearing dollars!

[tags]Lou Bortone, Online Branding Guy, branding, guerrilla marketing, customer service, CRM[/tags]

British singing sensation Amy Winehouse may be the best musical marketing story since Madonna. In case you weren’t paying attention to the music scene – or to the tabloids – over the last year or so, Amy Winehouse is the 24-year old singer, songwriter, (and the latest celebrity train wreck) who sings the hit “Rehab.”

If you’ve heard her sing, you’d know her distinctive style in an instant. And if you’ve ever seen the singer, I guarantee you’ll never forget her. Covered in tattoos, with heavy eye-makeup and her trademark beehive hairdo, Winehouse is impossible to miss.

Sadly, her enormous critical acclaim and six Grammy nominations have been overshadowed by her public self-destruction and reckless drug and alcohol abuse. She’s a favorite target of the tabloids and is right up there with Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan when it comes to personal train wrecks. In fact, People magazine calls her “a perfect storm of sex kitten, raw talent and poor impulse control.” Amy Winehouse makes Janis Joplin look like a saint. Let’s just hope she doesn’t share Joplin’s fate.

What’s any of this got to do with marketing, you ask? Consider the fact that in the cutthroat music industry, the chances of stardom are one in a gazillion. And when someone bursts on to the music scene like Amy Winehouse, you have to sit up and take notice. Her unique, soulful singing style, her distinctive looks and, yes, even her wacky behavior, create a remarkable brand identity. In “Sethspeak,” Winehouse is a purple cow in a huge herd of me-too musical cattle.

Sure, she’s immensely talented, but so are thousands of other performers. What makes Amy Winehouse stand out is that she’s so… Amy Winehouse! She’s carved out an unforgettable image and an unmistakable identity. Unfortunately, her personal turmoil is now part of that image but, if it doesn’t kill her, it definitely keeps her in the news.

Minus the drama, marketers should learn from Amy Winehouse. I’m not suggesting that you don a beehive wig or run out and make a drunken spectacle of yourself. But you do need to develop a brand. You need to be distinctive. And you need to decide what you stand for. Does Amy Winehouse stand out in a crowd? There’s little doubt about that. But do you? If not, what can you do to grab your share of the spotlight? (Preferably, without breaking any laws!) What can you do to make sure that you’re not singing the same tune as your competitors? Think about it, then go forth and build your brand!

Lou Bortone is an author and entrepreneur with extensive experience in marketing, branding and promotion. Before starting his own company, Lou was a marketing executive in the television industry. Lou served as National Promotion Manager for E! Entertainment Television, and later as Senior VP of Marketing and Advertising for Fox Family Worldwide, a division of Fox, in Los Angeles. Today, Lou helps entrepreneurs navigate their online businesses with creative services such as copywriting, video production and brand-building. Visit www.OnlineBrandingGuy.com

One of the very first things you learn in the Guerrilla Marketing Coaching Program is that EVERY contact with your customers and prospects is marketing. Each and every point of contact – from the way you answer your phone to your e-mail signature to your website to those goofy photos you posted on Facebook – makes up your personal brand. All of it! If you don’t believe me, just Google yourself and see what you’ve put “out there.” (You can be sure that everyone else who is considering working with you is already Googling you!)

Okay, now as soon as you pull those not-so-flattering New Year’s Eve party photos down off of Facebook or Flickr, take inventory of your personal brand to ensure that you’re sending the right marketing message. How are you putting yourself out there? Is your marketing consistent? Is it intentional? Is it professional? Is there continuity in all of your marketing materials?

If you’re a copywriter and your e-mails are riddled with typos because you were just “zipping off a casual note,” what kind of message does that send? If you’re starting up a business but your e-mail address is still “Schmoopie102,” who’s going to take you seriously as an entrepreneur?

In the age of viral videos and social marketing, we’ve got to be more vigilant than ever about how we brand ourselves and how we present ourselves to the world. Obviously, this applies to our print materials, business cards, products and packaging. But it also goes for the way we act, communicate and conduct ourselves. (Jamie Lynn Spears, are you listening? So much for your “Britney’s sweet, squeaky-clean little sister” brand!)

You’ve got to guard your personal brand like you’re in a casino with hundreds of cameras trained on you. Think back to that scene in the remake of “Oceans 11” with Julia Roberts and Andy Garcia. Casino mogul Terry Benedict gets caught on camera betraying Tess and he loses her, because – in the casino – “someone’s always watching.” Same is true on the wonderful world wide web, so mind your brand!

Oh, and please don’t visit my Facebook page until I have a chance to pull those photos!

Lou Bortone is an author and entrepreneur with extensive experience in marketing, branding and promotion. Before starting his own company, Lou was an award-winning marketing executive in the media industry. Lou served as National Promotion Manager for E! Entertainment Television, and later as Senior VP of Marketing and Advertising for Fox Family Worldwide, a division of Fox, in Los Angeles. Today, Lou helps entrepreneurs and solo professionals navigate their online businesses with services such as copywriting, video production and creative services. Visit his websites and blogs at www.LouBortone.com.