Business

18 April 2018 by James Makoni Leave a Comment

The Budweiser breweries school of “shame free” salesmanship

Earlier today I came across an ad for Budweiser: Prohibition Brew.

If you don’t know what that is… Prohibition Brew is a special “low alcohol” beer which has such little alcohol in it… you might as well call it water.

Problem is, it’s usually shameful to drink these “light brews” because most people ( especially the men ) will tell you it’s not real beer. A running joke online among guys is to call anyone who actually drinks light brews a baby.

This shame usually forces some guys to just stop drinking the stuff… or to try hiding that they like it.

However, Budweiser naming their brand of low alcohol beer the “Prohibition brew” was a stroke of genius. Why? Because most Americans associate prohibition with bad times for the drinking crowd. And with good reason.

During prohibition alcohol was illegal and underground rebel breweries took over the booze scene.

Therefore, the name “Prohibition” carries a nuance of rebellion.

It practically overcomes the shame that comes with drinking light brews by making the brew a “rebellious” choice.

Pure brilliance if you ask me. You see…

If your product has a certain associated shame that comes with using it, you must find a way to reposition the product such that it’s no longer an article of shame… but of pride.

You must find a way of making the product resonate with your customer to the point where that connection is stronger than what shame they could feel by using it.

Look at the buying decision from your customer’s point of view.

Is there any reason they could feel ashamed, or embarrassed of buying your product?

Is there any reason buying from you would mean admitting defeat to a problem they thought they could beat?

Is there any reason they could feel as if they’re being “weak” for seeking your help?

Is there any reason why buying from you would mean having to accept the shame of admitting defeat?

If there is, then try finding out how best you can reposition your offer to overcome that shame.

And if you want my help setting your offer up to kick ass, even if it has an element of shame attached to it… then don’t hesitate to reach out to me for a brainstorming session over at:

https://jaymakoni.com/work-with-me

“Till the next wave of madness”

-Jay

10 August 2017 by James Makoni Leave a Comment

You can’t manifest your products into their hands

Good news.

I’m back.

Thing is, two weeks ago my computer started acting up and would crash each time I connected to the internet. So I had to write my posts on my computer then send them to you on my phone.

The extra steps kinda made the whole process too tedius.

Meh, It’s all fixed now.

Moving on, last night I came across the grand daddy of retarded marketing articles on Ye Olde Facebook. And no it wasn’t talking about the merits of Communism ( THAT is a different level of schoopid )

Instead the article was shared in a dedicated group of authors on the social network.

And the topic of the article?

It was telling authors to stop self promoting because “it didn’t work”. And that real authors didn’t self promote.

Wow.

Talk about career suicide.

First thing I did when I found this bullshit was to send the link to my good friend Jeff. He’s older than me and usually functions as my voice of reason… for the most part.

And he agreed with me these guys where fooling themselves.

The problem with these authors is that they want to spend so much time working on their books. And NO time at all selling them.

Yet they somehow hope to be as rich as that lady who wrote Harry Potter. Or as rich as that cruel fat guy who writes Game of Thrones.

This swarm of authors is essentially sitting on it’s collective ass… and squinting their eyes and trying to “hope” their books into their customer’s hands.

What a sad sight.

The honest truth is… and this was told to me by Jeff… is that writing a novel 10% writing. 90% selling.

And I couldn’t agree more.

In fact, the Grand Pubah of email marketing Matt Furey once said:

“Writers write, authors sell”.

To give a distinction between those who write for fun… and those who treat writing like a business.

And so it is with your products.

Doesn’t matter how much time, blood sweat and tears you put into making your products… you can’t just sit there and “manifest” that shit into your customer’s hands.

Not gonna work.

“Build it and they’ll come” is the worst piece of advice of all time. And following it will sink your shit faster than hitting an iceberg.

However, if you want to make sure your prospects know about your products and services.

If you want to keep reminding them you’re there.

And if you want to make sure YOU are the first thing that comes to mind when they FINALLY decide to buy… then you MUST be sending them emails. As often as possible. Daily prefferably.

And if you want my help doing just that, then follow the link below to go book a mini consultation call with me.

https://jaymakoni.com/work-with-me

And I’ll get back to you.

…Till the next wave of madness… Vae victis

Jay Makoni

“On with the show”

09 August 2017 by James Makoni Leave a Comment

Fitting round strategies into square markets

Back in 2008 Zimbabwe went through it’s infamous economic meltdown.

Let me describe it for you, in vivid terms.

Running water became a luxury.

We had 4 hour blackouts everyday… if we were lucky. The average was 6.

The price of a loaf of bread was always double what it was the previous day thanks to hyperinflation.

And all the rumors of us carrying a brick of bank notes to buy basic commodities are not only true. They’re understatements.

So, back then when electricity was being a real pain… mom and dad bought a generator.

I’ll be the first to say that when a 15 year old knows how to connect and turn a generator on all by himself… It’s a sign of how much he’s adapted to having no power. Lucky for me though…

That job was reserved for mom.

She knew how to separate the “government” electricity from the “generator” electricity, so we didn’t end up burning our appliances in a puff of smoke by overloading them.

Over time I picked up how the mom wired all the shit up and I could do it myself.

But that was in my hometown of Chegutu.

When I moved back to Harare to stay with my big brothers, the way they wired up their generator was different.

In fact, every household I went to had a different way of powering their stuff with their generators. I had to learn this the hard way because I nearly turned off the wrong circuit breaker and burnt all the electrical stuff in the house.

My uncle stopped me right before disaster struck and then he showed me how we did it in Harare.

This was an interesting lesson for me.

What I came to figure out, is that even though some things work the same on the surface, the details are usually different enough to warrant treating them as completely different entities.

Just like how a sales message is presented.

Just like how a funnel will work in one market yet it will totally bomb in another, which is something I learned from Everte Farnell on Ye Olde Facebook this mroing.

The basic buyer psychology will NEVER change.

At the end of the day we are all hairless apes. And if that statement offends you then send an email to [email protected] dot com and attach a high resolution image detailing exactly where on your feels I offended you.

So I’ll know to meant it next time.

I don’t have room for people without a sense of humor.

Moving on though, buyer psychology does NOT change… but the minor details are different for each market.

What worked for one market will probably bomb big time for another.

That’s why I’m so anal about research.

Can’t guess this shit.

But, If you want me to do some sleuthing for your market and research what makes them buy… then jump on a quick strategy session with me.

Go fill your details here and we can book a slot for a skype call. I may or may not wear a cowbow hat during the call depending on the day.

https://jaymakoni.com/work-with-me

…Till the next wave of madness…. Vae Victis

Jay

“On with the show”