Boating Tips for Well-Intentioned Idiots

Okay, boys and girls, it’s boating season! This means another season where Ol’ Skipper Hudson shares tips aplenty with ye landlubbers. (This is how real sea-men talk. I would appreciate the pause where the hyphen is shown. Thanks.)

Now, first up is my most recent adventure in “letting” my wife see how to properly launch the Sea Doo. Figured I start her off slowly. As I skillfully back the trailer – since that’s man’s work – I can tell she’s impressed by the way she is faking boredom.

My plan was to back the Sea Doo in the water, let her hold the bowline, whilst I park the truck, then gallantly mount said craft and ride to our dock just a couple of hundred yards away. Simple enough, right? Done it a hundred times, right? Yes, but one thing changed. Just one. And this one thing changed everything in the universe.

See, to be helpful and “sensitive”– since as all who cross my presence know that I emanate sensitivity – I added a much longer bowline. That’s because I didn’t want to back the trailer into the water and have the super-short manly version of the bowline pull my wife into the lake, since this might greatly accelerate the reading of my will.

Admittedly, and with very soggy hindsight, I probably should’ve tied a Boy Scout Approved Knot for this extended bowline. But, well, I was, you know, very busy being all Sea Like and manly and had to back the trailer and well, something happened that I’m not all that proud of… 

My wife is standing there holding the Sensitively Extended Bowline as the Sea Doo gracefully slides off the trailer. Perfect. Yet the knot for said extension was a little too sensitive and scarcely even slowed the craft as it became completely untied.

From the truck, I can see she is now holding a thoroughly limp rope watching the Sea Doo escape. This is when I used what might’ve been a colorful expression in a “non-inside” tone of voice. (Now I know why those sailors have a reputation for their language: bad knots.)

Since I’d only been planning a short journey on the Sea Doo, I was in blue jeans, so when I jumped in the lake, a sixth of the lake’s entire mass was instantly absorbed into my pant region. And though my mind was saying, “Race toward your gallant and errant steed!”, my legs were saying, “Whoa. When did you put on 600 pounds?” It seemed a fair question.

I eventually captured the craft by its short manly rope and trudged back toward the ramp, clearly having saved the day.

Yet my wife is staring at me, holding the other rope that now looks vaguely noose-ish, with a look that seemed to say, “You have the sense of an underachieving Gerbil.”

She dutifully got into the truck, nodding her head in a disapproving and superior fashion. Clearly, she failed to understand that my launching lesson included this meaningful demonstration on “What Happens When You Tie a Dumb, Ineffective Knot.”

Epilogue:

The Sea Doo and I made it safely home. And after 4 days in a solar furnace, my jeans dried out (though lake levels are still down). Then I reflected that any change in “routine” can summon the Gods of Practical Jokers to greatly alter the outcome.

It is this way in your “routine” of work, your “normal” drive home, your “normal” safety routine or your “normal” job that goes completely haywire. (And by the way, the Gods of Practical Jokers often make sure if ONE thing goes wrong in the routine with a customer, seven more you’ve never experienced happen with that SAME customer.)

The real lesson is to watch your addiction and complacency to routine. What is worth changing to achieve a better outcome? What have others experienced with that change? Maybe it’s time to extend your reach. But if you do, please double-check the knot.

Happy Boating,

The One Skill Required to Win Now and Always

My son and I went fishing in an oxbow lake in central Alabama. An oxbow – so called due to the shape – is formed when a river overflows its outside curve during floods, depositing lots of water into the next lower area. When the flood recedes, there’s an instant lake, with lots of fish, turtles and other creatures gaining a new address.

This one, called Crescent Lake, is prehistoric. You approach past thousands of moss-covered trees leading to a thick clan of water’s-edge Cypress, that meld into a labyrinth of ever spookier tendrils, all stirred in water the color of mushroom broth.

We snake our tiny jon boat and silent electric motor through the maze, thumping and skimming toward the body of the lake. Birds squawk the soundtrack from Jurassic Park, casting shadows twice their size as they glide overhead. If there’s a land that time forgot, this is it.

We approach one of the many lily-pad covered banks, where rings and bubbles signal enough “life” to begin a food chain that’ll hopefully end on our plates. Having gone fishless for the past hour only added to the conversation, a priority among seasoned fishermen. A few silent casts and I glance to my left, just up the bank. My eyes caught something moving.

“No way,” I thought as I bore down for a closer look. Words were coming less easily. And sure enough, there it was.

“Davis,” I said to my unsuspecting fishing mate, “that floating tree either has legs or it’s an alligator.” He wheeled around more abruptly than I expected. Quoting my manly 18-year old, “Wow. Uh. Yeah. That. Um. Okay. I think you’re right.”

Neither of us were thinking in complete sentences, yet curiosity forced me to click the throttle up a few notches to get a closer look. And indeed, there she was in her menacing splendor.

Twelve feet of gator. Ten feet of boat. And four feet (ours!) contemplating a water walk that would make our Easter Sunday complete.

As she sensed our presence, her full body locomotion deftly and un-disturbingly glided her away. It was eerie. There was hardly a ripple and no sound as 300 pounds of mildly terrifying grace got ever lower in the water. Once she stopped, all we could see were to two gold-glinted eyes, about one inch above the surface. Then, without any warning…

She disappeared. Our boat was now nearly over where she had been, then nothing. No bubbles, no ‘witness’ wake. Nothing. We looked at each other. In one move, our pleasant nature cruise turned into Jason’s Jungle, with a hockey-mask wearing reptile mere feet from us, thoroughly invisible.

Check please!

That gator has lived in Crescent Lake for a long time, as much rumored as reality. I’ve seen her just twice before in this exact same area. She was deposited there unnaturally and violently, yet – as of this spring’s sightings – deposited her own family there, with 2 smaller gators spotted in recent weeks.

Clearly, those who can adapt, thrive. 

Many of you were deposited unnaturally into an economic flood that left unkindness in its wake – adaptation not an option, but a requirement for survival. Some gasped, some panicked, others coolly went where the food was plentiful and threats few.

Some feel unnatural in today’s post-Yellow Page marketing meltdown, having over- relied on that media so long that adaptation seems more wrestle than reward.

You slink begrudgingly toward web marketing, resistant to SEO and Local Search, feeling that Social Media is an overblown and fleeting flirtation with the unnecessary. The leads don’t come because you don’t churn the water; your listing and site offer no bait that customers find alluring enough to care.

To take the analogy farther than it deserves, your marketing has become a murky backwater – with an image sure to follow – because you have not adapted.

And you know something? I don’t blame you one bit.

Times are different. Buyers are different. Information that used to come from you to buyers, is now found out about you before they ever call. Heck, non-customers can give you a thumbs-up or down, directing lead flow accordingly.

What once was a test of alphabetizing skills on Yellow Paper is now an algorithm determining your relevance and placement before an alert buyer’s eyes, barely an inch above the surface, poised to go elsewhere without notice.

Just being “found” online is a labyrinth of ever spookier tendrils, stirred in water the color of money. And as always, you can snake through the maze on your own, or hire a guide.

Survival of the Fittest in a Phone Call?

Regardless of choice, your online adaptation is required to thrive today. That’s why we scheduled 3 calls devoted to the topics to help you navigate: 1) The 2-step Lead Multiplier (saved here for Coaching Members), 2) Local Listing Dominance (coming up on May 9th for coaching members) and 3) Social Media Magnet, which is an OPEN CALL, welcome to ALL by pre-registering here.

Whether you’re a member or not (if not, click to join you silly baitfish!), I hope you’ll join us on Call #3, details at the link. Your choice to make. Either way, it’s a jungle out there.

SIMPLE 2-Step Online Lead Multiplier and Social MediaRocket

Exact Case Studies with 570% Increase Shared

This is getting serious. Since experimenting in depth with these methods, results have far exceeded conventional marketing methods. (By conventional, I mean common and idiotic.) These results are now too important to withhold.

Editorial brevity disallows fully detailing steps, yet highlights are shared below. Far better than that –

We've scheduled the "Web Marketing Trifecta" Series. There are 1 hour each, complete with instructional workbooks to walk you through these powerful and - drum roll - simple methods.

There is nothing "sold" on these calls, just pure, rich, game-changing content, workbooks, samples, Case Studies, expert advice and simple you-can-do-it-strategies to help you gain the most out of your Web Marketing.

Call #1) This is a PRIVATE call Wednesday, April 11 for Coaching Members only. There are nearly 900 of you and your spot is reserved. I will conduct this call in its entirety, showing you how contractors have generated 4 times the results. Call info in your inbox soon. Not a member?
Click to join now, with your first month complimentary. How can you lose? (Cancel whenever.)

Call #2) This is an OPEN call to anyone who can get on the line. Listen as Michael Weiss of social giant SocialTract and I will show you the exact blueprint to massive Social Media results, including the 197% visitor avalanche. This simple method is contractor-focused, not some general discussion. Get call-in instructions here.

Call #3) "Staking Your Claim". A PRIVATE Coaching Club call with Local Listings Queen Lissa Monroe. Listen is as we tell you exactly how to claim and optimize your Local Listings. If you aren't showing up on page one of search engines, chances are prospects are not going to find you.

Okay, now, on to the "discovery". First, Image Marketers hate me and Direct Response proponents. Fine. We don't see a lot of point in having a great image and no sales profit. (Just ask Trump Entertainment.)

However, image has an irrefutably positive element: trust. And online, in this economy, trust is more important than ever.

When that is added to the primary element of Direct Response (action) you get an explosive mix of online lead generation.

The 2-Step Lead Generation Method Exposed

The old method of Direct Response was (and is) still very effective in traditional media. Direct Mail results are still raking in unbelievable results through offers in headlines and reasons why marketing that stacks more reasons to call than to turn away. Same with virtually all offline
media: no slowdown in results. However, things are different online.

Consumers online are hyperactive and hypersensitive. They/we are also averse to hype and too much being thrown at them, causing a recoil in non-response with the click of an index finger. Poof! You're gone.

The "Needle Moving" Elements of Trust

The largest online retailers (Amazon, LL Bean, Pottery Barn) began to see various trends emerge that significantly impacted online shopping results:

1. Social Proof. (Testimonials, reviews, ratings) Where have you heard that before? Simply adding reviews to books and music added 7% sales increase at Amazon, plus a nearly 12% longer site visit.

2. Educational Precede. This means a free chapter, sample swatch or detailed description of product. Oddly enough, response increased with...

3. Transparency, Shortcomings. (Called a damaging admission by copywriters.) There are ways to build trust and transparency, such as "We only have 4 sizes" or "These outdoor units are slightly noisier than we'd like, so we insulate them". (This language is used in our sales pieces for contractors now for this exact reason.)

You can sum up all the above in one word: Trust. Yet trust without reason to respond is stillborn, just as hard selling without trust is easily dismissed. However,

Combining the trust (Step 1) and adding sales/action (Step 2) that converts into orders, phone calls, requests for follow up has proven remarkably successful.

Here's How It's Done for Contractors:

1. Send a short, alluring email that offers something of value. This is a report, article, video, audio download, gift certificate, but it should be a) instantly accessible and b) clearly valuable. You do NOT include it in the email. (That method is dead.) You merely offer a link to this item that is now on your website. Then...

2. They click the link to grab the trust-building report or video. This educates without selling. At the end of the report or video, you merely offer more information or a technician hotline or no-cost obligation survey which is a request for an appointment.

And that's it. You feel its too simple, but that's the beauty. Here's one set of results:

In this Case Study, Brian Stack with Stack Heating and Cooling in Avon, OH had a perfectly fine site. Neat, organized, good image. But only got 31 web visits in the initial test period.

A 406% Increase

When he used the 2-Step method above, visits shot to 126, for a 406% increase. That's using one email and one report. This could not be simpler.

He said, "Over the course of 16 days in February, our company generated 21 leads, 8 were directly attributed to our online efforts and booked appointments for ALL 8 online leads (which are all BRAND NEW customers).

We closed at 75%. 3 were for service work PLUS a replacement quote. 3 were for major sales. A $3,625 sale, a $5,100 sale and the one that knocked my socks off was a $20,000 new installation. We generated $29,957."

Can Results Be Improved Even More?

Shockingly, yes. When we added a Social post on Facebook to the email? The results were higher, up to 292 visits and a massive 52% click-through rate for our Case Study. When video is swapped instead of a report? The results move higher still.

Bottom Line: If you're using the old methods of waiting for online leads because your image is so good, OR trying to muscle your way into response using hard-core selling, it's time to use the 2-step method.

We are primed and ready to show this method to you. It's fast, easy, and wonderfully effective. Tune in to this call and smash some sales records this season!

In Call #1 for Coaching Clients, we'll train on:

1. What's the most important single item for the email? (Hint: It's not even IN the
email.)
2. The 12 components of building opens, clicks, and readership to your email. Do just 3 of these and watch your results rise.
3. The vital links to response.
4. How to create (or use pre-done) reports that have the appeal required for maximum response.
5. Top Topics that Generate Response for Contractors

Not a member? Click to join. Complimentary first month! No obligation.

Call #2 is an OPEN CALL, all are invited:

Click to get Advance Notice of this call and full call-in instructions.

Change your methods. Grow your leads. It's that easy.

Coffee and Consequence

Had my semi-annual meeting with consultants in what has half-jokingly become the "Secret Syndicate". Fittingly enough, we met in an Italian Restaurant reserved months in advance.

The waiter was incredibly attentive. He responded to half-empty wine glasses with a silent, refilling flourish and accepted the incredibly complex request of one of our pickier Italian members. (He asked something like, "I want al dente pasta, but don't insult the prosciutto; I'll know if you do.") Our waiter took pictures, making sure the light was right, and that my head was actually visible in the photograph.

The meal was superb. Conversation and connection abounded. Toasts and plans were made. My standard writer's Manhattan clinked gently as I thought fondly of my departed family of writers who preceded me....the waiter, a well-deserved 20% on the $770 meal.

Then something happened. His unassailable customer service shriveled against an idiotic policy. A small chink caused a fissure in the evening, prompting conversation and shaken expectations. My marketing coach Dan Kennedy often says, "Little hinges swing big doors." Never more true.

After I had signed the check and calculated the tip therein, my partner in conversation smelled the Espresso. "Ahh, that smells great" he said looking up at the waiter, with check folder now in hand. "May I have a shot?"

"Sure," said the waiter. Then he did the unthinkable.

He extracted my now signed copy of the receipt, and said, "I'll print you up a new one to include the coffee."

My jaw left chin marks on the table. All of ours did. My espresso-desirous friend was agog. "Did he really just do that?" he asked incredulity. "Did he just risk a $155 tip for a $3 cup of coffee... on a $770 bill?"

Yes, he did.

And I had to refigure and re-include his tip when he brought it back. I probably should've impugned the act with greatly lessened total. Yet countering his near sabotage of the tip was my decision to disallow pettiness to color this grand evening. Perspective! As I handed the check folder back, I saw him, the management, their idiotic policy, and the restaurant in an utterly different light. So did those who witnessed it.

Small things matter. Your otherwise perfect service call goes up in smoke when a size 11D mud print lands unapologetically on the Oriental rug. Your flawless furnace installation results in a frustrated callback when you forgot to tell the homeowner how to use the thermostat. Your $3,000 panel replacement is a riddle of confusion without labeling the circuits.

Give your team members the authority to exercise intelligence when a small missle of discontent is launched, or better yet, train to avoid it entirely. Don't just fix the equipment; fix the customer.

I had lunch today with my 78-year-old retired psychologist neighbor. It was his birthday and my treat. We finished a great meal and always captivating conversation. (Not many of my lunch mates regularly quote Dostoevsky and Maritain.)

After the check was presented and totals totaled, my friend said in eerily parallel fashion, "That coffee smells great. If my young friend has time, I'd love a cup."

He looked at me for approval - and if you know anyone who can dismiss the birthday wish of a wizened friend, I don't want to meet them. So with a nod, the kind waitress trots off and brings back two cups.

"Please add that to my bill," I encouraged.

"Are you kidding? It was my pleasure." And she turned away. She may be surprised to see an extra $10 bill on top of her ticket, with the words, "Mine too."

Small things matter.

Stripping An Image

I'm currently in the town made famous by the Rat Pack. While they were in their heyday, it seemed like the world was all black and white images, seen on grainy Televisions, with details blurred by so much cigarette smoke it actually emanated from the screen.

They were real men, real drinkers, real womanizers, who drove outlandish cars, and were handsomely paid. Not a bad gig if you can get it.

Las Vegas had a rather seedy nature then. If it wasn't just the gambling, maybe it was strip clubs and prostitution, or the "we never close" aspect, or the organized crime connection. (PLEASE NOTE: this has never been proven and I didn't say it first and I'm sure there's no proof and basically I don't know anything about anything.)

Yet Las Vegas has somehow transformed from the darkness. Not only does it have enough light bulbs to be seen from Neptune, it has made a significant effort to cleanup its image. The older "gambling themed" casinos that had flaunted their risky glitziness have been elegantly imploded and replaced.

Since they must've wagered and lost on coming up with anything uniquely American, they decided to purchase blocks of European towns and put them on the Strip. No need to reinvent the roulette wheel: just rebuild Paris, Venice, and any other cities we like and use them again.

If Europe had stolen Denver, someone would be sued.

But in all, the transformation is exceptional. Nice restaurants, beautiful street scenes, incredible shows (I mean reals shows, not merely Transvestites on Ice or whatever they used to feature here). And - get this - actual families. The smiling happy ones that come already in the picture frames at Kohl's. Those people.

It ain't Disneyworld, but it's a long way from its seedy past. So, if a town that deep in a murky image, with a rather unshakably shaky side, can rebuild its image, what's stopping the rest of us? And I mean contractors. Before you reel back at the characterization, there is very positive news about a negative image I'll share in a moment. (Las Vegas reveals a clue.) But first...

5 facts about contractor image that can send customers, sales, and positively powerful word of mouth your way

"Hello. Thanks for calling Delta. How can I make you prefer travelling by horseback today?"

I just flew back from Phoenix, having presented at the first ever Sales, Profit, and Marketing Summit with Joe Crisara and his fine group from Contractor Selling.com. It was a rewarding, fun time, but as this small part of my business life (speaking) can be, it was exhausting.

My last changeover in Atlanta was very tight.But after a swift train ride and a sprint for a scheduled 10:45pm departure, I skidded to a stop at my gate to see the status board announce: "DELAYED: DEPARTURE 11:20pm". Whew. Made it. A small crowd of significantly bored people flipped through magazines in the waiting area.

So I grabbed my iPad, went to an adjacent restaurant for a glass of water and brief rest. At 10:58, I walked back over to my gate to board. Then I looked in horror to see the entire waiting area empty. Reeling in denial, I asked the gate attendant if they were through loading.

"Oh, they left.You weren't here and they left." Her concern was similar to that of a cantaloupe, yet with less expression.

The Rest of this Story is for Mature Audiences, or those who'd like to reach their destination on the airplane they purchased a ticket for...

The Past Doesn't Last if Recast Fast

Can an Additional 1,751 Web Visitors Be A Bad Thing?

Work-wise, this has been the hardest 3 months of my semi-adult life. More in a moment, but let me back up a sec.

There was a point in 2007 when everybody was gainfully employed, homeowners were current on mortgage payments, blue birds were singing, and the Kardashians weren't famous. It was a lovely, if for a brief moment.

Then in 2008, something that seemed like at least one chapter ofRevelation came to wipe out retirement savings, home values, jobs, lending, and - most damaging of all - confidence.

Those of us stricken with optimism tried to keep a game face. "Money is replaceable," we thought. "Things are re-buildable," we urged. "There is opportunity," we asserted. Yet we knew:

The Loss of confidence and morale crush the human will.

Yet those of us called entrepreneurs, business leaders, or managers for whom other faces scanned for every wrinkle of concern, a bit lip was preferable to a shed tear. This is our job, and the one others scarcely recognize. Sadder, you can share it with virtually no one, excepting therapists and eternally patient spouses. I understand your pain.

After wearing this face that felt eerily reminiscent of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, opportunity did emerge. Morale didn't crumble. Optimism found a way to self-fulfill. (Link tells more than you want to know.)

During this, I became even more ignorant, (as if that was even possible!) In truth, what I didn't pay attention to faded; what I did...emerged stronger.

Then something funny happened.

Click for A) A fairly common glimpse into my ignorance, B) The 'hardest 3 months ever' and C) The emerging most powerful marketing opportunity for contractors anywhere.