The Silent Avatar Speaks

I wrote about Rich Schefren from Strategic Profits and his  Attention Age Doctrine 2 in a previous blog post here and I was reminded today of the value of giving – that is giving of your time and your knowledge to increase your authority status (aka become a maven) to increase your business.

I was reminded about this when I travelled recently (see my blog post here)

If you read my post I gave an account of the service (or lack there of) from business generally and how it impacts on their customers.

What I don’t get is how big business just doesn’t see the value in giving something away for nothing.

Take my previous post for example.

There I was…  tired from doing the check- in shuffle and just wanting to get back home, when (after the obligatory flight attendant demo of how to fasten and unfasten your seat buckle), everyone on the flight was treated to dip, cheese and crackers and a drink of chardonnay or Cabernet sauvignon.

How civilised I thought! How nice to have this offered free (well maybe not free as we paid for the flight). I certainly wasn’t expecting it, but did it put a smile on my dial? Sure did.

But here’s the kicker… I’m not a wine drinker, and thought.. “that’s OK. They have given out coffee/tea (plastic) cups, I’m happy to have a nice hot cup of tea with the goodies”.

And if your’e not into wine a hot cuppa fits the bill nicely after a long day.

It wasn’t a long flight, but never the less the stewardess managed to dole out the delicacies, offer around the white wine, and follow up with the red wine while everyone was happily tearing open their little packages and settling back.

It was then I overheard the comment from another passenger “May I have a coffee please?”. This passenger had said what I was just about to ask.

The stewardess replied. “Sorry. I don’t have time to do coffee or tea this flight. There just isn’t the time”

What the?

I looked down at my tray table and the pristine clean plastic coffee cup and just shook my head.

I could hear myself saying (screaming)  “What are they thinking”?!!

In that moment I felt a second class traveller.  Having passed on the wine I was not considered important enough to service me (and others) with a hot beverage, all on the premise of not enough time.

My thoughts screamed “Not enough time?!” I’d just witnessed well enough time to do the rounds for the other passengers who took up the offer of wine, but as a non wine drinker? gong – you loose.

Was my money as good as the other passengers who were looked after? You bet.

Was my bum on the seat paying for a service, keeping people employed and propping up the economy? Keeping the shareholders happy? Dammed right it was.

The cost of a coffee or tea? Negligible.

The damage done to the business. Priceless.

Rich Schefren .. you might be on the other side of the world but brother… DO I GET IT!

Whatever you can give away. Give it.

Your customers WILL remember your generosity. The “gift” no matter what it is will be remembered long after the doors are shut, the lights turned out and your off to bed.

If you haven’t got your hands on Rich Schefren’s Attention Age Doctrine Part 2 then for goodness sake stop whatever you are doing and go read it here.

Your business will never be the same. Your motivation for being in business will never be the same. Your customers will love you.

Let the spirit of Christmas be year round. Just do it. Give all year round – not just at Christmas.

Till next post.. keep on giving.

As always feel free to leave a comment.

Tags: General by the silent avatar
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It’s a brave marketer who deliberately stirs the pot and posts a petition on his blog slamming the way a lot of Internet marketers go about their business and calling for action.

And there’s nothing like controversy to rally the troops who agree and start a movement. (does Gandhi ring a bell?).

We might not be living in India under oppression from the English, however we are living in times when the Internet and its anonymity, a convincing sales page, and a credible looking website all add up to people like you and me being ripped off mercilessly.

Well, Rich Schefren from Strategic Profits has decided to do something about it, and the ripple is becoming a ground swell, and it started with his report The Age Attention Doctrine 2 launched on December 7. It’s a must read for anyone in an online business.

At the time of writing this blog, nearly 700 have agreed with Rich (including me), and are petitioning marketers to clean up their act and deliver what they promise.

My hat’s off to Rich. For too long the boys club has been colluding together in their despicable tactics to stuff money in their wallets and he’s calling on integrity in the industry.

Nothing works better than by leading by example.

If you are going to make promises they better stack up. Consumers are fed up with being taken for a ride.

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Tags: Hot Off The Press by the silent avatar
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Rich Schefren is without a doubt one of the more respected internet marketing “gurus guru” around.

His website – Strategic Profits consistently gives good information, and I would not expect any less than this in his Part 2 of his hugely successful Attention Age Doctrine report which was released yesterday. (Attention Age Doctrine Part 1 was released in July)

Have I read the report? Yes – all 94 pages. And what do I think?

Well.. let’s look into the Doctrine Part 2 a little deeper first.

The first thing that hit me in Rich’s report was this: The average supermarket has 45,000 items on their shelves, each product wanting a piece of your shopping trolly. The internet by comparison has over 433 million websites and over 15 billion pages. That’s 333,333 times more web pages than there are products in a typical supermarket!

Any wonder why it’s difficult to get noticed on the web!

Rich goes on to share some startling statistics which point towards tradional TV viewers turning off the TV and turning on the web, and predicts by 2043 that newspapers will no longer exist.

So where is all this leading? Well, according to Rich the trends show the best way to market is through becoming a recognised “expert” in your field, thereby gaining credibility (which immediately overcomes the “trust me” issue when dealing on the internet).

And how do you do that?

Well, like most things it just doesn’t happen overnigt, but with consistent strategies (which he reveals in the report) to engage communities on communities like Facebook, MySpace and YouTube you have a better opportunity to get your message out.

Rich goes on to say.. “Trust is built on reputation and generally not built on advertising. Trust is built on what others say about you”.

Simple words but very true. “Trust is everything on the internet, and trust just isn’t built, reputations just aren’t built on what your sales copy for your product or service. Trust is built on recognition from your peers, and satisfied customers.” Way to go Rich!

Rich Schefren goes on to say the number one challenge for any marketer today (and that’s everyone who is in the business of selling a service, product or information) is getting the attention of customers.

Who would argue with that?

You can’t afford to not to read his report.

You can get your hands on a copy of Attention Doctrine Part 2 here.

Tags: Hot Off The Press by the silent avatar
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