On a recent 4 day holiday, I learned powerful marketing lessons by observing some smart things people and businesses did. One of them was a very effective, visible, and inexpensive exercise in branding.

I had finished reading Jessie Paul’s book, “No Money Marketing“.

Jessie had been global brand manager at Indian I.T. major, Infosys. In her book, there were many amazing ideas to build a brand relatively inexpensively – by being smart.

As we strolled around Mysore zoo, either gazing in awe at a white peacock strutting around showing off its pretty plumage, or admiring the majesty of the White Bengal tiger pacing its cage, or laughing at the antics of little chimpanzees swinging high up in the tree-tops, one more thing caught our attention.

The interesting words that many cages had painted on them.

“Sponsored by employees of InfoSys.”

Apparently, groups of software engineers pitched in to contribute to the upkeep of these rare, endangered and protected animals, probably because they care about preserving our wildlife.

It’s also smart marketing and brand building!

Thousands of people thronged the zoo on that Sunday morning. As they probably do every weekend. And MANY saw those words emblazoned prominently on animal enclosures. Talked about it.

And positive word-of-mouth that InfoSys probably could never buy for millions, was theirs for the taking!

The cost to sponsor an animal for a year was not exorbitant, or out of the reach of any modest sized company, even an individual. Yet not many names were visible other than InfoSys.

Was Jessie Paul behind that campaign? I wouldn’t be surprised!

Points to ponder:

What opportunities exist for your business to take advantage of to get similar brand exposure?

In your business, how can you create or set up opportunities for others to brand themselves?

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Early this morning, I drove my friend to the airport.

Driving in my city is an exciting, risky and nerve-wracking experience at the best of times. On the road to the airport, there’s an element of dare-devilry added to the mix.

Formula 1 wannabees rev up their aging motorcars, or souped up sedans, and weave crazily across the one good highway that permits driving at speeds over 70 kmph without feeling like you’re riding in a bullock cart – with square wheels!

These speed demons, horns blaring, kept looking for and squeezing through the tiniest opening, switching lanes with abandon and going wherever the resistance seems least – blithely unaware (or ignoring) trivial ‘inconveniences’ like traffic signals, or other drivers on the road.

Strange enough, these were the same guys I noticed BEHIND me at various stages all along the route to the airport – and I got there sooner, just by sticking to one lane and not worrying too much about ‘racing’ the next guy!

As I matched wits with wacky weirdos behind their wheels, I couldn’t help think about some startling parallels with the way many folks go about their business – and their life.

A guy in a red pick-up truck kept trying his best to overtake me. I allowed him to – and he rushed ahead, only to slow down and fall behind me again when he realized that he would otherwise have to plod along behind a lorry loaded with cement bags!

Some people follow the most exciting business idea of the moment. Rush into what they see as opportunities. Then, back-off when they realize what lies ahead. Because the path seems harder, or slower, or riskier, they shift back to another ‘lane’… and end up getting to their destination later!

Picking one path, and sticking with it tenaciously, is an effective (yet rarely followed) success strategy.

Most of the drivers were obviously stressed. It showed in the way they restlessly waited at traffic jams, and kept crowding other more sedate drivers in a vain attempt to ‘get ahead’.

Too many business owners expect instant success too. They chafe at having to wait, do the grunt work, develop and test marketing techniques – and build a business.

And that, more than most other reasons, causes them to fail at it.

There were many other insights that popped into my mind. About things more important than merely driving fast, finding breaks in the traffic, and to use openings in getting ahead.

Things like where the road leads. And why we’re driving on it.

If my friend was taking the train, it wouldn’t have mattered how fast I drove or how many speed records I broke getting there – we wouldn’t get to the railway station.

Unless we took another route!

Why then do so many of us spend most of our working lives hiding from analyzing if our chosen path is taking us closer to our real goals? Or even thinking over what those goals are? And whether they need to change?

My journey had the purpose of getting my friend to a place. So, it was meaningful. Otherwise, it would have been merely thrilling – for a while. But ultimately, worth little else.

It’s like spending a lifetime in a job, or building a business, just for making more money. Other things matter – more. Like finding your passion.

Or smiling in your business.

Yes, it’s important to get to the airport. But it’s more important to have a friend to drop off there!

On the drive back home, I crossed a new fly-over that had been constructed at huge expense recently. I had been concentrating so hard on being there in time to catch the plane, that I had completely ignored it – despite the excited “WOW” that exploded from my daughter’s lips in the backseat as we crossed it!

Now, driving more leisurely back home, I got a good look at the new addition to the city’s landscape – and see why she had been impressed. It was nice. And I had missed it!

Stop to smell the roses. The journey matters as much as the destination.

And you don’t always get the chance to drive back over the same route again!

As kids, many people dream about becoming a doctor. Saving lives. Curing illness. Making a difference.

And then, something happens; interests change; life takes a different direction. But a deep yearning still remains of what might have been.

Well, let’s play ‘Doctor’. Imagine that you have become a doctor. A surgeon. You are at the operation table, scrubbed and gowned, standing over a patient, ready to begin a complex procedure.

Right at that moment, your cellphone rings. It’s your wife calling. What are you going to do?

Surgery begins. “Scalpel”, you call. Make an incision. The OR door swings open and another doctor runs in, excitedly sharing the breaking news of a stock market crash. What will you do?

The operation proceeds. It’s a tough case. Takes longer than you expected. You’re getting hungry. Thoughts of the hot, spicy snack they’ll be serving just about now in the canteen assail your mind. What will you do?

It’s nearly over. The repair is finished. All that remains is to make sure everything’s ok, then sew up the incision you made many hours ago. You’re tired. Bored. What are you going to do?

The reason I left these questions unanswered until now is simple. The answer is always the same.

You just KEEP GOING!

And going on until you’re all done. Till your patient is healthy and well. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, how hard it is, how tired or hungry or bored you are… you just keep going.

Now imagine you’re playing ‘doctor’ with whatever you’re doing today. It may be writing a book. Or building a website. Or cooking dinner. Or running your business. Or drafting sales copy. Or planning an ad campaign. Or playing with your daughter. Or driving over to visit your mom. Or helping your spouse clean up.

Are you going to go half-way down the path, and then turn back, or get distracted, or just stop because you’re too tired?

Or are you going to keep going on – until you’re done with it?

Think about your next project like an unfinished operation you’re performing as a surgeon. If you abandon it mid-way through, your ‘patient’ could die. Focus on getting it done. That way lies success and happiness – in anything.

Yes, even in being a doctor!

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Image credit sxc.hu

Imagine you are a heavy smoker with a bad cough. You visit the doctor.

Dr.A is courteous, polite, professional. He examines you quickly, prescribes a cough medicine, and hands you a brochure about the ill-effects of smoking. He even signs you up to his newsletter mailing list – for free.

Dr.B does all of this – but in addition, he goes an extra mile.

• He explains that your smoking is responsible for the cough, and urges you to quit
• His secretary calls you 3 days later to check if you’re read the brochure and if you have any doubts or questions
• He quizzes you on the information he shares with you in his newsletter each time you visit

Which one would you continue visiting for your treatment?

It’s an obvious choice. Dr.A is good – but impersonal. Dr.B actually cares about you, your health, your treatment.

Practicing medicine influences my online business in many ways. That includes extending attitudes and approaches of a doctor-patient interaction into the Web-business marketplace.

And I care about the people I’m in contact with – on email, on Twitter, on my blog, in my private group – more deeply than many others.

Because such personalized assistance can’t be extended to a huge audience, I constantly prune down my networks. My email lists have thousands of subscribers, not millions. My Twitter following will soon be restricted. My blog is being placed behind a password shortly.

And some people wonder why. Isn’t it ok to just deal with people using a “take it or leave it” attitude? Why not just “put it out there” and let folks decide?

But to my way of thinking, that would be like a doctor leaving a collection of medicines and ‘do it yourself’ booklets in his waiting room – and just billing patients for what they pick up on the way out of the door!

You can’t just let the people you care about do anything they like or want.

A client is someone under your protection. In my clinic, the little children I treat are under my protection. In my online business, the struggling business owners I help are under my protection.

Just call me Dr.Business!

I’ve been doing some ’super’ stuff lately.

My email subscribers have received some SUPER-emails – like this, this, this and this. If you like them, and want more, you can subscribe here.

There are also some SUPER-articles being added to my website at “Smilenaire Reports”.

Get FREE StumbleUpon Traffic

Easily Create and Sell Infoproducts

Many more will follow shortly. Keep watching this space!

I’m taking a ’sabbatical’ from the regular work I do online – to pursue a dream.

A couple of movies I watched recently shared a similar theme. Both light-heartedly, yet sensitively, explored the serious subject of dying. More specifically, how to LIVE before dying.

“The Bucket List” was about making a list of things to do before one dies – and then working through it. “The Last Holiday” was about daring to do the things one always hesitated about – until the realization hit that life isn’t forever.

As a doctor, a surgeon, a heart specialist, I have always understood (perhaps more poignantly than most) how tenuous life is, how suddenly it can be snuffed out, even without warning.

And these things convinced me that it was time to live out one of my dreams – to write books. Three of them, actually. One will be a ‘how to’ business book. Another will be in the ‘Self Help/New Age’ genre. And the last will be a fiction novel.

I’ve decided to set aside 6 months to do it. It may take longer – or maybe get done sooner. It doesn’t matter.

My online business is structured to run pretty much hands-off, so I don’t expect it to be affected seriously. But just to insulate myself against any downturn, I’m doing one last launch before taking this break…

I’ve given a few people ’sneak previews’ of some modules of the full course too, and their comments and feedback has been glowing too. Some snippets:

And there are many more on file. The course will be ready in a week or two. I won’t be pitching it with a lot of hype and hoopla, so if you’re even curious about it, I encourage you to sign up to the ‘Announcement List’. You’ll get a free report giving more details, too.

Oh, and please tell a friend

Image credit www.sxc.hu

Dr.Harlan Kilstein is a fantastic copywriter, effective marketer and one of the brilliant people I engage with in interesting conversations on Twitter.

We were discussing my recent blog post about Frank Kern. And something Harlan said got me thinking about the impact and power of strategy versus tactics. It isn’t always easy to know the difference between the two.

To over-simplify it, tactics are what you do, and strategy is why you do it.

For instance, “giving value before money changes hands” is a strategy. It has a purpose – to show your ideal prospects the value of your content, the nature of your expertise and the potential benefits (to them) of being in your network.

Yes, it is expensive both in time and money – but can pay off massively in the long term. For instance, Jay Abraham sent me an introductory pack of his material for free in 2002. It had a transcript of his consulting sessions, 3 special reports and an audio tape of an interview he did with Tony Robbins.

Just the information he gave away for free in that pack got me hooked on learning more – and I have spent over $5,000 learning from him since then. (Oh, and that has paid off many times over as well).

“Giving 10 times more value than you charge for” is another strategy. It happens to be one Yanik Silver teaches, and follows himself. It has kept me on as his loyal client for over 10 years, graduating from a $19 ebook to a series of $500+ purchases of his material.

To decide to “make people smile in their business” is a strategy. It’s the cornerstone of my Smilenaire approach. The tactics used stem from this strategy.

People may not be smiling today in their business for any one of 3 reasons – because they don’t have one, or because it isn’t working well for them (making as much money as they want, or leaving them with enough spare time to have fun), or because they don’t have a deeper purpose for what they are doing.

“The Smilenaire Way” business coaching program addresses each of these 3 components – and is guided by the strategy.

So… if strategy is so powerful, why is it that many people remain tactical?

Because it is easier.

And because it works – now. Fast. And well.

The trouble is in scaling it up beyond a point. You cannot.

A tactical approach is appealing to those who don’t mind repetitive activity along the same lines. It’s like building a wall with bricks and no mortar. You can layer bricks one after another, and reach a certain height. But when you try to go beyond it, the wall will come crashing down – and you’ll have to start again from scratch.

Strategy is the mortar. It holds together each layer of bricks, consolidating your foundation, making what you’ve built strong enough so that you can keep layering upon it, growing your business higher and bigger.

There’s another problem. Tactic often masquerades as strategy.

I remember a discussion I engaged Jeff Walker upon in the Warrior forum some years ago. He was using a specific military analogy as an example of strategy setting – but to me, that example appeared a classic study of tactical thinking!

If even such a strategic marketer can interpret a tactic as strategy, you’ll realize how tough it can be to make the distinction. For the record, I consider everything in the Product Launch Formula course to be TACTICAL. The strategy is in the decision to USE a product launch to build or grow your business!

Oh, and deliberately choosing NOT to have a strategy is in itself a strategy. Just saying

Intuitively, driven by necessity, and even accidentally, my approach to online marketing has always been strategic.

When I first saw the potential of the networked online community in raising awareness about congenital heart defects, I adopted a strategic approach – to reach the people who would reach many other people.

This led to a layered approach that has been scaling ever since 1996.

First, it directed me towards ezine marketing, where I could teach ezine publishers about growing their readership, making their e-publications more profitable and using their email newsletters to build their business.

The underlying strategic component was this: When I approached my list for help in announcing an awareness building or fundraising event for my non-profit work, I would not only reach those subscribers directly on my list, but through them, my appeal would go further and reach their audience too.

That’s how I have been able to get my message of CHD awareness out to not just thousands (as I might have done without a strategy), but to MILLIONS – because of this strategy.

Another fortuitous strategy that has benefited my ultimate goal massively is the choice to help business owners.

I could have stuck with just appealing to them from time to time, asking for donations. But instead, I chose to help them grow their business. This way, as their business grows, they willingly support CHD awareness and help fund a child’s treatment out of increased profits I help them generate!

There are examples galore, and we could discuss this all week long.

Hopefully, these few anecdotes of how being strategic has helped sustain, nurture and scale up things I’ve been involved in will give you some encouragement to take the little extra time and effort to formulate your own strategy, in business and in life.

“The SMILENAIRE Way” can help in a small way. More important is your committment to your decision to be strategic.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment here.

At home, we use a ‘mosquito net’ – a contraption that wraps over our bed like a canopy, a fenestrated nylon barrier against these midnight marauders.

Still, they manage to creep in through tiny gaps and claim their milliliter of blood. This morning, I woke up in shock to find dozens of these little monsters flitting around inside the net.

Trying to swat them, I learned a valuable business lesson!

Whenever there were 2 or more mosquitoes tantalizingly close to each other, and I tried to get them both with a single clap, BOTH escaped. But when I went after one of them, I almost always got it!

Focus matters. Whether in swatting a mosquito, or reaching your goal, or closing a sale.

And once you’ve done the first, you can repeat it over and over again – following the same method.

In 5 minutes, I had taken revenge on no less than twenty of my attackers. Hands stained with my own blood, I sat down to draft this post. Now excuse me as I wash them – and apply ‘mosquito marketing’ to my business, too.

Once upon a time, communication with a view to influencing an audience was simpler. You needed to target prospects by interest and find a way to contact them. The channel, and your marketing message, was king.

Everyone was busy “building a list”. In a ‘permission economy’, your list used to be the most precious asset any business owner or influencer could ask for.

But in today’s ‘attention economy’, simply having access is no longer enough. You need engagement and involvement. The kind that happens within a tribe.

Tribes are groups with some unique elements. Ancestry is one, a shared common origin. Association is another, the glue that binds members together by interest, passion or shared vision. And what sets a tribe apart is a common agenda, the progress collectively made towards a shared goal.

Without the last, the impact and influence of your tribe is significantly lowered. With it, you have no limits to what’s possible to achieve or create.

For my CHD tribe, this agenda is to spread awareness about congenital heart defects. For my SMILENAIRE tribe, the shared goal is to smile in our online businesses.

What’s your tribe’s agenda? Think about it.

Don’t just build your list in 2009.

Build Your Tribe.

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