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Strategic Alliance Of The Century
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Two Titans of Internet Marketing Have Joined Forces To Take YOUR Online Business To A Level You’ve Never Imagined…
Watch as Rich Schefren and Brad Fallon reveal:
- An unprecedented Internet marketing event (sure to raise your bottom line)
- How they're harnessing Strategic Alliances (and how you can easily do the same)
- How to leverage the strengths of others (and send your sales through the roof)
- And grow your business by leaps and bounds (faster than you've ever imagined)
View Rich Schefren and Brad Fallon video
- Sep 05 2007
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74 Comments
Gourmet Coffee and Apple Sauce - Got Your Attention?
Published in Blog, Effectiveness
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What captures your attention? A pretty face? A televised car chase? The smell of cookies wafting through the room?
What holds your attention? Satellite images of a hurricane bearing down on your town? A cancer diagnosis? Watching your children play on a lazy Sunday?
We soon realize that the things that capture our attention are often not enough to hold our attention.
Capturing attention is far easier than holding attention.
Getting attention the wrong way is even easier: Just yell “Fire!” and someone will look your way. But that won’t do you any good if you want to hold their attention in the future, especially if there is no fire nearby.
Attention-driven advertisements can make you look, but they won’t necessarily make you buy. Just ask the companies that gamble each year on Super Bowl TV ads. Often we remember the advertisement, but we can’t remember the product being pitched.
Yet the attention is addicting, and companies spend millions of dollars on the lure of Super Bowl ads – in part because of the “free media” attention those ads are sure to attract.
No purchases are guaranteed, but the attention the ads will receive is enough for many.
Attention is the catalyst that makes future purchases possible. Without it, there is no hope.
That’s why attention drives our economy.
In the Attention Age, “interesting” is not enough. Valuable information must be exciting, fun, immediate, compelling, useful, and relevant.
In order for your message to receive attention, it first must be interesting enough to warrant attention. And once you realize it is interesting, it had better be something more.
The secret to holding attention is to make the message appealing to your target audience. Make the “story” personal. It’s the personal story that carries the greatest impact.A hurricane could hurt YOUR family, YOUR neighbors, and YOUR friends. A cancer diagnosis affects YOU and YOUR loved ones. YOU have an emotional investment in YOUR children. Anything that affects them matters to YOU.
The message that draws our attention must have a direct emotional connection to our lives, or our attention just won’t last.
I know what you’re thinking. “Paris Hilton gets a lot of attention, and she has nothing to do with me?” She doesn’t? Then why are you watching? Why do you care? How did she get into your head, and more importantly, who is allowing her to stay there?
There’s something going on here. You just may not want to admit it.
Successful communication hits its mark when it involves the target. Communication must be about the audience, not about you, your company or your product. People pay attention to what affects their lives, not your own.
If you can convey your message in a way that tailors information to the emotional needs of your audience, you will get their attention and succeed in the Attention Age.
Consider Starbucks. They didn’t invent coffee; they just made coffee culture “cool.”
Starbucks founder Howard Shultz doesn’t want people to enjoy his coffee. He wants them to experience coffee culture – the sights, the smells, the sounds, the ambiance and the emotions that come with the Starbucks coffee experience.Shultz envisioned Starbucks as a “people place,” not as a coffee shop. It’s a place where we can go for coffee where “tall” means “small,” where “grande” means “medium” and “venti” means “large.” There is a coolness to the lexicon that lets us feel like we are members of a club, with club locations seemingly on every city street corner.
It’s a marketing paradox: An “exclusive” club where everyone is welcome.
Starbucks captures our attention and holds it whether we drink coffee or not. Customers may learn to like – even love – the beverage, but they come back to Starbucks for the culture. It’s an Attention Age success story.
Apple is another successful attention-getter with a passionate following. Apple has what I like to call the “T-shirt factor.” People are so enthusiastic about the company and its products that they want to put the Apple logo on their T-shirts, their computers, their cars … you name it. It’s a brand that invokes loyalty and action because Apple makes their consumers feel like part of a winning team.Think about it: Have you ever been around an Apple enthusiast for five minutes without hearing them mention that they are, indeed, an Apple enthusiast?
There’s a consistent message coming through that iPod: It’s passion, and it gets our attention.
The most successful companies, like Starbucks and Apple, develop an innovative culture that serves as a basis for a real connection with consumers. The company, its products and people become an attention conduit for clients and consumers. Attention is served over and over again to great success.
Online entrepreneurs can do it, too.
How can you develop your own Starbucks experience with your online business? How can you replicate the passion of Apple’s fan base?
If 100,000 potential customers were brought to the “doorstep” of your Web site – right now – how would you capture and hold their attention?
Let me know. Pour yourself a venti, fire up the Mac.
Show me how it’s done.
Share your thoughts with my blog readers. You have their attention.
Consider this your challenge to keep it.
Post your comment here (one attention grabbing web link allowed)
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74 Comments to “Gourmet Coffee and Apple Sauce - Got Your Attention?”
I have been challenged by this topic. It seems to me it’s a lot easier making a strong connection with visitors in real like than on the web.
Email isn’t quite the same as a “hello” with a smile.
What I am trying to make sure I have on my site is that “smile”… it takes a bit of work, but I am seeing a rise in repeat visits.
My smile is accomplished by changing my home page regularly and making sure I have current news updated.. nothing worse than visiting an out of date website.
After Priscilla Palmer’s self development list my friend Jenny and I have decided to try to help build the self development community as well with a little contest. I would like to invite you to find out more details at Win a $25 Gift Certificate.
I was getting reasonable results with a picture and an audio greeting, but the transformation after I changed my email capture page to a quiz is stunning. People want to know the answer to the question “Are you gluten intolerant?”, so they do the quiz, and many of them ask for more information about gluten…
Works for me.
Personal stories in the emails work for me… the more personal, the better response I get.
Sincerely,
Sten
Well, adding a ridiculous “60 day money back guarantee no questions asked. If you don’t like it, send it back and get your money back. If these tips don’t help you enormously, you can even burn the book and return the ashes for a full no questions asked refund!” to the sales page definitely upped sales!
On the landing pages I’ve found making it both personal (”me”) but about the reader (”you”) makes a big difference.
Loved the “Apple” - watch out for the “Fireball”
Ian del Carmen
http://FireballPlanet.com/MembershipWholesaler2
Yes, telling stories both in e-mail
and web copy (on the sales letter)
helps get attention of your sub-niche
target market subscribers and customers.
And the best way to do this is by
capturing their name & e-mail
address for later follow-up.
This combined with some interactive
and viral marketing tools like polls,
surveys and a forum will make
wonders to your customers and
keep them for a long time with you.
Just be different than your competitors,
I always strive to teach my clients
this.
Cheers
Codrut Turcanu.
“Succeeding Against All Odds!”
I agree with Sten. It’s the examples / stories of Apple and Starbucks that has kept my attention here and that I will remember when the rest of the detail has largely escaped my memory.
I guess in terms of my online presence, it’s about continuing to share my business experiences with my blog visitors - but also my personal stories. I can usually find an angle in the personal stuff that resonates with readers and perhaps that makes me more human and approachable.
Marion
Well done - I will borrow your Fire graphic for my conference this afternoon.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Rich ,
Gotta hand it to you man . You got your finger RIGHT ON THE PULSE !
Ty
Rich,
Tapping into the thirst for ‘reality TV’ by adding deliberately ‘homemade’ video has proved a real community builder for me - no point reinventing the wheel I guess!
Cheers - Andy
http://blog.andyrogersmusic.com
I have found that a unique name can draw your attention to it. You’re curious and want to know more. Once you find out what the name signifies, it the job of the owner of the name or brand to keep your attention piqued.
Raymond Day
President
Nu-Day Technology Corp.
http://www.xellon.org
“…Howard Shultz doesn’t want people to enjoy his coffee. He wants them to experience coffee culture – the sights, the smells, the sounds, the ambiance and the emotions…”
That is the key for me. Get people interested in the experience of culture behind the game, whether it is mahjong, shogi or hanafuda.
I get the principle. Change something ordinary into something catchy, something special, something extraordinary. A cup of coffee at Starbucks is special -not just the drink but the ambiance, the people who go there. A special breed - the readers, the computer nerds, the writers.
I’m typing this on my Mac as I am a member of “the club” since 1993. You are right, give me half a chance and I start blabbing about Mac’s superiority. I’m going to re-read my home page with your article in mind. Thanks for great thought provoking content. By the way, Apple has joined up with Starbucks so that Mac’s new iPod wifi will work while in Starbucks. You can buy and upload on your iPod whatever song is playing in the store. They are starting in selected areas and expanding. I thought it interesting that you picked two cool companies for your article which see each other as such and by joining forces can offer “venti” the coolness.
What a great topic — it’s really got me thinking! A great “lens” to be looking at my whole business through. I think that keeping my blog both professional and personal — even including the somewhat embarassing stuff as I make my own way on the entrepreneur journey — keeps people coming back. I like the quiz idea, too, and had just decided to develop one for my site yesterday, so we’ll see what happens!
Hello Rich,
This is another interesting article/post. “Starbucks” was able to capture the coffee market with it’s new twist to a enjoyable food product that’s been around and served up for a very long time. That also would include newbie coffee drinkers. And they can get top dollar for their coffee too! With “Apple” the timing is just right for them to chime in with the “I-Pod” to coincide with the releasing of the “I-Phone”. Each of these companies is very well received by many different generations of consumers. I’ve heard “Starbucks” was an overnight success story; but “Apple” has built it’s trust and reputation over time with it’s customer base. Both success stories but achieved success at different paces with customer loyalty.
Thanks.
Sue Chartock
Great post!
just like in any industry, whoever’s able to deliver the most personalized experience will be able to capture the most amount of attention.
it’s really food for thought…
Hi Rich
Yes. Once you get them there and you keep their attention and close the sale that’s fantastic. But I find the next step is the hardest. “Continually updating your site to keep it fresh.”
Regards
Gareth
http://www.thecentershop.com
Excellent post, well-said, and timely. When you visit the Viral Happiness Expansion Initiative - www.viralhappiness.com - you’ll feel our personal care because we do care for each of our readers. And we show it with personal attention and information. We want everyone to be happy, successful, and fulfilled.
Thanks for a great post!
Buz
Thanks Rich, wise words for the Internet age where attention spans are small.
It seems the pattern once again in addition to culture building is simply brand recognition. Does McDonald’s make the best burger? No. Does Starbucks have the best coffee? Probably not.
But quality aside, they spent time and money building their brands which people identify with, and become loyal followers of.
I’d say a combination of brand building and culture creation makes the perfect path towards a successful presence, online and off.
These companies created something different in the marketplace, something people could personally relate to.
To do this in your own market, to carve out a niche and then get your customes to identify with you, takes time but can be done.
Find your niche, be the best you can be in it, and be yourself, people will identify with you.
All The Best!
Its the warm fuzzy feeling when you see you’ve got mail from a person who suddenly becomes a familiar I’m afraid I succumbed to it with a horrendous spening on my credit card It has now been suspended and cut up - You are one who caught my attention but worst sin of all was John Alanis who extracted a few hundred dollars from my babbled yes - And it is being used against me to show my state of competance - Lookj mummy bought a course on how to Attract Women - and every one knows I am intolerant of sexual deviation - well life sucks It was not the effect i wanted to achieve - but i thought in a weird way of attempting to reverse engineer the attraction element. i am a 66 year old disabled pensioner but i refuse to get old and a picture of me can be found on perspot.com as loverly Lorn together with a profile.
I’ve had more than 1000 “hits” almost and it is mostly too youg and totally in appropriate so they are always denied. This is my story I’m sorry if it is out of place here but I thank you for your kindness and I’m not giving in yet.Nil desperandum motto at school and still a personal onre for me - worked well so far.
Good morning!
Both examples of business success focus around the same principle; customer service. Both companies are very strong creating a “personal” experience for the consumer. They market different products but the similarity of focus is the same- “you”.
As entrepreneurs, we must use consistent marketing and sales processes that focus on our target audiences needs and wants and be clearly INTERSTED in serving them.
Great topic!
Mike Malone
www.InnovativePerformanceGroup.com
There are some great ideas here and after this I am going straight off to revamp my home page! And it will be a good time to fit it out as a squeeze page.
Loved the quiz idea too. Thank you everyone for such great inspirations and Rich, I always enjoy your insights. You have a way of writing that I can really tune into. And I guess that is what you were saying. I gotta talk to my visitors like they are at my house or showroom in Bali. I like that!
Give it a stamp (brand it), a signature (personalise it) and a smile (happy factor) … works for me!
One of many reasons RAD Motors will become the largest car company in the world within 5 years of start of production is it drastically cuts cost of product by having a zero advertising budget, replaced by a high-income PR program funded by enthusiastic sponsors. We’ll improve on Apple loyalty ratings by insisting that each car be purchased through a previous buyer, who gets a 2% commission, just for starters. Since each vehicle can be assembled in a 2-car garage in as little as 8 man-hours with $500 worth of hand tools, we’ll be holding many huge competitions of 1-man, 2-man, and unlimited teams assembling these cars in minutes, the same way you’ve seen high-end competitors unscramble Rubik’s cubes in seconds! Sponsors will pay high-end fees for sponsoring these events, as well as others such as off-road competitions, rock climbing events, the first vehicle (and later record-breakers) who (using a built-in winch) make it to the top of Mt. Everest, the north and south poles, from Cape Horn to Cape of Good Hope (via a short ferry trip across the Bering Strait), anddesign competitions. (See www.DubaiAutomotive.com for an illustration of one of our initial vehicles.) We’ll be creating an intensely personal consumer culture which, by intentionally finding innovative ways to meld with the the Starbucks and Apple cultures and many others, will enhance the enthusiasm (and profitability) of all of them!
You’ve just explained to me why I detest Starbucks,
But the real question that follows is how do we create an emotionally compelling brand ourselves to attract our ideal customers?
alex
Greed and curiosity seem to work well. The greed part is obvious, but curosity? That’s what could keep them coming back, to read more, to find out more, to satisfy their “curiosity.” But how to do that is the trick. And that’s where really interesting content comes into play.
We’ve got to keep it fresh, up-to-date, upbeat, and concisely well written. And adding quality freebies won’t hurt. Especially if we keep raising the “freebie bar.” That just might satisfy my 2 key points.
Thanks for a great post, Rich.
Great topic and one of the first principles we teach small business owners. It is not about you and your product. It is about fulfilling a need or desire your customer has. Buying is an emotional decision. Starbucks and Apple do a great job of creating that emotional desire for you to buy from them. When you advertise - whether it is on the web, in print, on radio or TV - you need to grab Attention. Next you need to generate Interest…make the reader want to read or know more. Frann does this with her Gluten Intolerance quiz. Then you want to create a desire for your customer to buy whatever it is you’re offering because it meets or fulfills something they need. Finally, you must have a clear call to action, strong offer or guarantee and create a sense of urgency for someone to act. You absolutely want to create an experience for someone so they are not just buying a commodity from you. You are providing something they feel they need and must have.
Ryan Burgoon
Owner
ActionCOACH Business Coaching
Hmmmm interesting thoughts. I really could care less about expensive coffee. I get my ‘togetherness’ through ordinary coffee. No need to say, ” I go to Starbucks. ” I know they have a great thing going and I will definitely use some of this information, but my questions is this - Do people gravitate to a special expensive coffee that is suppose to be a ‘culture’, because they think they will look like they are in the ‘in crowd’, by doing what everyone else does and showing that they can spend more dollars for a special coffee?
Just a thought, and I would be interested in comments on this one.
Nan
Hi Rich,
This is a very interesting article. I find it very challenging to create a brand or culture on line. I can see from Starbucks’ success as well as Apple’s that branding and culture are critical to long-term success. I am beginning to think that one must create opportunities to meet with customers and prospects off-line as well, to truly be successful. I have visitors calling me to confirm I am a real person, because they believe there are lots of dishonest hustlers on the internet. And I have pictures of myself on my website along with my profile. It’s an interesting challenge.
Thanks for your help.
Sandra
Rich, I think that this relates to the new Public REALations ebook that I will be publishing concerning how today it is not enough to HYPE something like the old days of PR flack. Today we in the Public REALations field have to have the same PASSION as our clients for the product or service and not just be involved for the pocketbook!
I have in this field for over 34 years and today it is about telling a REAL story about REAL people with a worth while product or service.
new to infotmation marketing well online business and i read your blog and was inspired got pen to paper and came up with a few results.Your an insiration Rich just like to say thank you so much you hit the nail on the head as usual.
I like to use a number of common tools to create a friendly and personal web site for my visitors and my newsletter list.
By using the personalization function in my autoresponder and basic JavaScripts I can create personal web pages for my list members that address them by name and time of the day. I also give them things that they can’t get anywhere else, much like offering you a specially made cookie in my kitchen.
An example of my latest gift on a personalized web page is here, (replace my name with yours at the end of the link) http://secrets-to-your-successful.com/Newsletter/?Thea
You can view the source code to see how I did it, or click on my name (in orange above) and go to the Business Cents area for full instructions. This method dramatically increases the conversion rate of web pages.
Now that I have got your attention…
I think that this is a word that makes anyone stop and look to see what a certain article or post may be about,
(you did, did you not?) And if it’s an image on a website, TV or newspaper, may it be Male or Female depending on your preference, it will always grab your attention (if it’s a sexy image that is) and possibly keep it for a while.
Why is that?
Possibly because of the fact that besides Food, Water and good health, our next basic natural need is SEX.
And if we are somehow unable to achieve that due to health issues etc, well, there’s a whole industry that caters to that too.
This is one THE Industries that have grabbed ones attention and KEPT the attention of many for possibly thousands of years.
Ok, so I covered the attention grabbing title by using the word sex in my name,
(I should mention that my name is Arnold and post regularly)
and this little post possibly kept you reading for some unknown subconscious reason
Now for the attention grabbing URL.
(Thanks for allowing this Rich)
http://www.sex101ebooks.com
Don’t worry, it’s purely educational.
Arnold.
Hello and welcome to my comment section
According to me, getting people’s attention and holding them can be best achieved by these methods, but not limited to
1.Make Them feel they own your business.Now its their business and they will take care of your advertising budget…
A simple example would be , having an yahoo email id, people feel like its their own id, their own inbox, everything within it personal to them. But yahoo is the one owning this inbox in its own server, but they made people feel like its their own. When they improve their quality, feel or increase the space limit people feel excited.. I know because i have.
2.Let them talk with each other,You need not hold their attention, they will by themselves.
3.Make them a part of your decisive authority.
Like that as Rich allowing us to comment on his blog giving us a feel, that we are one among those who wrote this article..
4.Simply build a community….
Though all the above points looks like common sense, and simple. These are the best methods which i know of holding attention, and every best and great companies use them.
Thats just my two cents :-). Now how do i hold your attention…..
people, now you can comment on my comment, Its all about you discussing about my comment, that will make my comment worthy and GREAT
What do u say Rich, am i right?
For me, the answer is really why I’m I on this blog.
I don’t go to many blog sites at all.
Starbucks has truly created an environment where you feel the experience by building a community type of feel.
My experience with you Rich, is that you are the Man, the go-to-guy when it comes to building a successful business and business mindset.
From experience, by finding the right information taught by the right person has created that experience for me and many others.
You have created a community of professional who’s idea is to build a successful business for themselves.
Who knows how to that, except someone who has already done that. YOU!
Props to you for being so generous with your business idea’s.
Thanks for allowing me to be apart of Rich Schefren’s community!
God Bless!
-Scott Y
http://www.MLMSponsoringPro.com
Rich,
I’ve been struggling with this because while it’s easy for my products to get immediate attention — we manufacture sexual health products — the technology we use — our sense of smell — they don’t understand the connection of sex with smell and bail out. Getting visitors to stay and learn (the info overload syndrome) is a challenge.
Any suggestions are welcomed!
http://www.scentuellepatch.com
Yes Rich!
It’s all about the brand called YOU!
http://www.super2up.com
Janet Mcnair
Always an inspiration Rich!
It is not about me… it is about what I have can do for you. If people know and trust you the holder they will want what you have.
Yes Arnold… You got my attention and I laughed… thank you for the smile.
From what I have experienced as a book store owner over the years, combined with extensive reading, I would venture to say that Starbucks, Borders, Barnes and Noble and other “buy this product” and “gain this whole social scene” goes back to what Faith Popcorn wrote about years ago as to why the new book store models work so well - extended family - and mainly lack of one - and in our current disconnected society these retail establishments have replaced the “door stoop” of days gone by where family gathered to talk and get caught up and connected about the events of their day.
We’ve become disconnected from our core family structures and intuitively we go out and seek environments which fill that emotional need. Just think of the tv series “Cheers” - where everybody knows your name. We all want to feel part of something, we all want to hang out somewhere where everyone knows our name! Make it known! My name is Cheryl, and I own a bookstore in Suttons Bay, Michigan, and I have a website www.known.com where I am striving to make things known. Stop by and say hello. Tell me about yourself and I’ll add it to the Known Messages section.
Rich - thank you for contining to draw our attention to things which are known, and for putting the topic in front of our eyes!
The site that I have been amazed at is Yuwie. This social networking site has created an overnight online community. If you check Alexa.com the stats show a straight line up to one of the top Internet sites overnight. There is a sense of community there that myspace lacks. Click on my name to check it out.