JAY CONRAD LEVINSON

62 FREE WAYSTO GROW YOUR

BUSINESS PROFITS:Plus Dozens of OtherMarketing Tactics to

Attract New Customersand Keep Them Buying

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THE COMPLETEGUERRILLA MARKETER’S

STUDY GUIDE

JAY CONRAD LEVINSON

The Sessions

The Power of Guerrilla Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 1-21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 22-46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 47-72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 73-100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15The Psychology of Guerrilla Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1813 Secrets of Guerrilla Marketing and Guerrilla Marketing Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24How to Succeed with Your Guerrilla Marketing Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Secrets to Saving Money and Being Creative with Guerrilla Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . .3350 Golden Rules of Guerrilla Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36Marketing and Technology: A Powerful Combination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Guerrilla Marketing in Cyberspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44Becoming a Customer Service Superstar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Understanding the Impact of the Small-Business Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51The Power of Advertising the Guerrilla Marketing Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54Knowledge and Reality According to Guerrillas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

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The Power of Guerrilla Marketing

What is Marketing?Marketing is any contact by any member of your company with any member of the pub-lic. This isn’t only a formalized process…marketing includes every bit of contact, fromthe way your phone is answered to the way your office looks. This means that every-one in your company is a part of your marketing team.

Marketing at its healthiest is a circle that begins with your ideas for how you’re going togenerate revenue for your business. The circle closes when you are blessed with thepatronage of repeat and referral customers. Only when marketing is a circle does itstart producing profits for you.

Marketing is an extended process, not an event.

How is Guerrilla Marketing different from traditional marketing?1. In traditional marketing, the primary investment is money. In Guerrilla Marketing,

the primary investments are time, energy, and imagination. The more of theseyou invest, the less money you will need.

2. Traditional marketing intimidates many small-business owners who are not famil-iar with the concept. Guerrilla Marketing removes the mystery that has long sur-rounded marketing.

3. Traditional marketing has always been geared toward big business. GuerrillaMarketing has always been geared toward small business.

4. Traditional marketing measures how well it’s doing by how many sales it gener-ates. Guerrilla Marketing says that sales aren’t bad, but profits are the numbersyou should focus on.

5. Traditional marketing is based on judgment, which results in guesswork.Guerrilla Marketing is based on the laws of human behavior.

6. Traditional marketing says you should diversify your own business. GuerrillaMarketing says you should always maintain your focus.

7. Traditional marketing focuses on large groups. Guerrilla Marketing focuses onindividuals.

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8. Traditional marketing is often unintentional. It is too formalized and often over-looks important elements that aren’t commonly considered the realm of market-ing. Guerrilla Marketing is completely intentional. Everything the company doesis seen as marketing.

9. Traditional marketing says that businesses should grow linearly by adding newcustomers on a regular basis. Guerrilla Marketing focuses on growing geometri-cally. In this way, Guerrillas have more transactions for each customer per year,increase their number of referrals, and add new customers, too.

10. Traditional marketing worships at the shrine of competition. Guerrilla Marketingpromotes cooperation, which will serve your needs better than competition.

11. Traditional marketing believes that advertising, direct mail, or Web sites work bythemselves. Guerrilla Marketing believes the only thing that works is marketingcombinations.

12. Traditional marketing focuses on money. Guerrilla Marketing focuses on relation-ships, which lead to more money…a subtle but important difference.

13. Traditional marketing is geared toward taking. Guerrilla Marketing is gearedtoward giving…free information, free consultations, free samples. The more acompany gives, the more it gets.

14. Traditional marketing does not make much of an allowance for technologybecause it changes so rapidly. Guerrilla Marketing embraces new technologywhenever it can.

15. Traditional marketing identifies only a few marketing tools, most of which are inthe mass media. Guerrilla Marketing identifies 100 different marketing“weapons,” 62 of which are absolutely free.

The meaning of Guerrilla MarketingIt all boils down to achieving conventional goals by using unconventional means. Theconventional goals are profitability, joy, and success. The unconventional means arerealizing that this is a process that will take a long time and many different weapons.You should feel in total control of your marketing at all times.

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The importance of knowledgeGuerrilla Marketing requires knowledge, but not the kind that comes from books. Youneed first-hand knowledge of your customers, what makes them tick, and what they’reall about.

You need knowledge of your prospects. What are they looking for in their lives?

You need knowledge of your competitors. Even though a Guerrilla should always try tocooperate, your competitors will still be trying to compete.

You need knowledge of businesses equivalent to yours, in your city, in your state, inyour country, and around the world.

You need knowledge of your industry and its changing face.

You need knowledge of new technology that will affect your business and marketing.

You need knowledge of current events because they might affect your marketing reality.

You need knowledge of economic trends. Your customers and prospects will expectthis from you.

You need knowledge of your own product or service…what makes it good, why peoplewant it, and what might make it better.

You need knowledge of your own community and the opportunities available for youthere.

You need knowledge of successful marketing. What’s been out there for a while andwhat works? Why have the Maytag Repairman, the Energizer Bunny, and the PillsburyDoughboy been around for so long?

Exercises• Whatever else you do, you are also in the marketing business. What have your

marketing efforts looked like to date? How can you see them evolving as youbecome a Guerrilla Marketer? What are some ways you can increase the com-mitment of marketing in your business?

• Increasing your knowledge in many areas is the key to Guerrilla Marketing.What are some resources you can use to find the information you need? Makethe resolution to spend time every week on this important pursuit.

• Take the time to study the way other companies market their products or serv-ices. Pay special attention to the marketing strategies you know have been suc-cessful. What can you learn from them?

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Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 1-211. Marketing Plan: A focused, seven-sentence plan for the marketing of your com-

pany.2. Marketing Calendar: A projection of your marketing plan for a year into the

future. This prevents emergencies, makes purchasing and budgetary decisionseasier, and allows for an easy year-end analysis of which of your strategiesworked and which didn’t.

3. Niche/Positioning: Your positioning is where you stand in the minds of yourprospects. Your niche is the portion of the population you wish to attract. Theseshould shine through as you use all of your marketing weapons.

4. Company Name: There are only two kinds of names…good names and badnames. Bad names remind people of another business, are difficult to spell orpronounce, or prohibit future expansion. Almost everything else is a good name.

5. Identity: This stems from truth and honesty about who your company is andwhat it stands for. Identity is the opposite of image, which is defined as a façade.

6. Logo: A visual representation of your company. This should look good at anysize. A logo is a very important choice to make and should never be changedonce you’ve decided upon a good one. Two million businesses are formed inAmerica each year, and your logo will help you stand out from these.

7. Theme Line: This is a set of words that summarizes what you stand for.Examples are “Fly the Friendly Skies of United” or “This Bud’s for You.” Theseshould increase recognition of your business over time.

8. Stationery: A subtle but important influence on your customers. Many opinionsabout a business will be based on its stationery, so make sure yours is attractiveand fulfills your identity.

9. Business Card: A fantastic source of information about your company. Yourbusiness card should have all of your contact information, your logo, and, inmany cases, is more effective if it folds open and contains additional informationinside.

10. Inside Signs: Inside signs influence people at the point of purchase. They solid-ify the notion of what the customer is buying by connecting the marketingthey’ve seen outside your business with the product inside.

11. Outside Signs: These refer to something far cheaper and, in some ways, muchmore powerful than billboards. Investigate ways of advertising on “communitybulletin boards,” where many people advertise their services. You can target theaudience you reach by the location of the board.

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12. Hours of Operation: A powerful marketing weapon you won’t find in any book.In our 24-hour society, people need access to you when it’s convenient for them.Make sure your customers can always reach a live person, voice mail, e-mail, orfax machine.

13. Days of Operation: Your business is not run for your convenience, but ratherfor the convenience of your customers. Being open on weekends could vastlyincrease the profits of many kinds of companies.

14. Window Display: These generate instant responses in the form of impulse pur-chases. Even if you don’t have a window, consider partnering with someone whodoes. Window displays are a shorthand method for announcing all the goodthings about your place of business.

15. Concept: Every decade seems to be powered by a concept. In the 1980s, itwas quality. In the 1990s, it was flexibility. In the new millennium, the overridingconcept is going to be innovation. Make sure you are in step with the conceptsof your times.

16. Word of Mouth: This marketing is based on the good things you do in yourbusiness, and it can be improved in the following ways. Take advantage of themoment of maximum satisfaction,” the period up to 30 days after the customermakes a purchase during which the customer is enthusiastic enough to spreadthe word. By developing a first-time customer brochure, you’re providing themwith the right words to spread. Win them over so they will recommend you tomany others.

17. Community Involvement: This is one of the most important weapons. Themore you’re involved with your community, the more they will be involved withyou. Community involvement means connecting and aligning yourself with yourcommunity. This allows the members of your community to see your business asa friend, and it provides many valuable networking opportunities for you.

18. Neatness: Your customers will assume that you’ll treat them in the same wayyou treat your premises. This is why your place of business should always beexactingly neat and clean.

19. Referral Program: A formalized process by which you ask all of your customersfor the names of other people who might benefit from being on your mailing list.

20. Sharing: Putting yourself in a situation where you get to share marketing “warstories.” It’s a great way to get ideas from others who have similar challenges toyours.

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21. Guarantee: People don’t like to take risks with their purchases, so a guaranteewill make them feel better about parting with their money. A great competitiveadvantage is to offer a five-year guarantee when everyone else’s lasts only oneyear.

Exercises (Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 1-21)• Many of the marketing weapons from this session refer to the structure and

appearance of your business. What about your business can you change inlight of this new information?

• What is your business’s identity? How well is this reflected in your log,business card, and other marketing materials?

• What is your positioning in your market? What is your positioning in yourcommunity?

• What is the concept that is powering the marketplace today? How well doesyour business reflect this concept? What are some ways you can improve yourbusiness’s performance?

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Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 22-4622. Telemarketing: This marketing weapon works best when it’s used business-to-

business and when operating from a script.Gift Certificates: These work exceptionally well for businesses that neverthought to use them before. Merely adding the line “Ask about our gift certifi-cates” to your promotions can lead to thousands of dollars in extra sales peryear.

24. Brochures: One of the most important marketing weapons, brochures enableyou to provide all the details about your business to prospective clients. Theseare given out only to those who request them, and they can be used effectivelyin a two-step marketing campaign.

25. Electronic Brochures: This combines your brochure with media other thanpaper, such as an audiocassette or videocassette. Electronic brochures areattention-grabbing and are very effective when used in two-step marketingcampaigns.

26. Location: The most important location of all is the Internet because Americansare quickly learning to shop for products using this new medium. A word of cau-tion about physical location: if you own a retail store with the best location intown, make sure your prime location doesn’t lull you into a false sense ofsecurity. Your other marketing efforts must still be top-notch!

27. Advertising: Advertising doesn’t work by itself, only in the presence of all yourother marketing weapons. They’re symbiotic. But remember that advertising isonly 1% of a successful marketing campaign.

28. Sales Training: This should be done weekly and repetitively. Sales training hasa low cost but very high effectiveness.

29. Networking: This has the opposite meaning of what networking is to most peo-ple. Instead of surrounding yourself with peers, surround yourself with prospects.Instead of doing all the talking, ask questions and listen carefully to the answers.Instead of handing out your business card, look your prospect in the eye andask for his or hers. Networking is about building relationships.

30 Quality: This is the second most important reason people patronize the busi-nesses they do. Quality is not necessarily what you put into your product orservice, it’s what people get out of it.

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31 Reprints and Blow Ups: When you run a print ad or when your business ismentioned favorably in the press, make copies and hang these clippings oncommunity bulletin boards. You can also hang them in your business, includethem in future mailings, or blow them up large and put them in your displaywindow.

32 Flip Charts: These may be the least glamorous weapon, but they’re very power-ful. Flip charts give order, flow, and a strong visual element to a presentation.

33 Opportunities to Upgrade: These give your customer an incentive to spendmore money with you. A larger, economy version of your product or a packagedeal save the customer money overall and contribute more to your bottom line.

34 Contests and Sweepstakes: These generate names for your mailing lists andgenerate excitement about your company.

35 Barter: An unfamiliar concept for most people, but it’s an excellent way of get-ting the things you need and spreading the word about your company withoutspending a lot of money.

36 Club/Association Memberships: With these memberships, you can getindustry information and separate yourself from the ranks of strangers.These are excellent places to showcase how hard you work, your quality,and your devotion.

37 Partial Payment Plans: Make it as easy as possible for people to pay for whatyou’re selling. Offer an installment plan and accept all credit cards, not just themost popular ones.

38 Causes: Having a cause is a fast-growing marketing strategy in the UnitedStates. Most people will patronize your business if they are aware that, by doingso, they are contributing to a social or environmental cause.

39. Telephone Demeanor: How your telephone is answered is extremely importantin terms of how your company is viewed by your prospects. Customers shouldn’tbe treated as an interruption of business, but rather why you’re in business inthe first place.

40. Toll-Free Number: These increase response rates to your offers anywhere from30 to 700% when dealing with non-local prospects. Also a caveat…make sureyou don’t spell a word with your phone number. People think they don’t have towrite down these word-based phone numbers because they’ll remember them,but they often don’t.

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41. Free Consultations: These are easy to say yes to…they imply that there will beno pressure and a lot of good information offered. But remember, it’s not a pres-entation, it’s a valuable consultation. Ask a lot of questions, but put a time limiton the appointment.

42. Free Seminars/Clinics: These are like free consultations to a lot of people.Offer information of value but don’t try to sell anything until the very end. Thepeople who attend these seminars are the hottest prospects.

43. Free Demonstrations: A chance for a prospect to see your product or service inperson with no risk.

44. Free Samples: Giving away free samples of your product (or a smaller versionof your service) is like buying new customers.

45. A Giver’s Stance: Some companies are givers, some are takers. Take thegiver’s stance. Offer free consultations, seminars, demonstrations, samples,newsletters. People are attracted to giver companies and they avoid taker com-panies. Ask yourself what your customers want for free, then give it to them.

46. Fusion Marketing: This means marketing your company jointly with anotherbusiness to share the costs and rewards. It can be as simple as displaying eachother’s brochures to forming a “leads” club.

Exercises (Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 22-46)• Many of the marketing weapons from this session focus on how your business

reaches out to its prospects. How would you describe and rate your currentefforts in this area? How might you improve?

• What is it like to contact your company by telephone? Is it easy for your cus-tomers to get through? Do they have to pay a long-distance fee? Once they getthrough, how are they treated?

• Make sure your company is seen as a giving company. What are some thingsyou can give away to your customers and prospects? Consultations?Seminars? Demonstrations? Samples?

• Name 20 possible fusion-marketing partners and how you might be of serviceto each other.

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Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 47-7247. Marketing on Hold: Simply playing company advertising when your customers

are “on-hold” will generate a lot of interest in your specials and breakthroughs.48. Past Success Stories: Showcase everything you’ve done right in the past.

Mention the names of the clients you’ve helped and specifics of what you didfor them.

49. Employee Attire: This doesn’t necessarily mean establishing a dress code, butjust know where to draw the line in terms of what is acceptable for your employ-ees to wear. Make sure your employees represent the identity of your business.

50. Service: The third most important reason people patronize the businesses theydo. Service is anything a customer wants it to be. Go way beyond customer sat-isfaction and customer delight to customer bliss.

51. Follow-up: Possibly the most important marketing weapon. Sixty-eight percentof lost business in America is from ignoring a customer after a sale. Send thank-you notes. Inquire as to their satisfaction. Follow up again at regular intervals.

52. Yourself and Your Employees: People have to buy you (or your employees)before they buy what you’re selling. You are your own best marketing weapon.

53. Advertising Specialties: These are free gifts you can offer to increase yourresponse rates. The best gifts include your business name AND your customer’sname because this helps them make you part of their identity, and vice versa.

54. Catalog: People keep catalogs longer than they keep any marketing materials.Make sure you have a version online.

55. Yellow Pages Ads: Only use these if people regularly look for your sort of busi-ness in the yellow pages. If they do, forget about a beautiful design…make yourad as full of information as you can. But don’t direct people to look for your ad inthe yellow pages…that just invites them to see your competition. And if there area lot of ads in your category, look for unique ways you can stand out.

56. Columns: Offer to write a column for local or relevant publications…say you’lldo it for free and request only that they identify your business and its phonenumber or Web address. Use the column not to sell your own company, but tooffer valuable information. You can then use these as reprints (see weapon 31).

57. Articles: If you don’t have time to write a regular column, writing an article(again, for free, as long as they print your business name and number) can bejust as good. This establishes you as an expert and gives you plenty of materialfor reprinting.

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58. Become a Speaker: Offer your services, for free, as a speaker on your busi-ness’s field of expertise. In appreciation of your time, you will attract a lot of newbusiness from that organization.

59. Newsletter: This is a great opportunity to follow up and stay in touch with yourcustomers on a regular basis. Follow the rule of 75/25 when doing a newslet-ter…75% useful information, 25% sales information about your new products.

60. All Audiences: Determine all of the possible audiences for your product or serv-ice and pay attention to more than one of them.

61. Benefits List: This is a list of all the benefits of working with your company, withspecial attention paid to your competitive advantages. A benefits list should becreated with the input of all levels of your business, as well as at least one cus-tomer who can provide an objective view.

62. Computer: No longer a luxury, computers are an absolute necessity for doingbusiness today. They provide databases, information from worldwide sources,and easy production of many marketing materials. Use a computer!

63. Selection: This is an important reason people patronize the businesses they do.Make sure your products and services cover the full spectrum of what’s expect-ed from you.

64. Contact Time with Customer: The time the customer spends in your presenceis a great opportunity to establish a relationship. You can also use this time toexpand on the purchase they’re making.

65. Hello and Goodbye: Say hello by making eye contact, smiling, and usingthe customer’s name. Use the name again when you say goodbye. This is yetanother chance to build a relationship.

66. Public Relations: Seventy-four percent of all the news in the newspaper hasbeen planted there. Use the power of the media to get your business name outthere, and use the resulting articles as reprints (see weapon 31).

67. Media Contacts: The media are inundated with request for free publicity, so thechances of your publicity appearing increase if you have contacts in the media.

68. Online Marketing: One of the most important forms of marketing available.Americans are increasingly turning to the Internet to shop, so start focusing yourmarketing efforts in this direction now!

69. Classified Ads: These are of growing importance because of the increase inthe number of classifications available; and they get a lot of readership. Thereare also a number of free places to post your ad online.

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70. Newspaper Ads: The majority of small-business marketing still occurs in news-paper ads, and its power comes from repetition. Your ad doesn’t have to behuge, but make sure it appears at least once a week.

71. Magazine Ads: You’re judged by where you advertise, and magazines give thegreatest credibility of all. Try advertising in the local edition of a national maga-zine, and you only have to do it once. Your ad from the national magazine isthen available to you as a reprint (see weapon 31).

72. Radio: Advertise on stations with “active” listeners, such as those with newsshows or talk radio. These listeners are paying attention. People who listen tomusic stations don’t pay as much attention to the advertisements.

Exercises (Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 47-72)• Many of the marketing weapons from this session focus on how your prospects

are introduced to your business. What are the prime ways you currently attractcustomers? What shifts in your marketing do you now recognize might improveyour bottom line?

• How much advertising do you currently run? How effective has it been? Whatare some other areas into which you might expand your advertising?

• Create a list of benefits of dealing with your business. What are some of yourcompetitive advantages? How well have you done with communicating thesebenefits and advantages to your customers in the past, and how might that beimproved?

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Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 73-10073. Television: This is still the prime medium for advertising, and it’s available at a

lower cost than ever before. For the best prices, take advantage of local cablestations. But remember, emphasize the visual element of your commercial.Many people will hit the “mute” button and not listen to the words.

74. Infomercials: Whatever you think of them, these have a high success rate.Infomercials are a great place to use fusion marketing (see weapon 46), andthey cost much less than you might imagine.

75. Movie Commercials: These are the advertisement slides you see before amovie begins at the theater. An excellent marketing tool because they are veryinexpensive and very targeted.

76. Direct-Mail Letters: The length of these is not very important, but make surethey are in an appealing envelope and that every letter contains a P.S.

77. Direct-Mail Postcards: These generally draw more of a response than regulardirect mail because the message is so concise and readily available to the recip-ient.

78. Postcard Decks: These are decks of direct-mail postcards, based around acommon theme, wrapped in cellophane and mailed to prospects. The responserate is generally higher than for individual postcards, and the cost is much lowerthan mailing them individually because the price is shared with the other partici-pating companies. Put a special offer on the card.

79. Posters: A growing art form in America. If you have a beautiful ad, considerblowing it up to poster size. Many people may hang it up in their homes andoffices if it’s really attractive.

80. Fax on Demand: This service can increase your response rate because it pro-vides instant gratification. By dialing a number you’ve set up, and entering theirown fax number, your customers can have information faxed to them immediately.

81. Special Events: These attract publicity and prospects. Special events are agreat activity to arrange with fusion-marketing partners (see weapon 46).

82. Trade Show Displays: Eighty percent of business for many companies comesfrom this venue. Look into how these can work for you, and invest in an excitingdisplay. Trade shows can pay for themselves many times over because you’recatching your prospects in an inquisitive mood.

83. Audio/Visual Aids: Whenever you can, appeal to your audience’s visual senseby using diagrams, photographs, and videos. Show things to people rather thantelling them, and they’ll learn more…and act on what they’ve learned.

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84. Spare Time: A great time to work on building relationships with your customers.You can use your spare time to write birthday or anniversary cards, letters, cliparticles, and do many other little things that will appeal to your clients and letthem know you care.

85. Prospects Mailing Lists: These are lists of people who have not yet boughtyour product but ought to. Use them to your best advantage.

86. Research Studies: We live in the Information Age where knowledge is power.Read studies – or, better yet, create them yourself – about what sort of thingsyour customers enjoy, what their hobbies are, etc. This can give you a lot of per-sonal information you can then use to build a relationship and better target yourmarketing.

87. Competitive Advantages: The things that you offer but that your competitiondoesn’t. If you don’t have a competitive advantage, invent one.

88. Marketing Insight: Study the insights of expert marketers to come up with newideas and discover what’s best for you.

89. Speed: Time isn’t money, it’s life itself. People don’t want to waste their time.Figure out ways to speed up your response to your customers’ requests.

90. Testimonials: These are free to obtain and infinitely valuable. Use good testi-monials in all of your marketing. Hang them on your walls.

91. Reputation: This is hard to build and easy to destroy. Bad word of mouthspreads faster than wildfire. So guard your reputation and protect it with allyou’ve got!

92. Enthusiasm: Enthusiasm in your company starts with you, spreads to youremployees, and then spreads to your customers. The highest form of enthusi-asm is passion. If you don’t feel passion for your business, you should considerdoing something else.

93. Credibility: People won’t trust you without it. Make sure your marketing materi-als don’t look amateurish or homemade. Credibility will enhance all of your otherweapons.

94. Spying: Spy on yourself and spy on competitors. Call your company and seehow you’re treated on the phone. See how your request for information isprocessed. See if there’s follow-up. Then call a competitor and make the samerequest. Compare the way you’re treated both times.

95. Ease of Business: Be easy to do business with at every level, and your compa-ny will grow by leaps and bounds.

96. Brand Name Awareness: Your business name has to become a brand namebecause names are what people trust the most.

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97. Designated Guerrilla: This is the person in your company who loves marketingand loves to get updates on the best kinds of marketing out there to use in yourbusiness. If you’re a business owner, the best designated guerrilla is yourself.

98. Customer Mailing List: Your current customers all have the potential tobecome lifelong customers and sources of referrals, so do everything you can tokeep in touch with them and find out as much as you can about them. This willhelp in building lasting relationships.

99. Competitiveness: This is the quality that will ensure enthusiasm for learningand trying new things to grow your business. Competitiveness will make you abetter marketer.

100. Satisfied Customers: Every one of these is another weapon in your arsenal.Everything you’ve done right in the past is a promise of what you will do right inthe future. Satisfied customers are a source of referrals, repeat business, testi-monials, and reputation.

Exercises (Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 73-100)• Several of the marketing weapons from this session are based on technology.

How much technology do you currently employ in your business? How doesthat compare with the technological level of your competitors? What new tech-nology could you acquire (or how can you better utilize what you already have)to improve your marketing efforts?

• People trust brand names the most, and that will draw customers better thananything else. How might you position your product or service as a brandname?

• Take the time to regularly spy on yourself and your competitors – every week, ifpossible. Look at what you learn as a customer would…how do you measureup? How easy is it to do business with you?

• In the next few days, ask five of your best customers for testimonials and findsome ways to incorporate these into your marketing plan.

Exercises (Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 1-100)• Categorize ALL of the Guerrilla Marketing weapons from the past few sessions

using the following system:Category 1 – “I’m using that weapon now, and I’m doing a good job of it.”Category 2 – “I’m using that weapon now, but the way I’m using it could be improved.”Category 3 – “I’m not using that weapon now, but I ought to be.”Category 4 – “That weapon is not appropriate for me right now.”

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The Psychology of Guerrilla MarketingTraditional marketing relies on guesswork. Guerrilla Marketing relies on psychology totake the guesswork out of why people spend their money. Psychology has helped useffectively answer the following questions for maximum benefit.

Why do people decide to make a purchase?Purchase decisions are made in the unconscious mind, which is accessed through theprocess of repetition.

What is the strongest possible marketing strategy?People tend to be either left-brained or right-brained. Left-brained people love logicalreasoning. Right-brained people make decisions based on emotions and aesthetics.The strongest marketing strategy combines both of these aspects into one package.

What is the strongest bond you can form with your customers?There are two bonds that are formed whenever business is transacted: the humanbond and the business bond. Most marketing is aimed at making the business bondstronger, but Guerrilla Marketing focuses on the human bond. Instead of talking aboutbusiness right away with a prospect, you might talk about sports or current events. Thestronger the human bond, the stronger the business bond will be. And the human bondis perfected through the art of listening.

What are the messages that marketing sends?All marketing contains two messages. The first is called the stated message, which iswhat you want the marketing to say. The other message is the meta message. Thisrefers to the message behind the stated message. In other words, what did your adlook like? What did your commercial sound like? What degree of professionalism wasthere? You need to be aware that this communicates as much as your stated message.

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How does Guerrilla Marketing use psychology to make a profit?Guerrillas embrace the idea that the only way to get a share of the market is to firstgain a share of the mind…and if you gain a share of the mind, the market will follow.

There are two schools of thought in American marketing today: Freudian and Skinarian.

Freudian is traditional marketing based on an attitudinal change. It’s been relied uponfor a long time to bring a message to a prospect and change his or her attitude to thedegree that they want to act on it.

Skinarian marketing is based on the studies of B. F. Skinner, the behavioral psycholo-gist who talked about behavior modification. If you were to use this philosophy, youcould place an ad stating “This wonderful value is available to you only if you act byApril fifteenth.” This modifies a person’s behavior. If they don’t take action by the fif-teenth, they will lose out on the special deal.

Guerrilla Marketers use both. They are constantly trying to change people’s attitudesand increase their awareness while peppering them with special offers and good rea-sons to come in and buy now.

How do Guerrilla Marketers treat their customers?Guerrillas know that all customers are not created equal. That’s why they have an A listof customers and a B list of customers.

The A list is comprised of the people who buy the most, spend the most, and are theeasiest to sell to. They create the least problems.

The B list is all their other customers.

Guerrilla’s treat the B list like royalty and the A list like family. Nobody gets ignored, butthe A list gets special attention. Your best customers should be treated that way.

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How do Guerrilla Marketers make it easier to buy from them?Guerrillas understand that to buy anything is a difficult decision because people areafraid to make a mistake. For someone to change their purchase pattern and buysomething from you is a hard step.

Guerrillas make the decision easier by creating “soft” steps.

Soft steps are a free consultation, a free seminar, a brochure, a demonstration, or asample.

Once someone has taken one or more of these soft steps, the step of buying doesn’tseem nearly as hard.

What does color have to do with your marketing campaign?Research has shown that color is very important to the decision-making process.Advertising that is done in color increases the retention of the message by 57% andimproves the inclination to buy by 41%.

Color costs more, of course, but these figures make up for the extra expenditure.

How can you stand out from the competition?One of the things that will help the most is your attention to details. The more attentionyou pay to what other people tend to overlook, the more you’ll stand out. Your cus-tomers know the difference. These details create a deeper psychological bond.

Signing letters and writing notes in your own handwriting is an important detail.Personal phone calls are an important detail. These cost no money but end up makingyour customers feel unique and special.

How do Guerrillas view marketing?Differently than other people. They don’t view marketing as a way to sell their productor gain more profits, although these benefits always result from the Guerrilla attitude.

Guerrillas view marketing as an opportunity to educate their prospects to succeed atwhatever it is their prospects want to succeed at. Marketing is your chance to help yourprospects succeed.

Marketing for Guerrillas is the art and science and business of getting people tochange their minds to the point where they want your product or service.

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What are the characteristics of a successful marketer?Successful marketers the world over have the same set of personality characteristics incommon:

1. Patience.Scientific studies have shown that it takes nine exposures to a marketing message tomove someone from total apathy to purchase readiness. The problem is that for everythree messages you put out, people will only pay attention to one. This means youactually have to put the message out 27 times before the prospect takes action.

But this takes a lot of time, and when results don’t come soon, most marketers startover and change their message to one they think will work better. This is a mistake.

A successful marketer has the patience to keep putting out the same message evenwhen the profits aren’t rising yet.

2. Imagination.Imagination isn’t just about clever headlines or visuals, it’s about coming up with newways of having your message penetrate into the minds of your audience.

If you’re using direct mail and know that your prospects receive tons of it every day,imagine what you can do to make your piece stand out. Using 11 different stamps onthe envelope might do it, or sending the mail from Portugal so a foreign stamp andpostcard will grab their attention. That’s imagination.

3. Sensitivity.Successful marketers are sensitive to their market, their time in history, the time ofyear, what their competition is doing or saying, and any other background factors thatmight affect their success. But they’re most sensitive to what is going on in theirprospect’s mind. And with that sensitivity, they are able to say the right things to theright people at the right time.

4. Eagle Strength.After being exposed to the same message every day, the people in your life might startto get bored with it and ask you to market in a different way. Your co-workers andemployees may say things like, “I’m getting tired of your marketing. Don’t you think it’stime to change it?” But the fact is, your customer is not bored with your marketing.They will spend any amount of time reading your marketing materials trying to justifythe fact that they’re doing business with you.

So successful marketers have the strength to stand up to the wellmeaning people whodon’t understand how marketing works.

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5. Generosity.Successful marketers think in terms of what they can give rather than what they cantake. They want to share important information with their customers and give awaythings that they might like. Generosity opens the conduits through which the profitsflow.

6. Aggressiveness.Although they’re allowed to be shy in other situations, Guerrillas are aggressive mar-keters. They won’t hesitate to spend more money in the beginning of their marketingcampaigns because they know that as their profits rise, the percentage of the totalincome spent on advertising will fall.

7. Constant Learning.Successful marketers realize that life is changing, technology is changing, and market-ing especially is changing…and unless they keep up, they’re falling behind. Therefore,constantly learning one thing after another is the only way to prosper in changingtimes.

8. Action.Successful marketers are people of action. They are not just thinkers, they’re doers.

What do Guerrilla Marketers look for in television commercials?Guerrillas look for motivation more than entertainment.A commercial should be clear about its competitive advantage.Television is a visual medium and commercials should take advantage of thatand be intensely visual.Professional-looking production is very important. Amateurish commercialsshould be avoided at all costs. Commercials should be believable and compelling.Viewers should feel a powerful desire from watching the commercial.Advertisers should focus on the reasons for buying the product and not on beingclever or having special effects or using a celebrity spokesperson.Great advertising demonstrates the benefits of great products.Commercials should be fascinating every time they’re experienced. What’s funnyonce won’t be funny the tenth time. Successful commercials, however, alwayspeak the interest.

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Exercises• Choose some of your best customers and ask them why they decided to do

business with you. How does this compare to what you now know about thepsychology of consumerism? What are some ways you can use this informa-tion to attract even more customers?

• What are some messages that your marketing of the past has sent? In review-ing them now, do you think you sent the correct message? What was your pres-entation like? Did it look absolutely professional and painstaking, or did it lookmore amateurish? What steps can you take to increase your professionalimage?

• What are some details you can pay attention to that will amaze your cus-tomers? Which of these are not offered by your competition?

• How many characteristics of a successful marketer do you embody? If it’s notall eight, make a commitment right now to take action on more of them in thenext few months. These are the characteristics that will forever determine yoursuccess in business, so work hard to make all of them a part of your life!

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13 Secrets of Guerrilla Marketing and GuerrillaMarketing Online

The 13 powerful secrets of Guerrilla MarketingCommitment: Even mediocre marketing with commitment works much betterthan brilliant marketing without commitment. Commitment is what you need tokeep going even when the results are slow in coming…but you will get results ifyou persevere. Commitment is what it takes to be a world leader in your field.

Investment: Nothing you spend on marketing is an expense. Marketing isalways an investment in your future prosperity. It’s the best investment you canmake because the returns are high and there’s absolutely no risk if you do itright…and you’re learning here how to do it right.

Consistent: It takes a while for people to get to know about you, so you mustbe consistent in your identity and your approach to marketing. The headlinescan change, the offers can change, even the prices can change, but your mediaand your message must be consistent.

Confident: Confidence is another reason people patronize the businesses theydo…their confidence in you and your confidence in your own business. Yourcustomers will gain confidence when they see your level of commitment to themand to the investment of consistent marketing.

Patient: Patience is the key to all of the secrets so far. Become a patient per-son.

Assortment: None of your weapons works by itself…not advertising, not directmail, not Web sites, not telemarketing. Successful marketing campaigns use awide assortment of weapons. So test as many as you can to compile the assort-ment that works best for you.

Convenient: Everything you offer must be convenient to your customers. Theywill appreciate your awareness of how valuable their time is and the eliminationof any of your practices that may waste it. Your product must be easy to find andeasy to pay for.

Subsequent to the Sale: Making a sale is great, but Guerrillas know that profitsdon’t really start flowing until after the sale is made. That’s when the lucrativeopportunities for repeat and referral business will soon have the money flowingin.

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Amazement: People would be absolutely amazed if they knew what you wentthough in order to offer the excellence that you do. Use your marketing as anopportunity to generate that amazement because it will lead to attention. Peoplewant to be amazed.

Measurement: You must know the truth about your marketing campaigns’ effec-tiveness, and that means accurately measuring how well each weapon works foryou. Find out what is leading your customers to you, and concentrate on thoseareas.

Involvement: Your customers want you to be involved with their success. Youdisplay your involvement through your follow-up, your attention to their details,the friendly relationship you build. And they can be involved with your business,too, by completing customer questionnaires and providing testimonial letters.

Dependent: We are no longer in the age of the lone wolf. We are an interde-pendent society. Your business is dependent on every other business in yourcity, state, country and, through the Internet, the world. Making strategicalliances and fusion marketing arrangements is the way to stay at the forefrontof your field.

Armament: This is the equipment necessary to wage and win battles. Thearmament of Guerrillas is technology. Fax machines, pagers, advanced voicemail, computers…these are the types of equipment you will need to win the war.

The rules for Guerrilla Marketing onlineYou have to be good at marketing in general before you’ll be good at marketing online.

And when you do start marketing online, you have to know what it entails.

Online marketing goes beyond having a Web site. It extends into e-mail, becomingactive in forums, and involving yourself in relevant chat rooms. It’s linking to and fromother sites, hosting online conferences, and posting classifieds. Online marketingmeans research. The more information you have, the better marketing you can do.Online marketing means promoting your Web site online.

Most importantly, online marketing means becoming familiar with how the Web works.The people who are losing money online think that just because they have a Web site,people will visit it. It doesn’t work like that.

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8 important elements of a Web site1. Planning: Why do you want a Web site in the first place? What do you expect it

to do? What will your customers gain from it? Once you have a clear view ofyour mission, it will be easier to carry it out.

2. Content: The content is what will bring people back for more. When people visityour Web site, you want them to have wonderful experiences loaded with con-tent that’s fresh and new all the time.

3. Design: This refers to what your site looks like. There is a moment right after avisitor comes to the site called the “stay or bail moment.” This is when he or shedecides, based on what your site looks like, whether they will look at your site orgo somewhere else…and this decision is based solely on how your site looks. Ifit’s ugly or amateurish, people are going to leave.

4. Area of Involvement: A successful Web site involves interactivity. Get your visi-tors to participate in a pool, complete a survey, answer some questions, or regis-ter to get a prize. This is a great way to get to know the names and addresses ofthe people who come to your site.

5. Production: You can either hire a designer to create your site or buy the soft-ware that will allow you to do it yourself. Remember, your site needs to bechanged at least weekly, or else you’ll fall behind.

6. Follow-up: Never take for granted the fact that someone has gotten in touchwith you. Follow up every online contact you get, by e-mail, by an order confir-mation, by a thank-you letter…anything. Just make sure you stay in touch withthe people who visit your site on a regular basis. Get them to come back overand over and make visiting your site a part of their daily routine.

7. Promotion: When you go online, you exist in a vacuum. Nobody will knowyou’re there unless you promote that site offline. Include your Web address in allof your marketing.

8. Maintenance: A Web site is like a baby. It’s not something you can put out inthe world and forget about. It’s something that needs nurturing and attention ona regular basis.

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What you must masterYou must also master the ability of being concise. People’s eyes behave differentlywhen viewing things on an illuminated screen. They are attracted to short words, shortsentences, and short paragraphs. Break the information into bits and pieces.

Personalization is another ability to master. Make sure your e-mail responses are per-sonal. Make people feel unique.

And the last truth is the rule of thirds: “When you determine what your online marketingbudget will be, divide that budget into three equal parts.”

The first third should be spent on development (planning, writing, design, etc.).

The second third should be spent on promotion (online and offline marketing of thesite).

The final third should be spent on maintenance (keeping your site fresh and updated).

Exercises• Rate every one of your marketing strategies, past and present, by the 13

secrets of Guerrilla Marketing (commitment, investment, consistent, confident,patient, assortment, convenient, subsequent to the sale, amazement, measure-ment, involvement, dependent, and armament). Give yourself a letter grade,from A to F, for each category.

• If you don’t currently have an online presence, list all the ways you think it’spossible to benefit from this investment. If you do, list the benefits you’vereceived so far and the ones you hope to receive in the future. For each ofthese benefits, create a strategy based on at least one of the eight importantelements of a Web site (planning, content, design, area of involvement, produc-tion, follow-up, promotion, and maintenance).

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How to Succeed with Your Guerrilla Marketing Attack

The 10 steps of a Guerrilla Marketing Attack1. Research: Gather information on your market, your product, your media, your

competition, your industry. Investigate your customers and the technology thatwill help you reach them best. Determine what your benefits are. And alwaysresearch the innovations on the Internet. Research is the first stage in any suc-cessful marketing attack.

2. Benefits List: Don’t be modest here…pull out all the stops. List the benefits ofworking with you, and invent your competitive advantage.

3. Select Your Weapons: Choose from the 100 Guerrilla Marketing weapons theones that will work best for you. You won’t launch them all at once, of course.Put them into priority order and, next to each one, list the date it will be imple-mented and the person who will be in charge.

4. Create Your Guerrilla Marketing Plan: The plan should be seven sentences.Answering the following questions:

What is your marketing asking people to do?Which benefits are you going to stress?Who is your audience or target audiences?Which marketing weapons will you use?What is your niche or positioning in the marketplace?What is your identity?What is your marketing budget?

5. Make your Guerrilla Marketing Calendar: Create a chart of twelve rows andfive columns. Label the columns in the following manner:

Month – List all the months of the year on the twelve rows.Thrust – What is the thrust of your marketing in each month? Are you releasing

a new product? Announcing a sale?Media – Which media will you use in each month?Money – How much money will you spend on your marketing in each month?Rating – At the end of the year, grade yourself with an A, B, C, D, or F as to

how well the marketing worked for each month.

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6. Find Fusion-Marketing Partners: Who are your allies when it comes to market-ing? Who will help you spread the word in exchange for you helping to spreadtheir word? Look for partners who have the same prospects and standards thatyou have. These might be in your community, in your industry, or on the Internet.You should have as many fusion-marketing partners as possible.

7. Launch Your Attack: Do this in slow motion. Never be in a hurry to launch anattack. Take your time on each step. Launching your attack should take placeover a period of time. Many people spend as many as 18 months launching anattack. This will allow you to be comfortable with and confident in your marketingplan.

8. Maintain the Attack: This is where the attack starts getting difficult and whereit’s possible to lose the most money. Even if you’ve done everything right up untilthis step, it’s possible your results won’t be immediate. Even if this is the case,never abandon your attack! You’ll waste the money you’ve invested in your mar-keting already, and you’ll lose out on the future profits. Don’t give up!

9. Keep Track: Measure your results. Know which of your marketing effortsbrought each of your clients to you. Where did they hear about you? Why arethey doing business with you? This is the way to know where your marketingsuccesses and failures are.

10. Improve in All Areas: Improve your message, your media, your budget, yourresults. This stems from how well you keep track and determine which of yourmarketing weapons are pulling their own weight.

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Understanding the powers and limitations of marketingPeople only pay attention to what interests them. Make your marketing interesting orpeople will not notice it.

People are influenced by marketing far more than they realize. Almost every purchasepeople make is because of some form of marketing, but they don’t even know it.

Consistency is much better than a single impact. If you have a limited budget, runninga small ad over time will produce far more results than a big ad run once. This isbecause of the power of repetition.

The more specific you can be, the better you will be at marketing. Mention specificnames and numbers and your prospective customers will be able to better relate towhat you’re saying.

A lot of marketing copy is almost always better than a little. You need to give peopleenough information to make an intelligent buying decision. But if you do use a lot ofcopy, make sure you break it up with subheadlines or photographs. Studies haveshown that in the cases of long ad copy, readership falls off significantly after the first50 words, but hardly at all between the 50th and the 1,000th words.

It’s very important that you be timely. Don’t miss out on trends. Keep abreast of what’shappening in the world. Watch a TV news show and read a metropolitan newspaperevery day, and read a newsmagazine every week. Also read one industry publicationand one marketing publication. Finally, do a “weekly surf.” Take an hour or two eachweek to surf the Internet looking for competition, fusion-marketing partners, and howyour Web site compares to everyone else’s.

Remember that technology empowers you like never before. You can now do thingsvery easily and cheaply that were once too expensive or complex to create. And itgives you the power to innovate and come up with new ideas for marketing and makingyour customers happy.

Your marketing should never talk about yourself. It should only talk about your prospectand how his or her situation will be improved by using your product.

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Exercises• Create a Guerrilla Marketing plan by answering the following questions with

one sentence each:

What is your marketing asking people to do?

Which benefits are you going to stress?

Who is your audience or target audiences?

Which marketing weapons will you use?

What is your niche or positioning in the marketplace?

What is your identity?

What is your marketing budget?

• On the following page, create a Guerrilla Marketing Calendar by filling in theprovided chart.

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Secrets to Saving Money and Being Creative withGuerrilla Marketing

13 tips that help you save more money1. Do it yourself when you can. Don’t hire people to do what is easy for you to do

on your own.

2. Small is beautiful. When you do hire someone, work with small businessesrather than large ones. Run small ads and lots of them. Write short commercialsand run many of them.

3. Establish an in-house advertising agency or use a media buying service.Agencies get a 15% discount when they place ads for you, and you can get thesame if you establish yourself as an in-house ad agency. A media-buying servicemight be even more helpful. They can save you money while directing youthrough the unknown world of print media.

4. Obtain free research. A customer questionnaire gives you the best informationyou can possibly get. It will show you what makes your customers tick as well ashow you can attract more customers just like them.

5. Make reprints. Reprints of ads and PR stories are great additions to future mail-ings, ads, and A/V displays.

6. Experiment and test. Find out what’s working the best for you and what isn’tworking at all.

7. Stick with one campaign. When you find out what works best, stick with thatcampaign.

8. Write timeless brochures. It costs a lot to create effective brochures, and the lastthing you need is to redo it every year. So don’t say anything that will make yourbrochure dated.

9. Find multiple uses for your marketing materials. For example, use a photographin your ad, Web site, brochure, poster, signage, etc. Since you can use them inmany ways for years to come, you can spend more on first-class marketingmaterials.

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10. Avoid “vampire” marketing. This is something that sucks attention away fromyour basic offer or basic premise. Humor is a vampire. So are special effectsand cleverness. People pay more attention to humor than to your message.Don’t be Dracula when it comes to your marketing.

11. Investigate affordable television marketing. There are many ways of creatingcommercials for $1,000 or less.

12. Market more to customers than noncustomers. It costs six times as much to sellsomething to a noncustomer than it does to sell the same thing to an existingcustomer.

13. Open your mind to the Internet. You have to be very familiar with the powers andlimitations of the Internet in order to make it a cost-effective marketing tool. Butonce you know how to use it, it can help you in many ways.

The 7 steps for being a creative marketer1. Inner Amazement: Realize that every product or service – especially yours –

has something within it that is unique and absolutely amazing.

2. Translating Amazement into Benefits: Stress your competitive advantage!

3. Realizing People Don’t Believe Marketing: Most marketing is instantly dis-missed as unbelievable. Your job is to state your premise believably and honest-ly. Relate to your audience in its own everyday language.

4. Capturing Interest: People only pay attention to what interests them, and theyhave better things to do with their lives than pay attention to your marketing. Socapture their interests up front.

5. Telling People What to Do Next: Do you want them to call an 800 number? Fillout a coupon? Go to a Web site? You must tell them exactly what to do.

6. Making It Clear: Your message must be clear to your prospects.

7. Testing Against Strategy: Does your finished marketing piece fulfill your mar-keting strategy? If not, throw it away. Stay on track.

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How do you come up with marketing ideas?There’s an effective technique that has been used throughout history for coming upwith the best ideas. The great thing about it is that if you do it right, it should only takeabout 24 hours to come up with some dynamic ideas and strategies.

First, spend five minutes doing “direct thinking.” That is, try to come up with the idearight there. Concentrate hard and focus for five minutes, and then write down all theideas you come up with. These may be good or bad…they’re just for priming your con-sciousness.

Second, spend five minutes on “lateral thinking.” Study your customers. Study yourprospects. Study your competition. Study what’s happening on the Internet. Studywhat’s happening in the marketing world. This will prime your unconsciousness.

Third, spend another five minutes on direct thinking. This, too, will prime your uncon-scious mind for coming up with ideas.

Fourth, forget about it. Totally remove your ideas from your mind. Do something else.Just forget it completely and trust that your unconscious mind has been primed theright way with your direct and lateral thinking.

Your unconscious mind will then come up with an idea for you while you’re doing some-thing else. Maybe it will be while you’re falling asleep or while you’re dreaming; maybeit will be while you’re taking a shower or eating a meal.

When you do come up with an idea, make sure you measure it against your strategy.And if it doesn’t measure up, start again. Your unconscious can come up with unlimitedideas using this technique.

Coming up with a Guerrilla advertising strategyAdvertising is not marketing, it’s only a part of marketing. But you’ve got to pay a lot ofattention to it because it’s a very expensive part, and mistakes could cost a lot.

So make sure you’re on target with your advertising by coming up with an advertisingstrategy. An advertising strategy is very short…only six sentences. Have a sentence oneach of the following topics:

The purpose of the advertising.The prime benefit the advertising will stress.The secondary benefits the advertising will stress.The audience or targeted audiences the advertising is aimed at.The action the advertising will generate.The true personality of your company.

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50 Golden Rules of Guerrilla Marketing

Golden rules to guide your thinkingDon’t seek instant gratification. Be patient and far-seeing.Accurately defining your marketing and markets dramatically increases yourprofitability.Gear your marketing toward the reasons people really buy from you, other thaninstant gratification.It’s far easier to sell the solution to a problem than to sell a positive benefit.Yourown customer list is the best in the world, but only if it bulges with informationabout each customer.Display your reverence for your customers by following up.Design your business to operate for the convenience of your customers. Make iteasy to do business with you.Questions lead to answers. Answers lead to customer rapport. Customer rapportleads to profits.The most effective marketing is seen as “sell time” rather than “show time.”When you have a new offer, enthusiastically announce that it’s new, but don’tforget to mention why it’s good.The more know-how you have about the marketing process in general, the moreprofits you will earn.Your marketing techniques and tactics must be honest beyond reproach.Everything in your marketing should be designed to increase your profits, notjust your sales, responses, or traffic. Profits!

Golden rules to guide your effectivenessIt’s easier to achieve a healthy share of mind if you first obtain a healthy share ofmarket.Emphasize the meat and potatoes of what you’re offering rather than the plateupon which they’re served.Your marketing should capture and hold the interest of as many prospects aspossible.Make sure your timing is right.People will remember the most clever part of your marketing, so make sure itpertains directly to what you’re selling.

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Everybody loves a bribe. Give away free gifts, brochures, or consultations asrewards for business or favors.The key is not to save money but to make every investment pay off handsomely.It’s easier to get someone to take the hard step of buying from you if they firsttake the softer step of requesting more information.Tiny shares of gigantic markets are profitable if you serve the market one personat a time.Don’t invest money in originality when the investment should be in generatingprofits.Profits are maximized when you practice innovative marketing and protect your-self from other Guerrillas.Capitalize upon your unique niche in the marketplace. It’s possible to have your product sold in almost any store if you use GuerrillaMarketing for leverage.Marketing will succeed only if time and energy are devoted to it regularly.Become oriented more to cooperation than competition.

Golden rules to guide your marketing materialsIdentify and/or create your competitive advantages, then concentrate on market-ing them.If you have ten hours to spend creating an ad, spend nine of them on the head-line.The right words will propel a great idea toward success. The wrong words willdoom a great idea to failure.Everyone to whom you market is a human being first and a customer next.Avoid the use of humor unless it is pertinent to your offering and doesn’t distractfrom it.The believability and persuasion of your marketing increases in direct proportionto how much specific data you can provide.Many marketing weapons attain their maximum effectiveness only when they arecombined with other weapons of marketing.Despite the solidity of your commitment to a plan, sometimes you’ve got to havea gimmick.Let a pro produce your marketing materials because even a hint of amateurish-ness can actually lose sales for you.

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Golden rules to guide your actionsThe more you spy on your competition, your industry, and yourself, the moreopportunities you’ll find to improve.You can create a path of least resistance to the sale by paving the path withcredibility.You shouldn’t fix it until you’re absolutely positive it’s broken.It’s wise to aim to be first in line, but it’s often more profitable to be second inline.Businesses that succeed will be the ones that prove they care.Companies that think of what they can give to people are better than those thatthink of what they can take.In networking, ask questions, listen to answers, and focus on the problems ofthe people you’re talking to.If you’re going to pioneer, you must be prepared for walls of apathy and fear.To succeed at marketing during an economic downturn, focus your efforts onexisting customers and larger transactions.If you have an especially important client or customer, market to that person inan especially important way.Operate slowly from your Guerrilla Marketing calendar. A Guerrilla is never in ahurry.Treat sales transactions as starts or continuations of long and lasting relation-ships, not as single events.If you don’t take control of your marketing, your company’s future will be in thehands of your competitors.

Remember, rules – even golden rules – are made to be broken, but you’d better knowthem inside-out before breaking one.

4 advantages small businesses have over large businessesMore flexibility.More personalized service.Warmer and closer relationships.Faster speed due to lack of bureaucracy.

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5 most important allies for a small businessInformation about your own offering and about your customers.The customers themselves for referral power and repeat purchase possibilities.Employees who know how to make customers feel unique.Marketing insight that helps you capitalize on your advantages.Fusion-marketing partners the world over.

The biggest changes in Guerrilla Marketing since its developmentDecrease in the price of television advertising.Increase in the market size of senior citizens, Asian and Hispanic people, andfemales.The move toward direct marketing.The attitudes of customers – they are now more demanding, less forgiving,in a hurry, and appreciative of caring and convenience.The increase in the amount of fusion-marketing going on at large andsmall levels.Recessions, which have brought about new marketing tactics.Smaller families and dual-income earners in one family.Friendlier technology and easier-to-access data in the form of the Internet.

Exercises• How many of these golden rules were you familiar with before listening to this

session? How many have you broken inadvertently? These 50 golden rules arethe basis for a business that is amazingly successful. Become intimately famil-iar with them, and spend the next few months integrating them into your busi-ness and life.

• What advantages does your small business specifically have over larger com-petitors? How many of these have you integrated into your marketing? Whatare ways you can use them to make your business shine out in the crowd?

• Every business has many potential allies. What are your strongest allies, andhow well have you organized and utilized them?

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Marketing and Technology: A Powerful Combination

How has technology changed small business in the past 10 years?Technology was once too expensive for the “little guy,” but now small businesses canuse technology as their secret weapon. Technology is now easy to use, easy to afford,and enables small businesses to appear as experts, professional, impressive, and asimportant as large businesses.

As technologies develop and change at a faster pace, and their prices continue to fall,it’s easy to get overwhelmed and resist them all. Don’t! Technology will be more impor-tant than ever to your success in the coming century. Start learning about it now. Waittoo long, and the waters will truly be over your head.

Technology allows Guerrillas to market and to interact with customers through newslet-ters and brochures, faxes and Web sites, catalogs, direct mail, flyers, research ques-tionnaires, and signs. These are the weapons of technology. Where geography oncelimited Guerrillas to their own community, the Internet now allows them to compete inthe global community. Where once they had to deal with the commuting, and the con-straints of a professional wardrobe, their home office has cut the commute andchanged their attire from conventional to comfy. They’re spending more time with theirfamilies. They’re spending less time at work.

What’s really behind technology?Technology has far less to do with machines than it does with people. When you com-municate online with someone, you’re not connecting with a machine. You’re connect-ing with a person. You’re only using a machine to do it.

What does it cost to get what you need?All the technology you’ll need costs less than $4,000. That will get you a good comput-er, a speedy modem to go online and receive faxes, a laser printer, a scanner, and adedicated phone line. And, of course, you’ll need to buy the software to control all this.

What are the prime benefits of technology?The prime purpose of technology is to save precious time, but there are others: reach-ing new markets, marketing globally, competing with the giants, customizing your mar-ket, dazzling customers with your service and caring, and making quantum leaps inefficiency.

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What does it mean to be a “virtual Guerrilla”?The definition of virtual is “Existing in essence or effect, though not actual fact.” Andtoday, virtual is used to mean being connected through technology. Guerrillas use tech-nology to stay connected with their customers, bosses, employees, suppliers, and otherGuerrillas.

The “virtual” state of mind is becoming more of a lifestyle and “workstyle” than ever.Many Guerrillas are experiencing the freedom that technology can bring by workingfrom home offices. Virtuality means flexibility. Even big companies are encouragingtheir employees to create virtual offices in their homes. Those who work from virtualoffices are known as “telecommuters.”

What do you need to start a virtual office today?A phone, a desk, a comfortable chair, a computer, a fax modem, a printer, a copier, acellular phone, and subscriptions to a couple of online services. Virtual offices can alsobenefit from charge accounts with FedEx, a laptop computer, a pager, and a scanner. Avirtual office can allow you to be connected anytime or anywhere, and you can alwaysdisconnect if you want to escape work for a while. You’ll also need a modicum of priva-cy and enough discipline to keep yourself focused and on task when the distractions ofbeing at home surface.

If you’re planning on going virtual yourself, make sure you don’t run afoul of any zoninglaws, landlords, or neighbors. Also make sure that you have enough electrical power torun all of the equipment you need.

And keep abreast of tax laws relating to having a home office. Current laws state, “Yourhome office can be deductible if your major income comes from self-employment oryou can prove your employer requires that you work from home.”

What are the benefits of running a virtual office?Increased revenue, increased productivity, better customer service, increased revenueopportunities, and improved morale, to name a few. It offers a higher quality of life bygiving workers more control over their time and environment, reducing the time andstress spent on commuting, and making work more interesting and efficient.

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The ten attitudes important to existence as a virtual Guerrilla1. You operate according to plan. Your plan is brief, clear, and able to guide your

business as well as your marketing.

2. You grow your business by a calendar. This helps you see into the future and beproactive rather than reactive.

3. You are the essence of flexibility. Flexibility can be a major competitive advan-tage. Remember, in an era of increasingly sophisticated customers, if you can’tbend, you’ll break. And also know that the more technology you embrace, themore flexibility you can offer.

4. You are a giver, not a taker. You give away valuable things…consultations,demonstrations, samples, seminars, etc. Remember that information is a valu-able commodity. Why not mine the Internet for data and freely share it?

5. You must look professional. Everything connected with your business –stationery, business cards, brochures, flyers, etc. – must inspire confidenceand trust. Answer your phone in a way that makes your callers feel good.Your office may be virtual, but your excellence is real.

6. You embrace the spirit of competitiveness. No matter what business othersmay think you’re in, you’re really in the marketing business.

7. You are alert to fusion opportunities. You’re as alert to cooperation as you are tocompetition. Your entrepreneur radar is attuned to fusion opportunities in market-ing, data, technology, even office space.

8. You are at ease with technology. Technology is no longer a luxury; it’s anabsolute necessity.

9. You are the very soul of follow-up. You prove it by the way you are in constantcommunication with your customers and prospects by e-mail, snail mail, faxes,and phone calls. You stay in contact with them through newsletters, flyers, post-cards, and letters.

10. You feel passionate about your work. It fuels your desire to learn about your cus-tomers, please them, and surpass their expectations. This passion extends toyour co-workers, suppliers, and fusion partners.

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Exercises• What sort of technology do you currently use? How well have you put it to use?

What technology that exists today would benefit you, and what ways can yousee for making that investment pay off many times over?

• What are ways you see your current technology allowing you to get closer toyour customers and form better relationships?

• If you are technophobic, make the commitment to sign up for at least one classto introduce you to the skills and benefits of technology. This is just too impor-tant a requirement of doing business in the next century to avoid.

• In what ways would creating a virtual office benefit your business and yourlife? List some realistic steps you could take to have a virtual office of yourown. Include the equipment, space, and logistical requirements such a thingwould require.

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Guerrilla Marketing in Cyberspace

What does the Internet mean for Guerrillas?Guerrillas know that there’s a major difference between using the Internet, which iseasy to do, and abusing the Internet, which is even easier to do.

The single biggest key to success on the Internet is to understand marketing and whatthe Internet means for marketing. Really, the Internet is only one marketing weapon,and it must be combined with others for a successful campaign.

When you do use the Internet, make sure that you see it within the context of yourprospects’ lives. Don’t just offer your own perspective on your Web site. Rememberthat all visitors love to learn.

What is the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web?The Internet is a series of interconnected computer networks located throughout theworld. The World Wide Web is a system of Internet servers that support specially for-matted documents.

What is a content provider?A content provider is someone who uses information as currency. He or she developsinformation using various media and then presents it to people who are interested inlearning that information.

If you have a Web site, you should consider yourself a content provider. No matterwhat your marketing plan, underneath it all, you’re providing content. And the more thatyour content is a benefit to your prospects, the better you’ll thrive online.

The key to the online kingdom is content…juicy, exclusive, valuable content will bring inthe viewers again and again. A Guerrilla’s Web site provides information that the com-petitor’s sites aren’t providing, both in quality and quantity. It changes regularly. It’sfresh and new.

Guerrilla content is heavy with text and laden with subheads for easy digestion whilereading or scrolling. Also, the more interactivity your site offers, the better.

Think of your Web site as the display window of a department store.

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How should your prospect view your Web site?The prospect should be made to feel singled-out or unique. When she sends you e-mail, you should respond instantly, which will make her feel special. She will feel likeshe’s receiving individual service.

How does fusion-marketing work online?The Web is an excellent place to do fusion-marketing. Your site should be linked tothose of many other marketing partners who share the same prospects and standardsas you. Each of these links is a potential gateway to your site, and gateways mean visi-tors.

How should you promote your site offline?You should build awareness of your site in the mass media of radio, TV, newspapers,and magazines, as well as direct mailings, with signs, and in directories. Add your Webaddress to your business card, letterhead, brochures, flyers…all of your marketing. Putit on your voice mail and anywhere you list your address and phone number. Affix it toenvelopes, invoices, catalogs, postcards, yellow pages ads, press releases, andnewsletters.

Do what proud parents do…announce your new creation to the world. Notify yourpotential and current clients just as you would if you were having a change of address.Send postcard mailers to your prospects.

How can you find your audience online?Specialized newsgroups and forums can provide a ready-made audience for your prod-ucts and services. In chats and e-mails, attach a four-line Internet “signature” after yourname, including your Web site address, e-mail address, phone number, and fax number.

What should an online Guerrilla know?Know exactly how to communicate. This means spelling and punctuating proper-ly, being concise, and getting to the point. Use your language skillfully.Get to know the territory. Get comfortable with forums, newsgroups, confer-ences, chat sessions, classified ad sections, Web sites, and electronic publica-tions. Learn how to post and respond to messages.Learn all about e-mail: sending, reading, replying, forwarding, printing, and sav-ing it.Be aggressive. You’re invisible in the online world, and you’ll remain that wayuntil you start participating. Participate in discussion groups, post announce-

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ments, publish articles of value, hold conferences, seek out listings and onlinedirectories, and search for linking partners. Visit your own site regularly and respond within 24 hours to all requests that aremailed to your site.Check the position of your online ads to make sure they’re near the top of themessage list, where they’re most likely to be read. Keep posting messages toforums and newsgroups and continue to check for replies to them.Personalize as much as you can. Use the technology to establish warm humanbonds. Follow up with tenacity. Once you establish a contact, knock yourself outto maintain it.Know what customers love to read about. They do not love to read about you.They love to read about their dreams, their problems, the solutions you can pro-vide to their problems, and the benefits you can bestow them. Realize whatmakes online commerce so special. It’s not merely the technology or the speedand convenience. As with any kind of commerce, it’s the strength of your offer.Do a one-hour weekly surf through the Internet. Look for anything and be pre-pared for everything. Find yourself and find your competitors. Be alert for greatideas and terrible ideas, knowing you’ll learn from both. You’ll learn what’s hap-pening, what can happen, and keep one step ahead of the game.

Exercises• Does your business currently have a Web site? What’s it like? How does it com-

pare with the sites of similar businesses?

• Are you an active or passive presence on the Web? How many visitors doesyour site draw? How much business does it bring, directly and indirectly?

• If you have a site that isn’t working as you had hoped, what are some ways youcan improve it? Commit to using this invaluable tool for its maximum effective-ness.

• How much of a content provider are you? What information could you provideto your Web visitors that would keep them returning for more? Remember, yourWeb site should not be as much about you as it is about your prospects.

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Becoming a Customer Service Superstar

20 ways Guerrillas prove to their customers and prospects that they really careHave a written document outlining the principles of your customer service.Establish support systems that give clear instructions for gaining and maintain-ing service superiority.Develop a precise measurement of superb customer service and rewardemployees who practice it consistently.Be certain that your passion for customer service runs rampant throughout thecompany, not just at the top.Do everything you can to instill in your employees a truly deep appreciation ofthe value of service.Be genuinely committed to providing more customer-service excellence thananyone else in your industry.Be sure that everyone who deals with customers pays close attention to thecustomer.Ask questions of the customer, then listen carefully to the answers.Stay in touch with your customer.Nurture a human bond as well as a business bond with your customers.Recognize that your customers have needs and expectations, and your job is tomeet their needs and exceed their expectations.Understand why huge corporations define quality as conformance to customerrequirements.Keep alert for trends, then react to them.Share information with people on the front line.Observe your customers’ birthdays and anniversaries.Consider holding parties so your customers can get to know your people better,and vice versa.Invest in telephone equipment and a Web site that makes your business soundfriendly, easy to do business with, and professional.Design your physical layout for efficiency, clarity of language, lighting, handicapaccessibility, and simplicity.Act on the knowledge that what customers value the most are attention, depend-ability, promptness, and competence.Use your good judgment in all situations.

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What is a moment of truth?A moment of truth is any contact any customer has with any person in your organiza-tion. Have the goal to each of these moments of truth coming out in the customers’favor. Pay attention to every detail you can think of, no matter how tiny, to ensure yourcustomers are happy.

How can you educate your customers?Quad Graphics, a Wisconsin printer, keeps customers abreast of technology by spon-soring camps in which customers learn to get the best printing values. H&R Block findsclients by offering classes to the general public. Home Depot shows customers how touse the things that it sells.

How can you make your customer happy, even when things go wrong?Make sure that your customer comes out on top in every situation. Try to make thingsright, no matter who is at fault. Smart Guerrillas prove their mettle in the way they treatcomplaining customers. They solve the problem first, they apologize, then they dealwith the red tape later.

Complaining customers can even be assets to Guerrilla companies. Guerrillas payclose attention to complaints. A complaining customer has decided that there is some-thing in the relationship worth saving or they wouldn’t complain.

Also, studies have proven that for every complaint you hear, there are 24 others thatyou don’t hear. So be alert for consistent complaint patterns and then make the neces-sary repairs.

Be sure to apologize when something goes wrong. That alone may be enough toconvince many customers to give you another chance. Apologies don’t cost anything,neither do written apologies that follow verbal ones.

Do all you can to eliminate complaints quickly. Even if it’s impossible, you’ll be provingyou care.

Make it easy for customers to express their feelings about your service by means of apostage-paid questionnaire card, suggestion boxes, and letters to key customers ask-ing for suggestions. This also proves that you care and indicates trouble spots.

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What does it mean to “fall in love” with your customers?You give them all of your kindness and attention. You learn everything you can aboutthem and do everything possible to make them happy. You sincerely care about themas special, unique people. You treat them with humor, respect, and reverence.

Customers can sense this devotion. In return, they bond with you, make you part oftheir identity, and speak of you in glowing terms. They come back for more of what youhave to offer.

Many small businesses treat sales transactions like one-night stands: fun while theylast, but soon forgotten. Guerrillas treat their sales transactions as the beginnings ofbeautiful and lasting relationships.

What is the key to unforgettable customer service?Information. The more you know about each customer, the better you will be able tokeep that customer happy.

What kinds of things do Guerrillas know about their customers?What radio stations their customers listen to. Their favorite TV shows. What newspa-pers they read. Which magazines they subscribe to. The number and names of theirkids. Where they went to college. What sports teams they support. Their favorite chari-ties. The kind of cars they drive. How much money they earn. And many other details.

They get this crucial information by asking for it. Questionnaires are mailed, posted ona Web site, e-mailed, or handed out at trade shows. The responses are studied carefully,and action is taken based on what the Guerrillas have learned.

What is one of the biggest deterrents to spectacular customer service? Spectaculargrowth. A big mistake is when businesses become addicted to growth by adding newcustomers rather than taking exceptional care of the ones they already have.

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Should all customers be treated the same?No. All customers should be revered, but some should be treated with more reverencethan others.

Technology now allows small-business owners to keep track of many different kinds ofclient information and gain the competitive edge by tailoring their services to meet theneeds of their customers.

What two things do you need to know to be a customer-service superstar? Which ofthe new technologies your customers use and which your competitors use. Then act onthe information. If your customers have e-mail, faxes, teleconferencing, and video con-ferencing, then you must, too.

Exercises• Rate yourself honestly when it comes to customer service. Spy on your

company. Compare yourself to the competition. Do whatever it takes to obtainthis absolutely crucial information. How well does your commitment to yourcustomer shine through?

• Customer service is one of the most crucial investments you can make. Nomatter how good you are, you could always be better. List 20 specific ways youcould improve your business’s customer service and implement them immedi-ately.

• As with all aspects of your business, so much of your success at customerservice comes down to information. What information would be useful to youfor improving your relationships with customers? How might you get it?

• Outline a comprehensive strategy for treating your prospects and your existingcustomers when they contact your company. Then create plans for dealing indi-vidually with some of your best customers.

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Understanding the Impact of the Small-BusinessRevolution

10 revolutions that have impacted small businesses the most1. Technology Revolution: The best location in town for a small business is the

Internet. The Internet provides the Davids of the world with high-tech slings withwhich to do battle with the mega Goliaths.

2. Time Revolution: There is a new awareness of the importance of time, andthere seems to be less of it than ever. But this awareness, combined with theTechnology Revolution, should help create more free time in the future.

3. The Psychology Revolution: This allows us to discard notions about peoplethat have never been proven and adjust our attitudes and actions to accommo-date those that have. This is especially important in the study of what makespeople buy what they do.

4. The Information Revolution: The Internet is the greatest source of informationin history, which is good because the amount of information available keepsexpanding exponentially.

5. The Love Revolution: Love is developing between businesses and customers,businesses and suppliers, businesses and employees, businesses and otherbusinesses. And more couples than ever are working at home together.

6. The Consciousness Revolution: This is the underlying reason behind the TimeRevolution and the Love Revolution. This leads people to strive to be in chargeof their own destinies and embrace the technology that will allow them to do so.

7. The Education Revolution: The quality of education is increasing, not just fromtechnology but also from the psychology of what facilitates learning.

8. The Connectivity Revolution: People are connecting with each other like neverbefore…in person and via telephones, pagers, fax machines, the Internet, net-worked computers, chat rooms, and video conferencing. This is making collabo-ration easier than ever before.

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9. The Work Revolution: Small and home-based businesses are growing in num-ber and are more able than ever to compete with much bigger ones. This revolu-tion is being fueled by technology.

10. The Candor Revolution: This is asserting itself among a public that’s tired ofplaying games and longs for honesty and disclosure. It’s the great equalizerbetween people not considered equal in the past.

What are advantages of small businesses over larger ones?There are three: flexibility, customer service, and personalization.

Necessary, but contrasting, skills for small-business owners.They must be able to communicate effectively both with large numbers of peopleand one on one.They must excel in writing because of electronic networking, but they must alsoexcel at speaking for more in-person networking.They must be superb both with the broad strokes of strategic planning and thecrucial details of running a business.They must be at home with both the futuristic values of speed and candor andthe traditional values of patience and love.They must be aggressive in both competition and collaboration, always with aneye toward profits.They must offer the credibility and professionalism of a big business and thewarmth and personal touch of a small business.They must have a zealous commitment to established marketing and an eagleeye for innovation and trends.They must be able to act without worrying about what others think and also withacute sensitivity to what others feel.They must be able to grow and expand without sacrificing profitability, but profitand flourish without sacrificing humanity.They must be outstanding in their own field, no matter what it is, and also inmarketing.

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How should a Guerrilla view technology?As absolutely necessary, and as an investment, not an expense. Technology has ashort payoff time and can help generate amazing profits.

Also, instead of using technology to free up time for the business owner to engage inmore work, Guerrillas use technology to free up time for themselves to engage inthings other than work.

What are the goals of a Guerrilla’s small business?To establish as many relationships and render the best service possible. Increasingprofitability. To create an environment in which the journey is every bit as pleasant orrewarding as the destination. To set up a company that is durable, flexible, and interde-pendent yet self-sufficient. The pursuit and attainment of excellence. To experience thethrill of challenge.

Exercises• Consider the meaning of the Time Revolution for your business and your life.

What are some ways you can save yourself time? How can you show your cus-tomers how much you respect their time by making dealing with your businesseasier and quicker?

• Apply the goals of a Guerrilla business to your own. How do they overlap?What additional goals do you have for your own success and happiness in yourbusiness?

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The Power of Advertising the Guerrilla Marketing Way

What does Guerrilla advertising mean?Spending less on your advertising and getting more from it.

Guerrilla advertising is done last, after all other marketing efforts. If you do it first, it willexpose your weak spots.

Guerrillas who advertise know exactly why they are advertising.

50 good reasons for Guerrillas to advertiseProduce leads.Educate prospects about your benefits.Expand into new markets.Influence the people who influence others.Name recognition.Pre-selling to set the stage for your other marketing (such as a Web site).Expand upon a public-relations story.Tell the story of your company.Add authority to your sales presentations.Build your corporate identity.Build confidence in your products and services.Damage control.Keep your name at the forefront of your customers’ minds.Head off competitors at the pass.Go after business that your competitors have.Prove your quality with success stories.Make your stockholders happy and give them faith in their investment.Impress the financial community.Assert your leadership and prestige.Maintain a constant presence and build even more confidence in your business.Help your direct mail pay off.Assure the success of your telemarketing campaign.Make sure that your point-of-purchase signs work.

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Gain distribution.Announce the existence of your new product or service.Gain credibility for a new product or service.Become a brand name.Announce a special promotion.Establish your niche and positioning in the marketplace.Highlight testimonials from satisfied customers.Test a headline, offer, price, or medium in which you’re advertising.Create a desire to buy.Establish a presence in your community or in your industry.Attract foot traffic.Make sales.Obtain names for your mailing list.Inform many people at once about your benefits.Motivate people to call you on the phone or visit your Web site.Persuade people to complete and mail in a coupon.Research the responses to your offer.Emphasize exactly how the competition measures up.Prove your superiority with facts, graphics, or both.Buy new customers with an exceptional offer.Demonstrate your own confidence in your offering.Become a part of your community, industry, or cultural landscape.Put yourself on the level of others.Create reprints for your other marketing.Be seen with the right crowd.Show support for your reps, distributors, and employees.Earn a profit.

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25 reasons why advertising failsPremature abandonment.Unrealistic positioning.Failure to focus.The advertiser starts without a plan.Picking the wrong media for the right audience.Picking the right media for the wrong audience.It’s unclear to prospects.The advertiser doesn’t understand the customers.The advertiser doesn’t understand his or her product or service.Exaggeration that undermines the truth.It doesn’t keep up with change.Unrealistic expectations.Overspending on production so there’s not enough left for media placement, orunderspending on production so it looks amateurish.The advertiser tries to save money in the wrong places.Attention to tiny but nuclear-powered details.The advertiser doesn’t understand that the point of advertising is profitability.The advertiser thinks it can be done without hard work.Unimpressive first impressions.Good advertising was killed by committees or layers of management.Not using media to the greatest advantage.Not supported by other marketing.People starting out in the wrong direction.Advertisers allow success to give birth to lethargy.Advertisers judge the future by the past.It’s boring!

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10 things that make television commercials badIt’s more entertaining than motivating.It’s not clear with its promise.It’s word-based, not visually-based.It’s high pressure or it exaggerates.It lacks credibility.It’s a fabulous film but a bad commercial. It’s so clever or focused on a celebrity endorser that you forget the product andadvertiser.It’s so wrapped up in special effects that no idea comes shining through.It’s too complex for the idea to come shining through.It’s boring!

10 things that make television commercial superbIt’s more motivating than entertaining.It’s clear about its competitive advantage.It’s intensely visual.It’s professional looking.It’s believable and compelling.It creates a powerful desire.It’s focused on advancing the sale, not on being clever.It’s wrapped up with the product and the people who buy it.It demonstrates the benefit.It’s fascinating even the tenth time you see it.

Exercises• Of the 50 reasons for a Guerrilla to advertise, which are relevant to your busi-

ness? What were your stated reasons for advertising in the past, and how dothey rate according to what you now know?

• Rate all of your advertising to make sure it doesn’t contain any of the character-istics of ad failure.

• Is your business one that might benefit from a television commercial? If so,don’t rule it out before you’ve investigated the ad rates in your area for all ofthe appropriate channels and markets.

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Knowledge and Reality According to Guerrillas

10 realities Guerrillas must faceThe state of the economy.The competitive sense.The latest technology for producing and exposing advertising.Any news that may impact your message.The advertising budget you must live with.The clutter of other advertising and the media surrounding your ads.The call of nature that lures TV viewers away from their sets during commercials.The prospect is not thinking about your marketing.The public’s “ho-hum” attitude toward advertising.Knowing whether your ad is too clever to motivate people.

10 advantages Guerrillas have over non-GuerrillasYou have the insight of the Guerrilla.You can customize your advertising and marketing to your audience.Your pace assures you of quality and economy.Your advertising has the flexibility to adapt to change.You know that your advertising and marketing improves with time.You know that your advertising gains strength from your other marketing.You know that advertising doesn’t work by itself.Your expectations are realistic.You know what advertising and marketing can do and what they can’t.You know the value of commitment.

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How many markets do you have?You have three markets. The first is your largest market, which is called “the universe.”The universe is anyone in your marketing area, but it delivers the fewest profits to yourbusiness. Even so, Guerrilla marketers invest 10% of their marketing budget talking tothat universe.

The second market is smaller but represents more money to your business. This mar-ket is called “your prospects.” These are members of the universe who fit your cus-tomer profile. You should devote 30% of your marketing budget to talking to yourprospects.

The third market is the smallest but represents the greatest profits to your business byfar. This market is your customers. You should spend 60% of your marketing budgettalking to those customers.

What are your Guerrilla obligations?To increase your profit base and your customer base. Talk to the universe and makethose people your prospects, then talk to the prospects and make them your cus-tomers. Then talk to your customers and make them happy.

Who are your greatest allies when it comes to marketing?It’s a three-way tie for first place: your employees, your customers, and your fusion-marketing partners.

What is your most deadly marketing enemy?Apathy to the sale. Sixty-eight percent of business is lost due to apathy after the saledue to a love-em-and-leave-em attitude. You must follow up!

What is your most important long-term goal?Brand-name awareness. Once you become a brand name, your profits will take care ofthemselves. People trust brand names, and this confidence is the biggest determinantof why people buy from where they buy.

How many businesses are you in?Four. You’re in your own business. You’re in the people business. You’re in the servicebusiness. And you’re in the marketing business.

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What is the definition of creativity in marketing?Something that generates profits for your company.

Where does creativity come from?Knowledge. The more knowledge you have, the more creative you can be. Creativitystarts with an idea, not a special effect or a jingle.

Who are your potential fusion-marketing partners?People who have the same prospects as you and people who have the same stan-dards as you.

Of all human activities, what is marketing the most like?Flossing your teeth. It’s not something you look forward to in the morning, but notadding it to your daily routine will cause a lot of trouble.

When is the best time to launch a Guerrilla Marketing attack?There are two best times…20 years ago and tomorrow!

The kinds of knowledge Guerrillas needKnowledge about yourself.Knowledge about your prospects. There are three kinds of prospects that existfor you: the ones who already buy your product or service, the ones who oughtto buy your product or service, and the prospects who are about to buy yourproduct or service. Your job is to give them a reason to buy now, buy soon, orbuy later.Knowledge about who makes the purchase decisions in your target market.Knowledge about the problems of your prospects so you can position yourselfas a solution.Knowledge about the prospects’ “hot buttons.” Is it price? Speed? Convenience?What do they want?Knowledge of your competition.Knowledge of the current business climate.Knowledge of your own strengths, limitations, and benefits.

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10 areas in which Guerrillas seek knowledgeTheir customersTheir prospects.Their competitors.Equivalent businesses elsewhere.Their own industry.Current events.Economic trends.Their own offerings.Their own community.Successful advertising and marketing.

10 things your advertising should always beReadable.Informative.Clear.Honest.Simple.On strategy.Motivating.Competitive.Specific.Believable.

10 things you should never do with your graphicsDon’t let the art overpower the idea.Don’t let the art overpower the headline.Don’t let the art overpower the copy.Don’t let the art fail to advance the sale.Don’t let the art fail to grab casual readers or viewers.Don’t let the art fail to get the ad noticed.Don’t let the art fail to be different.Don’t let the art be created in a hurry.Don’t let the art fight with the product’s identity.Don’t let the art dominate the ad.

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Ways to make your marketing and advertising budgets work harder for youEliminate wasteful media.Use more of your proven media.Improve your creative message.Gain from the synergy of your other marketing weapons.Establish a trusted brand name to gain the confidence of your target audience.Stick with a single campaign.Don’t invest in unnecessary pizzazz.Run regular small ads rather than irregular large ads.Create timeless marketing materials.Find multiple uses for photographs, illustrations, and testimonials.Wait for your printer to have “gang” runs.Use good acting school students in your television and radio spots.Plan ahead to get frequency discounts on advertising.Negotiate and barter for television and radio time.Do fusion advertising.Be alert for anything that detracts from your message.Learn about your prospects from questionnaires before you begin advertising.Advertise more to customers than to prospects.Constantly measure your message and media.Merchandise your advertising.Ask yourself if advertising is the best way to reach your target audience.Hire a top professional to produce your first advertisement and set thepace and style.Somewhere in your advertising, invite further dialogue (such as listing yourWeb address).Use your package or receipt to sell something else.

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Ten things that Guerrillas testQuality of their offering.Price.Offer.Creative message.Headline.Packaging.Media.Mailing lists.Employees.Web sites.

The steps to create real Guerrilla advertisingResearch.Study your advertising strategy.Study your benefits and competitive advantage.Generate many ideas and pick the best one.Crate your headline.Create the subheadline.Develop the graphic approach.Incorporate sound effects or special effects (in radio or TV commercials).Write the copy.Edit, edit again, and edit some more.Show your finished ad to other people, especially prospects.Measure your idea against your strategy.Sleep on it.Review your idea in the light of a new day.Improve the idea, headline, subheadline, and copy.Improve the visual presentation.View a “dummy” copy of your ad in a real publication.Plan how to extend one ad into a whole campaign.Be sure the finished ad will be clear to your prospects.Be honest in assessing if the ad will truly generate profits.

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Exercises• How well do you face Guerrilla realities? In what way have these realities

harmed you in the past? How can you envision benefiting within their frame-work in the future?

• One of your most important activities as a Guerrilla Marketer is to test which ofyour marketing weapons are working for you. Which of your own efforts canyou test and how will you go about it?

• Contact expert consultants and commission them to rate your past advertisingstrategies and help you set the pace for new ones.

NIGHTINGALE-CONANT CORPORATION6245 WEST HOWARD STREET

NILES, ILLINOIS 607141-800-323-5552 www.nightingale.com

19780PG1 Printed in U.S.A.

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