Secrets of Online Persuasion: Captivating the Hearts, Minds and Pocketbooks of Thousands Using Blogs, Podcasts and Other New Media Marketing Tools
332
Secrets of Online Persuasion: Captivating the Hearts, Minds and Pocketbooks of Thousands Using Blogs, Podcasts and Other New Media Marketing Tools
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781600370298 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Morgan James Publishing |
| Publication date: | 08/01/2006 |
| Pages: | 332 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.08(w) x 8.96(h) x 0.76(d) |
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Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
The New Media Revolution
The tidal wave of cultural transformation is not coming. It has already HIT.
"They are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors and they are holding all the keys, which means that sooner or later someone is going to have to fight them.
I won't lie to you Neo. Every single man or woman who has stood their ground, everyone who has fought an agent has died. But where they have failed, you will succeed.
I've seen an agent punch through a concrete wall; men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air. Yet their strength and their power is still based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be."
— Morpheus to Neo in the movie, The Matrix Most people are missing it, and that's good ... for you. Because now, with the help of what we'll be sharing with you in this book, you'll see opportunities where your competitors and peers feel confusion and frustration.
What's the mistake? What are people missing? It's the tidal wave of cultural transformation that's sweeping the modern marketplace – a revolution that's happening offline, online, and everywhere in between.
It's easy to miss. Since this reformation of the marketplace is being powered by the New Media, it looks like it's all about technology. And that intimidates most people. But don't allow yourself to be fooled. It's not about the Internet, blogs, iPods, or any other cool new tool on its own.
People, participation and persuasion are generating the Revolution.
That's so important to your business success in the marketplace of the new millennium that it bears repeating. The New Media Revolution is about people, participation, and persuasion.
Grasp this one concept and you'll quickly leapfrog your competitors to lead your niche in marketing, buzz, and branding.
As Seth Godin first forecasted in his 1999 book Permission Marketing, traditional advertising and marketing through interruption is dead. Today, despite the companies large and small who still blindly stumble along, following habitual patterns of the past, the new millennium consumer has proved Seth's forecast to be true.
Will you follow in those same old footsteps until the reality of failure hits you? Or will you ignore the lie that others are telling themselves and profit from this exciting new marketplace?
The Lie We've All Been Living
When looking at what's happening in the marketplace, especially New Media, many people, including industry experts and experienced consultants, are focused on the "new" technologies of the New Media. Many more are caught up with a focus on the "media" of blogs, Podcasts, social networks, and other New Media tools.
Keep in mind, it's not about the newness of technology and tools. The cultural transformation we're experiencing is certainly enabled by New Media. Yet if you're going to quickly adapt and profit in this new marketplace, it's critical to understand that this Revolution is a much deeper, cultural event. It's about returning to what drives us as human beings.
This is easy to see when we look at 8,000 years of recorded history. What's happened to marketing and communications over the last 80 years is an anomaly. A departure from what's natural for human beings.
From the birth of Christ, through the golden age of Islam at the end of the first millennium, the creation of the Gutenberg press in 1440, to the American Revolution in 1776 and beyond – the universal hunger has always been for freedom, connection, and participation. With each transformational period in history, people have been drawn to what empowers them and enhances what makes human beings human.
The latest interruption to that drive for freedom, connection, and participation began in the 1920s with the emergence of the first radio and television stations. It was harmless enough at first. Even helpful to bring people together as families gathered together in the living room to watch I Love Lucy.
But from the very start, the mindset of the Industrial Revolution was intertwined with mass media. Mass production and mass distribution permeated every area of the marketplace, and for nearly three quarters of a century that methodology continued to expand like a cancerous growth throughout mass media.
The lie spread (that this one-way channel is THE way to connect with people) and became so much a part of our lives that we didn't even stop to see it for what it really was.
Then, like many times before in history, the Revolution began.
The Ripples That Became A Tsunami
Like a series of earthquakes occurring in the middle of the ocean, deep on the sea floor, it went mostly unnoticed.
• The emergence of popular talk radio in 1989.
• The information superhighway of the Internet in the early 1990s.
• Lightning-fast viral communication through online social networks and blogs in the early years of the new millennium.
• Tools and media that put the customer in control like blogs, iPods and Podcasts.
As these and many other events occurred, it was much like the ocean waters draining away from the shoreline signaling an impending tsunami.
Early in the new millennium came the dethroning of Dan Rather, Trent Lott, and the New York Times – all due to stupid comments or falsified news. All of them were exposed by the New Media. With those events, a series of tidal waves struck. The very foundations of the news industry and politics were shaken to their core.
But the difference with this New Media tsunami, is that the water hasn't receded. The New Media Revolution first felt in the arenas of politics and news is now sweeping through the entire culture. This Revolution is transforming everything in its path – including the customers and the marketplace you rely on for your success.
The Revolution Is Not New
In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg also ignited a Revolution. He did it by inventing a printing press – later called movable type. (So named, since it was a technology that allowed wood or metal letters to be moved on the printing plates.)
The main purpose of that technology was to mass reproduce Bibles, which up until that point were only printed in Latin. Since the majority of the public could only read their native language, while others could not read at all, the elite had to "reveal" the Scriptures to the public.
In just over half a century, the Revolution fueled by this one technology reached a flashpoint. Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. These documents dispelled the power and efficacy of indulgences, and initiated a reformation of the power structure within the Catholic Church. With indulgences, bishops were playing God by selling forgiveness of sins.
The Revolution may have begun with Bibles, but very quickly, books of all kinds began to be translated, duplicated, and spread around the world at a rapid rate. This put information into the hands of common people instead of it being reserved for the elite.
Today, similar to Gutenberg's printing press, New Media is wrestling power and control of information from the elite once again.
New Media is turning mass media on its head. New Media is personal and participatory. It's about conversations rather than lectures. Information isn't being handed down from on high as if it's the Holy Scriptures anymore.
During the time of Gutenberg and Martin Luther you could say that the printers, publishers and writers were intellectual capitalists. They were using technology to transform the culture, and making a profit from that service.
Back then, the Elites were the popes, kings and lords who, as the elite, held the information and disseminated it to the masses as they saw fit.
Today, the intellectual capitalists are bloggers, talk radio hosts, and Podcasters. Intellectual capitalists are the innovative business people savvy enough to recognize the transformation empowered by New Media, who then adapt and flow with the changes rather than fighting them.
Now, the Elites range from the mass media to large corporations and the government. They are the monarchs of the modern day who are fighting tooth and nail to retain their base of power – the control and dissemination of information.
The Early Years Of The New Media Revolution
If we go with the viewpoint that the New Media Revolution began in the early 1990s, then talk radio must be seen as one of the earliest "tremors" to be felt.
Talk radio took a traditional mass media form – radio – and turned it into something participatory.
While we wouldn't consider talk radio to be part of the New Media that business people need to focus on for growth and profits, it is important to understand why it's so popular.
Why is it that a host like Rush Limbaugh has 25 million people a day listening to his radio show? It's because compared to a regular radio show it's participatory.
People want their voices to be heard. And they want to hear from other people who think like them. Whether they agree or disagree with the host, they want the opportunity to call up and speak their mind.
After the introduction of talk radio, the Internet entered the scene. As more and more people went online each year throughout the nineties, the New Media started to take shape. The proliferation of broadband access made it possible for waves of change to move very quickly.
Today, the Revolution has irreversible momentum. Yet, not everyone likes what's happening.
The Gatekeepers And Guardians Of The Status Quo
The New Media tsunami is thundering through the marketplace, transforming everything in its path. Now that you realize that the Revolution is about people, participation, and persuasion – it's time to share an even more important secret.
The secret is in the opportunity that entrepreneurs and small-business owners have; an unprecedented growth opportunity like never before in history.
Why is there such opportunity?
Because the institutions and power structures of the past are still unwilling to flex and flow with the transformation taking place.
The institutions that dominated the Industrial Era are having their power to control and influence the masses erode right before their very eyes!
Corporations, government, and mass media may seem like giants, but like the slumbering giant who groggily awoke and tried to chase Jack down the beanstalk, they also have many limitations. Not the least of which is speed.
As Jason Jennings and Lawrence Haughton stated in their book, It's Not the Big That Eat the Small ... It's the Fast That Eat the Slow, the speed of innovation is the real competitive advantage in today's marketplace. Speed is not exactly what institutions and the mass media are known for.
Governmental Institutions
By institutions, we mean big universities, state or federal government and any other closed system. If you've been to your state's Division of Motor Vehicles, tried to get a local building permit, or dealt with the IRS, you know what we're talking about. You're dealing with a system that doesn't like to admit fallibility. A system where there's a long-standing hierarchy which seeks to protect itself.
Because of that, change (especially anything that appears to threaten existing hierarchies) is shunned as evil. Every possible effort is made to hide, minimize, or deride the truth of the transformational forces.
Corporations
Most corporations don't have a structure that allows for rapid adaptation. Many corporations today still operate based on the principles of the Industrial Revolution. They see employees as cogs in the machine, and consumers as a herd of unthinking animals ready to be sold black and white solutions.
Even Internet industries, which are supposed to be "cutting edge", reveal their thinking through their actions.
Take broadband Internet access for example. Broadband infrastructure was built for fast downloads – not for uploads. Even if you have cable or DSL, you can download quickly, but it takes much longer to upload files.
Thanks to the mindset shaped by the mass media, mass marketing, and mass distribution, these corporations didn't see people putting back in as much as they took out. They didn't think about people participating.
Newspapers And Network Television
This is another group fighting the New Media Revolution. Readership and viewership are dropping precipitously.
Every month there are stories in the mass media about how readership is declining. Newsrooms across the country have let go of a huge percentage of their workforce over the last decade.
Why?
Because people are tired of being told what to think with no option to participate and share their two cents worth.
The credibility and power of major newspapers are being eroded, and it's the New Media that's chipping away at that.
Sure there was the New York Times scandal with Jayson Blair, and a host of others that expose the fallibility of mass media in news reporting. But take a look at the more practical side of mass media related to business.
For example, in every town that Craigslist (www.craigslist.com) enters, the local newspapers (large and small) shudder in fear because they know their advertising and classifieds are going to plummet.
Craigslist is instantly searchable, always up-to-date, and interactive. For both advertisers and prospective buyers, dead tree papers are inconvenient, expensive, and completely non-participatory.
These guardians of the past may fight hard to protect the status quo, but in doing so, they're leaving a tremendous void in the marketplace – a void that fast-moving entrepreneurs and business owners will fill and profit from – if they take action sooner rather than later.
The Shakeout and the Current Opportunity For Fast Acting Movers
The shakeout between the fast and the slow has already begun. The slow will fail in their feeble attempts at preserving the old ways.
It reminds me of Neo in The Matrix at the end of part one, where Neo gets on the phone and says to those controlling and manipulating what people see: "I know now what you're trying to do, and I'm going to let them all know."
Now with the New Media, there is an army of Neos – hundreds of millions of change agents. They are passionate about participating in the marketplace conversation and transformation. And that strikes fear in the hearts of the entrenched institutions.
What Does This Mean To You And Your Business?
It means it's no longer "business as usual". It means you can't market, sell or manage the way you did even just three years ago.
It also means you can give yourself a tremendous competitive advantage when you understand the New Media Marketplace.
If you're in business and you're not already feeling these changes, you will soon enough. The New Media world of blogs, Podcasts, social networks, Wikis and more are enabling participation and connection like never before in history. If you want a head start on your competitors, it's something you must get involved with now.
It's not that you have to become a New Media expert. You don't even need to blog or Podcast every day. What it does mean is that you need to be aware of the New Media Marketplace and keep track of it even if you're not actively participating in it just yet.
Otherwise you can count on this – you will be pummeled by the white-water of the tsunami when it hits you.
So, what makes the New Media Marketplace different? Is it really changing the way we do business from here on out?
You be the judge. Let's check out this brave new world ... shall we?
"Toto, I'Ve a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.
We must be over the rainbow."
— Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz
CHAPTER 2The New Media Marketplace
* The culture of the New Media Marketplace is very different than what we're accustomed to with traditional online and offline marketing. To succeed here, you'll need to make a few shifts in your thinking.
Your online mindset on marketing will have to be radically different from what's been done over the past decade.
The traditional style of advertising used by Madison Avenue and many Internet marketers is more about interruption than influence. Influence is what you need to turn strangers into friends and friends into customers.
What's going on in the New Media Marketplace is a digital reflection of what's going on in the real world. At the heart of this is an interactive, dynamic where insight and innovation are front and center. Creative ideas on how to develop new products, policies and services are what are driving the marketplace.
This new Marketplace can be summarized in one word, "caput." That is Latin for "head." From that word comes the word we know as capitalism. So, out of the head comes creation, information, education and wealth.
Capitalism is about private creation and ownership for the common good. It doesn't work unless what you're creating serves some kind of need or provides a solution. Thus, if you are not serving the greater good, you will fail. This is the opposite of a socialist system where everything is supported regardless of its validity.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Secrets of Online Persuasion"
by .
Copyright © 2006 RPM Success Group Inc. / John-Paul and Deborah Cole Micek.
Excerpted by permission of Morgan James Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
FOREWORD by Dave Lakhani, author of Persuasion: The Art of Getting What you Want,
INTRODUCTION,
SECTION I MASTERING THE NEW MEDIA MARKETPLACE,
CHAPTER 1. The New Media Revolution: Cash in with the cultural tsunami sweeping the international marketplace,
CHAPTER 2. The New Media Marketplace: How to work with (and win in) the New Media culture,
CHAPTER 3. The New Media Consumer: What makes the New Media consumer tick (and how rubbing people the wrong way can torpedo your best efforts),
CHAPTER 4. Your New Media Toolbox: It's Tool Time! Meet the New Media Tools that work hard for you... 24/7,
CHAPTER 5. The New Media Marketing Mindset: Innovative thinking that trumps technology every time,
SECTION II BUSINESS BLOGGING SECRETS REVEALED!,
CHAPTER 6. Blogging for your business is NOT what you think,
CHAPTER 6.5. Pulling back the curtain to meet the Wizard of Blogs,
CHAPTER 7. Planning for long term success,
CHAPTER 8. Make your blogging fast, easy and fun with the best software for your unique needs,
CHAPTER 9. Content that creates raving fans,
CHAPTER 9.5. Laying out the spider bait,
CHAPTER 10. Boosting the performance on your blog,
SECTION III INFLUENCE & PERSUASION SECRETS REVEALED!,
CHAPTER 11. Tribal Marketing: the secret strategy for high leverage to influence your target audience,
CHAPTER 12. Influencing the Influencers ... winning through personal persuasion!,
CHAPTER 13. The Art and Science of Effectively Persuading Your Target Audience and the Masses,
CHAPTER 14. Ten Commandments of Marketing with the New Media (to avoid the wrath of the marketplace),
SECTION IV TAKE ACTION!,
CHAPTER 15. Podcasting for Profit,
CHAPTER 16. iBuzz: Creative ways to use Podcasts and other Multimedia Tools for Runaway Word-of-Mouth Marketing Impact,
CHAPTER 17. iBrand: The Fingerprint of Emotion (verses the smudge of mass media),
CHAPTER 18. iConnect: The Handshake Heard Around the World,
CHAPTER 19. iProfit: The 360° System for New Media Marketing,
CHAPTER 20. Final words from your Coaches on using New Media,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS,
MEET YOUR AUTHORS AND COACHES,
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES,