Dan Kennedy’s NO BS Books

If you have any desire to be a success in marketing, then Dan Kennedy’s NO BS Books need to put at the top of your Must Read Books for 2009 list.  One of the key things I took away from reading his books was that absolutely no marketing material should ever leave your office without a specific call to action.  He had an example of what he called "yellow pages marketing".  Basically the concept is that your ad in the Yellow Pages should have an offer with a call to action.  The call to action should be compelling and move Mr. Couch Potatoe to get up and visit that website, call that phone number, and best case, make that purchase!

We put our heads together and a few days after reading the books the Yellow Pages representative called us up about renewing our ad for 2009.  We quickly redid our bland bullet point ad and put in an offer for a free gift if they visit a specific url on our church website.  We did not put what the offer was as we need to have the ability to change the offer depending on the response rate.  By telling people to visit our website, it gives us another opportunity to present our offer and also gives us an opportunity to try to get their email and even possibly their address so we can follow up with a real live visit.  What is better than letting your leads come to you?

Insert Success Story Here Later

As the Stompernet Live 7 conference is coming up, it is time to make some more business cards before the trip.  Following the idea that every piece of marketing material should have an offer.. we got really creative here!  Don’t want to spoil the surprise so check back after the first weekend in March to see what we did!

Say what you mean and mean what you say

Seriously trying to not complain here but dealing with the US embassy can sometimes be frustrating!  Expecting problems and trying to be as time efficient as possible I always try to send all the needed info as well as answer any questions I think will be asked ahead of time.  Of course that would have to assume that someone would actually read the emails and that the person reading the emails would just not just assume that the sender is not following directions!

In anticipation for the 7th Stompernet Live conference, we need to get the passport for our new baby Ashley.  We were able to get her certificate of birth abroad a few weeks ago in Nuevo Laredo on our car trip to the states.  We did not have time to process the passport however as they don’t send it in the mail but rather require you to come back to pick it up later.  Now back in Puebla, it is time to try to hurry to get the passport from the embassy in Mexico City.  (New laws state we can enter into the US with a brith certificate only if by car but need a passport to enter by plane.)  Unlike all of the consulates, to make an appointment, you must first fill out the application online and then EMAIL it to the embassy.  After a real live person reviews it and approves you, only then are you allowed access to the online appointment setting system.  Therein lies the problem.

Email 1

We have the certificate of birth abroad.  It was given to us in Nuevo Laredo a few weeks ago.  Here is the attached application.

Response 1

You need to get a certificate of birth abroad.  Go fill out the application and then send another email.

Email 2

We already have the certificate of birth abroad.

Response 2

Go fill out the application and then attach it to this email.

Email 3

Here is the attached file. (Strongly resisted the urge to say something sarcastic like…. AGAIN!)

Response 3

Access to online appointment setting system.

The whole process was faster than expected and happily we were able to schedule in just three days.  Could have been taken care of in ONE email if the person had actually read the first email though!