Radio Free Enterprise

Michael Port’s presentation style may be a bit too frenetic for you, but he has an important point to make in this 8:42 video:

Learn how to talk to people about your business by starting a conversation, rather than just making a sales pitch or delivering an elevator speech.

While I disagree with his dismissal of the benefit of a well-honed elevator speech (sometimes you just have to explain what you do in 30 seconds or less), I wholeheartedly concur with his belief that explaining what you do to someone should be an ongoing conversation, not just a one-time monologue.

I often talk about marketing as a courting process where, over time not overnight, you move the other person from Stranger to Suspect to Prospect to Customer to Client through a series of soft easily digested messages or “touches.” You can learn more about this in my podcast on Touch Marketing.

Spend a few minutes with Michael and see if you don’t gain a new perspective on how to tell people what you do.

Several years ago I had an idea about posting educational videos on the Internet on arcane but interesting topics like, how to build a roaring fire in your fireplace, how to parallel park, the basic rules of football and baseball, how to bake bread, change a diaper, set a table, make a bed, plant a flower garden, etc.

Each video would be only five minutes or shorter, offering just the essential information you needed along with links to resources for more details. Kind of like a video instruction manual for life. My idea was that users would generate the content and vote on each video’s value. The best videos and producers would rise to the top, attracting the most eyeballs and creating the most advertising revenue. I registered the domain name FiveMinutesOn.com but did nothing further.

Over the past couple of years, multiple companies have come forward with various flavors of this same concept, with greater or lesser degrees of marketplace success. The most recent one I am aware of, is being created nearby to me in Great Falls, Virginia.

Knowlera Media’s approach is to locate subject matter experts of every stripe and then send professional videographers to do 2-camera shoots of them in HD (high definition video). Knowlera pays for the production and editing and posts the video online. The expert gets free video exposure and the ability to post the content on their web site. But Knowlera owns the rights to the content and receives all revenue derived from it.

Their site has not yet gone live but they are already shooting and editing content. My friend Wes Crawford, who is a master musician and music teacher, has contributed his knowledge to a couple of drum instructional videos for Knowlera.

If you are a coach, consultant or other type of subject matter expert who would like to share your knowledge with the world under the terms outlined above, drop by MonkeySee.com and fill-out the form on the Experts page. Then stop back here and let us know what you think.

This is a great way for any business person with specialized knowledge which brings unique value to an engaged audience to do some high-quality Education-Based Marketing - at no charge!

Several weeks ago I posted a podcast on Radio Free Enterprise on the topic of Touch Marketing. The audio came from a teleseminar I had presented entitled: Touch Marketing for Real Estate.

Below is a 40-minute video of a presentation I made to a small group of successful entrepreneurs who belong to CEO Focus, led locally by DC-area business guru and consultant, Henri Schauffler. These people run businesses which generate between $2 million and $25 million in annual revenue. They get together monthly to share ideas and challenges, brainstorm and hear speakers like myself present on topics of interest.

It appeared as though those in attendance felt they got a great deal of valuable information from this presentation. I hope you will as well.

I reference a number of marketing resources in the video. Below are links to each:

Constant Contact email marketing service

SendOutCards online printing and mailing system for personalized postcards and greeting cards

AudioGenerator system for creating online “Audio Postcards”