What shape is your funnel?

Put random folks in at the top and loyal customers come out at the bottom…

A billboard leads people to a website, which gets some people to subscribe via email which drives some folks to respond to a promotion which leads a few to come back for the stuff that isn’t onsale, which leads to someone who can’t live without you.

That’s the obvious path of outbound marketing. Most people you pour into the funnel hop out long before they become loyal customers.

The thing is, some funnels are more efficient than others. Expose your idea to ten of the right people and it catches on with three of them. Other ideas or offers need to be exposed to far more people (and go through more steps) before they’re likely to convert someone.

The mistake we often make: thinking that the problem is that there’s not enough people starting the process, not enough people being exposed to your offer. In fact, it’s almost always a problem with how efficient the funnel is and how likely it is that loyal customers tell their friends. If you take care of those two elements, you have a lot more to invest in promotion, and delightfully, the promotion is more effective as well.

Google advertising puts the funnel shape under stress. If you can make your funnel more efficient, then you can afford to spend more money on each person you put into the top of the funnel via a paid ad. If your competitor can convert twice as many people as you can, she can spend twice as much per person, no? And thus the smart competitor will buy up as much of the market as possible.

The only response: shape a more efficient funnel.

Seth Godin

Little lies and small promises

“I’ll be out of bed in five minutes,” is not a true statement because it’s a promise not meant to be kept. It actually means, “go away, I’m sleeping, I’ll say what I need to get rid of you.”

“Your call is very important to us,” is not a true statement either. The truth is self-evident.

“I promise I’ll tell the manager about this,” is of course not a real promise either. It might be uttered with good intent, or might be designed to get an annoying customer to go away, but still…

You can already guess the problem with little lies. They blur the line, and they lead (pretty quickly) to big lies. The worst kind of little lies are the ones you make to yourself. Once you’re willing to lie to yourself, you’re also willing to cheat at golf, and after that, it’s all downhill.

Companies that refuse to break small promises have a much easier time keeping big promises. And they earn a reputation, one that makes their handshake worth more.

Given that expectation and trust are just about all we have left to sell, it seems to me that little lies and small promises are at the very heart of the matter. And they’re a simple choice, nothing requiring an MBA or a spreadsheet.

It all depends on what you want to stand for.

Seth Godin

The wrapper matters

When you have a big idea, the question is, how to spread it?

You can go through a traditional publisher and have it printed in the tried and true way, like Clay Shirky. I had a chance to read Clay’s new book a few months ago. No surprise: it’s pure gold, unalloyed insight about the state of media and the world.

If you’re looking for big ideas and are prepared to lose a little sleep, there’s no better book to buy right now.

You can have someone take a short speech based on your book and have them turn it into a animated video. Dan Pink’s video has been seen about 20 times as often as his book has been purchased. Video spreads.

You can turn your idea (like a focus on entrepreneurs) into cool trading cards, like Evan did.

You can skip the printing altogether and start your own video university, like Khan Academy.

Perhaps write a short manifesto and watch it spread as a free ebook. Like Changethis, a free service that has reached millions with the work of top authors from around the world.

Don’t forget podcasts or mp3s, which can be very funny or motivational.

Consider starting a conference with a unique platform and worldwide reach, like TED.

Or you can blog your idea for several years in a row, slowly building up trust and making an impact over time.

Of course, there’s no right answer. But there’s probably a best answer that matches your time frame, budget, audience and idea.

Seth Godin

Are you an elite?

In the developing world, there’s often a sharp dividing line between the elites and everyone else. The elites have money and/or an advanced education. It’s not unusual to go to the poorest places on earth and find a small cadre of people who aren’t poor at all. Sometimes, this is an unearned position, one that’s inherited or acquired in ways that take advantage of others. Regardless, you can’t just announce you’re an elite and become one.

In more and more societies, though (including my country and probably yours [and I’m including virtually the entire planet here, except perhaps North Korea] ), I’d argue that there’s a different dividing line. This is the line between people who are actively engaged in new ideas, actively seeking out change, actively engaging–and people who accept what’s given and slog along. It starts in school, of course, and then the difference accelerates as we get older. Some people make the effort to encounter new challenges or to grapple with things they disagree with. They seek out new people and new opportunities and relish the discomfort that comes from being challenged to grow (and challenging others to do the same).

Perhaps I’m flattering myself (and you) but I think almost everyone who reads blogs like this one is part of the elites. It’s not because of birth or financial standing, it’s because of a choice, the decision to be aware and engaged, to challenge a status quo of your choice.

The number of self-selected elites is skyrocketing. Part of this is a function of our ability to make a living without working 14 hours a day in a sweatshop, but part of it is the ease with which it’s possible to find and connect with other elites.

The challenge of our time may be to build organizations and platforms that engage and coordinate the elites, wherever they are. After all, this is where change and productivity come from.

Once you identify this as your mission, you save a lot of time and frustration in your outreach. If someone doesn’t choose to be part of the elites, it’s unclear to me that you can persuade them to change their mind. On the other hand, the cycle of discovery and engagement and shipping the elites have started is going to accelerate over time, and you have all the tools necessary to be part of it–to lead it, in fact.

Giving away a magician’s secrets

Steve Cohen makes more than a million dollars a year doing magic tricks.

I will now tell you the secrets of this magic:

1. He sells to a very specific group of people, people who are both willing to hear what he has to say and able to pay what he wants to charge them.

2. He tells a story to this group, a story that matches their worldview. He doesn’t try to teach non-customers a lesson or persuade them that they are wrong or don’t know enough about his art. Instead, he makes it easy for his happy customers to bring his art to others.

3. He intentionally creates an experience that is remarkable and likely to spread. “What did you do last night?” is a great question when it’s asked of someone you entertained the night before, particularly if you can give the audience an answer they can give. That’s how the word spreads.

4. He’s extremely generous in who he works with, how promiscuous he is about sharing and in his attitude.

5. He’s very good at his craft. Don’t overlook this one.

I guess it comes down to this: if you’re having trouble persuading people to buy what you sell, perhaps you should sell something else. Failing that, perhaps you could talk about what you sell in a different way.

Important clarification: I’m not telling you to sell out or to pander or to dumb down your art. Great marketers lead people, stretching the boundaries and bringing new messages to people who want to hear them. The core of my argument is that someone’s worldview, how they feel about risk or other factors, is beyond your ability to change in the short run. Sell people something they’re interesting in buying. If you can’t leverage the worldview they already have, you are essentially invisible. Which is a whole other sort of magic, one that’s not so profitable.

We Can Do It

We Can Do It!

Too often, it seems, this attitude is missing from teams, organizations or the community.

It’s missing because people are quick to opt out of the ‘we’ part. “What do you mean, we?” they ask. It’s so easy to not be part of we, so easy to make it someone else’s problem, so easy to not to take responsibility as a member of whatever tribe you’re part of.

Sometimes it’s missing because people disagree about what ‘it’ is. If you don’t know what you’re after, it’s unlikely you’re going to find it.

And it’s missing because people confuse cynicism with realism, and are afraid to say “can”. They’d rather say ‘might’ or even ‘probably won’t’.

Just about everything worth doing is worth doing because it’s important and because the odds are against you. If they weren’t, then anyone could do it, so don’t bother.

Product launches, innovations and initiatives by any organization work better when the key people agree on the goal, believe that they can achieve it and that the plan will work.

Do we have a cynicism shortage? Unlikely.

Successful people rarely confuse a can-do attitude with a smart plan. But they realize that one without the other is unlikely to get you very far.

Count me in. Let’s go.