Today, I spoke to Jim Kukral, who is a web marketer & business web coach, speaker, long-time award-winning blogger, customer evangelist, writer, online monetization expert, and author of Attention! This Book Will Make You Money: How to Use Attention-Getting Online Marketing to Increase Your Revenue (Wiley). I contributed personal branding advice to Jim’s new book. In this interview, Jim talks about how to create a compelling hook, how to get attention for your brand, and more.
What are some ways to create a compelling hook?
It’s important to realize that if you’re not memorable, you’re forgettable. Common sense, right? The problem is that a lot of businesses and brands overlook just how important this really is. I talk about a woman in the book who used to call her business “Aviva, LLC”. Any idea what that company does? I didn’t, neither did her potential customers. It was only after she rebranded herself to “The Database Diva” that she able to communicate to her audience what she did. When that happened, people started buying. Be memorable, or be forgotten.
How can you tell a get rich quick scheme for a legitimate marketing program?
Unfortunately it’s hard to do for people who aren’t very Web savvy. The best thing to do when considering purchasing any product or working with any “guru” is to research them. You can very easily find out what people are saying about them by doing some basic searches on sites like Google (of course), but also Twitter search, or try a fun site called SocialMention.com to get a wide grasp of mentions about the product or person. Find some people who have bought the system. Look for blog reviews. Email them, ask them, call them! Research before you buy!
The ultimate test? Email them or call them. If they’re too “big” to at least respond to your email in some small way then you may want to consider working with someone who will. Disclaimer: I answer every email I get, eventually. 🙂
How do you get attention for your brand? How do you then make money from it?
Getting people to look your way is actually the easy part. Some people like to call this publicity stunts. In a way they’re right, but what separates the successful from the wannabes is the businesses and brands who can then turn those attention-getting heads, in other words potential customers, into sales, leads and publicity.
How to do it? Be creative. Think outrageously. Be different. Try something new. Come up with great ideas. Then, once you have people looking at you, make SURE you have some way for them to take an action. An action can be anything. For example, get them to join your email update list, or follow you on Twitter or friend you on Facebook. Or heck, an action is them buying something from you or downloading a white paper which gives your sales teams leads to call on.
If you’re not turning the attention into revenue then you’re simply wasting time and energy. Let me ask your readers something. “Are you in business to make money or just for the fun of it?”
What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve been writing this book for almost 15-years in my head, based upon my own experiences with getting attention, then turning into things like jobs, partnerships, leads, book deals, speaking gigs, sales, and so much more. I’ve done it, and today it’s more important than ever for everyone else to learn how to do it as well. Budgets are slashed. Unemployment is up. We’re in a bit of a crisis right now. It’s time for people to try something different. Be bold, be unique, be successful… and do it without having to spend millions of dollars. Anyone can do this.
What are some lessons that you’ve learned from your internet marketing exploration over the past decade?
Not everything is a scam first of all. There are TONS of great Internet Marketer’s out there providing really high quality, problem-solving information. The problem is that there are also a lot of ones out there that aren’t. So the good ones get lumped in with the bad ones. What I’ve learned is that you can be in this business and do good things that help people and be successful and hold your head up high while doing it.
I’ve also learned that you won’t be successful in this business unless you become a doer. I’ve always said that doers get what they want, and everyone else gets what they get. If you spend any time at all with the super-successful people in the business you will see how hard they work. How much they “do”. Nobody falls into success in this business.
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Jim Kukral is a web marketer & business web coach, speaker, long-time award-winning blogger, customer evangelist, writer, online monetization expert, and well, a bunch of other things. He is the author of Attention! This Book Will Make You Money: How to Use Attention-Getting Online Marketing to Increase Your Revenue (Wiley). For over fifteen yearshe has helped small businesses and large companies like FedEx, Sherwin-Williams, Ernst & Young, and Progressive Auto Insurance harness the power of online marketing. Jim is credited with building some of the first major Fortune 500 Web sites and blogs, as well as launching online businesses that have helped millions find success online. Jim serves as a Program Faculty Member for the University of San Francisco’s Internet Marketing Program. He has been featured as an industry leader in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, BusinessWeek, Brandweek, and Entrepreneur.
