Category listing: August, 2008
POST FROM DONNY:
Today was a big day for a lot of reasons. It’s the last day of work for me as I’m heading off on a long weekend to celebrate 10 wonderful years with my wife. It’s the anniversary of an incredible speech that turned a dream for one into realities for many. It’s a night marked with history as a nominee accepts his party’s nomination in an incredible venue under extraordinary circumstances for obvious reasons in this country. Regardless of your personal opinions regarding politics, we all must admit this is a big night in our nation’s history. It’s been a big day.
But today also marked the beginning of a 3-week trip that Randy is taking to go back to Benin, West Africa where he and his family spent almost 10 years serving as missionaries and teaching the Good News to Aja people in the villages most of us will never see. Randy and his wife and two oldest children are in route even as I’m typing this post so please remember them and this journey in your prayers. It will be a reunion with some old friends as well as a time of reflection for a people who loved Randy, Kelly, Tori, Timo, Jonathan and most certainly Lael (her birth mother died at childbirth and Randy’s family adopted her from the birth father, Ega, who still lives in Benin). It’s been a big day.
In honor of Randy, I wanted to share with you a video blog he put together before he left. It might take a few minutes to listen and watch, but I know you’ll be inspired not only for your business but also personally as you embark into a long, holiday weekend. On behalf of the Marketing Twins, enjoy the Labor Day weekend and this video blog (CLICK HERE TO VIEW BLOG).
-Donny-
p.s. Don’t forget to register for our next Double Take LIVE Broadcast on 9/9 with Sheila McDoniel!!
John Jantsch recently wrote another great blog post on the power of being DIFFERENT! Check out what he means by the “Sameness Test“!
Back a few months ago, we wrote a similar blog post on MarketingTwins.com – check it out here!
And whaddaya know, but I got a Google News Alerts (a great tool that you oughta be using!!) about “Duct Tape Marketing” and I found a real nice article from Mike Freeman titled, well, you guessed it . . . “What’s the Difference?”
There’s a reason why we repurpose archived blog posts or include all these links to external articles on the same topic? It’s because the message can’t get out strong enough! This is one of small business’ weakest areas – we want to compete head-to-head, but we end up looking like everyone else because we’re afraid if we’re too different, then we might miss out on marketing to someone. Somewhere in there is some bad logic!
Speaking of standing out in the crowd – when someone is Googling a solution to their problem, wouldn’t you like to stand out and show up in the Top 10 Google search engine listings? Or would you be content with blending in with #24 and #36. (HINT: consumers don’t typically go that far into the search results looking for you!!) Click over on the sidebar on the button labeled “GET TOP SEARCH RESULTS” – you’ll go to the website of our trusted friend and fellow Duct Tape Marketing coach, Ken Partain. Ken is an expert at search engine optimization and has plans of all levels for any size small or mid-size business. Want to get top search results? Who doesn’t!! Ken is also conducting a FREE workshop over in Dallas tonight (Wed, 8/27) – go to his website to check out where and when and how to register. You might even receive a FREE website analysis on-the-spot!
I’m leaving tomorrow for a 3-week adventure in French-speaking Africa! More on that when I return – stay tuned though – I’ve got a number of blog posts sitting in queue and Donny will publish them every few days (he might do some of his own, too).
À Bientôt!
-Randy
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