March 2012 - Sheldon Nesdale

26 March 201219 October 2024

Purple Cow by Seth Godin

My notes on “Purple Cow” by Seth Godin

Remarkable marketing is the art of building things worth noticing right into your product. If it isn’t remarkable, its invisible
The Advertising Age
- Before: Word-of-Mouth
- During: Ever increasing consumer prosperity, and endless consumer desire. Simple formula: Advertise on TV & mass media = increased sales
- After: Word-of-Mouth with new networks at rocket speed

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Being first in a niche is better than being second in a mass market
- Eg Yoga books (everyone interested has already bought one)
- Eg2 Aspirin
- Eg3 Classical music Continue reading “Purple Cow by Seth Godin”

14 March 201219 October 2024

Confession: I Only Have 4 Skills

It’s true. My confession to you today is that I only have 4 skills.

Skill #1: I Can Read

Being able to read is my first skill.

I read a speed reading book 4 years ago and it changed my life: 10 Days to Faster Reading by Abby Marks Beale

It increased my comprehension from 60-70% to 80-90% and increased my reading speed from 300wpm (already quite good) to 600-900wpm.

I can consume a regular sized business book in 2 to 3 hours. And when I studying for my Masters over the last 2 years I read hefty text books in 4 – 6 hours.

The pay off for my reading skill is that I get to steal ideas from the best minds on the planet and rework those ideas into my own. Continue reading “Confession: I Only Have 4 Skills”

12 March 201219 October 2024

The Award For The Worst Toll Free Number Goes To 0800 MELANOMA

There’s an ad playing on the radio at the moment about a local skin cancer specialist.

I have a problem with their choice of phone number:

0800 MELANOMA

To me, this is a classic case of being unable to consider the customers perspective, who is looking into the business from the outside.

The business owner must have thought “we deal with melanoma every day, it’s what we do, so if 0800 MELANOMA is available, it’s the right number for us”.

Meanwhile, the customer is thinking “I don’t like the look of this mole on my arm. I think I’ll be ok, but I better get it checked by a professional just to be sure”.

And then you want them to dial 0800 MELANOMA?

No thanks. I don’t want melanoma.

If you had two take-a-way pizza joints to choose from would you call: Continue reading “The Award For The Worst Toll Free Number Goes To 0800 MELANOMA”