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Birthday Present… (read this one.)

I have a whole heap of readers who rarely if ever contact me.

If that is you, then ask yourself what you are wanting from your reading.

Then take that reason, and check out below…

——————————-

As I type this I’m sitting in a hotel lobby in Salt Lake City the
evening before my 40th birthday.

My wife and 3 small kids are sleeping.

Tomorrow evening I’ll be in Disneyland for the final couple of
weeks of a 2 month holiday with my family. What a great way to
spend the 1/3 mark of my life!

My life has been truly blessed – and I’m not even religious.

It’s a special time for me to give back, and here is my birthday
present to you.

—> Pick the one biggest issue in your business today.

It doesn’t even need to be a marketing issue – and I’m going to
solve it for you.

Could you enjoy that as a birthday present?

Pick the one pain point – the one obstacle in your business today -
join up below, and then connect with me, and send me a note about
what that pain is…

http://www.perfectnetworker.com/network/signup.php?signup_referer=MartinRussell

I don’t guarantee I can solve it – but it would AMAZE me if someone
in my network couldn’t, so try me.

Let the power of word of mouth networks give you a birthday present
for a better future.

Oh and there may be a hidden bonus in this sign-up too. Fortune
favors the action takers.

-Martin Russell

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CRITICAL – The one & only time I shall be presenting Word of Mouth Magic is…

‘LIVE’ all the way from Australia.
Internationally known author Martin Russell will be speaking on the Harford Community College campus next week - Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Dr. Martin Russell is a medical doctor who lives in Australia with his wife and children. Martin left mainstream medicine to set up his own by-referral solo counseling practice. In addition since 2003 he has been promoting his Internationally known e-book ”Word of Mouth Magic” – the resource for small business owners who are ready for more word of mouth referrals from their marketing.

Event time: 8:00AM – 12:00PM (speaker presents at 9:00AM)

Location: Harford Community College, Edgewood Hall Room 132*

Tuition: $37.00 (check or credit card collected at the door)


Your payment gets you into this event and every attendee will also receive a personal copy of Martin’s printed ebook “Word of Mouth Magic” which regularly sells on his web site for $35.00.

Bonus: There will be a special, free opportunity during this workshop which attendees will have access to.

*401 Thomas Run Road, Bel Air, MD  21015
(Please give yourself plenty of time to find parking on campus-enrollment is up 8 %.)
This is a ONE TIME event!

Click Here to RSVP

If the link does not work, please call 443-412-2237, Ext. 2

Those attending this event will not only learn about ‘how’ Martin Russell uses “Word Of Mouth” to ’Magically’ attract tons of customers to his client’s small businesses, but how you too can quickly implement “a referral program” fast and easily into your business within 24 hours.

See the testimonials below,

It does NOT matter your business type or industry…not even which part of the world, “Word of Mouth Magic WORKS”!

Here is what Joe Vitale says about Martin Russell’s book…

“Amazing! ‘Word Of Mouth Magic’ really is a fool-proof, step-by-step roadmap to a lifetime of endless referrals! Use the strategies in this book and you will skyrocket the number of referrals you get and the profits you make!” – Joe Vitale, International #1 Best-Selling Author and World Renowned Marketer.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Martin and his Word of Mouth Marketing Program on several occasions over the past year and a half and in each case, he was professional, provided service beyond measure, and had great ideas and feedback for me. Between his advice and getting the ideas going in my head, my business has gone in just one year from a small 350 square foot facility, to a 2,000 square foot location and a second location in development for opening early next year. I highly recommend Martin and Word of Mouth Marketing!” -David Di Francesco  (WarriorWorkout.com)

You do not want to miss it!


Event part of
Managing through the Economy
This Event Sponsored by
MAGICTAINMENT

Mid Atlantic Networking

With
U.S. Small Business Administration
University of Maryland, College Park

Harford County Small Business Development CenterFunded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of SBA. SBDC speaker(s) and sponsor(s)s are permitted to make a short presentation about their business.

The Social Media Revolution – Where Is Your Word Of Mouth Marketing Going?

Maybe I’m just a sucker for a bunch of statistics crammed in with a Fat Boy Slim soundtrack, or maybe there might be something to this whole “social media” thing.

As for whether this is useful for your particular business, here is my tip. You can pick up and respond to trends if you “become your customer”.

THEY, and they alone, are the ultimate marketing expert – and they are the source of your word of mouth.

So, is this how people are talking about you?

And to save you a step, here is the link to the SocialNomics blog which has the written version – as well as arguments over the accuracy of the information.

Want to Social Media tango with me?

I deliberately don’t Tweet, and I barely Facebook, but I do hide out on a few networking sites.

LinkedIn

Ecademy

PerfectNetworker

Oh, and thanks to Aaron Brandon who reconnected with me on LinkedIn and pointed me to this video :)

- Martin Russell

“Conspiracy of the Rich”- A Review

[The online version of this book is available for FREE until the deadline of July 14 when it will be taken down to finalize for hardcopy publication. Visit www.ConspiracyoftheRich.com ]

Robert Kiyosaki has tried to turn his latest book launch into an viral event by having chapter by chapter released online and inviting comments from readers. The end result will be a hardcopy of the book “Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money”.

Judging by the growing flow of traffic to his www.ConspiracyOfTheRich.com website and the comments from readers, it has not set the world on fire, but it has worked reasonably well.

But there is another reason that I want to review this book. I am, in fact, a ‘raving fan’ / ‘advocate’ etc etc for Kiyosaki’s message.

Robert Kiyosaki is most well-known as the author of the best-selling book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. Ever since that book in 1997 he, and his collaborators, have just kept the publications coming.

The controversy he has created over the years has mostly focused on his views that “your house is not an asset” (instead it is a liability because it takes money from your pocket) and that mutual funds are not safe investments.

You might say that by 2009 his views have, at least in part, been proven correct.

Kiyosaki was also controversial when in 2002 he came out with “Rich Dad’s Prophecy” predicting a stock market crash. His claim that the demographics of the Baby Boomer generation would lead to a huge crash in the stock market as they stopped working and started living off their investments, was for 2010 and beyond so this claim is still untested.

But “Conspiracy of the Rich” is his strongest statement yet.

From the Introduction title: “The Root of All Evil”, to the later section on “Hijacking of the Education System”, to comparing the US to wartime Vietnam or the shanty towns of Cape Town in South Africa, Kiyosaki is at his most vivid and scathing.

“Today, those who have a strong financial education have an unfair advantage over those who do not.”

As always Kiyosaki talks in very general terms, using stories, and metaphors (eg the fairy tale of the big bad wolf blowing the pig’s houses down). He also references entire segments from his previous books. In fact every one of his ‘8 new rules’ can be found in his previous books.

However this book also has more hard and current facts, and more solid predictions/warnings than ever before.

For example in Chapter 10 he lays out exactly why the financial system seems to be stable at the moment after all the recent chaos. The graph he includes shows that rather than “green shoots”, we are merely in the eye of the hurricane, and that Lehman Brothers etc or worse is set to happen all over again within the next 2 years.

In chapter 12 he all but predicts that the US stockmarket’s low on the Dow of 6,547 is not the bottom, and that there is still much lower to go.

In all of Kiyosaki’s books there is a sustained criticism that he is very repetitive. There is alot of covering the same ground that’s for sure.

But a couple of month’s ago I went back and re-read Cashflow Quadrant and was amazed at how much I found in there that I do not even recall from all those years ago when I first read it.

Personally I have ended up following much of Kiyosaki’s path to wealth. I’d like to say it’s because I’ve followed his advice, but in fact it’s more because my own experiences have agreed again and again with his messages.

If you just want the guts of “Conspiracy of the Rich” you can read the final Chapter 12 “If I Ran The School System”, but there are enough juicy stories and pieces in the rest of the book to make it much more satisfying to read it all through.

If you are familiar with Kiyosaki’s main books, and you understand Fractional Reserve banking, fiat currency and the notion that the the Federal Reserve is “not federal or American, it has no reserves, and it is not a bank” then you can glean the few extra nuggets and be done fairly quickly.

If you are new to Kiyosaki, or have not come across Austrian economics (a term never used in the book) then you are in for both a treat, and a work out. More than any other of his books this one covers alot of territory for the newcomer. It is also one of his most in de.pth books about money and financial literacy and deserves to be read widely

Kiyosaki has gone out on a limb with this book, but history has backed up his claims so far and that makes him worth heeding.

I have been reading Robert Kiyosaki’s books for about a decade, and have read all the way back to his “If You Want To Be Rich And Happy, Don’t Go To School?” (the question mark there is important.)

Now in “Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money” Robert has laid his reputation on the line.

Personally I wouldn’t want to be living without this knowledge for my future.

Note: To read the book online before it finds it’s way into bookstores you can sign-up at www.ConspiracyoftheRich.com. But July 14 will be the LAST day to complete reading the book there.

You can leave your own thoughts on this review or on Kiyosaki’s book, in the comments section below.

-Martin Russell

I’ll Be Visiting America Soon

It’s been pretty quiet here on the blog because I’ve been making quite a few changes in the background. My subscribers have still heard from me through this time (to become a subscriber simply enter your details up the top right on the main page.)

You see I live about as far away from the US as is possible, in my town of Adelaide, Australia.

But I’m turning 40 this October and, now my internet lifestyle is starting to kick in, my birthday present to myself is a family trip to the US.

We’ll be flying in to LA on Sept 10 (should be an interesting day to be flying), and leaving Nov 8th.

The flying etc will take about 20 hours, and having 3 small kids just 8, 4 and 2 years of age, I’m not really sure if this was my smartest idea ever, but the flights are booked so there is no backing out now.

So far, the only commitments for the 8 weeks are attending the SendOutCards Convention as one of their top Australian leaders, and – of course – going to DisneyLand. Apart from these two, the schedule is totally open.

If you have suggestions for the holiday, I’d be happy to hear them.

If you want to connect up in person, I’d love to see what I can do.

If you have any other opportunities, including business ones, that may fit themselves into this visit, then I leave this invitation open on the blog.

I’d prefer if you email me, or call me on 408 426 5511, but if you want to leave a comment here on the blog then feel free to do that instead.

Thanks to all of those who have already suggested some things, and I’m looking forward to taking up as many of them as I can. It’s beginning to make me think I should have made this trip longer than 2 months.

-Martin Russell

Viral Video… For Small Business?

I’ve been paying attention to online video for quite a while now. It’s been hot for the internet – but does it have any relevance for viral word of mouth in small business?

Mostly, I’d have to say no.

However I’ve come across one exception.

A company called ThinkBigWorkSmall.com puts out small videos that have consistently built their viewer numbers, and their sales…

Think our spending might be just a little bit out of control?

But that wasn’t the impressive stuff, because these guys are professionals. They do video full-time. Of course you’d hope they get results, but can they help anyone else?

Well here’s another example that got a great response this Christmas…

Merry Christmas!

But I phoned and spoke to the guy, Joey Sampaga, and it turns out that he has a double team going where he does the marketing and his mortgage partner concentrates on writing the loans.

Still not a model for the average small business person.

But finally I did find the evidence I was looking for.

If you ever send out a mass of emails you will know that a very small fraction of people ever even open the email, let alone read it and act upon it.

Often can be as little as 10% or less.

So when this business owner told me he sends out about 100 emails, and gets an average of 200 views on his video – that’s viral small business!

Would you like to take a list of emails, double that number, and have your face and contact details in front of all those people in a way they remember and can act on immediately.

You just have to ask yourself the question, is this guy better at presenting himself than you are?

The Government Bailout for Main St is Finally Here!

Call these people on these videos if you want to check out if this is real. I did.

Viral video for small business may just have arrived – with the results, and the ThinkBigWorkSmall.com training to make it actually happen (I’ve had a look inside and yes they train you properly.)

WOW!

-Martin Russell

Word of Mouth – Rule Zero

There is one part of word of mouth that is so crucial that as a marketer I just take it for granted.

Call it Rule Zero. No other marketing rules apply until this one is in place.

Here it is…

You can’t get ANY word of mouth, until people know you exist.

Seems too simple doesn’t it, but as a marketer I notice how many businesses just ignore this.

Do people know you exist?

And by ‘know you exist’ I mean have people…

1. Met you,
2. Know your details enough to direct others to you, and
3. Know what you do for people?

Here is a starting list:

  • Family – hopefully only 3. is an issue here.
  • Friends / acquaintances – and by the way if you really look into this category even the most isolated of us probably have 100 people. Think of everyone in your email address book or in your mobile phone. Got 1000 yet?
  • Your own staff – do they really know what you offer? Don’t take this one for granted.
  • Vendors / suppliers / advisers – if they are any good you may well recommend them, and this can build-up goodwill for them to return the compliment
  • Businesses in your building / street / area – if you don’t know enough about them to send them referrals, then they probably don’t know enough about you either.)
  • Homes in the area – ever thought of having a ‘housewarming’ for a business. Why the heck not?

And this is before we get anywhere near most standard sources for business referrals and word of mouth.

So here is a zero-cost marketing tip.

If you find yourself in a quiet time, take a walk and wander into another nearby business, introduce yourself, and ask them about their business.

You might be surprised what comes of it.

-Martin Russell

Marketing Bad Luck

I have just come back from Melbourne, Victoria.

Great to be there for the live event, and to meet everyone (including a few of my subscribers too whom I had never met before.)

But the whole event had a slightly different atmosphere, because Victoria has just gone through Australia’s worst ever natural disaster.

Over 200 people were killed by bush fires that flared up all around the state. The fires are still going, but hopefully no more lives will be lost. It’s a tragic time in Victoria.

But as a tourist in the town I pick up the local guide to the city, like you do, and it’s just marketing bad luck but this what is on the front cover…

Melbourne Fires Up

No matter how perfect your marketing, there is always some way for it to not work out.

Donations to the Bush Fire Appeal can be made here:

http://redcross.org.au/default.asp

Or via SendOutCards in this way.

-Martin Russell

What is Tipster Marketing?

When the cab driver taking you to your hotel starts chatting, and you end up getting a recommendation for a great place to eat… that’s tipster marketing.

When your chat with your hairdresser ends up as a discussion about the latest ‘fab’ movie they have seen… that’s tipster marketing.

When a travel agent has been to the place you are travelling to and suggests a spot you have to check out while you’re there, that too is tipster marketing.

Ever thought how amazing a piece of word of mouth this is?

Each of those tip-offs will be more powerful than any advertising could ever be.

It’s brilliant!

It’s from a (supposedly) unbiased / unrelated source. It’s immediately got influence because it’s delivered by a local expert. Even better it happens exactly when the person has the need for the information.

Powerful, powerful word of mouth marketing.

Yet I have never seen anyone talk specifically about this form of word of mouth for small business.

More to the point I had a past customer of “Word of Mouth Magic” – someone who was so pleased about it she gave me a testimonial – specifically say that she wished I had a ‘how-to’ on this type of marketing.

She was in Las Vegas, where most of the business is from tourists who are always asking the local hotel staff, cabbies, waitresses etc for tips. To really succeed she needed to break into that word of mouth circle.

But my bag of tricks had nothing specific at that time.

Three weeks ago I came across retail marketer John Stanley – for the second time.

The first time I came across John was in my local library. I saw a book titled “Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know“.

That’s a pretty arrogant title for a book, so I took a look.

Now I’m no retail expert, but I was actually impressed, and ever since, this book has been in my mind for the times when have a retail business needing a make-over.

Anyway, while researching a bakery marketer (don’t ask) I found myself clicking across to www.JohnStanley.cc and rediscovering John.

When I searched for “word of mouth” I found John’s info on what he calls ‘tipster marketing’.

[John thinks he read the term in a book many years ago, but neither he nor I can find the source. If you know the name or know this technique under a different name, then I'd love to hear it.]

Anyway think about this for your business…

1. When are customers naturally asking for recommendations about your product or service? [Hint: it's often BEFORE they get to the point of looking at ads or the yellow pages.]

2. Who are they getting their answers from – aka who are the tipsters?

3. How can you get those tipsters to know your points of difference so they can appropriately recommend you?

Remember, even though Las Vegas might be awash with tipsters who are paid referral fees (disclosed or otherwise), in most other places people won’t need payment because giving out information is all part of the process.

If  you simply make an effort to build a relationship with a potential tipster, then they may well talk about you for free!

Got your own ‘tipster marketing’ experiences?

Visit John’s newest blog www.TipsterMarketing.com where he has some stories of his own, and add your story as a comment there.

Just to up the ante, I’m offering a small prize to the person who leaves the best comment there. [Oh, and best means most helpful to other readers - at my sole discretion.]

www.TipsterMarketing.com

-Martin Russell

Can We Catch Up In Melbourne Or Sydney?

With my counselling practice and three small kids, it is very rare for me to be available anywhere other than where I live.

However I’m going to be in Melbourne on Thursday Feb 12, and Sydney on Saturday Feb 14 for the first ever SendOutCards Treat ‘em Right seminars in Australia.

I’d love to catch up with you at this word of mouth event.

If you don’t know what a TER is then here is the official info…

“This is a personal development course like none you have ever attended before. The purpose of the Treat ‘em Right is to align your mind with success – Law of Attraction – and learn the process of how we can truly change our lives as well as the lives of others.  You will leave this event with a daily mechanism to send the positives out to the world and receive what you send back ten fold.”

More directly, from Laurie Delk, long-standing SOC entrepreneur and Executive…

“I just tell people it is a GREAT BUSINESS TYPE seminar – better than ones I have paid $1000 to attend!

If you WANT to learn to grow and enhance your business – you NEED to be there!”

Inspiring, educational, and fun all in one!

The Melbourne one will be 3-9pm (register at 2pm), and Sydney will be 9am-5pm.

I’d love for you to join me. The registration fee is US$25, but as a reader of this blog I’m happy to cover this for you with my compliments when we catch up.

But you need to email me Martin – at this domain name, or Skype: martinwrussell ASAP.

-Martin Russell