Why You’ll Have To S.U.C.K. To Be Heard In 2007

For my last post of 2006, I’d like to give us all a piece of advice whose very idea was formed after reading the promo for a book I’m going out tonite to buy.

The Thursday edition of my USA Today newspaper, which I’m just getting to, had a promo written by Jacqueline Blais, about Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive And Others Die, a new book along the lines of The Tipping Point, written by Chip and Dan Heath.

Chip’s a Stanford professor and I rarely read books written by those types, but I’ll give it a shot. I prefer to read material written by those that do and not by those whose sole claim to fame is as an educator.

Since I haven’t any info on either of these guys, I’ll go read the inside and outside covers and see if it looks to be worth my time. Who knows, maybe Chip’s a doer and not just a professor.

That paragraph above is a bonus tip for you. As a blogger, don’t be afraid to give a little credit where it’s due. A LOT (every) of bloggers get ideas from reading the works of others and are deathly afraid to give a little credit like I did above. It keeps you from making a new friend and it’s u-g-l-y.

There are no new ideas. The Egyptians and the Mayans used ‘em all up. Sorry.

Socrates, Shakespeare and Seth sucked all the remaining ideas out of the universe.

All of the ideas we have today are recycled and retreads. Sorry, it’s true.

We implement them a bit differently, which is where today’s genius comes into play, but the ideas themselves are old.

So what can we do as bloggers, as salespeople and as friends to be heard above the noise in 2007 ?

Glad you asked. I have a couple of suggestions and I’m sure all of you out there can add to the list. Feel free to, here in the comments or on your own blog, but Just Do It !

To get past the gatekeepers, to get scanners to really read, to get the listener to listen and to help others help themselves in 2007, you’re gonna have to S.U.C.K.

S is for simple. Yep, I really love simple and you knew that, but did you ever figure out why ?

Because simple gets heard. Analogies, stories and quick, witty paraphrasing will get to the heart of the matter before the listener moves on.

Today’s listener is suffering from A.D.D. Every man, woman and child is being bombarded from way too many angles and has no idea as to which one to turn off or which one they should listen to.

That’s old news, but what should you do ? As a blogger, quit writing those 10,000 word blog posts that would take me 18 minutes to read. Give me a 200 ( Good ) to 500 ( Less Good ) word post and a chance to download a longer version … if I care to. I’ll stick around and I’ll subscribe to your RSS feed, but if you abuse me with 5 posts a day and they’re all way too long, I’m gone.

As a salesperson, don’t waste the first few minutes apologizing for being there. Start with shock and awe, define the problem, tell ‘em how to fix it, then show ‘em how your product or service will do that. Then shut up and listen.

Sounds like a human white paper to me.

U is for unexpected. People will pay attention if you surprise them. But your headline better not be misleading.

As a salesperson, you need to come from an angle that your competition hasn’t used. Think about their business and not your sales. Where can they make noise and how can your product/service help them do just that.

As a blogger, if you take time to write 35 headlines, choose a killer one and then your post doesn’t really do what the headline promises, you’re toast. I’m gone and I’m unsubscribing.

You need to come up with an angle that’s not being played to death on every channel. If you can’t, don’t post, take the time you would have wasted and write something that will enlighten me, not waste my time and will make me think I need to read your every post.

As for headlines, who’s been the single most influential blogger/writer/teacher to all of us … uh, that would be the one and only Brian Clark over at Copyblogger.

Now that he’s edutained us into writing better headlines, we all have to get better with the actual content. All headline and no meat makes for a bad meal.

Come up with your own, unexpected, meaty content and you’ll be fine.

We need fewer blogs that restate and link back to what other blogs are saying and more that give us a different angle, from a unique viewpoint, from someone who’s been there and done that.

C is for credible. If you haven’t done it, don’t tell me you think that your idea is better than the one I tested against 9 other ideas before I found out which one made me money.

Prove it to me. Evidence speaks loudly, your opinion is worthless.

Credibility comes from experience. Tell me about yours. Every minute detail is data that I need … and you may not know which minute detail is the very one that makes the light go on for me.

As a salesperson, I know what works for me and I’ve tested that technique against 1 to 9 others to see which works the best. Split-testing is as effective for salespeople as it is for marketers.

K is for King. If you’re not the King ( or Queen ) of your niche/industry , do you have any idea why you aren’t ?

You’re either on the way up or way down. You’re either in control or being controlled.

As a blogger, if you aren’t in control of your niche, it’s because you don’t have enough experience, you aren’t actually practicing, trying to get better or you’re in the wrong niche writing about something you shouldn’t be writing about.

Or maybe your view is skewed. Maybe you’re writing about making money and you should be writing about your journey in learning how to make money.

I couldn’t write a blog about using Photoshop. But I could write a blog about learning to use Photoshop.

If you need career advice, seek professional help. If you want to know if you’re on the right path with your blog, shoot me an email and I’ll try to brainstorm with you as to what path you might take in 2007 to be a better blogger. I can always use more friends.

If you want sales advice, tips, stories and quick bits on using human nature to your advantage, stick with me in 2007 and you’ll be a better salesperson at the end of the year than you are now.

Guaranteed.

There you have it. You’re gonna have to S.U.C.K. to be heard in 2007.

Feel free to add to the conversation on your blog or here in the comments, as that’s what blogging’s all about.

EDIT - After having seen Brian’s name in my comments, my mind realized I hadn’t given credit to the blogger who’s been more helpful to the blogosphere than anyone in creating winning headlines.

I went back and re-wrote that part. Hopefully the link love will make it clearer.