A billion women came before Marilyn Monroe. A billion have come after.

But she has never shared the stage, the life stage, with anyone. She is a timeless beauty, an exotic wonder woman, a sexual shockwave, an object of universal lust. And an extraordinary business lesson.

No woman ever stood in a room with Marilyn and felt beautiful. No man ever shared her presence and felt sane. She stole the heart of the most heroic athlete of her time, Joe DiMaggio-himself an American icon. She captured the soul of the greatest American playwright, Arthur Miller. She married them both and then she moved on to Camelot and wrapped the Commander-In-Chief, JFK, around her finger.

Marilyn is of no distinct period in history. She is known to teenagers and seniors alike, urban and rural, Elton John (who sings beautifully about her) and Vladmir Putin, (who has watched her films). The world loves Marilyn. Even those who pretend they are too smart and sophisticated to admit they do.

Marilyn Monroe is irresistible.

I watched a news story on CNBC reporting on crowds lining up in the wee hours to buy the newly discounted iPhone. Why would they do that? Why did thousands do the same when the product was first introduced. Why have so many millions bought them when they already had phones?

Because Steve Jobs has always understood Marilyn Monroe. He has spent his entire career making sure he wasn't selling things people liked.

Like is a commodity. Love is a force and a barrier to entry. Great marketing always finds a way to transition a product, a company, from like to love. If the marketing fails to do that, the marketing is just a glorified way of going through the motions.

I want to live in a world surrounded only by people and things that intoxicate me. Unfortunately, there are no such pure plays, but I am bored to tears when I have to spend time in the land of like. So I search out the people and things I can be passionate about- and like a soldier carrying his girlfriends picture into battle-I think of them. Amazing how they cast a glow that makes everything more beautiful.

Every time you wonder how you can make your business better, resist the temptation to read a treatise from Harvard Business School.

Look at a picture of Marilyn Monroe.

Article by, Mark Stevens, the bestselling author of "Your Marketing Sucks," "Your Management Sucks" and"God Is A Salesman." Stevens is CEO of MSCO, a global marketing firm, who has advised many clients over the years such as Estee Lauder, Virgin Atlantic, Guardian Insurance, MONY, Giorgio Armani, Starwood, Intrawest, etc. Stevens delivers more than 40 speeches annually and is a regularly featured media commentator, lending his insights and opinions on Fox Business Network, to the Associated Press, on CNN International, BBC Radio and Bloomberg TV.

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 25, 2009 at 8:29 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

In this the age of computers, effective advertising on the Internet has become very important. One technique is keyword advertising, the use of a word, or set of words, in your content that best describes the product or service you're trying to sell. The most important consideration is that you use the most relevant words or best example of what you are trying to promote. The more relevant the word or words you use, the better your promotion, and the greater your chances of attracting the attention of your target audience.

More and more frequently, we see billboards, television shows, print ads, and on-line ads urging us to use our cell phones to text a keyword such as "college" to a cell phone short code number such as 876289. For example, text the word "college" (without the quotes) to 876289. You'll receive an automated response from CollegeRecruiter.com and we'll instantly receive an email notification of your request.

Keywords are an outstanding way for you to engage with current or potential customers. Including the keyword and short code on your brochures, business cards, web site, billboards, emails, and print ads will give consumers an exciting variety of ways to interact with your organization. Remember, keywords should be short, relevant to your campaign and easy to remember.

When people respond to your ad by texting your keyword to our short code number, we'll automatically send a text message of up to 145 characters back to them. That text message could include a phone number, a link to your web site, or other information you would like them to have.

Text messaging keywords is an inexpensive way to engage current or future customers. The cost, with no contract (cancel at anytime), is $40 per keyword per month plus $0.25 per response. Want an even less expensive solution? Sign up for one of our three-month plans:

• One keyword with up to 2,000 responses = $600
• Three keywords with 5,000 responses = $1,500
• Seven keywords with 12,000 responses = $3,000
• 15 keywords with 25,000 responses = $6,500
• 35 keywords with 60,000 responses = $11,000
• Other options = call/email for quote

For additional information, please call Betsy Larson (800) 835-4989 x701 or email us.

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 23, 2009 at 3:48 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Marketing, by definition, is creating a positive environment for exchange. It could be exchange of goods and services. Yet, in today's economy, it also includes the exchange of human resources for financial resources.

You as the product

Viewing yourself as the product that you are marketing, might help you in wrapping your mind around the power and the necessity for personal branding. You could be transitioning to another position and look for positive exchange with a potential employer; it could be you as a referral partner looking for a positive exchange with someone who services the same target client that you do in a non-competitive industry; or it could be you developing the foundation of your expertise looking for advisers to your personal board.

Let's look at your personal brand with you as the product.

What are the 5Ps?

Product: What's your deliverable? How do you benefit people? What makes you so unique that if you were in a room with 250 of your competitors or colleagues that you would stand head and shoulders above the rest of them? What is your unique promise of value? And, how do you address the question that is on anyone's mind that you are looking to exchange time or talent with - "what's in it for me (WIIFM)"? As the product and professional at what you do, how you benefit people and who you are, it is your job to connect the dots for others so that they immediately know what you can do for them. Product development is key to an effective marketing strategy. A poor product that is positioned well will see a short success moment because the foundation is not congruent with what the product actually delivers.

Price: When thinking of price, it's not just salary, it's the cost of doing business with you. Does it take tremendous time to connect with you? Are you accessible and in the geographic area? Are there things that a potential contact would have to overlook that would involve an investment of time and/or treasure on their part?

Place: These days, place is more than being in the geographic area it is also timing. It also means do you have a presence where the people that you want to exchange with spend a majority of their time. Just like a store front that must research in depth this location, location, location question - so must you. If you're looking for a position with a certain industry, where do the industry "movers and shakers" (in great quantity) spend time? Is it in a social service organization like Rotary? Or, are they at an industry based association? Research where to find them and be where they are so that you are fully immersed in the place that they feel comfortable associating with others.

Promotion: Does the way you promote yourself honor your personal brand? If it doesn't feel right, it might work for someone else but it might not be a good fit for you. When someone else, just learning of you, experiences that disconnect caused by positioning that's not congruent with the product, they will tend to shy away from you and often advise others to do the same. Word of Mouth is the most powerful form of advertising. In fact, 92% of people, according to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, make purchases because of a word of mouth recommendation. Yet, word of mouth is also a double-edge sword. Are you positively buzz-worthy?

The fifth P is one that is new to the mix and I learned of it from @BPrickett during this past week's #brandchat conversation on Twitter. The fifth P is Participation.

Participation: No longer do brands see great success from merely blasting out promotional messages or broadcasts (which by definition is to cast out a large message to a broad audience) their benefits. Brands now require participation.

According to Unilever's Chief Marketing Officer - Simon Clift (in a recent Advertising Age article), "Brands are now becoming conversation factors where...key opinion formers discuss functional, emotional and social concerns. The conversation is no longer one way." He goes onto say that "listening to consumers is more important than talking at them." Are you and your brand engaged in the conversation?

There are numerous posts here on this blog alone that provide excellent practical tips on how to jump into the social conversation and how to engage others. Examine your five Ps to determine at what level you are now and then determine what are you going to do to get to the next level you want to be at? Someone once said that the definition of insanity is to "do the same thing the same way and expect different results."

What do you need to do to move forward?

Maria Elena Duron, is chief buzz agent and identity coach with buzz2bucks.com. Buzz2Bucks, a personal branding and word of mouth firm,is the community manager around your brand, online and offline, and coaches community managers on how to become buzz-worthy. She contributes to several publication including the Personal Branding Mag and is editor of the Personal Branding Blog.

Article courtesy of Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 22, 2009 at 9:39 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

There have been a number of discussions recently on linkedin with regard to affiliate program fraudulent leads and sales. We all know that affiliate programs are a great way to drive traffic to websites, lead gen programs and specific offers. The majority of the publishers that participate in the affiliate programs are extremely reputable. Most affiliate sites do a great job of prequalifying the publishers before they ever see an advertiser's offer. Unfortunately, even with all the safe guards, there is still some lead fraud that comes through affiliate programs.

There are a few key things that can tip an advertiser off to potential fraud and give them a chance to rectify the problem before it becomes out of hand. One indicator that there may be a problem is if there are a large number of leads from the same IP address in a very short amount of time. On the same token, sequential email addresses for a lead generation program can also indicate unwanted activity. For example if you have Lars1@aol.com, Lars2@aol.com etc there is a pretty good indication there is a problem. Obviously a large number of invalid credit card numbers also indicate invalid activity. Additionally if one publisher has a much higher click to offer completion ratio than other similar sites, it may be a situation that warrants investigation. This may just mean the publisher has exceptionally well qualified traffic. But, it is still worth looking into.

There is typically a larger amount of fraud that comes through incentive publishers, those sites that offer points or actual cash for completing offers. Many of these sites have very strict policies to curb member fraud. Others do not. Incentive traffic is not all bad. Finding sites that have clear policies on valid and accurate offer completion is key if you want to advertise on these type of sites.

Affiliate programs remain one of the best resources to reach small publishers who are interested in your specific offers. Being diligent about watching the traffic coming from the various publishers and keeping in close contact with your affiliate manager are important in making these programs successful.

Posted by Betsy Larson, CollegeRecruiter.com on June 19, 2009 at 10:47 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Do you have people who were once excited about your mailings now running for the hills? Are you getting more opt outs than clicks? Obtaining and retaining list members is a struggle all email companies face. There are a few things that you can do, however, to make those valuable individuals stick around!

Make sure when you are sending ads or newsletters to your list members that they are relevant. People who sign up for a gardening site, probably do not want to get email ads for automotive batteries, but would be thrilled with ads and information about seeds and spring bulbs.

It is also important to make sure that the emails sent are of high quality and everything in them, including the unsubscribe link, works. How frustrating for a reader to want more information, click on the link and have it go nowhere! If that happens more than one time? Your list just lost a member.

Finally, make sure you do not send emails too often, even if they are relevant. No list member wants to hear from you multiple times a day. A couple times a week or even a couple times a month maybe the perfect fit for your list.

We all want to have happy and active email list members. By remembering why they signed up for your list and not overwhelming them with offers they can remain active and happy for a long time.

Posted by Betsy Larson, CollegeRecruiter.com on June 17, 2009 at 3:02 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today, I spoke with Dave Lakhani, who is the author of How To Sell When Nobody's Buying. In this interview, he talks about how selling has changed in the past few years, what social media means for selling, what personal branding has to do with selling and more.

How has selling changed in the past two years?

Selling changed dramatically and no one told the salespeople. Most salespeople are still slogging along using the same old ideologies and techniques from the 80's and 90's that are based on ideas from the 60's and 70's. The result is a bunch of very frustrated salespeople and managers who are not making their numbers. Then, along comes an economic downturn and wholesale destruction of many industries and salespeople don't know what to do or where to turn. What really changed was buyer mentality and buyer psychology. Consumers and prospects are overwhelmed with choices, markets commoditize faster than ever now and virtually all of them are over-communicated. The result is that they've become ambivalent, lack trust and are slower to buy.

Buyers don't trust their old relationships that were based on concealment of information, they demand transparency and relevancy of messages. Buyers have instant access in the palm of their hands to shop around for better pricing, to see what your reputation is and to see if what you are saying is true. What they are really looking for is a real reason to believe. If you can give them a real reason to believe and earn their trust, you have the opportunity to create a relationship and ultimately a customer.

How did social media change the playing field or did it?

Social media and online social networking absolutely impacted sales greatly because buyers were able to band together in networks and share information instantly. They also learned how to discover the truth online (at least most of the time) and they learned the power of shared experiences. They began reporting their experiences on blogs, on their Facebook pages, and instantly on Twitter. Salespeople and many companies were stunned by what came out and very slow to react. Now, they are rapidly trying to navigate the new landscape and figure out what to do. Sadly, most of them don't hire a strategist with experience in new selling to help them, they simply muddle about hoping to get it right.

What do you tell salespeople about personal branding?

I'm glad you asked. Let's face it, if you stay at the same job for five years now, you have a long career with a company. The salespeople who are going to earn the most in the future are those who embrace the idea that they are their ultimate product. Building a personal brand is what will allow you to take your clients with you wherever you go because they will seek you out if you've built a strong brand. A powerful personal brand will also set you apart from your competition and give people a reason to believe.

In my book How To Sell When Nobody's Buying I tell salespeople that they must have a blog, a personal facebook, Twitter and Linkedin account and their name as a website. They need a coordinated place to showcase themselves, their information and their knowledge. And, I also reveal the most important information that they must gather from each client in order to best position themselves for future business. I also strongly recommend your book to everyone who needs to build a personal brand, it is the most actionable information on the market right now. Salespeople must embrace this or they should just get out of sales. The only problem with that is, not matter what your job now, you must take control of your personal brand. So, the smartest thing any salesperson can do is decide what they want to be known for, what do they want people to say about them, what are they willing to do every day to be sure it happens? Once they decide that, they can build the rest quickly.

You've created something called "The Leads Machine" for people who buy your book, what is that?

The Bold Approach Leads Machine is a web 2.0 powered contact manager that allows you to share and exchange leads with other salespeople so you never have to cold call again. It is a collaboration between my company Bold Approach, Inc. and Mywayinteractive.com.

One of the principles I talk about in the book is leveraging established relationships. The best leads you'll ever get come from other salespeople who have a good relationship with the account you want to get into. The challenge of course is knowing who is non-competitive and who may be willing to share leads with you. The Bold Approach Leads Machine takes all the work out it, you just search and find someone who has the contact you need and exchange leads. It is completely free and also full incorporates social media, down to the point that you can see a contact's live twitter stream right on their lead profile page. It is a powerful tool.

Using the same old tools doesn't work anymore, you need new tools for new times and new psychologies, this is it. The leads machine has thousands of leads and thousands of members already so you'll walk into a virtual goldmine of potential new business with background information so that you never cold call again.

What is the Chapter 0 in your book? I've never heard of a chapter 0 before. . . .

Chapter 0 is like ground zero. If you have to make sales right now and only have a week to turn things around, what do you do? Chapter 0 is a complete implementation plan for how to kickstart your sales immediately. One of the things that I teach salespeople is that implementation is everything and money follows action. So rather than give them room to try and figure out what that means on their own, I decided to make it simple and gave them a very specific action plan for the next five days of their career to create massive momentum.

Chapter 0 breaks down what you do from the moment you walk in the office until the minute you walk out. And guess what? I don't tell them to start cold calling, that is a very low value activity. We start by going to inactive accounts and non-buyers, people with whom we at least had familiarity. By the time we get around to calling new prospects, they are using The Bold Approach Leads Machine to find them so they aren't cold. They have a great deal of information that will allow them to succeed in closing an appointment right away.

I also talk to them about message to market match. People don't want to be force fit into a solution, they want something elegant that fits perfectly. Chapter 0 shows them exactly what they need to do to become relevant and how to do it. And here is what is interesting about that information. If you substituted job hunt and interview for all the sales reference, and applied everything in Chapter 0 to getting the job you want, you'd have the job of your dreams in no time. Especially if they've followed your advice and built a powerful personal brand.

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 10, 2009 at 9:44 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

From Forrest Gump's Guide to Becoming a Gazillionaire, on OnMoneyMaking.com:

Who taught Elvis how to dance, received the Congressional Medal of Honor, got Nixon impeached, became the world ping-pong champion, built a national shrimping empire, and fathered Haley Joel Osment?

One man: Forrest Gump.

If I could choose one mentor in business, or in life in general, it would be Gump. I don't care that he's not real. The wisdom that he conveys is real, and I think we could all learn something from it.

This advice is so great, I'm going to tweak it for you so you can use it for medical sales (and still make a little money):

"And cause I was a gazillionaire, and I liked doin' it so much, I cut that grass for free."

If you're in sales, you better like people and love sales. If you're in medical sales, you better love the science and technology of it, too, so that keeping up with trends and development in the industry is a pleasure, not a chore. Be in the kind of medical sales that really interests you-there's a lot to choose from: medical device sales, laboratory sales, pharmaceutical sales, hospital equipment sales, imaging sales, pathology sales, cellular or molecular products sales, surgical sales, clinical diagnostics sales, or biotechnology sales. If you love it, you'll be good at it, and if you're good at it, the money will come.

"I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is."

E.Q. is just as important as I.Q. Successful salespeople know that sales are a lot about building relationships-it's not just about the product. Customers know if you're really in it to help them, or to help you.

"Stupid is as stupid does."

Make good decisions. All the time. Don't get caught not being where you said you'd be (sometimes they're tracking you), keep your commitments, follow through, and make your company look good.

"When I got tired, I slept. When I got hungry, I ate. When I had to go... you know... I went."

Take care of yourself. Keeping yourself in good physical condition by getting enough exercise, eating right, getting enough rest, and taking mental breaks from the job once in a while will keep you at the top of your game.

"Momma always had a way of explaining things so I could understand them."

Find a mentor. Read books on sales. Read medical sales blogs. Come to the medical sales recruiter for custom consulting to help you be the best sales rep you can be and have the best job you can have.

"I gotta save Bubba!"

Loyalty matters.

"Jenny taught me how to climb. And I taught her how to dangle."

If you had a mentor (or even if you didn't), be one. Be a team player. Always be networking. You never know where your next lead is coming from, or whether you might need a job sometime in the future. Someone who has been willing to help others will almost always get that generosity rewarded in some way down the road.

"My Momma always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on."

Don't dwell on a sale that didn't close, or a job that went bad. Learn what you can from it, and move on.

"I'm sorry I had to fight in the middle of your Black Panther party."

Learning the art of apologizing will serve you well. Using it even when you don't think you're wrong will (sometimes) serve you better.

"Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I can run like the wind blows."

If you're in sales, you better know how to brag. About your products when you're selling, and about yourself when you're job searching. One great tip is to keep a brag book. What do you keep in it? Letters from happy customers, "good job" letters from sales managers, sales and revenue numbers, data on improvements you've made, training you've completed, awards and accomplishments. Learning how to use it in interviews will give you an edge.

"My Momma always said, 'Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.' "

On medical sales: No kid ever said, "I want to grow up to be a medical supply sales rep!" Still, there's satisfying reward, financially and otherwise, in educating customers and delivering a product that will benefit people. There's a lot of ways to combine the loves of people, business and science in healthcare sales.

On job searching: Don't be afraid to move on (and up) if you get the opportunity, and don't be afraid to go after what you want. Be open-minded about relocating, because it could be the step that leads to really great things. One tool that can help you move up or get the job is the 30/60/90 day sales plan template

"That's all I have to say about that."

Just as important as knowing when to talk, and when to push for the close, is knowing when to shut up and wait.

Article by, Peggy McKee, the Medical Sales Recruiter

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Originally posted on Confessions of an Executive Restaurant Recruiter

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 8, 2009 at 12:28 PM | Leave a Comment (0)