Oct
19
(Sorta) Live from Las Vegas, Part One
I know, I know. You think I just went to Las Vegas to spend all your hard earned money at the blackjack tables. You, my friend, are WRONG.
I mostly went to spend your hard earned money at the blackjack tables, yes. (Also to see if I could get photographic evidence of Brian Clark doing something untoward.) But I figured I may as well tour the city for some marketing mojo while there, no?
Therefore, I unveil the first in a series with an unknown number of parts.
Las Vegas Marketing Lesson Number One: On the plane
I got on the plane with $12 in Canadian change. The rest of my money was US dollars, mostly in twenties and fifties. As the American and Canadian dollars are essentially at par right now, I can pay with either. We pay $3 for headphones, leaving us with $9 left in change. Then they come to take food orders.
The guy in front of me buys two breakfast sandwiches for $10. I also want to buy two breakfast sandwiches for $10, but I only have nine dollars in change. I figure I’ll break a twenty. (The flight attendant has been a hardass about paying the exact amount up to this point, but I figure she already happens to have my change in her hand, so I’m good.)
I ask for my sandwiches and hand her a twenty.
She says she can’t break it.
I suggest she gives me the ten dollar bill in her hand.
She suggests I pay with a credit card.
I suggest she gives me the ten dollar bill in her hand.
She tells me I can get a 10% discount if I pay with a credit card.
I suggest she gives me the ten dollar bill in her hand.
She tells me she’s really trying to encourage people to use their credit card.
I suggest she gives me the ten dollar bill in her hand.
She tells me they really prefer passengers use credit cards.
I sit silently. After a moment, I get my change and my sandwiches. I win, she loses. She has succeeded at nothing greater than pissing me off.
Lesson: Nobody fucking cares what you prefer.
Alternate lesson: It’s also probably a bad idea to use that saccharine fakey fakey voice they use on psych patients when speaking to a claustrophobic smoker in a confined space. But that’s not really business advice. That’s just good common sense.
Non-Vegas Related But Still Important
Every now and again, a product comes out that EVERYBODY is talking about. I have been talking a lot about this one, and was going to tell you guys about it when I got back from Vegas. Turns out, the prelaunch price ends today because Mr. I’m Taking My Kid To New York And We’re Staying At The Motherfucking Plaza And No I’m Probably Not Even Going To Buy You A T-Shirt (also known as Dave “Fancy Pants” Navarro) leaves tomorrow and doesn’t want to work when he’s there.
I don’t often tell people they should buy things because hell, I don’t know what you need. But I don’t care who you are, you need this product. People are going to be talking about this for a damn long time, and you may as well buy it now before the price triples. I actually bought this thing (even though I probably had a free one kicking around in my inbox) and I’m learning shit-tons.
Dave has lined up 12 undisputed experts – okay, 11 undisputed experts and me – to talk about the shit they are the best in the world at.
How To Build a Six-Figure Information Product Platform with Brian Clark of Copyblogger.com
Emergency Marketing: How To Get Big In A Hurry with ME!
How To Go From Zero To Authority In Your Niche with Chris Garrett of AuthorityBlogger.com
How To Get Into The Social Media Fast Lane with Laura Roeder of CreatingFame.com
How To Sell Big (Without Selling Out) with Mark Silver of HeartOfBusiness.com
How To Erase The Stress of Running Your Own Business with Charlie Gilkey of ProductiveFlourishing.com
How To Tightly Focus Your Blog & Bring In More Customers with Michael Martine of Remarkablogger.com
How To Discover Instantly Profitable Markets with Clay Collins of ProjectMojave.com
How To Raise Up A Small Army of Loyal Fans with Chris Guillebeau of ArtOfNonConformity.com
How To Get Paid What You’re Worth And Not a Penny Less with Christine O’Kelly of SelfMadeChick.com
How To Make Your Audience Fall In Love With You with Sonia Simone of RemarkableCommunication.com
How To Build Your Business When You Have A Day Job with Pam Slim of EscapeFromCubicleNation.com
I’ve been doing this for a long time and I have NEVER seen anything like this lineup. If you can buy it today, I really, really think you should. And if you don’t read this till tomorrow, you should STILL buy it because it’s that good. Right now it’s less than a hundred bucks and there’s a great guarantee. Seriously, check it out.
Tangentially Vegas Related
I’m pretty sure I have swine flu, so if you and I made out at any time during the second half of Blog World, you might want to quarantine yourself.
I listened to your segment during a road trip this weekend. It was GREAT. Practical, specific, fun. Dave has really hit it out of the park on this product – and I don’t rave about many products!
It seems to me that the main problem on the airplane was that you were needing to pay for food at all! Remember the days when flight attendants would just hand you a meal? For *free*?
Hope you feel better soon.
That flight attendant must have learned her techniques from Paypal. Try telling them you’d prefer to pay with a credit card.
You had me at the third in her hand. haha Love your blog! The lesson was just…yeah. :)
I found your blog through Dave Navarro’s class and I’m glad I did, if for no other reason save that stewardess story. Where was that ten again?
For what it’s worth, I totally thought you went to Las Vegas to spend your money on strippers
I would have thought it would be obvious that a woman of my esteemed position has OTHER people pay for the strippers.
Everyone was in Vegas this weekend! I was at the conference as well but got so overwhelmed by cewebrities & bloggers I looked up to being EVERYWHERE i had to go home & sleep it off :)
Great seminars though…
Did everyone on the plane cheer when you won the flight attendant battle? They should have.
For the life of me I will never understand why some people (or is it people in some circumstances) go out of their way to be obnoxious. I get that the flight attendants don’t want to be in the business of making change all day long. But seriously! Does she think she’s gonna have to make change up and down the aisles until landing? She’s set the expectations, correct change or credit card, so if she’s out of change, no one can bitch. But if she has the change (all together now!) in her hand… I really can’t see the point of being such a PITA.
It’s not often I come across a blog, book, training, etc. that so captures my attention that I spend over 4 hours reading as much of it as I can. This has topped my list! This story is definately what did it for me! Kudos! Can’t wait to read more!
That sounds like great customer service. If at first you don’t succeed, just ram your message down their throats. Great job sticking to your guns. Hopefully you cooled off enough to enjoy your sandwiches.
Can I just say that I’m so so glad that you didn’t bitch at the stewardess here? Clearly it’s a stupid business policy that they left to her to enforce. (Or not, when faced with your death stare.) Indeed, a dumbass move.
Swine flu? Great, NOW you tell me. And AFTER we shared nachos.
Bitch.
Call it just “nachos” all you want, but it meant more than that to me. ;)
Hey, you know what I mean. Nachos. Yeah.