Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing & David Ryan

Many of you know that I am an ardent student of marketing specialist Robert Middleton of www.actionplan.com  A good friend of mine referred me to Robert’s website and free weekly e-newsletter two years ago.

There are many marketing and sales advisors out there, and it’s easy to lampoon the lot (as in the movie, “Little Miss Sunshine.”)  But Robert is not one of those who professes to be a “Marketing Messiah.” He just gives straight-forward advice based on his own experience of what does and doesn’t work.

What I like most about what Robert teaches, is that he firmly believes that marketing should be fun.  And looking back over my career — from starting out as a costume character at Busch Gardens after college, on through a variety of staff and independent producer and director positions over the years, to company management and then into sales – having fun and excitement with my work activities has always been a guiding force in my career decisions.

And then there’s the serendipity of good timing.  It was while reading one of Robert’s weekly e-mail newsletters (again, free subscription on his site www.actionplan.com), that I decided to proceed with the “Mindy the Cat” e-mail marketing campaign that was bouncing around in my head. http://davidryanmediasolutions.com/about-mindy-mail/  I remember in that newsletter Robert said, “Don’t worry if something seems a bit wacky, take a chance . . . start small, and just give it a try.”  And so the popular and successful Mindy Mail campaign and the Mindy Discount ensued.

Last week I had the pleasure to join about 40 others for an intensive one-day workshop with Robert in NYC.  We started at 9a and ended near 11p.  Whew.

Again, Robert bases his program on solutions that work.  He lays out the steps of successful marketing and sales around a diagram of a baseball diamond, in a game he calls, “Let’s Play Marketing Ball.”

He also stresses the importance of Marketing Syntax, the process of doing marketing steps in the right order – e.g. go to first base, then to second, etc.

But before “getting up to bat,” Robert emphasizes that among other things, one must have an “audio logo” (also commonly known as an “elevator speech,”) perfected.  A slight yet radical twist that Robert suggests is that the emphasis of the logo should be on what one does for clients rather than concentrating on oneself, or one’s credentials and experience, or other details of one’s work.  I think he’s right.  At first meeting, a prospect doesn’t really care where you went to school, nor your experience, etc.  What they really are thinking when you first meet is, “Can this person help me?” Often you get no more than 30-seconds before they decide.  So answer that question first.

Let’s use me for an example.  Rather than my saying, “I have over 30 years of extensive and diverse experience in the media field, and I now concentrate on selling DVD, CD and videotape replication services . . .,” it’s better for me to say, “I work with people whose job is ‘to get the message out.’  And what I provide are media replication – that’s DVDs, CDs and videotape – and multimedia services to assist them in implementing their marketing strategies.”

See the difference?

Robert also has firm ideas about how to construct a successful website.  Again, following his approach to the audio logo, he believes the home page should not be “About Us,” but rather “About YOU – the visitor.”  He believes the visitor will stay around for just about 10 seconds before they decide whether the site is for them or not.

After the daytime part of the workshop in NY, as part of our tuition (around $200 for the day-long session — $149 for me since I signed up early), we were also given the opportunity to stay into the evening for a small group session where we each took a turn in the “hot seat” delivering our audio logo in front of Robert and the others.  About a dozen of us stayed for that session.  We also had been invited to present a particular marketing challenge that we had been wrestling with.  It was an excellent learning experience – for me that alone was worth the price of the workshop.  I could certainly relate to the issues the others were facing, and Robert and everyone were very constructive with feedback when it was my turn in the “hot seat.”

The challenge I brought was whether my inclusion of offering quick-turnaround solutions in my audio logo was limiting my appeal to a broader base of clients.  Robert felt that should not be a problem since both small and large clients need — and appreciate — quick-turnaround at some time or another.  (FYI, there was one fellow student who disagreed — and she and I had a good discussion about that after the session – so I’m still thinking this over.)   What’s your opinion?  Leave a comment below.

To learn more about Action Plan Marketing, I suggest you also check out Featured Media Guest Betty Caldwell, http://davidryanmediasolutions.com/2008/04/16/betty-caldwell-and-stressless-tests%e2%84%a2/ another successful marketer who follows the guidelines of Robert Middleton.