Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Solutions May Surface in the Still of the Night

“Necessity is the mother of invention!” The first time I heard this was nearly twenty years ago when I was introduced to Tony Robbins’ material. I have to admit, the first time I heard this it didn’t quite register.

However, nearly two decades later, it makes all the sense in the world. In fact, a majority of the things we take for granted were created out of a need. When the need became great enough, someone figured out a solution.

Such is the case with a new eBook that just hit the market - Tokens for TV. The idea for this informative book is the brainchild of working mom, Lisa Workman. As she explains it, about a year ago, she and her husband were struggling with how to get their kids to take an interest in choosing how much television and computer time they were spending each day. She came up with a system that not only limited how much TV/Computer time they received, but also took out some of the parental nagging and placed some responsibility on their shoulders. She came up with a simple solution to helping children manage their television and computer time.

Seeing how effective her system is, friends began asking her how it worked. After numerous requests, she wrote down the system and eventually fine tuned it to the point it became her now popular eBook, Tokens for TV.

An exciting aspect of this resource is that the information aligns perfectly with Lisa’s personal and professional vision and mission. She is extremely committed to providing quality information to families while promoting healthy lifestyles for children. However, something Lisa realizes is that without an effective marketing campaign to promote Tokens for TV there are many people who will never know how effective the system can be.

Lisa has put together a very effective campaign which includes full use of her Tokens for TV website, free reports, and article distribution both online and off, interviews with the media and viral marketing. Her marketing plan was developed long before the eBook was taken to market. Without a doubt, she will be successful in getting the word out.

Another excellent example of creative problem solving comes from Jo Capista, DDS, a Pennsylvania based dentist specializing in general and cosmetic dentistry. One of his greatest challenges was positioning his message about his top-notch cosmetic dentistry services to his market. As he analyzed his market and those who would invest in cosmetic dentistry, he knew he had to use unconventional marketing strategies to reach potential patients.

He began offering complimentary public information seminars. He promoted the seminars in neighborhood newspapers and with posters strategically placed throughout his region. The response to his first session was overwhelming. So much in fact he repeated the process several times with incredible results both in name recognition and revenues.

The next step was to do the seminars with other businesses who shared a similar market. Again, the process proved extremely successful. He then decided to invest in a vendor space at a body and bath expo. As with the other strategies, the expo was equally as successful.

I had the opportunity to talk in detail with Dr. Capista about why he feels all of this is working. Simply put, preparation, delivery and follow up. And of course, making sure he is targeting the right market for his services.

Like Lisa Workman and Dr. Capista, countless people have excellent ideas that solve a common problem; solutions that will definitely work. Unlike Lisa and Dr. Capista, they either don’t test their idea or if they do, they get busy with day-to-day activities and lose their focus, thus losing their potential for seeing how successful their idea could have been.

Often, it is in the still of the night, the answers will surface. A simple strategy that will help you to identify a solution you may be able to provide to others is to ask yourself the following question, “What keeps you or your customers awake at night?”

Regardless of the size of a company, it is essential to constantly seek solutions to your customer’s problems. Once you find a solution, take action and commit the time, money and resources to the end result. When your customer is looking for a solution, who do you want them to go to – your or your competition?

Wednesday, July 06, 2005