Result: Booked Solid!

Remember the film director from our post in December? He had let his TV commercials business lapse for some years while he wrote and directed a feature (lots of star power, theatrical release, DVDs etc).

Now he wanted to get back to doing some advertising work while he was getting more films off the ground. I helped him do just this. Here is what he wrote me:

"I want to give you an update. Since we [worked together] in the late fall I have not stopped working. I have been booked solid. I shot nine new spots in the last eight weeks.

Being able to shoot with the confidence of knowing my strengths has been a great pleasure. I have never had a run this strong.

I would like to do more work together, both commercially, but for my film career as well. Your insights have been a great focusing tool."

Congratulations to him - we love to hear these success stories of people getting to where they want to be.

Pop Quiz

1. What is your company’s most successful piece of communication?

2. Who was it aimed at?

3. What did you want them to do when they received - saw/heard/read/smelled/felt it?

4. Did they?

5. What makes it successful?

Now here is the question that really counts:
What can be learned from the answers to questions 1-5?

Pricing tip (thanks to Calvin Klein)

A wonderful and insightful story from Ingrid Sischy’s portrait of Calvin Klein in the latest Vanity Fair.

Apparently as a child, Klein used to visit his dad’s grocery store. He noticed that there were grapefruits in two different bins – one lot priced at 29c a pound and one lot priced at 49c a pound.

He asked his father what was the difference between them. His father apparently just shrugged and said, “Some people like to pay 29 cents and some people like to pay 49 cents.”

Is your "News" up to date?

When I look at the website of a company, I almost always look at the "News" section. Don't you? If there is recently posted news, then we know the company is active and alive.

I looked at a site earlier today - in the news section was an announcement that their next newsletter would be posted in June 2007. They are already 9 months late! Is there anyone at home?

Last week I noticed that the site of Desedo, an innovative NY production company, was way overdue for a news posting. I mentioned this to the multi-talented Michael Hastings-Black who runs the firm. Within hours they had put up an excellent news post that showed lots of activity in the intervening months - completely explained the gap. Great energy and serious signs of life.

See their post here.

Is your news up-to-date?

How to price your services

There's a wonderful story in Ingrid Sischy’s Vanity Fair portrait of Calvin Klein. As a child, Klein used to visit his dad’s grocery store. He noticed that there were grapefruits in two different bins – one lot priced at 29c a pound and one lot priced at 49c a pound. He asked his father what was the difference between them. His father apparently just shrugged and said, “Some people like to pay 29 cents and some people like to pay 49 cents.”

Hard time getting things done?

When you have a hard time getting something done – getting started – getting things just right – take a step back. Instead of beating your head against it, try to identify the obstacles to your success. What is stopping you from getting what you want? It could be something someone else is doing to get in the way, or it could be some habit of yours, or it could be something small and concrete. Spend some time figuring out what the obstacle is and understanding it. Learn where it comes from and how it prevents you from success. Understanding the obstacle – as a separate entity from the thing you are attempting – is the surest way to finding a way around it or past it.