This Little Piggy Went To Marketing

Tuesday March 17th, 2009 - Chicago, IL

St. Patrick’s Day and I think I’m the only sober life form within 100 miles of where I’m sitting. It’s yet another booze fueled holiday that allows idiots to drink too much and puke in public. While everyone else was chasing green beer I was focusing on green backs.

Marc Schultz called and wanted to take me out for a birthday lunch. I appreciate that he remembered. Lunch with Marc was productive and fun and he thinks he can sell the DVD from the Late Late Show to corporate clients. He’s in my corner and I really appreciate it.

Then I went into Chicago and visited ‘Uncle Fun’ on Belmont and Southport. That’s an amazing store with a lot of similarities to the Moon Fun Shops in Milwaukee I remember so well as a kid. There’s a lot of funny stuff in there that catches one’s eye immediately.

I looked for ideas as to what I can sell on the Uranus Factory Outlet site and also what I can package and sell at shows. I no longer have to worry about being a comedic genius - I now have to focus on becoming a marketing genius. That’s how I’ll build my retirement.

What I really like about the store is that it’s well organized and has a lot of fun things to look at for everyone. It’s kind of like a museum of the goofy. It’s a well set up display and it has a fun atmosphere. That’s exactly what I want to create with everything I‘m doing.

After a thorough tour of Uncle Fun I went to meet my professional speaker friend Todd Hunt. He is a fantastic marketer and that’s what I wanted to discuss with him. I’ve helped him with his presentation many times in the past and now it was my turn to pick his brain.

Todd bills himself as a ‘recovering anal-retentive professional’ and his actual skills as a speaker are quite good. What’s even more impressive is his slick promotion material. I’ve been around performers of all kinds all of my life and I’d have to say his materials are the best I’ve ever seen. His anal-retentiveness may be a factor but that’s ok. Todd stands out.

He has direct mail pieces and offers a free booklet to meeting professionals and he also has two self published books he sells after his presentations that really look good. I asked him about how he did all of it but the main thing I wanted to know was how he managed to memorize his material so well. He has a formula he uses and I want to implement it.

Next time I go on TV I’m going to have my material memorized a LOT better than I did this last time. Todd knows his presentation inside and out and in fact he prides himself on getting quizzed with it. He’ll ask someone for a single key word from his script at random and he’ll pick it up from that point and start doing it perfectly. It’s an impressive sight.

The whole day was very productive. Todd and Marc are both in my corner and I have to keep surrounding myself with people like that. I also need to keep focusing on marketing. I feel like I’m starting over but that’s ok. I have a good product and I believe in it so now I have to dress it in an attractive package and sell it in as many ways and places as I can.