The Millionaire Fastlane

Ch.44 summary • Tekel Syndrome sufferers are polygamist opportunists who opportunity-hop. • A weak business commitment commits you to weak assets. Weak assets do not accelerate wealth. • The most successful entrepreneurs lived and breathed their business with 100% commitment. • Successful business monogamy can lead to successful business polygamy, a diversification into many passionate interests and investments. • Save the "I have ten businesses" until after you sell one company for millions.

Ch.44 The Tekel Syndrome is a compulsion to scatter your focus across different projects and opportunities. It's also a symptom of money chasing versus need filling. You become a polygamist-opportunist when you invest your time in five other businesses. The idea is to toss as much shit on the wall as possible because something's gotta stick. Something's gotta make me some money! A scattered focus leads to scattered results.

Ch.43 summary • Consumers are selfishly motivated. Always target your messages toward the predisposition of "What's in it for me?" • Features are translated to benefits when you switch positions from producer to consumer, identify the feature's advantages, and extrapolate those advantages into a specific result. • A cheap and a premium price are value skews, implicitly conveying value and worth. • Don't allow your own perception of price to tarnish your brand to mediocrity.

Ch.43 summary • Polarization is a tremendous tool if your product targets a polarized audience-usually politics, minority opinions, and even sports teams. • Sex sells and always draws eyeballs. (But it can tarnish your brand image.) • Consumers make buying decisions based on emotions before practicality. • Il you can arouse audience emotions, convincing customers to buy is easier. • People like talking about themselves. You will have better success if you can incorporate interaction or "try before you buy" into your campaigns. • To be unconventional means to isolate and identify what is conventional, then do the opposite, or interrupt that convention.

Ch.43 summary • Marketing and branding (the queen) are the most potent Fastlane tools. • Businesses survive. Brands thrive. • Businesses have identity crises, but brands don't. Identity crises force business owners into price commoditization. • Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) are your primary value skew and the key branding attribute that differentiates your company from the rest. • People have a natural desire to be unique and different. • Marketing success requires messages to break above the noise or advertising clutter.

Ch.43 Developing USP Step 6: Make It Real A USP must be convincing enough so that people buy or, even better, switch brands. If it doesn't capture your audience's attention or the benefit/hook is too weak, it won't work. And then make your USp real. You must deliver on what you say. A pizza delivered in 40 minutes makes the 30-minute guarantee a fraud. fraudulent Usps get exposed and create "human resource systems" ready to rick-roll your company on social media.

Ch.43 Developing USP Step 5: Integrate Your USP into ALL Marketing Materials A OSP is worthless if it isn't conveyed throughout every aspect of your busines Indade your Usp on all your public communications: • Your trucks, vehicles, and buildings • Your advertising, promotional materials, and social media accounts • Business cards, letterheads, signs, brochures, and flyers • Your website and your email signature • Your voice mail system, receptionist/sales scripts, etc.

Ch.43 Developing USP Step 3: Be Specific and Give Evidence Noise is everywhere, and if you are going to rise above it, you must alleviate natural consumer skepticism. Do so by being specific and, if possible, offer evidence. Domino's Pizza didn't say "Delivered on time," they said, "Delivered within 30 minutes or it's free." It was a specific action and evidence of that action. (Your pizza is free if we don't perform!) In my case, the onus was on me to send my advertisers leads. If I didn't, I didn't get paid. "We send you business or you don't pay a dime."