Do you recognize the blissful ignorance effect in your mediation marketing?

Is it possible to give too much information about mediation or your services in your marketing?

Maybe so.

Consider this University of Iowa study and the so-called Blissful Ignorance Effect:

“We found that once people commit to buying or consuming something, there’s a kind of wishful thinking that happens and they want to like what they’ve bought,” said assistant professor of marketing Dhananjay Nayakankuppam. “The less you know about a product, the easier it is to engage in wishful thinking. But the more information you have, the harder it is to kid yourself. This can be contrasted with what happens before taking any action when people are trying to be accurate and would prefer getting more information to less.”

The study focused on products, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the conclusions teach us something about marketing services as well. While I’m always cautious about generalizing beyond the research scope, it sure is tempting to consider it.

What do you think? Leave a comment with your opinion.

Found via Guy Kawasaki.


Copyright © 2008 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.

Marketing with presentations: advice from a master

One of my most effective marketing strategies has always been to offer presentations on conflict resolution to audiences in my target market. In my first year of business over a decade ago, I gave more than 30 such presentations. Almost all of them created valuable connections and interest that helped me make mediation my full-time work in less than two years.

For a long time, I avoided PowerPoint in my presentations. I’d sat through far too many boring, bullet-point packed, read-word-by-word PowerPoint events and didn’t want my own presentations to be associated with a tool that’s been sorely misused. I didn’t want to be someone about whom PowerPoint comedy sketches could be made!

In the past year, thanks to Garr Reynolds’ blog, Presentation Zen, I reconsidered my vow and began reintroducing PowerPoint into my speeches and mini-workshops for prospective clients. And I learned that, used well, PowerPoint substantially improved my speaking gigs and made the material — and thus me — much more memorable.

If you want to — or already do — give presentations as part of your mediation marketing strategy, I highly recommend three Garr Reynolds resources: His blog, his superb book, Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, and the video below.

The video is from Reynolds’ 21 March 2008 presentation to Google employees. Settle in with a cup of coffee, a note pad, and watch a master at work. It’s worth every minute:

Enjoy,


Copyright © 2008 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.

Mediation marketing resources, april 2008

Mediation Marketing Resources is my periodic roundup of articles, tools and ideas that offer insights and support for your ADR marketing efforts.

This month’s roundup gathers together articles on branding, blogging and ways to avoid watering down your valuable time:

How do you set yourself apart from the competition? Business coach Dave Navarro offers three powerful questions for clarifying your brand and differentiating yourself in 3 Steps to Creating a Freelancing Brand that Sells.

What associations do you want prospective clients to make with your business brand? In The Brand-Name Brain, Deliberations blog shares research on the associations created by well-known logos (found via Victoria Pynchon).

Do you run your business by trying to be all the roles (bookkeeper, graphic designer, etc)? In Refocusing Your Business With an “I Am No Good At” List freelancer Samuel Ryan reminds us that being the “do everything” entrepreneur can be path to business failure.

Have you ever been asked when you plan to return to “real work”? Most new micro-business owners and consultants have. In How to Stay Confident in Your Decision to Start Your Business small business marketing entrepreneur Shannon Cherry offers some advice for responding.

Thinking about blogging as part of your mediation marketing strategy? Marion Sanchez of Shoestring Branding has a terrific post on the Ten Essential Tools You’ll Need to Launch a Blog. I use almost all the same tools Mario does and can vouch for their excellence.

Happy reading,


Copyright © 2008 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.

Mediation marketing quote of the month, april 2008

“A major stimulant to creative thinking is focused questions. There is something about a well-worded question that often penetrates to the heart of the matter and triggers new ideas and insights.”

— Brian Tracy

[Found via fellow mediator and ADR blogger Lee Burns] [Read more]

The age of conversation: 3 reasons to buy on March 29

What happens when you give 100 of the world’s leading marketing professionals, writers, thinkers, innovators and bloggers a book title and an invitation to write about that topic in 400 words or less?

The Age of Conversation happens. Born as an off-hand comment, then growing into an e-book and ultimately a printed book, The Age of Conversation takes the individual musings of 100+ authors from all over the world, many of whom have no connection other than shared belief in the power of social media, and turns them into a collection that overflows with creativity and insight.

And just for today, March 29, The Age of Conversation is more than a book. It’s part of a social media experiment. And you can be part of it. [Read more]

Cole Silver’s raindancing expert audio series

Cole Silver is an attorney and marketing consultant who helps attorneys succeed in their careers by providing business and career development consulting and related services.

Cole’s also the author of How to Create Wealth and Freedom in Your Law Practice: 101 Powerful Client Development and Retention Strategies for Attorneys and a legal marketing blogger at Legal Marketing Secrets.

I was interviewed by Cole last week as part of his Raindancing Expert Audio Series, which features chats with such marketing and PR luminaries as [Read more]

Mediation marketing quote of the month, march 2008

“Customers must recognize that you stand for something.”

— Howard Schultz, Starbucks [Read more]

Creative business card from a divorce lawyer

I stumbled across this creative business card from a divorce lawyer. What can you do with your business card so that it’s as memorable as this fellow’s? [Read more]

Small business marketing experts share their top secrets

Small Business Trends’ Anita Campbell had a terrific idea.

She emailed the world’s top marketing experts, small business experts and bloggers with a simple request: Please share one of your best kept marketing secrets.

The result is Top Experts Dish with their Best Kept Marketing Secrets, a veritable goldmine of marketing wisdom in bite-size chunks. The list is also a terrific source of marketing blogs for your reading pleasure. Here are a few of my favorites: [Read more]

Mediation marketing quote of the month, february 2008

This is a really important lesson: work out what you want from your blog, and make sure there is not one word, image or widget devoted to anything that doesn’t support what you want to achieve. It’s the quickest way to actually reach your goals. — Skellie [Read more]

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