Whenever you target a certain niche of people for a specific type of product, you ALMOST ALWAYS find those customers also share some odd, otherwise unpredictable idiosyncrasy.
The ability to recognize this separates the men from the boys in marketing. Today, three examples:
1) Some time ago I knew this guy Larry from marketing seminars. He ran a “Mail Order Bride” service for Christian men. Lonely men who couldn’t find themselves a bride could, for several thousand dollars, get matched up by Larry’s company with an eligible Filipino woman.
(This sort of thing is much more common than most people suspect, by the way.)
Larry had a thriving operation, having matched thousands of couples. One time Dan Kennedy asked him: “Larry, are there any idiosyncrasies that your customers have in common? Like being from certain states or working in certain professions or having certain hobbies?”
Larry says, “Gee, I don’t really know but I’ll check.”
Larry digs around for a few weeks and comes back with the following answer:
“50% of my men are truck drivers.”
WOW. 50%? That certainly changes his marketing strategy now, doesn’t it? Instead of advertising in USA Today ($$$$) he can have somebody drop off flyers at truck stops on Interstate 80.
HUGE marketing insight.
Of course this made total sense *in hindsight*. Truck drivers are a lonely lot and have few opportunities to meet people of the opposite sex.
Nearly ALL markets have quirks like this. What odd secondary characteristic do your customers share?
I’ll give you a couple more stories like that from my own biz:
2) This week we’re having my Roundtable meetings in Orlando Florida and we’ve got people from the US, UK, Canada and the Netherlands. The other night we were having dinner and I asked for a show of hands of how many left-handed people we had in the room.
The result:
3 out of 6 women were left-handed (50%, compared to 8% in a “normal” crowd)
6 out of 22 men were left handed (27%, compared to 12% in a “normal” crowd)
In total, my Roundtable members are 32% left handed.
I’m left-handed but I can scarcely ever remember talking about it on my website or in my emails and newsletters.
This makes total sense in hindsight… that the geeks, freaks and misfits in my Roundtable would be 3X more left-handed than the rest of the world.
Well if you believe like I do that left-handed people are more inclined than most to bridge the logical and the artistic, then marketing junkies who love numbers AND psychology would feel right at home on our crazy meetings.
3) Last year I was at Ken McCarthy’s System Seminar standing in a circle with three other hard-core AdWords geeks. We were talking about music, and how Ken has noted that an awful lot of extremely talented marketers love jazz.
I happened to mention a fairly obscure jazz band from the 1970’s, the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Most people have never heard of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, let alone know who they are, but all four of the guys standing in that circle were familiar.
Is it just pure coincidence that four AdWords geeks at Ken’s seminar know about one of John McLaughlin’s bands? Or is there a magnetic factor in play that draws like-minded people together?
Well, listen to this song and see if there’s anything about this music that reminds you of an ambitious, complex, highly optimized AdWords campaign:
I have a suspicion that you’ll see the connection between AdWords and Jazz right away… especially if you’re left-handed :^>
Perry Marshall
4-Man Intensive February 17-18
Maui Elite Master’s Summit March 1-3
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About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
70 Comments on “Left-handed marketing secrets”
HAHAH I LOVE THAT YOU WRITE YOUR LETTERS WITH “HARD ROCK” POUNDING…
I like to listen to Joss Stone. She has so much soul and passion in her songs that it poors into my writting…
IM ALSO LEFT HANDED!!!
so I feel pretty good after reading this. My grandmother is a missionary in CHINA and she tells me that people that are left handed in China are treated almost like royalty, because they are knowen to be so much more intellectually combined.
(YOU ARE SO RIGHT , PERRY!) About lefties being analytical and also artistic, *that sums me up in a sentance* I love to design everything, from graphics to furniture and interior…
But im also so intrigued by adwords and the game of marketing. I love trading and think forex is the neatest thing since sliced bread. lol
SO MY HUSBANDS A TRUCK DRIVER!!
They own a trucking company, which i advertise for of course.. lol
So I turn to him and say, “hun would you ever order a mail order bride?” and he says “I don’t think she would fit in our PO BOX!! ” hahahaha
But moral of the story is, its totally the right market… T-ruckers …..
Jazz has so many keys and notes , so much going on in this song so many instruments to use… nice and slow through to the best part, and then it picks up a few notches and goes all insane in every which direction follwing so many rythyms! Lol so much like adwords you are right…
Anyways PERRY, I follow all your stuff… im really enjoying CNBT right now and i cant wait to here more of your insights AT THE MAUI CONFERENCE… thats right i said it: MAUI… its going to be awsome and im so excited!
ps… TO ANYONE NOT GOING TO THE MAUI CONFERENCE IN MARCH, WELL I HOPE YOU LIKE TO SPEND MORE THAN YOU MAKE!! Because your most likley doing that….
Ciao…
CANT WAIT TO MEET ALL OF YOU…
Awesome insight, and Larry must have been fired up to discover that!
regarding the song, anyone notice that around 7:30 the musical notes played are 9 in sequence for quite a while then around 8:45 there is a series of 15 to finish the song? Cool…
Speaking of Jimi Hendrix (comment #16), he was also left handed, as is Paul McCartney and a host of other musicians. I wonder what the percentage of left-handed musicians is when compared to the overall population?
Here’s a decent list from Wikipedia…some of them might surprise you!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musicians_who_play_left_handed
Of the team of 10 internet marketing consultants I work with, 5 of us are left-handed. We all work virtually for the most part, so I only realized this after several years working together and then getting together in person for the first time.
I had noticed this strange phenomenon at John Reese’s seminar back in 2004 too… looking down my row and noticing an extraordinary number of lefties. Very interesting!
Hmm, I am neither left-handed nor particularly a fan of jazz. I tend towards the old rock, but this is a lovely piece I do have to admit.
I think that this is a great insight and demonstration though into the similarities between like-minded people. Definitely food for thought and action.
OK, this is crazy. I was born left handed (but now I am ambidexterous) and I like jazz and I know who the Mahavishnu Orchestra was. I just listened to John Mc Laughlin TODAY while at work.
I also play guitar quite well. As a matter of fact, my next product launch project is a guitar “how to” video.
Just as crazy, I know several net marketers who play guitar (F. Kern for one)
Crazy, huh?
I am left-handed too, which is probably why I am drawn to this site and the stuff that good guys like you, ken evoy, terry dean, jeremy palmer and others teach about internet marketing.
Great post – anytime you see a Marshall stack and a Fender Rhodes with the lid off you know they are serious – was that a mini moog?
A bunch of brilliant gifted individuals creating output most can’t understand and very few can even come close to replicating or keep up with … can see where the dots join.
Yep – McLaughlin and Mahavishnu. I also loved the East meets West fusion stuff he’s done with Shankar.
Take away?
Synergy – the sum is greater than the whole of its parts.
Okay, not left handed, not sure about the music, however enjoyed the article very much and had quite a chuckle. I’m going to have a look at my contacts lists and see what it is about them that draws us together… he he
True, Mahavishnu Orchestra was not obscure at all. They broke out when Jeff Beck and some other rockers got into fusion. But, they were obscure ten years later.
On to the similarities. I’m a musician, and I’m left handed when I swing a club (but I’m pretty bad at swinging, so that might have been a mistake).
I am curious, though. I know many people like music when they are writing or doing work that requires some thought.
Not me. I hate music when I am trying to think, mainly because it really interferes. My theory is that people who listen to music while they think aren’t really listening to the music. That’s what Madonna is for. Any ideas? Is this group a think to music group or not?
I write my sales letters and newsletters with hard rock pounding. And yes I am listening to the music but on a different level than I’m writing.
For those that think Jazz is complex, try listening to drumming sessions from Indian Drummers. Those patterns are really complex and the time frame is even longer to see a pattern emerge.
I believe it’s tolerance to noise. YouTube in the post contains a lot a chaotic components in the music, and that’s the same AdWords folks have to deal with – a lot of noise, very little signal.
To ears who understand jazz, the music in that video is not noise. It follows complex patterns that to the casual listener may sound like noise.
The key ability here is to recognize patterns in what most other people regard as noise.
Being ambidextrous is mis-fit city.
I’ve played instruments and been in bands since elementary school.
Then a career as a pilot – rules, rules more rules, and checklists.
I walk in circles to avoid tearing into my Adwords reports, but once in, I’m enveloped.
How on earth do you craft a marketing message to market “marketing” skills that targets left handed people. Sure is interesting though.
Loved the insight in your latest article about niche quirks.
One small point of contention: Dude, the Mahavishnu Orchestra was anything but obscure! I saw the two different incarnations of the band six times, from their first tour to their last. At their height, they were playing stadium-sized venues. One of the most amazing bands I’ve ever seen.
Cobham’s Awesome! A comment I have about this-and it’s a big problem with a lot of the world’s marketing, is that it dangles waaayyyy out there on the edge of indulgence.
All too commonly, this can become a case of “look at what I can do!”, as opposed to taking the audience somewhere.
It’s trebly trecherous in this ADD riddled world where, even in an excellent example as Perry’s posted, that same audience begins squirming and checking their watches eariler and earlier each day (Curse them…)
The answer is likely balance – and it’s where The Art of it comes in:
Finding a way to communicate,
without pandering or watering down,
in a way that’s fresh and exciting,
with a patina of newness,
without being boring,
without being long winded and indulgent
being concise without missing anything
But what about the exceptions, such as this Mahavishnu example..?
Target marketing – they’re not trying to be everything for everybody – they ARE playing for their niche, and don’t care about ‘the great unwashed masses’ who want something to sing in the shower.
Ahhhh…
I’ve noticed that about left-handed people. When I come across people that are brilliant, in any field, more times than not, they are left-handed. Maybe it’s that seemingly awkward writing style that looks like you are hiding the secrets of the world until you have it all down.
I have heard of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. I first got into guitar back in the 70’s and I listened to everything in order to find the “truth”. My recollection was bad. I figured the band was led by either Al Di Meola or John Carlton. But John Carlton is the virtuoso and master of a different instrument.
I am not left-handed but I feel like a left-handed person in a right-handed body. I guess when I reach mastery in AdWords will be the time I reach mastery in guitar – I have a goal.
Thanks for sharing your out of the box thinking. In order to get into the mind of the customer and know their inner conversation, we have to get out of our own minds some time.
Cheers! Calvin
I’m left handed, play the drums, and celebrate my ability to bridge the gap between the creative marketing side and the technical implementation side of internet marketing.
Didn’t realize it was related to being left handed but it does make perfect sense.
Hadn’t heard these guys before but it is definitely a great jam.
Thanks for sharing Perry!
69% of our clients have at least 2 kids and one pet.
Great insights to always be on the lookout for idiosyncrasies. Market intel goes a long way. Thank you for pointing this out Perry.
Chris.
Yeah Perry!
That’s once again such a great hint by you. And it is great because it’s simple! The most simple things are always the best… But a lot of times the hardest to come up with !
Thank you for sharing! – G.
Thanks for the Jazz! I am a little too young to know these guys when this video was recorded, but I love it.
Shelly, I think the point Perry was trying to make, is that left handed people in his group, and from what it sounds like yours too, are represented disproportionally to their real numbers in the broader population.
Perry, I was just looking over the marketing news letter Volume 8, Issue 4, where you quote your English professor, “A community is a group of people who share the same stories.” Well, being a left hander, you know what it is like to be different than the rest of the world. You notice it every time you would want to open a door. Or when you sit down to an already set table. In a thousand subtle ways, you know you are different, that things are not geared for the way that you are wired, and that you need to tweek the status quo to your favor. Heck, it is the way you were born! You learn to adapt and overcome, and even be recognized for what was a weakness in one setting is your strength in another. And in the end, you adapt, and sometime even thrive.
Those traits can carry you anywhere where you are doing complex, autonomous, challenging work, and being an internet marketer is definitely one on them.
Thanks for the post.
Jeff
Been a long since I heard Mahavishnu! Very cool!
Another interesting poll would be to see how many marketers ARE musicians.
I’m one myself, and I know there seems to be alot of musicians in this field for some reason.
Thanks for adding some aural pleasures to my day!
Howard
Good examples of idiosyncrasies … and why marketers should be trying to identify them.
Truck drivers making up 50% of a customer base is huge. What did Larry do differently after he realized that … and what where the results?
I’ve never had anyone market to me because I’m left-handed, but I guess that’s about to change.
Sign me up for the left-handed marketer’s newsletter!
Michael
Larry’s marketing exploded when he did this – by marketing through trucker friendly media.
Excellent think-outside-the-box article, Perry. This has given me new ideas for cross marketing and, of course, the importance of knowing my audiences’ interests. Thanks.
Yeah, I got the Mahavishnu ref right away.
That may be because I went to UI in the late ’70s. We were listening to Tom Waits back them too. And Bob Marley. All before any of it went “mainstream.”
My hunch is that people attracted to and succeeding in IM have to succeed (failure is not an option), and don’t fit in all that well with traditional employment (“You want me to do what! ? Are you serious”?!)
Holy cow! Mahivishnu Orchestra!
They still sound great even to us right handed oddballs.
I was left-handed as a child and was switched over to my right to “make my life easier.” I’m ambidextrous for most things now and find that I’m attracted to left-handers quite often in my life
Looks like I should have been there being a left-handed female!
I’m left handed, but play sports right handed, except the Wii and Snooker/Pool ambidextrous.
In Dorset we have a left handed golf competition, which sadly I do not enter.
I was talking to a freind the other day, he’s in promotional gifts. He supplies left handed pens. No not the calligraphy pens, but “biros” hold a branded pen in your left hand – the brand is upside down!!!
Food for thought
Hey Perry,
Interesting post. Do you think your statistical sample is adequate?
I’m (sort of) wondering how CTR rates vary for left VS right handed people. And conversion rates?
But seriously, on the other hand watching for quirks and unconventional behaviors makes sense.
As you suggest, knowing what they are could get
a much better ROI…
So, what is the best method for uncovering traits that make a difference and convert them
to sales? We need Glenn Livingston’s thoughts on this.
P. S. I think I will do a slow mo replay of
the last night’s State of the Union to see whether this a strong correlation left-wingers
and conservatives left VS right-handed. Do you think the video camera had to be a touch screen device to make this possible? Will I need a touch screen device to complete my analysis? lol
I don’t have any doubt that my statistical sample is valid. There’s probably a 2% chance all my left-handers are there by chance. No doubt one of our fellow geeks could give us the exact number.
To catch things like this you just have to be paying attention.
It’s a common mistake for people to assume you’ve got to have a large sample to achieve statistical significance.
Sample size only increases the power of your microscope… but large differences are visible (and reliable) in very small samples.
Extremely large differences are visible “to the naked eye”, much as you can see Mars on the right night without a telescope.
On a related note, this same logic applies to split testing, and is one of the reasons Perry developed SplitTester.com (and I developed SuperSplitTester.com)… so that you could all move beyond the “30 actions” rule of thumb and learn how to move at the speed of business.
Hope that helps.
G :-)
Been a jazz geek since I was about 11. Some would call this recording chaotic and cluttered. But there are predictable elements, like the riff that repeats every two bars (unless it’s double time). To me, it’s each soloist’s “message” that I anticipate. It cuts through the “noise” with passion, clarity, precision.
I’m a left-handed woman who is both intensely logical (annoying my friends all the time when I can’t help but point out inconsistencies in their thinking!) and artistic. Nice to feel at home here even if I hadn’t heard of that musical group.
I’m left-handed women, have listen jazz and classic since from my childhood (Mahavishnu Orchestra and John McLaughlin and many others), studied music and psychology :-) Now I’m rising 5 kids , unfortunately alone and psychologists monthly income is 600-1000 dollars (in Eastern Europe, of course…) That’s why I’m interested in Internet Marketing and I’m searching best materials about topic. Now I can distinguish valuable materials and scam…And thank you for all inspiration and insights! Perhaps can someone give me some advice,what are the most suitable possibilities for me if I’m not perfect in written english?
Evelin,
In most marketing, the fine nuances of English are extremely important. For a person whose 1st language is not English, and if you want to market in English, then your best bet is to do the analytical side of the marketing and have an English speaker write the copy. Or you may consider opportunities in your native language.
Left-handed, trained as an engineer, write music for a living, love John McLaughlin in his various guises. All good so far . . . .
But I suck at marketing. Where am I going wrong, folks?
Outstanding Perry! I’ve never been a big fan of mainstream jazz. As I bass player, i never won over many people with that one! The Mahavishnu Orchestra? Never heard it before… but i love it. I usually prefer stuff by Arthur Lee “Love” and Jimi Hendrix.
The Mahavishnu Orchestra and marketing?
Lots of stuff going on at the same time, sometimes it clicks, sometimes it doesn’t, but it still sort of works. And when it does click, you better hold on to your ass because it gonna take off. And when it does, don’t try to hold on too long, it has to fall down eventually…. but keep it going, because the next one might be so much better…. and shit… you can’t plan this stuff.. just trust your gut instinct and let it flow… let it happen, be brave and don’t hold back.. no point in hiding… feel the mood don’t think too much.. trust your gut… be happy.. feel the love… there’s nothing to lose.. keep on going, keep on learning, keep on experimenting and never give up!
….if that’s jazz, then that’s marketing!
Lefty, like jazz (although not fanatical), and artistic-creative. I completely agree with your post.
I came of age in the late 80’s/early 90’s, so bands then (Pixies/Radiohead) and now (Arcade Fire, Sppon, Interpol, etc.) are more staples for me.
Never heard of these guys but very cool sound; especially improvisational crescendos.
Thanks for sharing!
Wow that takes me back as a young 17 yr. old drummer who grew up near WASHINGTON D.C. I was fortunate to have seen The Mahavishnu orchestra 3 different times.they had a huge impact on my drumming.And I’m right handed!Thanks for posting one of my fondest memories.
Awesome! Thanks for the intro to this band and a new view of Adwords. And yes, I am right handed.
Hi Perry,
Good post and to give away another idiosynscrasy, most online marketeers that are succesful are either experienced or very interested in becoming experienced in NLP….
Alex
Interesting analysis. What would be the results, do you think, if you gathered a group of truck drivers together and repeated the survey? Maybe you’d uncover a hidden pool of Internet marketing talent that way? Who knows?
Lies, Damn lies and Statistics, as I was taught in school, too many years ago.
I’m not left handed but I do love jazz and even have a couple of college degrees in jazz arranging and music theory. Many marketers may love jazz, but I have found that most jazz musicians are pretty clueless when it comes to marketing.
Perry,
It makes sense. You become like those you hang around. If truck drivers are into mail order brides, I’m sure that’s what they talk about at Love’s and other truck stops… and just like anything else you always have new people around who will be curious enough to go visit get-me-a-mail-order-bride dot com or whatever.
Jorge
I’a a physicist who loves the numbers part of adwords and my business partner is an arts grad.
I haven’t heard that music for quite a while and was surpised that you called it Jazz. I’d call it soft rock but the Wiki calls it Jazz Rock fusion!
Maybe this is who SO MANY people fail in marketing – it requires left and right brain working well together…a kind of Left – Right Fusion…
:-)
Well I’m left-handed but not overly into Jazz.
I did go through a blues period, if that counts?
Very cool stuff. Reminds me of “sponge and plumb” techniques and some other things too, even if I am right-handed (mostly). You might also want to check out Squarepusher’s Hard Normal Daddy album, especially Cooper’s World, a determinant piece of electronica written in sonata form that sounds improvisatory throughout.
Brings a whole new meaning to the words “Jazz Hands”.
Interesting post Perry thanks!
Art school grad, electronics engineer, technical writer, musician, astronomy buff, huge jazz fan, studied human psychology, held 7 job positions & have moved 13 times.
But right-handed. Dang! I don’t fit the profile.
I wonder if this applies to “whole brained” as opposed to “left brained” or “right brained. Every time I test, I end up equally both – right and left.
Many of the truly successful people I’ve run across in the Internet marketing space seem to have similar qualities. ;)
Thanks for reminding me about McLaughlin. The Inner Mounting Flame was my intro and that video brought back memories. I once tried to analyze who was the fastest guitarist alive by scientific method (slowed down a tape deck). McLaughlin won.
— Ambidextrous Ron.
I’m right-handed, but I still know Billy Cobham and Jan Hammer when I hear them.