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There are two aspects to marketing:

1) The Mechanics. Things like knowing how to build a pay-per-click campaign or a web page; knowing how to write copy; knowing how to research a market; knowing a market itself.

2) Alchemy. It’s the creativity, the thing that makes customers’ heads turn in joyful surprise, the ability to conjure up compelling offers, to take undervalued and seemingly unrelated things and combine them together.

People who understood “the mechanics” gave the world MP3 players.

People who understood “Alchemy” gave the world the iPod and the iPhone.

Notice how those products skillfully blend hardware, software, user experience, and even completely new services like iTunes (where you can pay three bucks and instantly watch a movie on your PC) to create something that’s irresistible.

I recorded a video where I talk about two of my most successful promotions and where they actually came from. Both of these had that alchemy element which is why they worked so beautifully.

The video is here on my blog:

Long ago alchemy was the bold, if naïve attempt to turn lead into gold.

Every day you and I do something that’s much, much more valuable than that. We transform things that are worth less than lead and make them MORE valuable than gold.

Fraternities are well known for “hazing” – forcing new recruits to endure grueling punishments and all manner of shameful behaviors before being accepted as members of the tribe.

“OK, you guys have to drink a pint of Vodka, spend 10 minutes on the merry-go-round, then run nekked from the park to the Frat House without getting arrested….”

Most businesses are in retreat right now. When General Motors is wheezing like a dying animal, the natural instinct for all of us is to draw the shades and huddle around our kitchen table and be thankful for our one bowl of thin cold porridge.

But…. not everyone is in retreat. We just had our Roundtable meetings two weeks ago and at least four members achieved record sales during the last three months.

This is a GREAT time to press forward. The breadlines are longer but the competitive lineup is shorter. The competition is thinner, less adept, less alert. Click prices in some markets have gone down by half.

A few weeks ago one of my emails really HACKED OFF one of my customers.

He replied back:

Perry,

I’m fed up of receiving emails like these. Actually I’m fed up of being on lists like these. Actually, what I’m really fed up with is still needing to be on lists like these..

The shortest definition of USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that I know of is:

“What do you uniquely guarantee?”

USP is THE defining question if you are marketing on the Internet.

20 years ago most businesses could afford to be vague about their USP, especially if they were local. If you owned a shoe store and there were only two other shoe stores in town, then if you sold Nike and the other guy sold Converse then that was enough. You probably didn’t even think of it as a USP. It was just a difference. Any difference would do.

The Internet of today is different. Online, you must be unique in all the world.

Got an interesting blog comment this morning from “Anonymous”:

“Here’s the bottom line, if you’re not smart enough to have figured it out already:

To make money on-line, you need 5-10 years to sustain any meaningful income. The barrier to entry is so low (everyone can play).

In the meantime, make sure you have a spouse who makes 100k/yr to pay the bills and support you.

There is still a traffic jam at 5PM every day and the commuting trains are still packed.

Welcome to reality.”