The Third Key: Packaging

I used to go to NYC back in the days when I was working at McCarter Theatre in Princeton. We had a production rehearsing there and I visited on a regular basis.

But I never felt comfortable there.

Loved to visit but knew I didn't want to stay there permanently.

Scale And Intimacy Affect Us In Many Ways

It took me a while to figure out that it was just TOO big for me.

I grew up in a small town outside of Philadelphia, PA USA. I knew many of the people there and the scale of the homes and town center were on a very "human scale."

Trees and sidewalks and smiles.

I worked in downtown Philadelphia for a while but always felt that most of its buildings were scaled for people as well. Especially in the highest-retail-rent district along Walnut Street.

People feel "at home" there – they are comfortable – they relax, enjoy themselves, are open to purchasing.

HOW they feel when in the area plays an important role in how often they get out their wallets to buy something.

Remember that with YOUR business – people want to work (and buy from) other PEOPLE… and if they could avoid large companies, big box stores, and the sense that they are "just a number" when purchasing from others, they would.

Take time to let them know you. Show your personal attention, sharing a part of YOU with everything you do. Let people "in" to what you are all about, and they will keep coming back to you.

Personal-Touch Marketing is so important – you'll see your bottom-line grow when you share yourself with those purchasing from you.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
Blogging, Podcasting, Consulting

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

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Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and personal-touch marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Fallacies of Marketing

063 The Invisible Touch – Scale and Intimacy

The Second Key: Brand

Harry Beckwith and I will disagree on this one (but I have a feeling it's because I'm thinking about the entrepreneur who uses direct response marketing and not the large company with advertising dollars to burn).

Do you remember what IBM stands for? Sure: International Business Machines… but the company IBM stands for MUCH more than that these days.

How about Apple: that USED to be Apple Computer but when the iPod and all the other "i" products hit the marketing, taking out the "Computer" part of the name made a lot of sense.

How about FedEx – Sure, that was Federal Express: "When it absolutely, positively has to get there overnight." That phrase MADE that company!

How about PCS?

OK… so that one is unfair: that is The Players Club of Swarthmore. They have now added Theater to the end (because some people thought they might be playing cards instead of producing stage shows) so it's either The Players Club of Swarthmore Theater OR PCSTheater (or PCSTheater.org).

For you see, PCS doesn't have the millions of dollars in advertising to build the brand the way Apple, FedEx, and IBM have done.

Small companies never do.

So while keeping a company name short and memorable is nice, sometimes it can work against you when people have NO idea what the name means!

Here's another one that I worked for: Jackson-Cross Company. In Philadelphia, PA USA, that was the name of a large commercial real estate firm. People forgot about Mr. Jackson and Mr. Cross, they just knew those of us who were successful in sales, leasing, management, appraisal – so WE were the company they thought about. Outside the region, the name meant little or nothing. But again, this firm didn't have millions to spend on institutional advertising.

So take this one lesson away – Give your company a name and then build up what the name MEANS. If the words themselves can mean something about what you do: GREAT. If not, know you have some work ahead of you!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
Blogging, Podcasting, Consulting

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Fallacies of Marketing

052 The Invisible Touch – What's Too Much In A Name?

Video is very helpful when marketing the performing arts

This is a continuation of the series Marketing The Arts where you get to go behind the scenes of Into The Woods as it prepared for its Opening Night on October 22, 2009 at The Players Club of Swarthmore. Watch the whole series to see what it takes to produce a large-cast musical like Into The Woods.

Have you ever been IN a show? Do you know the excitement of Opening Night?

Well… BEFORE Opening Night comes the first time you step on the stage during YOUR rehearsal period. The previous show has been struck, the trash bin is overflowing, the tools have been put away, and the beginnings of your set are in workable form.

And now, only a few weeks after that first rehearsal on stage, the show is all set. Costumes, lights, sets, props, music… the only ingredient needed is a packed house with raving fans.

Into The Woods at The Players Club of Swarthmore Theater. It's time for Stephen Sondheim and all those terrific characters out there in the Woods.

The excitement is here.

Can you feel it?

And then see the top of my blog by clicking HERE! See how I approach my passions with this website.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Marketing The Arts – The Players Club Of Swarthmore Presents Into The Woods – Ready For The Audience

Video is very helpful when marketing the performing arts

This is a continuation of the series Marketing The Arts where you get to go behind the scenes of Into The Woods as it prepares for its Opening Night on October 22, 2009 at The Players Club of Swarthmore. Watch the whole series to see what it takes to produce a large-cast musical like Into The Woods.

Have you ever been in a show? Do you know the excitement of Opening Night?

Well… BEFORE Opening Night comes the first time you step on the stage during YOUR rehearsal period. The previous show has been struck, the trash bin is overflowing, the tools have been put away, and the beginnings of your set are in workable form.

That's what happened on Sunday, September 27, 2009 for Into The Woods at The Players Club of Swarthmore Theater. Rumors had been a smash hit, opening the season, and now it's time for Sondheim and all those terrific characters out there in the Woods.

Watch here for some behind-the-scenes snippets of that first rehearsal. Opening Night is just around the corner, but the excitement on Load-In Day is terrific!

Can you feel it?

And then see the top of my blog by clicking HERE! See how I approach my passions with this website.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Marketing The Arts – The Players Club Of Swarthmore Presents Into The Woods – First On Stage Rehearsal

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Theatre Fun For Young People From Grade School Through High School

Young People's Theatre Workshop, located outside of Philadelphia, PA USA, is a place where kids can learn, have fun, and meet their new best friends. Theatre, games, fun, music, excitement: it's all here under the guiding experience of loving and talented faculty.

YPTW is about learning about theatre while learning about ourselves. Children involved in theatre learn to use their imaginations, to celebrate differences, to reach out to an audience and to one another, and to gain self-confidence through taking risks. And the classes they take in the fall and spring and the fully-stage productions in the Winter (through 8th grade) and Spring (through 12 grade) prepare them for more theater activities AND (we feel confident) for life: many of the skills they learn (team work, self-expression, projection, speaking on their feet, etc) will serve them well throughout their lives.

Many of the YPTW staff members are certified teachers who spend Monday to Friday with children yet they all recognize that their time spent with these students is somehow different.

They get to watch these children grow over a period of years. Many students start with YPTW in grade school and stay through high school. Some even come back to teach or help backstage after graduation.

But even if a student's visit to YPTW is short, they will leave with a greater knowledge and appreciation of the theatre arts and perhaps of themselves.

And then see the top of my blog by clicking HERE! See how I approach my passions with this website.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon. Thanks!

Marketing The Arts – Young People's Theatre Workshop

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Video is very helpful when marketing the performing arts

This is a continuation of the series Marketing The Arts where you get to go behind the scenes of Into The Woods as it prepares for its Opening Night on October 22, 2009 at The Players Club of Swarthmore. Watch the whole series to see what it takes to produce a large-cast musical like Into The Woods.

Now meet Rebecca Diamond who first appeared at The Players Club Theater in 1993 when she starred in the original musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame as La Esmeralda, the young, beautiful maiden that both Quasimodo and the evil Archdeacon desire.

Rebecca went on to play in The Secret Garden and Guys and Dolls at PCS and has been seen in numerous other theaters.

Watch and listen as her excitement tells you why she decided to audition for Into The Woods for the part of The Baker's Wife (which was the Tony Award-winning part when Into The Woods played on Broadway).

This is a great musical and it will receive a terrific production – follow it here AND look at The Players Club's website for ALL the productions this season: Learn more at http://pcstheater.org

And leave a comment about what you see here!

The Players Club of Swarthmore opens the season with Rumors
the delightful farce. Learn more at http://pcstheater.org

And then see the top of my blog by clicking HERE! See how I approach my passions with this website.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Marketing The Arts – The Players Club of Swarthmore Presents Into The Woods: Meet The Baker's Wife

.

Video is very helpful when marketing the performing arts

This is a continuation of the series Marketing The Arts where you get to go behind the scenes of Into The Woods as it prepares for its Opening Night on October 22, 2009 at The Players Club of Swarthmore. Watch the whole series to see what it takes to produce a large-cast musical like Into The Woods.

Here meet the two princes: rivalry between brothers and over women. Their songs are powerful as the whole story develops and you learn what they've been through and where they're going.

Come back when I feature more interviews with some of the actors, show you the rehearsals, let you see the costumes coming together, and finally the on-stage look of the completed production. Deep, intense, meaty interviews in a documentary? Nawwww… but some snippets of the director directing, actors rehearsing, the set and costumes coming together. Unless you're an actor and have been back stage many times, you'll see something here you haven't seen before.

This is a great musical and it will receive a terrific production – follow it here AND look at The Players Club's website for ALL the productions this season: Learn more at http://pcstheater.org

And leave a comment about what you see here!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Marketing The Arts – The Players Club of Swarthmore Presents Into The Woods: Meet The Two Princes

.

Video is very helpful when marketing the performing arts

This is a continuation of the series Marketing The Arts where you get to go behind the scenes of Into The Woods as it prepares for its Opening Night on October 22, 2009 at The Players Club of Swarthmore. Watch this series as I take you us behind the scenes to see what it takes to produce a large-cast musical like Into The Woods.

Come back when I feature more interviews with some of the actors, show you the rehearsals, let you see the costumes coming together, and finally the on-stage look of the completed production. Deep, intense, meaty interviews in a documentary? Nawwww… but some snippets of the director directing, actors rehearsing, the set and costumes coming together. Unless you're an actor and have been back stage many times, you'll see something here you haven't seen before.

This is a great musical and it will receive a terrific production – follow it here AND look at The Players Club's website for ALL the productions this season: Learn more at http://pcstheater.org

And leave a comment about what you see here!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Marketing The Arts – The Players Club of Swarthmore Presents Into The Woods: Meet The Witch, Little Red

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Learning To Use Email Marketing Is No More Difficult Than Learning How To Email

This next year will fly by… my 26 year old daughter Liz (LizSeymour.com) is getting married. We're very close, through up hills and down, theater projects and photography, friendships, joys, happiness.

I have to admit that when Liz announced her engagement to Chris McBride to our other daughter, Stacie, and me on a conference call, I was a bit in shock. Quickly my mind raced to when I proposed to Pam more than 28 years ago. I could see myself on one knee. I didn't know whether to jump up and down or jump through the phone to hug her. She sounded soooo happy, and after all, that's all I can ask for her: happiness HER way (not MY way but HERS).

She's bought her dress, talked with some photographers, narrowed her list of reception halls, and selected the location for her wedding: The Players Club of Swarthmore. Liz is the FIFTH generation of our family to act and direct in this well-equipped community theater (whose history reaches back 100 years) and she and Chris met there during a stirring production of Assassins in 2007.

Now she wants some engagement photographs.

Liz turned to the best photographer she knows: me, her loving dad. I've been a pro photographer since 2000 when I started my own still photography and video production company, and she's grown up watching me and assisting me.

Weeks ago Liz scheduled this time. Her teaching is over for the academic year, her Chris's teaching is over (though he started teaching at a theater day camp already), and she wants some photography to announce their engagement.

I have photographed Liz MANY times, including all the images for her large CD release (available on Liz Seymour's website – click here!). And though I'm primarily an internet marketer and consultant now, she knows that my background and skill are always available to her.

So, how did she get me to say yes? Other than wrapping her defenseless Dad around her little finger, what did she do to get me to say "Yes!"

She asked.

In email.

Using terrific direct-response techniques.

Liz emailed me, had a great headline, put a clear deadline by which time I was to respond, and included a call-to-action.

And she didn't wimp out at the end – she followed through by being very clear in her request of me.

And isn't that what we do with email marketing? Don't we want to be just like Liz? And don't we want the success that Liz had when our prospects say YES the way I did to Liz for the photography she wanted?

Use language that matches our clients and customers, ask clearly, state your case with emotional direct-response language, have a special offer and a deadline, and then a strong call-to-action.

Heck, she even used a sequence, just to make sure I wouldn't let my busy selling schedule get in the way of her engagement images.

But most importantly she just did it.

• She wrote.
• She asked.
• She followed up.
• She wasn't bashful.

Same should be true for YOUR writing… and since you probably need some help, look at my new information: Say It So They Buy It – Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More!

Use your email marketing to profit… and remember how Liz did it. Ask clearly, follow up, don't be bashful.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: The help you need is here: Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Email Marketing