The Three Month Vacation Podcast: Online Small Business|marketing Strategy Plan| Sean D'souza | Psychotactics

Does a 100 year old book on advertising still apply today? In part two we explore the second of Hopkins' principles: tell your full story. If you ever tire of the slightly ridiculous drone of "hustle, hustle and hustle", you might want to step into the past over a cup of coffee and cake. And read the wisdom of yesteryear as the world hurries by.

Does a 100 year old book on advertising still apply today? In this two-part series we delve into concepts that are not just relevant, but crucial in marketing. Find out the principles that have lasted almost a whole century and how they can be useful to you, today. And tomorrow too. Probably the next decade or two as well.

Pre-sell is notoriously difficult for most entrepreneurs. It feels greasy and icky at times. And that lack of enthusiasm dooms the sale from the very start. But what if there were a way to sell without selling. Instead, all you'd need is a story. A simple story with tiny little details could easily achieve the goal of selling a product or service in advance. But how do you go about it? Let's find out.

Most of us are more than likely to get going by having a to-do list. Yet, we at Psychotactics do things a little differently. We start with the breaks, to begin with (and there's even a "Julia story" that explains why). Plus we also include a stop-doing list. To find out how and why this weird planning system may work for you, listen to this episode.

The first line of an article drives most of us insane. And as if that were not enough, we are called upon to write an interesting first line. How do you nail that first line every single time? Here are three—not four—just three methods that will excite and surprise you.

How do you find the most authentic food in a foreign city, minutes after you've landed? How do you find seats on a plane where people won't bump into you while you're sleeping? These and some other nifty tricks are what you're about to learn about in this episode.

Most of us have tried and are unable to keep up with the onslaught of information that comes our way. Add the deluge of distraction and it seems like a losing game. Or does it? You'll be amazed at how tiny tweaks can make a considerable difference to both learning and implementation.

Would you be able to write a newsletter on a weekly basis and keep it going for the next 20 years? How do you even get topics, let alone write consistently for all of this time? The answer lies in somewhat of a strategy, but mostly a structure. If you use a similar structure, you'll find that twenty years is just a starting point and that writing will be a joy, instead of a dread. Here's how we made it to the 20-year mark!

Would you choose between mastery or fluency? Many would opt for mastery, but it might just be the wrong choice to make. If, instead, you work with fluency, you can get incredibly talented while spending just five minutes a day. Is such a fabulous really possible? Let's find out.

How do you make your articles or sales letters more interesting? Analogies and stories always increase the drama and attention span. Yet, it's hard to find and craft interesting stories on a regular basis. Or is it? Find out how you can use three simple and effective ways to craft a ton of great stories and analogies.

Let's say you come up with what you believe is a great uniqueness for your product or service. How would you know if it's great or not? The answer is deceptively simple: every client needs to echo your uniqueness over and over again. But how are you supposed to hear that echo? Interestingly that echo is located in the testimonial. But not just anywhere in the testimonial, but in one really interesting area. Listen to find out and then do the same for your products and services as well.

Why do some books, courses or workshops end up becoming so addictive? Is it the teacher, the system, the information, or is it all of the above? In this podcast we look at why your business needs a bit of movement through three precise stages. Those stages are information, results and elegance. Elegance is hard to resist, but how do we get there and how long does it take? Is there any guaranteed way to get to elegance? Let's find out in this episode.

When we think of business, marketing tactics and strategy comes to mind, doesn't it? Philosophy does exist but it may be a bit on the back burner. Yet, for us at Psychotactics, philosophy looms large. Here are just a few nuggets that you can ponder over and see how they apply to you—and how you can use them in your life and business.

One of the most mind numbing tasks is to get a client to pay for the job you've completed. Clients tend to be slow with payments or just default. But is there a way to avoid such a mess? There's not just one, but three separate ways to go about it. Let's find out how you can get paid without all the bother—and well in advance, too.

We tend to believe that we're more overwhelmed than ever before. Yet look around you and you see people who are doing twice or thrice as much. It's hard to admit it, but often their work is of a higher standard too. How come they're not overwhelmed? Is it because they're more talented, or is there something that we're not quite seeing? Let's find out in this episode.

Remember when Google started? Or Amazon? At Psychotactics we started a few years after these giants. It’s perfectly normal to assume that we got in at exactly the right time. But you and I know there’s no right time, and that opportunities are always presenting themselves. Which is why when clients ask: What would you do if you were starting today—my answer is remarkably similar. Find out why the strategy of 2020 is not that different from 2000.

Most of us think we have to be incredibly special, or at least different to stand out in a crowded market. Yet, at least at the starting point, it’s the mundane that gets the attention. If anything, being unique or different seems to be backfire. How do you use the power of mundanity to break into a market and then how do you sustain that momentum?

If you and I look around, we see product or services just like ours everywhere. Instantly we get a feeling of having missed the bus. The market is clearly saturated and there’s little or no point in us having to create more content, or product or services. Or is it? One of the most surprising—even surreal—experiences is dropping into this seemingly saturated market, and finding out that it’s a big, fat myth. Why is it such a myth? Let’s find out.

If you’ve ever wondered if your headline is lacking some oomph, it might be because of an incredibly simple omission. It’s the lack of contrast. Contrast works in real life with colours, textures or flavours. Not surprisingly, it works with headlines too. Here are three common questions about headlines. And they have surprisingly interesting ideas.

The advice about "free vs fee" is clear. Free should be avoided at all costs because you will just be taken advantage of, while others get paid. Yet, this seemingly black and white advice has shades of grey as well. As a startup, payment isn't the only or even the best option. Find out how and when free can work to your advantage.