Fishbeef…

A step-by-step integrated program for restaurants, bakeries or eateries.   

Price $88.00

by Breuk Iversen

Foreword: Dick Raboy

NEVER TALK ABOUT THE BRAND….. Only talk about the consumer….

 

 

 

 

What you will get from this book:

• The Four Legs of Business to assure success.

• Promoting Williamsburg | Brooklyn’s international reputation.

• Recent techniques admitted by neuroscience and neuropsychologist.

• Nine critical questions any business needs to answer.

• Four powerful ways to become a dominant restaurant.

• Super simple ways to generate more business in 2-3 days.

• How to reduce stress and worry by 80% or more and the actual science behind it.

 

 

“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.”

— Albert Einstein   

Introduction

While the number of mysteries that elude us in this world, there are just as many mysteries that seldom escape our awareness. When a business or person is struggling to make ends meet the stress can be unbearable. This is when reality slaps them hard, trying to wake them up. 

Restaurant owners who are in trouble look for a silver bullet or a magic wand to whisk their troubles away. This bullet or wand never flies into the story by itself. The emotional stress chemically sets off all kinds of “fight or flight” chemicals in their brains.

This book will discuss a number of these chemical reactions and shows you what to do about them once they are released. These chemicals are extraordinarily powerful and compromise the entire body. They do what they want to leaving little room for rational thought and full-on flaring emotions. What to do about this will be discussed in a later chapter. One technique is to wait a few minutes (count to ten)  waiting for the chemicals run their course and simmer down. 

Think of this like a recipe book that you use to create a tasty muffin. There are particular combinations of ingredients that make up freshly baked bread. Some natural ingredients are a better quality than others but that isn’t what makes bread excellent. Baking isn’t all about the ingredients. It’s about the baker. The same is true in any business. Baking and business is about creating excellent timing and excellent environmental conditions. 

In purchasing this book, you’ve decided to help your eatery and restaurant business prosper. This book is not a silver bullet nor magic wand but a step-by-step approach to getting on a better path with your business.

Yes, it’s is easier to just call a coach or consultant. The price of the book is less costly than paying for services rendered for sure. This depends on two things. 1) How you like to learn. 2) If you can conceptualize and test the methods described within and then apply them to reality. 

 

It is work but, like knowing the numerical combination that opens a safe, all successful businesses succeed the same way. You have to know the combination.

     

Fishbeef 

The initial idea of Fishbeef was to create a production company. The production company was initially developed specifically to assist an $18,000,000 venue called the Melrose Ballroom. a venue in Long Island City (LIC), Queens. The promotional effort we proposed involved the local museums, other venues, the MTA, local and MainStream Media (MSM) outlets, etc… which would eventually lead up to promoting the venue and entire borough of Queens via Astoria and the Long Island City (LIC) areas. The owners of the Melrose Ballroom didn’t want to invest in a payout to the Fishbeef team effort consisting of six seasoned and well-heeled professionals. This included a previous VH1 event promoter and even the executive director of Miss Brooklyn and Miss Queens of the Miss America pageantry, myself and three others.

We additionally created an escape route (STOP PAYMENT) for the venue client based on a two-month performance result by the Fishbeef team to ease their fears. This was ape route was in case the venue had doubts. Alas, this was also to no avail. 

As a result, Queens may remain the haven, blue-collar class, secondary daughter/sister of Manhattan. Moving Ron Queens isn’t a necessity and rarely done out of choice. No one I know ever woke up and said: “OMG! Queens! I so want to live there more than anywhere else in the world!”

Queens will remain under the sparkling fatherhood of Manhattan and brotherhood of Brooklyn’s regarding foot traffic. Currently, the Manhattan and Williamsburg | Brooklyn areas have a cultural glamour that lights up the dashboard in NYC tourism bringing 60,000,000 tourists each year. Epic numbers of tourist and visitors descend on 42nd Street and Williamsburg | Brooklyn, rain or shine.  

 

Meanwhile, the persona of Queens should continue as is until a business or publicity effort is made to change this from a brand perspective. If a religion is a brand than what do you believe Queens can mean? If you asked this in Queens, you’ll get a sense many answers some as people you could meet. 

We’ll go deep into what Branding means and why is it the single most important thing for any business to instill upon their customers if they want to SURVIVE and THRIVE. The brand perspective that will be covered later, in great detail, in this book should be illuminating if you are a restauranteur or baker.

A brand effort is an organizational structure to any business. It is why you’re customer comes to you instead of the competition. Brand Implementation means strategizing a concerted effort on behalf of all the owners, staff and employees. This Brand Implementation will take a bit of time, effort and a lot of discipline. 

One last bit about Queens. This fair borough will be perceived where hotels are considered cheaper than Manhattan and Brooklyn and where the glass bedroom community of LIC sleeps but will never shop. There is nothing to buy in Queens that you can’t get easily anywhere else. No one I know has ever said: “Let’s go shopping’s in Queens! That’s where the cool people shop!” People wind up shopping here by default and it’s usually because that is what they can afford. As soon as they can move to Brooklyn or Manhattan, they will and do so. They shop there when resources are available. There is nothing in Queens that is specific to Queens, except for good authentic and ethnic food. That, and cheaper real estate rent, some shopping and an abundant of been hotel options.

Much to the credit of Queens, it is considered the most diverse borough in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Record.  This amazing feature is a fact hardly known and certainly NOT a branded feature. It could be and should be. This feature shows tremendous potential as a brand. Restaurants, large and small can fare well there but there is a great deal of competition on the street. This book will show you how to dominate the competition. Also, the huge differences between a commodity and, what us advertising professionals consider to be, a brand. 

     To date, this particular foodie feature of Queen’s diversity will remain a relatively hidden treasure waiting for an admirable pirate to realize, read, behold, promote, brand, design, communicate and then captain a large publicity campaign. As always, we suggest this publicity be done subversively and after the Brand, Designs and Communication strategy has been decided upon and practiced. This way Queens gets planted into the mind; heavy and deep. If all goes well, it becomes an indelible feature and will draw tourism. To date, however, there is no hub and heart to easily locate where this may happen. 

     We (Fishbeef) have met with multi-millionaires and billionaires in Queens and they won’t risk bankrolling the LIC, Queens or Astorian publicity effort. We even set up partnerships with the Museum of Moving Image and the prestigious Frank Sinatra School for the Arts, originally created by the singer, Tony Bennett to benefit all the participating organizations who are a block or two away. This effort was done on behalf of raising the status and visibility of the Melrose Ballroom. These partnerships were done to secure the ears, hearts, and minds of the innovators and early adopters coming to the area. The billionaires could see the ultimate vision we proposed but, were gripped by their own fear and cost. We let them be. 

     The big bad brother of Queens is still Brooklyn. This shift in Brooklyn began in 2000 when we (founders of Fishbeef) produced a very polished, glossy magazine which would expose the area to other Brooklynites and Manhattanites, what is happening in Williamsburg. The magazine was radical. The magazine had a NO EDITING policy which I was told by the New York Times writer who wrote the article about 11211, “thoroughly entertained the editors” in 2001. The NYTimes writer was there to get the facts and interview me, the publisher, and my little vision. He politely glossed over the Offalist idea because it seemed too bizarre and abstract. The writer and editors comfortably latched onto the idea of a little neighborhood drama, all too intrinsic to journalism and journalistic standards. These standards are entrenched in conflict and contrast. The New York Times article was not terribly different in its approach to 11211. However, they had not had the foresight to see the changes that were coming to Williamsburg in the subsequent years and the writer, a local resident, was not different in this visionary respect.

     Consequently, this Freedom of Speech policy used in 11211 as a brand idea was propagated religiously through the publication. It worked spectacularly well in promoting a small sector of Brooklyn called Williamsburg. It drew people from the west of the country in droves. Eventually, in a few short years, this area’s reputation would grow to international prominence. It was known for its creative Freedoms that were granted to its artists and musicians. Williamsburg was the place where “Anything good goes.”

     The Williamsburg | Brooklyn brand would quickly become synonymous with creativity and making The American Dream possible. We are proud of this effort and we did so by promoting the Polish, Italian, Jewish and Hispanic communities that lived there for decades. 11211 was never primarily geared toward the Hipster although Williamsburg is apparently where the term was re-introduced into the American cultural landscape.

     I personally spent $72,000 in the Williamsburg | Brooklyn effort with the 11211 Magazine and I’d be very unlikely ever to do this again for a neighborhood. Bankrolling an effort such as this could only be met again if I personally owned property in the area. For me, the payoff has to meet with actual real-time, $$$, value and/or assets. The miraculous turnaround of Williamsburg | Brooklyn with property values on Bedford Avenue going from $300-400K to $10,000,000.-15,000,000. has to produce financial compensation for me the next time around. In my tenure in Brooklyn, I helped open and promote over 200 restaurants. Many are still opened and many are closed. In hindsight, this was a tremendous education and learning experience for my team and I. I watched both successful and struggling restaurants open and close and now understand what it takes to be a successful, long-lasting eatery.      

     Today, Fishbeef is a company that comes in and assists business owners (mostly restaurants and eateries) to fulfill their original intention; by sea or by land. We are a team of promoters, lawyers, accountants, chefs, and restaurant managers with track records in running and promoting successful businesses. Ideally, we assist the restauranteur before there are any signs of the surrendering white flag or flashing distress signals. In many cases, at that point, when the white flag is up the flagpole or distress signal is sent out, it is almost too late. Almost, being the variable word here.

Another idea we actively seek is a successful businessperson who is ready to franchise. Fishbeef is perfectly built for this endeavor. We may even take an equity stake in the business if we could assure a relatively painless rollout.  There are definite ways to change the course of events, in a shorter time-frame, as they unfold for these types of businesses but this is mainly a disciplinary and operational business action. The restauranteur, and in the worst case scenario, have to be open to change and be prepared to fire the entire staff and start all over again, sometimes, but not always. This depends on the current brand perception of the restaurant or eatery. 

Ice Cream

One client we served in Astoria, Queens was 4 months behind on her rent payments, bills with vendors were backed up and we were still able to come in and salvage the business for another two years. The business owner would eventually get caught up with her rent arrears, vendor payments, salaries and not only recoup her initial start-up costs but pay herself quite handsomely for the two and half years she was opened for business. We tripled her monthly income the first year and triple it’s again the second year. We facilitated her amazing turnaround in the initial 90 days and continued to work with her until two months before she closed her doors for good.

She’s looking for another location but without our team behind her, she is highly unlikely to ever do this for herself again, try as she might. Some people are limited in their overall scope of how business works and we do our best to educate with a smart team in place. 

     Let’s see to it that your business won’t suffer the same fate. I tried to make this as entertaining a read as possible so I’ve taken the liberty of injecting successful and failed case studies so you’ll have a vivid, picturesque example of each major point to consider.

Tough Business

Restaurants and eateries are a tough business. There is the cost of setting up the kitchen, stoves, freezers, kitchen tools, the dining area, signage, menu, paper products, food products, vendor relationships, licenses, food, gas, health inspections, rent, delivery services, and last but most important; marketing. It’s not easy. There is a great deal that goes into the business before ever serving that very first dessert or meal. 

     I personally think someone has to be quite insane to open a restaurant. I also find it admirable nevertheless. It is a tremendous amount of work and the payoff is very limited and very risky. Even at the top of a restauranteur’s game, what is the most you bring home; a million or two million a year? This would have to be a really tight operation with all the bells and whistles blowing to boot. I do love to eat and enjoy interesting dining experiences immensely. I suppose the pleasure that a customer experiences from eating what you are serving must be worth the endless hours invested to get a restaurant up and running. There is seldom a restauranteur I’ve met that does it exclusively for the money. There Ian almost always some other agenda there. There are certainly better ways to make much more money faster in this day and age.

     This book is a dedication to all the crazy ones that go into the food business. Understanding your motivations for doing a restaurant or eatery is far beyond me. I am grateful for your existence nevertheless.

     The price of this book is $88.00. If I were to come in and do a brief consultation, it would be $250.00 per hour. I would be able to go on for 8 hours straight to tell you what to do to fix to generate more business. I am going to tell you the same exact things prescribed in this book for a lesser “out of pocket” expense. So, read it carefully.

     There are things never to gloss over and are critical to the success of any restaurant business. Much of it seems like common sense. “Common sense Ian NOT common.” —Voltaire. It is baffling to me how many ‘common sense’ things are overlooked in a restaurant business. It is likely the collection and accumulation of the little stresses that build up over time that lead to dropping the critical details that matter for the ideal customer experience. Once these minor frustrations take hold in the ownership or staff, it quickly deteriorates the customer experience. The single critical success to every restaurant is not the food, it’s the customer experience. The lack of this results in tremendous stress for the staff, chefs, cooks, and effects the overall income of the restaurant. 

     Fixing this is going to be hard work. It is a practice and discipline like anything else you want to master. There may even be some deep soul searching, personality adjustments and firing of infectious staff members which may even include family members. This attachment to family members is likely affecting the business. Business and family are like fire and ice: one melts or extinguishes the other. A power struggle is inevitable and breaks out in the business. Make no mistake about it. Business is about numbers and the Numbers Don’t Lie. If you’re succeeding, that is good. If the business if failing, that is bad. Ultimately, the money you make is your report card as to the value you bring to others in the world.    

     If you have purchased the book, you can give me a call or drop me an e-mail. You may have questions about the principles in this book that you don’t fully understand. I am here to answer those questions, gladly. Please feel free to e-mail me at Fishbeefers@gmail.com.

I will answer you as soon as I can.

Really?

Yes, really. 

Enjoy!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

a. Introduction

b. Foreword

1. Ice Cream
2. Tough Business

1. Table of Contents

2. Awareness

a) one path

b) Selling Ice to an Eskimo

3. The Four Legs of any Business

1. Branding
2.   • define a brand
3. Design
4. Communications
5. Advertising

4. Techniques in neuroscience

          for creating an amazing customer experience.

5. Nine critical questions

                    any business needs to answer.

6. Four ways to dominate

                                   your competition.

7. Generate more business

                                        THIS WEEK.

8. Reduce stress and worry

          by telling people what you now plan to do.

   

1.

Awareness

Awareness happens through our experiences and through a logical and critically discerning mind. The mind that collects these experiences and returns with an understanding of the way things actually work, benefit us. Even after 13 years of reading everything I could get my hands on regarding advertising and design, I was still admittedly bewildered. I spent the better part of ten years honing my design, advertising and copywriting skills. I believed with smarter insight and sharper, better accuracy that looming questions could be answered. I believed with this awareness an optimal, more effective approach to the noble art of great advertising copywriting and brilliant art direction was within reach.

Then, one day, came an accentuated clarity. It was very much like an epiphany. As with many noble causes, one may reach for in the world, prior to all transformation, there needs to be an awareness or an epiphany first. 

     I was seeking order in the chaos, and a type of metrics to the mayhem of image and copy messaging. After awareness lights up the way then it continues with what happens next; a transformation. 

     I explored the body first, a healthier diet, whole foods, exercise, natural organic fruit & vegetable eating would give me greater clarity of mind. I also explored the physical and martial arts Kung Fu, U-sing I, Tai Chi, Bagua, and Yoga. It hadn’t perfectly made me a better designer or a better creative director, copywriter or advertiser but I felt better physically. This experiment continued for four years.

     I explored ancient and modern healing modalities from Acupuncture to Tui Na massage, meditation, and ayahuasca. I explored the Feng Shui, ancient Chinese culture, Gods of Egypt, pyramids, sacred geometry, tarot cards, neurolinguistic programming, hypnosis, magic, UFOs and the occult. I was exploring many of the esoteric arts and applying them to advertising and design but nothing would prepare me for what happened next. I got a call. 

     The call was from a woman named Helen Kramer. She was asking for my help to advance and expand her therapy practice. She wanted more clients and better retention and greater conversions. Within three minutes into our conversation, the goosebumps which had suddenly covered my entire body were all the indicators I needed. The description of her practice was not only understood the mind but, alluding to a deeper spiritual path and truly understand and how this marketing works. It was the missing piece of the body, mind and spirit modality so often associated with the new age movement. 

     She explained: “As much as we have advanced as a species, the chemicals released in our brain is very similar to the chemicals released thousands of years ago. We understand the fight and flight response but seldom understand what to do about it.” My jaw dropped open. I remember looking out at the brick wall of the large patio of my East Harlem apartment with tears beginning to well in my eyes. It was love at first listen.  

     She paused and asked what I thought. “That is it,” I said in a barely audible voice winded from the goosebumps and sudden lack of oxygen in my lungs. \

     We set up a meeting two days later. I would work with her for several months to help her with a cutting-edge and new method of therapy. She was doing this before the more recent findings through the use of MRIs were unraveling the mysteries of the mind. What I was inspired to learn through Helen set me on an entirely new pathway to change the way I designed things and ways advertising would help my clients.  

     I knew the mind was the next refuge to explore in the body, mind, spirit trio. I bought some books, read and began to explore but hadn’t had an expert or well-versed friend who I would engage in conversation to have the points more deeply embedded in my mind. I was about to explore some of the amazing variables to survey and test these theories I’ve learned. I began to download and peruse (white papers) research reports from Ivy League schools and prominent psychiatric institutions. Sends days, months and years reading them and taking notes. A greater understanding of the human mind came from 100s of papers with results from MRIs and EEGs. Then, the trick was to see if they worked on clients projects.  The things learned would always coincide with actual applied experience, application, and testing. Helen would be my mind pilot. I was in for a ride. Now you are too. Welcome to the Neurochemical. It’s a new platform of awareness and uncovering the hidden agenda and intention behind human decision making.  

Neurochemical: The Math of Success

There’s a huge difference between someone who wants to be a King or Queen and someone who wants to be Rich. This is called the King vs. Rich dilemma. Consequently, you can’t be both.

What’s the dilemma? Let’s say you chose to be Rich. We know that most millionaires are millionaires because they went into a business that people wanted—not what they wanted per se.

Being Rich is the better of the two options. There’s a reason for this. The King and Queen have to pay everybody to do their bidding. They have to own a castle, an army, cooks, and chefs, and maybe have people who entertain them at night. The King or Queen is already rich.

The Rich person makes sure the money keeps coming into the bank. The Rich person understands that their job is to NOT talk, but listen. The Rich person takes action by producing services or products that serve their audience’s needs, wants and desires. They act in service to the King or Queen and have less of an ego and want to learn how to rule their kingdom better.

Finally, the true King or Queen knows that they are there to act in service of their kingdom. They are already Rich.

If you want to be King or Queen, you have to be rich first. If you aren’t Rich, you are deluding yourself.

Neurochemical: The Math of Success

——————– : ) ———————-

He is rather tall, bald, wears thick black framed glasses and is menacing.

A Madison Avenue Media Planner recently told me: “We are scrambling around like chickens without heads. No one knows what to do. We need someone like you.”

I offered, point blank: “Forget it. It’s because the ad agencies aren’t listening. They are in the ignore business.”

He said, “I know. No one knows where to put the money. And now in recent years, the ad dollar that used to work has begun to fail.”

I said: “Excellent. They’ve had their day in the sunshine. It is time to give back the power of media to the people. It will be a decade or so but the Ad Agencies will all be dead.”

He said: “Wow, you really don’t care what is happening.”

I said: “Actually, I care quite deeply what is happening and it is the natural course of events from a technologically advancing culture. Peter Drucker said: ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’ This is exactly what he meant.”

——————– : ) ———————-

She was cute, frantic and scattered with beautiful red hair.  

A prospective client recently said: “If only I could get on NPR and say what I have to.  People would be knocking down my door.”

“Why, because You listen to NPR?” I asked.

“Yes.  Everybody does,” she said.

“Well, according to the statistics I can get for you through the Mass Media community, this isn’t true. Hardly anyone listens to the radio and less and less are watching TV. Everyone is on Social Media. This is the new NPR.”

Her eyes glazed over, dumbfounded.

I continued: “NPR charges money ($3-4k) for those spots you hear on the radio, how many episodes are aired and at what times. Instead of calling them advertisers, they call them Underwriters.”

Her eyes glazed even deeper. She had absolutely no idea that this was the case. She wanted a silver bullet.

——————– : ) ———————-

His is well-built, stocky, but, in shape and walks gracefully like a dancer. 

A former client in the physical therapy business recently said:
“We have a new website, what do you think?“

I said: “None of the language from the Brand—ID we did is on the site.”

“Yes, we let the web designer do what he wanted to. We think it’s great.”

“Ok. So, how is that going?”

“It’s not really doing that much,” he said.

“I see. When you put the language from the Brand—ID we did for your website, it will pull people toward you.”

“Ok. We just want to see what you think,” he said.

“That’s what I think,” I said.

——————– : ) ———————-

I made the point. They initially missed it.  It’s all about Listening. 😀

Is this my fault?  The answer is a resounding, “Yes.” I’ll take the heat. It means there was a gap between the scientific facts I’ve presented and their ability to retain, grasp the concepts and apply them. This is my fault but, not entirely 💯%.  

The BLOCK is in their belief system and the way they understand branding and marketing regarding business. The novel bits of education they’ve read in magazines, popular marketing books, blogs, friends, family, magazine articles telling them about the fantastic feats of successful companies had gotten in the way of them actually listening and retaining the information. The other issue may be that they only half believed me and the other half of the time they didn’t, perhaps.

Larger companies DON’T have the same problem as smaller business owners. Why? One reason is that they are NOT emotionally attached to their business or brand the same way. They are IN their business to make money. SMALLER BUSINESSES are IN their businesses emotionally and financially. Many times they are in business to say “I own a restaurant or cafe.” 

And when you want to make money you go with the tried, tested and proven ways that work. Any scientific business techniques larger firms use often work far better and make Moreno money. The larger companies brand their product or service and menu offerings to their customer, not to themselves. This one of the biggest differences. This book will go into great detail to assist you with how this happens. 

A Brand should NOT be an extension of you or what you believe. That used to work before the 1940s but not anymore. Today, these “Create and Sell” models of business get decimated in today’s saturated marketplace. Their businesses are usually based on assumptions, make-it-up as you go along, half-baked plans and dreams. The “Create and Sell” routine might work when you are King or Queen but that still doesn’t guarantee it will be a profitable gamble.

Kings or Queens already have followers. They are tastemakers. They already have a lot of money. People will follow tastemakers but even their time is limited.

You could be the brand you sell but, then you become the brand. When you are gone, so is the brand. Unless a lot of people want to be you, then you should NOT try to be the business’s brand. There will be much more writ about this in later chapters in this book.

I call this type of company “Create and Sell.” It’s one of the Three Pies. The “Create and Sell” pie is a lemon.

It’s important to understand how the Three Pies (a metaphor for 3 different business model types) work and of these Three Pies; lemon, orange and apple pies, which do you think sells the most in America?

A Brand is a service or product that serves an audience, not your audience, per se, but AN AUDIENCE. By this we mean, you want to find a “HOLE” (aka white space) in the market and address that particular audience, a lifestyle that hasn’t been perfectly addressed yet. Once you find that audience/lifestyle, they have to be addressed through text and images. You show them that you (the company) shares THEIR values and their lifestyle… and you have a hit! They are drawn to you like moths to a flame. 

A Brand is also an Experience. It’s the experience you give them that keeps them coming back. 

A brand is NOT a logo, website, business card or brochure. It is a feeling that your customer or client is left with—an impression you left in their memory.

Read this last part again. We couldn’t be more clear.

——————– : ) ———————-

I’m happy to give you some complimentary suggestions. If you’re smart, and I think you are, you’ll try it. If you are smarter than I, and you very well might be, you already know this and are applying it to your brand.

Marketing is a math problem. It is also a media problem.

How?

marketing is about finding a segment in the market that isn’t available. There are dozens of creative ways but the one way to do this that works 100% of the time is Research. Be your customer, walk in their shoes, pretend you are them. Know them, study them, feel for them and they will make you King or Queen.

The old Kings and Queens were the media. Many business owners grew up in the day when TV, radio, and newspapers mattered. They are now looking at these mediums for answers. The mass media doesn’t have answers. They are writers and editors with jobs. They are NOT business people. 

These aggressive and pastime Mass Media mediums:

• are no longer valid.
• are in the SALES business and the business of selling stuff for their bosses.
• are only serving primarily the 45+ crowd.

Here’s the other problem: 

For the last 150 years, everything was fine. It went something like this: Put an ad in the newspaper, radio or on TV, get ready by the telephone. The phone rang, people answered and they may have asked questions and then they placed orders.  

These glamour days are long gone. Today, Social Media, the Computer and the Internet have taken over.

• National TV viewership: 20M users (monthly)
• YouTube, Facebook and Twitter: 300M users (daily)

Do the math.

The internet a “HOT” medium. In fact, it is the only medium to use. And it’s 30Xs more frequented than the TV. Radio is still cheap. TV spots are now relatively cheap compared to before. Newspapers are getting much cheaper than ever. That’s because these mediums are HIGHLY ineffective compared to Social Media and the Internet. Why? Because the TV, Radio, and Newspapers have collapsed AND WILL CONTINUE collapsing.

Why?

It is a ONE—WAY medium. You can try to talk back to it, but, no one will listen. It talks, you listen and follow instructions. 

Madison Avenue is slowly catching up with Social Media and now making the adjustments needed. They are trying to streamline something that can’t be streamlined, or can it?

Years ago, you could toss $72,000 and place a full-page ad in the NY Times and make your money back, plus profit. Today you are hitting a lottery if you break even.

It’s all in Social Media because that’s where everyone is today. They’re not on TV, listening to the radio or in the newspapers.

*8 NEW Considerations to “ADVERTISING” your business:

1. Don’t bullshit people. They resent it and know you are talking down to them. They’re not morons. Treat them like people and they’ll love you for it. 
2. Tell client/customers: “What’s in it for them.”  No one really cares about you and what you sell or think unless there is something in it for them.
3. Buying decisions are emotional, first. Don’t try to sell someone and assume they should buy it through logic. Logic accounts for 15% of the equation. It has to be functional, emotional and subconscious. The POINT: If everyone else has one, they’ll buy it too.
4. They buy when they want to AND Not when you’re ready to sell it.  Be there and be remembered when they are ready to buy. They will.
5. Social Media is giving you the answers to “What’s in it for them.”  TV, Radio and Newspapers are not.
6. Ad, Brand and Marketing books, schools, classes won’t really help. They are in the business of selling yountheir stuff. They’re interested in selling you their material and their books. They are in the business of selling their reputation.
7. Major corporations use Branding Systems. These systems are NOT available to the public whom they are selling products and services to. The reason is simple, they want the power of Branding for themselves. It’s not useful if everyone’s knows what they know. 
8. Interact with people. Care about their concerns and ask them questions.  They will give you the answers you seek, not directly but obliquely.

.

.

Here’s are the basic Math and a complimentary gift:

90-95% of your ALL conscious decisions are both (or either) emotional and subconscious first. ALWAYS!
56% of people are Visually disposed of. They understand things through visual and images.
28% understand and experience the world through Kinesthetic senses (sense of touch).
16% do the same through their ears and considered Audio. This is why listening is important. They need to be heard, listened to cared for more deeply. 

How’s that information for a mindfuck?

If your product is visually appealing, it will sell 56% more than an uglier one. If you have a service and thus it isn’t ‘visual’, try applying more visual imagery through the use of words to make it so. This increases your outreach by 56%. Check it and try it.

This is only a tiny tad of what we do in a Neurochemical process. Make it visual and you’ll see the results turn around very quickly. 

What is subconscious and emotional is Neurochemical.

• This is 90% of all sales that are made.  
• Rational decision making is self-justified emotions disguised as thought.  
• Human decision making is much, much more complex.

Selling ice to an Eskimo

They say selling ice to an Eskimo is difficult. Many say that it is damn near impossible. I couldn’t agree more. Think about this for a minute and see if we couldn’t Neurochemically help of our Arctic friends out. Let’s give it a shot.

Here’s what you will need:

1. Design A Menu
2. Find an iceberg peak with the most visibility
3. Bring a sweater
4. Wear 2 pairs of socks
5. Sunglasses.

Naturally, you will need a cart and umbrella, ice shaver, cups, cones, napkins and some change—the tools of the trade. Myself and my company is involved and much more concerned with bringing any products or services to market.  Ices are our example. In this case, it’s all about the ices and selling them. Here are our best suggestions:

1. Design A Menu.

First you’ll want to create menu items that sound appetizing to your market.

________________________________________________________________

MENU

DAILY OPTIONS:*
Silly Seal Flavor ……………………. $2.
Wonderful Whale Flavor ………….. $2.
Frosty Polar Bear Flavor ……………. $2.5

VEGAN OPTIONS:*
Sea Salty Flavor ……………………….. $1.75
Fresh Spring Snow Flavor ……………. $1.75

Delicious Toppings:
Handsome Husky fur ……………….. 20¢
Crunchy Crimson clots ……………… 20¢

* All prices are subject to change with or without notice.  Thank you.

______________________________________________

Using descriptive adjectives help. Cheesy or not, they work in the minds and hearts of markets.

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2. Find an iceberg peak with the most visibility.

It’s all about location, location, location… 

Being in a location that has the most visibility is important. If you’re hiding out and buried in a cave, customers won’t be able to find you.

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3. Bring a sweater.

Remember what mom used to say? “Put on a sweater. It’s cold out there.” Well, she was right again. We’re not telling you, you have to wear one but, it’s nice to have one just in case. You never know who you are going to run into.

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4. Wear 2 pairs of socks.

Same advice mom gave for #3 applies here. Just listen to your mother. It’s nice to share intimate apparel with a new friend. And… you never know who you are going to run into.

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5. Sunglasses.

Sunny days out in the open frozen tundra may create something called ‘snow blindness’. The actual scientific condition for this is called ‘Photokeratitis’.  Your mom may have forgotten to mention this unless she said: “It’s very sunny out there. Don’t forget your sunglasses or you’re likely to get Photokeratitis!”

No mom ever said this.

This is one way you could sell ice to an Eskimo but there are at least 50 other ways to skin a cat. : ))

Well, there you have it. This is our way.

BinkNyc has a set up a little system to “Sell Ice To An Eskimo.” This system is comprised of a number of tongue-in-cheek techniques. 🙂

     Some business owners spend a great deal of time publicizing their own business. They are neither trained nor have the ‘know how’ to do this effectively. They try anyway. No one is stopping them.

     Where we come in is: to help you save time. We have absolutely nothing better to do than get more customers to your business.

     We can start when you feel up to it. The phone call is no risk and complimentary. Operators are standing by. You should see their face light up when you call. They practically wet themselves.

How to Use this Book

So this PDF will have headlines from time to time and in order to keep the page count to 212 pages, there will be hyperlinked text which takes you to the website where you can read the full story. I think it is worth the read but I’m biased because I’ve written it. There are valid points in each. They are handfuls of actual knowledge with a fresh cut salad with delicious dressing.

Call Me Paranoid.
If you got the book e-mailed from a friend, stole it or downloaded from a website, we are going to password protect some of the critical text until we can check your credit card information and send it to you directly. In a digital age, this is nearly impossible to do, but this is us giving it the old college try. If you wait long enough, you can get it free and put the pieces together yourself.

 

NEUROSCIENCE REVEALS

 

 

The Four Legs of any Business

 

 

BRANDING

We always start with Branding and the reason why we do this is because branding is an often overlooked Leg of any Business. It is because hardly anyone understands what makes a brand and what BRANDING actually means. This is NOT usual because the term is practically or purposely ambiguous.

In America, in particular, BRANDS are trusted items whereas designs, communications, and advertising are NOT. So this is another reason why branding always comes first. A brand is a deeper meaning and purpose behind the founder’s idea and WHY they have put the company together. For perfect clarity and Brand is an Intangible Asset. When I say Intangible asset I mean to say it is something that you can’t hold see or touch. It is intangible.   

If your business is just to make money, as is the case with many companies, then there is an opportunity and strength to put your brand to align with the beliefs of the audience you are trying to reach. Money is the reason many companies are put together but your audience doesn’t care that you are trying to extract money out of their pocket. They want to know what is in it for them. Moreover, they want to know who you are and what you believe.

 

Buyers and Sellers.

 

 

Think of planting a tree.

First, you put the seed in the ground. The seed is the origin of the roots which is the source of how the plant will eat and drink. The roots are as important as the stem, branches, fruits and flowers depend on them. Without the roots, the plant will die. Likewise, a company that no roots will soon die. It is just a matter of time.

Clients that work with my business partners and I now understand that there are four components to promoting any business. There is also a very particular order in which it should be presented and addressed publicly:
• Branding (roots)
• Design (trunk or stem)
• Communications (leaves and branches)
• Advertising (fruits and flowers)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What’s a Brand?”

“Your premium brand had better be delivering something special,
or it’s not going to get the business.”
— WARREN BUFFET

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The way a Branding company understands “What a Brand is” and the way your average joe understands “What a Brand is” are two very, very different things. Many companies and business owners are usually shocked to discover that the company’s font, business cards and logo they have IS NOT a brand. It’s the face of the company and what people see first.

Slapping a logo next to a company name is a little like an old western movie. Think of the old movie sets.

 

The truth of these old movies are like this:

 

A brand is something much deeper than a logo or website. It gives us a slice of reality. A reality we can believe in. I’ll explain.

 

 

We hear this word “Brand” thrown about all over the place today and there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding its meaning. This chapter seeks to clear up some of the common misconceptions of a brand.

 

This article goes into

A) a brief history of branding as it meant a century or two ago.

B) What a brand means according to most branding companies today.

C) Some Branding advancements developed by prestigious think tanks, concepts taught at Harvard Business School, used at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and at the Rand Corporation.

D) Finally, what BinkNyc Culture has contributed to 21st Century Brands regarding branding, graphic and web design, communications strategies and the fine and noble art of advertising.

E) We’ll also delve into recent findings with neuroscienctific research and scientific obersevations with EEGs, eye-scanning and neurological brain scanning techniques MRIs.

This can all be summed up into two words: Cultural Ecology or BinkNyc Culture.

 

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The first 2 things you may hear clients asking:

“Why in the hell would I want to pay $30K to do a full Branding Campaign when I already have a good business up and running?”
“What will a Brand—ID do that I do NOT already have? I have a logo, business cards, a great website with all the information there. We just need to do more sales.”
These are both very valid points. Let’s explore each, one by one.

You might say: “Our company is doing well and we have a great tagline which clearly states what our business is and does. We don’t need nor want to spend any extra money. To be quite honest, we think this whole Brand—ID thing is a whole lot of bullshit.”

Bull shit? Bravo!

[ Ironically Branding, as the original term and definition meant had its roots in marking your bull with a branding iron. ]

 

The answer to these two statements above, one-by-one.
First off, a good a Brand—ID campaign draws people in like moths to a flame. The big league major brands we see today know and use this as part of their protocol. NOT ironically, these companies become monolithic os size and scale.

A product is just a product and a service is just a services but what truly separates them and makes them huge corporations is the brand.

Donald Trump, like him or hate him, is a brand. His brand is the billionaire man with a tough boy attitude. His path to the White House is a sparkling example of a highly effective Brand Campaign. His values (right or wrong) were intact and unmovable. The reason a good brand becomes successful is because they put their values first. Then, success is assured.

 

We predicted Trump winning back in 2015. As ridiculous as this seemed at some points, it happened. When it did, we weren’t surprised. Brands and the people who understand brands are generally business people because they know that without a brand, you are just a product or service. Politicians generally neither understand branding nor are in a profession that understands speed and the nature of competition that a business owners understands on a daily basis.

Coincidently, if you’ve heard of the Wall Street terms Bull and Bear market, and applied it to the Trump campaigning, you get a peek at the brand up close. Bull Markets are a term used for the stock market. It is a volatile arena of stock trading and fluctuates from day to day. It is also directly tied to companies in the corporate world. Bear Market is tied to bonds. Bonds are the

If you took all the techniques you learned and read about advertising and multiplied its power by 4-5xs, you would arrive at Branding.

Secondly, a logo, business card, catalogue, brochure or website is NOT BRANDING. These are Design elements used to sell your products, services or company. There is a huge difference between DESIGN elements and what BRANDING is and does.

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So, what in G-D’s name is a Brand?

A BRIEF HISTORY

Branding as it was originally defined was indeed a logo back in the 1500s. It was an insignia made from shaping metal, heating a branding iron and applied to the ass of cattle. It was used as a sign of ownership—a brand.

This was back in the rockin’ 1500-1800s. Here’s what they looked like:

 

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This is a photo of a Brand as it is still perceived today.

 

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So, what in G-D’s name is a Brand as it applies today?

A 21st Century Brand are the things you can’t hold and touch. A Brand is an intanglible thing. It is:

Confidence
Passion
Belonging
Action
Conversation
Security
Your Values
Your Attitude
A Lifestyle
What gets branded?

Services
People
Politicians
Places
Religions
Countries
Products
A BinkNyc Brand—ID

Guarantees a promise and quality
Provokes a deep desire
Instills natural affinity and rapport
Engages people through an eXperience
Your Brand is an impression or eXperience your client/customer is left with long after they leave the conversation, advertisement or interaction. It is like opening up a persons skull and directly scarring a red hot tattoo right into the inside of their brain. It is also about leaving your client or customers with a powerful message and memorable impression. A logo or website doesn’t leave these impressions but it could and it should.

This is why good brands are dangerous in the right or wrong hands. After a definition is added to a brand then and only then should your logo be created and branded. A brand is a shared belief or ethical-moral value.

A Brand does have to be very clearly defined. This clear and concise message should be conveyed from every person within the organization.

Have you ever thought to plan for your brand? We have for years. Controlling this type of messaging and eXperience is what a Brand—ID is and does. We like to use a metaphor to describe our Brand—ID system. It has four logical part to its construction. When we build a company or house or building, the construction is done the same way each and every time.

Building any business is like building a building. First, you lay the foundation by planting a basement in the ground. By laying in a solid foundation, you now have the groundwork which has predictable and measurable results. No one starts a building with building a rooftop. This is a Brand.

In fact, even if you only took an empty lot and laid in a foundation, this can still be sold. It can be sold for a higher price than if you didn’t dig a hole and put in a foundation to begin with.

Let’s continue…

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What is a Brand?

A Brand is your gut feeling about something. A Brand is also your reputation, how you want to be perceived by your customers/clients. When it comes time for sales and an interaction with clients, it works exactly the same way any other company works except it happens automatically and unconsciously.

When we meet or we form initial impressions about a person place or thing, it becomes set. You want to make exactly sure WHAT THAT IMPRESSION is and how you are being perceived. In time, the impressions change as you get to know the person better but there is truth to: First impressions are lasting impressions.

With Brands that share our ideals, values and lifestyle, we want to learn more and share more.

Everything you do and say influences your Brand—ID and reputation. Each and every interaction is another chance to build your Brand—ID or not.

Both positive (+) and negative (-) interactions build a brand. The old expression: “All press is good press.” is absolutely true. “No Press” is the only bad press. We all like pleasurebut, it is usually juxtaposed against some kind of pain. When you know how to resolve someone’s pain, you become a pleasure to work with. We were taught that negative interactions are negative but, the science and math says that both, negative and positive experiences are what build firm and memorable eXperiences in our minds.

Did you get all that?

okay.

A Brand—ID is also your company abbreviated in shorthand.

What is your BinkNyc Culture Brand—ID?

It is your brand personality, ecological culture, market segment, how you handle and address customer service, your values which are a sense of perception and ince you have all these items in a package, you can strategically shape the company.

Brands are more based on actions rather than through the thought, word or picture. It is also the eXperiences that are delivered through interactions you have everyday.

It’a commitment, a promise or pledge, what you stand for, your passion and driving focus.

This should align with your segment audience. Sometimes is it “Great rates”, or “Lower fees”, “convenient location”, “helpful people”, “We’re local”, “ We budget”, “Premium service”.

Did we get there for you?

Yes, so what in G-d’s name are you selling me?
We are so happy you asked.

Our NYC Brand—ID is a 25-35 page instruction manual which identifies and speaks directly to your segmented customer. People believe and love different people.

People who believe that everyone is their potential customer are idiots. I can’t be kind about this. Target Markets fluctuate from city to city, state to state, region to region, and nation to nation. Demographic were okay to use in the 1940-50s but not no more.

A full Brand—ID

— National Campaign ($75K)
— Regional Campaign ($45K)
Choose one: 1-Northeast, 2-Southeast, 3-Northwest, 4-Southeast.
— New York City Campaign ($30K)

— Just a Brand Lexicon and a Brand Metaphor ($7.5K)
— 5 e-mails and a Neurochemical copy written landing page for ($3.5K).

Here’s a link for the full package: > Brand—ID.

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We can tell you few things that you don’t know that you did not know (compliments of the house). Here are 2:

ONE:

Age, Gender, Race, Religion are NOT Target Markets. These gauges are merely Demographics. This is the way advertisers did marketing in the 1940s through the 1970s. Demographics are completely outdated in today’s cultural ecology.

In the 1970s, 80s and 90s, techniques in advertising, branding and communications drastically and dramatically changed.

Mood boards which design firms charge good money for and call “Branding” is like putting a band-aid on a shotgun wound. It doesn’t work bery effectively but, it is a novel start in the right direction.

TWO:

Below are some good ol’ American logos.

 

As you look at them, many things happen in your mind. These ‘happenings’ are embedded in the subconscious and emotional brain. You can’t describe them directly, they just kind of happen. This is your limbic brain but it doesn’t understand language.

The logos above are recognizable.
More importantly, a logo comes with a memory, an eXperience and a touch point that has a eXperience already attached to it. That eXperience, my friends, is what a Brand is and does.
Why would you hire us for this?

There are a few reasons you should:

We’ve been doing this for 25 years and are still learning more.
Ask these people: ( case studies )
See these companies: ( clients )
Talk to this organization: ( 4A’s )
Ten minutes ago you may have believed a Brandwas a logo, a website and your business card. Now you see that it is something else, something deeper and something much greater. It can’t be described in words.
This is one reason why you want to call us. If not, it’s okay. Get someone who does know what a brand is and does.

If business has been slowing down for you over the last couple of years, you could blame the economy or you could blame the competition. These are both valid reasons and both can be overcome.

Either way, we help level the playing field and show you more than 50 things you didn’t know about Branding and its fantastic power.

This Brand power is created through eXperiences. Once it is applied to your service or product, you can close in on the competition with ease. Try it, you’ll like it.

 

 

 

 

Brand Loyalty

We answered the telephone: “Sweet Janes, la la la.” Eight times out of ten, the person on the receiving end would start snickering uncontrollably if they had never called before.

Companies spend considerable resources to instill brand loyalty. Loyal customers not only consistently buy a brand but also invest time in brand advocacy. The key ingredient of brand loyalty develops when a brand resonates with an audience’s personal identity. Loyalty arises these deep relationships between the customer and brand. It’s ownership: “This brand is mine!” The result of such a brand attachment (loyalty) mimics the attachment we have with other humans.

Recently, brand attachment has been at the core of new research activity; the goal is to uncover some universal truths about audience drivers of loyalty. These efforts are particularly important because of the ever-increasing demand for companies to offer genuinely appealing—authentic—consumer products. In this Social Media era, when the customer’s voice is publically read, a simple misstep could derail brand loyalty, brand equity, and sales in an hour.

One area of study about the connection between authentic appeals and loyalty involves company histories. For example, many of today’s successful companies have origin stories that border on the implausible; any garage-technology start-up that is now a multi-billion-dollar multinational firm had to beat incredible odds. Research headed by Hal Ersner-Hershfield at Northwestern University shows that customers who actively imagine the start-up failure of a favorite company experience an increase both in sadness about what might not have been and in happiness about what is. These feelings of poignancy ultimately increase loyalty. Similarly, research by Neeru Paharia at Harvard University shows that in a sea of large competitors, companies that project an underdog personality generate higher levels of customer loyalty than do companies that present a dominant, mainstream personality. References to humble (garage) origins, restricted access to financial capital, or a citation of “passion and determination” are all effective components of an underdog personality.

Jennifer Aaker (Stanford University) suggests that people prefer to deal with brands and products that project warmth in addition to competence, skill, and reliability. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream’s “warmth” strategy demonstrates Aaker’s point. Ben & Jerry’s communicates that it is unlikely to engage in moral-code-of-conduct violations—such as harming the environment, lying, or producing inferior products that may harm people. Recent efforts to promote corporate social responsibility and sustainability via warm communications are part of an overall business strategy to increase brand loyalty. An effective increase in customer awareness and connection through warm initiatives can add up to increased customer admiration for firms and brands; poorly executed perceptions of green washing can erode brand loyalty.

 

Because brand loyalty depends on a strong and sustained fit between the identity or motivational profile of consumers and brand personalities, the ability to identify and develop specific loyalty profiles reliability—profiles focusing on the psychological benefits different types of customers are seeking when interacting with brands—is extremely useful.

BRAND VS. COMMODITY

BUILDING FOR DECADES…. NOT JUST FOR YEARS.

• Define BRAND
• You Can’t Touch It
• Playing with Perception • What is a Commodity
• Customer Interaction
• Our Responsibility
• What is Her Essence
• 8 Tenets of Branding

• Building Brand Loyalty

• The Advantages

Religions, Countries and Political beliefs are brands. Brands live in your head. How you think and feel about a brand is the brand. There are tangible aspects to brands but the beliefs and perceptions that come with brands are 1. what the brand is
2. tangible.

“If you speak to their intellect, you’ll have their ear. If you speak to their heart, you’ll have their body, mind and spirit.”

— Breuk Iversen

The trick to Branding is to make people think and feel a certain way about your brand. Each experience they have with your brand should make them feel a certain way. Once the thought and feeling is installed it has to be consistent and supported in order for it to work.

A brand is NOT a name, trademark, logo package or product. A brand “IS” a collection of thoughts and feelings about your experience with a brand—what it does for you and to you.

Thoughts and feelings are intangible assets as compared to tangible assets which you can see, hear, taste, touch and smell.

Intangibles are things you feel.

1. What you make people feel is more powerful than what you make them think.
   
2. What you make people feel is as (or more) important as what you make.
   

Everyday people make hundreds of decisions based on how they feel rather than on logical choices: clothing, restaurants, entertainment, cars, and even business purchases.

A Brand is a product, service, cause or organization with “perceived” intangible attributes. The intangible attributes of a brand MUST BE perceived. If you can’t perceive the intangibles you don’t have a brand yet.

Brand vs. Commodity

Perception of intangibles is in the eye of the beholder. Depending on the brand, some will get it and others won’t. For the ones that do get it, you gain a stronger asset and a loyal customer than the item itself.

When you don’t perceive the intangible attributes of a brand, it’s only a commodity. Commodities are things you buy with a price in mind. Commodity is deeply concerned with profit and loss. It is NOT a brand.

COMMODITY: a product, service, cause or organization with NO perceived attributes. On Wall Street, commodities of the same type and are interchangeable with each other.

Potatoes are potatoes (unless you perceive a difference).brand.

Sneakers are sneakers.

Motorcycles are motorcycles.

Search engines are search engines.

Bags are bags.
Coffee is coffee.

Brands compete on their intangible attributes. Commodities compete in price or convenience.

NIKE means Victory.
Harley–Davidson means you are badass. “Google it” means you search for it.
Louis Vuitton bags mean luxury. Starbucks means you are sophisticated.

“A brand adds character to your company. It adds a quality and a distinguished personality. Without it, your company is

a lifeless commodity.”

— Breuk Iversen

How do brands get into the head?

1. Exposure: Using media with the messages about the brand.

2. Experiences: Through actual experiences with the brand.

Things to do to convey brand messages.

Events

Packaging
Internet Marketing

News Stories

Company Speakers

Endorsements

Uniforms
Point of Sale
Investor

Communiqué

Customer Service

Tele-market

Direct Mail

Website
Trade shows

Content market

Promotions

Sponsorships

Outdoor marketing

Guerrilla

Native
Ambient
Sales materials

Mass media (PR)

Business Directories

Product placement

Vehicles

Offices (Signage)

Sales outlets

Personnel

Sales people

E-mail

Subversive intervention.

Who affects these moments of brand experiences?

Every SINGLE person in an organization contributes to shaping the audiences experience with the brand—even when there is NO direct contact with the audience. This is how perceptions are built. The brand controls how people think and feel about the brand and its perception is intangible.

Likewise, every dollar spent and every decision made impacts an audience’s experience with the brand. For this reason, Branding is NOT solely a marketing function.

It is an Organizational function.

A brand will never be successful unless the entire organization understands and embraces the Branding, starting from the top. Branding deals with perception. Perceptions are difficult to master. Every strong Brand stands for something— one differentiating attribute —it is her essence.

• LifeForce
• Central
• Nature
• Signature
• Strength
• Mantra
• Experience
• Differentiating
• Meaning
• Messaging
• Heart
• Core Values
• Core Attributes
• The Soul
• Promise
• Personality
• Description
• Proposition
• Uniqueness
• Persona
• Individuality
• Connection

Its essence. Its attributes. Its Brand.

It’s the concept that matters.
The concept is the umbrella which the ideas live under.

The following 8 Tenets of Branding come from the Neurochemical system developed by BinkNyc.

8 Tenets of Branding

1. Uniqueness

2. Intangible

3. Single–minded

4. Experiential

5. Meaning

6. Consistency

7. Authentic

8. Sustainable

1. Uniqueness

What differentiates your business from competition in the same or similar category?

Example: If our brand is friendly and funny, this means our competition is NOT friendly or funny.

⭐ People make decisions based on how things are special and unique NOT, how they are the same as everyone else.

The Essence of a brand should give reasons to choose your brand over a compeditor.  The brand should: OWN A SINGLE IDEA.

Absolutely Critical:

Brand positioning is… the relative differences between Brands as the AUDIENCE perceives it. What you think or believe is not relevant…

… and getting that perception in their heads is difficult work and should be left up to an expert.

2. Intangible

Create the thing that the audience can FEEL about the brand. How your product or service makes them FEEL in their lives.

3. Single–minded

Arrive at one or two words that people feel about the brand. No more than two words. One word is optimal. A brand is very strong when focused like a needle. .

4. Experiential

The essence captures what the audience FEELS during any and all experiences with the brand.

Caution: copy-catting a well established brand’s essence derails your brand and strengthen the other’s brand. This is well known and documented.

5. Meaning

There is NO point in identifying an essence that is irrelevant to the target audience. Essences that don’t connect lead to failed businesses. Research leads the way and tells us the answers.

6. Consistency

A consistent brand essence must be consistently delivered. The essence must be reliable and delivered with pinpoint consistency.

The entire organization must deliver this. Consistency is what leads to Brand Loyalty. The only thing worse than NO brand promise is a broken brand promise.

7. Authentic

The essence must be credible or the brand will be rejected by the public and target audience(s). After Research, TEST it.

8. Sustainable

A Brand essence is baked in from the beginning. IT doesn’t change! Ever!

Will there be room for brand extensions?

Yes!

Once people are loyal to you and as long as you do things in their best interest, you have a life-long customer. Branding is defining, promising and delivering.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI):

A loyal audience seeks repeat brand experiences. They recommend the brand to others. Brand loyalty drives a whopping 70% of all purchasing decisions… and they’re willing to pay a 20% premium (over the competition) for that brand choice.

ROI: Passion to Trial to Loyalty

The Best Part…
Branding is a commodity in and of itself. Those customers loyal to the brand makes the Company Name itself a commodity. The company becomes associated with a brand essence and ONE attribute.

This attribute occupies real estate in a customer’s head.

Unlike branding,

Promotional-based marketing strategies are often centered on pricing strategies and foot traffic. These businesses aim for short-term results, watching their businesses grow or shrink, day by day.

Branding generates long-term results, but requires commitment and operational structure to long-term strategies.

Strong Brands are:

1. Cost-effective to sustain

2. A foundation for expansion and new launches.

3. An ideal partner for Co-branding opportunities.

4. A barrier for current and future competition.

Don’t confuse a brand with a commodity-based business. Commodities come and go. A brand lasts forever. It becomes legendary.

All potatoes are potatoes but an Idaho potato is something special, something better, something you might pay more for.

Harley-Davidson, Apple and Coca-Cola could close all their international factories tomorrow and they would still have a brand. These companies stand for something valuable. They have an intangible perception of making people feel and think a specific way about them.

That’s the difference.

 

 

AIR

We sell air.

As in… She had an air of confidence.

Want to buy some air? No? It doesn’t cost a million dollars. If you think you don’t need air, try living ten minutes without it. 😀

Go on with no air. We’ll wait.

That’s not the air we are talking about.

 

air
er/
noun
noun: air
an impression of a quality or manner given by someone or something.
“she answered with a faint air of boredom”
synonyms:
expression, appearance, look, impression, aspect, aura, mien, countenance, manner, bearing, tone

“an air of defiance” < this is us.

How is this applied to business?

Much like we all need air to live and breathe, we need to see this in the brands we believe in and buy. When BinkNyc talks about branding, this is what we mean = your air(s). The Airs you carry as a belief, a promise, whether your business has the confidence or not, your guarantee, your values and giving your customer the quality you want them most to believe in.

It sounds easy to create but it isn’t. That’s the first thing. The second thing is rather than move along the lines of what the business owner wants to portray as their airs, more important is to align these airs along the lines of an available pocket or white space in the given market.

This means you align the values and beliefs with the audience that is most accessible and available and sometimes this doesn’t align with you and who you are and want to be seen.

It’s amazing how many marketing companies are still using techniques from the 1940-1970s to market their clients products or services. Fools!

Then, these marketers have the nerve to wonder why they’re struggling having to work 12+ hours a day. Then, their project fails in the marketplace. They’ve hardly made a couple of bucks after X number of years. By now, it should be getting easier for everyone, and it’s not. The entire culture has changed and what was once considered important to different markets has changed considerably. It’s also getting more difficult for the inept.

 

THE GOOD NEWS

It’s NOT you or your business. It’s the cultural ecology. And it’s technology. The technology and cultural ecology are inseparable.

It’s changing and not being addressed in the media. Don’t look for answers in The NYTimes or Forbes. Only select neuroscientists, think tanks and very advanced marketers are talking about the big shift and correctly addressing its huge impact on people—usually in hushed tones—usually only in the boardroom.

This revolution is huge from BinkNyc’s perspective as branders. We as a culture are moving from a focus on the Industrial Revolution to the Information Revolution. And this whole new revolution is going on right before our eyes and under our noses. Once you read what is below, there will be no going back to what was once FACT.

In Queens there are a few folks who have hundreds of yellow medallion cabs. Life was very smooth sailing for a few decades. Medallions cost close to $1,000,000 – 1,500,000. These “few” business owners were making a great living until the newest trend in technology came (Uber) and moving the old yellow cab drivers to much greener pastures in black cars.

Uber’s cars are brand new, they’re black, they’re clean, and it’s taken on an intangible brand experience of a far more personable experience, their “air.” Passengers are posting 100s of videos, sharing stories and doing great peer-to-peer reviews about the interesting driver(s) they have met while riding in Uber. It’s more than a trend. It’s real. It’s real and it’s air.

Are you ready for the most painful part? Uber is now a way cheaper ride. This merges and marries the intangible (air) with the tangible (wallet).

Yellow Medallion cabs will never be able to compete unless a publicist or brander were able to alter the attitude of 80% of the cab drivers.

The likelihood of that happening is nil.

 

The new Cultural Ecology is here. Here are three examples:

• Facebook destroys traditional media.

They are the largest content provider in the world without generating any actual content. The users generate almost all of the content.

• Amazon destroys 100 to 1,000 of US department stores.

Amazon doesn’t have or manufacture any products. Products go from the click of a web button to your door.

• AirBnb is worth 5Xs more than the largest US hotel chain.

AirBnb doesn’t own or build any buildings or hotels.

Old school business owners I’ve met are in complete denial of the facts. The feel that this digital Information Revolution is a trend, that it won’t last and that business the way it was 10-20 years ago will return to the way it was. We then say to them “Let sleeping dogs lie.”

BAD NEWS

Okay… are you ready for the real pain of this new reality? Here is it: None of the traditional industrial companies and attitude are going to make a last minute come back like we saw in the last Superbowl. They are all going ‘bye-bye’.

These industrial Product and Service-based industries are already playing a tougher game than ever before. If they plan on surviving they are going to need to unlearn and relearn the rules of an entirely new game. It’s not only that it is getting tougher, it’s getting impossible to hold onto to old AIRS.

 

How do we fix this… AIR?

Branding.
ReBrand your business now before it is too late.

Here’s the question I’ll ask:
“If Harley Davidson CLOSED down all their production factories today, would they still have a brand?”

 

“If Coca-Cola CLOSED all it’s manufacturing plants, would they still have a brand?”

“If Kate Spade NEVER PRODUCED another bag, would she still have a brand?”

 

Yes, yes and yes.

Why?

You can’t put your finger on the brand but, there is still something there. There is a belief, a value, a promise, people you know and have these things or are fans of one of these brands.

It’s intangible like air. A brand’s true value proposition is its — AIRs. The great part is that brands are air that is predictable and the market audiences that stick to them are predicatble as well.

Again, the air is just a belief. It’s the belief the customer feels when they see, hear or come in touch with a brand. The Air is the intangible and the pull of a brand is magnetic.

“If YOUR Business closed its doors today, what would people remember about your brand?”

That, is the overall question. Maybe you don’t know the answer. That is possible. Most businesses don’t have the answer to this either and they’re dropping out of the picture like flies.

If the answer to your brand is luxury, fine. THE PRICE will tell everyone if it is a luxury item or not. It’s right there right on the price tag. It’s in its Airs. You and I know may know it’s a luxe brand but, do your customers have this Luxury Brand already noted in their heads? They will need to have you AIR in there.

We have a team that knows how to get the brand air in the customer’s heads for you. We consistently get great amazing results for clients that listen and follow the recommendations. The techniques we use draw people to you and your business. You can now begin to soft sell instead of the hard sell. They are draw to you because of your Airs.

You don’t have to go out and find customers. They will want to come and find you.

 

Before you call.

You are going to ask what we give you. It’s a 25-35 page instruction manual for you and your company. In it you will find all kinds of goodies:

Research (what you didn’t know that you didn’t know.)
Competition (sometimes it is not even the industry you think.)
The Strategy (Thinking five to seven steps ahead instead of two or three.)
The Market (Where are they spending their money now?)
“Blank Spaces” in the market (Gaps in the market you can fill.)
What to say (Differentiation is always in fashion.)
What to do (5 (small to medium) action steps to start today to rebuild and expand.)
How to interact (You behavior is your brand. How are you being perceived?)
The Color Scheme (You will know which colors work better for which audience(s).)
A Brand Lexicon: (The language you use has a predictable IMPACT on your audience.)
and 8 more critical elements to run your business 300% more profitable than it is running now.
____________________________________________________

Which kind of pie you would like better:

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://3 Fruit Pies

Let’s start this with a simple conversation. You know our number: (718) 578-6613. Call when you want.

OUR PRICES: The prices are already 100% more than you would have paid this time last year. It will be 500% more in a year from now. Even at a 600% increase the Brand-Air is still worth it.

Additional properties operating under Williamsburg Concierge, LLC:

 

Advertising and Branding on Steroids and Crack.

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Watch Where You’re Going.

 

 

 

 

 

This excerpt is about one Neurochemical bit out of 85 MUST HAVES for a business to be assured success. See if you agree.

Consequently, not only do the companies we work with succeed, but they survive challenges presented by competitors while double or tripling business.

Research samples we’ve previously used for the case study below:

 

My business partner and I attended a few meetings with a potential new client. They are a credit card processing company. The client was having a hard time grasping some of the concepts we presented called the Neurochemical. Nevertheless, they were intrigued by the ideas we presented. Since that hadn’t hired anyone else yet, we were still in the running. The problem was we were charging twice the amount of the competing companies.

They were fascinated with a few tests and surveys we gave them. The suveys are there to give us insight into a brief psychological analysis. We tested the President and Vice-President of the company first. What we found from the results was if these “decision makers” were built and prepared for success. One was and other wasn’t. This could present a problem since both of them would have a final say on the decisions we would take.

We then discussed their budget, a payment schedule, and who was who on their current staff. We would later request, if hired, that employees and clients take similar survey.

We are Process based. These are always the first steps we take toward a approaching any new project. We find taking these steps are both critical and necessary.

Once we are hired, we have Charles Costa handle the deeper, more thorough research. Then when we have the research together, we apply:

 

At long last, the client was ready and asked us to come to a final meeting with the proposal and contract. They were ready to sign.

PLEASE NOTE: Our bid was twice the amount of all the other design, advertising or marketing firms. Apparently, the cases and methodical approach we presented was convincing enough, we thought. Besides that, we all got along splendidly. That also counts.

In this particular meeting the President said that there was some bad news and they weren’t going to sign up with us unless we dropped the price by half. They even presented and shared all of the other bids from our competing suitors. I mentioned again that this price drop would be impossible for us to do since we set a price based on hours, days and weeks of work. I also said “In the end, we generate measurable results. The price we set is the price.”

Have NO Fear

I stood up and started to fold the cover to my laptop and packed up my pen and paper and said: “No problem. In all the research we’ve done so far, we’ve found 30 other competitors at the same level as and in a similar situation as your business, I’m certain one of them will be more than happy to work with us.”

Stunned, the President stood up and said: “Please sit down. We’ll sign this right now.” pointing down at the contract. He told his assistant: “Get me the checkbook.”

We didn’t fall for their bluff. The room was all warm and fuzzy again. Smiles abounded. My partner was still stunned.

We charged this client a conservative five-digit number only to have them sell both the brand and a business plan for seven figures within six months to a major processing company. It was their right to do so, so there’s no argument there. We know and have learned that the work we do can add tremendous value in the right hands.

Much later on when the Vice-President (a 30 year marketing guru) first read their new Branding campaign, he smiled and said: “Good God! This is like branding and marketing on steroids and crack.” [ March 8, 2013 ]

This was a great compliment.

Types of businesses we will and won’t work with. You have to guess what they are.

 

.Behold, fresh fruit.

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Lemon Organizations

Create and Sell: There are still business owners who set up companies that are driven by their internal understanding and view of the world. They have an idea and CREATE something then they go out and look for customers to sell it to. This was a great business format in the earlier part of the 1900s. Today, this company is going to fail in 5 years.

They can’t answer: “Who they are in the marketplace.” They can usually only grab 11-18% of the customers in market unless they are exceptional visionaries or lucky. Most of them believe they are.

Their business strategies are driven by what they have heard about or have read in marketing books. Their thinking is something called: inside > out. The real lemon with this approach is that the company’s owners or manager are like: “Let’s just try it and see what happens.” This is guesswork and gambling. We, at BinkNyc, are not fans of this approach.

These clients are seldom aware and seldom anticipate vast changes happening in the marketplace. They are unfamiliar with something called a cultural ecology. They assume that others will LOVE their idea and expect our firm to sell it for them. We can’t help them. They often sneer at paying for research.

Our research says that 50-75% of these will be out of business in five years or less. These types of businesses are fun, creative but rarely ever get to the Fortune 500. In fact, we can guarantee they never will.

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Orange Organizations

Ask and Make: Orange organizations still believe in the traditional focus group. They’ll just ask the customer what they want, the customer will tell them, they’ll develop this product or service, and believe it will sell. This type of business did great in the mid-1900s. They are open and ready to listen to the customer’s input just like major corporations did in the 1940s right up to the 1980s.

The problem with the Orange approach is two-fold:
1) The Orange organizations end up trying to be “all things to all people.”
2) They assume that a customer’s mere approval will grow to LOVE their product or service. It is a delusion of grandeur.

Our research says that 27-47% of these businesses will be out of business in 5 years. Perhaps we can work with these organizations if we can somehow educate and save them from themselves and their old form of thinking.

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Apple Organizations

The Big Apple!

Anticipate and Lead is a market-driven organizational approach. It’s a successful one at that. We love clients that understand this business model.

This model is where one bases their strategy on making conscious choices about which markets they will serve and how they will add value to very particular market segments. The are NOT acting out of passion for their own idea but rather looking for “White Spaces” in the market they are entering.

First, they anticipates where a market is leaning. Then, you seek to become a leader in this field. Being first usually wins something.

You can become a high-performance organization, dominate the market and participate in a strategic process. Research + Strategy = Propels the organization and their mission forward; into the future.

Anticipation is looking for gaps or holes in a said market. This is also called the “White Space” in the market. There are many ways to find out what and where this White Space is. Filling up this hole or fulfilling this need, assists a market and many > most its customers with the proper branding.

(See Donald Trump (Part 1 or Part 2)).

It is a precisely, measurable process. The results are predictable. Naturally, it is finding a hole if there is one and branding it in a way that sticks. Some markets are so saturated, there is hardly wiggle any room to enter into its field marketplace. SOCIAL MEDIA may be one example of a business ecology where there is little “White Space” in that market.

Maybe this is only my perception. The research reveals all.

Using apples to make an apple pie is an all-American dream. Let’s make some delicious pie. We’ll meet and speak. It’s almost like a date.

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So, what do we do that is so different?

We have 84 other NEUROCHEMICAL (Human Default Patterns) beside the “3 Fruit Pies” to consider for a business endeavor. These NEUROCHEMICAL patterns apply to assure you grab the hearts and minds of your target market.

Set up a meeting or arrange a call. This is the only way you’ll know for sure.

BinkNyc@gmail.com

 

Everything we advertise, brand,
communicate or design is to forward
the overall advancement of our species.
It’s that simple.

We will never work for nor support
destructive companies who create
products or services that bring harm
to us. This is important to our team.

The Birth of Conversion

CONVERSION is another word for BRAINWASHING and any truthful study of brainwashing can begin with a study of Christian revivalism in eighteenth century America. Apparently, Jonathan Edwards accidentally discovered the technique during a religious crusade in 1735 in Northampton, Massachusetts. He accidentally induced guilt, an acute apprehension, by increasing the tension of the sinners attending his revival meetings. He would get them to break down and completely submit. Technically, what Edwards was doing was creating conditions that wipe the brain slate clean so that the mind accepts new programming. The problem was that the new input was negative. He would tell them, “You’re a sinner! You’re destined for hell!” As a result, one person committed suicide and another attempted suicide. And the neighbors of the suicidal converts related that they, too, were affected so deeply that, although they had found “eternal salvation,” they too were obsessed with a diabolical temptation to subsequently end their own lives and be freed from sin.

Once any preacher, cult leader, manipulator or authority figure creates the brain phase to wipe the brain-slate clean, his subjects are wide open to influence. New input, in the form of mere suggestion, can replace their previous ideas. Edwards didn’t turn his message positive until the end of the revival. Many accepted the negative suggestions and acted, or desired to act, upon them afterward.

Charles J. Finney was another Christian revivalist who used the same techniques, four years later, in mass religious conversions in New York. The techniques are still being used today by Christian revivalists, cults, human-potential trainings, some business rallies, and the United States Armed Services just to name just a few.

Let me point out here that I don’t think most revivalist preachers realize or know they are using brainwashing techniques per se. Edwards simply stumbled upon a technique that worked effectively, and others copied it and have continued to copy it for over two hundred years later. The more sophisticated our knowledge and technology has become, the more effective the conversions may be. I feel strongly that this is one of the major reasons for the increasing rise in Christian fundamentalism, especially the televised variety, while most of the orthodox religions are in a steep decline.

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The Three Brain Phases

The Christians may have been the first to successfully formulate brainwashing, but we have to look to Pavlov, the Russian scientist, for an in-depth technical explanation. In the early 1900s, his work with animals opened the door to further investigations with humans. After the revolution in Russia, Lenin was quick to see the potential of applying Pavlov’s research to his own ends.

Three distinct and progressive states of transmarginal inhibition were identified by Pavlov. The first is the EQUIVALENT phase, in which the brain gives the same response to both strong and weak stimuli. The second is the PARADOXICAL phase, in which the brain responds more actively to weak stimuli than to strong. And the third is the ULTRA-PARADOXICAL phase, in which conditioned responses and behavior patterns turn from positive to negative or from negative to positive.

With the progression through each phase, the degree of conversion becomes more effective and complete. The way to achieve conversion are many and varied, but the usual first step in religious or political brainwashing is to work on the emotions of an individual or group until they reach an abnormal level of anger, fear, excitement, or nervous tension.

The progressive result of this mental condition is to impair judgment and increase suggestibility. The more this condition can be maintained or intensified, the more it compounds. Once catharsis, or the first brain phase, is reached, the complete mental takeover becomes easier. Existing mental programming can be replaced with new patterns of thinking and behavior.

Other often-used physiological weapons to modify normal brain functions are fasting, radical or high sugar diets, physical discomforts, regulation of breathing, mantra chanting in meditation, the disclosure of awesome mysteries, special lighting and sound effects, programmed response to incense, or intoxicating drugs.

The same results can be obtained in contemporary psychiatric treatment by electric shock treatments and even by purposely lowering a person’s blood sugar level with insulin injections.

Before I talk about exactly how some of the techniques are applied, I want to point out that hypnosis and conversion tactics are two distinctly different things–and that conversion techniques are far more powerful. However, the two are often mixed . . . with powerful results. 

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How Revivalist Preachers Work

If you’d like to see a revivalist preacher at work, there are probably several in your city. Go to the church or tent early and sit in the rear, about three-quarters of the way back. Most likely repetitive music will be played while the people come in for the service. A repetitive beat, ideally ranging from 45 to 72 beats per minute (a rhythm close to the beat of the human heart), is very hypnotic and can generate an eyes-open altered state of consciousness in a very high percentage of people. And, once you are in an alpha state, you are at least 25 times as suggestible as you would be in full beta consciousness. The music is probably the same for every service, or incorporates the same beat, and many of the people will go into an altered state almost immediately upon entering the sanctuary. Subconsciously, they recall their state of mind from previous services and respond according to the post-hypnotic programming.

Watch the people waiting for the service to begin. Many will exhibit external signs of trance–body relaxation and slightly dilated eyes. Often, they begin swaying back and forth with their hands in the air while sitting in their chairs. Next, the assistant pastor will probably come out. He usually speaks with a pretty good “voice roll.”

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Voice Roll Technique

A “voice roll” is a patterned, paced style used by hypnotists when inducing a trance. It is also used by many lawyers, several of whom are highly trained hypnotists, when they desire to entrench a point firmly in the minds of the jurors. A voice roll can sound as if the speaker were talking to the beat of a metronome or it may sound as though he were emphasizing every word in a monotonous, patterned style. The words will usually be delivered at the rate of 45 to 60 beats per minute, maximizing the hypnotic effect.

Now the assistant pastor begins the “build-up” process. He induces an altered state of consciousness and/or begins to generate the excitement and the expectations of the audience. Next, a group of young women in “sweet and pure” chiffon dresses might come out to sing a song. Gospel songs are great for building excitement and INVOLVEMENT. In the middle of the song, one of the girls might be “smitten by the spirit” and fall down or react as if possessed by the Holy Spirit. This very effectively increases the intensity in the room. At this point, hypnosis and conversion tactics are being mixed. And the result is the audience’s attention span is now totally focused upon the communication while the environment becomes more exciting or tense.

Right about this time, when an eyes-open mass-induced alpha mental state has been achieved, they will usually pass the collection plate or basket. In the background, a 45-beat-per-minute voice roll from the assistant preacher might exhort, “Give to God . . . Give to God . . . Give to God . . .” And the audience does give. God may not get the money, but his already wealthy representative will.

Next, the fire-and-brimstone preacher will come out. He induces fear and increases the tension by talking about “the devil,” “going to hell,” or the forthcoming Armageddon.

In the last such rally I attended, the preacher talked about the blood that would soon be running out of every faucet in the land. He was also obsessed with a “bloody axe of God,” which everyone had seen hanging above the pulpit the previous week. I have no doubt that everyone saw it–the power of suggestion given to hundreds of people in hypnosis assures that at least 10 to 25 percent would see whatever he suggested they see.

In most revivalist gatherings, “testifying” or “witnessing” usually follows the fear-based sermon. People from the audience come up on stage and relate their stories. “I was crippled and now I can walk!” “I had arthritis and now it’s gone!” It is a psychological manipulation that works. After listening to numerous case histories of miraculous healings, the average guy in the audience with a minor problem is sure he can be healed. The room is charged with fear, guilt, intense excitement, and expectations.

Now those who want to be healed are frequently lined up around the edge of the room, or they are told to come down to the front. The preacher might touch them on the head firmly and scream, “Be healed!” This releases the psychic energy and, for many, catharsis results. Catharsis is a purging of repressed emotions. Individuals might cry, fall down or even go into spasms. And if catharsis is effected, they stand a chance of being healed. In catharsis (one of the three brain phases mentioned earlier), the brain-slate is temporarily wiped clean and the new suggestion is accepted.

For some, the healing may be permanent. For many, it will last four days to a week, which is, incidentally, how long a hypnotic suggestion given to a somnambulistic subject will usually last. Even if the healing doesn’t last, if they come back every week, the power of suggestion may continually override the problem . . . or sometimes, sadly, it can mask a physical problem which could prove to be very detrimental to the individual in the long run.

I’m not saying that legitimate healings do not take place. They do. Maybe the individual was ready to let go of the negativity that caused the problem in the first place; maybe it was the work of God. Yet I contend that it can be explained with existing knowledge of brain/mind function.

The techniques and staging will vary from church to church. Many use “speaking in tongues” to generate catharsis in some while the spectacle creates intense excitement in the observers.

The use of hypnotic techniques by religions is sophisticated, and professionals are assuring that they become even more effective. A man in Los Angeles is designing, building, and reworking a lot of churches around the country. He tells ministers what they need and how to use it. This man’s track record indicates that the congregation and the monetary income will double if the minister follows his instructions. He admits that about 80 percent of his efforts are in the sound system and lighting.

Powerful sound and the proper use of lighting are of primary importance in inducing an altered state of consciousness–I’ve been using them for years in my own seminars. However, my participants are fully aware of the process and what they can expect as a result of their participation.

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Six Conversion Techniques

Cults and human-potential organizations are always looking for new converts. To attain them, they must also create a brain-phase. And they often need to do it within a short space of time–a weekend, or maybe even a day. The following are the six primary techniques used to generate the conversion. 

The meeting or training takes place in an area where participants are cut off from the outside world. This may be any place: a private home, a remote or rural setting, or even a hotel ballroom where the participants are allowed only limited bathroom usage. In human-potential trainings, the controllers will give a lengthy talk about the importance of “keeping agreements” in life. The participants are told that if they don’t keep agreements, their life will never work. It’s a good idea to keep agreements, but the controllers are subverting a positive human value for selfish purposes. The participants vow to themselves and their trainer that they will keep their agreements. Anyone who does not will be intimidated into agreement or forced to leave. The next step is to agree to complete training, thus assuring a high percentage of conversions for the organizations. They will USUALLY have to agree not to take drugs, smoke, and sometimes not to eat . . . or they are given such short meal breaks that it creates tension. The real reason for the agreements is to alter internal chemistry, which generates anxiety and hopefully causes at least a slight malfunction of the nervous system, which in turn increases the conversion potential.

Before the gathering is complete, the agreements will be used to ensure that the new converts go out and find new participants. They are intimidated into agreeing to do so before they leave. Since the importance of keeping agreements is so high on their priority list, the converts will twist the arms of everyone they know, attempting to talk them into attending a free introductory session offered at a future date by the organization. The new converts are zealots. In fact, the inside term for merchandising the largest and most successful human-potential training is, “sell it by zealot!”

At least a million people are graduates and a good percentage have been left with a mental activation button that assures their future loyalty and assistance if the guru figure or organization calls. Think about the potential political implications of hundreds of thousands of zealots programmed to campaign for their guru.

Be wary of an organization of this type that offers follow-up sessions after the seminar. Follow-up sessions might be weekly meetings or inexpensive seminars given on a regular basis which the organization will attempt to talk you into taking–or any regularly scheduled event used to maintain control. As the early Christian revivalists found, long-term control is dependent upon a good follow-up system. 

Alright. Now, let’s look at the second tip-off that indicates conversion tactics are being used. A schedule is maintained that causes physical and mental fatigue. This is primarily accomplished by long hours in which the participants are given no opportunity for relaxation or reflection. 

The third tip-off: techniques used to increase the tension in the room or environment. 

Number four: Uncertainty. I could spend hours relating various techniques to increase tension and generate uncertainty. Basically, the participants are concerned about being “put on the spot” or encountered by the trainers, guilt feelings are played upon, participants are tempted to verbally relate their innermost secrets to the other participants or forced to take part in activities that emphasize removing their masks. One of the most successful human-potential seminars forces the participants to stand on a stage in front of the entire audience while being verbally attacked by the trainers. A public opinion poll, conducted a few years ago, showed that the number one most-fearful situation an individual could encounter is to speak to an audience. It ranked above window washing outside the 85th floor of an office building. So you can imagine the fear and tension this situation generates within the participants. Many faint, but most cope with the stress by mentally going away. They literally go into an alpha state, which automatically makes them many times as suggestible as they normally are. And another loop of the downward spiral into conversion is successfully effected. 

The fifth clue that conversion tactics are being used is the introduction of jargon–new terms that have meaning only to the “insiders” who participate. Vicious language is also frequently used, purposely, to make participants uncomfortable. 

The final tip-off is that there is no humor in the communications . . . at least until the participants are converted. Then, merry-making and humor are highly desirable as symbols of the new joy the participants have supposedly “found.”

I’m not saying that good does not result from participation in such gatherings. It can and does. But I contend it is important for people to know what has happened and to be aware that continual involvement may not be in their best interest.

Over the years, I’ve conducted professional seminars to teach people to be hypnotists, trainers, and counselors. I’ve had many of those who conduct trainings and rallies come to me and say, “I’m here because I know that what I’m doing works, but I don’t know why.” After showing them how and why, many have gotten out of the business or have decided to approach it differently or in a much more loving and supportive manner.

Many of these trainers have become personal friends, and it scares us all to have experienced the power of one person with a microphone and a room full of people. Add a little charisma and you can count on a high percentage of conversions. The sad truth is that a high percentage of people want to give away their power–they are true “believers”!

Cult gatherings or human-potential trainings are an ideal environment to observe first-hand what is technically called the “Stockholm Syndrome.” This is a situation in which those who are intimidated, controlled, or made to suffer, begin to love, admire, and even sometimes sexually desire their controllers or captors.

But let me inject a word of warning here: If you think you can attend such gatherings and not be affected, you are probably wrong. A perfect example is the case of a woman who went to Haiti on a Guggenheim Fellowship to study Haitian Voodoo. In her report, she related how the music eventually induced uncontrollable bodily movement and an altered state of consciousness. Although she understood the process and thought herself above it, when she began to feel herself become vulnerable to the music, she attempted to fight it and turned away. Anger or resistance almost always assures conversion. A few moments later she was possessed by the music and began dancing in a trance around the Voodoo meeting house. A brain phase had been induced by the music and excitement, and she awoke feeling reborn. The only hope of attending such gatherings without being affected is to be a Buddha and allow no positive or negative emotions to surface. Few people are capable of such detachment.

Before I go on, let’s go back to the six tip-offs to conversion. I want to mention the United States Government and military boot camp. The Marine Corps talks about breaking men down before “rebuilding” them as new men–as marines! Well, that is exactly what they do, the same way a cult breaks its people down and rebuilds them as happy flower sellers on your local street corner. Every one of the six conversion techniques are used in boot camp. Considering the needs of the military, I’m not making a judgment as to whether that is good or bad. IT IS A FACT that the men are effectively brainwashed. Those who won’t submit must be discharged or spend much of their time in the brig.

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Decognition Process

Once the initial conversion is effected, cults, armed services, and similar groups cannot have cynicism among their members. Members must respond to commands and do as they are told, otherwise they are dangerous to the organizational control. This is normally accomplished as a three-step Decognition Process. 

Step One is ALERTNESS REDUCTION: The controllers cause the nervous system to malfunction, making it difficult to distinguish between fantasy and reality. This can be accomplished in several ways. POOR DIET is one; watch out for Brownies and Koolaid. The sugar throws the nervous system off. More subtle is the “SPIRITUAL DIET” used by many cults. They eat only vegetables and fruits; without the grounding of grains, nuts, seeds, dairy products, fish or meat, an individual becomes mentally “spacey.” INADEQUATE SLEEP is another primary way to reduce alertness, especially when combined with long hours of work or intense physical activity. Also, being bombarded with intense and unique experiences achieves the same result. 

Step Two is PROGRAMMED CONFUSION: You are mentally assaulted while your alertness is being reduced as in Step One. This is accomplished with a deluge of new information, lectures, discussion groups, encounters or one-to-one processing, which usually amounts to the controller bombarding the individual with questions. During this phase of decognition, reality and illusion often merge and perverted logic is likely to be accepted. 

Step Three is THOUGHT STOPPING: Techniques are used to cause the mind to go “flat.” These are altered-state-of-consciousness techniques that initially induce calmness by giving the mind something simple to deal with and focusing awareness. The continued use brings on a feeling of elation and eventually hallucination. The result is the reduction of thought and eventually, if used long enough, the cessation of all thought and withdrawal from everyone and everything except that which the controllers direct. The takeover is then complete. It is important to be aware that when members or participants are instructed to use “thought-stopping” techniques, they are told that they will benefit by so doing: they will become “better soldiers” or “find enlightenment.”

There are three primary techniques used for thought stopping. The first is MARCHING: the thump, thump, thump beat literally generates self-hypnosis and thus great susceptibility to suggestion. 

The second thought stopping technique is MEDITATION. If you spend an hour to an hour and a half a day in meditation, after a few weeks, there is a great probability that you will not return to full beta consciousness. You will remain in a fixed state of alpha for as long as you continue to meditate. I’m not saying this is bad–if you do it yourself. It may be very beneficial. But it is a fact that you are causing your mind to go flat. I’ve worked with meditators on an EEG machine and the results are conclusive: the more you meditate, the flatter your mind becomes until, eventually and especially if used to excess or in combination with decognition, all thought ceases. Some spiritual groups see this as nirvana–which is bullshit. It is simply a predictable physiological result. And if heaven on earth is non-thinking and non-involvement, I really question why we are here.

The third thought-stopping technique is CHANTING, and often chanting in meditation. “Speaking in tongues” could also be included in this category.

All three-stopping techniques produce an altered state of consciousness. This may be very good if YOU are controlling the process, for you also control the input. I personally use at least one self-hypnosis programming session every day and I know how beneficial it is for me. But you need to know if you use these techniques to the degree of remaining continually in alpha that, although you’ll be very mellow, you’ll also be more suggestible.

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True Believers & Mass Movements

Before ending this section on conversion, I want to talk about the people who are most susceptible to it and about Mass Movements. I am convinced that at least a third of the population is what Eric Hoffer calls “true believers.” They are joiners and followers . . . people who want to give away their power. They look for answers, meaning, and enlightenment outside themselves.

Hoffer, who wrote THE TRUE BELIEVER, a classic on mass movements, says, “true believers are not intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but are those craving to be rid of unwanted self. They are followers, not because of a desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy their passion for self-renunciation!” Hoffer also says that true believers “are eternally incomplete and eternally insecure”!

I know this from my own experience. In my years of communicating concepts and conducting trainings, I have run into them again and again. All I can do is attempt to show them that the only thing to seek is the True Self within. Their personal answers are to be found there and there alone. I communicate that the basics of spirituality are self-responsibility and self-actualization. But most of the true believers just tell me that I’m not spiritual and go looking for someone who will give them the dogma and structure they desire.

Never underestimate the potential danger of these people. They can easily be molded into fanatics who will gladly work and die for their holy cause. It is a substitute for their lost faith in themselves and offers them as a substitute for individual hope. The Moral Majority is made up of true believers. All cults are composed of true believers. You’ll find them in politics, churches, businesses, and social cause groups. They are the fanatics in these organizations.

Mass Movements will usually have a charismatic leader. The followers want to convert others to their way of living or impose a new way of life–if necessary, by legislating laws forcing others to their view, as evidenced by the activities of the Moral Majority. This means enforcement by guns or punishment, for that is the bottom line in law enforcement. 

A common hatred, enemy, or devil is essential to the success of a mass movement. The Born-Again Christians have Satan himself, but that isn’t enough–they’ve added the occult, the New Age thinkers and, lately, all those who oppose their integration of church and politics, as evidenced in their political reelection campaigns against those who oppose their views. In revolutions, the devil is usually the ruling power or aristocracy. Some human-potential movements are far too clever to ask their graduates to join anything, thus labeling themselves as a cult–but, if you look closely, you’ll find that their devil is anyone and everyone who hasn’t taken their training.

There are mass movements without devils but they seldom attain major status. The True Believers are mentally unbalanced or insecure people, or those without hope or friends. People don’t look for allies when they love, but they do when they hate or become obsessed with a cause. And those who desire a new life and a new order feel the old ways must be eliminated before the new order can be built.

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Persuasion Techniques

Persuasion isn’t technically brainwashing but it is the manipulation of the human mind by another individual, without the manipulated party being aware what caused his opinion shift. I only have time to very basically introduce you to a few of the thousands of techniques in use today, but the basis of persuasion is always to access your RIGHT BRAIN. The left half of your brain is analytical and rational. The right side is creative and imaginative. That is overly simplified but it makes my point. So, the idea is to distract the left brain and keep it busy. Ideally, the persuader generates an eyes-open altered state of consciousness, causing you to shift from beta awareness into alpha; this can be measured on an EEG machine.

First, let me give you an example of distracting the left brain. Politicians use these powerful techniques all the time; lawyers use many variations which, I’ve been told, they call “tightening the noose.”

Assume for a moment that you are watching a politician give a speech. First, he might generate what is called a “YES SET.” These are statements that will cause listeners to agree; they might even unknowingly nod their heads in agreement. Next come the TRUISMS. These are usually facts that could be debated but, once the politician has his audience agreeing, the odds are in the politician’s favor that the audience won’t stop to think for themselves, thus continuing to agree. Last comes the SUGGESTION. This is what the politician wants you to do and, since you have been agreeing all along, you could be persuaded to accept the suggestion. Now, if you’ll listen closely to my political speech, you’ll find that the first three are the “yes set,” the next three are truisms and the last is the suggestion.

“Ladies and gentlemen: are you angry about high food prices? Are you tired of astronomical gas prices? Are you sick of out-of-control inflation? Well, you know the Other Party allowed 18 percent inflation last year; you know crime has increased 50 percent nationwide in the last 12 months, and you know your paycheck hardly covers your expenses any more. Well, the answer to resolving these problems is to elect me, John Jones, to the U.S. Senate.”

And I think you’ve heard all that before. But you might also watch for what are called Imbedded Commands. As an example: On key words, the speaker would make a gesture with his left hand, which research has shown is more apt to access your right brain. Today’s media-oriented politicians and spellbinders are often carefully trained by a whole new breed of specialist who are using every trick in the book–both old and new–to manipulate you into accepting their candidate.

The concepts and techniques of Neuro-Linguistics are so heavily protected that I found out the hard way that to even talk about them publicly or in print results in threatened legal action. Yet Neuro-Linguistic training is readily available to anyone willing to devote the time and pay the price. It is some of the most subtle and powerful manipulation I have yet been exposed to. A good friend who recently attended a two-week seminar on Neuro-Linguistics found that many of those she talked to during the breaks were government people.

Another technique that I’m just learning about is unbelievably slippery; it is called an ANTERSPERSAL TECHNIQUE and the idea is to say one thing with words but plant a subconscious impression of something else in the minds of the listeners and/or watchers.

Let me give you an example: Assume you are watching a television commentator make the following statement: SENATOR JOHNSON is assisting local authorities to clear up the stupid mistakes of companies contributing to the nuclear waste problems.” It sounds like a statement of fact, but, if the speaker emphasizes the right word, and especially if he makes the proper hand gestures on the key words, you could be left with the subconscious impression that Senator Johnson is stupid. That was the subliminal goal of the statement and the speaker cannot be called to account for anything.

Persuasion techniques are also frequently used on a much smaller scale with just as much effectiveness. The insurance salesman knows his pitch is likely to be much more effective if he can get you to visualize something in your mind. This is right-brain communication. For instance, he might pause in his conversation, look slowly around your living room and say, “Can you just imagine this beautiful home burning to the ground?” Of course you can! It is one of your unconscious fears and, when he forces you to visualize it, you are more likely to be manipulated into signing his insurance policy. 

The Hare Krishnas, operating in every airport, use what I call SHOCK AND CONFUSION techniques to distract the left brain and communicate directly with the right brain. While waiting for a plane, I once watched one operate for over an hour. He had a technique of almost jumping in front of someone. Initially, his voice was loud then dropped as he made his pitch to take a book and contribute money to the cause. Usually, when people are shocked, they immediately withdraw. In this case they were shocked by the strange appearance, sudden materialization and loud voice of the Hare Krishna devotee. In other words, the people went into an alpha state for security because they didn’t want to confront the reality before them. In alpha, they were highly suggestible so they responded to the suggestion of taking the book; the moment they took the book, they felt guilty and responded to the second suggestion: give money. We are all conditioned that if someone gives us something, we have to give them something in return–in that case, it was money. While watching this hustler, I was close enough to notice that many of the people he stopped exhibited an outward sign of alpha–their eyes were actually dilated.

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Subliminal Programming

Subliminals are hidden suggestions that only your subconscious perceives. They can be audio, hidden behind music, or visual, airbrushed into a picture, flashed on a screen so fast that you don’t consciously see them, or cleverly incorporated into a picture or design.

Most audio subliminal reprogramming tapes offer verbal suggestions recorded at a low volume. I question the efficacy of this technique–if subliminals are not perceptible, they cannot be effective, and subliminals recorded below the audible threshold are therefore useless. The oldest audio subliminal technique uses a voice that follows the volume of the music so subliminals are impossible to detect without a parametric equalizer. But this technique is patented and, when I wanted to develop my own line of subliminal audiocassettes, negotiations with the patent holder proved to be unsatisfactory. My attorney obtained copies of the patents which I gave to some talented Hollywood sound engineers, asking them to create a new technique. They found a way to psycho-acoustically modify and synthesize the suggestions so that they are projected in the same chord and frequency as the music, thus giving them the effect of being part of the music. But we found that in using this technique, there is no way to reduce various frequencies to detect the subliminals. In other words, although the suggestions are being heard by the subconscious mind, they cannot be monitored with even the most sophisticated equipment.

If we were able to come up with this technique as easily as we did, I can only imagine how sophisticated the technology has become, with unlimited government or advertising funding. And I shudder to think about the propaganda and commercial manipulation that we are exposed to on a daily basis. There is simply no way to know what is behind the music you hear. It may even be possible to hide a second voice behind the voice to which you are listening.

The series by Wilson Bryan Key, Ph.D., on subliminals in advertising and political campaigns well documents the misuse in many areas, especially printed advertising in newspapers, magazines, and posters.

The big question about subliminals is: do they work? And I guarantee you they do. Not only from the response of those who have used my tapes, but from the results of such programs as the subliminals behind the music in department stores. Supposedly, the only message is instructions to not steal: one East Coast department store chain reported a 37 percent reduction in thefts in the first nine months of testing.

A 1984 article in the technical newsletter, “Brain-Mind Bulletin,” states that as much as 99 percent of our cognitive activity may be “non-conscious,” according to the director of the Laboratory for Cognitive Psychophysiology at the University of Illinois. The lengthy report ends with the statement, “these findings support the use of subliminal approaches such as taped suggestions for weight loss and the therapeutic use of hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming.”

Mass Misuse

I could relate many stories that support subliminal programming, but I’d rather use my time to make you aware of even more subtle uses of such programming.

I have personally experienced sitting in a Los Angeles auditorium with over ten thousand people who were gathered to listen to a current charismatic figure. Twenty minutes after entering the auditorium, I became aware that I was going in and out of an altered state. Those accompanying me experienced the same thing. Since it is our business, we were aware of what was happening, but those around us were not. By careful observation, what appeared to be spontaneous demonstrations were, in fact, artful manipulations. The only way I could figure that the eyes-open trance had been induced was that a 6- to 7-cycle-per-second vibration was being piped into the room behind the air conditioner sound. That particular vibration generates alpha, which would render the audience highly susceptible. Ten to 25 percent of the population is capable of a somnambulistic level of altered states of consciousness; for these people, the suggestions of the speaker, if non-threatening, could potentially be accepted as “commands.”

Vibrato

This leads to the mention of VIBRATO. Vibrato is the tremulous effect imparted in some vocal or instrumental music, and the cycle-per-second range causes people to go into an altered state of consciousness. At one period of English history, singers whose voices contained pronounced vibrato were not allowed to perform publicly because listeners would go into an altered state and have fantasies, often sexual in nature.

People who attend opera or enjoy listening to singers like Mario Lanza are familiar with this altered state induced by the performers.

ELFs

Now, let’s carry this awareness a little farther. There are also inaudible ELFs (extra-low frequency waves). These are electromagnetic in nature. One of the primary uses of ELFs is to communicate with our submarines. Dr. Andrija Puharich, a highly respected researcher, in an attempt to warn U.S. officials about Russian use of ELFs, set up an experiment. Volunteers were wired so their brain waves could be measured on an EEG. They were sealed in a metal room that could not be penetrated by a normal signal.

Puharich then beamed ELF waves at the volunteers. ELFs go right through the earth and, of course, right through metal walls. Those inside couldn’t know if the signal was or was not being sent. And Puharich watched the reactions on the technical equipment: 30 percent of those inside the room were taken over by the ELF signal in six to ten seconds.

When I say “taken over,” I mean that their behavior followed the changes anticipated at very precise frequencies. Waves below 6 cycles per second caused the subjects to become very emotionally upset, and even disrupted bodily functions. At 8.2 cycles, they felt very high . . . an elevated feeling, as though they had been in masterful meditation, learned over a period of years. Eleven to 11.3 cycles induced waves of depressed agitation leading to riotous behavior.

There are easy-to-follow techniques in the Neurochemical for doubling or tripling a business. We make it seem magical, like where we wave a wand or stick and “> B•O•O•M<” business doubles!

Naw. It’s not like that. That’s a SILVER BULLET. No one makes bullets out of silver unless you’re hunting werewolfs. WEREWOLVES don’t exist either. Both silver bullets and werewolves are fantasy.

 

It’s taken a decade to figure out the combination to opening excellent potential for businesses. My team and I  go through 86 checkpoints to assure that what we suggest doubles or triples a business.

Here, on this blog, we’ll set you up with a few things to do and let us know how it has worked (or hasn’t worked) in your business [ BinkNyc@gmail.com ]. The knowledge we are giving you here is of no use if you don’t apply it. So, try to apply it.

Some say: “It is easier said than done.”

We say: “Don’t be a lazy ass and try applying the techniques. In fact, don’t try it, just do it.”  Trying something is almost setting yourself up for failure. No TRY, just DO.

^ That might sound a little harsh but this blog is for big boys and girls. If it offends you, we say: “Grow the eff up“. We’re here to generate business and can give a rat’s ass about your vanity, ego or feelings. U Ready?

Seriously, it’s utterly fascinating to us how some overlooked and minor touches to a business works wonders in increasing the bottom line. Often this results in doubling or tripling the business for our clients. We’ve made over $450,000 for less than 10 clients in Astoria. One of many techniques we use is by prescribing the NINE QUESTIONS listed below.

When all is said and done, business owners seldom give us the credit we deserve. They think: “That was easy. I could have done it myself.”

That’s okay. You didn’t think to do it yourself. We did. This is all fine by us. We’re all grown up and don’t require acknowledgement or credit to know what we did to fix the broken issues of a business. That is what they paid us to do for them after all. For us, that’s what matters most.

There are nine questions we ask clients to see if we can double or triple their current business. It also tells us how well they understand business and how well they understand their brand.

If they answer all nine questions correctly and with fluidity, we may NOT be able to help them. They can probably help themselves. More often than not, 4 or 5 of the Nine Questions hadn’t ever crossed their mind.

At that point what we do DO is suggest they hire us to FILL or FIX the gaps in a logical business format. No werewolves, full moons, silver bullets or overnight sensations. It’s just work.

All too often these knowledge gaps have created stumbling road blocks in their business growth. They don’t teach the techniques we perscribe, even at ivy business schools.

BEFORE we hand over the nine questions of things you SHOULD ASK about your business, here’s some things you should NOT do to your business: It’s called un-advertising or un-marketing your business.

If you are going to advertise your own business, please remember that you are an AMATEUR and advertising is a profession like any other. See if you want to admit to yourself that you have no real idea what you are doing. It’s okay.

So many business owners follow what your neighbor does AND THINK that they are successful because of the way they advertise their business. There are often dozens of other factors that have went into their business to bring them where they are. We’ll go into those reasons  below.

Here are two bad examples of businesses trying to advertise and woo customers into their business with some real amateur techniques.

 

Who is the customer that reads the ad below and says to themself: “Oh yeah, look at those freakin’ prices! Look how much money I will save getting shitfaced this evening! I must go here!”

As you may have guessed, this place was empty except for the bartender and her two friends. It’s a shame because it is a very good looking place. I sure hope they figure it out before the FOR RENT sign goes up in a season or so.

Here’s another clueless business owner who at least got a small piece of the advertising game going on. Care to take a crack at what they did right?

First, again, who is the customer?

Why, that’s easy. It’s someone who is ready to drop a few hundred dollars on their next catering order, just walking down the street, moseying along, looking for places that cater fish  and advertise this on the sidewalk. Nope, not, never.

Not too bright. This percieved in the subconscious as looking desperate and needy which is never attractive to anyone: male or female. These business people are subsequently saying is: “WE need money NOW! Place a big order with US now so we can make the money WE need to make NOW!”  The explaination point at the end of the sentence almost assumes, ME, the passerby, had completely forgot that I had to cater an event coming up.

What they did do right tho is place a COMMAND in the language. Some asswipe will likely respond and go in and ask about a catering order. THE BUSINESS OWNER will then say to themselves: “Ahhh, the sidewalk ad worked.”

The customer is an asswipe tho and will unlikely cater any party, any where although it was fun to ask and see the excitement on the shop owners face. Futhermore, it’s not much of a story to tell your neighbora and family members.

We do love to tell stories.

New Q Aesthetic

Okay. One place got it right. The one liner they had on the board released a little shot of dopamine in my brain and got a chuckle out of me. The place was packed so we didn’t actually go in this time, but another time, we shall entre. They created a curious customer off a blackboard on the sidewalk.

This original line: “Alcohol goes in [and] happiness comes out.”

I thought piss comes out when you drink. So, we are calling urine “happiness” now? Now THAT, is some funny shit. 

———————- / @ \ ———————

Here’s one we placed outside of a small cafe that hired us to redesign the interior and remodel the entire business:

We used a brilliant quote from the late, great Irish Decadent: Oscar Wilde. It reflects both sides of the political belief isle in an almost independent and distanced way. Some passerbys were deeply offended. The stopped to read the whole thing, huffed  and stormed off. Others posed next to it with their thumbs rasied, shit-eating grim, etc. Yes sir, we win some, lose some.

 

 

 

 

If we BRANDERS learned ONE THING from the Donald Trump presidency campaign, it is that you can’t go too far with your beliefs. The only problem with beliefs is to be SILENCE and fearful in never speaking up at all. This is considered weak by any standards. In advertising, NEVER BE TOO AFRAID TO OFFEND. People like it much more then they will openly admit.

People love to complain. If you don’t give them something to complain about, they’ll find something anyway.

 

 

So, if you are a smart cookie, and we suspect you might, you are probably wondering “WHAT DOES THIS QUOTE HAVE TO DO with GENERATING new BUSINESS?”

Our answer: “EVERYTHING!”

In fact, this was placed outside the second week of reopening the little cafe business. That week we doubled the income of the business from the week before. The people who agreed with the quote came in because they believe what we believe.  This income doubled again the third week. The sign had a considerable part in generating the income of this business.

How?

People like to patronize businesses that share the same beliefs and values. This is What a Brandis… We were selling cupcakes, coffee and ice cream but what we are also selling is a conversation and a chance to engage is a like-minded value and belief. And we were doing it with confidence. And a little bit of crass attitude with the last line: “Have a cupcake, cupcake.”

Ice cream and cupcakes are hedonistic indulgences while coffee drinks are a daily American staple. DECADENCE was writ in all caps and the largest word to be read at a distance besides the name of the place: Qdyssey.

The QUOTE is a strong statement which aligned the newly branded persona of the businesswith a position and belief. We happened to know that the Greeks in the area would definitely get a kick out of it. They love looking down on America and the lack of culture exhibited here. Indeed, they did.

 

ADVERTISEMENTS

 

 

 

 

 

If you do plan on doing an advertisement all by yourself I have a great suggestion. Get a hold of an old advertising award book (hard cover) and read every single ad in that book. Some suggested AWARD books to get: The Art Directors’ Club, D&AD, The One Show, HOW (Magazine), CLIO Awards, OBIE Awards, EFFIE Awards, Communication Arts (Advertising).

It will take you an hour or two to poir through on book. There are 100s of great ads and it’s as enjoyable to read as dropping and bratty, know-it-all teenager covered in blood into a swimming pool filled with hungry piranha. 

You’ll at least understand what it takes to make a good advertisement. F*ck it, steal a few ads right out of the book. No one will know and no one will really care. Especially, if you get the old ad AWARD books from the 60s, 70s and 80s, the copywriter and art directors are probably already dead. You win. You haven’t bored PASSERBYS to death with listing your prices or writing whatever shit you are selling on SALE or because you think people care about what you wrote. They don’t.

fini…

Any questions? mailto: BinkNyc@gmail.com

 

NINE QUESTIONS

(to double your business)

1. Who is your customer?

Hands Down! This is the first question any business owner needs to ask themselves. If you want to make money, WHO is going to pay you, is the thing you what you want to know first.

2. What is the value of the service or product you are offering?

You know what you are selling. Is the message clear? Are you unadvertising or unmarketing your product or service by mistake?

3. How are you planning to reach and communicate to your customer?

Some options are: Print ads, Radio or TV or cable, Word-of-Mouth, reputation-based, e-mail, direct mail, posters, flyers business cards, networking, guerilla, native advertising, point-of-sale, etc…

4. What type of relationship do you plan on having with your customer?

Such as: personal, professional, online, community, telephone, text, social media.

5. How will you make revenue for the service or product you are providing?

Cash, check, credit, paypal, affiliate programs, credit cards, etc…

6. What are the resources you will need to be able to deliver the product or service?

These are the main things you need to give your customer in terms of value, delivery, pick up, drop off, suppliers, stock, shipping and handling, etc…

7. What type of activities do you need to do to fulfill the customer with the value you provide?

This is how the whole operation gets done. What must you do to fulfill the obligations and orders.

8. What type of partnership can you form or align to differentiate your fulfillment to the customer?

This are those others who can help you or who(m) you can help with your business. Think of this as a form of expasion that you haven’t considered yet. One of your suppliers can be one of your greatest assets.

9. What will all of this cost?

These are ALL THE COSTS you will need to drive your business. List them so you are clear where the money is going out.

 

DOUBLING THE BUSINESS

So the questions to consider are, Where can I expand? What is my competition doing in Extras that We are not doing? What other services or products can I provide which will drive more revenue to my business?

Go through the nine questions again for another business you know and understand. You’ll want to ask or analyze a successful business within your scale and revenue range (solopreneur, entrepreneur, small, medium, large).  You WILL find gaps that can and should be filled. FILL THEM!

This is how we help clients double their business. The good ones who are willing to listen and put in the work will do triple their business. Some in as few as a coulle of weeks or months. Some take years and most will never get anywhere or close their doors.

Yes. These are the nine questions anyone opening a business should be able to answer. Not only that, it would serve the business even better to have each of the answers be flexible meaning, don’t assume your plan is the only plan that will work. The marketplace is NEVER GOING BEND TO YOUR WILL. You should bend to their will. This way you can address the customer’s needs, wants and desires in a better fashion.

We use these nine questions as a starting point. In an actual meeting, with myself or an associate, we go into much greater detail. There are many other considerations to consider in order to double or triple a business but in answering these nine questions gets you that much closer to seeing what is actually going on. It doesn’t matter if you just seek growth or are in financial trouble and the business is suffering. Double is double.

Let us know how we can help. We would be honored at the prospect. We can help. All you have to do is call.

🤒 : Breuk IVersen
🤖 : (718) 578-6613
👹 : BinkNyc.com
😍 : BinkNyc@gmail.com