The story goes like this.  Each day a border patrol guard saw a man crossing the border with several donkeys.  The guard would search all the packs certain the man was smuggling something.  But, never found anything.  This happened day in and day out for a month.  Finally, the guard and the border crosser met up at a local tavern.  The guard said “I know you were smuggling something.  Will you finally tell me what it is and I promise not to report you.”  “Sure,” the smuggler said.  “I was smuggling donkeys.  You were so busy looking for something the donkeys were carrying, it never occurred to you that it was the donkeys themselves I was smuggling.”

Your market, your target, your “next big thing” is hiding right in front of your eyes – in plain sight.  But, if you are like most people, you are so busy focused on something else you miss it.  There are many stories of how people made fortunes doing the obvious in books like Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich.  Well, here is one of mine for a client.

I have the honor to represent one of the most successful attorneys in the country, Leonard A. Bellavia of Bellavia Gentile & Associates.  They are one of the most well known and respected law firms representing auto dealers in the country.

Last year I organized a press conference in front of the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.  Reporters from across the country and around the world attended.  The topic was Auto Manufacturers that were terminating franchises as part of the Chrysler bankruptcy.  The topic received extensive news coverage and you can watch a video of the press conference on You Tube.

Yesterday, a reporter from a major cable news station was in a Long Island dealership getting his car serviced.  He began talking to the owner about how awful it was certain dealers had their franchises taken and now they are in arbitration to get them back.  My client will now appear on national news again.  Why?  Because we know how to seize on opportunities right in front of us.

Why am I telling you this?  I believe many, many people are missing great opportunities right in front of them.  Let me give you a few practical ways to put this into action.

1. Talk to strangers. The people at the grocery store, the hair salon, in the elevator may be just the person you want to reach.  If you don’t find out who they are, how will you know?
2. Make a list of all the people you know.  Make sure that each one of them knows what you need or what you are looking for.  How can they help you if they don’t know what you need?  And, this isn’t about hard selling.  It goes like this.  “Have I mentioned to you that we have a $99 special on kids eyeglasses?  Yeah, with summer camp season coming up we wanted to remind parents to get their kids an extra pair of glasses – just in case.
3. Look around for clues to what you want and need. This is about staying in the present.  I’m writing this entry on Friday so most people are thinking about setting themselves up for “next week”.  That’s fine.  But don’t miss the opportunities you may find today – just because it is Friday and people are more accessible, in a better mood, etc.
4. The people you don’t know yet are your future clients or connectors to your clients/customers. Make it a point to get to know them now.

I’ll close with a real life “Duh” story of my own.

I went to a networking lunch and met Bill Nicoletti, President of Driven Local.  He is a specialist – and one of the best – at creating successful Google Ad word campaigns.   We made and broke numerous appointments for lunch over the next two months.  Finally, I asked Bill if he played golf.  He did and two days later we were golfing.  You get to know a person in five hours on the golf course in a way you never could over five lunches.  The opportunity for us to partner to help businesses is explosive.  And, there it was, right under our noses.  Never would have known if we hadn’t said hello and followed up.  With follow-up being the most important part.

So, just who is that person standing next to you in line anyway?

At first, I often encounter resistance to this advice. Clients say, “We don’t do just one thing.” “That’s great news,” I say. “Now we have a marketing campaign! We can tell them about all of your services, one at a time. Each month we will highlight one part of your offering.” Another reason for the “one at a time” strategy has to do with frequency. You know you have to hear about a business many times before it is remembered. Sending one message a month over six months gives you a reason to “stay in touch” with your audience. If you sent the same message six times people would say “I saw this already” and throw it away. Now, a whole book has been written to support my advice.

In her new book, The Art of Choosing, author Sheena Iyengar describes a taste testing experiment. On one table there are 28 choices of jam. On another, there are six. Guess which table had the most sales? The table with 28 choices, right? There has to be something on that table for everyone so everyone should buy, right? Wrong. More sales came from the table with fewer offerings. Why? The answer in Sheena’s book is that people don’t like too many choices. The 28 options of jam overwhelm them so they walk away without buying. I agree. That is why I advise my clients that less is more. Less is easier to remember.

For years Carvel ice cream was really simple. You could have vanilla or chocolate or a combination of vanilla and chocolate. Then Baskin Robbins came along offering 32 flavors of ice cream. Suddenly there was the idea if you don’t offer lots of flavors people won’t buy your ice cream. I disagree. If I walk into an ice cream store, I want ice cream and I’m going to buy ice cream. I’ll find a flavor I like whether there are 2, 6 or 32 offered. Ever go into Coldstone? The first time I did, I was paralyzed. I had no idea ice cream could be so complicated – or so expensive. I had no idea what to do. Fortunately, Coldstone predicted that and created some pre-packaged offerings. Thank goodness. If they hadn’t, I may have walked out without buying any thing because I was so confused.

Want to sell more? Keep it Short. Keep it Simple. Coke or Pepsi? Easy. Sale. 28 flavors of jam. Hard. No sale. Life’s hard enough and then you want me to choose among 28 flavors of jam? No thanks.

So, are you still the World’s Greatest Pop Star if you can’t perform? I’m thinking maybe not.

Robert Pattinson, the gorgeous vampire in Twilight says he can’t stand the screaming.  He loves that people made him an overnight movie star.  He enjoys the crowds.  But he can’t stand the screaming.  I don’t blame him.  Imagine what it would be like if everywhere you went you heard screaming.

What about this: if you can’t get it, is it of value?  A couple of years ago everyone wanted a Wii but no one could get it.  A few months later when I saw them on display everywhere I went, people were not buying them.  They lost their cache.  “Yeah.  I wanted one then but not now…I got over it.”

Will people “get over” Justin Beiber and move on to someone else because they can’t get to him?  Maybe.

Why am I talking about this?  Because, controlling your market is important to having a market.  Supply has to meet demand or demand fades. You need to understand the market.  You need to control your market.  Measure your popularity and gauge your delivery accordingly.

Dressbarn, a lower-end women’s clothing chain, is running a print ad that says: Live within your means. Dress beyond them.

Today’s New York Times has an article on the front page of its Styles section that says: Why do those khaki’s cost $550? The answer was, because that’s what they can get.

Tis the season for “smart spending” and if you are selling something, you better make buying it smart.

Regardless of how much money you have, right now spending lavishly is out. If you do, you are considered foolish and out of touch. Like those auto company CEOs who flew on private jets to Washington to ask for a bail out. It didn’t matter that it was probably cheaper than flying coach because the plane was just sitting there anyway – and there is no extra charge for bags or overweight bags on a jet you own. They didn’t spend wisely. They were considered “crazy”. That was the perception. The reality is they were crazy like a fox.

In marketing and politics, perception is reality. So, I say, set your fees wisely. Make your services or products a “smart buy”. Whether you sell your khakis for $49 or $499, they have to be considered a wise purchase to be bought today.

You need to create a “while you’re at it” reason to buy. My painters say, “While we are here we will paint the other rooms for 30% less than if we go away and come back next month”.

Or, state your fee in terms of a per use price point. I design tons of logos. For some very strange reason there is sometimes resistance to spending on a logo. When I tell my clients they need to take the fee I charge for a logo and divide it by the number of times that logo will be seen in a day, month, year to get the “per use” cost, spending on a professionally designed, original logo makes more sense than pulling something off the internet and sticking your name to it. Because your logo will be everywhere. And everywhere it is, it will be sending a message. The message may be, I’m an original, one-of-a-kind company or it may be, I am a run-of-the-mill “me too” company.

Again, as I always say, you need to factor in a buyer’s emotion when creating a marketing strategy. Right now the emotion is “be smart” about your purchases and your money. What you need to do is tune into that emotion of wanting to be smart and make your sale a smart sale; a wise purchase. And, it can be $49 or $499. It doesn’t matter. As long as it’s smart.

Today, The New York Times ran an article about modernizing Kodak with social sharing.

I think Kodak’s new campaign created by Partners & Napier is brilliant.  First, because I thought Kodak was dead.  I am sure I am not the only person who thought this.  The ability to revive a brand that everyone loved – who didn’t love Kodak’s Polaroid cameras that let you instantly see a photo in the old days.

Second, the campaign creates “Katie” an “archetypal consumer” serving as the family’s Chief Memory Officer.  What family doesn’t know – or want – one of those? With this campaign, Kodak has instantly created someone we can all identify – in about 30 seconds.  Here’s a hint.  He or she is the one who is always sending out, digging up and taking photos.

Third, by creating the marketing tactic of Social Sharing of Kodak moments, a brand has been revived and relevant.

This is no small campaign.  There will be a Times Square video; television commercials; print ads; a microsite at kodakmoments.com; animated online ads; an integration into the Celebrity Apprentice,YouTube and Facebook, of course.

Finally, the brilliance of the ad campaign includes the use of what is already there.  The days of reinventing the wheel are over.  Although the tactic is borrowed from Apple (what isn’t), the use of share buttons that can tag pictures for email, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, as well as creation of a Kodak Gallery – Apple users will recognize this as the same as the ‘mobileme gallery app,’ the point is, it’s there, it works, use it!

Whether there will be a market for this revival of Kodak or not remains to be seen.  The Keds campaign flunked because today’s kids did not know what Keds sneakers were – never mind are.  The same may happen to Kodak.  But, there is more of an emotional pull with the Kodak Moment so it has a chance in my opinion.

Kudos to Kodak!