Never forget the power of a demonstration in marketing

Way back in the olden days (2001) I started my first marketing job for a television home shopping company. We made (or bought) infomercials. I was always astounded at just how persuasive they could be- even when I was sitting holding a pretty crappy product, after watching a 25 minute infomercial, I was ready to buy - with or without those steak knives!

The reason these were so powerful is that there were always demonstrations. SHOWING how the product or service could be used.  It's the same reason cooking shows are so popular - even if people aren't going to cook, they love to watch it unfold.

These days, if you're selling a product, you dont need to buy expensive air time for demonstrations. You can make a video on your iphone, edit it on your Mac with the free iMovie software, and voila - you have a hugely powerful selling tool for knicks.

Need some convincing?

Check out this FABULOUS demo video on one of my favourite online stationary stores, Notemaker.com. I know I'm ready to buy some of these markers....even though I can't draw and have no real use for them!

Handy (and cheap) deep etching service for photos

Just a quick one today - but this is such a great potential "zero budget" service for any of you selling online, or in PR, that I thought it rated a mention.

Pheditor is an Aussie based super cheap a photo editing service.

You upload pics to be "deep etched" (basically cut out of their background) and they do it in 2-3 days for $5 a shot or less If you have to pay a graphic designer to do it, you will pay anywhere from $30-$60 an image. So it really is a bargain and firmly in the zero budget marketing tools camp.

Why would you deep etch an image? It gives you a clean image to use online, or in a catalogue or editorial spread. I've used a pic from their blog to illustrate.

I've never used these guys, and I don't know them, but this is such a good price it's worth checking out if you need the service.