How Prince Connects With His Target Market!

While Internet legend (and young pup) Frank Kern would have you believe that I'm so old I should be confined to a wheelchair, I'm still on the good side of 100! And I can stil enjoy a good concert from time to time.

My daughter - Rachel, my wife and I had the good fortune to score some last-minute tickets to the recent Prince concert here in Atlanta. The concert itself was nothing short of amazing. Prince is a master musician who really knows how to play to his audience - and play his audience.

Of course, marketing concepts and lessons to be learned are never far from my mind - and this concert was no exception.

Morris Day and the Time kicked off the concert with a few songs to get the crowd revved up. And inquiring minds got the first clue about how they would do that.

In their 30-40 minute set, they mentioned Atlanta, A-T-L or Georgia about 20 times.

Questions like "Are you ready to party...Atlanta?" "Tell me, Georgia, are you ready for a good time tonight?"

Statements like "We love A-T-L!"

Even if you've never been to a concert before you imagine the roar of the crowd at every single mention of... the specific thing they could identify with.

But Prince absolute took this to a higher level. I lost track of exact count, but we're talking 70-80 mentions of those magic words. And the crowd never lost interest or got bored of hearing them. Perfect proof that people never get tired of hearing positive things about themselves!

But what really took down the house and gave Prince and his band ownership of these thousands of people for the night (and probably several days to come) was the salute to the late great Ray Charles. One of the horn players delivered an outstanding version of "Georgia On My Mind" to a standing ovation. Now, it may be that they do this at every concert, but it's particularly poignant in Georgia.

The important marketing lesson here is that you need to create a connection with your target market. And you can't do that effectively with generic phrases.

Look at these choices to open a headline:

"Drivers:"

Who cares?

"Truck Drivers:"

A bit more defined. Some possible identification.

"Long Haul Truck Drivers:"
"Rusted Out Truck Drivers:"
"King Cab Truck Drivers:"
"Dump Truck Drivers:"

Immediately, your brain does a quick test to see if you identify with one of these. If you do, there's a little part of you that says, "Hey...that's me!"

Depending on your target, you may be able to move in a little tighter like:

"Georgia Long Haul Truck Drivers:"
"Cowboy King Cab Truck Drivers:"
"Texas Cowboy King Cab Truck Drivers:"

Can you see how the more you narrow down your target, the more the prospect identifies that this message is for him?

When you can make that happen, your prospect pays more Attention and you get a little closer to making a sale.

You can also target in by creating identification with a problem:

"Are You Overworked And Underpaid?" (Note: Combine this phrase with "Georgia Long Haul Truckers" and see how your readership will skyrocket.)

"Allergy Sufferers:"
"Parents Of Children With ADHD:"
"To The Wife Whose Husband Won't Save A Dime:"

Obviously, you only want to use ideas that lead into the solution you want to sell. But these lead-ins help you follow the classic sales pattern of

Identify A Problem

Agitate The Reader About The Problem (like picking a scab)

Deliver The Perfect Solution

As my friend and mentor Dan Kennedy would say:

If you can identify the 2 or 3 things that keep your prospect awake at 3 a.m. - with his stomach churning from the boiling acid - then you can truly step into the shoes of your prospect and create instant identification with him.

So the next time that you're thinking about your marketing and sales campaigns (which should be most of the time), take a few moments to focus on how you can more closely identify with your target.

Yours in success,

Shawn Casey

Internet Millionaire Shawn Casey's "Mining Gold On the Internet" is one of the best selling Internet books with over 85,000 copies sold. In "Mining Gold", Shawn reveals the same step-by-step strategies he uses to create millions in Internet sales => http://www.ipcgold.com/ad/100/CD3839 Benefit from Shawn's 7 years of Internet experience and learn from someone who has actually made millions online.

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Google News Updated : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:05:17 GMT Rescuers can't get aid to starving Haitian city - The Associated Press CBC.ca Rescuers can't get aid to starving Haitian city The Associated Press - 1 hour ago GONAIVES, Haiti (AP) - The convoy rumbled out of the UN base toward a flooded, starving and seething city Thursday, carrying some of the first food aid since Tropical Storm Hanna drowned Gonaives in muddy water three days ago. Sorrow and hunger overwhelm Haitian storm shelter Reuters At least 90 killed as tropical storm Hanna passes by Haiti Xinhua Inquirer.net - Aljazeera.net - International Herald Tribune - Air Force Link all 1,894 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:01:18 GMT Gustav’s Rains Delay Cup Playoffs - New York Times Los Angeles Times Gustav’s Rains Delay Cup Playoffs New York Times - 2 hours ago By LARRY DORMAN ST. LOUIS - Torrential rain from the remnants of Hurricane Gustav drenched the Bellerive Country Club on Thursday and washed out the first round of the BMW Championship, the third of four events in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs. Hit the virtual green with new 'Tiger' golf game USA Today 'Tiger Woods' tops this season's golf games International Herald Tribune Sports Network - The Associated Press - PGA Tour - Reuters all 496 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:09:34 GMT Roger Federer advances at US Open - Los Angeles Times TVNZ Roger Federer advances at US Open Los Angeles Times - 3 hours ago Elise Amendola / AP Roger Federer of Switzerland defeated Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5), to reach the semifinals of the US Open. Federer Rolls Past Muller New York Times Federer's year of living defensively - Tennis ESPN Sports Network - The Associated Press - NJ.com - Bloomberg all 1,329 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:39:50 GMT Bush advised to back modest troop cuts in Iraq - Reuters Washington Post Bush advised to back modest troop cuts in Iraq Reuters - 1 hour ago By Andrew Gray WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top US defense officials have recommended that President George W. Bush withdraw one combat brigade from Iraq but not until early next year, Pentagon sources said on Thursday. Military officials: No troop cuts this year CNN International Sources: Bush advised to delay troop cuts in Iraq The Associated Press New York Times - AFP - Voice of America - Los Angeles Times all 561 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:06:35 GMT Cheney seeks to bolster Ukraine - BBC News ABC News Cheney seeks to bolster Ukraine BBC News - 7 hours ago US Vice-President Dick Cheney is in Ukraine on the last stop on his tour of the region aimed at showing support for US allies in the former Soviet Union. Video: Cheney Slams Russia for War Against Georgia AssociatedPress Conflict in Georgia May Raise Pressure on Russia’s Oligarchs New York Times Reuters India - Voice of America - Scotsman - Bloomberg all 2,000 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:52:03 GMT GOP Convention Spin, Part II - Newsweek BBC News GOP Convention Spin, Part II Newsweek - 1 hour ago Palin trips up on her facts, and Giuliani and Huckabee have their own stumbles on Night 3 of the Republican confab. By Viveca Novak | factcheck. Video: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani Full Speech at the RNC CSPAN Palin packs a punch Augusta Chronicle New York Times - CNN Political Ticker - Atlantic Online - New York Daily News all 933 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:41:06 GMT Work by Hopkins team lights way to cancer 'milestone' - Baltimore Sun Voice of America Work by Hopkins team lights way to cancer 'milestone' Baltimore Sun - 1 hour ago By Frank D. Roylance | frank.roylance@baltsun.com Researchers cataloging the genetic codes of deadly human brain and pancreatic cancers say they have found several dozen defective genes that appear to work in concert to set off the tumor growth that ... Gene trawl shows curing cancer harder than thought Reuters Genetic Mutations Linked to Deadly Cancers U.S. News & World Report Voice of America - The Associated Press - Bloomberg - GenomeWeb News (subscription) all 170 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:10:52 GMT RSS Software More Web Site Traffic

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