Bread Crumbs; They Aren't Just for Ducks!

As a business owner, how many times have you sat there scratchin' your rear end wondering, "How can I get my customers engaged?" Or if you have employees, "How can I get my staff's attention in a new way or win them over with an idea?" Want to stand out and be different? You might call it lying, but I like to think of it as getting creative. Here are some personal examples of how I have used lying creativity to engage my "customers." The examples are all over the board, but my hope is that they might ignite some ideas for you!

Email:-How to engage your customers or employees and get their attention with email.
We all receive so many emails, so how do you ensure that your email will not be overlooked? It's all in the subject line! Make your subject line stand out and get noticed.  Now assuming that the recipient of your email recognizes your email address and it's not pegged as spam, you can get creative with the subject line. A few years ago, I sent an email to 60-plus members of a non-profit organization I was involved with. The recipients recognized my email address, but the problem was nobody seemed to be opening and reading the emails due to the fact that there were so many being sent by so many members and unfortunately, some of them were trivial. They were simply being overlooked. Yet, isn't it interesting that when I typed "Inappropriate Photos" in the subject line, 93% of all the recipients not only opened the email but they read the email. Now of course there weren't any inappropriate photos but I knew that those two words would grab anyone's attention regardless of how naughty or nice they were. And once they opened and began reading the email, I stated, "Now that I've got your attention, please be sure to..." So yes, get creative with your subject line! Fibbing a little and making it all in fun can actually yield great results when sending an email blast.

Winning over your employees  Employees are a lot like children. I'm a former elementary P.E. teacher and getting 10-year-old boys and girls through a dance lesson wasn't always the easiest task. The girls who were in dance 5 days a week at the local studios felt like Cotton-Eye-dJoe was beneath them. And the boys would rather be playing tackle football. After years of dreading the dance lesson, I realized I had to rely on lying creativity to not only teach them the dance but more importantly, enjoy the dance! It went something like this..."Show of hands, how many of you have ever wanted to be on TV? Ya know, be famous? Oh wow, that's all of you! Well kids, I have great news! Today, we have a chance at being on TV! Last week, I received a phone call from a producer who is looking to film a video on HOW to dance. They need elementary-school students who are athletic, good looking, and, most of all, great dancers. Now I know, we don't love to dance, but we do love to pretend, don't we? If we pretend that we love to dance and we look like we're having fun and we follow the choreography, we just might have a chance at being on TV! That means big smiles, high energy, positive attitudes, and sharp, crisp moves. Just think, we might even get paid to dance! Last night, the producers installed microscopic cameras right above our TV monitors. If you look up, you can still see some of the dust from the installation. Who's in?" And the rest is history. They loved dancing that day and they didn't want it to end! My gut tells me, that most of those kids knew it was a lie creative teaching, but they played along since it allowed them to be free and not feel self conscious about doing the Cotton-Eyed-Joe dance!

Networking/Presenting your business I recently attended a social media training, and halfway through the class, the instructor asked all 29 of us to stand up one-by-one and give an explanation of our business. We've all been there; Rambling Roberta talks too long; Sell It Sam goes for the high- pressure spiel; Can't Hear You Candice is so soft spoken we don't know when she began or ended her explanation; Too Much Info Ernie tries to explain every detail of his business in 60 seconds only to find that he's about as engaging as an DMV employee without the 44 oz. Mountain Dew. Since I was the 26th speaker and it was pushing 9pm, I had no choice but to stand up and say, "I'm the proud owner and creator of It's a Crumby Life. We sell bread crumbs. Ya know, those leftover pieces and particles of flour that you wipe off the kitchen table. We sell them for profit. We have white, wheat, sourdough, and soon-to-be marble rye. As you know, people nowadays are really trying to cut down on the amount of carbs they eat; eating a full piece of bread is just too much for them. That's why I invented It's a Crumby Life. They're just crumbs! They might be small but at least they're dry. Bread crumbs; they aren't just for ducks!" I quickly saw that I had everyone's attention, whether it was out of total disbelief or genuine intrigue over, "Hey, this gal is on to something," I didn't care. The point is, I got their attention and they were engaged.

You can't sell or invite or train anyone on anything unless you get them engaged first! Let me repeat that. You can't sell or invite or train anyone on anything unless you get them engaged first!

So the next time you send an email, teach, or train your employees- or a bread crumb gets stuck on your cheek- I hope you think of me and remember to lie get creative so you can engage your customers/audience! And when you do, send me your lie creative idea. I'd love to hear about it!

Jenny
Jenny@creativemessagemedia.com
480-225-0128