Hot Fun In The Summertime

Dear Friend,

I remember meeting my first love like it was yesterday.  I met her when I was 14 I think -- summer of 1977, down in lower Manhattan near City Hall, on the corner of Park Row.

She was big... bold -- younger than me -- and frankly she was built like a brick shithouse.

In fact, she was a brick shithouse.  A big one.

J & R Music World has been on the corner of Park Row, since 1971.  And the first time I stumbled into the store, I was in music Nirvana.  It was my first summer holding down a proper job -- I was a messenger boy.

You see, before fax machines... overnight delivery... and e-mail -- even before bike messengers -- if you needed something right away, you'd call up a messenger company and have them pick something up from one location and deliver it to another.

I was making $2.90 an hour, which was minimum wage at the time, and I worked as many hours as they were willing to give me.  I'd take the number 15 or the number 17 bus to the train station in the Bronx, and then I'd either take the D train or the number 4 train downtown.

I'd been a music "junkie" all my life, and since my family never really ventured into Manhattan, this was a tremendous learning experience for me -- one I'd continue until I moved out of New York in 1989. 

J & R stocked more albums from more different artists, than I had ever even thought existed.  And their prices were VERY affordable -- even for a foot messenger like me.  So I'd often go out of my way to make deliveries in that area, just so I could stop in and shop for music.  I remember buying every single Doors album there, as well as The Eagles Hotel California, and just walking up and down the aisles in AWE of what I was seeing.  I really was a kid in a candy shop.

Of course, later on I found Tower Records, and all the other used record stores down in Greenwich Village, so J & R lost its lustre a bit, but the memories I have are still fond ones.

Recently, J & R rolled out a loyalty program designed to get you to go to their online store directly, as opposed to first doing some comparison shopping for CD's and whatnot, on a shopping engine site, and then getting directed there by an affiliate link.

What they are doing, is if you buy from them directly, they are giving you "points" you can use toward future purchases.  In other words, they are incentivizing you to go to them directly.

While this sounds good, I'm not sure if it makes sense, and here's why:

First off, I have no idea what they are paying for affiliate commissions, but it's not as simple as this. 

See, most of the people who are comparison shopping, are penny-pinching.  They want to know if a CD costs 12.99 or 13.49.  They want to know how much shipping costs from Park Row to Montclair New Jersey using UPS versus the US Postal Service.  And if it's cheaper, is it cheaper than Amazon.com or e-bay.

I'm not sure they are "loyal" to anyone.  They don't want "points" LATER, they want 50 cents off, now.

And these are the things you really need to be thinking about.  Yes, your numbers are MOST important, but what is your ultimate goal, and most important, do your CUSTOMERS have the same goals, and are you meeting them?

No, it is not a simple answer, but there again, coming up with clever ways of attracting new customers usually isn't that simple, now is it?

Yesterday, the Double Summer Issue of Seductive Selling arrived from the printers, and lordy lordy, are you in for a treat.  On page 5, I'm having a contest giveaway for the person who comes up with the best way of taking a VERY humorous marketing piece, and making it viral.  On page 2, I'm going to show you what may possibly be the BIGGEST waste of advertising dollars I have ever seen... and on page 3, you'll discover how to literally "Party" with me, face to face.

If you're not on the list, YOU too, are wasting precious time!  So hop to it and join the rest of the leaders, and get your free trial subscription right here:  http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Now go sell something,

Craig Garber

P.S. Order The Seductive Selling System and not only will you uncover 47 Ways To Push Your Prospects Emotional Buy-Buttons, but you'll also get a COMPLETELY FREE trial subscription to The Seductive Selling Newsletter AND $794 Dollars worth of FREE Bonus gifts.  Check it out NOW at http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive

Any comments?

Send them to me by scooting over to the contact form on my "Here's How To Contact Craig" page, and maybe I'll publish them -- I appreciate your feedback!

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