Fun story:
I attended the Sheep & Wool Festival this weekend in Deerfield, New Hampshire.
Sheep, fleeces, wool for spinning, yarn, yummy snacks, and super cool people who are obsessed with all things sheep.
It’s usually on Mother’s Day weekend, but it rained…
… and then it got rescheduled to yesterday…
…Hurray for me!
AND:
When I got to the festival I met a shepherd.
A real live shepherd…
An man who tends sheep for a living.
He also raises Border Collies as sheep dogs.
He taught a class on using those dogs to corral the sheep inside a certain corner of the pasture.
He used his words… words like: “That’ll do.”
And he used other tools, like:
- The sound of his voice… firm, but loving.
- His commands… clear and unmistakable.
- His presence… straight posture, feet firmly planted, and even…
- His crooked shepherd’s cane… sweeping and pointing in the direction he wanted the dogs to move.
All these things he used to get the dogs and sheep working together towards a certain goal: getting the sheep in the corral.
But the most amazing part was probably invisible to the other students in our class…
Here it is:
He chose specific dogs for the class.
Certainly he has more than 4 dogs on the farm… it only makes sense to have lots of dogs when you herd lots of sheep.
So that means he chose specific dogs to work with specific sheep to achieve a specific goal.
And that sounds like direct response marketing…
… your carefully crafted sales messages working with your ideal buyers to sell your products!
Yes, I admit: I just likened your ideal buyers to sheep, but I mean no harm. (It was a sheep & wool festival… I got excited!)
Besides, you should have seen the dogs:
- Dot with her arthritic hips and sparkly bright eyes;
- Bonnie with all the freshness and sass of youth who kept separating the sheep by color… for giggles; and
- Nellie who was steady as the day is long.
They were so great.
I wish you could have seen them.
Back to my point: Choose your dogs and your sheep wisely. Otherwise, the sheep’ll jump the fence. (Or maybe build a taller fence. Dan Kennedy likes to recommend that idea.)
A gentle suggest:
If you’d like to know who your ideal buyer is, we can sort that out in about 15 minutes by Skype. It’s a free consultation. There’s no obligation. Click here to reserve your spot.
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