Frank Giovinazzi

This gives new meaning to fat finger.

I was really happy with the first video I made on my phone. I usually use the desktop webcam. But I wanted to have more flexibility to do these on the go.

The video was short the message was snappy and it looked pretty good when I was looking back at myself on the screen.

But then I played it back.

In the beginning of the video part of my finger was covering part of the camera. It is noticeable but not to the point where it ruined the video. Or the message.

I laughed and posted it anyway.

I’m going to make a lot more. I’m going to check for my finger before I press record.

If someone notices I will laugh with them. It was a mistake.

But I didn’t ruin the soufflé. And I’ve made some funny looking cakes as well. But they all tasted great.

I know there’s an exotic Japanese term for imperfections in artwork but I don’t even care to look it up. I don’t need to put a Band-Aid on it by trying to sound cool.

I produced a slightly imperfect product that delivered on the promise. That’s my job.

Over the years I have found typographical errors of course in my writing and if it’s a live version I usually fix it just because.

But I’ve never found one that ruined the promise.

That’s all I’m really concerned about. Am I delivering what I am telling people I am going to deliver.

This is not an excuse for sloppiness or being unprepared or selling junk. Everyone has their own line for quality and integrity. Mine is pretty high. But I will cut myself a break on blemishes.

What I’m really talking about is a line between vanity and effectiveness. Your goal is to be effective. Your minor mistakes over time will only prove that you were human. That you are a worker who sometimes isn’t perfect.

If this is something that concerns you just think about the blooper reels you have seen over the years either on television or in the end credits of movies. Even Youtubers do extended cuts and blooper reels where they blew their lines or a prop didn’t work and they all bust out laughing. It humanizes us. Both the creator and the audience. It’s a moment to take yourself a little less seriously and enjoy what you’re doing.

Look if you’re selling online you are in the content business. It might be video or pictures or words but you are producing media designed to move people emotionally and get them to buy your products and services.

FYI, I am writing this post in a reclined car seat down by the river. The same way I created the writing program – in my spare time after organizing my thoughts.

This post is flat-out encouragement. No matter what you can do today, make sure you do it first of all.

Second, do a little better tomorrow. If you produced one thing today try and do two tomorrow. And if you find that exhausting you can either do two the next day or drop back down to one.

And then maybe on the third day you do two or even three.

Eventually you can build up your ability.

Back when Covid first became a thing I was severely overweight. I went on a diet immediately because it was really the only thing you could do. Then I started thinking about working out. Let me emphasize that all I did was think about it. I was pretty out of shape.

When I finally started doing something I think on my first day I did one and a half push-ups. And I cheated on the half!

The funny thing about doing push-ups after not having done them is that no matter how few you do your arms and chest muscles really hurt for a couple of days.

But it’s been a year. Now I can snap off 25 pretty easily. And I do 4-6 sets a day so I’m doing as many as 150 push-ups a day.

Now this is not a lot. It would have sounded like a lot to me a year ago. Enough to actually discouraged me from even trying my one and a half.

But I built it up.

I know other people can do more. I don’t care. I’m in pretty good shape for an older guy. My goal was not to break push-up records. My goal was to get strong protect my health and improve my appearance. I accomplished all of those.

My point here is that I focused on what I could do. I started where I was. And I did a little better every day.

That is what I am suggesting to you with your content creation. Do not think about what other people can do don’t compare yourself and don’t punish yourself with ideas of what you should be able to do.

Start where you are. Do what you can. Do your best today. And do a little better tomorrow.

Keep at this practice and in very short time you will be doing the best that you can possibly do. And because you will continue on this path your best will get better.

If you are in the content business get serious about the job you have given yourself. I know people who have great Instagram‘s with no effort. They start out good. I could barely figure out how to use the app. It’s not my thing. So I don’t compare myself to the naturals. I don’t know if they can write or not. That’s not their medium.

I’m also watching a lot of YouTube with our young child. There are a lot of creative people doing really fun things especially for kids. I don’t do that either. I do what I can do. I try and make my stuff a little better every day. I do believe we are in a volume game so I want to increase my productive output. I am recommending the same to you.

And when you get really good many cool things happen. You will actually enjoy it. You will take a lot of pride in your craft. You will know what works and what doesn’t. It will become effortless.

And very often someone will look at you and say wow I can’t ever do that as well as you. And I hope you say to them you shouldn’t. I hope you say to them that they should do the best they can do. And to try and do a little better each day.

The zombie genre has become an apocalyptic industry ever since George Romero’s original movie.

While the movies are big and that includes things like Resident Evil I think it’s fair to say that the real juggernaut is The Walking Dead television franchise.

Week after week and year after year people tune in to watch live action cannibalism. For marketers there are two emotions that I would like to munch on.

These movies and TV shows are scary. At the beginning it’s always a shock to see the zombie outbreak and watch normal life disintegrate into an orgy of blood, grunting and guts.

These media products sell fear. And with the audience shocked out of their complacency the story then segues into a survival fantasy.

With the long-running Walking Dead series, since the post-zombie reality is the new normal, I believe the viewer engages in a fantasy revolving around the character’s lives.

Specifically, they imagine what they would be doing in the same situation – as in, “If we’re dealing with slow zombies, I would set up a perimeter with metal poles and moats…” and, “why aren’t these people wearing protective gear on their arms and legs, I mean, how long has it been?”

And so on.

So, zombie media appeals to one-two punch of emotional triggers.

First there is fear, then there is fantasy. As in, what are you going to do now that you have to respond to fear.

This is a perfect marketing setup!

If you are in a niche such as weight loss for the extremely obese, you have to tell them the Covid is gonna’ get them. That they’re going to die at 42 of a heart attack or have their legs amputated due to diabetes. This has a higher probability of happening than a zombie outbreak. It’s just reality.

Then once you have them paying attention to you due to the fear, you segue into the fantasy. What life will be like once they heroically respond to their condition. Once they throw away the junk food with a flourish and arm themselves with chicken and asparagus. Once they start walking a thousand steps a day, then two thousand then 20,000. You paint the entire picture of their redemption as the hero in a realistic, forward-pacing fantasy where they face the enemy and do things they never thought they could do! Inspiring others along the way, saving souls and building a new tomorrow.

You get the idea.

Main point is that using fear and fantasy as a one-two marketing punch is an economical way to deploy emotional triggers to your market – to any market.

Review the MANIPULATION program by clicking here.

So I bought my kid what he wanted for Christmas. Or I should say Santa brought it to him because he still believes.

The item in question was a 743 piece Batman extravaganza.

My wife counseled against it. I understood her point.

But every time we went in the store Caleb lasered in on the super deluxe Lego kits. The ones with superheroes.

I kept pushing him off because I figured if I was going to spend that money Santa could get the credit.

But he worked on it and I’m talking about Caleb here, for so long and was so insistent it became a worm in my mind.

I could not not buy him one of these superhero Lego kits.

I was so worked up that I ignored the big letters on the box that said for ages eight and over.

Caleb is 4.

Now in terms of emotional triggers here is the point. The guilt and the obligation I was experiencing are not in the Lego kit. They are in teh customer. Emotional triggers are always in the customer.

Of course they advertise these packages on kid channels and that’s where the kid gets the idea and that’s when the kid starts working on the parent. So kids as we know take over marketing duties for companies.

But again I had no actual obligation or even a good reason to buy this product.

But parental guilt is a powerful force.

And did I mention it had 743 pieces? It took me two days to put it together. And while I was putting it together Caleb was playing with it without the understanding that it was a display toy and not something to roll down the stairs.

All besides the point. The product in this case was a box of plastic. The emotional triggers that moved the product off the shelf were in the customer.

Whether you are selling a box of plastic or a bag of air it is your job to associate the emotional triggers that are in the customer with your product so that they have to buy it.

Review the MANIPULATION program today!