Tag Archives: sales

I’m Writing a Book…And It’s Already Received a Negative Review

Some of you may have already read my shorter books, including “Seven Questions Your Content Creator Should Ask You.” They’re short, and they’re free.

Last December I started writing something more comprehensive, and long enough to sell. If I price each copy at $100,000 apiece and sell 25 of them, I can start thinking about retirement.

Despite the (completely realistic) financial incentive, I dropped the project and didn’t pick it back up again until this month. I’m not ready to announce it yet, but the very fact that I’m talking about it may give me the impetus to finish it.

I just uploaded the latest draft to Google Gemini, both to write a 100 word promotional blurb (which I may or may not use or adapt), and to write two book reviews: one positive, one negative.

Again without giving away too much about the book, here are two excerpts from the negative review.

“Author John E. Bredehoft spends significant time on self-promotion and anecdotal stories, such as his hypothetical attempt to access Donald Trump’s medical records, which may distract readers seeking deep technical data.”

Here’s the second:

“While the writing is accessible, those looking for a dense, scholarly analysis of biometric algorithms might find the conversational tone and frequent “investigative lead” reminders a bit repetitive.”

Hey, there weren’t THAT many…

More to come.

When a Prospect Is Not Really Invested

Have you ever run into an old friend you haven’t seen in years? Both of you say “we should get together.” But you don’t.

Now assume it’s not friendship but a seller/prospect relationship that never moves down the funnel to conversion.

Jan McInnis sells a service, comedy. And how do comedians market their services? By performing. The comedian performs at one venue, and someone from another venue sees them and books them.

Google Gemini.

McInnis was performing in Michigan when she was spotted by a big-time manager (“one of her clients is currently selling out Madison Square Garden”) who saw Jan’s five-minute set. Afterwards the manager approached Jan and said the magic words:

“You were great.”

Then the manager’s office called and requested a meeting, asking McInnis to bring writing samples. Now a meeting itself is no assurance of getting a job, but it’s a possible step toward getting one. So Jan prepared for that meeting, spending her Thanksgiving polishing up her writing samples.

Google Gemini.

But…

“The next day, her office called to postpone the meeting.”

Lather, rinse, repeat. The manager’s office would schedule a meeting, then postpone it. In the end, the manager never met with McInnis, who pivoted away from the comedy clubs and focused on corporate speaking engagements as “The Work Lady.”

And who knows? Maybe some huge tech company will ask her to headlines a gigantic corporate event at Madison Square Garden.

But no rush on writing Knicks jokes yet.

Google Gemini.

More on Velocity

I recently shared an NP Digital observation on velocity, so now let me share one from Marcia Riner.

“In fast-moving markets, speed of execution beats perfect strategy almost every time. Businesses that test ideas quickly, implement improvements, and make decisions without weeks of deliberation create momentum. That momentum compounds into growth, visibility, and opportunity.”

Bredemarket’s processes can—with your cooperation—result in rapid delivery of prospect-focused content.

So let’s talk.

Or you can take a few seconds to learn about the questions I ask to speed your content delivery.

I ask, then I act.

And the services I provide.

Bredemarket services, process, and pricing.

The Relationship Between Velocity and Sales Cost

Basil Hatto of NP (Neil Patel) Digital recently made the point that increased sales velocity reduces costs to the selling company, since the prospects reach decisions more quickly.

So how can a business like yours, or a business like Bredemarket, increase sales velocity?

Let’s discuss how Bredemarket’s marketing and writing services can help your content, proposal, and analysis needs.

On Ex-Evangelists

Many companies, Bredemarket included, have benefited from the efforts of evangelists. But don’t take those efforts for granted.

I recently said good-bye to a former Bredemarket evangelist who became silent and indifferent over time. I positively thanked them for their past support, carefully avoiding the topic of why and how that support ended.

(Maybe I should have asked, but I doubt I would have received an answer.)

And I remain thankful for the Bredemarket evangelists who are still there.

Justin Welsh’s Purple Squirrel Story

While I talk about wildebeests, iguanas, wombats, and friction ridge-equipped koalas, Justin Welsh talks about squirrels.

Purple squirrels.

Google Gemini,.

Welsh explains what a purple squirrel is:

“A purple squirrel is a candidate so rare and perfectly matched to what you need that finding one feels impossible. Someone who checks every single box, including boxes you didn’t even know you cared about.”

Then Welsh provided an example of a purple squirrel, a man named Sagar Patel who worked for him at PatientPop.

On paper pyramids

At the time PatientPop had less than $40,000 in annual revenue, so it didn’t have a huge marketing department. It didn’t even have Bredemarket as a product marketing consultant because Bredemarket didn’t exist yet. And anyway, at the time I knew next to nothing about PatientPop’s healthcare-centered hungry people, physicians who needed to attract prospects and clients via then-current search engine optimization (SEO) techniques.

Google Gemini.

Patel could have launched into a complex, feature-laden SEO discussion, but his target physicians would have responded, “So what?” Doctors want to doctor, not obsess over choosing trailing keywords…and understand the benefits of a solution immediately.

So Patel, without the resources of a marketing department, took another approach.

“So Sagar grabbed some notebook paper and drew five sides of a pyramid. He labeled each one, describing his ‘5 sides of local SEO for healthcare providers,’ and then taped them all together.

“He made himself a little paper pyramid to use in his sales pitches.”

Google Gemini. My prompt asked Nano Banana to create a “realistic” picture.

Was Patel’s paper pyramid an effective sales tool for PatientPop? Read Welsh’s article to find out.

What’s your paper pyramid?

Too many companies wait months for the perfect marketing solution instead of doing something NOW and refining it later.

Bredemarket’s different. I ask, then I act.

I ask, then I act.

Once I’ve set my compass, I get my clients a draft within days. Last week alone I turned out drafts for two clients, moving them forward so the content is available to their prospects and clients.

With my suggested schedule for short content—three day drafts, three day reviews, three day redrafts—your new content can become your online “secret salesperson” within two weeks or less.

Don’t believe me? This post alone is chock-full of links to other Bredemarket posts and Bredemarket pages, all of which are functioning as “secret salespeople” for me every single day.

If you want secret salespeople to work for you, talk to me and we’ll devise a plan to improve your product marketing awareness RIGHT NOW.

Sometimes You Only Need One

A tech journalist, writing on their personal social channels, noted that they recently bought a laptop bag luggage strap…and was immediately added to the company’s mailing list.

Because when you buy one laptop bag luggage strap, you obviously need seven more.

Google Gemini.

But it’s really bad when you buy a refrigerator and the seller thinks you want more of THOSE.