3. As many of you may know by
now, I’ve had a tremendous
opportunity to co-author a book with
legendary marketer Dan Kennedy.
Dan Kennedy has written 14
business/marketing books, including
7 of the ‘No BS marketing’ books.
4. I had a unique opportunity to spend
a couple of days with him in
Louisville, Kentucky in the beginning
of May…
…which, of course means, at the
Kentucky Derby.
But before that, I had a chance to
shoot the breeze with Dan Kennedy
for a couple of hours and pick his
brain.
5. Best Dan Kennedy Lesson
The story from Dan Kennedy that
sticks out the most is this (I’ll, of
course, try my best to paraphrase his
story in my own words).
The theme of his story was …”to ask
the questions that no one dares to
ask.”
6. Dan begins this story by talking about
fashion week in NYC several years
ago and a gentleman named Kenneth
Cole. Kenneth Cole wanted to sell his
shoes during fashion week.
7. And as much as he wanted to get
noticed during fashion week, as a
newcomer to the industry, he wasn’t
able to get a good booth placement
at the event, which was located at
the Hilton Hotel. In fact, the best
booth available was all the way
towards the back.
8. Mr. Cole knew that if he paid
the exuberant fee for the booth, he
would lose money because no one
would come back to visit him; much
less buy his shoes.
So instead of wasting money on a
booth to be part of a losing
venture, he wanted to rent a trailer in
Manhattan during fashion week.
9. However, when he called the Mayor’s
Office at the City of Manhattan to ask
how to rent a trailer and park it on a
Manhattan street, he was told that it
was impossible without a permit.
Here, most people would’ve given
up…
Here is where the big lesson comes
in.
10. Ask the Question No One Dares
to Ask
At this point, Dan asks the room what
they would’ve done…and no one has
a good answer.
So what question did Kenneth Cole
ask that no one dared to ask?
11. When told that it was impossible for
him to rent a trailer and park it in
NYC during fashion week, Kenneth
Cole asked the following question…
“Who can get a permit to rent a
trailer and park it in NYC during
fashion week?”
12. You see, most of the time, when
someone is told ‘no’, they stop
digging. But not Kenneth Cole…not
in this situation. He stayed silent for
over a minute and waited for the
answer.
13. The answer, after a long delay, was
only a production company could get
a permit if they were shooting a
motion picture.
This gave Kenneth Cole his Million
Dollar Idea.
14. Take the Action No One Else
Dares
What Kenneth Cole decided to do
next took courage.
15. Upon learning that permits were only
granted to utility companies and
production companies shooting full-
length motion pictures, Cole changed
the name of the company from
‘Kenneth Cole Inc.’ to Kenneth Cole
Productions, Inc. and applied for a
permit to shoot a full-length motion
picture entitled “The Birth of a Shoe
Company”.
16. Then he went and rented a truck,
painted ‘Kenneth Cole Productions’ on
the side of the truck, rented klieg
lights, hired a director, bought a rolling
camera, hired models as actresses, as
well as two NYPD policemen as
doormen.
17. A velvet rope allowed a limited
number of people into the trailers…
…and in two and a half days they
sold forty thousand pairs of shoes.
18. That’s a good 40k pairs more than he
would’ve sold had he purchased a
booth in the back of the Hilton or
packed up his belongings, took ‘no’ for
an answer, and left.
It’s why to this day they still keep the
name Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc…
to honor this most unusual beginning.
19. Marketing Miracles Book
It’s stories like this…the success of an
entrepreneur who perceived, took
unique action, and succeeded when all
others would’ve have failed that make
entrepreneurship so much fun!
20. Believe it or not, a story like this didn’t
even make it in to Dan Kennedy’s most
recent (his 14th) book called
“Marketing Miracles“.
Marketing Miracles is a collaboration
of success stories told by some of
today’s most successful business
owners…such as Black Box Social
Media‘s own CEO Tom Bukacek.
21. “In ‘Marketing Miracles’, marketing
legend Dan Kennedy leads a group of
experts in a discussion of the greatest
marketing secrets of our time,” says Mr.
Bukacek. “I’m fortunate to be one of
Dan Kennedy’s co-authors for this
collection of marketing expertise, and I
know you’ll be able to convert more
customers and attract more business by
using the tips and strategies in my
book.”
22. ‘Marketing Miracles: Odd, Unusual,
Breakthrough Strategies That Build
Great Businesses’ will feature business
and marketing professionals from
around the world revealing their top
marketing secrets and strategies.
23. Some of the topics to be covered in the
book include the customer
experience, social media
marketing, new rules of marketing and
analytics, pricing, turning opt-ins into
sales and marketing technology, and
much more.
24. The book is available for only $19.95
through this link here.
If you’re looking for new and exciting
ways to market your product, why not
learn from some of the top minds in
the industry?