Bruce Turkel - All about Them: Grow Your Business by Focusing on Others

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Copyright 2016 by Bruce Turkel

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02210.

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Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

First Da Capo Press edition 2016

ISBN: 978-0-7382-1921-9 (e-book)

Published by Da Capo Press, an imprint of Perseus Books, a division of PBG Publishing, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my mother, who inspired my love of writing and books.

With love and thanks.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

G REAT SALESMANSHIP IS ABOUT THOSE YOU WISH TO lead, influence, and sell.

So it stands to reason that great product branding and marketing should be about them too.

What is branding about? The correct question is actually, Who is branding about? The answer: its about those people whose lives you want to touch, whose lives you want to add exceptional value to, whose lives you want to help make better... by way of your products.

In other words, its all about them!

Thats the basic premise of this magnificent book by a true master of the game of branding and marketing. And youre about to learn that there is a proven, predictable, and duplicable way to win that game.

Bruce Turkel is a branding genius. Hes worked with numerous major brands, ranging from 154-year-old Bacardi to the city of Miami, helping them to attract legions of new fans, reach their goals, and dramatically increase their profits.

Bruce has appeared on numerous network talk shows to explain how major companies, from Amazon to Zynga, can come back and repair their brands after making mistakes that did not honor their consumers. Bruce calls it brand-aid.

Perhaps Bruce is best known to American viewers as the branding expert on Fox Businessand one of Melissa Francis and David Asmans favorite guestshaving appeared well over three hundred times! Bruce accomplished this not just through being excellent at what he does but by knowing how to successfully position himself as the sought-after expert. And true to his creed, he doesnt make it about himself; he makes it about themthem in this case being his hosts and their viewers.

You see, we no longer control our brands. Perhaps we can manage them by what we do correctly. But its not about us or our products. This can be very, very good. Or this can be very, very bad.

And thats why its so important to approach branding as both an art and a science. Fortunately, our guide in this venture is both a branding artist and a branding scientist.

Some people are excellent practitioners. They can do something and do it phenomenally well. This does not mean that they can effectively teach it though, as is so often the case with the star athletes who make poor coaches and genius scholars who turn out to be ineffective professors. Sure, they deserve credit for their accomplishments, but they simply dont have the empathy or understanding to transmit their knowledge to those who do not possess their level of talent.

Others are excellent teachers. They manage to share information so as to instill it in others in both practical and inspirational ways. These teachers deserve much credit for the contributions they make to others achievements, even though they themselves may not have attained similar success in their own endeavors.

And then there are the Bruce Turkels of the world. Few and far between, these people have taken their raw talent and then studied, learned, and practiced their craft until theyve achieved excellence.

The difference with these performers, however, is that they are also able to teach their craft to others. And they do so in a way that others can achieve huge successes in their own right.

This is what Bruce offers us. Whether you are just beginning to make your way in the business world or are a highly experienced marketer of your products or services, whether youre about to launch a brand-new product or youve made some mistakes and need some serious brand-aid, youre now holding the roadmap to success beyond which you might have ever thought possible.

All About Them treats us to an understanding of human nature that will forever change the way you think about branding yourself and your businessalmost as if David Ogilvy wrote Freakonomics.

The most emotionally fulfillingand profitableaspect of your business is when people think of you and your brand and feel that their lives are better as a result. The good news is that once you understand the concepts in All About Them and get your brand message successfully working for you, it will begin doing the heavy lifting, allowing you to focus on where you can add the most value to those you serve.

Read this book and apply the wisdom-filled teachings, and your chances of eliciting those kinds of feelings in othersand success in your businessare practically guaranteed.

Im excited for you and for the journey you are about to take through the pages of this fantastic book.

Best regards,

BOB BURG

Coauthor of The Go-Giver

and Adversaries into Allies

I T WAS THE YEAR 2000, AND I FELT THAT EVERYTHING was going my way. My advertising and branding firm was doing well; we were picking up profitable business and doing great work. My family was healthy and happy, and my marriage was strong. Also my first book, Brain Darts, had just been published. And even before it came out, I had received an invitation to have a book signing at one of the most prestigious design conferences in the country. As I said, everything was going my way.

The day before the conference, my family and I checked into our Chicago hotel, and after getting the kids settled in our room, my wife and I went down to the opening dinner. When we got to the giant banquet hall, we were greeted like returning war heroes. The publisher of the design magazine sponsoring the event rushed over and escorted us to the VIP table all the way in the front of the hall, and I sat next to Steff Sagmeister. I dont know if you know Steff, but that year he was the it boy graphic designer. You know, just like Hollywood, the design industry has its it boys and girls. And that year, Steff, a tall, very handsome German guy dressed in all black, was it. Because Steff was German, he spoke English better than I do, but he had managed to keep just enough of his accent to be charming.