Monday, May 29, 2006

Here's a great link:
http://www.simpleology.com/webcasts/benmack.php

Just zip past the sign-in free stuff and get into Simpleology. Got to recordings...then May24th click on MEEEE, yup I'm interviewed. Yay!!!

Now, try that free Simpleology stuff, it works!!! I guarentee it.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

I got stressed. We launched. Now, I'm better. I'm tired and I want to come home. I had a little drink about an hour ago and it went straight to my head. Okay, I didn't drink this morning. I'm just tired of rushing for others.

I posted this in Joyner's Simpleology because I mean it...

Geurrilla Thinking
Guerrilla Marketing is a frame of mind. Jay Conrad Levinson popularized the term Guerrilla Marketing, but he attributes the term to somebody else. I don’t care who said the term first—Jay gave context to the term “Guerrilla Marketing” in the 14 million Guerrilla Marketing books sold in over 42 languages.

Most people engage his texts by looking for lists of tactics. In any of his Guerrilla Marketing books you’ll find such lists. Use these tools. However, the values behind the list construction may be the most valuable part of the Guerrilla Marketing.

I loved Levinson’s The Way of the Guerrilla and Levinson’s Guerrilla Creativity. These books don’t have the long lists of the tactics that his better selling books have. I’d like to suggest that every reader of Guerrilla Marketing will get better use out of Levinson’s tactics if they read Levinson’s philosophy. Guerrilla Marketing is a frame of mind, not saving money on a specific assignment, but about living a more effective life.

Work is one facet of life. Jay is a genius. One of the first things he figured out was that he didn’t want to work five days a week, see what I mean…Genius. If you have figured out that you don’t want to work 5-days-a-week-for-the-man then you’re a genius, too.

Guerrilla Marketing will help you with your corporate job. The Way of The Guerrilla helps you apply these philosophies to your entire life and create sustainable income outside of the traditional corporate structure.

It was Levinson’s approach to living and thinking that inspired me to write Think Two Products Ahead.

Thank you Jay!

Your friend and admirer,

Ben

Monday, May 15, 2006

It's the TEA.

The tea in the Colonix package can kick in the pooping and knock the crap out of you. Saturday was one of those days for me. But let's not talk about that.

The Ol’ Zeigarnik Effect

The Zeigarnik Effect is said to be the most powerful tool of Direct Response marketing, advertising engineered to elicit an immediate response. Direct Response techniques are employed in infomercials, in spam email and letters asking you to send a check right now. Direct Response employs unabashed persuasion. Carl Rove began his career in Direct Response and applies the techniques of Direct Response to his political strategies.

I asked persuasion expert Blair Warren to teach me The Zeigarnik Effect. Blair said, “Ben, people will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies.” I asked if that was the essence of The Zeigarnik Effect. He said it was the antithesis of The Zeigarnik Effect. That stumped me. I asked what the opposite of people doing anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies. He didn’t answer.

“Ben, you should know this. You grew up as a kid magician. What was it like when you bought a magic trick from the magic store?” I told him I had bought a 9-inch silk hanky just last week. “No, Ben. I’m not asking about a prop for magic, I’m talking about buying a magic trick, purchasing a magic trick that had you fooled and you had to buy the trick to learn the secret.” I had to think about that for a while. It had been a long while since I bought a magic trick to learn the secret. Then, it dawned on me. The last magic trick I purchased was The Invisible Deck.

Blair asked me about the experience. I told him that the magic store employee had asked me to shuffle an invisible deck of cards and to remove a card and place it up-side-down in the deck. He then pretended to meld the invisible deck with a real deck and my card was up-side-down in his deck. “Ben, what happened after you purchased the trick?” Well, I ripped open the instructions and was extraordinarily disappointed how simple the trick actually was.

“Did you ever buy a magic trick and wait, say, a day or two, before reading how the trick was done?” Never. “Why not?” I couldn’t wait. “Why not?” I needed to know how the trick was done. I wanted to be able to do the same trick. I wanted to be amazing. “Was buying the magic trick a form of the magic store encouraging your dreams?” Yes. Is that what the essence of The Zeigarnik Effect, to encourage somebody’s dreams? “No.” What then? “Human nature – even the most extreme examples of persuasion such as suicide cults and mass movements – are based on the most basic of human desires. Just as magicians can perform miracles using mundane principles, powerful persuaders shape the world in much the same way.”

Are you saying the world is controlled by secret ultra-powerful magicians? “Ben. You sound paranoid when you talk like that. No, I’m not saying that. I am saying that people who have something to gain will often employ whatever they can to get what they want.” Blair, isn’t that the same thing? “No. Magic implies that there is some supernatural power employed. The Zeigarnik Effect simply exploits the basics of human nature.” The Zeigarnik Effect empathizes with people’s passions, exploiting their dreams and fears and whatever they feel strongly about? “No.” What then? “If you wanted to remember ‘encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies’ how would you do it?” I’d make a mnemonic. I’d look at the first letter of each phrase and see if I could make a word: encourage, justify, allay, confirm, throw…e, j, a, c and t. ejact. I’d think of ejaculated and that would help me remember ejact and that would help me recall the list. “Well, our mind has many tricks like that. For instance, using the word ‘because’ has been proven to be more persuasive than giving a solid justification that doesn’t use the word because. Our minds are hardwired in certain ways that a professional persuader can exploit.”

I asked him if he was going to teach me The Zeigarnick Effect or not. “Ben, I’m trying to prepare you. Like the magic tricks you have paid for in the past, the secret will be disappointing.” Then disappoint me already.

Jay, I wrote a letter to the editor, you. You printed my letter and titled it, “The Ol’ Zeigarnik Effect,” a term I failed to define. After my letter you expressed interest in knowing the secret. I may be a dick for teaching you this way, but I don’t mean to be. I emailed an offer for coverage on a variety of persuasion techniques. You replied back that you wanted to know The Zeigarnik Effect.

Jay, human beings have a need to know. The Zeigarnik Effect demonstrates that people are motivated by incomplete information. At the next party you’re at, half-way through the party walk past a girl and say to her, “I overheard half of your conversation earlier and I really agreed with what you were saying.” $10 says she’ll break away from that group and come ask you what she said earlier. She’ll be dying to know. If you want to be a jerk, start putting on your coat and tell her you’d love to tell her but you’re running late and to call you.


If I had simply emailed a sentence about incomplete information, you would have dismissed this idea. People are more motivated to learn and remember incomplete information than when something is given to them directly. The process of building suspense, of dividing information, increases the audience’s titillation and makes them more likely to buy or take whatever action they are directed, or at least to give you more of their attention than they would have otherwise. Many times Direct Response advertising will build up a person’s fear, making them feel incomplete and at risk until they purchase what will assay their newfound fear. To learn more, visit www.BlairWarren.com

Thank you for your considerations.

Ben Mack
Recovering advertising executive and author of Poker Without Cards.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Day 8
Aok on the Colonix front. My stool is slimy.

You know I'm on the look-out for crappy images and the image to the right was shared with me and while it is dated, the Dow Jones has rebounded from this low, I think there are a number of crappy numbers floating around.

Two Crappy Things I'd like to discuss...

1) If the 33% who approve of Bush came from the 49% who voted for him then TWO-THIRDS of the people that voted for Bush think he's doing a swell job. Hello!!! That's HUGE and not discussed. Who can possibly save us from this grevious misconception?

2)
Stephen Colbert from the 'Colbert Report ' roasting Bush, his
administration and the press. Beautifully framed and executed,
great use made of double binds, metaphor, and basic neuro
linguistic programming principals.

part a
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcIRXur61II

part b
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN0INDOkFuo

part c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJvar7BKwvQ

I hope you will check out the links above and listen and laugh.

Ben
thinktwoproductsahead.com

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Day 7 on Colonix
no runs, neither to the bathroom nor while in there.

I'm reviewing Mike Filsaime's Butterfly Marketing launch interview on Simpleology where he credited Mark Joyner for developing so many of the techniques he utilized in the creation of the manual and the software.


More and more I learn what influence Mark Joyner has had on the Online Marketing Community. How much of it can be seen in this free DVD?

P.S. the picture is of me at Train The Trainer.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

I've been running to the bathroom for 24 hours now. Not pretty. Doesn't smell good either.
in the mean tine, getforgiven.com just launched...Michael, it aint perfect but it's up. aron needs to work on TTPA before making your masterpiece beautiful...folks, Michael wrote the copy on getforgiven.com

Friday, May 05, 2006

Mark Joyner is shaking things up. Have you seen his revised site? New registration is required to keep getting the emails.

Mich, way to go!!!

Michael, melting? Wow!

You all know why we're doing this right? Wold domination.

Stewie Griffin
The Winter of Spengler’s Discontent
By Ben Mack

Oswald Spengler predicted a protracted winter in The Decline of The West. Spengler wasn’t alone in his depiction of a distopian society where fashion reigns over utility, luck is dominant, bureaucracy squelches progress and the rich have a firm hold on the reigns of an incipient global culture. Spengler was one of the first to be taken seriously.

Stewie’s Guide to WORLD DOMINATION [sic] is a ray of sunshine for a winter day of our decline. In Spengler’s seasonal taxonomy of decline, winter is the final phase. Spengler writes that one cue of a culture in winter is an increasingly authoritative government. In an authoritarian government, clearly stating your perception is not a fiscally sustainable option.

“…if I were to confess to knowing that the entire enterprise is a sham, then that delicious stream of cold, hard cash that appears under my pillow following the loss of a tooth gets suddenly cut off, doesn’t it?”
--Stewie Griffin
Transcribed by Steve Callaghan

Spengler separates culture from civilization. Yes, the two are intertwined, but culture reflects the people while civilization reflects the aspirations of global domination, requiring increasingly authoritarian leaders who represent power rather than being powerful on their own. A culture of war masks itself in fashion and subverts education into specialized academic philosophy with obvious discrepancies from reality.

Stewie calls out that the basis of American education, the three Rs doesn’t represent three Rs: Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. Stewie suggests that we might be better served by the acronym W.A.R.

“there’s no country that likes ‘W.A.R. more than our own…blame the Boss Hoggs of the world who got the whole enterprise off on the wrong foot with this ‘thre Rs’ nonsense.”
--Stewie Griffin

Spengler predicted a focus on lavish sport entertainment as the final cues of the closing of culture and the domination of civilization, where work looses meaning for the affluent as sports becomes the substitute for meaning in one’s life. Stewie deftly reveals both of these cues at once as he discusses a typical civilization workplace.

“you are rotting your brain…find yourself having to alternately ask and then answer the terribly probing and provocative question, ‘Did you have a nice weekend?’ forty-seven different times. And let’s face it: Despite the fact that most of the replies should fall along the lines of, ‘Well, I spent most of Saturday and Sunday trying to ignore the loveless marriage and spoiled brats I’ve surrounded myself with while being tranquilized by the narcotic of back-to-back-to-back NFL football in order to keep myself from pondering the very real possibility that I might be gay.’”
--Stewie Griffin

Stewie is a ray of light, warming our winter day. Spengler holds that winter is devoid of symbolic art. In a civilization’s winter art is replaced by a meaningless fashion dialogue. Stewie staves off the meaninglessness of our encroaching civilization by disseminating symbolic art about our civilization in Stewie’s Guide to WORLD DOMINATION, Helped into print by Steve Callaghan; Perennial Currents, 2006.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Day 3 Recap
Mich, you have nothing to fear. I had four dumps today. Each came out faster than normal. I can begin to see a new consistency in my stool. There is a change in pattern.

A brand is a pattern.

"A pattern has an integrity independent of the medium by virtue of which you have received the information that it exists."
--R. Buckminster Fuller
Synergetics

"A brand has an integrity independent of the medium by virtue of which you have received the information that it exists."
--Benjamin Garth Siddhartha Mack, aka
Ben Mack
Online Marketing Dump
Day 3
recap of day 2 on Colonix: 4 Dumps; no worms in stool, no shrimp like object.

Observations...My crap smells less and exits my body easier.
I have increased energy, sometimes bordering on feeling high
I am not taking any drugs so I must attribute the "high" feeling to the Colonix kit. Thank you Mark.

But this Blog is about crap...and the link I'm about to show you is my fault. I should have claimed this blog... However, this isn't playing nice... http://thinktwoproductsahead.blogpsot.com/. You see my product name in there? That's not me. I am honored they see this meme as profitable. Thank you for that appraisal. Very kewl. However....

Related...I met a juggler named Mickey many years ago and explained to me the honor among thieves. He was a thief. He would steal from any chain store around with a flicker of guilt. He said folks like him had no trouble stealing from "The Man" but that stealing from a Mom & Pop store was just wrong. Part of why I couldn't be a professional poker player was that I don't have the killer instinct, the desire to dessimate another person and take all they have. You see why I see all this as related?

Tuesday, May 02, 2006


Day 2
2nd Dump...more of a poop. I prepared by loading my backpack with changes of underwear incase the impact of Colonix was going to be more volatile. Tomorrow, I interview Jeff Dedrick and then Kevin Wilke. Both men are smarter than the average bear to say the least.
Day 2
I had a really big dump this morning. No worm citings. No unusual shrimp objects. I feel dehydrated. Must drink more water. Crap, Crap, fizz, fizz oh what a relief it is. This is easier than I thought.

I'm messing up in deadlines. I've been late recently. Maybe I'm pregnant.

We're here to discuss AKS. A dog takes a crap, but you step in _ _ _ _ .

A car's trunk is no longer a box strapped to the back of a wagon, just like a Wendy's brand is not the seared mark on the side of a cow.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Hey Ben,
Please pass this on to the guys ...
Gents,
As you go through this, you're going to have a rough first couple of days - even moreso if your diet has been crap. (no pun ... oh, to hell with it)
Drink tons of water and be sure to get enough rest.
And don't be surprised if you find a worm (I'm not kidding). There are some estimates that 1/3 of the US population has them.
MJ

T Plus 2 Hours.
False alarm. I thought I had to take a dump, but I was wrong.
T Plus 8 Nothing yet. at 20 minutes I take step 2
Mich, Awesome! You'll be a second round to inspire folks who want to try it. Michael Morgan, how's it going? Kevin, having fun? Tellman, you in? Amy/Tom have you taken it yet?

I'm just finishing at FedEx Kinkos. I've been here 4-hours. My manuscript was printing funky. Of course it was. They brought in a Mac expert from another store and it should print fine now so I figure I'm an hour away from ingesting. I feel like I'm in college planning out my shrooms.
me... T Minus 1 Hour and Counting... gar! Zegarnick
I'm starting after FedEx. Zeigarnick is unintentional. Gar... Today's the day!!!
Today is the day!!!
Today is likely to be the crappiest day of my life.

As soon as I wake up, I'm taking it. I'm slightly nervous. I have a lot of work to plow through tomorrow. Wow. I didn't expect to be nervous about this. Tom, Kevin, Tellman, Amy, Sam, Lee, Michael, anybody else? Come-on...if you've got Colonix on your shelf, then today's the day to use it. Today is the day! I'll blog as I have results.