Saturday night Deb and I stopped at Ala Moana mall before heading out to dinner in Honolulu. As Deb was doing her “shoppinnnng” thing I was on the hunt scouting for examples of Tribal Marketing. I found it at our second stop — the Jimmy Choo store.

With my shoe fetish in control I “dragged” Deb into the store. (Yeah, kicking and screaming. lol) And within two-minutes I was struck by a Tribal Seduction marketing principle I failed to pick up on in previous visits. The profit-producing power of story.

Why is that Jimmy Choo shoes command $400 to $4,000 and more?

Sure Jimmy Choo shoes are hand made (first in London by Choo himself, then after 96′ in Italy.) And yes Jimmy Choo Ltd. has a team of four designers who’s only job is to create to-die-for shoes and handbags.

But what’s the real profit power behind the Jimmy Choo brand? It’s something that as a Jimmy Choo lover you might not have realized, because it’s something that is never said. It just is. (A key in effectively using Tribal Seduction marketing.)

Ultimately the Jimmy Choo brand is not only the story of the man behind the name, but also the fortuitous linking of his story with the greatest real-life fairy tale of the 20th Century.

Jimmy Choo was born in Malaysia in 1961 to a family of shoe makers and made his first shoe when he was 11 years old. OK, authenticity. Good start for a story.

After attending college in London he opened his own workshop in 1986 and gained international fame when his creations were featured in a record eight pages in a 1988 issue of Vogue magazine. Public recognition of passionate pursuit of excellence. Another good element of the story.

But the real boost in the Jimmy Choo story comes with the loyal patronage (and vocal sharing of passionate love for hand made Jimmy Choo shoes) by Princess Diana. The real-life fairy tale Princess became the catalyst for dozens of other celebrities to become Jimmy Choo Loyals as well; spreading the story, passion and love of shoes even further.

Jimmy Choo = beauty, elegance and sexiness… protected by price

Today the Jimmy Choo philosophy, as stated on jimmychoo.com is:

… to create exclusive shoes and accessories that are both luxurious and practical for all occasions, while at the same time creating a look that’s instantaneously recognized as “Jimmy Choo”. The understated distinctiveness of the brand, and its integrity, is controlled with the limited distribution of the products to a few select retailers.

Jimmy Choo shoes are void of obvious labels and logos. Yes, you are marketing and reinforcing the brand when wearing the shoes. But with a Tribal Marketing approach it’s subliminal and seductive, not in your face. It takes a true shoe lover to know and recognize Jimmy Choo’s. You know you’ve met another member of your Tribe when someone recognizes your Jimmy Choo shoes.

The story behind the brand is protected and kept intact by the unique use of materials and exclusivity of both pricing and distribution.

Sure customer service and the experience of buying Jimmy Choo shoes is part of the aura. But the true profit-producing power of the brand remains the authentic story of the founder imperceptibly linked with the fairy tale stories of the rich-and-famous Jimmy Choo Loyals. It happens when you first slip your foot into the shoe… or watch your lady slip her’s into a pair.

What about you?

• What’s your story? Have you given thought to how it relates to your business?
• Do you agree that the Jimmy Choo story teamed with the fairy tale is a big part of profit-producing power of the Jimmy Choo brand?
• Are you passionate about Jimmy Choo or any other brand because of the story behind it?

Share your thoughts in some graffiti below.

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What’s the secret to attracting attention and winning over people’s hearts, minds and pocketbooks? It’s the ability to influence and persuade. It’s what all business owners, sales pros and politicians want — but most start from the wrong place

Persuasion start with Self-Influence™

Mention persuasion to the average person and ask them where persuasion is focused — outward (on other people) or inward.

99 out of 100 will say "on other people." After all, isn’t the idea to win friends and influence people? Isn’t that what we should be focused on?

Yeah, sure – that’s the ultimate goal. But unless you master Self-Influence™ your persuasion skills will always come across as mechanical, un-natural.

Think about it. If you can’t influence and motivate yourself to take action — how can you ever effectively motivate anyone else?

The fact is you won’t. People’s perception will immediately be one of suspicion. Not a good place to start a relationship, I’m sure you agree.

Have you ever heard of Harry Houdini?

Well he wasn’t like today’s magicians, only interested in filling a theatre in Vegas. He was an artist. He could make an elephant disappear in the middle of a theatre filled with people, and do you know how he did that?

By controlling people’s perceptions.

Until you control people’s perception of you, your brand, your persona, and who you really are at your core – you will never attain the levels of influence and persuasion that you want.

And yes! That applies online too because there is NO hiding behind your screen. Not anymore!

Online persuasion

It’s easy to see influence and persuasion at work in the off-line world. You meet people and immediately begin either building or breaking rapport with your first face-to-face meeting. You’ve got all five senses working for you.

At first glance online persuasion of that same level may appear to be a near impossible goal. At best, most people see online persuasion as a process of mechanical manipulation; tricks and black-hat triggers used to induce people to hand over their cash.

If we were still living in the online world of Web 1.0, true online persuasion would be difficult. That was an online world where conversations were limited, and being a Marketplace Molester was the bastardized definition of begin “persuasive.”

But have you noticed that going online is a different type of experience today?

With the New Media marketplace powered by people and participation, a more natural form of persuasion can be employed. Audio and video along with instant interaction and ongoing conversations simply make online persuasion another dimension of the off-line face-to-face world.

“The catch”

Online or offline — you can’t just jump in and start trying to influence others. That’s like building a pyramid from the top down.

(For a full-size printer-friendly version, download the Tribal Seduction Power Pyramid™ PDF here.)

Far too many people start from the wrong place and fail to establish the foundation that will support their successfully persuading an ever growing Tribe in today’s marketplace.

You need to start from the bottom up, inside out.

Here’s why…

If you want people to trust you and fall under your spell, it’s not about “making up” a persona or image. You need to take your strengths and the magnetic aspects of your persona and make them larger than life.

To maximize your ability to persuade in marketing, sales, management, or any area of life – that means starting with understanding your natural communication style.

We each have our own unique Communication Code™. That code determines how we communicate with the outside world, how others perceive us, and how we talk to ourselves. It’s an essential element in the Self-Influence formula. And it’s the easiest place to start.

The good thing is that, when it comes to your natural communication style, you can adapt. And that ability to adapt gives you control. Control over how others perceive you, and control over how you manage and motivate yourself.

The better you understand yourself, the better you will be at getting what you want. In fact, what you don’t know about yourself could keep you from getting what you want.

Today’s New Media Marketplace isn’t Romper Room

Focusing on Self-Influence first takes patience and maturity. It’s not for everyone. It’s a matter of doing things a little differently to make a LOT more money.

Some people are still looking for the easy way to riches. The magic bullet or secret potion. And that’s ok for people who want to end up struggling and eeking out a living waiting for that pie-in-the-sky payday.

But if you’re serious about achieving the wealth and lifestyle you want, sorry – playtime is over!

Houdini used Self-Influence to survive his life-threatening illusions and win over the world. Moguls like Oprah and Trump have mastered it. Branding power-houses like Gene Simmons and thought leaders Seth Godin know it, live it and profit from it.

They all know their practical strengths, Communication and Motivation Codes™. They mastered Self-Influence long ago and excel at persuading though perception… the reason they are where they are today.

How are you doing?

If you’re trying to persuade your Tribe and influence groups of people, have you worked your way up the Power Pyramid™; constantly working to improve your Self-Influence™ and Personal Persuasion?

• If not, what’s holding you back? What is your greatest challenge in creating a persona and packaged perception that will persuade your Tribe?

If you’re not happy with the results you’re getting at the top of the Power Pyramid, what are you doing about it?

• Are you willing to focus on influencing yourself BEFORE trying to win the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of millions?

• Have you identitifed your practical strengths; the abilites and skills that will add value to other people’s lives?
• Have you broken your Communication Code™ to determine how the stress of challenges, interaction with people, details and even day-to-day tasks impact how others percieve you?
• What about your Motivational Code™? Do you know exactly what gets you jumping out of bed in the mornign ready to roll without any coffee?

• How are you packaging those together with your Persona to create a Personal Brand that creates the perception you want people to have?

Spill your mind. Share your thoughts in some graffiti down below.

>> To see how Self-Influence translates into the power to persuade crowds and create raving fans, download the Tribal Seduction Power Pyramid™ PDF here.)

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We recently added a free bonus download for new subscribers to the Seducer’s Journal here at TribalSeduction.com — the Tribal Marketing Playbook We sent a download link to all current subscribers last week, but if you missed that email we’ll be resending that in a follow-up email later today — so keep an eye out for it.

In the Tribal Marketing Playbook you’ll learn:

• What the Tribal Marketing construct is

• Why seeing your target audience just as one Tribe will short-change your results

• How to use the Tribal Marketing Power Matrix to leverage your time for bigger returns with less effort

• How using only the "obvious" approach to marketing to a Tribe can cost you more time, effort and money than the Tribal Marketing Influence Pathway

• Why the Influence Ladder is your key to high-leverage persuasion (online or off-line)

• And lots of interactive strategy sheets to put ideas you get into action. (Why it’s called a "Playbook" )

You definitely want to grab this Playbook and devour every page as quickly as possible. It will open your eyes to an entire new way of marketing and growing business. One that’s more fun and profitable!

So as a current subscriber to watch for your direct email later today. And if you like what your Tribal Marketing Playbook does to expand possibilities for you and give you new actionable ideas for marketing your business, please invite your friends to subscribe to the Seducer’s Journal.

If you’re not yet a subscriber to The Seducer’s Journal, you can grab a free 6-month subscription by registering at the top of the left-hand sidebar, or on the home page.

Enjoy!

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Last night I was at Ala Moana Shopping mall in Honolulu. Coach Deb was trying on what seemed like an endless rack of clothes. And the two girls helping her didn’t seem to have an end to their “suggestions.”

So of course I did what any guy does in this situation. I went on the prowl for some examples of Tribal Seduction marketing. And what I found was shocking!

Now what I’m about to show you is not the most subtle marketing you’ve ever seen, but women — tell me if this does not speak to you?

Honestly ladies – you’ve gotta admit this speaks to just about any woman regardless of age, shape or size. Doesn’t it?

I mean Coach Deb plays tennis for two-hours 5x per week. And she can run circles around me aerobically. But she still went ga-ga over this new line of pants and jeans at Cache. And the two girls helping her (both of which had rail-like model bodies) were raving about them too.

The truth is this Tribal Seduction marketing at it’s best

It’s simple. To the point. And hits on every trigger ingrained in women’s subconscious since they were little girls playing dress-up.

This is a great example of the Tribal Seduction CHARM Formula in action.

But what makes this the ultimate Tribal Seduction (at least from our experience at Ala Moana Mall,) was the way the manager and her assistant made us feel. Like a Tiffany Charm in the little blue box, they wrapped it with a ribbon of passionate support.

They locked the store down at 9pm, their normal closing time. But then they turned all their attention to making sure I was comfortable, and that Deb had an endless rack of suggested clothes to try on.

We walked out of there at 10:20pm! Both of us were thrilled with the 90-minute experience. (Though I must admit, I thought we left with far too many bags. But Deb thought it was just the right number for some reason. )

What about you?

How would you have felt if that all happened to you?
Do you agree it was a great example of Tribal Seduction?
(Including the “raised rear” and “drop in one size”?)

Share it in some graffiti down below.

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