Digital Bacon

Make Your Online Presence Irresistibly Attractive

by Alex Rodriguez

Published by:

YMMY

&

Creative Strategy Tips

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Digital BACON:

Make Your Online Presence Irresistibly Attractive

First Edition

Published 2014

YMMY Marketing, LLC (ymmymarketing.com)

Creative Strategy Tips (creativestrategytips.com)

This book is not intended to provide legal, financial, nor investment advice. The Author and the Publisher specifically disclaim any liability, loss or risk which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any contents of this work.

ISBN 978-0-9906424-1-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014914673

1. Business and Economics; 2. Computers: Web; 3. Business: Advertising & Promotion

Copyright © 2014 Alex Rodríguez. All rights reserved.

SmashWords Edition

Written by Alex Rodríguez

Foreword by Chris Brogan

Illustrations by Nathan Rodríguez

Edited by Nicholas Georgandis

Cover design, diagrams, and layout by YMMY Marketing

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with the provisions of the copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Applications for the copyright holders written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publishers.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations of warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, a specific statement of work and contract agreement shall be required between both parties before deeming the advice within this book as part of a professional services relationship.

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Foreword by Chris Brogan

Introduction

Chapter I – The Digital BACON Process

Chapter II – Based on Reality: Discovery Phase

Chapter III – Aimed Towards Results: Strategy Phase

Chapter IV – Creatively Developed: Production Phase

Chapter V – Organized in Propagation: Distribution Phase

Chapter VI – Numerically Measured: Analysis Phase

Closing Thoughts

APPENDIX - Resources

About the Author

Foreword

What Alex Doesn't Know

by Chris Brogan

My house smells of bacon as I type these words -real bacon. Alex doesn’t know that because he doesn’t live here. That would be weird. Well, unless we were a superhero team.

Alex also doesn’t know that my own project, The Owner’s Path, focuses on a solid framework to help people improve their personal leadership, and thus build stronger influence and impact. The framework that I use isn’t the same as the BACON framework in this book, but there are some similarities. Alex doesn’t know this because he doesn’t live near me nor work with me directly.

I’m guessing Alex doesn’t know much about making something go viral, at least in the way that clients tend to use the word. Replace viral with magic or bitten by a radioactive spider. Alex doesn’t know that because he actually knows how to make things happen the real way. The BACON way.

Really, when you get right down to it, Alex doesn’t know how to diet, because this book is fat with ideas, concepts, and work for you to do. You will not lose mental weight on the BACON book diet. Digital or not, this BACON book is FAT.

And what you don’t know - yes, I mean you - is probably somewhere in this book… at least if what you don’t know deals with how to attract and keep the right kinds of clients and customers. But don’t lose too much sleep about that. Alex knows. And he will help.

I’d write more, but my house smells of bacon as I type these words.

And besides, you have a book to read.

Chris Brogan

CEO Owner Media Group

and author of The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth

Introduction

"Millions of dollars in sales in just a few days …"

"Double and triple percentage lifts in audience numbers …"

"Record-breaking number of pre-sales in a launch campaign …"

Would you like to end this year being able to claim achievements like the ones above for your company?

If you’re like most people in charge of promoting a business, nothing would make you happier. You have probably heard of companies and agencies deploying successful digital efforts and achieving results like these, but might be wondering how it’s even possible.

Believe me … it’s absolutely possible. How do I know?

The above examples are results I have personally helped my clients achieve, and I’ve done so by implementing the formula I am going to share with you in this book. By the time you finish reading, you will have learned the process to present your offer in an irresistibly attractive manner, by promoting your products and services to a large audience in a powerful manner, and securing a fantastic return on investment (ROI) for your company.

You’ll notice I used the words irresistibly attractive above. I use this phrase heavily throughout this book, because I can imagine that this is the effect you want to cause on your prospective customers when you present your business’s offer. You want a strong pulling force in your direction, one which they simply cannot fight against.

Sort of like what bacon does to the average person.

Unless you’re a vegetarian, everything about bacon drives a person absolutely insane. The color and crispy/chewy texture, the sizzle, the smell, and of course, the flavor. Everything about bacon is perfectly aligned to make you salivate, while your mind fires on all pistons just imagining when you can have your next blissful encounter with that very special and unique palate-teaser. Someone once described the flavor of bacon as angels frolicking on the tip of your tongue. Sounds pretty accurate to me!

You see, bacon isn’t simply another member of the meat family, even though it is obviously a meat product. When you think of meat, what comes to mind are steaks, pork chops, ribs, etc. However, when you think about BACON, something much more rare and special … something awesome comes to mind. You never think of regular old meat, but rather an incomparably unique experience.

This is ultimately what I would like your brand to become, and the reason I’ve written this book. You shouldn’t be leading just another business in your industry. I want to help you become the BACON of your trade, sending off an irresistibly attractive sizzle that enchants potential clients and customers until they just have to try you, and after they do, they remember your brand as a delightful experience, and not just another replaceable product or service.

Now, insert whatever industry you’re in, right on the blank below, and ask:

"So… how can I promote myself as the BACON of _______?"

I’m glad you asked! After spending almost two decades breaking down some of the most successful digital campaigns in the world, across various continents, languages, and stages of technological development, I’ve come upon five essential characteristics that the most successful digital marketing efforts have in common. Whereas many ineffective online efforts may have embodied one or two of these qualities, and some decent ones get to three or four, the ones that really sizzle apply all five elements.

The best digital efforts settle for nothing less than BACON.

You see, BACON is not just the perfect metaphor for an irresistibly attractive digital promotion, but the letters B-A-C-O-N form the acronym for the five essential qualities of outstanding digital efforts. This is what I call the Digital BACON Formula. The best digital efforts are:

- Based on reality. They throw out the wishes and whims. Great digital marketing is built on researched facts about the market and other current situations.

- Aimed towards results. Effective online efforts are based on measurable goals. Every initiative is informed by a plan customized to its business’s needs.

- Creatively developed. Cookie-cutter doesn’t cut it anymore. In order to stand out from the crowd, they manage to be unique and exquisitely produced.

- Organized in propagation. The reason they are found by their market is because they distribute their offer correctly.

- Numerically measured. They never measure results in the form of vague adjectives, but rather as numbers. They rely on objective measurements to know whether their efforts are moving their business forward or not.

Now, imagine what would happen to your business’s marketing efforts if, instead of spending your budget on random initiatives, you strived to achieve all five qualities in the Digital BACON Formula! In this book, you will learn what each of these qualities is about, as well as my process to achieve them.

This book is not a conceptual, theoretical, philosophical journal, because I am not a conceptual, theoretical, marketing philosopher. For many years, I’ve worked in the trenches with my own hands, implementing these five elements into my client’s brands, while observing the record-breaking level of success it has brought them. I’ve also made sure my own businesses’ online presences embody these qualities with tremendous results.

Now, it’s your turn to make your online presence irresistibly attractive. Just like BACON.

Digital BACON.

Chapter I

The Digital BACON Process

The five aforementioned qualities in our Digital BACON Formula do not come about on their own. In order to achieve each quality, we will need a process that takes us there. Our process is comprised of five phases, each one securing a particular quality in our formula. The Digital BACON Formula is achieved by following the Digital BACON Process.

Before we look at how our Digital BACON Process works, let’s look at an example of a digital effort using a different, and very common process:

Company ABC knows that it needs an online presence. Why? Because it’s just what you do, right? So Company ABC goes out and hires a Web designer (after reviewing their portfolio and making sure their work looks nice, of course), and gets quoted about $3,000 for the Web design work. They consider it a fair price, and therefore go forward with it.

Along the process, the company execs tell the Web designer exactly what to do. After all, they know their market better than anyone else. The Web designer complies and delivers what they requested, so they’re happy; that is, until they bump into some issues they simply couldn’t foresee:

1) They quickly realize the $3,000 they paid for the website is not producing any measure of trackable returns. Therefore, the designer’s invoice is a cost to them, not an investment by any stretch of the imagination.

2) They’re left unclear on whether their brand is being portrayed in the proper manner online, given that they never performed research on who their competition was, nor how their brand could rise among many different other options in their industry.

3) Given that there was no strategy behind the development, there is no way to correct their course and turn their cost into a true marketing effort. Their only option is to trash the efforts up to that point, and begin the whole process from scratch.

Beginning a digital effort at the Production phase is a lot like building a commercial real estate development beginning at the construction phase. There is no analysis on where the most commercially viable spots in town are, and no blueprint to figure out what the proper structure for the building should be.

Call in the workers, pick any spot in town, let’s just start laying some bricks!

As ridiculous as that may sound, this is unfortunately the course many businesses take when developing their online