Applying A Lesson From Apple To My Business

I don’t think anybody will contest that Apple is freakin’ awesome at marketing.

They are masters of the product launch. They have fostered a community who falls all over themselves to speculate on what the next product release will be, who will put their work days on pause to watch a “live blog” of a product launch, and who will stand in line in order to pay them large sums of money for hardware they likely don’t even need.

ByDavid Risley Posted on
14 Comments
If it has fruit on it, chances are I own it. 😉

I don’t think anybody will contest that Apple is freakin’ awesome at marketing.

They are masters of the product launch. They have fostered a community who falls all over themselves to speculate on what the next product release will be, who will put their work days on pause to watch a “live blog” of a product launch, and who will stand in line in order to pay them large sums of money for hardware they likely don’t even need.

It is any business owner’s best case scenario. We would ALL love to have a raving fanbase as dedicated as the Apple fan-boys. The PC guys can lecture all they want about how you’re paying the “Apple tax” for a Mac. It doesn’t matter. People are HAPPY to buy those products, despite the higher price point.

I say all this as an admitted Apple fanboy, BTW. 😉 I like to think I’m above the hype. I’ve been in computers for so long now. I used Windows for a majority of those years. I realize that a computer is a computer, and that Mac hardware isn’t really any different than PC hardware. But, then I look around…

I own an iMac, a Thunderbolt display, a Macbook Pro, an iPad and an iPhone. And I just recently sold an older Mac Pro and Mac Mini. I also have an Apple TV. Two of them in fact.

One Of Apple’s Strengths

There are a multitude of reasons why Apple is awesome at marketing. But, one lesson stands out to me… and is one that I am applying to my own business.

That lesson is SIMPLICITY.

Let’s look at Apple’s product line…

If you want a phone, you buy an iPhone. There is only one model of iPhone. It is THE iPhone.

Want a tablet? Buy an iPad. One model.

Want a laptop? Buy a Macbook Pro or Macbook Air. Really, the only real choice is size. Apple even discontinued the regular MacBook in order to keep their product line simple.

The point is, Apple keeps a SIMPLE product line.

It is a product line that works like this: “If you want X, you buy Y.” There’s no extensive choices, no big decision tree that a customer has to go through.

Compare this to buying a PC. You go into a Best Buy and you’re staring at a proverbial SEA of laptops. They practically all do the same damn thing. The consumer is faced with so many choices that they are overwhelmed. They spend countless hours (in some cases) reading user reviews online trying to figure out which laptop to buy. A lot of time wasted, and I bet a good portion of people walk out of the store without a laptop. They want to “think about it a little longer”.. a symptom of not being able to make a decision. Too many choices.

How I’m Applying This To My Business

My readers may remember that I closed down Blog Masters Club a few months ago. At the time, I said that I was closing it for strategic reasons.

Simplicity was a huge reason for that.

I decided to make Blog Marketing Academy the focus of my business. If people want my assistance and perspective to build their blog and online business, then you join Blog Marketing Academy. That’s the choice. It is the “If you want X, buy Y” decision process.

If I had left Blog Masters Club on the market, then it would create confusion. It would lead to inevitable questions about what the difference is between the two products. Hell, I was already getting that question with regard to Inner Circle and Blog Masters. The fact that that question was being asked was symptomatic of the confusion in my product line.

This isn’t to say that I don’t have other products besides Blog Marketing Academy. For instance, I’m currently gearing up for the Demolishing The Blogging Technical Confusion workshop series. That isn’t part of Blog Marketing Academy (even though it is being created under the Academy brand). But, the difference is clear.

I have other products which may disappear if needed for the sake of simplicity. For example, my 3DayMoney course may end up going bye-bye. I think there may still be a risk of confusion there.

Applying This To YOUR Business

As you create products to offer, ensure there is a clear difference between them.

You may even want to consider centralizing your business around the delivery of a clear outcome via a SINGLE product.

The other good thing is that you can give that one product your FULL focus. Really over-deliver and don’t get spread too thin.

Simplicity.

Works for product lines, but it is also important for how you run your operation. Keep things simple.

14 Comments

  1. This was clearly one of the best blog posts I have read in quite some time. The analysis was spot on and I think it is something that everyone can take a lesson from. Best of all, the examples were taken from Apple, so it should interest all types of people (those who love Apple as well as those who hate the company).

    I really like the idea of simplicity. This is something that I try to implement in my daily life all the time. Yet, for some reason, it seems to have eluded a lot of my business and marketing techniques. The example of Apple is clear: have a very simple and clean product line and then focus everything else around this. For example, you do not need to think when going into the Apple store about which type of phone to buy. If you want a phone, you will buy the iPhone. They may possibly have an older version or two lying around, but generally not.

    This is something that we can all apply to our own businesses. Instead of having a bunch of similar products and services, consolidate them all into a core module or product.

  4. I love the analogy of course 🙂 great point though. very similar to the design of your site for optimum conversions. Don’t give too many links and crap on the page. Well squeeze pages, they work.

    1.  Hi Jamie,

      I do run my websites that are based on wordpress from my iPad. However its more difficult if you’re making changes to the template or code. there is an FTP app but that’s overkill in my opinion.  Once its set up you can definitely post, reply to comments, run your email campaigns, social etc. I did it recently solely from my iPad because of an injury. I was down at least 5 months. LMK if you want app reco’s.

      1.  Thanks for the reply, Jacqueline.

        I don’t have one yet, but I’m seriously thinking about getting one soon. I just think it will be easier when I travel. When you say email campaigns does that mean you can add messages to something like Aweber?

        I’d love recommendations. I’ll copy them all down. Thanks very much. I heard about one so far – blogsy.

        Cheers

    2. Jamie, 

      Technically, you *can* run a blog from an iPad, but it isn’t very fun if you’re used to a regular computer. It feels like you’re fighting it and trying to find work-arounds much of the time.

      For quick posting, there’s the Wordpress app. Works OK.

      I see the iPad as a consumption device, not a work device.

  6. I am in the process of doing this tight now also. It took a lot of internal work to first make peace with what no longer served me, as well as building my business around what excites me most. This took a while but I also recognize the need to have my own guides and training so that my audience gets the best experience engaging with my brand.

    Great article David. I would love to know how you were able to move everything over (seo, url registration/signup) too btw

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