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News Release from: Cavendish | Subject: Marketing with integrity
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 13 March 2008
Marketing with integrity
Consultant Colin Thompson of Cavendish offers some tips on how to approach the marketing of your products or services.
Many of the most creative, gifted, talented people I know struggle mightily with the whole notion of marketing "After all," they say, "isn't asking people to hire me and buy my stuff a bit beneath me? Besides, what do I know about marketing? I'm an artist, not a salesperson"
This article was originally published on Marketingservicestalk on 6 Feb 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Unfortunately, these are the same people who wind up so tired of being broke all the time that they ultimately give up on their creative pursuits.
They are the ones who tell themselves and others to "get real" and let go of their dreams because "it's all too painful".
They complain about the state of the industry/marketplace/world and accuse those who have succeeded of "selling out" or being "ruthless".
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While there are so many flaws in this line of thinking that I could write several tips deconstructing them, what follows are two of my favourite marketing strategies that will enable you to get your wares into the marketplace without feeling like you've become something you hate.
Strategy One - The Lazarus Effect.
There was a comic strip in actors' newspaper The Stage about a pig named Hamlet who was struggling to make it as an actor.
One week, the strip showed the actor-pig in his agent's office, complaining about the agent's inability to get him work.
"Don't blame me," the agent protests.
"It's a really slow time in the industry right now".
"Don't give me that!" complains Hamlet.
"You always say that! For once in your life, try telling the truth".
"OK," said the agent.
"The truth is, you're overweight and you're not a very good actor".
After a few moment's pause, Hamlet replies "So - it's a really slow time in the industry right now?" One of the most common reasons people struggle in the marketplace is that their work simply isn't as good as they think it is.
Rather than work on their marketing, they need to work on their craft.
My friend Steve Chandler calls this "the Lazarus effect", pointing out you only have to bring one person back from the dead and they'll talk about you forever.
When your work really works - that is, it makes a tangible difference in the lives of others - it will get talked about and it will get out there.
That's not to say that you won't ever need to talk about what you do - just that when you take the time to do what you do extraordinarily well, a little bit of marketing will go a very long way.
As an experiment, rate your current product or service on a scale from 1 - 10, with 1 being hopeless and 10 being truly excellent.
If you're not yet at a 10, my recommendation is that you take a few weeks off from marketing and focus on getting your number up by at least one.
You can still tell people about what you have to offer - just take the money, mental energy and creativity you would have been spending on marketing your business and for the next month or so, pour it into making your product or service truly wonderful.
Strategy Two - The Two Handled Coffee Mug.
A few years ago, I had a chance to discuss marketing with the wise and wonderful author Al Secunda.
He shared with me his metaphor of the two handled coffee mug, which has served me and my clients very well to this day: Imagine your product or service is like a mug of steaming hot coffee.
The coffee itself is the essence of what you have to offer - the heart of the value you are offering to your clients and customers and the difference you are able to make in their lives.
In my business, this inevitably comes down to assisting people in experiencing the connection between their own levels of happiness and well-being and their success and ability to contribute in life.
The mug is the particular form of the offering - in my case, this might be a tip, or a book, or a CD programme, or a radio show, a private coaching session or a public training.
Now, in order to ensure you get your message out into the world, the mug needs at least two handles.
The first handle is for you - the way you think about and relate to what you're doing.
If you're an artist, you may think of your work as a deep expression of your personal pain or spiritual joy.
As a salesperson, you might connect with what you do as a way of earning a living or making a contribution or funding your dreams.
If you're a consultant or coach, you might think of what you do as saving a starfish, educating the masses or sharing the best of what you know.
The second handle is for THEM - the way the people you want to reach will be able to grab hold of what it is you have to offer.
Whether or not it has anything to do with the way you think about it, it is important to be able to express your offering in a way that appeals to others.
The goal is to make it as easy and appealing as possible for them to pick up the mug and "drink up" what you've created.
How do you know what appeals to others? While there are hundreds of books and entire college degrees that attempt to answer this question, the simplest answer is to simply ask them.
You do this by describing your product or service to people (or offering them a free sample) and noticing their response.
If they can't wait to try it (and keep coming back for more), you know you've found a firm, strong handle; if they are unwilling to try it (or don't come back for more), that just means you haven't yet found a hook (handle) that truly works for them.
Here's a mini-experiment you can try.
1 Describe the essence of what it is that you have to offer - the coffee in the centre of the mug.
2 Next, make a list of the various forms in which what you're offering is available.
These are the containers or contexts in which people are able to purchase your wares.
3 Now, write a paragraph or two about how YOU think about what you do.
This is your handle on your product or service.
4 Finally, brainstorm ways you could talk about/represent your product or service to others.
You'll know you're onto something when people hear your pitch/story and not only go "wow!" but actually begin drinking the coffee - making use of whatever it is you are offering.
In my experience, it is when you combine these two strategies for marketing with integrity that you will get the best results.
In other words, don't just come up with more mugs with better handles - keep brewing tastier and tastier coffee as well.
Business and general life is about dialogue that we 'all' understand and respond to.
So make the playing field equal, so all people understand the language used and the action to take, to receive and accept, so business life and general life is successful for 'all' involved.
Yes, you can achieve all things in life by your attitude to be positive, you have the solution in you, so go forward and use it now.
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