Tell it how it is – When being serious makes the difference

Now here’s the thing with Marketing–for some reason, we’ve been conditioned to expect it to work ‘instantly’. In technical (ish) terms, that’s called ‘Direct Response’… in the olden days, this looked like an ad in a magazine with a ‘reply coupon’ or a postcard you sent off to get details, or an offer you could phone up and buy right away. And yes, of course we still have ‘instant’ marketing today–there are ads online (in Facebook and Google, etc.) that often will ‘sell’ directly as a result of you seeing them. But most people take a while…

This is something I encourage when working with clients who find the concept of ‘upselling’ somewhat icky. It’s actually something I encourage even if they like selling, as for me it’s sensible and smart, and sets out your full Thing (even if then people choose to buy less of it).

There are some things that I don’t wake up in the morning **dying to do**: spreadsheets, for example (not my first choice in expressing myself). But when I know I’m doing my Thing, or working on a Thing that I know is a great Thing, I’ll be excited about them, and if my excitement extends as far as a spreadsheet, I know I must be onto something brilliant.

When you become a business celebrity it’s important to know you turn into marmite (not literally, as that would result in quite a sticky mess!) but metaphorically – some people will love you and your Thing and others will not like it at all. But that’s OK. It’s all part of being a business celebrity; […]

It’s not just you that’s part of your marketing—there’s also the person you’re marketing to.

If you are constantly marching forwards with your marketing, and there’s no ‘thinking’ space or ‘feeling’ space where someone can make a decision that suits them and, worse still, they feel like they’re being led blind in a direction they don’t want to, that’s when your sales will suffer.

Of course, being British I have this expectation built in when it comes to the weather (expecting the unexpected!), but it’s a good way of thinking when it comes to business too.

Much as it’s important to have a plan—and it’s always a good idea to have a goal—sometimes something will just ‘show up’ that is unexpected.

This can be good unexpected or bad unexpected…