When are you are at your best?

I am good at some things and pretty hopeless in others. I am reasonably good at speaking at conferences and meetings. But don't put me in charge of admin or small talk networking. Like you probably, I'm better off focusing on what I do better or naturally.

Now, of course, this is nothing new in the 1970's Chris Bull and Janet Mills while working at ICI came up with the concept of your core mission they called it a “core process”. Your core process answers the question what you are here on the planet to do best. Stay with me here, I haven't been eating mushrooms!

I did my Core Process with Nick Heap about three months ago and I decided that my core process was “Showing Up” as opposed to just turning up and hoping for the best. Your Core Process can also provide a guide when you feel stuck. Ask yourself “What would you do now if you were following your Core Process?”

I encourage you to look at the Core Process system and have a chat with either Nick Heap or Tom Evans, they are both smart, intuitive and supportive individuals.

Wouldn't it be better to just to focus on what you are uniquely good at?

Most of Your Marketing is Junk

Most of the mail that you send is junk mail. Most of the mail that you receive is junk mail, in that you don't want it and it's not personal to your needs but it has your name on it.

Most of the direct mail that you put into envelopes and send out as postcards is also junk, in that it's not relevant or personal to the recipient.

So should we all give up using that horrid direct mail as a marketing technique?

No!!!

I was listening to the great Drayton Bird discussing this recently. Drayton is probably the smartest and most experienced minds in UK marketing. Drayton's view is that the majority of most things is junk.

The majority of TV is junk, but we call that Trash TV, the majority of literature is junk, we call that pulp fiction, the majority of the weather in the UK is junk, we call it British weather. Most of the media is .... Most email you receive is junk, but we call it spam. Thank all those techiess for inventing spam filters. The majority of the football I see is junk, is that because I support Blackpool?

Then, just because this stuff comes through your door with your name on it and you have to bend down and open the thing we give it a special more odious title. Because we have to act as own spam filters and bin the stuff we don't want we give it the pantomime villain name of Junk.

Now, you don't normally have Seth Godin and Drayton Bird agreeing but on this they do, junk is junk, trash is trash and pulp is pulp. You are wasting your time and money and not impressing the reader.

Find a more relevant way to communicate.

Be more relevant.

Think what does your prospect want? It's probably not another piece of mail or email from you.

You have probably had enough of me.

Was this blog junk?

Old Marketing v New Marketing

At the recent Seth Godin talk in London the slide that he spent the longest on was this excerpt from his book Meatball Sundae. Seth was explaining how the left was the traditional way of marketing that's often not producing the results that you want.(Click on the image below to make it bigger.)



On the right is the new stuff, it's equivalent, so rather than talking about your features, trying telling your story or even better the story of how clients use your stuff and how it's helped solve their problem.

You don't have to try all 14, just try two or three.

First make sure that you stuff is remarkable.

No one wants average stuff anymore.

Remember what happened to Woollies!

Surfing the Downwave

Alan Stevens, the Media Coach, has written an excellent free guide on promoting your business and winning more clients in these tougher times.

If you are not sure how to use modern technology to spread the word about who you are and what you do then grab a copy of Alan's 27 page ebook to find out how to do it.

Alan talks about 11 techniques and vehicles you can use. Remember you don't have to use all of them. Pick one and master it, before you move onto the second. Take your time.

It's a bit like the Pick'N'Mix stand at Woollies, choose whatever appeals to you.

Download here.

Read and take some action!

Gillette, Sky TV and Freebie Marketing

You may think of Gillette as the the shaving business that throws lots of money at David Beckham and tells us "It's the best a man can get!" Now a division of Proctor & Gamble it's very...well, ordinary.

But Gillette didn't start out that way. Started by King C. Gillette in 1895, what a great name, this was an innovative business. Gillette really exploited the concept of freebie marketing, in that you give something away to sell the consumable. Gillette would give away the razor to sell the blades. They still give away their latest product the Fusion Power. Same marketing tactic for over a 100 years!

Yesterday, I received an email from Sky TV telling me that they will give me a Sky+ Box and install it for free. All I have to do is sign up for one of their programme mixes.

Razor blades and TV programmes sold the same way for a 100 years. Now I accept that these are consumer products, but what can you give away to sell the consumables, maybe it's seminar, book, mp3.

What can you give away as a freebie that will keep people coming back over and over again? Time to think.

The One Page Marketing Plan

If you can write a one page business plan, and a one page proposal, then why is your marketing plan three pages long?

Make it shorter and simpler.

Simply include your target market, marketing strategy, marketing message, lead generation tactics and your marketing plan. Can you get this one sheet of paper? You bet.

Drop me an email rod@sloane95.freeserve.co.uk and I will send you back a one page template and an example of how to do it.

Get cracking write your one page plan and then publish it and review it every thirty days.

It’s the first step to moving your marketing forward.

Be Like Norm Dominguez

I was lucky enough about a dozen years ago to have a business mentor, his name is Norm Dominguez. Norm shared a lot with me and I am grateful for the time he spent with me. If you meet Norm you will remember one adjective about him, he uses it about himself when he’s asked the question “Hi Norm , How are you?”

He would always respond “Remarkable!”

No you may think, that makes Norm a little full of himself. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Norm is remarkable because of the time he is willing to share with you, expecting nothing in return. I often wish that I was more like him.

Are you remarkable? Would you clients and colleagues write about you in a positive manner, or are you instantly forgettable.
Try more. Work harder. Become remarkable.

Thanks Norm.