When It Comes To Marketing Your Business Think Creatively
When It Comes To Marketing Your Business Think Creatively
There are dozens of competitors just up the road doing all they can to get the attention of your customers and take money out of your pockets.
It's called "marketing," and some are probably doing a better job of it than you are and some probably worse.
What can you do to position your business as the one customers notice? The secret to effective marketing is: think creatively.
Case in point: like every other struggling writer on the planet, I've written a book that I would like to see on the shelves at Barnes & Nobles.
Now I know that the only way I can get my book in front of a big time publisher is to have it submitted by an equally big time agent. And the chances of convincing a big time agent to represent me are about one in a bazillion. Most writers have a better chance of getting eaten by a shark in the Sahara than signing with an agent who gets them a big publishing deal. Being one to never let made up statistics stop me, I forged a creative marketing plan to make sure my book (my business) was noticed.
First thought: what's the best way to get face time with a big time agent? I knew that the normal rules of marketing would do me no good. I couldn't run a few radio spots or buy ads in the newspaper. I had to go where the agents were; in this case a book publishing convention in Orlando, Florida. I bought my ticket, booked my plane and hotel, and waited for the time to go to Orlando and pitch my book to every agent I could find. I was prepared to pitch them standing outside a bathroom stall door if necessary (no pride here).
Then it hit me: I'd probably have less than a minute to give these agents my elevator pitch. They would be swamped with every hack writer within a ten mile radius. I had to do something different. I had to market creatively.
I knew that every other Tom, Dick and John Grisham would be shoving business cards and tattered manuscripts at these guys, so I opted to do something different. I created a business card CD that had my picture on the outside and my manuscript on the inside. It looked like a business card, but when they popped it in their computer it brought up a nice presentation starring the work of yours truly.
Did my creative marketing work? Every agent that I gave one of my handy dandy business card CDs to said the same thing,"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen! Tell me more!" Instead of having 30 seconds to pitch them, I suddenly had their attention for five, ten, fifteen minutes. They wanted to hear more about my amazing little CD and what it contained. By marketing creatively I not only stood out from the crowd, I caught their attention; I piqued their interest, I engaged them in actual conversation instead of the fluff conversation they were saving for less creative marketers.
What was the result of my creative marketing? I signed with an agent who popped the CD in his computer on the flight home and liked what he saw. Will my book ever grace the shelves of bookstores? Who knows, but when it comes out I guarantee you that I will think of all kind of creative ways to market it.
P.T. Barnum was the father of creative marketing. Many people mistakenly think that Barnum's claim to fame was the circus that bears his name. Actually, Barnum got into the circus business late in life, years after he had established himself as one of the most creative marketers on the planet.
Barnum's pride and joy was his American Museum in New York City. And hispassion was finding creative ways to market it. He took a young midget, dubbed him Tom Thumb and made him a national sensation. He brought a pair of Siamese twins to speak at the museum who grew famous and rich from Barnum's efforts. He had an elephant plow the field on his property because there was a railroad nearby and he knew that every passenger on the train would tell everyone they knew about seeing the elephant plowing his field. Barnum received nationwide coverage of the event and some agricultural societies even wrote to ask his advice on training elephants to farm. Barnum knew that the only way to keep his museum in business was to market creatively.
How can you use creative marketing in your business? What can you do tostand out from your competition? What can you do to grab the attention of potential customers and mesmerize them with your message? Elephant farming
may be a stretch, but I bet if you put your brain to it, you can think ofsomething.
When It Comes To Marketing Your Business Think Creatively - To learn more about this author, visit Tim Knox's Website.
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If your business doesn't stand out in today's hyper-competitive market place there's a good chance that you won't be in business very long. There are countless others vying for the same slice of the pie that you are.
There are dozens of competitors just up the road doing all they can to get the attention of your customers and take money out of your pockets.
It's called "marketing," and some are probably doing a better job of it than you are and some probably worse.
What can you do to position your business as the one customers notice? The secret to effective marketing is: think creatively.
Case in point: like every other struggling writer on the planet, I've written a book that I would like to see on the shelves at Barnes & Nobles.
Now I know that the only way I can get my book in front of a big time publisher is to have it submitted by an equally big time agent. And the chances of convincing a big time agent to represent me are about one in a bazillion. Most writers have a better chance of getting eaten by a shark in the Sahara than signing with an agent who gets them a big publishing deal. Being one to never let made up statistics stop me, I forged a creative marketing plan to make sure my book (my business) was noticed.
First thought: what's the best way to get face time with a big time agent? I knew that the normal rules of marketing would do me no good. I couldn't run a few radio spots or buy ads in the newspaper. I had to go where the agents were; in this case a book publishing convention in Orlando, Florida. I bought my ticket, booked my plane and hotel, and waited for the time to go to Orlando and pitch my book to every agent I could find. I was prepared to pitch them standing outside a bathroom stall door if necessary (no pride here).
Then it hit me: I'd probably have less than a minute to give these agents my elevator pitch. They would be swamped with every hack writer within a ten mile radius. I had to do something different. I had to market creatively.
I knew that every other Tom, Dick and John Grisham would be shoving business cards and tattered manuscripts at these guys, so I opted to do something different. I created a business card CD that had my picture on the outside and my manuscript on the inside. It looked like a business card, but when they popped it in their computer it brought up a nice presentation starring the work of yours truly.
Did my creative marketing work? Every agent that I gave one of my handy dandy business card CDs to said the same thing,"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen! Tell me more!" Instead of having 30 seconds to pitch them, I suddenly had their attention for five, ten, fifteen minutes. They wanted to hear more about my amazing little CD and what it contained. By marketing creatively I not only stood out from the crowd, I caught their attention; I piqued their interest, I engaged them in actual conversation instead of the fluff conversation they were saving for less creative marketers.
What was the result of my creative marketing? I signed with an agent who popped the CD in his computer on the flight home and liked what he saw. Will my book ever grace the shelves of bookstores? Who knows, but when it comes out I guarantee you that I will think of all kind of creative ways to market it.
P.T. Barnum was the father of creative marketing. Many people mistakenly think that Barnum's claim to fame was the circus that bears his name. Actually, Barnum got into the circus business late in life, years after he had established himself as one of the most creative marketers on the planet.
Barnum's pride and joy was his American Museum in New York City. And hispassion was finding creative ways to market it. He took a young midget, dubbed him Tom Thumb and made him a national sensation. He brought a pair of Siamese twins to speak at the museum who grew famous and rich from Barnum's efforts. He had an elephant plow the field on his property because there was a railroad nearby and he knew that every passenger on the train would tell everyone they knew about seeing the elephant plowing his field. Barnum received nationwide coverage of the event and some agricultural societies even wrote to ask his advice on training elephants to farm. Barnum knew that the only way to keep his museum in business was to market creatively.
How can you use creative marketing in your business? What can you do tostand out from your competition? What can you do to grab the attention of potential customers and mesmerize them with your message? Elephant farming
may be a stretch, but I bet if you put your brain to it, you can think ofsomething.
When It Comes To Marketing Your Business Think Creatively - To learn more about this author, visit Tim Knox's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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