Month: October 2010

Design Damage has an absolutely wonderful post
on the Six Habits Of Highly Effective Marketers.
All six habits slam
but I especially loved the bit on niche marketing.

“Successful marketer choose a niche
and stick to it.
They inject all the experience, knowledge,
theories and ideas they have
and consistently create content around it.
Everything is narrowly focused
so it speaks to those
that are looking for solutions in that topic.”

The post talks about
how this reduces misunderstandings.

Under one of my pen names,
I write 10,000 word stories
and that’s it.
Many writers tell me
they get complaints about
short stories.
Readers complain that they aren’t long enough.

I don’t get any complaints
because, under that name,
that is all I write.
Readers know what they’re going to get.

Niche branding reduces complaints.

One of the key ‘rules’
to good storytelling
is to make situations and scenes
relatable.

One of the reasons
Twilight was so successful
is that it nailed those awkward first love moments.
It didn’t matter that
the boy was a vampire,
all of us could relate to
not knowing what to say or do
and being worried we’ll make a fool of ourselves.
All of us have went through that.
We could relate.
We connected with the character.
We cared.

Marketing and storytelling
are very, very similar.
To make us care about a product,
we have to be able to relate
to the stories and emotions
surrounding the product.

Get Rich Products don’t sell being rich
because many people can’t relate to that.
They sell the WANTING to be rich,
the dreaming.

Can prospects relate to your marketing?

Recently, there were a rush
of advertising
in my area
featuring Hellman’s Mayonaise
and Kraft’s Miracle Whip.

It was… well… exciting.
I know, I know,
sandwich condiments shouldn’t be exciting
but it was.
People talked about these rivals.
Sales increased for both.
It was more dramatic
because the two rival brands
were butting heads.

Coke and Pepsi has known this for years.
A Coke executive once told me
that he wished the folks at Pepsi well
because a healthy rival
meant a healthy industry
and that was good for everyone.

Storytelling To Create Impact Brands
has a wonderful post on this subject.

I am engaging on the great agent hunt
for one of my stories.
This story is well written
(according to a fellow writer)
but I don’t know if the topic has a market.

A writing buddy advised to send out
a rather generic query letter,
leaving out that iffy topic.

Nope.
A) Because generic never got anyone noticed
(or any writer an agent)
and
B) The agent WILL read the entire book eventually
and be pissed that I tricked her.

That is the thinking behind branding also.
As Razor Branding Blog states
“Safe and predictable appeals to no one.
Just makes your company seem generic.
Phrase it in a new way
– everyone might not get it
but that’s okay.
Impact a small number of people completely
rather than a large number only a little bit.
Think brand, not bland.”

I’ve read a few posts
talking about the lack of online presence
for C-Suite executives.
The thinking is…
it is a bad thing.

I don’t have an online presence
for my personal identity.
I don’t want an online presence.
I’ve seen way more instances
of perspective employers
punishing candidates
for their online presence
than I have ever seen
praising candidates.

In interviews,
I say as little as possible
about myself.
I know that the more I say,
the more the interviewer
can find fault for.
Well…
having a blog linked to my personal brand
gives the interviewer
unlimited material
in which to find faults.

I’ve heard of job candidates rejected
for having a bad Facebook photo,
for being linked to the wrong person,
for reading romance novels,
for going to a horror movie,
or
for supporting a charity.
That has nothing to do with job performance.

If you want to be judged for your work,
keep your work presence off the internet.

Branding Strategy Insider
has an excellent post
on how and how not to use
celebrity branding.

One of the key points
is that
“Celebrity endorsement is just a channel:
Companies must realize
that having a celebrity endorsing a brand
is not a goal in itself;
rather it is one part of the communication mix
that falls under the broader category
of sponsorship marketing.”

I often hear entrepreneurs say…
if only (big name star) ate in my restaurant
or wore my clothes
or promoted my book,
I’d be set.

Well, no.
We’ve all heard stories
about entrepreneurs getting a break like that
and then having their website go down
or their phone number wrong
or have no way to drum up repeat business
from the one time promotion.

A celebrity promoting your product
is NOT a marketing program.
You need more.