I recently was joking around
on a reader chat.
From beginning to end,
I made jokes and teased people
and had a great time.
I also posted excerpts and buy links
and added friends to my Facebook account
and readers to my newsletter list.

At the end of the chat
(and the readers didn’t want it to end),
readers said that wasn’t a chat.
That was fun.

In other words…
that wasn’t marketing
because it was fun.

On another writer loop,
I announce new releases by members.
With every new release,
I ask the writers what they learned.

Recently there was a ban
on promotion/marketing
with the exclusion of new releases.
Because members learned things
from the marketing,
they didn’t consider it marketing.

So when you hear
from customers
that they don’t want you marketing to them,
that’s bullshit.
What they really are saying
is that they don’t like the way you’re marketing to them.

If your marketing is entertaining
or educational
or ???,
it will not only be tolerated
but requested.

With small businesses
(and authors starting out),
I often see mission statements
(and themes)
used in marketing materials.

(winces)

Don’t.
Please don’t.
Your customer doesn’t care
about your mission statement.
Your mission statement is about you.
Customers care about themselves.
What is in it for them?

One of my author brands
stands for tolerance.
I don’t communicate this theme to readers.
EVER.

Why?

Because readers don’t buy romance novels on tolerance.
They buy love stories,
interesting character and worlds,
light-hearted entertainment.

Themes and mission statements
are for internal use only.

We all are dealing with information overload.
Our brains deal with this overload
by filtering information.

One filter is by the source of information
and whether or not
we trust it.

If I don’t trust someone,
I discard the information
they’re sharing outright.
I don’t investigate it.
I completely erase it from my brain.

On the flipside,
if I trust the source completely
and I’m in a rush,
I’ll act upon that information.

Turns out…
other people do that same thing.

A study performed by Martin Lindstrom
for his book
Brandwashed
shows that
“Deep trust is communicated
subconsciously.
It’s rarely expressed explicitly,
nor is imparted loudly
or didactically.
To trust deeply
not only can change our minds,
but it has the power
to alter our most ingrained behaviors.”

If you’re a trusted source,
people will act upon your information.
Think before you speak.

At the American Express Open booth,
the giveaways
included popcorn and cupcakes.
These weren’t branded with American Express logos.
They were branded with the logos
of the small local companies
supplying the giveaways.

The unspoken message?
American Express puts small business first.

Which is what the brand stands for.

They didn’t have to say it.
They didn’t have to advertise it.
The people who cared
about that branding
noticed.

Walk the talk.
Be the company
your brand proclaims you are.
People WILL notice.

I talked to a product designer
at the Consumer Electronics Show.
He was surprisingly candid
about his issues,
the product’s limitations,
their sales,
their struggles with the competition.

As I shook his hand,
thanking him for the information,
he asked what I did.
(I had industry affiliate on my badge)

When I told him
I was a blogger,
he was horrified.
“But…but…but you don’t
have a red press badge.
We were told not to talk
to anyone with the red press badge.”

Sorry sweetie,
but many bloggers don’t bother
with the hurdles
to get those precious red press badges.

I’m not out to get anyone fired
so I won’t use his information
or quote him
but I could.

Assume everyone you talk to
is press
because we likely are.

Displaying at the Consumer Electronics Show
is very, very expensive
yet I was appalled
at the junior jammer mistakes
many companies made.

There was one company
who displayed their logo everywhere
(a green squiggly line)
yet had their name nowhere.
I had to ask a representative.

I spent five minutes
in another company’s booth
and couldn’t figure out what they did.

Another REALLY large company
had a booth
my 11 year old niece
would have been embarrassed
to have designed.

All three of these companies
fell prey to the sin of vanity.
They assumed attendees knew them
(which is ironic
as the purpose of tradeshows
is often to drive NEW business)
and those were the attendees
they marketed to.

In contrast,
American Express representatives
approached me
with “We’re American Express.
We…”,
assuming I hadn’t heard of them.
I found this endearing
and enchanting.
(who HASN’T heard of American Express)

Be humble when you market.
Assume no one knows
who you are.

I read a recent article
which stated that an author
should spend $5,000 to $10,000
on marketing EACH story.

WTF?

I don’t make $10,000
on each story
(not yet).
That thinking is nuts.

Then I read who wrote the article.
A marketing firm.

I love marketing.
I think marketing firms
normally do a great job.

Don’t ask them
how much you should spend though.
One of their goals
is to have you spend
as much as possible.

Instead, ask someone
(preferably several someones)
who has recently launched
and been successful
with a similar product.

Don’t ask a marketer
how much you should spend
on marketing.

This is a do-as-I-say
not a do-as-I-do post
’cause I don’t give a rat’s ass about traffic.

Yes, I like having readers
because whenever
I debate whether
to write
100 words here
or
to write
100 words on a novel,
I look at my traffic numbers
and can justify
my time here at Clientk.

But I don’t actively build any traffic.

I certainly don’t use
James Clear’s five methods to build blog traffic.
1. Start a newsletter list
2. Get the word out with guest posts
3. Brand yourself as an expert through interviews
4. Use social media strategically
and
5. Use the power of search.

However, having built blog traffic
on other sites,
I CAN attest that it works
but, as James states,
“Everyone else talks about this stuff,
but few people actually do it.
Don’t make the mistake of knowing what to,
but failing to execute on it.”

Tis the season for predictions
and Branding Strategy Insider has
their 12 branding trends for 2012.

One of the trends
book cover artists are currently struggling with
is having art
that looks good both large (on the cover)
and small (on phone screens).

As Branding Strategy Insider shares
“Handheld technology and
smarter-and-smarter smartphones
will increase opportunity for
more mobile monetary transactions.
Brands that do not facilitate
small screen transactions
will find consumers hanging up on them.
Watch for increased credit card
and promotional outreach,
especially if the brand can customize
the small screen experience.”

Do your promotions and ads
look great on both the big screen
AND
the small screen?

(And yes, this is a BIG opportunity
for marketers.
Figure out how to design promotions
that work on both levels
and you’ll be in demand.)

Recently I saw the movie War Horse.
War Horse was one
of the big movies
of the holiday season.

So I expected big things
from the previews presented
before the movie.
I expected to come out
of the theater
looking forward to an upcoming movie.

I didn’t.

The movies had no relation to War Horse
and they weren’t movies
to appeal to the average movie goer.

That’s unfortunate as
ideally, a theater
should balance
the previews for the smaller movies
(the quick advertising cash)
with
the previews for the blockbusters
(getting bums in seats tomorrow).

Short term success can be heady
but
try to not sacrifice your long term goals
while pursuing it.