Category: Marketing

No One Likes Being The Fool

Today is April Fool’s Day
and I usually spend
most of today
disconnected from the world.

Why?

Because like most people,
I don’t like being played
for a fool.
I don’t like being tricked.
I don’t like being lied to.

It decimates my trust
of the other person or business.

So why does April Fool’s Day
continue
to exist?

Because some people LIKE
tricking other people
or making people look
like fools.

And even more people
like watching
that sh*t.

If you’re planning events today,
remember no one actually likes
BEING the fool.

Marketing Around St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day
is March 17th
and it is a fun day
to market around.

Wishing people the best of luck
in a genuine way
almost always puts them
in a happy mood.

And happy people buy
products and services.

Unless your business
is proudly Irish
or you’re proudly Irish,
I would suggest
forgoing any Irish references.

I would also skip
the leprechaun references.

Heck, I would forgo
mentioning St. Patrick’s Day.

I’d use a lot of green,
maybe some shamrocks
in promo material.
I’d mention luck somewhere
in my message.

I’d also greet customers with
“It IS our lucky day.
You’re here.”
sporting a big smile.

Have fun with it!

How To Promote Yourself As A Helper

A book promoter reached out to me.
She told me
my covers were amazing
and asked what genres
I wrote in.

It was clearly
a mass reach out.
But the tactic
was extremely ineffective.

Because
if my covers truly were
amazing,
she shouldn’t need to ask
what genres
I wrote in.
That’s one of the goals
of a great cover.

And, as a book promoter,
she should know that.

Being a book promoter,
her job
is also to help a writer,
and decrease that writer’s workload.

Asking that writer questions
that could have been easily answered
by an Amazon search
isn’t decreasing that writer’s workload.
It is increasing it.

If your business seeks to help clients,
ensure your marketing helps them.
Or, at the very minimum,
doesn’t increase their workload.

Be Extra Kind Today

Valentine’s Day
is rough
for quite a few people.

It is a reminder
for single people
that they don’t have anyone
romantically.

Widowed people
are reminded of their losses.

It is a high pressure time
for many couples.
Will their romantic loved ones
remember the day?
Etc.

Be extra kind
to people today.

Perhaps put a dish
of wrapped chocolate
on the counter
for customers.

Or bring in
donuts
for coworkers.

Or give employees
an extra 10 minute break
during the day.

Be extra kind today.

Marketing Around Valentine’s Day

It is February 12th
and this is my annual reminder
that MANY people
dislike Valentine’s Day.

I write romance novels,
stories that feature love
and relationships,
and I am very careful
about marketing around
Valentine’s Day.

I usually gently reference it
with color – pinks and reds
and with hearts, roses,
chocolates
in my graphics.

And I don’t mention it
at all
in text.

Valentine’s Day
is a love it
or hate it
celebration
with many more people
hating it
than
loving it.

Market around Valentine’s Day
carefully.

Marketing During The Super Bowl

Many of us
have the urge
to tie our marketing today
to football or, more specifically,
to the Super Bowl.

It is one of the largest events
in American sports.
127.5 million people
are expected to watch it.

But that is exactly
the issue
– they are WATCHING it.

Which means
they aren’t seeing
your post on social media
or reading your newsletter
or engaging in your marketing
at all.

(Unless you have snagged
one of the multi million dollar
commercial placements.

And if you’re advertising
at that level,
I doubt
you’re still following
my bootstrapping tips.)

Our market for today
are the non-football fans,
the people who are tired
of hearing about
a sport they have no interest in.

They don’t want to see
another football-themed post.
They want something different.

Give them that something different.

You Don’t Know Who The Person Truly Is

I visited the Universal booth
at the CES.

I tried to make conversation
with the people staffing it.

All I got was blank stares
and silence.

The person waiting behind me,
upon seeing that interaction,
turned around
and left.

The Universal employees
didn’t know who I was.
Not truly.
Sure I had a name
on my badge
but that was only one of the names
I operate under.
I could have been
someone
extremely influential.

They certainly didn’t know
who the person behind me was.

And that’s the challenge…
we don’t truly know
who people are
or what power or influence
they might have.

So be polite to everyone.

The Power Of The Line

The CES in Vegas
had very low attendance
this year.

(Registration was healthy.
Participants
didn’t show up
for whatever
**cough, cough – illness**
reason.)

To create the illusion
of crowds,
companies
forced attendees to wait
in a line outside
their fairly empty display areas.

These artificial lines
did two major things.

1) It drove media coverage.

Reporters wanted to know
what innovation had interested people
enough to wait in the long lines.

And

2) The existence of the lines
made important guests
feel extra special.
They were able
to go straight to the front,
walking past all the poor suckers
waiting outside the area.

Did the lines attract
more people to the booth?

It did attract SOME people.

It is human nature
to want to be
where everyone else is.

But I suspect it also
drove some people away.
I wasn’t willing to wait
in those artificially created lines,
for example.

Lines attract media attention.
Skipping those lines is viewed
as a valued perk.

Consider creating lines
for events
you suspect the media might cover.

CES And Superspreader Events

I attended this year’s
CES
(Consumer Electronics Show)
in Vegas.

A lot of people attending
this mega conference
were ill.
It was definitely
a superspreader event.

The CES organizers
must have anticipated this possibility.

They had signs erected
everywhere,
telling participants to wear masks,
social distance, test,
and stay away if they were ill.

They gave away
black KN95 masks.

They gave away
test kits.

They had hand sanitizer stations
positioned everywhere.

Ventilation systems in the buildings
were blasting.

There were displays outside.

The CES covered their a$$es.
They did their part
to stop illnesses.

They can truthfully say to the media
and others
it wasn’t their fault
if
only 5% or fewer participants
wore masks.
(Which meant, of course,
the CES didn’t have to supply
many free masks.)

They took precautions.
Participants chose
to spread illness.

When organizing an event
or, f@ck,
when running a business,
cover your a$$ also.

Illness is circulating.
Lawsuits and bad media coverage
will happen
due to it.

Supply masks, tests
and hand sanitizer
and improve ventilation.

The cost of this is less
than you likely believe
and the benefits
will be enormous.

Paid Products With Excessive Advertising

One of the book marketing tool companies
I use
to design ads
has increased the amount
of advertising on their site.

Excessively.

It is now d@mn difficult
to use the tools
I paid for.

There are free versions
of these tools.

I didn’t choose to use them
because they had…
excessive advertising.

Now, I’m wondering
why I’m PAYING to use tools
that also have
excessive advertising.

There is a ‘free’ version
of almost every digital product
out there.

Your paid customers
are paying customers
because
they don’t want to wade through
advertising
to use your products.

Focus your advertising efforts
elsewhere.