But most of us don't like to admit it.
That's because selfish marketers are pretty scummy. They steal our attention, they lie to us, they use shame and guilt and the short-term zinger to get us to buy something we don't want and don't need.
That's not you, of course. You're trying to bring your idea to the world, grow your freelance practice or do a great job for the company you work for. You're trying to make change happen, to influence the culture and help people find something that they'll be glad they discovered.
What's the best way to do that?
What's the best way to persuade your boss, your co-workers or your investors to move forward? What's the most powerful story to tell to the outside world, to get a business to stock your product or a person to fall in love with your art?
Answering these questions is the reason we built The Marketing Seminar.
More than 3,000 people have enrolled in the first two sessions, and we're running it just one more time this year.
It's a unique way of learning, a hybrid of more than 50 video lectures from me combined with an ongoing discussion board. Over the course of the 100 day seminar, we ask each other more than 200 different questions, questions that will shape your thinking and give you an opening to find a better way to make a difference.
It's tempting to hide your voice, to keep your work quiet, to shy away from speaking up about the contribution you want to make. We've been so bruised by marketing, by all the noise and hassle that comes with it, that sometimes it's easier to just sit back. But modern marketing is different. Modern marketing is based on humility, empathy and effectiveness. We can show you how to do this, to find your voice, to discover the niche where you can thrive.
I'm delighted to announce that the new seminar begins September 12 (see all the details here). There are new videos every other day until mid-December, and you can watch them and respond at your own pace.
You've already decided to be a marketer, because you've already decided that you want your ideas to be heard. Now, the only question is: will you decide to be really good at it?
PS look for the purple circle at the bottom of the home page. We have a secret discount there, but it gets a little smaller every day, an advantage for people ready to leap.
September 6, 2017
Effective education is rarely done TO people. It's done with them.
I had my first professional teaching gig forty years ago this summer. Since then, I've taught at institutions like NYU and Tufts, at community colleges, from the stage, one on one and most of all, on the vanguard of digital media.
As our hemisphere goes back to school this week, I hope you'll spend a few minutes thinking about who school is for, what it's for, how it works and how it doesn't. We're wasting a huge amount of time and money, bankrupting our children, hindering progress and stultifying growth, all at the same time. Even worse, we're not even seeing all the things we're not learning, not engaging with, not creating, because we're so busy learning like it's 1904.
Here's my free book-length manifesto, Stop Stealing Dreams. It's been shared (in PDF and video form) more than 4,000,000 times. I hope you'll forward it to parents or learners or people you care about.
Consider the radical shifts being pursued by Acton, by Harlem Village Academy, by Big Picture Learning. Or experiences like Global Citizen Year. Before you go a quarter of a million dollars in debt, it's worth reading Hackiversity, a new book about re-examining what gets learned in college.
I've written a popular Medium post, "Will This be on the Test?," in which I outline how the altMBA and The Marketing Seminar are pioneering changes in adult education. Digital learning isn't merely a version of in-person learning, (online).
It's an entirely different experience, one that can transform people faster and with more impact. The exchanges, the experience and the outputs are all dramatically different.
When you're in it, it might not feel like a revolution. But it is. One by choice. One that's urgent. One that's happening right now.
September 5, 2017
There's often a line out the door.
It's not surprising. The ice cream is really good, the portions are enormous, and a waffle cone costs less than three Canadian dollars. And it's served with a smile, almost a grin.
It's irresistible.
Of course, once you finish the cone, you'll stroll around, hang out by the water and maybe start to make plans about where to spend a week on next year's vacation.
The Opinicon, a lovely little resort near Ottawa, could charge a lot more for an ice cream cone. A team of MBAs doing a market analysis and a P&L would probably pin the value at about $8. That's where the ROI would be at its peak.
But they're not in the business of selling ice cream cones. The ice cream cones are a symbol, a beacon, a chance to engage.
If you run everything through a spreadsheet, you might end up with a rational plan, but the rational plan isn't what creates energy or magic or memories.
Stew Leonard's was a small supermarket with a big footprint. They were profiled by Tom Peters and had the highest sales per square foot of any store of its kind. As they grew to a few more stores, a new generation took over, one that seems more intent on ROI and less focused on magic. As a result, profits went up. For a while. But now, year after year, it's a bit less crowded, a bit less energetic, a bit less interesting. So when new store options open nearby, they lose a few more customers, then a few more, and finally, people begin to wonder, "why do I even bother coming here?"
It might not be about being cheaper. It's tricky to define better. But without a doubt, the heart and soul of a thriving enterprise is the irrational pursuit of becoming irresistible.
September 4, 2017
It's not sizzle or hype or a fad, not when you're serious about it.
Consider FCP Euro, for example. They sell high-performance auto parts. Things like brake pads, oil, oil filters, etc.
People always whine about the fact that they can't possibly make their boring stuff remarkable. That's silly.
FCP has the following policy: Everything is guaranteed for life. Everything. For as long as you own your car. Send it back, they replace it.
Even the oil.
Even the oil.
Think about that.
And yes, it works. Do the math and you'll see why.
If someone can make used motor oil remarkable, what can you do?
September 3, 2017
If you want to teach, to change minds or to cause action, a consistent curriculum is always better than a single event.
Drip by drip, with enrollment.
September 2, 2017
Except for:
Community, contribution and what our friends think
Trust
The perception of quality
How much we like doing business with you
Side effects
and self-esteem.
Also… doing work that matters, with people we care about.
It seems like almost everything important matters more than results.
September 1, 2017
The high end is brittle, unstable and thus, expensive.
The car that wins a race, the wine that costs $300, the stereo that sounds like the real thing… The restaurant that serves perfect fruit, the artisan who uses rare tools and years of training…
If there was a reliable, easy, repeatable way to produce these outputs, we'd all do it and the high end would be normal.
What makes something pure enough, optimized enough and fast enough to defeat the other 99.9% is that it doesn't always work. It is far more sensitive to inputs. It's dangerous…
Maybe you don't need carbon fiber wheels. Maybe you merely need a reliable way to get from here to there at a reasonable price.
The high end is magic, but magic isn't reliable. On purpose. That's what makes it magic.
August 31, 2017
In any organization of more than two people, there's the opportunity to escalate a problem.
When the software doesn't work, or the customer is in a jam or something's going sideways, you can hand the problem up the chain. Escalation not only brings more horsepower to the problem, but it spreads the word within the organization. And, even better, it keeps you from losing the customer.
Here's the thing: at some point, organizations start training their people not to escalate. They fear staff will cry wolf, or they get tired of pitching in.
The moment this happens is the moment you begin to give up on your customers.
Either give your front line the power to fix things, on the spot, or encourage them to call for help when it's needed.
August 30, 2017
The secret of the fly ball is that you don't shout, "you've got it."
It's not up to us to assign who will catch it. If you can catch it, you call it.
The thing about responsibility is that it's most effectively taken, not given.
August 29, 2017
Often overlooked is the decision every marketer makes about how they will treat the issue of power (asymmetrical or not) in their marketing.
Consider insurance. Companies like Allstate don't market themselves as the dominant force in the relationship. They don't say, "you give us money every month for a very long time, and one day, if we think it's a good idea, we'll give you some money back." Instead, they say, "you're in good hands." Insurance is here to take care of you.
That's pretty different from the power dynamic we see implicit in the marketing of Harley Davidson motorcycles. Buying one makes you James Dean. They give you power over others. Luxury brands promise a similar result in certain social situations.
Horror movies don't promise an equitable experience. You sit there, they scare you.
There's some part of our culture that wants to be told what to do by a powerful autocrat.
Microsoft made a lot of enemies (and friends) when they had monopoly power. The message to users and even to partners was, "We're in charge and you have no choice… here's what's next." A large portion of the market responds well to that message. It takes the pressure off decision making and eases responsibility (it can't be your fault if you had no options). Apple is starting to adopt that power mantra with their approach to upgrades and new models.
The new Microsoft, of course, puts the user's power first. Different strategy for a different audience.
Every brand gets to make this choice, pick one of three:
- We have the power over you
- You have the power over your choices and your competitors
- Our products and services give everyone power
Famous colleges market with straight-up power. We have the power to choose you, to grade you, to give you a magic diploma. And in response, millions of kids send in their applications. In fact, they often avoid the alternative (less famous) schools that instead of power, ask, "how can we help you?"
Many businesses prefer to buy things when they have no choice. They not only respect the power of the big auditing firms or the race to serve a search engine or a social network, they actually seek it out. It focuses the attention of the bureaucracy and offers the promise of rapid forward motion with little responsibility on the part of the client.
A lot of freelancers, on the other hand, have been beaten down so often that they can't imagine projecting power, instead only offering to serve those that do.
Danny Meyer has built a restaurant empire around the idea that customers ought to be powerful. Instead of bullying his patrons, he trains his people to serve. No velvet rope, just a smile.
Each of us gets to choose what sort of marketing we respond to. Those that use bully tactics to gain power over us only get away with it because it works (on some people, some of the time). And often, when power is put into our hands (sometimes known as freedom… the freedom to create, to speak up, to lead, to challenge), we blink and walk away.
Some people persist in thinking that marketing is about ads or low prices. It's not. It's about human nature and promises and who we see when we look in the mirror.
When you see confusion, look for fear, and look for the dynamics of power.
August 28, 2017
