The role of marketing – All business strategy is marketing strategy. Your ability to attract qualified prospects determines your business success. (It is all about the customer...NOT your product)

Marketing is simply a conversation between you and another person

Do not try to overcomplicate what marketing is trying to do...it's simply you trying to talk with another person and describe how you can improve their life.

Think of your ideal customer in the “before” state and then think of their desired “after” state. Then it is your job to talk to them, and explain how you can help them from "before" to "after".

Key Note: Your "Offer" is the key to your marketing success

YOU DO NOT NEED GREAT MARKETING TO SELL A $2,000 FERRARI!

Is your offer a vitamin or pain-killers or a cure?

Vitamins are traditionally harder to sell because of the status quo bias so a lot of effort must be exerted to sell the product. 

Cures on the other hand usually take a lot of effort out of us to remedy the situation EG. A consultant is being asked to turn around a near-bankrupt business.

Painkillers are a great balance of both worlds for us to serve. We are providing a solution to a problem we don’t have to spend a lot of time explaining through marketing and it isn’t as hard to fulfil as a cure.

People ONLY BUY TWO THINGS – Transformation & Identity reinforcement 

No one ever bought a Rolex to know what time it was.

No one bought a fererai to get to the shops.

You don’t buy an apple to get on the internet.

People buy a better version of themselves!

It's not about how many horsepowers in the car, it's to show people that you are a representation of a certain future state of yourself. It might be for status, appreciation etc but it is always buying into a future version of yourself that is better.

You need to get the market to appreciate you

"Try selling an iPod to a caveman...."

Just because you know your product or service is great; just because you know your prospects need it; doesn’t mean they know they need it and nor does it mean they want it from you if they do. (AT LEAST NOT YET!) This is why marketing is so important.

AT BEST every product or service we offer is just a vehicle for our customers to go from a less desirable before state to a more desirable after state…..and marketing is the articulation of that so they appreciate it…we articulate that value! We are professional explainers!

Balancing Brand Marketing vs. direct response

The problem: Companies that focus on branding alone will go broke if they never figure out how to ask for the order...but…Companies that focus on direct response alone eventually go broke because everyone on planet Earth HATES them.

Direct response can be irritating and over-stimulating to the customers causing them to eventually get upset with you and your marketing tactics. Think of your relationship with customers as a bank vault. Some marketers view customers as an unlimited bank vault that they can constantly withdraw from, but the vault is empty at the beginning of the relationship.

It‘s up to the business to build trust and goodwill with customers PRIOR to asking for the sale. The bank doesn‘t give you money when you set up a bank account, and the same thingis true of your customers. Too often, we‘re in withdrawal mode with our prospects and customers. Instead, we should focus on making deposits.

Ask yourself: Would you give $1 to a stranger? Our willingness to give the $1 depends on the person asking – for example: a person in a suit asking for money for the pay phone vs a dishevelled drunken stranger who is making you uncomfortable. As long as we feel comfortable, most of us would be willing to give $1 to a stranger in need.

What if the amount were $1000? Almost nobody will say yes to a stranger who asks for this amount. But when your best friend asks for $1000, you at least consider giving it to them.

It‘s all about building relational equity!

When you ask a prospect or customer for money, they ask themselves:―Do I know you? ―Do I like you ―Do I trust you?

Consider a new definition of branding and selling: Branding is anything that deposits into a customer or prospect‘s relational equity account. Selling is anything that makes a withdrawal from a customer or prospect‘s relational equity account. Any time you ask someone to buy something, you‘re making a relational equity withdrawal. Too many withdrawals can break customer trust.

Important: there‘s nothing wrong with making a withdrawal if the ―funds are available.

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