Duct Tape Marketing

You're walking down the street, minding your own beeswax, thinking about how you can get your own reality TV series, when, all of a sudden, out of the blue, someone starts chasing you!

What do you do?

You run!  Of course you run. But, let’s say he catches you by the arm. What do you do now?  You struggle!  You try to get away! Natural instinct, right?

Too many entrepreneurs are chasers! They chase their potential customers with cold calls, and emails and faxes. And what do their prospects do? They try to escape!  No one likes to be caught! It's dopey. Because what works, is exactly the opposite.

Business is a seduction.

If you learn the art of attraction, you'll never have to make another cold call again.

Cold Calls Leave You Cold?

I'm not saying cold calls don't work. They do.  But cold calling is chasing. Cold calls diminish the caller and creep out the "callee". They're an intrusion. They're UNcomfortable and they're UNnecessary.

Today, most products and services are bought not sold. We have no patience for the Willy Lomans or the used car salesmen of the world.

So how do you attract new clients? You gotta know the 3D’s.

1.         Don't Bore Them.

2.         Don't Bore Them.

3.         For G-d's Sake, Don't Bore Them!!

Business doesn't have to be boring! As famous adman David Ogilvy said “You can't bore people into buying.

Ever been to a Business Networking Event at your local Chamber of Commerce? They don't call them the "Bored of Trade" for nothing!

Up stands Yackety Yackerson. Followed by Blahy Blaherson. Then Yada Yada Yanderson. Then it’s time for the keynote speaker. Boreme Some Morrison!

Sometimes I find myself at one of these meetings, stuck between an accountant in a blue suit and a financial planner in a grey suit and I'm thinking, if one of them drops a little scrambled egg on his lapel, at least it'd add a touch of color!

How do you make sure you're not one of them?

Be careful what words you use.

Don't be using words like...

*          Technology

*          Solutions

*          Advanced,

*          deliverables,

*          value added,

*          "best customer service"

*          module,

*          HR

*          IT

*          communications

*          integrated

*          core competencies

*          corporate

*          systems

*          soft skills

*          "We service small to medium sized businesses"

*          "For all your blah blah blah needs"

What do these words have in common?

*          Colorless

*          Meaningless Filler

*          We don't know what you mean

*          We don't believe you anyway

*          Can't see them!!

*          No flavor

*          No story

And don’t be giving us a shopping list of your benefits either. Me, I’d rather be stuck in the dentist’s chair, listening to Barry Manilow, than in a business networking meeting full of people spouting their benefits out all over the place. These are often the same guys who force feed you a brochure or two or ten, just in case you want to rush right home and read all about their business or maybe take a few pamphlets around to the neighbors after dinner!

 Don’t feel stupid if you’ve done it. We’ve all done it. But it’s NOT what gets you clients. You gotta learn to attract new prospects by creating a colorful persona and brand so that clients will chase YOU!