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Topic: The New Marketing: They Have To Find You
| Author | Message |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/13/2006 3:29:14 PM | show profile During the past year I have found that the only way to market is not to market, at least not in the traditional sense. What does work in bringing in new business is simply putting myself out there through my blog, national speaking engagements, published articles and letters-to-the-editor in mainstream media, and making a good impression on influentials. All that has led to the word-of-mouth that not only attracts prospects but closes the deal w/o a lot of heavy lifting. Do you agree? If not, can you suggest other methods that have worked for you? -Jane Genova, Guest Moderator |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/13/2006 6:20:00 PM | show profile Marketing by Not Marketing Several readers have contacted me by email confiding their inability to self-promote -- which is in essence what I'm advocating. In the old style marketing we would provide information etc. In the new type of not-marketing we promote ourselves as a brand. That is, we put ourselves out there. My advice for those who have a problem with self-promotion? Here's the scoop. Even on a job, it's all about what you put out there. So you gotta do. It's a must-do. In freelancing, it's downright survival now there is a glut of people in every category. How to step out there? A good start is through a Dale Carnegie Public Speaking course, one that runs about nine weeks. Every week you have to step in front of a group. You can't help not only getting better at self-promotion but actually enjoy it. I followed that up with a Dale Carnegie Marketing and Sales course which increased my belief in my ability to be out there. Another way is to participate in social media. The best vehicle is starting a blog which only costs $5.00 a month on Typepad.com. But if that's too scary then take part in chat rooms and bulletin boards. Three, work in a political campaign. Those are filled with big egos and you will get the hang of being a personal brand. Recently, I've re-read Tom Peters' ''Re-Imagine'' which reinforced for me that I am responsible for my own career. No client, employer, significant other, friend, colleague, partner can take care of my career. It's all up to me to put together and then to keep reinforcing my personal brand Jane Genova. |
| westsidestory | Posted – 3/13/2006 7:17:44 PM | show profile Jane, is this a reminscence of yours, or are you actually trying to start a conversation? I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here.... |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/13/2006 8:09:12 PM | show profile | email poster Trying to start a conversation Sorry if I pushed off too much advice. Yes, I'm trying to start a conversation because there is so much controversy about putting oneself out there at a brand. For me, personal branding works. And I went on in my second post to explain how to do it. But, I am very interested in hearing from those who have been able to market themselves w/o being totally into self-promotion. |
| activeverb | Posted – 3/13/2006 8:46:52 PM | show profile I'm confused why you think writing articles and doing speaking engagements is not traditional marketing. It's actually a pretty common, rather old technique for self-promotion. |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/13/2006 9:31:47 PM | show profile | email poster Marketing that's not marketing Maybe this is all semantic. But, publishing bylined articles and doing high-profile speaking engagements was thought of even in the old days as ''rainmaking,'' not marketing. You didn't directly solicit business. You brought in business by making yourself known. Maybe this is just an issue of direct versus indirect. Maybe all marketing is marketing. But the issue I am wrestling with is this: Do people who market themselves in traditional ways -- advertising, direct mail, aggressively networking to the point of being a pest, telemarketing -- get results? I was finding that I was getting less and less results. That's why I bit the bullet and learned ecommerce. That was a way of putting myself out there in a fresh and less desperate way. |
| activeverb | Posted – 3/13/2006 11:37:36 PM | show profile Yup, it's just semantics. And, yup, direct mail, telemarketing, and advertising can all be effective ways to land new business, too. And it's not an either/or proposition -- some busiiness used all these techniques, as well as writing articles, speaking, etc. The most cost-effective choices and mix will depend on the particular business. If you run a car wash, for example, sending coupons to local residents is a lot more effective than writing articles. If you're an accountant, on the other hand, writing a column for the local business journal can be great. It all depends, but there isn't a one-size-fits-all formula. <<Marketing that's not marketing Maybe this is all semantic. But, publishing bylined articles and doing high-profile speaking engagements was thought of even in the old days as ''rainmaking,'' not marketing. You didn't directly solicit business. You brought in business by making yourself known. Maybe this is just an issue of direct versus indirect. Maybe all marketing is marketing. But the issue I am wrestling with is this: Do people who market themselves in traditional ways -- advertising, direct mail, aggressively networking to the point of being a pest, telemarketing -- get results? I was finding that I was getting less and less results. That's why I bit the bullet and learned ecommerce. That was a way of putting myself out there in a fresh and less desperate way.>> |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/14/2006 1:34:07 AM | show profile | email poster Not Either/Or You're absolutely right. Marketing or non-marketing is certainly not either/or. And, you're right about smart organizations mixing whatever seems to work and is cost-efficient. I guess that I overstated my point about how effective I've found indirect ways of promoting my services. It was only after the horrific 2001 recession that getting results from traditional marketing in general became difficult for me. Eventually I had to re-think everything. That's how I drifted towards rainmaking tools such as bylined articles and then into social media. The social media part began with just participating in others' blogs, chat rooms and BBs. Then I learned about SEO. Then I started a blog. Everything changed so quickly that I guess I became hypobolic about ''letting them come to you.'' Thanks for everyone's points. |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 3/14/2006 7:57:41 AM | show profile It's a nice theory and it's clearly worked well for you. I'll be curious how many writers or editors here got their jobs or found freelance work because they wrote a blog, posted to websites, wrote letters to editors or spoke at national conferences. Having done all of those (except for the blog), it never brought me an assignment to write a magazine, book or newspaper article. I've gone after that work the old-fashioned (yes, wearying) way. In an industry as competitive as freelance journalism writing, I can't see something as passive (although highly visible) being effective. I wouldn't assign to someone who spoke a conference simply because they had that sort of self-confidence or visibility; some of the best writers (imagine) still retain a sort of personal modesty that I suspect is more appealing. I see no correlation between someone's ability or willingness to blather on and on and on in a blog (this is a point of difference anymore?) and their ability or willingness to find, report and write a great story. I admire both skill sets but don't see one leading eager editors to your door to use the other. This advice has always been standard for people NOT in the media as it rarely occurs to them to be(come) much more visible and public and, yes, it may well bring them clients. Still, when I need to use a lawyer or accountant, do I choose them because I read their name in the paper? No, I ask around for personal recommendations from people whose judgement I know and trust. Call me horribly old-fashioned, but I'm wary of huge self-promoters and doubt, if that's their style, I'd want to work with them anyway. Given the way the media work now, I usually assume their names are in the paper or elsewhere because they paid some PR firm a lot of dough to put them there. That takes talent? ------ Author of "Blown Away: American Women and Guns" (Pocket Books, 2004.) |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/14/2006 10:49:00 AM | show profile | email poster The Power of Perception Ms. Kelly, you have clearly been very successful marketing yourself the old-fashioned way. But you might consider doing a trial run on trying to use the power of perception or what's called personal branding to attract assignments in another way. Blogging, speaking at conferences, publishing bylined articles and having others speak well of you can create an image in others' minds -- and pocketbooks -- that you are worth betting on. One of my most successful clients - a major brandname in communications - now operates just by referrral. He had mastered this non-marketing so well that, yes, they come to him. He doesn't go to them. |
| westsidestory | Posted – 3/14/2006 11:12:50 AM | show profile The power of stealth advertising? So, then, Jane, this thread is all about creating a platform for you? |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/14/2006 11:28:53 AM | show profile | email poster Not a platform but putting together a brand Maybe this is semantic. I use platforms such as the blogging one and the platform of high-profile speaking engagements to help put together and enhance my personal brand. But it's all about branding. I don't consider this stealth marketing as much as aggressively creating a known and clear identity for myself. Put that identity out there and, yes, they will come. |
| westsidestory | Posted – 3/14/2006 11:51:23 AM | show profile Jane, perhaps this has backfired for you. Usually, an MB Guest Moderator has been someone with experience eliciting a conversation-starter on a useful topic -- something beyond blatant self promotion (or self-branding if you prefer.) Claire, get the hook! Seriously, we'd love to have you as our Guest Moderator this week. Try again, and pick a topic you actually know something about - it's obvious new media marketing is not your forte. |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/14/2006 12:03:38 PM | show profile | email poster Attempting to Show Another Way To Market Obviously, from this coversation and I think we are having a conversation, it's clear that there are many ways to market. There is the push ways -- direct mail, coupons, advertising, telemarketing. And there are the pull ways -- blogging, high-profile speaking engagements, networking with power-brokers who will pass your name along, publishing bylined articles, opinion pieces and letters-to-the-editor. I used to primarily do the former. That ran out of gas. So, for about two years I've been toying around with the latter. It has been working. Will it continue to work and work well? I take it one day at a time. Communications is extremely competitive and if assignments are coming in and clients are paying on time I assume that I am doing something right. I hve no problems with being a self-promoter. If my participation on mediabistro.com is perceived as self-promotion, that's okay. My hope that it's helpful to others. When I speak with prospects the first thing I say is, let's see if I can be helpful. If this conversation isn't helpful to readers and those joining the dialogue, I am very sorry. |
| westsidestory | Posted – 3/14/2006 12:23:49 PM | show profile From the Stealth Moderator Apology accepted. Come up with something else you can speak to. See above. |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/14/2006 12:25:59 PM | show profile | email poster Self-Promotion - Not An Issue For Me Underlying this conversation seem to be strong points of view about ''self-promotion'' or ''personal branding.'' I intended this discussion to be about the effectiveness of personal branding as a marketing tool. Should I, for instance, be doing more traditional forms of marketing use as direct mail, taking out ads, and telemarketing? I don't know. I am willing to listen to any insights on how I can market myself for results in this highly competitive marketplace. A natural self-promoter, this is not the first time that I have run into criticisms of this approach. In fact, one (former client, yes I gave her the hook) blurted out that my mo was self-promotion and hers was making a difference. Clearly, we were having communications problems so I moved onto to other prospects and recommended vendors she might find a better fit. Self-promotion isn't for everyone. I am good at it and got much better at it after the 2001 recession. |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/14/2006 1:17:06 PM | show profile | email poster Social Media I regret if my knowledge of social or new media isn't apparent. My clients, whom I'm introducing to social media, seem to be pleased with my knowledge base. Some are Fortune 500, which is a cautious group. So I judge that, yes, I am conversant with new media. If some readers know more than I do, well, I wish they would share that knowledge with me and other readers. Social media is morphing so quickly that we all have so much to learn and keep learning. |
| sparky_fuego | Posted – 3/14/2006 4:06:19 PM | show profile many of us have written letters or op-eds and published articles -- because that's what writers do. many of us even speak at conferences. none of these activities is rocket-science or out of the oridinary. and word-of-mouth isn't exactly ''new marketing''. doing what you do and doing it well is the key, whether you engage in direct mail and other obvious biz dev activities or simply ply your trade. if you can't do the work, no amount of ''new marketing'' is going to get you very far. that leaves me with the distinct impression that you're either out of touch or tooting your own horn. heck, maybe you're doing a bit of both. did the MB folks *ask* you to post this? |
| belinda | Posted – 3/14/2006 4:16:32 PM | show profile >>Several readers have contacted me by email confiding their inability to self-promote -- which is in essence what I'm advocating. << The fact that readers contacted you before you even posted your e-mail address here attests to your powers of self promotion. |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/14/2006 4:21:20 PM | show profile | email poster What's New For Me Is Self-Promotion In A Systematic Way You are right: There is nothing new about self-promotion and/or any other form of marketing. What is new for me is to use the rainmaking tool in a highly systematic manner. When the marketplace was less competitive I would do a little of this and that, get some business, and then start again when business got slow. Now, I strategically plan to keep up the momentum, particularly in social media. What is also new, at least for me, is investing a lot of time in blogging. That investment is paying off. If I sound like I'm tooting my horn, I probably am. I am not a modest person. What I am, though, is generous. I enjoy sharing what I sense works with others. Unlike many self-promotion discontents, I never had a philosophical problem putting myself out there. I grew up in a family business in which we had to sing for our supper every day. If the song didn't get the right attention, no supper that night. The next day the song got better suited for the audience. |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/14/2006 4:24:23 PM | show profile Being a brandname Belinda: Thanks to years of traditional marketing (I started my own shop in 1987) and using social media since 1999, I am a known entity. I kept my AOL email address so that anyone can still find me. I get a ton of email, off-the-record. I try to provide help where I can and learn from the criticism some of the email contains. |
| worm | Posted – 3/14/2006 4:44:00 PM | show profile I'm still trying to figure out what this ''conversation'' is about. Blogging as a way of marketing yourself? Not new. Heck, writers created blogs. What you are calling ''branding'' is the same thing media folk call a platform. Not new. Word of mouth? Useless to a writer if the writer doesn't have the talent or a steady stream of ideas to pitch. What is it that you do for a living exactly? How does what you do pertain to writers, editors, designers, and journalists? Who are you trying to reach with this--the newbies? the veterans? Why don't you give us a practical example of how what you are talking about could be used to help a book editor, or a freelance magazine writer, or a copyeditor. |
| MGENOVA981 | Posted – 3/14/2006 5:18:26 PM | show profile Reply to Worm I began all this throwing it out there that I've found success through ''having them come to me'' rather than doing the things I used to do to attract new business -- e.g. direct mail, advertising, cold calling. I was asking if folks thought if I might be relying too much on that and should add back some ''old marketing'' tools such as direct mail. In a private email, a few recommended that and I am going to to a trial run with direct mail. In term of this posting I have no particular audience in mind. For a living I wear many hats, ranging from presentation coaching to ghostwriting to marketing communications. This year I hope to earn about 1/4 million, w/o a lot of heavy lifting. No, blogging isn't new. What's new to me is to use it so strategically to attract new business. You might say I've migrated from being a writer to a marketing animal. |
| worm | Posted – 3/14/2006 5:56:16 PM | show profile OK, I get it. Not so much a conversation. |
| cornfrost | Posted – 3/14/2006 6:00:25 PM | show profile | email poster If you are making $1/4 million with no heavy lifting, what the f***k are you doing here asking for advice? |
