“It’s got nothing to do with the music, you silly cow!” shouted Steve Jones of the Sex pistols in a radio interview in San Francisco. At this present time, 2010, products and services are now treated like commodities. The consumer is bewildered by choice. How then do they handle this situation? They simply filter the [...]
“It’s got nothing to do with the music, you silly cow!” shouted Steve Jones of the Sex pistols in a radio interview in San Francisco.
At this present time, 2010, products and services are now treated like commodities. The consumer is bewildered by choice.
How then do they handle this situation?
They simply filter the vast mess of information –
On-line – use of a search engine like Google.
Off-line – get referrals or recommendations from your network like family, friends or others.
(Google: search engine criteria – age of web site, quantity of content, relevance, frequency of update, quality of inbound links)
Now, let us look at the other side of the coin, you are a service provider, how are you going to market your services?
In the traditional marketing context (print media advertising & PR, leaflets), are they cost effective?
There is so much competition on the web for that particular topic – insurance, advertising etc
So, where do you position yourself?
There is now a surfeit of product and services, what is now scarce is the attention of people. There is so much distraction or activity.
You have to target your market with engagement.
Grant has a model of the inverted funnel. You pull the potential client to the top of the inverted funnel and then you engage them within the inverted funnel.
This is the opposite to the conventional funnel where you get masses and then qualify people out of the process.
Therefore, his suggestion is:
1. On-line – people do not search for the topic; they search for solutions for their problem. Therefore, go to where the people with the problems are.
2. Rather than benefits, you describe the experience of solving the problem. Engage with them once you have established a relationship (return on engagement)
He concluded by providing 2 case studies with lateral solutions. Leveraging the marketing by collaborating with potential clients or forming alliances.
He enthralled the audience for a good hour by ending with the quote
“It’s got nothing to do with the music, you silly cow!”
What Grant’s message is: How can you differentiate yourself from the competition just based on the benefits; they are all the same (or a commodity)
Describe the experience; it is different!
Charles Revson (founder of Revlon cosmetics) is quoted to have said “In the factory we make cosmetics; in the drugstore we sell hope.”
Grant Leboff is a principal of The intelligent sales club – http://intelligentsalesclub.com
The Ecademy Weybridge events is organised by David Nunn. http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=meeting&mid=31583
In January, I spoke on the business opportunities that are coming up in the next decade. In the following month, Grant Leboff gave a talk on how to handle the same opportunities.
Great planning David.
Dr Michael Oon
John and Edward Grimes, otherwise known as Jedward, were the final 12 contestants of the X factor 2009 series. Their standard of their singing was way below the other contestants and they could not even co-ordinate their movements to the beat of the music. But, they were finally booted out on the 7th week of [...]
John and Edward Grimes, otherwise known as Jedward, were the final 12 contestants of the X factor 2009 series. Their standard of their singing was way below the other contestants and they could not even co-ordinate their movements to the beat of the music.
But, they were finally booted out on the 7th week of this singing competition, much to the relief of many. This made them the top 6 in a singing competition when they cannot actually sing or dance properly. They must have some special quality for the public to endure to them for that long.
What is more, they have a recording contract with Sony BMG, an ITV documentary, countless appearances on TV chat shows, front the Irish Tourism advertisements, countless column inches in the print media, chatter in Social Media and much more.
What did the other finalists get? Not a lot. Other than the winner, Joe McElderry, John and Edward are the only ones to get a recording contract and sing more songs on the X Factor show.
What is it for them – fame and a start of a career.
What is it that gets them that far? – it must be their hairstyles (smile) and the willingness to try anything new.
Nick Tadd, could also be another geek with an unusual hairstyle which is not in keeping with the times. He is mad about Audi cars, has some fancy Apple technology both in his office and on his person, loves design, tells bad jokes but loves talking.
In his description, he labels himself has a web brand auditor, strategist, thought provoker, communicator and connector.
He has some 11,500 followers on Twitter and 13,000 connections of Ecademy. He must spend a lot of time on the computer and knows what he is talking about.
He led a workshop on Saturday (6th February 2010) –
How to implement a Social Media Strategy training day.
The training day could be summarized by knowing who you are, identifying your target market and listening to the chatter. Only then join in the conversation, just like in a pub or network meeting.
Being a regular visitor, they get to know you as you build up trust and credibility.
Nick is sharing this method because that is how he has established himself in Social Media. Not from the theoratical level but from the basis of results.
So, what is the significance of the hair in both Jedward and Nick and their hairstyles?
They have achieved their results by having large comfort zone and do not know the words – “I cannot” or “beyond my limits”. Their comfort zones allow them to have unusual hairstyles no matter the current fashion is.
They just do it and achieve it.
PS Nick will be sharing his knowledge
How to create great web video content on 5th March 2010 .
and will be repeating
How to implement a Social Media Strategy training day on
10am-5.00pm Friday 12th March 2010.
Dr Michael Oon
In the recent weeks, I attended talks by various communication experts and authors of new books in “International Communications”. They presented “tasters” of their product which, for the uninitiated, as ground breaking.
I think differently and prefer the approach of Nick Tadd and explain,
In the recent weeks, I attended talks by various communication experts and authors of new books in “International Communications”. They presented “tasters” of their product as ground breaking. To us in Networking, it is Social Media with the established methodology of blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter or combinations thereof.
However, from the case studies presented and answers to questions, I get the impression that they had just tried the various methods but have not spent time to understand it or realise their role in the mix. Or, they, like many others, could have been seduced by the publicity to be leaders in this new field.
However, I perceive Nick Tadd differently. He has developed his expertise by actually working on the various methodologies and has come to understand how each part plays in the big picture. After getting the results, he has started to share his detailed knowledge.
I will be attending 2 events organised by Nick
4 Walls / ecademy property and social media networking – 27th January 2010
How to implement a Social Media Strategy training day.
I made a comment in a posting Where would I want to get new knowledge from? in my blog based on my experiences of 20 years to training and learning at the Forensic Science Laboratory of the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) in London.
Dr Michael Oon
