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What to do when you need to market yourself with no money and no idea.

I was talking to a very close friend of mine the other day. He’s launching some new software with his business partner. And it’s great software.

He’s neither from a marketing background… nor an internet background … so he’s learning at a very rapid pace every part of starting a new online business. And his business partner and he make a great pair.

In fact, I can’t wait till the software takes off. And when I was talking to him it made me think of how I could help you too. I rarely if ever consult these days. But I still enjoy it. And so helping out my friends is actually very good for me. Why?

 

I get reminded about how to see the
challenges of business owners from YOUR perspective.

To me, marketing is easy. I’ve been doing it since I was 18, so I tend to have a way of thinking about marketing that is very effective. Shortcuts. Principles. And systems. Just like I’m sure you do in your chosen profession.

Spend thousands of hours doing something… anything… and you get damned good at it.

But believe it or not, there’s a side effect to this. And it’s to do with your ability to remember what it was like when you DIDN’T know this stuff. To really be able to put yourself in the shoes of the person you’re helping.

Luckily I teach groups all the time, so that keeps me sharp and constantly reframing what I know into the audience’s perspective.

But how does this help you?

Well it got me thinking that maybe you share some of the same questions that my friends do. Which means I could share with you some insights about how to tackle your marketing problems too.

Like what if you have little or no budget?

I see this all the time. Because of the internet and how low cost it is to start a business, it’s increasingly common for people to start a business with virtually no money.

It’s not a bad thing. But it does mean you have to work harder. When you’ve got some money behind you, you can throw it at your marketing and get people checking you out. That’s not hard to do.

When you DON’T have a big budget, then you have to … as they say… think outside the box.

But also, what about if you have no idea how to market?

You simply haven’t done it before. You don’t think like a marketer. And you don’t have a clue about who to contact about it, or who to trust.

ANSWER: You’ve got a brain and you’ve been surrounded by marketing your whole life – so believe it or not, you actually do know a bit about marketing.

You don’t have to have laid an egg in order to know what’s inside one, right?

So let me see if I can give you some clarity here about your marketing. Understanding how to market… meaning to sell… yourself is vitally important if you truly want to succeed.

One of your main challenges will always revolve
around how to get people to take notice of you

I’m not talking about selling them your product – that’s called “conversion.” I’m talking about actually getting noticed in the first place.

Internet gurus call it “getting traffic.”

Marketing gurus call it “prospecting.”

TV and radio station sales dudes call it “viewership.”

Rock, movie and TV stars call it “getting publicity.”

Doesn’t really matter what you call it. It’s all about getting people to notice you.

My question is, how badly do
you want this to happen?

You only have to look around you to get some brilliant marketing examples. You do not… I repeat, DO NOT… have to be a marketing genius in order to publicise yourself, your product or your service.

You already see about 1500 marketing messages a day on average. So it’s time to open your eyes and learn.

Ever heard of Kim Kardashian?

Not long ago, virtually no-one knew who she was. She was one of millions of young girls hoping for stardom in the great ol’ US of A.

Well Kim had a dream. Perhaps so did you. But Kim kicked your butt in the marketing department.

Oh really? You don’t think she’s your competition? Uh-uh… she’s soooo out marketed you it’s not funny.

The family started a clothes shop called “Dash” (see exhibit A at right for their huge range of clothing and other stuff). Now they could have chosen to market it the way that perhaps you might do:

• Take some adverts in the local paper
• Build a website
• Have an opening night launch
• Create a nice logo
• Give great customer service
• Make your customers feel good
• Blah, blah, blah, blah (was that one too many “blah’s?”)

Nothing wrong with that plan above. But it’s what everyone else does too.

Not the Kardashians – they decided to invest their marketing budget in a reality TV show that focused on what people want – which was NOT the clothes store.

Wait a minute – did you hear that bit? I said they created a TV show about anything other than the thing they were trying to sell.

Any old dufus could think of a reality TV show – but any old dufus (not your “Hipster Dufus,” just your regular old “Dufus”) could imagine up a show about their product or their shop.

But guess what? That’s boring. And it’s not what the public wants to see. Have a think now about any reality TV show you like. Very few ever focus directly on what that business is about (yet nearly all of them are designed to promote a business).

There will always be ONE thing which is the key reason why people watch it.

And it’s not about the product… or the business.

Do you know what it is?

A reality show only works if there’s…

DRAMA.

That is why people will watch it.

So if Kim Kardashian had focused her show “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” on the “Dash” store, and what great clothes they had, and what great service they offered, and the latest specials – well… the show would have had a very, very short life.

But a few years on and Kim is an international superstar. So are her sisters. And her mum. And her step-dad too.

So popular in fact, she now makes more money from endorsements than from her clothes store (the stores are simply now a nice back up plan should everything go belly-up … start the clock now ;-).

The key thing to remember is this: Kim and her whole family (especially her mum) are marketers. They know how to sell and how to dominate when they do sell.

THEY GET…

NOTICED!

Oh and by the way, whether Kim’s infamous “sex tape” or her “failed marriage” were real or fake, is impossible for us to know for sure unless they one day get a dose of the “guilts.” But ultimately, they were very effective marketing tools. Not that I’m suggesting you do that – please… is success really worth all that??

So yes, Kim is kicking your marketing butt right now.

QUESTION: What could you do similar in order to promote yourself or your business?

Could you create your own reality show (made on your smart phone) and put it on YouTube?

What drama could you create that would get attention?  Something that focuses on something else other than what you’re trying to sell?

Could you create your own sex tape?  Hey… wait a minute … that’s probably too far 😉

And Kim is not the only one kicking your marketing butt right now.

So is Donald Trump.

So is Richard Branson.

And even Australia’s own Dick Smith.

All these guys above own products and services (just like you – meaning they’re your competitors). But they’re prepared to do more to market their businesses than you.

Their marketing strategy is simply: GET NOTICED (which means, drama).

Because when your marketing looks like news, you get advertising for FREE.

Got that?

When your marketing looks like news, you get advertising for FREE … and also… other people happily help you get even more exposure.

Like me to explain a bit further? Sure, let’s do it…

Donald Trump has his own TV show – “The Apprentice.”

It positions him as the king of his industry. He’s not, by the way. He’s not the wealthiest either. But he’s done a fantastic job of marketing his property development business.

How good a marketer is he?

He now gets paid over $500,000 to speak for just an hour on stage. Which is on top of having all his travel, accommodation and living costs too.

Why does he get paid so much? Well not for his speech content, that’s for sure.

Instead he gets paid for his ability to get noticed.

And then whoever pays him that money gets noticed too. When he spoke at a recent event that I was speaking at too, he was followed around by the paparazzi like crazy… the national news networks also broadcast about him and the event he was speaking at (which was the real product being marketed).

Remember, the publicity came from focusing the attention FIRST on anything but the product being sold (the seminar event) – the product then got noticed as a result of Donald getting noticed. It’s all about the drama.

Understand?

QUESTION: What could you do similar in order to promote yourself or your business?

Could you pay a celebrity (in cash or in kind) to appear at your business or on your product?

How could you paint yourself as the King of your industry?

Sir Richard Branson gets massive publicity for every single new product he launches. Yes, every single one. The media know he’s always going to do something outlandish. And they know he’s never simply going to say “Here’s my new product so go out and buy it.”

However that’s what most business owners do right?

Not Sir Richard. He dressed up as a bride to launch his “Virgin Brides” stores, receiving world-wide publicity. Even today he’s still questioned about the photos when interviewed (the stunt took place way back in 2007!).

He’s bared his bum (well, the top quarter of his bum at least) to launch his airline’s new route to Canada and got worldwide attention.

Other airlines would have had a nice sensible launch, with tea and biscuits for the media followed by a perfectly scripted and professional speech by the CEO.

Butt 🙂  to market yourself … seriously… you need to go the extra mile.

Sir Richard’s constantly getting himself involved with good causes too – saving rain forests; helping disadvantaged communities; and supporting charities. And it’s a big reason why he’s loved so much by the wider community.

QUESTION: What could you do similar in order to promote yourself or your business?

Are you prepared to laugh at yourself?

Are you prepared to stand out and appear in the media?

If you’re not prepared to do this, then don’t bitch about your marketing. Simple as that. Big results require big balls. It’s not the only way to do it – but it is the most powerful way.

I’ve done it too. I’ve appeared on TV news programs, a current affair show, and radio programs.

How?

Through not directly promoting what I want to sell.

My business partner, Tom Hua and I were plastered all over the Nine Network news and Ten Network news when we gave money away to the Red Nose Day Appeal.

We were running an internet marketing event. But that wasn’t the news story – the news story was the donation (something other than what we were actually selling).
 Another example was to promote my book, “How To Make Money While You Sleep”

I let the TV show “A Current Affair” come and film me in bed waking up to check my sales on the internet (that’s my “awesome” acting at right… why no offers from film companies???)

That story has gotten me thousands of views on YouTube… given me incredible authority in the market… and right after the story ran, a whole ton of people went out and bought my book (which went on to become a 2-times national best seller).

Dick Smith created Australia’s biggest electronics store, “Dick Smith Electronics” by being a brilliant marketer (I worked for his company when I left school). In the early days he even got the TV program, “60 Minutes” to promote his fledgling business.

How you ask?

Get this: He set up a big “YOU’RE FIRED!” sign in his office. It had lights and bells and it hung above his office desk. Then he let the media know that this was how he fired people in his company. He told them that he invited the poor suckers to meet him in his office and then he’d say, “Well guess what? You’re fired!” – and the sign would light up, bells and all.

The media was shocked. And bingo, they ran a story on him (though the “firings” never actually happened!)

See, yet again, he created marketing that had little to do with his actual business. He focused on the DRAMA.

Right now he promotes his food company, and the same old tricks come out again and again to market his company with little or no money.

The latest one is a banned TV commercial that he knew would NEVER ever stay on TV. That’s right it was never supposed to!  He made the advert knowing that the content would get banned. And what does a “banned advert” create?

Drama!

Most of the ad is Dick and his actors sitting on front of a green screen. Which means he could have made it at home and had some little geek (probably Dick himself) put the background in (meaning very low costs).

Done! Low-cost and big exposure. The “banned story” featured on websites around the world and all because it focused on something other than the thing being sold – the drama.

QUESTION: What could you do similar in order to promote yourself or your business?

Is there something outrageous you could do in your business… around your business… or near your product that would make people think “what!”?

What are you prepared to do in order to “stop traffic” today?

Really? Need another example of what I’m talking about?

Sure, think about this…

Steve Irwin was a great Australian. What a legacy he left.

And his family Terri, Bindi and Robert are doing just a brilliant job at furthering his cause and also blazing their own trails too. I can’t say enough good things about these people since meeting them personally and having little bit to do with their Australia Zoo and their wildlife hospital (if you can spare them a donation, the money does some fantastic things for Aussie animals).

Now think about this: Steve Irwin was just one of many owners of “zoos” in Australia. Every capital city has them, sometimes a few. And they all feature Australian animals. Tourists have no shortage of choice when it comes to getting up close with Aussie wildlife.

Yet Australia Zoo is known all over the world. While nearly all the rest come in a very distant 2^nd.

What’s the difference?

Steve knew how to market his business – Australia Zoo.

But he didn’t create news about the Zoo. He instead got a mate to film him catching crocs. Which is much more exciting and offers plenty more drama, right?

What was the result? He became super-famous as a TV star, and then a movie star. He was featured on talk shows and hobnobbed with some of the most famous people in the world. For a very long time to come he will be known as one of Australia’s biggest icons.

And yes, his Australia Zoo thrives. Even now, his family market the business very well with new TV shows, fitness videos, books and more. They place a huge focus on everything but marketing the zoo directly – and this gets them tons of publicity whenever they want it. They are LOVED by the media.

QUESTION: What could you do similar in order to promote yourself or your business?

Do you have personality like Steve did, that could make your expertise or niche sound exciting?

Could you be the champion of a good cause and unashamedly shout about it from the rooftops?

The point is…

If you can think of something, then just do it!

Virtually no-one has the courage to do these things (which means you have virtually no competition). It’s about going beyond the norm.

The average sensible business owner will think of every single way and method to avoid EVER doing the things that you’ve read here. Brilliant for you!

Remember, I did say that it depends on “how badly you want it.”

So do you?

Do you REALLY want to totally dominate with your marketing?

Well what are you prepared to do?

 

Warmly,

Brett McFall