Extra Extra. (The good ol’ days of marketing.)

August 25, 2017

Daily Newspapers Used to Be the Only Way to Spread Information.

“Extra! Extra! Read All About It! Wes Schaeffer, Sales Trainer to the Stars, Has a New Sales Growth Program For You. Get This Powerful Program Here Now.

Now we return to your normal blog, already in progress…  

 “That’s the way it is,” comforted Walter Cronkite every evening.

Ahhhh. The good ol’ days.

ABC, CBS, NBC and those fuzzy UHF channels. (Remember that dial below the main dial with all of the numbers on them?) 

Old School Advertising.

Stations actually shut down or “signed off” at midnight playing the National Anthem and you had to wait until 6 am to watch anything again. AM radio was for farm reports and country music.

Talk radio was for preachers.

Al Gore hadn’t invented the internet.

Spiegel sent 6 pound catalogs.

The postman knew your name and actually brought letters, written by hand, to your door.

Marketing Today Is Crowded!

WAMM! Welcome to the Information Age, which has been hijacked by marketers!! (Can you believe today is/are the “good ol’ days” for our kids?)

“You may already be a winner!”

“I am Mr.Emory Barr, Accounts Manager, of Abbey National PLC Bromley Rd Branch. I have an important business proposition for you.”

“Text the word VOTE to win!”

“But wait! Operators are standing by! If you’re one of the first 77 callers we’ll QUADRUPLE your order!”

We now receive more interruptions and propositions and distractions and offers and coupons and advertisements per hour than we got per week just 10 years ago.

Today ads are more targeted, more focused, more “interrupt-ative“ and more pervasive than anything the “Madmen” on Madison Avenue could have ever postulated over their two-martini, three hour lunches 55 years ago. (But those are the books we read and that’s what marketing degrees are built on!)

Your Prospects Want Answers But Are Confused

Thanks to technology we are both better-informed and less-informed, depending on whether we are burying our heads in a game to escape reality or reading the news to appreciate the escapes our video games bring.

How are we, as business owners, supposed to penetrate this electronic shield to reach our ideal prospects and convince them that we are the right vendor/supplier/consultant?

4 Words:

  • Consistency.

  • Frequency.

  • Breadth.

  • Relevance.

Easy to say. Hard to do.

If you’re like most people with products to sell and businesses to grow you’re a “dabbler.”

Don’t Be a Dabbler. Commit To Grow Your Sales.

By “dabbler” I mean you’re not really sure what works when it comes to advertising and marketing so you

  • try radio for a little while,

  • then you try television for a little while, and you

  • try the Yellow Pages for a little while, and you

  • try direct mail for a little while, and you

  • try email campaigns for a little while, and you

  • try a newsletter for a little while, and you

  • try webinars for a little while, and you

  • try text messaging for a little while, and you

  • try Google AdWords for a little while, and you

  • try blogging for a little while and

  • since social media is hot you’re going to try it for a little while.

When social media lets you down you’re going to try radio again,…

Where should you advertise and market your business? Everywhere your prospects are.

What medium should you use? Whichever one gives you the best ROI.

How many should you use? As many as you can do well.

What should you say?

FINALLY, you’re asking the key question!

Despite what the 140-character micro-bloggers of the world would like you to believe, CONTENT IS STILL KING and will be FOREVER!

When you deliver a powerful message in a powerful manner it will find the right person that will invest in what you have to offer.

“But I’m not a writer,” I can hear you quivering.

Fine, then deliver a decent message in a powerful manner.

“What’s ‘powerful’?”

For now you can settle for a relevant message delivered on a consistent basis to your client and prospect list until you learn to craft more powerful messages and/or can afford to hire someone who can.

“How do I build my list and categorize my prospects and segment those with different interests and coordinate these multi-step, multi-media efforts?”

Contact me, your favorite sales and marketing mentor.

I’ll get you going in the right direction.

If you need more help growing your sales, consider the following resources:

Or just contact me and we’ll set a time to speak.