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Marketing is Like Sex: Everyone Thinks They’re Good At It
February 3, 2012
Below is a reprint of an article by Steve Tobak from CBS Moneywatch . Although the article is written about marketing in the corporate world, I believe it’s also relevant to the small business world. I’ve worked in both arenas and this believe that marketing being “easy” or anyone can do it is rampant.
To paraphrase my favorite quote from the article: “Frankly, the reason {people} have so many opinions about marketing is that we can fake it far more convincingly than in other areas of the operations …” I don’t agree that marketing can easily be faked, but I do believe that it takes longer to realize when it’s a failure – and it’s a much more insidious cause. Failed Marketing can be blamed on a multitude of things – from operations to sales and if you aren’t tracking your efforts (which most people – even in the corporate world – don’t do) you can recognize failure.
Anyway, I think this is a great article full of great lessons for businesses big and small. So here it is… 
Marketing is Like Sex: Everyone Thinks They’re Good At It
(MoneyWatch) There’s hypocrisy in the corporate world that’s begging to be called out.
Everybody thinks they’re a marketing expert. Your boss, the CEO, the IT guy – I bet half the people in your company think they know more about what customers want than the customers do. Everybody‘s a focus group of one.
So where’s the hypocrisy in that?
Simply put, they should know better. Hell, they do know better. They’re smart. They know what one person’s opinion is worth. You propose an idea and they want it substantiated, analyzed, and researched, right?
And yet, those same people will turn right around and impose their opinion on you. Hypocrisy.
It’s sort of like the old line: those who think they know everything are annoying to those of us who do. But how in the world can you tell the difference between the two? I mean, really.
After all, those people – the ones who shouldn’t be imposing their “focus group of one” opinions on you but do it anyway – are often right.
I didn’t always see it that way, especially when my CEO was the guy doing the imposing. Then, one day, I realized that – as VP of marketing – I did exactly the same thing. I’d swoop into a meeting and trash everyone’s long thought-out plan in favor of my own focus group of one.
And you know, more often than not, I was right. So, again I ask: how can you tell the guy who knows his s**t from the guy who’s full of it? Quite a dilemma, isn’t it?
Okay, let’s see if we can break this down. There’s a ginormous difference between the opinion of your average everyday product user and the opinion of someone who really has a knack for that sort of thing. Unfortunately, people don’t walk around with big signs on their foreheads telling you which they are.
One thing’s for sure. It doesn’t always correlate to job title. I mean, your CEO could be a moron or he could be Steve Jobs, right?
Speaking of Steve Jobs, Apple somehow manages to divine what people want, even when they don’t know it themselves. They don’t use focus groups or research. They’re their own focus group, as Jobs explains here:
“We did iTunes because we all love music. We made what we thought was the best jukebox in iTunes. Then we all wanted to carry our whole music libraries around with us. The team worked really hard. And the reason that they worked so hard is because we all wanted one. You know? I mean, the first few hundred customers were us.
It’s not about pop culture, and it’s not about fooling people, and it’s not about convincing people that they want something they don’t. We figure out what we want. And I think we’re pretty good at having the right discipline to think through whether a lot of other people are going to want it, too. That’s what we get paid to do.
So you can’t go out and ask people, you know, what the next big [thing.] There’s a great quote by Henry Ford, right? He said, “If I’d have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me ‘A faster horse.’”
Sounds pretty convincing, right? Well, on the flipside, check out this sort of confession from David Hornik of August Capital, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm:
“VCs like to think that they are marketing geniuses. We really do. We meddle more in the marketing of our portfolio companies than any other area. If you have a chance to sit in on a startup board meeting, you can see this in action. The CFO gives a finance update and a few cursory questions are asked. The VP of Engineering talks about development and board members sit around the table nodding appreciatively. Then the VP of Marketing gets up and suddenly everyone around the table has a point of view.
Frankly, the reason investors have so many opinions about marketing is that we can fake it far more convincingly than in other areas of the operations …”
That doesn’t sound very encouraging, does it?
Basically, the answer to the dilemma comes down to this. Much of the secret sauce in having a successful company, business, product, service, career, whatever, is knowing who to trust and listen to, versus who to ignore and hope they don’t make a big stink about it.
In my case, it’s sort of instinctive, in the sense that I grew up in what many would describe as a war zone on the streets of New York. As a result, my survival skills are finely honed, which includes knowing who’s for real and who’s just BSing to get attention.
If you didn’t happen to grow up in a war zone, no worries; you can still learn from experience.
So, regardless of your company or what you do there, if you’re the kind of guy who has a knack for getting inside customers’ heads and knowing what they want before they know it themselves, by all means, speak up. Be a focus group of one.
And if you’re the CEO or CMO and you don‘t have that peculiar knack, or you’re a VC who’s faking it, then you’d better have the instincts to know that you should listen to that guy. And do us all a favor. Keep your “focus group of one” opinion to yourself.
So what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Want to share?? Please do! Leave your comments here.
By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you. 
21 Reasons You’ll Fail at Marketing
January 23, 2012
I don’t know what it is about Marketing, but everyone on earth seems to think they can do it. And yet I see so many people NOT doing it or wasting thousands of dollars and not getting results. I see business owners try the same things over and over, 
wasting more money, more time, and more energy. If I had 1/10th of what business owners waste on stuff that doesn’t work, I’d be the most successful marketing consultant on the planet. But I’m not because so many business owners would rather go it alone and fail over and over again rather than reach out and get professional help. I don’t get it.
I know there are those out there who will always try to do it themselves so in the spirit of not getting it, here are 21 ways to fail at marketing:
- Guess – Great marketing isn’t an accident. It takes research, educated decisions, testing, tracking and measuring. Guesswork will leave you customer-less and broke.
- Do what everyone else is doing- Every business is different and your marketing mix should be too. Following the crowd isn’t going to help you stand out from the competition!
- Listen to sales people Marketing is a long term strategy, not a special advertisement, publication, or website; but every sales rep you come in contact with will try to convince you otherwise. Marketing is a process, there is no magic pill and don’t let a slick sales person try to tell you there is.
- Don’t ask questions –Question EVERYTHING about your business and ask everyone you come into contact with as many questions as possible to learn, grow, and constantly improve.
- Do nothing – It’s simple, if you don’t Market your business, you will fail.
- Put all your eggs in one basket – Marketing is like investing, the more diversified your strategy, the better off you will be. Don’t invest all your time and resources in one medium or on one marketing tool – mix it up.
- Don’t track results – How the heck are you going to know what works and what doesn’t if you don’t track the results? If you’re not tracking you’re guessing, and we covered that in #1!
- Assume you have all the answers – Yes, I know: you know your business better than anyone. But do you know marketing? I mean do you REALLY know how and where to reach potential customers and how to convince them to buy from you?
- Don’t talk to your customers – No one knows your value – or faults – better than the people who actually buy from you. Talk to your customers – often. It’ll provide valuable insight and ideas.
- Don’t study your competition- If you don’t know how you’re different from your competition how are potential customers supposed to? Knowing your competition’s strengths and weaknesses will help you differentiate.
- Don’t set goals –Goals keep us on track; they give us direction. Without them you’re wandering aimlessly and most likely wasting a lot of time and money.
- Don’t build an email list – I don’t understand how anyone can market a business in today’s world without an email list! Email is the easiest and most inexpensive way to stay in touch with customers and prospects. If you aren’t building a list you’re missing out on huge opportunities.
- Don’t have an opt in form – Emailing current and past customers is a great start, but what about the people who visit your website, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn pages and then go away never to be heard from again? Wouldn’t’ it be nice to engage the serious window shoppers in some way? An opt-in form is the way to do it!
- Sell all the time. We’ve all met the slick schmoozy salesy types, right? And how long does it take you to high-tail it in the opposite direction? Don’t be one of those. An effective marketing strategy eliminates the need to sell all the time… really!
- Assume because you have a great product or service you don’t need a marketing strategy – Sure, some products and services might market themselves, but that’s rare. Real marketing success takes strategy, planning, and work.
- Assume that just because you have a good product or service you don’t need a referral system- Again, there are some products and services that people just love to talk about, but building a successful business solely on organic referrals and “buzz” is rare. Getting solid referrals, consistently takes solid planning and execution. .
- Assume anyone with a pulse is your client- Repeat after me: “NOT everyone is a potential client for me”. Now look in the mirror and repeat that every day! Find your niche – that segment of the population you are born to serve and you will uncover a gold mine!
- Don’t build relationships – I can’t stress enough how important this is. Hiding behind your computer screen, desk, or counter isn’t going to get you the level of success you want. You have to get out there – mingle, be helpful, connect people, and build relationships with the right people!
- Spend all your time networking in the wrong places –Not every networking group is right for you. Find the ones that will help you get where you want to go and avoid the ones that won’t.
- Ignore the internet – Facebook and Twitter may not be right for your business, but chances are your target market is going somewhere on line for information about your product or service. Your job is to find out where they’re going and be there!
- Don’t hire a professional- If you want to build an addition onto your home would you do it yourself or hire a professional? I mean, you know your home better than anyone, right? So why not do it yourself? Ridiculous, right? So then why would you try to “add on” – or grow – your business yourself? Hire a professional who has the right tools and knows the ins and outs of growing a business.
So what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Want to share?? Please do! Leave your comments here.
By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you.
Forget Resolutions: 7 Business Things You DON’T Have to Do in 2012
January 1, 2012
Call me a rebel… or a Scrooge… or a Grinch if you must, but I am so happy all this holiday nonsense is finally over. And as I sit here trying to come up with a blog for the new year, the word “resolution” keeps popping into my head and I absolutely REFUSE to give you marketing or business resolutions for the new year. You’re under enough pressure, I’m not going to give you a long list of more things you already know you should do. 
So… no resolution talk here, I promise. Instead, for the new year, let’s vow to not make a single resolution; no diets, exercise programs (ok, I’ll admit this one is self-serving – hoping to ward off the “New Year Resolutioners” who invade my gym for a few weeks this time every year), no vows to spend more time with the kids, or call our mother more often, no promising to read, write, or volunteer more or spend less… Forget all that!
Resolutions are all about feeling bad for what we didn’t do last year, making more unrealistic goals for ourselves (“I’m going to lose 20 lbs this month”) and then feeling like total losers and failures – AGAIN, when we don’t live up to them. I say “No more pressure, we have enough!” So instead of giving you a bunch of Marketing Resolutions and telling you what you should do, I’m going give you a list of things you don’t have to do! There! How’s that for rebellion? Bet you’re thinking I’m not such a Scrooge now are you?
So here is my list of 7 things you don’t have to do in 2012
- You don’t have to do everything yourself anymore. That’s right. 2012 is the year you bite the bullet and hire help. Hire an accountant, a bookkeeper, a salesperson, an assistant, or whatever it is you need that will allow you more time to focus on the things you really want to focus on!
- You don’t have to work with anybody and everybody with a checkbook. You have a successful business; you’ve made it this far because you provide a valuable product or service. You are too good to work with people who don’t value you and who try to nickel and dime you at every turn. So the next time you are tempted by someone you know is going to be a big ole pain in the butt, politely refer them to your competition, explaining that you feel they’d be a better fit.
- You don’t have to be everything to everybody. Your business is special. You provide something unique to a select group of people that no one else can deliver in quite the same way. Your job is to find that niche. And when you find it you will become confident enough to say “no” when asked to do something outside of your scope, capabilities or comfort zone. You do what you do better than anyone else and you don’t need to pretend to be more than what you are. Stay true to your mission.
- You don’t have to work every single night and weekend. I realized this sometime in the past couple of months, taking time off is key to my mental well being and sanity – and it makes me more productive. Really, you don’t have to work so many hours. All the work will get done (see #1 again), I promise!
- You don’t have to follow the crowd. Just because all your friends are on Facebook, doesn’t mean it’s right for your business. Just because your competitors do things a certain way, doesn’t mean you have to. It’s your business – your baby, your dream. Do it however the hell you want! Dare to be bold. Dare to stand out. Dare to be unique!
- You don’t have to make excuses for where you are in your life or your business. As human beings we all grew at different rates, the same is true of your business. Don’t compare yourself to others. If you know you are doing everything in your power and using every tool and resource available to you, there is no need to feel bad about where you are. We grow at different rates and as long as you are on track toward achieving your goals you are just fine.
- You don’t have to take advice from anyone you don’t want to! Everybody has advice, have you noticed that? I was in the gym recently and a guy who I’ve never seen lift a single weight was telling me how I should be lifting weights. When advice is given consider the source: is it someone you respect? Is their business the type of business you’d like to emulate? If not, ignore them and look for people you do respect!
So, how does that feel? A whole list of things you DON’T have to do in 2012! What a relief, right? Running a business is hard work, don’t be too hard on yourself, have fun with it and have the best year ever!!!
Have something to add? I’d love to hear from you! Please click here to leave your comments.
By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you.
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+Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company
- Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company specializes in helping small to medium sized businesses get the customers they need to sell more, increase profits and achieve all of their business and personal goals. We do this by implementing and managing marketing systems based on data and strategy - there is no guess work. For more information visit us at: FortuneMarketingCompany.com. We'd be glad to help!
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