#086: The Best Way to Look at Marketing

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In 2008, I turned down my first speaking gig for a marketing convention. In 2009, I did the same thing again. Needless to say, I was trying to communicate that I didn’t want to be a marketer, or even come across as a marketer. In 2013, I was asked to speak at another marketing convention, and in 2014 I was asked to do a keynote on how to make more money online, both of which I turned down, too.

As far as marketers go, most but not all of them remind me of sleazy car salesmen. Maybe your first thought of marketing goes to the same mental picture, as well. The people that asked me to speak at all of those events expected me to be this same classic marketer, and wanted me to tell people that all they needed to do was x, y, and z, and they would make millions of dollars from it. I knew this is what they wanted, so I graciously declined. But, here’s the truth about marketing:

Everything you do is marketing.

Marketing then isn’t just the sale, as in the case of the sleazy car salesman, but it’s about creating relationship. One can not offer the best product or service until he or she understands their client.

The classic marketing scene isn’t my forte, because of my belief that everything someone does is marketing. The way someone talks to others, the way someone writes ad copy, the way someone’s website appears — it all culminates to the relationships we create with each other in real life, or online.

But, even more than all of these things, the number one way that someone can market themselves well is to produce the best product they possibly can. If you have a terrible product, the rest of these things don’t even matter. Don’t waste your time. When you focus on your product, word of mouth marketing will do the work for you. People can’t resist telling other people about a great product that they need to try for themselves.

If you’re putting more time, or even the same amount of time into your marketing plan as you have into coming up with your idea or creating your product, then you have a huge problem. Make your product the best it can possibly be, and the rest will be much easier. If it’s a service that you offer, then make it the best that you can make it. Whatever it is that you are trying to sell, the more time and work you put into it, the better it will be. I wish I had a sexier answer for marketing, but it’s the only answer that I know will work.

When you have a terrible product, you end up having to convince people to buy it. When you have a great product, you can’t wait to tell others about it, because you know they will love it, and it will improve their lives. I want to help people, and I know you do, too.

Now, go and become better at marketing, today.