the two kinds of marketing 👼😈

You choose. View in browser Hey, I wrote a post a few years ago that raised some heckles – in fairness, it had a somewhat inflammatory title: If You Don't Enjoy Marketing, You're Doing It Wrong... or some such. It has since disappeared into the ether, but the core of what I was aiming for – aside from getting a rise out of people on Twitter – was one of my foundational beliefs when it comes to marketing. Because I firmly believe that there are two ways to market any product. The first way, the one that is often parodied, the one that gives marketing a bad name, is the way of the huckster. Lie, brag, cheat, swindle, deceive – whatever it takes to get that sale. Don't hate the player, hate the game. Caveat emptor. We're all out here hustling, you either play or get played. And so on. The bad type of marketing convinces people they need something they don't truly want. Which is why it goes hand in hand with exaggeration, deception, and bait-and-switches. Shenanigans rule the day, and it makes those who practice this kind of marketing feel icky and sleazy because it is icky and sleazy. Needless to say, this mindset often isn't averse to even worse practices like overcharging, gouging, ripping off, and full-on scamming. The guys who are fond of this approach probably don't feel any prick of conscience. It's all "just business" to them and as long as the dollar bills keep rolling in, it's all good. I suspect these are the kinds of marketers Bill Hicks had in mind, the kind of people and businesses which must continually and aggressively seek out new customers (because they get very little business from repeats or referrals). Ethics aside – always my favorite caveat! – this approach to marketing is dumb. Not least because it's far easier to keep an old customer than find a new one. It's also far cheaper too. This approach to marketing isn't just stupid, it's also less fun too. It's far more enjoyable to give people things they want. It's much more fulfilling to hear positive feedback than to get crappy reviews. It's also a lot more work. Overall, I mean. You might get that first sale quicker via a gimmick or some trickery, but when you factor in the extra effort needed when you are just burning through prospects constantly... the equation changes dramatically. Dumb, less fun, and more work. So what's the other approach? The good type of marketing simply connects people with things they already love. Here, you don't need to over-hype anything and you certainly don't need to dupe anyone. You don't have to feel icky or duplicitous because you are utterly focused on the customer. When you build something that your potential customers already like, all you have to do is show it to them. This is why I constantly repeat that maxim of Seth Godin's: "the best marketing is baked into the product." If you are writing stories your Ideal Reader loves, and packaging them in the way she expects, and presenting them in places she frequents, your book will sell itself. Meaning the cover and the blurb and the price and the sample will do the selling for you. Product, presentation, promotion – a good story with a great cover, put in front of the right readers, will sell itself. Marketing can be complex, but we often over-complicate the basic formula. A good product, well-presented, only needs traffic to sell. And we'll look at lots of ways of generating that traffic in 2021. Dave P.S. Writing music this week is World A Reggae (Out In The Street They Call It Murder) by Ini Kamoze. DavidGaughran.com Broomfield Business Park, Malahide, Co. Dublin, Ireland You received this email because you signed up at DavidGaughran.com. Unsubscribe