In the interview he was asked, “How do you become a great marketer?”
He said, “The way to do it is be willing to make a fool of yourself”
Ouch!
Are most people willing to do that? To stand tall and proud of what they want to share but make a fool out of themselves?
Looking back I remember my first presentation, first client I coached, first newsletter, new website etc. It was all in favor of sharing what I had to offer and growing my business. Now looking back I was out letting people know I existed. I guess you could say I was marketing through foolishness. I felt foolish at times. Not because I was hanging out of a plane with a banner of my services. But it felt foolish because I was presenting something new, programs I had created, a philosophy that I wanted to share with people that I believed in. It felt vulnerable.
Sometimes it may take foolishness to get out there and make something happen. Most of the time you are basically presenting yourself to others for the purpose of sharing your products or services to meet your customers needs.
Companies and people that do this well: Mattress Mack www.galleryfurntiure.com (for Houston peeps)
Southwest airlines www.southwestairlines.com
What do I think this can be translated into?
What do we need to do in order to get ourselves past the foolishness?
Here are some steps that I think will help you.
Step 1 Make a decision to be imperfect
We all know that practice makes perfect: sometimes it’s got to be done imperfect
before it can unfold to greatness: takes 10,000 hours to be a master at something
Step 2 Sometimes “Good is good enough”
Especially in the beginning or when it is something new –it’s human nature to want things to be great right out of the gate. But whether you are just starting off in your business or career it is important to focus on getting yourself into action by sharing what you have to offer. It doesn’t have to be in a big way but just be able to expose yourself, communicate your offerings and share what you got.
Step 3 Market through Authenticity and education
Be yourself. People know when you are not being authentic about what you are talking about. You will be surprised how this can effect your likeability factor: whether they buy from you or not–you still want to connect through authenticity and begin relationships. By doing this you get past foolishness and increase your ability to connect with people whether you market face-to-face or social media
Step 4 Just do it
The more we think about marketing we can become paralyzed.
We call it analysis paralysis. So think about something you do really well in your life. Take that same approach when it comes to marketing. It may feel uncomfortable or indifferent at first but I promise with perseverance you get past it and forget its marketing.
So if foolishness is part of the marketing process well these are ways to get past it.
You got this –I promise. Once you get past it –you will be glad you did it.
What can you do to market differently now? I invite you to share.
