So...I know, I know I have already spent another recent blog blabbing about the greatness of the marketing guru known as Seth Godin; I am an avid reader of his blog, I just devoured one of his books and am on to the next; I find myself quoting him, and when speaking with others I often scoff, "What do you mean you have not heard of Seth Godin?" And then I realized I was talking to my daughter's nursery school teacher. By the time I tried to engage my poor husband in a marketing/advertising debate I thought.........I um, may have a bit of a problem. I may need to venture out and read something else.
Yet, I feel the universe had a different idea - I just got the latest issue of Entrepreneur Magazine and quickly started reading it cover to cover. You will never guess who was a featured in an article? Go on.....guess! Guess! Guess! GUESS! Yep, my hero, Mr. Godin, the Marketer with the Mostest......he was interviewed about knowing when an Entrepreneur should either cut their losses or keep going, you can read about it in his new book The Dip......Okay um, I really do have a problem.
Anyhoo.....
First what I love about Seth Godin is his honesty and ability to look at the world of marketing, and marketing your product different. He sites different ways companies have succeeded and failed marketing their products. He tells, if not dares you to become that purple cow, become something that stands out from the pack. If you were driving down the road and saw a purple cow that would make you stop. How do you become that purple cow though? One way was to find your Sneezers:
Sneezers - Sneezers are people that spread an idea. They find something new and they tell their colleagues, friends, admirers about a new product or service. They are the ones who launch and maintain a products success, or ensures it has legs. If you are going to rise above the pack you need some Sneezers. These days they can be writers of blogs, E-Newsletters, E-Zines, Celebrities, Moms, Columnists, Oprah, Dog owners, Donut eaters - all depends on the industry.
A Sneezer has to be someone who not only likes to tell others about a great product or service, but they are considered a credible source. They need to be someone people listen to and tend to follow, or take advice from. Someone who is influential in there groups, an expert in the given topic. If the crazy lady that walks around my neighborhood with no pants on (true story) tells me about a new restaurant I won't uh, be so ready to eat there. Yet my good friend who is a brilliant cook and eats out all the time.....you get where I am going with this?
If you are lucky enough to have found some Sneezers, congratulations! You should ask yourself these questions though:
What are you doing to keep them happy?
Do you listen to them?
Do you cater to their needs?
These Sneezers are your most important customers. Love the Sneezers....cater to your sneezers!
When you try to sell your product to everyone, you water it down, dilute it. You will not be an amazing product when you try to sell to everyone. Sneezers will ignore you. Think of what a mediocre fast food restaurant In-N-Out Burger would be if they kept adding items to the menu. They would not be a Purple Cow in a sea of other cows. People will drive for miles just to eat a burger that is "Animal Style", but really will they drive for miles to get another chicken sandwich?
We have been in business for almost five years. I have been asked on many occasions to put my art on canvas and sometimes wood. I refuse. It is not that I am a dumb business woman - but that is not what Jamie's Painting & Design is about. You could not call it a ' ceramic keepsake' or a 'long lasting ceramic gift' when it was painted on canvas. Long lasting - means my artwork is on the tile F-O-R-E-V-E-R. And again, I ask there are SO many other artists(or one in my opinion, really must I go there again?) who do it SO well, why would I want to enter such a crowded area?
At last count on one of our channels websites there were 12 different artists creating canvas artwork. I can easily point you to ten more that are on other websites. Ceramic wall art..........there is one. Numero Uno, an Island, you know the song from Sesame Street, "One of these kids is doing his own thing..."
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