Tree Swing Marketing Story
I clearly remember how appalled I was when IBM told us (us being technical employees known as CEs or SSRs) we had to start selling.
Selling was a dirty word to me.
Marketing and sales were the people who promised what we could not deliver and pressured customers to buy what they did not want or need.
Customers trusted techs and we did not want to lose their trust.
In most organizations, marketing is paid much more because they are seen as an income source. The IBM salesman I knew best made 25 times what I made (and the IBM CEO pay is 530 times more) and their phones did not ring all hours of the day and night like mine did.
Support staff is paid much less because they are considered an expense instead of an asset. At least in IBM’s case that is a serious mistake because what we once called Customer Engineers and later called SSRs are the only IBM employees most customers see on a regular basis and the primary reason those customers keep buying IBM equipment. But we’re getting off track.
Let me explain WHY marketing is NOT Evil.
I know that I am not the only person who had a negative view of marketing. The thing is, if there were no marketing we would not know who offered what we need and want. If a business doesn’t market well and close sales they can’t stay in business. Marketing and sales are both essential to us as buyers and to make an honest living. What we need is a different perspective on marketing.
Marketing is how we find what we want and need.
Marketing is how we know who does what. Businesses must have a marketing plan so we will know what they do. No matter what that plan is – even if it is only a sign in the window or handing out business cards – the purpose is always just that: to make sure those who need or want what they offer know about their products and services.
Marketing is essential to small business success and small businesses are essential to improving our standard of living.
If we want the most people possible to live a comfortable life with at least a roof over their heads, clothes to wear and enough to eat we have to change how we feel about marketing.
Why do we buy from Corporations whose commercials depict us as insects, animals or stupid? Why do many pay for clothing and products that make them walking billboards for brands?
Why is that kind of marketing acceptable while we refuse to allow small businesses to reach out to us? We create forums but refuse to allow them to add a link to their business or a description in a signature line.
We install dofollow CommentLuv and KeywordLuv and then delete quality comments seeking anchor text or even report any business leaving comments as a spammer.
What we need is a change in perspective.
Small traditional and online businesses are best for our economy because almost every penny we spend with them is almost immediately spent with other businesses.
When you buy your groceries from your local independent grocer or through a Food Coop or Consumer Supported Agriculture you support all the suppliers and businesses they use.
Money we spend with small businesses improves our economy and increases the standard of living for all.
What you spend in stores owned by multi-national publicly traded corporations goes to support boards earning seven figure executive compensation and continue to pay huge bonuses while their employees barely make a living wage – or for many of the worst Corporations do NOT make a living wage.
“The chasm between America’s haves and have-nots has reached Grand Canyon-esque proportions. Thirty years ago top executives at S&P 500 companies made an average of 30 times what their workers did — now they make 300 times what their workers make.“
Is it any wonder that the new television show Undercover Boss is so popular? This income disparity has a serious negative impact on our economy, on each of us and on everyone else in the world.
“Income inequality now is at an all-time high: The top 1 percent of Americans earn a quarter of all income, and the top 10 percent earn 50 percent.” More on tying CEO to employee pay.
If 50 percent of all income is in the hands of 10% of all Americans how much of that money do you believe is kept circulating where it can support other businesses and improve the economy?
How much of YOUR income do you spend? For a huge percentage of Americans the answer would be ALL of it and then some!
If we put more of our money directly into the hands of people who spend it our economy WILL improve and so will our standard of living!
Small business is key to improving our economy and is the bright spot in creating jobs – and not just any job – better jobs that pay well and have a future! Gallop estimates 30 million Americans – over 20% of Americans – are already underemployed.
Many are working two jobs and still making only a third of their former pay not to mention loss of benefits and the impact on their lives of working all the time and still not making ends meet.
I will borrow a quote from Andy Sernovitz‘ new book Secret and Mysterious Order of Word of Mouth, a book I highly recommend:
“Word of mouth marketing only works if you have good products and services. It only works if people like you and trust you. (If you’re a jerk,word of mouth with backfire horribly on you.)
If your product or service sucks, no PR campaign, clever TV ad, or announcement on your website will make consumers believe that it doesn’t. Not any more. And the speed of word of mouth on the Internet spreads the truth almost instantly.
You won’t hear a lot of good word of mouth about cable companies.
When word of mouth works, good companies are rewarded with gobs of free advertising and attention, and they make more money.
When word of mouth works better, bad products and bad companies are punished with negative buzz, and they lose customers.
Think about what this means for you and your family. We have a new social force that rewards companies with free marketing, sales and profits when they treat people well and produce good products. The same force stops companies from treating people badly by killing their sales.
For the first time in the history of modern business, we have a force for good that is also driven by the all-powerful profit motive. For years, government regulators and consumer advocates have tried to use legal and public pressure to make companies treat people well. I’ll bet that the profit motive works better.
This is why word of mouth marketing is so exciting. Everyone can do it. It makes money. It makes products and services more exciting. It makes business more honest and ethical.
It is better for all of us.
If you have a business or blog you need a copy of this book so you will avoid making mistakes that stay online forever. Also visit his site for viral marketing ideas on how to make your online activities memorable to tap into the power of viral marketing. (Follow Andy Sernovitz on Twitter)
We can each bring more power faster to word of mouth marketing. Marketing is NOT evil when it is honest and ethical. It is only evil when it is deceptive and only benefits the already wealthy.
Bloggers are especially important to making sure that small businesses thrive and we need to take action NOW while we still have small and online businesses to support!
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Most ecommerce and online businesses receive 60-90% of all their traffic and sales from one search engine that has publicly announced their intention to focus on brands to “clean up” the Internet.
Any traffic not directly attributable to that search engine is likely to also have been found using that search engine.
We must preserve our ability to find the businesses, products and services we want to use and a great way to do that is to start supporting them with our spending and by recommending them.
It wouldn’t hurt to use a different search engine too. DuckDuckGo is my favorite search engine and I hope you’ll try it out because their results are cleaner and every site I can find in you know where has been in theirs (and yes, I do test that regularly).
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO:
Participate in our BizLuv MEME to Support Small Businesses to support your favorite businesses, causes and blogs. You can get involved in Blog Outreach or join our private blog collaboration which has developed a process for generating and sharing unique guest blog posts.
If you own or work for a business, you MUST learn how to market it. The survival of your business will depend on it. You do not have to have money to spend and anyone can get free advice on what works and what doesn’t right here.
We are continually working and testing new methods especially for businesses like the Florida Millwork company Good Millwork hard hit by the economy such as those in the home improvement, construction and real estate niche. If we can make it work for them it can work for any business.
SCARY SEARCH ENGINE FACTS:
UNDEREMPLOYMENT:
- Working Two Jobs and Still Underemployed
- Reuters: The Massive Cost of Underemployment
- Underemployment is a Growing Problem Even as the Job Market Turns
TROUBLE MAKING ENDS MEET:
How little does the dollar buy and how high are expenses already? I will add links here to real people who are challenged to make ends meet.
- What if you can’t make ends meet on $25/hour, make too much to get assistance, and then lose your job? Angie Marion titled that post Her Fall From Grace but this is NOT her fault and not a fall. It is where the sliding dollar is going to land everyone who doesn’t have a new plan and soon. Read this post and the information in Support Small Businesses. If you have computer skills contact me and I will share how you can earn a good living online by providing services to small businesses including getting them Local Search Directory listings, Blogging for their businesses and using Article and Social Media Marketing to drive more traffic to their sites. I will teach those who are interested and send them referrals.
INTERESTING GRAPHS and VIDEOs on the WAR ECONOMY:
- Why the Internet Scares Politicians
- Truths about The History of the United States, the rise of Multi-National Corporations, “American” Corporate support of Hitler, suppression of competition, and who controls the economies of the world and how: The Elkhorn Manifesto
- IBM and the Holocaust
- Spending Freeze When Hell Freezes Over (See the graph Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes at the very bottom.)
- The Cost of War
- War is a Racket by Smedley Butler who was was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history.This is the very best speech on the truth of war I have ever heard. I read a portion of it years ago and have been looking for it ever since. I sincerely hope everyone will take the time to watch it. It could change your life and the lives of everyone else on this planet.In recognition of its excellence I share here the StumbleUpon review of War is a Racket posted by mystiker:”This a re-enactment of the famous speech by two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Smedley Butler. Although the speech is dated around World War II the theme of the message is timeless.Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940), nicknamed “The Fighting Quaker” and “Old Gimlet Eye”, was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history.During his 34 years of Marine Corps service, Butler was awarded numerous medals for heroism including the Marine Corps Brevet Medal (the highest Marine medal at its time for officers), and subsequently the Medal of Honor twice. Notably, he is one of only 19 people to be twice awarded the Medal of Honor, and one of only three to be awarded a Marine Corps Brevet Medal and a Medal of Honor, and the only person to be awarded a Marine Corps Brevet Medal and a Medal of Honor for two different actions.”
{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: @kikolani
I think I’ve always separated marketing from sales. I think of marketing like advertising the products and services, whereas sales is the part where the pushy / sleazy things happen. Marketing seemed more factually based, and sales is where things were glamorized to make money.
Good WOMM is going to depend on the customer service agents of a company. No matter how good the product or service, it is likely going to need people to support it. And if those support people do a bad job, the WOMM will definitely backfire for a company, just like the service guy who was filmed sleeping on a customer’s sofa. That video is still in the top five search results for the particular company they worked for. That’s the power of WOMM via social media channels.
.-= Kristi @ Blogging Tips´s last blog ..Fetching Friday – Resources Mashup & Official Eclipse Trailer =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Thanks for commenting Kristi,
I have a clear awareness of the difference between marketing and sales because I am good at the prior and bad at sales. Marketing is more about what the benefits are while sales requires the ability to close. (I am a fan of the concept of High Probability Selling which might allow even me to be decent at selling.)
Both marketing and sales can be unethical, misleading or worse. What we all need to be clear on is that they are not inherently good or bad – HOW they are implemented is what matters.
Businesses really need to read Andrew’s Word of Mouth Book for exactly the reason you mention – mistakes can live forever on the Internet so it is best to avoid them whenever possible.
Those who understand how to properly encourage organic WOMM will benefit and that book and Andrew’s sites (linked in this post) are as good a place to start learning and to get great ideas as any.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..KeywordLuv: How Using It Benefits Us All =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
One other REALLY important point I should have mentioned for businesses and bloggers. Not participating is not an option because you WILL be talked about online so it is best to be able to add your input and see what is being said.
There will be complaints no matter how honest and ethical you are so what matters most is how you handle them. We just had an excellent example of how to do that in the last post in this very blog.
I linked to reviews that indicated that Search Status was being called spyware and that is where the conversation might have ended.
Fortunately , the developer of Search Status came by to explain that all of the tools we are using are reporting the same way so their tool is no more spyware than any other option. His input changed the perception of his product for the better.
One of his users, Internet Marketing Coach Dennis Edell, who is a respected regular commentator here, recommended his product and provided his input as well.
This is how WOMM will work. Businesses will be able to add to our knowledge of their products and services and happy customers can and do defend quality businesses they like.
.-= Gail @ Support Small Businesses´s last blog ..MEME: BizLuv in Support of Small Businesses =-.
Twitter: @dannyintampa
Same thing going on with these big banks, We should be supporting and putting our money with local community banks instead of these big banks who do not give back to the local community and only care about how much profit can distributed to the top.
.-= Danny @ Florida Vacation Rentals´s last blog ..Where are the best beaches in Florida? =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
I absolutely agree Danny. Community banks may be in major jeopardy right now as Community Banks are Vanishing in America.
The wise Community Banks Reject Fed Bailout Money because it allows the government to take them over or sell them off to big banks.
Even if they stay away from that pitfall Regulators are closing community banks using the excuse they are “protecting” us from bank failures.
Huffington Post has written about why we should Move Our Money and we can use the My Community Bank Web site to find a locally owned bank or support our own with testimonials and recommendations.
Share these links and How Community Banks Can Succeed with your local bank
Write reviews for your local bank as I recommend in my post about supporting small businesses and do the same for your neighborhood stores and owners of services.
I feel compelled to mention that the illusion of choice is not real choice. I was seeking a page to link using the famous quote Edmund Burk quote “The Only Thing Necessary for Evil to Triumph is for Good Men to Do Nothing” and most are politically polarized sites.
While there are appearances of difference there is no substantive difference in which party controls the Presidency or Congress. I encourage anyone who thinks these are Republican or Democratic issues to step back and look at the bigger picture or research specific important topics to see who is really pushing them through.
Be aware of how the Economic Recovery Act distributes stimulus funds.
We can all do our part and benefit from Word of Mouth Marketing which is simply sharing what products, services and businesses provided by small local and online businesses we most love.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..BizLuv MEME: How to Support Your Fav Businesses =-.
i have to agree-there really is no business like banking business– you get to earn great profits by investing other people’s money. In a way, i think the government is imitating that principle (lol).
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Monika,
While both banks and governments could choose to benefit the public, what they have actually done is rarely beneficial. At least the banks controlled by multi-national corporations are vehicles for wealth transfer to the few with governments emulating those actions.
Both keep the majority in poverty by design by onerous taxing, fees and charges. Imagine the additional wealth that individuals and small and local businesses would have if so much of what they earn was not taken from them off the top.
An enormous percentage of all the productivity of all who work at any trade is intentionally being removed from circulation. Consider the cumulative taxes on a loaf of bread and realize that it is possible there could be as much as 95% tax rate on everything we buy.
I highly recommend reading those two links I included in this reply to get a far better view of what has happened to the once great American economy and the solution.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Merchant Affiliate Management Tips =-.
Twitter: @clickonportal
I’m actually a marketer myself, and I don’t think it’s evil, it can be hard at first though because you feel you are trying to fool or convince people to buy.
.-= clickonportal@ Teen Book Reviews´s last blog ..Vampire Academy: School With Bite =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello ClickonPortal,
If you only recommend what you truly believe in you won’t feel that way. Blogs can change the way people make money online by allowing us to focus on what we are passionate about. We can write honest reviews and recommendations of what is really worth buying – QUALITY related products and services.
Sites can offer other related products and services and affiliate links but be careful to NEVER recommend what you don’t actually know is a quality product or service.
Be honest in your reviews. Share both the things you like and even more importantly what you do NOT like. Don’t be afraid that will reduce sales because every buyer is different and what you see as the reason you would never buy might be just what they wanted.
Be willing to remove bad products, services and companies if your research reveals issues or if you receive valid complaints. The only site worth visiting is the one that provides value and honesty is always valuable.
The old online marketing concept of researching what makes the most money and putting up sites that cater to that interest will eventually die out.
A new trend that I would like to help nip in the bud is promoting Major Brands and Fortune 500 companies. Why help them hoard even more money and squeeze our economy dry when you can be paid to promote better small and online businesses that appreciate your efforts?
Affiliates don’t have to worry about not getting paid because Affiliate Networks like ShareASale which is considered the most honest, cleanest, best Affiliate Network collects from the merchants and pays you.
We work with Adam Riemer who is super honest and hard-working and is the Affiliate Manager for my favorite personalized gift store with a Gift Affiliate Program.
Almost any blog writes about holidays and gifts once in a while and can share what they love with their readers. I am always ready to make suggestions on creative ways to monetize your site without covering it up with ads and text links. Just ask me if you want some ideas.
.-= Gail @ Support Small Businesses´s last blog ..Who Can You Benefit by Sharing GrowMap? =-.
I will probably change the title to say. Marketing is NOT Evil all the time. I have seen some mediocre products being bestseller because they had a cool marketing strategy in place. At the same time the ‘great product’ couldn’t even sell one copy.
If there was no marketing (or mass marketing), there wouldn’t be so many brands and vendors will probably stick poor quality products to consumers.
Coming to your point about keywordluv and commentluv plugins, I think most bloggers are just afraid of PR leak, they want to get the ‘extra’ traffic that these plugins can give to their blogs, but won’t approve genuine comments because they don’t want to provide a ‘free’ link to someone who made a brilliant comment on their post (and thereby added some content to the blog).
Twitter: @GrowMap
Welcome Adam,
What you have said is so important I want to emphasize it: “most bloggers are just afraid of PR leak, they want to get the ‘extra’ traffic that these plugins can give to their blogs, but won’t approve genuine comments because they don’t want to provide a ‘free’ link to someone who made a brilliant comment on their post (and thereby added some content to the blog).”
In other words, they want to get something for themselves without giving anything back. In my book that means they are selfish and not part of our community.
If page rank really leaks so be it – and it is not clear whether or not it does. See the great debate Does DoFollow Leak PageRank for a discussion where I posted examples of sites that are dofollow, have tons of links and comments, and still have PR that may or may not be affected by dofollowed links.
You have made several excellent points that do not seem to be obvious to many who should understand them. What becomes most popular is what gets the most exposure and that is usually who has the most money for advertising (or owns the media!).
It is our collective fault that so many automatically buy from big brands and do not seek out other – often better – alternatives. While Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) will benefit those who buy from Fortune 500 companies by revealing which products they are promoting are not worth buying it is not the best way.
It would be far better to use WOMM and the Internet to support small and online businesses as I have explained in this and many other posts.
We all have some serious decisions to make and we have to understand that most people will just continue to do what they do.
Only a fraction of 1% of all people will be interested in creating a different economy where some of us thrive because we are supporting each other. Even that small percentage is a pool of hundreds of thousands or even millions so it DOES make a difference and it WILL work.
Bloggers are part of the 2% of people who think and act. Most of them will continue to emulate the traditional model of putting themselves first. The wise who are not so selfish will realize that the more people we help the more people will help us.
Those who don’t truly believe in being generous and only use dofollow, CommentLuv or KeywordLuv for what they can get from it without giving back will quickly be exposed and ignored by our community.
Being selfish is SO obvious online. They can save themselves time and effort and do us all a favor and don’t even bother because it won’t work anyway.
If you decide to create a blog I would love to collaborate with you. Every business related to home improvement and real estate is going to be among the most challenged in this economy.
The many complimentary businesses related to yours could provide quality blog content to each other using a system we’ve put together to syndicate unique versions of each blog post. I’ll be writing a post about how that works very soon.
As many realize, dofollow links within the body of a post are far more valuable than dofollow comment links so being able to distribute information readers interested in what you sell want to dozens or even hundreds of related blogs is key to greatly growing your business.
I have two other quick ideas for you:
1) Be sure to read the post about getting your free local search directory listings.
2) Become a regular commentator in the Good Millwork blog. I work with them and often moderate their comments which are 100% Dofollow and have CommentLuv and KeywordLuv installed.
They have some exceptionally good content for those interested in home improvement. If you are interested in collaborating with us you can plug into our guest blog post syndication system.
Now would be a good time for me to mention that readers need to be able to clearly discern the difference between a recommendation and sharing information.
Publishing a guest post is NOT an endorsement of the author or their company or product UNLESS the blogger adds their own clear recommendation to the guest post. If you DO know and passionately recommend them be sure to say so!
Those who read my blog know how strong my recommendations are and should have no trouble telling the difference.
.-= Gail @ Support Small Businesses´s last blog ..Free Business Listings in Local Search Directories =-.
Twitter: @Pokereleven
I don’t think is evil, i thnik society need this!
.-= Pokerstars Blog´s last blog ..El “durrrr” Challenge: Dwan gana $230,000 en 9 minutos =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Pokerstars,
What we all need is a better understanding of how the world works which is why my posts are a lot different than what a traditional marketing related site would share.
.-= Gail @ Support Small Businesses´s last blog ..Merchant Affiliate Management Tips =-.
Whoa. Now this is a serious post. I’m glad I found your blog, I am so sick of reading garbage from people who don’t actually have anything to say, like the proverb “A wise one talks because they have something to say, a fool talks because they have to say something….” Anyway – agreed, marketing is not evil. But there’s an alarming modern trend, especially with affiliate marketing and the like, where I don’t honestly think people care less what they are selling. They just want the cash. We must fight against this!
Twitter: @GrowMap
Welcome to our community Alex,
I totally agree that marketing can be evil or misleading or helpful and good and it all depends on how you use it. It is the negative ways it is used that have given ALL marketing a bad name.
Affiliate marketing is just like all other marketing. It can be wonderful when the affiliates only promote what they truly believe in and just more misleading garbage when affiliates will promote anything for a buck.
Every individual whether affiliate marketer or blogger MUST make a decision about who they are and where they stand ethically. [HINT for those who don't "get this" yet: if you allow money to affect your actions those actions will be tainted and unethical.]
We can NOT endorse ANYTHING at ANY TIME for the money. On the other hand if you simply love something and recommend it regularly and they decide to offer an affiliate program there is absolutely nothing wrong with your being compensated for being a cheerleader and using affiliate links.
Every reader must learn to discern the difference – and it is NOT difficult to tell – between those who will do anything for a buck and those who have integrity and whose recommendations can be trusted.
You already have this built in. It is why you distrust those long sales letters. They work because the greedy buy from them but you KNOW instinctively that their purpose is to convince you to buy whether whatever is being offered is worth it or not. You also know they are usually intentionally misleading.
Even ethical, good products use those types of long sales pages online because they generate sales. How truthful they are and whether what they are selling will work for you can not be determined by what they say. You have to research elsewhere to make a valid decision.
TIP for those who want to make money online: If you aren’t going to actually do whatever it is you’re reading or buying it won’t work – but they will make money if you buy. Do the world a favor and don’t create more of the same to make a living. There is already way too much of that online already. Focus on something new and substantial instead.
Alex, I’d love to know more about what else you’re doing online. If you want to speed up the process feel free to use my Contact Page.
.-= Gail @ Support Small Businesses´s last blog ..Who Can You Benefit by Sharing GrowMap? =-.
Twitter: @ttp://twitter.com/napwinc
You really did point out well your thoughts about marketing. Marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry in the past, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology and mathematics, the profession is now widely recognized as a science. I recommend this post.
.-= Nancy@National Association of Professional Women´s last blog ..napwinc: Annapolis chapter has monthly meeting, read all about it on our press page found at http://www.napw.com/presspage http://tinyurl.com/yfcudme =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Thank you Nancy,
I often have unique views on many subjects because I am always seeking deep understanding about what is best for everyone. Where most go astray is in focusing only on what is best for them.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..My Review of The New Community Rules =-.
Twitter: @lavenderuses
Hi Gail
I came over to this article after your recommendation from a recent post you did that I commented on. I have bookmarked this page as so much information for this newbie to take in. I am trying to put everything into place that is recommended but sometimes I am getting information overload, hence the bookmarking. I am still building up my blog slowly and last week after my laptop crashed thought I would see a dip in traffic as couldn’t publish posts or visit blogs to comment. Back on line now and ystdy several people stumbled me and I saw a huge spike (for me anyway) in my traffic. I don’t even understand the stumble thing but it sure works.
After reading this post I realise why you can help so many people with their small business. Not only are you passionate about it; you also are very experienced techie who knows what she is talking about.
I am so blessed to have found your site. Also want to say thanks for your link to my site. I don’t know how to do that yet either but saw you have linked to mine in my dashboard info. Thankyou so much.
BTW I always buy from small business first and don’t like dealing with the multinationals unless I really have to. Supporting local business is a priority even though we have not had the economic downturn in Australia that the US has had recently. Our mining companies have kept us afloat here.
Patricia Perth Australia
.-= Patricia@lavenderuses.com´s featured blog ..Lavender Health-Embracing An Organic Lifestyle =-.
what’s marketing. i’m numb to it.
yes, become a banker. then wait until the public burns your house down.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Adam,
I recognize that many people lump all marketing into the evil category and that is the very subject of this post. Do you believe that ALL businesses are bad?
Have you never known a mechanic who really cared about his customers and went out of his way to help them? I know Dallas mobile mechanic who will go out all hours and travel to where you are broken down and then give you a great warranty, charge less than the dealer and possibly even give you time to pay because he knows you are good for it.
Have you never shopped at a small grocery store in a small town? When I mentioned to my local store that I really wanted a particular product it was on the shelf the very next week! Try that in a major chain store and see how likely they are to add what you most desire.
Is there no local auto parts or hardware store where you live? They stock replacment blades and bulbs for what they sell. Try finding them at the major chain store where you BOUGHT the tool in the first place! They won’t even order them for an item you just bought a few months ago.
While I have never known even a small local banker that actually cared much for their patrons I don’t rule out the possibility that some community banks might actually be different.
Did you actually read this post? Marketing is NOT evil but many unethical companies use unscrupulous marketing methods. Marketing is simply how we find what we want and need.
In the “old” days that would be yellow page ads, display or classified ads in our local newspaper, handing out business cards, distributing fliers, or having a sign on the building, out front or information painted on windows.
Are these bad? It is NOT the method – it is the honesty or lack of truth behind the marketing that makes it evil or good.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Why We No Longer Recommend Yelp to Businesses =-.
The people who practice ethically and for the better good of the public will be rewarded soon. People are getting sick of being treated like inferior animals compared to the extreme wealthy. The top 10% may control 50% of the money, but the other 90% have the power to change what is going on. It’s going to take the majority of people to use their power to shift where the money is going. If 90% of the people buy locally our economy would be a gillion times better. Obviously, that isn’t going to happen overnight. It will eventually happen if there are enough people similar to the ones on this blog. Like you post says, word of mouth is the best way. I’ve only read a hand full of posts on this blog and recommended it to MANY people
.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello again Jumpness,
If you read the comment just above yours you will see why small local and online businesses have such an uphill road to travel. Maybe he has taught me what I was missing: that many do not have any experience with caring business owners so they don’t realize they even exist?
Thank you so much for sharing this blog with others. The more people these ideas can reach the faster we can improve the world for the few who see the potential.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Who Can You Benefit by Sharing GrowMap? =-.
“Marketing and sales were the people who promised what we could not deliver and pressured customers to buy what they did not want or need.”
My trademark is Statistics don’t lie, salesman do. Salesman are 99% scumbags and by nature good liars. I know too many salesman who lie and take advantage of people. Thanks for the post.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello,
I suspect there are more decent salespeople than we realize but there are many who will do most anything for a sale. If more businesses would change to High Probability Selling that would be a good first step.
Statistics are actually extremely misleading, partially because the user may not realize what variables they are not considering and largely because it is very easy to “prove” nearly anything by simply changing the time periods used.
One of my favorite quotes is “lies, damn lies and statistics” and another is “It ain’t so much what we know that gets us into trouble. It’s what we know that just ain’t so.”
Both quotes are widely believed to be by Mark Twain, the pen name of writer Samuel Clements but most likely he was quoting others.
The bottom line with most people is when their actions and what they say do not coincide, what they DO is where the truth lies.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Free Business Listings in Local Search Directories =-.
Twitter: @DrKal
Great post! Every business is a marketing business. Most just don’t do it well.
I already have CommentLuv, but this post has convinced me to install KeywordLuv also.
I’m not sure if anyone mentioned it in their comment because I was unable to read all of them. But, small business owners should really start doing videos to market their businesses. The technology to produce HD quality videos is very inexpensive and will allow them to compete with the big boys. A Flip Camera can be purchased for less than $100.
.-= Dr. Kal@Weight Loss Tips´s last blog ..How To Lose Weight Fast =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Welcome Dr. Kal,
I dropped by your blog, left a comment and having confirmed that your blog is DoFollow and has CommentLuv and KeywordLuv installed I added links to you from this post and added you to my KeywordLuv Blogs List and DoFollow Blogs List at Twitter.
Video can be an excellent addition to any site and is also very effective at bringing traffic in from sites like YouTube. Anyone who creates videos would do well to post them on major sites to drive traffic back to their own site and raise their visibility.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Social Media Marketing Monday – SMM Overview =-.
Marketing is certainly not an evil as it provides the organization a base to grow rapidly. What really important is the attitude by which people look at marketing solutions provided by the organizations. If people are more aware of the marketing practices and strategies then it eventually helps in building the relationships with the organizations as valuable customers. When the customers start believing that marketing only leads to spam, junk advertisements or salesmen then it turns into an evil.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Welcome Brad,
Many sales and marketing practices have led to the general public thinking that they hate all advertising and marketing. That is not actually true because if they are interested in the offer they won’t complain and they will buy.
When most Americans had their own farms, ranches and businesses they better understood the need to get the word out about what they had to offer. People who have always been employees often have very little understanding of how business works.
I would be willing to bet if someone stood outside a store and asked everyone coming out how much of the amount they just spent the business made from what they spent the answers would be outrageous.
Many people think a business keeps all of what they spent and have zero idea about overhead and the costs involved in generating sales. Many consumers are appalled at the markups and small business owners often refuse to charge enough to cover their actual spending (which is one major reason so many new businesses fail).
Every business must charge enough to cover their overhead and spend at least time if not money on marketing. This is yet another thing that should be taught in school along with managing money and practical skills that have been lost since so many moved to cities and never learned to garden, bake, sew, fish or fix anything.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Keyword Tags, MetaTags, Tags: How Many Are Best? =-.
Twitter: @ultimatebanners
Your blog article made me smile and yes, selling was a dirty word to me also.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Welcome,
I suspect it is for the majority of people and even many small businesses. Those that do not learn to sell will be first to fail as the economy worsens.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..New Weekly SMM, WOMM, Affiliate Columns =-.
Twitter: @n/a
wow i really love the information you share that benefits small businesses.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello,
Thank you. I do my best to spread the word about what works and warn businesses away from what doesn’t. Have you read the post I’ve put in CommentLuv in this reply? Every business really needs to do that first.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Free Business Listings in Local Search Directories =-.
Nice topics, I want to know more about this topics, While all the marketing media coming to the unlimited world of internet marketing.So, Why not Dental marketing? To be updated with latest technical marketing, It must be dental internet marketing.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello,
Yes, there is value in businesses learning how to market to their specific niche and/or geographic location.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Why Marketing is NOT Evil =-.
Twitter: @websiteweekend
Really great article.
The tide is starting to turn. But it’s going to take a while. Years.
Thanks for stopping by Gail.
.-= Dave Doolin @ Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..3 Ways Daily Blog Posting Benefits You (and your readers) =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Dave,
We can hope so, Dave. I will continue to work to speed up the process.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I’m off to read your post about daily blog posting. I fully intend to follow that advice; the challenge for me is making it happen when I must make helping specific businesses survive a priority.
I do have a plan and it is getting closer to working. All I need is to get some posts scheduled ahead of time.
.-= Gail @ KeywordLuv´s last blog ..Freelancers: How to Get More Freelance Work =-.
Twitter: @saffarmoh
Your article and comments are great.I learn so much things.Thank you very much.
Grab your niche by magic chromatic hexagonal tool,Purchase Precidely & Promptly
This website is small wikipedia:
http://purchasewikipedia.com/
.-= mohammad´s last blog ..Elance Made Easy =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Mohammad,
Your comment started out well but the way you ended it will get it deleted in most blogs. Any time you turn a comment into a commercial you will irritate many people.
Please read the posts about How KeywordLuv works and How CommentLuv works because those two plugins allow you to get better anchor text and more benefits for your site while still making the blog owners happy so they keep your comments and links.
You will have more success if you make it obvious on your home page exactly what your business does. That could be a slogan or a sentence or two that lead to detailed information. Many will think to read your about page but others will not.
.-= Gail @ KeywordLuv´s last blog ..Keyword Tags, MetaTags, Tags: How Many Are Best? =-.
Great article. I installed both plugins on my blog and I saw exposure increasing!
The amount of comments we receive has increased exponentially.
.-= Bedroom furniture´s last blog ..Bedroom furniture: Feng shui can aid designs =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Thank you. Let me know if your blog is dofollow and I will add you to the DoFollow CommentLuv KeywordLuv list.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Affiliate Tips Tuesday: Holiday Promotions =-.
Great article.It is great to see more encouragement and education for small business around the need for a complete solution rather than just a presence , ‘brochure ware’, that will not meet there business goals although it may look pretty.
Twitter: @GrowMap
It has been a long time since “brochure-ware” Web sites were the norm, but many businesses are still using them. As the economy continues to decline only those who really start understanding how to reach out to new customers are likely to survive. There is no time to waste.
.-= growmap´s featured blog ..Best of GrowMap – Our Most Important Posts All in One Place =-.
marketing is never a bad word as well as selling.it’s just a way to boost one’s business.nice post.please write mre.i’d love to follow your blog.thanks.
Twitter: @geoffnow
Marketing = all the communications that occur between product creation and getting it into the hands of a new loving owner… therefore it must be good. It is messaging about an item that meets the wants and needs of the person who finally reaches the ‘end’ of the buying cycle. So friends, carefully think about ‘buyer’ keywords. Game over. GD.
.-= Geoff Dodd@Residual Income Perth´s featured blog ..Local Business Internet Marketing =-.
Twitter: @dennisyu
Gail,
Great article! I personally believe that great marketing is indistinguishable from having a great product or service– they are the same thing, whether you call it word of mouth marketing, business development, sales, or any other name. A brand is the net accumulation of all of these efforts, while just pure advertising is the weakest, shallowest embodiment of this.
Unfortunately, marketing companies, whether they be search engines or ad agencies, make money on advertising, as opposed to truly helping a client build their branding.
Dennis
.-= dennisyu@facebook-advertising´s featured blog ..Why your Facebook fan count affects your Post Quality Score =-.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Pure advertising campaigns are why so many people hate advertising and advertisers. They don’t see that we benefit when we know which businesses are worth patronizing and which products are quality.
I have got to get with you about Facebook.
.-= Gail @ Blogging Best Practices´s featured blog ..The Cost of Word of Mouth Can Be 180 Million =-.
Twitter: @paulhassing
By gum, Gail; I forgot how well you can write!
Many thanks for visiting our blog and reminding us.
It’s great to be on the same page as you. I sure hope the locusts and honey hold out until we can swap this wilderness for a bright new world.
Best regards indeed. P.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Thank you, Paul,
We really need to collaborate more. I am just overwhelmed with too much to get done right now.
.-= Gail´s featured blog ..Happy Birthday GrowMap 2 Years Old =-.
marketing enables you to get to appropriate prospective customers more efficiently and thus increasing your business.
I totally agree with you as i feel Marketing is certainly not an evil as it provides the organization a base to grow rapidly.
I agree. Who would think Marketing is Evil? No one. We all do marketing in any way and if it’s evil then all of us are evil.
.-= back pain products ´s featured blog ..Back Pain Products =-.
Marketing is not evil, unethical, immoral or not appropriate for human services. It can be a most useful and beneficial tool if used effectively.
I used to frown when I hear the word Marketing. I associate it with people who are persuasive to the point of harassment. My perception turned 180 degrees. Marketing people are great assets to companies because they are one of the key people to keep the company alive.
Twitter: @Income Tax Refunds
Marketing is not evil it just like a show.Some body like but some doesn’t like your show.
Dennisyu! You are so correct. I become quite frustrated when I see business focus on one aspect as if this was the reason for existence and the total sum of its rise or fall. A holistic approach that incorporates all aspects of the business, including the whole of business recognizing that they are responsible for the marketing, promotion and service levels for their particular work area. Furthermore some of the more in tuned business also recognized that their is internal relationships that must be approached in the same manner as that of the traditional customer.
Whoa. However, it is a serious post. I am happy to have found your blog, I'm so tired of reading garbage from people who have really nothing to say, as the proverb "A wise man speaks because they have something to say, a fool speaks because that they have something to say …. "Anyway – decided, marketing is not evil. But there is an alarming trend in modern, especially with affiliate marketing and other sectors where I honestly think that people of what they sell. They just want money. We must fight!
.-= bob@how to make money´s featured blog ..Make Money Taking Online Surveys =-.
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