Are You A Victim Of Marketing?

by zapseo
3 replies
I recently re-read a post I made on my blog that I'd forgotten I'd made.

The title of the post ... "Shake The Reader Down Like An [sic] Mafia Enforcer"

I recently re-discovered it because someone wanted to post a comment to my blog, to that entry -- about some mafia folks. LOL.

That post was written from the vantage point of a copywriter and marketer, of someone who wants to get their market's attention.

But what it really didn't talk about was the effect on the individuals in the market -- and that's what this post is about.

Because you need to defend yourself.

In order to be effective, you need to determine what things are worthy of your attention.

It's all too common for people to be nearly ready to roll when the next hot promotion comes out -- and then they say -- "Well, just as soon as I have this NEW piece -- then I'll be ready." But before you even have the product in your hand, the next hot promotion is already making you salivate.

It's WAR. It's about who owns your attention -- you, or other marketers?

Granted...I shouldn't be saying this...but if you want to be successful, you need to be a part of your own plan, not someone else's plan.

And too many of us get whipped up by the winds of the latest promotions, the latest launches, the latest gizmos.

And have the credit card balances, full hard drives and boxes of unopened products to prove it. (Yes, I include myself in that bunch. Been there, done that...)

Here's a simple tactic to help you own your own attention.

It's been said that internet marketing is a combination of 3 things: traffic, conversion, product.

Whatever promotion comes along, it's going to fit into at least one of those "buckets" -- it may fall into more than one.

But each product that you see that comes by -- ask yourself -- what problem does this product solve: will it get me more traffic, more conversion or more products?

Even before that, though, you may want to ask yourself -- what is my business MOST in need of?

And how badly do I need it?

Any new product, strategy, paradigm will require integration into your current business model. That takes time and effort.

You need to decide whether that new product, strategy or paradigm will be worth the effort -- and, more importantly, worth the interruption from your current business practices.

Now -- having said that, I'm going to go back a bit on what I said about the 3 items. Because the way you figure out which of those three items you need is by having a plan.

And you need to have goals. And you need to know if you are hitting your goals. And if not, why not? And if so -- are your goals too low?

In the wilds of internet marketing -- it's like being in a forest. A very dynamic and rapidly changing forest, to be sure. Your goal is to make your way through the forest. You need all the attention you can muster in order to do this.

But all the "winds" of marketing promotions are attacks on your attention -- attempts to grab your attention away from your priorities into someone else's priorities. In the forest, they will push you this way and that, until you find out that you are ending up going around in circles.

The goal is to be master of your business, not to be the fodder to someone else's.

Comments encouraged and welcomed.

Live JoyFully!

Judy Kettenhofen, Profit Strategist/Copywriter
NextDay Copy
#marketing #victim
  • Profile picture of the author Tyson Faulkner
    Hey Judy,

    I really try to focus on this whenever I see a new promotion or new product coming out. It really helps me filter out 90% of the stuff that could be stealing my attention away.

    One thing I've been trying to do lately, though, is whenever something does get my attention, I make a note of what it was so I can educate myself to what I react to. I know that if I react to it, with all my guards up that I have in place, there might just be something about it that I could use for my marketing in the future.

    Our attention definitely must be closely guarded in order to get any work done. It's so easy to wander off course and spend hours doing nothing productive.

    -Tyson
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    • Profile picture of the author zapseo
      Originally Posted by Tyson Faulkner View Post

      Hey Judy,

      I really try to focus on this whenever I see a new promotion or new product coming out. It really helps me filter out 90% of the stuff that could be stealing my attention away.

      One thing I've been trying to do lately, though, is whenever something does get my attention, I make a note of what it was so I can educate myself to what I react to. I know that if I react to it, with all my guards up that I have in place, there might just be something about it that I could use for my marketing in the future.

      Our attention definitely must be closely guarded in order to get any work done. It's so easy to wander off course and spend hours doing nothing productive.

      -Tyson
      Tyson --

      That's an excellent thing to do!
      Both from the point of view of guarding your attention, as well as helping you to become a better marketer. Because if you react to certain things, no doubt OTHERS do too.

      When I was a software engineer, one of the tips for becoming a better engineer (better at debugging your code, in this case) -- was to keep a diary of the kinds of errors that you made in your code.

      Then, when you went to a debugging session, you could go down your list of most common errors ("left out semicolon", for example) to see if your current problem was caused by one of your most-frequently made errors.
      Saved time.

      Live JoyFully!

      Judy Kettenhofen, Profit Strategist/Copywriter
      NextDay Copy
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  • Profile picture of the author Valorie
    I don't have a credit card. If I had, I would have been right there for the last Frank Kern launch. I was on someone's list and they had some bonuses that just tipped me over the edge. But, alas, the monthly payments were more than my mortgage, so I had to pass.

    Some of the best copywriters in the world write for IM launches, it's hard to say no.
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