Running against the herd

Often, business owners concentrate on following the perceived wisdom about what works and what doesn't in marketing but this can result in loads of missed opportunities.

If your competitors are all doing the same types of marketing such as advertising in the Yellow Pages or doing mailshots with the same sort of offers and promoting the same features and benefits, then copying them won't get you anywhere. The way to stand out is to do something different - something that your customers or prospects won't expect.

Common marketing 'wisdom' states that your direct marketing should be short and punchy because people are too busy to read or they don't have a long enough attention span. I've lost count of the number of people I know who won't deviate from this belief which is a shame because it is complete rubbish.

The truth is that people don't have time to read boring and uninteristing drivel, but if what you have to say is vibrant and relevant they WILL read it, almost however long it is. If you don't believe me, think about it in terms of lifetyle magazines for things like cars, boats, travel, home improvement, etc. They sell by their thousands, often to successful and affluent individuals who spend time reading very long articles because it is something they are interested in.

I proved this recently by sending an 8 page sales letter to the CEOs of major international organisations promoting an opportunity with one of my clients. You would imagine that CEOs would be be far too busy to read such a lengthy thing but the content was relevant to them and I presented it in an exciting and unusual way - the result? SIXTY PERCENT of them replied - and they replied immediately because CEOs don't like wasting time!

There are loads of similar marketing 'rules'. Following them will get you the same mediocre results that your competitors get and your business will be viewed like all the rest. Break as many of those rules as you can and you'll soon stand out from the crowd, impress prospective clients, and find out that the crowd wasn't so wise after all.