Look out for…

The people, who will go to any lengths to get your attention and sell you their products.

They will make noise, lie, pretend, spin reality and try to convince you they are something they are not. Those who rent mansions for a week for their sales videos and showcase expensive cars, they don’t own. All the while shaming you for not being as rich and “successful” as they are. 

They will make exaggerated and misleading statements, usually taken out of context, like “How I made 1 mil $ in a week” or “My clients quadruple their income from my coaching” – conveniently avoiding telling you the whole story. They will have few long-term and high paying clients, who are satisfied with their investment.

Try to avoid those, who over-promise, mislead or use shame in any way to try and influence you.

Marketing is easy, when you do it right…

I’ve wasted time and money on marketing, which never paid off. I’ve been on the other side of the phone-call, when a customer has scolded me for interrupting their busy day and angrily slammed down their phone. 

I’ve worked in direct sales, telemarketing, online marketing, content marketing and influencer marketing. I’ve read countless books and taken expensive courses to try and master this area.

I’ve also felt the pride, when a new customer contacted me out of the blue to hire me or the joy of a client thanking me for helping them to sign up for one of my services. 

I’ve experienced the thrill of raising my hourly salary from 20 $ to 67 $ in just one single 30 min sales conversation. And I’ve since then increased the value of my services to be worth thousands of dollars, where my customers are happy with their investment and I also feel comfortable charging this amount.

Marketing is difficult when you attempt it in a way, which doesn’t resonate with you – but easy and fun when you do it with integrity, deliberation and insight. 

The 3 best practices, that you can implement now

The first thing I recommend is that you stop doing anything, which is against your values or beliefs. Going against yourself is like riding a bike uphill. You might get to your final destination, but you’ll be exhausted and drained on arrival.

The second advice is that you reflect on your own life and experiences to try and find a marketing approach, which you liked and were drawn to. What did this person do to be heard? How did they approach you? Why were you drawn to them?

The third advice is to go out and test things out. The best teacher is first hand experience and direct practice with feedback. It might be a little uncomfortable at first, but given time it gets easier and easier, while you will develop your skill sets and find out what works best for you.

P.S. If you really want to be heard, you can always do this…

Surprise, shock or offend your audience! 

This is what is being done globally on an ever-increasing level, and I don’t think there’s any kind of limitation as to how far people will go.

In 2009 Richard Branson went viral with his kitesurfing photo with a naked model. Back then it was seen as an “outrageous” event! Before that in 1998 Pamela Anderson’s sex-tape was released, which at the time was a scandal. 

Today, in comparison, it’s become almost trivial to see celebrities completely naked on the cover of magazines, sex tapes getting leaked or even taboos made into entertainment like what happened with the suicide forest in Japan.

What was shocking 20 years ago, today has become normalized. And as such, people are constantly raising the bar for how they can now outrage the world in order to grab the attention of an increasingly desensitized society.

But is it worth it to jump on the bandwagon of exhibitionism? To trade in your integrity for a few more clicks? Should you offer your self-respect to become internet famous?

No. Of course not. 

It is my belief that as the online world is continuously becoming more and more obscene, that more and more people will gravitate back towards the opposite. Towards those with integrity, authenticity and genuine self-respect.

So instead try to make what you do entertaining and valuable in itself without the need for excessiveness.

Find the people, who are drawn to your message, simply because they value what you have to offer.