What is "Ruthless Marketing?"
Well, it's been an exciting day already! My first official day as a blogger and I've gotten more feedback than I thought for my nascent entry into the blogosphere. No negative rants yet (knock on wood) but a few interesting questions. Essentially they all boil down to "What the heck is Ruthless Marketing?"
Ruthless Marketing. Sounds rather violent, doesn't it? Well it should. If there is one thing that I've learned in all of my years in marketing and sales, it's that marketing and communications is a full-contact sport. Most people diminish the effectiveness of their marketing because they take a passive approach to their marketing efforts.
Now I'm not advocating a marketing mindset that says "I'll crush my competition under the heel of my boot! (insert evil laugh here)" However, I am advocating strategic planning that plays to win. For example, I'm advising my clients to buy as much media time as they can right now. Radio, TV, billboards, whatever they can afford. Now I know some of you are looking at me (or the screen, anyway) like I'm crazy. "Don't you know how tight the economy is right now? I'm trying to save my bottom line here!" Well that's exactly why I'm advising them to buy. Because most people are pulling back on marketing right now, it's a great time to get your message heard. That kind of counter-intuitive thinking is the essence of Ruthless Marketing.
It's pressing the attack when other businesses call for retreat. It's going after the big contracts, even though you're a one man show. It's being absolutely relentless about keeping your name in the community until the big guys don't know you're the little guy anymore. It's not being ashamed or afraid of being David to the marketplace Goliaths, 'cause you know how that turned out!
That's my approach to marketing. That's the way I advise my clients. That's the way I market myself. That's why I like working exclusively with small businesses. The big guys have plenty of people falling over themselves to work with them. I want to give Fortune 500 marketing help to the small business owner, and show them how to run with the big dogs and end up the leader of the pack.
And I'm absolutely ruthless about it...
