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August 17, 2006

Insider Tip of the Week - 08/16/06

More Preaching to the Choir

by Bob Serling

I hate to say "I told you so", but...

In May, CNET's business network and MarketingSherpa
conducted a survey to determine which types of marketing
are most productive for businesses. So what do you think
business executives listed as their Top 3 methods for
successfully bringing in more sales?

Pay-per-click? Nope.

Natural search? Negative.

Ezine marketing. Wrong again, bucko.

Cheez, kinda makes an online marketer feel trivial and
meaningless, doesn't it? But wait - it gets even worse
for the online gurus. Because here are the results of this
survey of sophisticated, technically inclined business
executives. Drumroll please...

The three big winners

Here are the winners, in order of preference:

1. Word of mouth
2. Conferences and trade shows
3. Editorial in print magazines

Wow! This completely aligns with what I've been telling
every marketer, business owner, or entrepreneur who
will listen for the past 4 or 5 years. Just because
technology is cool, just because all the so-called gurus
are selling you a bill of goods about the next hot
technological "magic bullet", doesn't mean it's true.

Look, I have nothing against technology and Internet
marketing. I have a strong Internet presence and plan
to maintain it. But I'd give my eye-teeth for a juicy
article in Inc Magazine, while I warily evaluate almost
every form of online marketing.

However, I still use many online marketing techniques
that work for my business. But the operative phrase
here is "that work". You see, I don't care whether an
effective marketing technique is online, offline, or
painted on the side of a barn. My only concern is
that it's effective.

So I strongly caution you to get past looking at the
economy of marketing online and focus instead on
what's most profitable for your business - both
online and offline.

One last important point

If you examine the Big 3 winners above, there's a
common, but hidden, thread running through them. The
hidden message is that most business executives don't
trust any type of marketing very much.

They strongly prefer the recommendations of trusted
friends and business associates, objective industry
experts' opinions, and materials they can check out in
a face-to-face situation.

Focus more of your marketing efforts on those areas
and you'll easily command a greater share of your
market.

====================================

How did one of my students sell 9,500 copies of his
information product with almost no prior experience?
http://www.directmarketinginsider.com/9500copies.html

Posted by Bob Serling at August 17, 2006 08:51 AM

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