Christmas shopping is a very stressful time for any man.

At least it was for me this past year. And the year before that. And the year before that.

I found myself scouring the mall a week or so before the big day, searching for some clothes for my wife. The very thought of buying women’s clothes raises my blood pressure at least 30 points. Buying myself a pair of Dockers is a walk in the park, but when you start throwing women’s sizes at me, and then weird words like “petites” and “full-bodied,” I freeze. I look around seeing women far and wide looking at a full rack of blouses, picking one out and holding it up against them, and I long for the ability to spot what I’m looking for in the midst of the frenzy and do the same.

But alas, it just ain’t gonna happen.

So I noticed that I limited my browsing to clothes that were on the mannequins this past year. I realized I was horrible at visualizing how a sweater on a hanger might look on my wife, but the mannequins helped. Seeing the clothes on a mannequin stripped away lots of what otherwise was going on in my brain and allowed me to answer a simple question:

Would this look good on my wife, the way it looks good on that mannequin?

It completely revolutionized my shopping experience. I began quickly running into stores, glancing at the mannequins, and briefly answering my simple question. Was I overlooking a lot of other options? Yes, but that didn’t really matter. I had no way visualizing those options in a real-world situation, so I bypassed them.

But I could focus on the mannequins.

It got me thinking, like most things do, about marketing and communication. Specifically, about how we who know our product lines in and out and breathe them in on a daily basis so easily overwhelm our prospects with too much information. Sure, our product might do a lot, but a prospect can’t fathom it all.

Our prospects need a mannequin.

Customers have ADD. They need our help narrowing their focus. They need a simple glance at what the product would look like in “real life.” They don’t need a list of features and a tech sheet. They need a quick glance that immediately tells them if this fits them or not.

And don’t be afraid to dress that mannequin in a way that turns people off. Because the same thing that turns some people off is exactly the same thing that turns some people on.

Narrow your choices. Then focus on the best choice within the now smaller group of choices. That’s your mannequin. Put it in the front window and make sure anyone who glances at you at least sees that.

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robwallace/412467773/

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Marketing is one of those topics that is poorly defined and rarely understood. That’s because it’s so broad. At the end of the day, if you’re in business, then you’re a marketer. Every business is taking something – a product, a service, a cause – to market.

Still, we have to somehow simplify and understand it.

Here are what I call the Three Questions of Marketing. Apply them to what you do and see if you like the answers.

1. Do they want it?
2. Do they know about it?
3. Do they talk about it?

Where most companies go wrong isn’t in how they answer the questions, but rather in what they understand “they” and “it” to be. “They” are your customers; that’s pretty easy to know. Yet companies know far less about what their customers really want, think, hope for, etc. to be in any position to help them. Second, “it” is what you’re marketing. That doesn’t mean it’s your product, necessarily. It’s what your product provides.

Make a product your customers want, make sure they know about it, and make sure it’s something they’ll talk about, and the hard part is done.

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Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fontplaydotcom/

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Seth Godin’s post today, titled “The Confusion,” is pretty heavy.

In it, Godin cites how we humans never acknowledge the chemical inconsistencies that we individually encounter every day, but rather look to situations in our lives (parents, money, weather, etc.) that account for our moods and reactions. He then drives the message home with this quote: “The external world is remarkably consistent, and yet we blame it for what’s going on inside of us.”

So it got me thinking: Isn’t marketing and communication much more a chemical activity than a concrete one? Does this mean there’s a LOT more to it all than just solving a problem for your customers?

Of course there’s a lot more. People buy out of emotion, not logic. So no matter how much your product makes sense, how much time it will save or how much money it will save, your buyer needs to have an emotional tie to your product or you before anything is going to happen.

And regardless of what you think, there’s nothing consistent about that. You’re a slave to your customer’s hormones.

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After more than two years of meandering my way through the marketing waters on the blogosphere, I’m finally taking the plunge and offering a free marketing newsletter to any and all who want it.

Like you, I’ve noticed the ratio of bad e-newsletter to good ones is about 10 to 1. My aim is to not join the majority here. In fact, I’m hoping to actually pass along both items of interest and some easy things you can do right away to improve the marketing of your organization.

So who needs this free marketing newsletter?

My target is small business owners and entrepreneurs who are looking for tangible ways to improve how they market and communicate. More specifically, direct sellers, solopreneurs and local services (like pest control companies and lawn & garden services) will get to benefit from drilled-down advice based on my experiences in those industries.

What you’ll get with each newsletter

At least initially, newsletters will go out only once a month, starting next week (the week of June 15). Every newsletter will be different, but you can count on the following segments every time:

• Dirt cheap marketing ideas: easy and inexpensive marketing tactics you can do today.
• Lots of links to websites the small business owner will find useful.
• Featured article
• Links to free white papers
• A subscriber spotlight: you might get a shout-out to your business just because you subscribed.
• The best tips and info from MarketingInProgress.com.

So, go ahead. Sign up for the free Marketing In Progress newsletter now and let the marketing greatness begin.

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The Branding Strategy Insider had Jack Trout’s mammoth insight on marketing wisdom, and I simply can’t pass up the opportunity to post this here. Be sure to visit the site for more info. 

• Most bad marketing is driven by the desire to grow, which is in turn driven by Wall Street, which is in turn driven by greed. CEO’s pursue growth to ensure their tenures, to increase their reputations, and to increase their take-home pay.
• Another problem is trying to be all things to all people. That growth strategy fritters away resources on side battles, resources that ought to be concentrated on the main event. Decisions are a lot simpler when you’ve got one thing on which to focus.
• The more things you try to become, the more you lose focus, the more difficult it is to differentiate your product. Mark Twain said it best, ‘I cannot give you a formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody.’
• When your business is more about great accounting than great products or great advertising, you’re headed for trouble.
• Set realistic goals, which Frank Typer defined brilliantly as those that are ‘Beyond your grasp but within your reach.’

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Everyone believes they are unique. Different. Not the status quo. A contradiction to the statistics. Everyone believes they have problems, issues and obstacles that have never been experienced by anyone. Ever. 

Everyone believes everyone else is normal. 

Of course, both statements are right and wrong. 

The only thing that’s normal is that we’re all different. We’re all individuals. But we’re not so unique and independent that we have needs and troubles that are 100% unique to us. But because that’s how we perceive it, that’s how it pretty much is. 

When someone comes to you expressing an issue they’re dealing with, they don’t want your response to be “There are thousands of people who go through that every day.” They want you to listen, to empathize, and, maybe, offer up some tailored advice just for them. 

Your customers fall into this “everyone” category, too. Knowing they believe they are completely unique, how can you be the better “friend” in the example above? 

Image credit

Similar posts on MarketingInProgress.com:

1. What the NFL Network and the iPhone Have In Common
2. Love Thy Customer

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An invitation by John Moore, via the Age of Conversation 2.

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Seth Godin sums up marketing this way: “Make promises and keep them.”

If this is at all an accurate definition (and I believe it is), then my marketing lately sucks.

I haven’t called customers back in a timely manner. I haven’t followed up with vendors. I’ve been missing deadlines. I haven’t sent email newsletters out as often as I promised. I haven’t posted to my blog like I know my readers expect. I haven’t come through on lots of stuff lately.

This is my confessional. First, I apologize to those of you who have suffered as a result of by horrible marketing. Second, I apologize to all of you for being extremely hypocritical.

Lastly, I applaud those of you who keep your promises. Who stay in touch with customer (really stay in touch, not just talk about it). Who set reasonable expectations and hit them. Who follow through.

I’m going to get better. Not only am I going to keep my promises, but I’m going to make sure I’m making promises I’m resolved to keeping.

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“Increased profitability. Decreased costs. Improved retention. More productivity.”

Just about every business-to-business service out there today promises these end results. If you’re one of them, stop doing it.

The problem is that every single one of your competitors is promising the same thing. Of course, that doesn’t mean that one of these end results shouldn’t happen when using your service. It just means you can’t hang your hat on it. That hat rack is way too full.

Every one of your clients already expects you to help them make money in some form or fashion, be it increased output, decreased input, or more volume. Everyone wants that.

You need to sell them how you’re going to do it. You need to show them the proof that you can really do it. You need to offer something way more than promises that contain the words “profits,” “costs,” or “production.”

You’ve got to get a lot more specific.

Since your client knows their business much better than you do, they’ll know when they see something that’s going to help them make more money. You don’t have to tell them. Stop convincing them that you’ll make them more money, and just show them what you’ve got that they instantly recognize will make them money.

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Chris at the Raw Stylus opened my eyes to this bit of simple genius.

Introducing the Firefox tablet – read all about it at Tech Crunch.

Isn't this worth $200?

No, you can’t get it yet. That’s what makes it even more exciting. The spark has caught on, and thanks to the openness of our new culture, anyone can help fan the flame. And we’ll all be better off because of it.

What idea have you got that is sitting in some dusty corner of your brain that couldn’t use the help of a couple hundred experts?

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