Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

That`s right. No more marketing.

For those of you who provide a service, I`ve got news for you; we`re going back to the age of the guild.  Back when your reputation was the only marketing a person ever needed.
It`s coming. Well, it`s actually here, but just not `big` yet.

Forget the whole Buyer Beware (caveat emptor) business model, fast talkers are in trouble. For those who truly Get Stuff Done, they will soon be able to be recognized and reward based on their proven merit.

I for one, can`t wait.

Please list out some sites you know about that promote this merit-based value


Cheers

Sam Goodman
Me-2-B
People you can count on

Yes, you are absolutely right on the mark! But what I think you are referring to is invasive sales: Direct sales, door-to-door, pavement sales, direct mail, television ads, telemarketing - all these tactics are now considered invasive by the general public and produce limited results. "Permission Marketing" (a phrase coined by Seth Godin) is the new marketing. Social media and community forums that engage communication (such as what we are doing here) is an exmaple of new marketing.

Sales is out, yes. But marketing never stops. Without effective marketing, even the best products and services go unnoticed and business falters. Marketing doesn`t have to be expensive or elaborate - having a clever logo and business cards is an example of marketing. After all, people have to know you exist before they`ll buy.

Hey Kristine,

Invasive Sales - Bad
Effective Marketing - Good.
Absolutely.

I believe that the search experience will become smarter, deeper and experience richer.
So when I said `no more` marketing, I mean daily, active marketing will significantly decrease once a talented person has earned a solid reputation.

Thanks for being part of the conversation.

be good
be safe

Sam Goodman
Me-2-B
People you can count on

I think this is an excellent post, and flows directly into the overall "Buy Local" movement that`s emerging.

There`s something else to add to the mix, and that`s the difference between *real* product/services as opposed to "symbolic" products and services. By that, I mean anything that`s once-removed from direct, tangible, immediate exchange of value.

For example, the overall corporate model includes huge numbers of employees who do nothing at all that directly interacts with customers. They`ve developed a jargon term, "internal customers" to mean that the HR department means nothing to actual paying customers.

The coming decade will be a movement toward that immediate, direct interaction.

It`s not so much that guilds and word-of-mouth are new, or that they`ll replace some other system. Rather, it`s that people want a much more hands-on approach to exchanging any kind of value at all.

Ergo, another "thing" that`ll emerge (and we already saw the first of it this past holiday season), is bargaining. Real markets, where customers interact with producers, include that bargaining process. If I actually make something and I`m standing right there when you want to buy it, I`m the final decision-maker as to price, profit, and even bartering.

Sales and marketing is changing.

One thing for me to add though. One should realize that although newspaper and television advertisements are considered as invasive marketing nowadays, we must keep in mind that these ads are often very important for branding purposes.

Yes, people might not pick up the phone or visit your site by just visiting watching a TV ad but they will somehow remember your brand if you appear in front of their eyeballs frequently. Well, when is the last time you turn off the TV while your show pauses for a commercial?


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http://www.SproutGeek.com - The #1 Blog for Small Business Owners, Startup Entrepreneurs and Marketers

People don`t have to actually turn off the TV when a commercial comes on. They can either click away with a remote, or more likely they`ve recorded the show and fast forward past the commercial breaks.

Craig, I do not think the reputation based marketing will be limited to Buy Local.
If anything I think the transparency will only flatten the world that much more.

Depending on the need I have and therefore the service I am looking for, I for one do not care where the person is, so long as they can Get the Stuff Done.

I see this movement starting less with the corporations and more with the talented individuals be they freelancer or small businesses.  A smarter Yellow Pages. 

True. I`m thinking more of hard goods, things we buy. Instead of the Big Box stores, more the increasing number of "mom-and-pop" stores. But if they don`t have what I want, then for sure I`ll be shopping online.

Basically, it comes down to people getting tired of blah sameness being pushed as "different and exciting," using old marketing techniques. However, I don`t think that`ll mean no more marketing. :-) Just selling better products.

I`m afraid that there is a pervasive misconception that you can build a successful business by word-of-mouth only.  Actually, in my experience, word-of-mouth and reputation only helps you sustain your business with repeat customers *AFTER* you have already built a successful business through effective sales and marketing.

So I absolutely agree that building a reputation for high quality is important.  I don`t think that you will be able to build this reputation, though, without first reaching customers through some type of direct sales process, such as buying Google Adwords, direct mail, etc.

  Gary

Hey Gary.

I agree with what you are saying in today`s world.
But...
Soon the transparency of a person`s reputation will be responsible for bringing in new clients.

Just think of it as a `search with depth`.
When someone goes to search for a service provider, be it google, the yellow pages or craig`s list, there is no depth to the information found. You can see what the person does, but not how well they do it.

Well, if you could see the various service provider`s SP) reputation, then that depth of information would be extremely valuable in taking the next steps.
If I know SP1 has 25 transactions with 10 different client s and 30% repeat customers vs SP2`s 5 transactions with 1 client, well then that tells me a lot.
If there are additional `metrics` like creativity, integrity, problem solving, organization etc, that gives further depth to my search and enables me to `know before I go`.

I see the above scenario being the future and that is what I mean by no more marketing.

But yes, for the unproven SP, they are definitely still going to have to do some marketing to get their reputation ball rolling.

Cheers

Sam