Marketing Advisor, Mentor, & Educator

Kevin C. Whelan

Marketing Consultants

How marketing really works

Today, I received a number of flyers in the mail. I ignored most of them but one in particular stood out: a local real estate market data newsletter.

It was sent on behalf of a local real estate brokerage, with whom I’ve come into contact before.

The first time was when I was looking for a house in the area last year. They had a representative doing an open house at one of the places we looked at.

He was knowledgeable and courteous, and came prepared with a mini booklet to showcase the features of the house.

It was more than your average one-sheet—it stood out for its quality. Which makes sense given the house costs several hundred thousands of dollars.

He also offered to send us listings that fit our profile since our realtor was located out of town and he regularly got early access to houses coming onto the market locally.

Since then, I’ve noticed their distinct signs outside of houses for sale nearby. They are an independent brokerage, so their branding stood out with its unique colour and appearance.

And today, probably my sixth or seventh impression of their brand, I saw their flyer amidst all the other materials that came with the mail.

While I ignored the rest, I noticed theirs immediately. My wife did, too. We talked about them for a minute, too.

Marketing doesn’t work by a lucky single encounter with your brand. It happens by having multiple positive touch-points over time. That’s why people who look for short-term wins aren’t thinking about marketing the right way.

Marketing is a long game. The key is showing up frequently and consistently, ideally with a visual identity and messaging that stands out.

If you want results today, try doing sales outreach.

If you want opportunities to come to you instead, think long term and build your marketing with the aim of earning repeat exposure in a quality and unique way.

You can be specialized and a generalist at the same time

Tonight, I went to mop the floor and realized I was fresh out of Lysol.

So I dug into my cleaning supplies cabinet and found two options: an all-purpose cleaner and a floor cleaner.

The all-purpose cleaner label said it cleans floors and many other things. The other one was just for floors.

Which one did I pick? The floor cleaner, of course.

But if you analyze the situation closely, note that I own an all-purpose AND a floor-specific cleaner. Plus, I had just run out of a bottle of Lysol (all-purpose).

When given a choice, people will usually pick the product that solves their specific problem.

Which means if you’re not specialized and someone who is comes along, you’ll lose the competition more often than not.

But there’s also a big demand for more general products and services.

That’s why I suggest many people take the generalized and specialized approach. At least for as long as it serves them.

It’s not conventional wisdom, so do what you will.

But as long as you keep them on separate websites and focus most of your energy marketing just one business, it can be totally effective.

The systematic approach

SpaceX successfully launched a rocket on Monday with four astronauts aboard. 

And while I’m no space expert, I imagine they followed a series of systems and processes to do it.

No doubt, the system would include a series of countless checklists performed by countless professionals, developed through years of scientific breakthroughs and iterative refinements.

Sounds simple, right? Of course it isn’t. But the idea that you can reduce even the most complex feats down to a system is simple enough to understand—at least in theory.

If you can send a rocket to space using systems and checklists, what’s stopping you from creating a simple system for your own marketing program?

Or, better yet, turning what you do into a proven system you can use from one client to the next that gets results with reasonable predictability?

If they can send rockets to space with a checklist, I’m pretty sure you can create systems for yourself and your clients.

And I’m pretty sure you can refine that system and master it in less time than you think.

The question is, are you doing it?

The incentives behind your advice matters

My furnace was not working properly today, so I’ve asked a company to come by and look at it tomorrow.

The last time I had someone look at my air conditioning unit, they told me I needed to replace it. They then sent their salesman by to pitch a new unit.

This time, they might be able to fix my furnace. Or, more likely due to its age, they will advise me to replace it. And if they do, I won’t know whether to trust their advice.

Why? Because they are financially incentivized to sell me a new furnace.

It’s almost impossible to be neutral (although, I am not suspecting them of lying to me) when there’s a big fat paycheque behind the option to replace it.

So I need to be at least a little bit critical.

Contrast that to the firefighter who tells you to replace your smoke alarms every few years. Unless you have doubts about their intelligence or they are heavily invested in fire alarm stocks, you can assume their advice is good.

Or, at very least, it’s not motivated by any financial incentive.

The point is, when taking advice from someone who’s financially incentivized by the implementation, you’re forced to educate yourself and consider whether the advice you’re getting is right for you or not.

In other words, the advice is and should be taken as a sales consultation.

That doesn’t mean you can’t trust people who sell advice and implementation. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it in practice.

But it’s not the highest form of advisory work you can do. It puts you in a sales position because you must constantly balance the incentives of your clients and your own.

To be a truly trusted advisor, you need to maintain a fiduciary standard, which usually means not selling the advice AND the implementation of that advice.

Removing the financial interest makes you more neutral, which is subtle but a big difference in how it feels to to buy your advice.

Growing and de-risking are two sides of the same coin

Many people mistake entrepreneurs for risk-takers. And while they may take more risk than others, the successful ones tend to be excellent risk managers.

Here’s a quote by Jason Fried at 37 Signals back in 2003.

We’re not designers, or programmers, or information architects, or copywriters, or customer experience consultants, or whatever else people want to call themselves these days… Bottom line: We’re risk managers. Designers who sell “design,” programmers who sell “code,” information architects who sell “diagrams” are selling the wrong thing. The thing to sell is reduced risk for the client. That’s what people want.

Yes, people want growth in their business. If you’re in marketing, that’s what they will ask you for, too.

But more often than you might realize, people are hiring you to de-risk their situation. After all, fear of loss is a more powerful motivator than the desire for gain.

This year’s panemic has only amplified this fact, and it isn’t over yet.

So, whether you’re in marketing or any other field, the message you put out to your prospects might be as much about helping them not fail as it is to help them grow.

Because for entrepreneurs, growing and de-risking are two sides of the same coin.

Dirty taps run clean eventually

This idea was shared by Julian Shapiro on Twitter and I had to share it with you.

One of the most rewarding things I do is help people create consistent content for the first time, whether that’s on their blog, email, or social media.

The metaphor is simple: When you first turn on a dirty tap, the water will flow dirty for a while. But if you keep it running for long enough, it will eventually run clean.

It works the same with almost anything you create. Your creative work and ideas will start out being not very good. Downright bad even.

But when you commit to the process, it’s only a matter of time before your work begins to flow pure.

Your bad ideas leave your system, your work becomes a little easier, and the output a bit stronger every time you publish. Eventually, you can produce great work.

But it only happens if you trust the process and stick with it long enough.

Related: If you haven’t read The Practice by Seth Godin, go out right now and buy it.

When you launch something new

When you launch something new, you never know whether it will succeed or not. By definition, you’re taking a leap of faith.

You’ll always feel excited when you begin. But by the time you launch, you might also feel resistance, imposter syndrome, or even downright fear of embarrassment.

And that’s okay. That’s how you know you’re creating something.

You don’t have to have all the answers when you begin. In fact, you never will.

But you do need to trust that you’ll make good decisions along the way. Business is an iterative process, after all.

If you go into your new venture knowing you’ll relentlessly follow the needs and wants of your best customers, it’s really only a matter of time before you succeed.

There are exceptions, but it’s really not much more complex than that.

Today I launched Mindshare, a rebranding of the Mentorship program I started a few months back.

It’s a community for marketing consultants seeking to sell their expertise instead of their hands.

It also includes resources and a private podcast feed with thought-provoking strategies and long form interviews to help you grow your marketing business around your expertise, not just your labor.

If you want the backstory, I talk about my story and how it led to this launch here in this Twitter thread:

And if you want to package and sell your marketing expertise instead of your effort, check out the Mindshare Community and become a member.

Your thing isn’t for everyone

Whatever you’re selling… know that it’s not for everyone.

It’s not for most people, either. And if you get disappointed when someone doesn’t buy or like it, you’re looking at it the wrong way.

Instead, create something for someone specific. A single, ideal person, not an “avatar”.

If it turns out someone else enjoys it more, consider making them your ideal customer instead.

It’s a lot easier to over-deliver for an already satisfied customer than it is to figure out what someone who isn’t satisfied will want.

Make what you sell as good as it can possibly be then continually improve it for those who actually value (and pay) for it.

This is the definition of customer-centric.

Lest We Forget

When I was seventeen years old, I tore three ligaments in my knee playing hockey.

It took six months to get a surgery and several more afterwards before I could walk without crutches again.

I recall vividly watching people walk around, unaware of how lucky they were to be able to move without crutches. To jump, run, and play sports.

We don’t really realize how lucky we are until we lose things in life.

And today is my birthday, so I’m in a particularly reflective mood.

It’s also Remembrance Day here in Canada. A time to think back and remember those who fought during WWI (and many wars since) so that we could enjoy our safety and freedom today.

May we use this day to remember our fallen soldiers, but also how lucky we are to have love, health, people who care about us, and people we care for.

It’s easy to forget how lucky we really are.

Lest We Forget.