The ancient Chinese phiolosopher said:

Tell me and I’ll forget
Show me and I may remember
Involve me and I’ll understand

Check your marketing communication against this standard, and the results will amaze you.

When things are down a little, which is the norm in a recession, how does it make you feel when you hear or read about a business success story? To us, it’s a real morale booster, a shot in the arm, a kind of template for success.

Just as negativism, discord and whining can bring the entire crew down, so, too, is optimism the viral quality of a leader. Don’t hesitate to be the “office optimist,” the first one to find the lemonade within the lemon and point out the silver lining around the dark cloud.

Following the example of someone who is doing it right or, at least, better than we are at the moment is a great starting point for brewing up our own success recipe. Grab at each opportunity to model the success of others, to be the team Pollyanna, the individual who is first to point out that glad can get you a lot further than sad. You just may find that you have created a tipping point.

Remember:
• Those who are rushed want you to tell them quickly
• Those who are impatient are the same, only more so
• Those who are distracted need you to make you communication clear
• The confused mind tends to say “no!”

Famed theatrical producer David Belasco said, “If you can’t write your idea on the back of a business card, you don’t have a clear idea.”

Write conversationally, just like you did when you were a kid on the playground, or even today when you are talking to a friend, family member or associate. Don’t use words and phrases in marketing communication you wouldn’t in normal conversation. Don’t try to impress or overwhelm with cleverness. In fact, don’t even try to whelm, at all . . . (just kidding!), folks.

Be short, quick, clear and relevant.

The above is pretty good advice only if you want people to read, understand and act upon your message.

Many, if not most, of your current and prospective consumers are rushed, impatient, distracted and confused – and those are the prime prospects, the ones most likely to be interested in what you are saying – or selling.

Remember:

• Those who are rushed want you to tell them quickly
• Those who are impatient are the same, only more so
• Those who are distracted need you to make you communication clear
• The confused mind tends to say “no!”

Famed theatrical producer David Belasco said, “If you can’t write your idea on the back of a business card, you don’t have a clear idea.”

And, in terms of contemporary communication, if your subject line on an e-mail isn’t very short, not only won’t you be able to fit it in, not only won’t it, therefore, make sense, but people aren’t likely to stick around to open the mail.

Write conversationally, just like you did when you were a kid on the playground, or even today when you are talking to a friend, family member or associate. Don’t use words and phrases in marketing communication you wouldn’t in normal conversation. Don’t try to impress or overwhelm with cleverness. In fact, don’t even try to whelm, at all . . . (just kidding!), folks.

Have a clear objective in mind when you set out to compose any message.

• Is the object to sell something? Then provide enough information to (at least give yourself a chance) to “close” the reader.
• Is your object to induce an inquiry? Than give at least enough information to take the recipient beyond pure curiosity and into the realm of their self-interest.
• Is your communication about an idea, an ideal, a notion, or even a crusade or movement for which you want to gain followers? Then, don’t be afraid to inspire, not with fancy, flowery language, but with clarity of purpose and a concise, functional delivery.

The lexicographers have given us a dictionary full of words with which to work. The impact of our message will be in direct proportion to how well those (hopefully few) words have been chosen from the many and how well they are arranged.

We start with a blank slate and a full mind. The best result will be achieved through a marriage of those two things in crafting a communication that produces a specific objective.

1. “My competitors are stupid!”
You can learn from your competitors, their successes and failures:

• Customer benefits you’ve overlooked
• A new technology and service being introduced
• A new market being explored or a new office opened
• Revised terms of sale
• Strategic alliances
• New ways of handling service or orders
• Changes in their client list
• Personnel comings and goings
• Literature and promotional activities

2. “My customers won’t know the difference.”

Your customers are specialized in (at least) one thing — BEING CUSTOMERS!

They are far more tuned in to your market and the offerings of your competitors than you may give them credit for (your competition never sleeps!)

3. “My product is vastly superior.”

Most entrepreneurs — particularly manufacturers — consider his or her product to be truly astounding.

If your product IS vastly superior, (can you) come up with a head-to-head demo?

KEY POINT! Don’t become so enthralled with the “excellence” of your product that you lose the customer’s perspective in the process.

4. “My people are special.”

Most companies feel this way. Unless you can qualify and quantify it, this claim will hold no water with most clients.

Don’t overestimate the impact of your people. How are they special? Do they have:

. . . MORE: awards, degrees, training, experience? (This is the service company’s equivalent of, “My product is vastly superior.”)

KEY POINT! If you claim to have superior employees, you’d better be prepared to back it up.

How long has it been since your company has made news? Not necessarily the earth-shaking kind; perhaps just a new product, service, client, equipment, modification, reconfiguration or idea. Something that might even justify sending out a press release. If you’re not making news, or at least causing the eyebrows of some current customers or prospects to raise, you’re not sitting still – you’re drifting backwards. Put on your thinking cap, and move ahead.

Have a written marketing plan, listing – at a minimum – your objectives, strategies, tactics, timelines, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and benchmarks. Marketing plan templates are available online or through marketing professionals.

So, make a plan, but never fear to “break” a plan, replacing all or parts of it with something better.

A banker told me this morning, “The banking business isn’t as much fun as it used to be. .  . I hate turniing down friends who seek loans.” Several other business people recently have remarked, “Nowadays you have to work harder for less!”

Is business supposed to be fun? I’ve always thought, – it is if  you do it right. Why shouldn’t it be. At least one-third of our waking hours (not to mention our nightmares) are occupied with it. And how about the concept of working harder for less reward? Most would agree that’s better than having no work at all. Right?

So, let’s get on withihe quest. Most of us feel our ship, once again, will come in. In the meantime, we can pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, and draft our action plan for a brighter tomorrow. Entrepreneurship comes with no minimums, no maximums and no guarantees.

Are you in with that?

It seems to us that “candidate marketing” has taken the ugly path to something akin to campaign muckraking. Instead of telling you what they can do for us, the varios candidates tell us what a “crook” or how incompetent and dishonest their opposition is. Who was it that said, “You protest too much!” Alas, it seems unlikely that the next couple of months (until the campaign mercifully ends) will only bring us more of the same. How sad.