Tree Swing Marketing Story
Why sharing our favorite local small businesses through word of mouth improves our standard of living:
Pay attention to the statistics found in the second half of this post and find out how our decisions and actions are key to economic survival.
I clearly remember how appalled I was when IBM told us (us being technical employees known as CEs or SSRs) we had to start selling.
Selling was a dirty word to me.
Marketing and sales were the people who promised what we could not deliver and pressured customers to buy what they did not want or need.
Customers trusted techs and we did not want to lose their trust.
In most organizations, marketing is paid much more because they are seen as an income source. The IBM salesman I knew best made 25 times what I made (and the IBM CEO pay is 530 times more) and their phones did not ring all hours of the day and night like mine did.
Support staff is paid much less because they are considered an expense instead of an asset. At least in IBM’s case that is a serious mistake because what we once called Customer Engineers and later called SSRs are the only IBM employees most customers see on a regular basis and the primary reason those customers keep buying IBM equipment. But we’re getting off track.
Let me explain WHY marketing is NOT Evil.
I know that I am not the only person who had a negative view of marketing. The thing is, if there were no marketing we would not know who offered what we need and want. If a business doesn’t market well and close sales they can’t stay in business. Marketing and sales are both essential to us as buyers and to make an honest living. What we need is a different perspective on marketing.
Marketing is how we find what we want and need.
Marketing is how we know who does what. Businesses must have a marketing plan so we will know what they do. They need to clearly understand the differences between marketing, advertising, promotion and PR. Brad Harmon’s excellent post Are You Confused about Marketing provides the perfect Definition of Marketing.
No matter what that plan is – even if it is only a sign in the window or handing out business cards – the purpose is always just that: to make sure those who need or want what they offer know about their products and services.
Marketing is essential to small business success and small businesses are essential to improving our standard of living.
If we want the most people possible to live a comfortable life with at least a roof over their heads, clothes to wear and enough to eat we have to change how we feel about marketing.
Why do we buy from Corporations whose commercials depict us as insects, animals or stupid? Why do many pay for clothing and products that make them walking billboards for brands?
Why is that kind of marketing acceptable while we refuse to allow small businesses to reach out to us? We create forums but refuse to allow them to add a link to their business or a description in a signature line.
We install dofollow CommentLuv and KeywordLuv and then delete quality comments seeking anchor text or even report any business leaving comments as a spammer.
What we need is a change in perspective.
Small traditional and online businesses are best for our economy because almost every penny we spend with them is almost immediately spent with other businesses.
When you buy your groceries from your local independent grocer or through a Food Coop or Consumer Supported Agriculture you support all the suppliers and businesses they use.
Money we spend with small businesses improves our economy and increases the standard of living for all.
What you spend in stores owned by multi-national publicly traded corporations goes to support boards earning seven figure executive compensation and continue to pay huge bonuses while their employees barely make a living wage – or for many of the worst Corporations do NOT make a living wage.
“The chasm between America’s haves and have-nots has reached Grand Canyon-esque proportions. Thirty years ago top executives at S&P 500 companies made an average of 30 times what their workers did — now they make 300 times what their workers make.“
Is it any wonder that the new television show Undercover Boss is so popular? This income disparity has a serious negative impact on our economy, on each of us and on everyone else in the world.
“Income inequality now is at an all-time high: The top 1 percent of Americans earn a quarter of all income, and the top 10 percent earn 50 percent.” More on tying CEO to employee pay.
If 50 percent of all income is in the hands of 10% of all Americans how much of that money do you believe is kept circulating where it can support other businesses and improve the economy?
How much of YOUR income do you spend? For a huge percentage of Americans the answer would be ALL of it and then some!
If we put more of our money directly into the hands of people who spend it our economy WILL improve and so will our standard of living!
Small business is key to improving our economy and is the bright spot in creating jobs – and not just any job – better jobs that pay well and have a future! Gallop estimates 30 million Americans – over 20% of Americans – are already underemployed.
Many are working two jobs and still making only a third of their former pay not to mention loss of benefits and the impact on their lives of working all the time and still not making ends meet.
I will borrow a quote from Andy Sernovitz‘ new book Secret and Mysterious Order of Word of Mouth, a book I highly recommend:
“Word of mouth marketing only works if you have good products and services. It only works if people like you and trust you. (If you’re a jerk,word of mouth with backfire horribly on you.)
If your product or service sucks, no PR campaign, clever TV ad, or announcement on your website will make consumers believe that it doesn’t. Not any more. And the speed of word of mouth on the Internet spreads the truth almost instantly.
You won’t hear a lot of good word of mouth about cable companies.
When word of mouth works, good companies are rewarded with gobs of free advertising and attention, and they make more money.
When word of mouth works better, bad products and bad companies are punished with negative buzz, and they lose customers.
Think about what this means for you and your family. We have a new social force that rewards companies with free marketing, sales and profits when they treat people well and produce good products. The same force stops companies from treating people badly by killing their sales.
For the first time in the history of modern business, we have a force for good that is also driven by the all-powerful profit motive. For years, government regulators and consumer advocates have tried to use legal and public pressure to make companies treat people well. I’ll bet that the profit motive works better.
This is why word of mouth marketing is so exciting. Everyone can do it. It makes money. It makes products and services more exciting. It makes business more honest and ethical.
It is better for all of us.
If you have a business or blog you need a copy of this book so you will avoid making mistakes that stay online forever. Also visit his site for viral marketing ideas on how to make your online activities memorable to tap into the power of viral marketing. (Follow Andy Sernovitz on Twitter)
We can each bring more power faster to word of mouth marketing. Marketing is NOT evil when it is honest and ethical. It is only evil when it is deceptive and only benefits the already wealthy.
Bloggers are especially important to making sure that small businesses thrive and we need to take action NOW while we still have small and online businesses to support!
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Most ecommerce and online businesses receive 60-90% of all their traffic and sales from one search engine that has publicly announced their intention to focus on brands to “clean up” the Internet.
Any traffic not directly attributable to that search engine is likely to also have been found using that search engine.
We must preserve our ability to find the businesses, products and services we want to use and a great way to do that is to start supporting them with our spending and by recommending them.
It wouldn’t hurt to use a different search engine too. DuckDuckGo is my favorite search engine and I hope you’ll try it out because their results are cleaner and every site I can find in you know where has been in theirs (and yes, I do test that regularly).
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO:
Participate in our BizLuv MEME to Support Small Businesses to support your favorite businesses, causes and blogs. You can get involved in Blog Outreach or join our private blog collaboration which has developed a process for generating and sharing unique guest blog posts.
If you own or work for a business, you MUST learn how to market it. The survival of your business will depend on it. You do not have to have money to spend and anyone can get free advice on what works and what doesn’t right here.
We are continually working and testing new methods especially for businesses like the Florida Millwork company Good Millwork hard hit by the economy such as those in the home improvement, construction and real estate niche. If we can make it work for them it can work for any business.
SCARY SEARCH ENGINE FACTS:
UNDEREMPLOYMENT:
- Working Two Jobs and Still Underemployed
- Reuters: The Massive Cost of Underemployment
- Underemployment is a Growing Problem Even as the Job Market Turns
TROUBLE MAKING ENDS MEET:
How little does the dollar buy and how high are expenses already? I will add links here to real people who are challenged to make ends meet.
- What if you can’t make ends meet on $25/hour, make too much to get assistance, and then lose your job? Angie Marion titled that post Her Fall From Grace but this is NOT her fault and not a fall. It is where the sliding dollar is going to land everyone who doesn’t have a new plan and soon. Read this post and the information in Support Small Businesses. If you have computer skills contact me and I will share how you can earn a good living online by providing services to small businesses including getting them Local Search Directory listings, Blogging for their businesses and using Article and Social Media Marketing to drive more traffic to their sites. I will teach those who are interested and send them referrals.
INTERESTING GRAPHS and VIDEOs on the WAR ECONOMY:
- Why the Internet Scares Politicians
- Truths about The History of the United States, the rise of Multi-National Corporations, “American” Corporate support of Hitler, suppression of competition, and who controls the economies of the world and how: The Elkhorn Manifesto
- IBM and the Holocaust
- Spending Freeze When Hell Freezes Over (See the graph Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes at the very bottom.)
- The Cost of War
- War is a Racket by Smedley Butler who was was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history.This is the very best speech on the truth of war I have ever heard. I read a portion of it years ago and have been looking for it ever since. I sincerely hope everyone will take the time to watch it. It could change your life and the lives of everyone else on this planet.In recognition of its excellence I share here the StumbleUpon review of War is a Racket posted by mystiker:”This a re-enactment of the famous speech by two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Smedley Butler. Although the speech is dated around World War II the theme of the message is timeless.Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940), nicknamed “The Fighting Quaker” and “Old Gimlet Eye”, was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history.During his 34 years of Marine Corps service, Butler was awarded numerous medals for heroism including the Marine Corps Brevet Medal (the highest Marine medal at its time for officers), and subsequently the Medal of Honor twice. Notably, he is one of only 19 people to be twice awarded the Medal of Honor, and one of only three to be awarded a Marine Corps Brevet Medal and a Medal of Honor, and the only person to be awarded a Marine Corps Brevet Medal and a Medal of Honor for two different actions.”
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what a LOAD OF BS…. dont need marketing to tell me what insurance or pharmaceuticals are for. If you dont know, or cant figure out where to buy what you need in 2011, your a complete idiot. We also dont need commercials telling us what exxon/moblie or BP does, before we watch a youtube video of kittens. Marketing is thee worst. I literally have never baught anything because of clever marketing or a good advertisement, but i have definitely stopped from purchasing items becuase of annoying ads. Wake up. Pretty soon we’ll all look like Nascar drivers.
Twitter: GrowMap
July 8, 2011 at 8:08 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
You are thinking ONLY of big brands and corporations and what I am writing about here is how to find and buy directly from local small businesses, manufacturers and growers.
IMHO, no one needs insurance or prescription poisons or to support the evil of multi-national corporations. What they DO need is to be able to find farmers and ranchers who grow healthy food locally and people that still remember how to build furniture or repair homes and local suppliers of what we need to repair instead of continually replacing what we need.
You think it is easy to find the best small businesses. Look at the image in the post I’ll put in the CommentLuv link at the end of this reply. The masses use Google and Google decides what they see and what businesses thrive – or die. What people really need to wake up to is the Truth – and I don’t mean the illusions the media feeds them.
Did you even read this post or are you just trolling? The very first paragraph IN BOLD says:
Perhaps you don’t know what a small business even is? I am definitely NOT talking about BP or other oil companies or insurance companies.
growmap would love you to read ..Google Results Image: Paid Versus Organic Listings
Marketing is not an evil because without marketing or advertising I doubt there will be development. People cannot think of going back to the traditional method of marketing when we have modern means like the internet. Without marketing we would get aloof because we won’t know what’s new in town and what’s the latest trend.
Twitter: stutterwear
June 23, 2011 at 1:03 am
Twitter: @stutterwear
anybody who says its Evil is in denial…mktg is what keep business up and alive.
Twitter: allaboutmexican
June 22, 2011 at 7:02 am
Twitter: @allaboutmexican
anyone who think its EVIL is way to naive and in denial…marketing is everywhere and anywhere.We do it all the time
Mexican Drinks would love you to read ..A Simple Quesadilla Recipe
Twitter: n/a
June 22, 2011 at 6:53 am
Twitter: @n/a
to me this says it all “Marketing is how we find what we want and need”.this sums up what mktg is
Twitter: TechChunks
June 15, 2011 at 4:20 am
Twitter: @TechChunks
I must admit that I totally suck at sales and in fact very recently came to know the difference of sales and marketing. Thanks for such a detailed article on why Sales need not sound *bad* or *evil* and yet can boost your business.
Its great to find another business enthusatic mind like mine. I’m bookmarking your blog to come back and read more awesome articles in future. Keep writing
Stan would love you to read ..TechInline Re-Defines Web Based Remote PC Access Technology
Twitter: GrowMap
August 10, 2011 at 11:46 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Stan,
That is why I know the difference! Because I too, “suck at sales” but love marketing. Do comment here when you have time so I can remember to support your efforts.
growmap would love you to read ..Social Media Sharing – How to Make It Fast and Easy
Twitter: GuruofHowTo
June 5, 2011 at 8:13 am
Twitter: @GuruofHowTo
I agree that marketing is not evil. But some people not offering any informative ins rather than sales. I don’t like such ethic. If you want sell something, makesure you give the best service to your audiences first so that your audiences will trust in you.
Danial would love you to read ..How To Treating Mesothelioma Cancer
I never liked to sell, maybe because I had to do so many fundraisers for private school growing up as a kid, all that door to door sales business just wasn’t fun for a shy kid. Yet what line of work do I find myself in… internet marketing, well in some fashion anyway – the problem is I don’t really think of myself as an internet marketer – and maybe that’s why I don’t earn enough in one day to retire in 2 years like the top dogs do
The term internet marketer tends to have bad connotations for so many people because so many people trying to make money on the internet do it in such an unsavory way. No one likes to be sold to in such an aggressive way, successful marketing is really an art and there are a lot of paint by numbers marketers out there who probably should find another line of work.
Chris would love you to read ..Invicta Men’s Watches
Twitter: GrowMap
May 11, 2011 at 10:40 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Chris,
The first thing you need to know is that many of those “top dogs” are big time liars. More than one has been exposed for photo-shopping their supposed income.
Retirement is a silly illusion sold to the gullible to keep their noses to the grindstone. Even if you could earn a million dollars this year there is no telling how little that might buy in another year or two. Certainly not enough to live off of for the rest of your life.
Most people – not just kids – would not find any selling fun – much less door-to-door selling. (That only works for kids because people either want to support their efforts or feel guilty if they don’t buy or have to keep up appearances – which of those depends on the type of people asked.)
Most of us are NOT good at sales and although many assume I am they would be wrong. I am very good at marketing (sharing why I love something) but not good at all at selling (closing – pressuring people into buying what they may not want, need or be able to pay for).
Yes, selling is an art and the best artists are able to make the buyer feel happy they bought. The worst are the high pressure sales people that can be so effective that most places you can back out of major purchases if you do it within usually three days.
growmap would love you to read ..Small Business Internet Marketing
True, there are a lot of shysters out there that fake what they make -and a lot of marketers making their money solely on people trying to learn how to make money online without having actually done it themselves.
While retirement may be an illusion for most the beauty of online income is that it keeps going, thus once you’ve made enough to pay off all those big debts (house, cars etc..) it takes relatively little to live comfortably. I wouldn’t mind that 1 million in a year, but until then I’m certainly happy trying to achieve it while having more time to spend with the family.
Chris would love you to read ..Invicta Men’s Watches
I believe that marketing per se, is not evil. It’s the people who makes marketing a disadvantage or they are making marketing their way to cheat other people by promising the impossible. I hope these people will change their strategy and be aware to make profit in a non coercive way.
Twitter: GrowMap
May 11, 2011 at 10:31 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
I agree. There is far too much dishonesty in marketing and that is getting worse every day. That is why we must all learn who to trust and avoid believing those who continually lie to us.
growmap would love you to read ..Why Support Collaborating Local Communities
Twitter: moneyonlinesorg
March 20, 2011 at 7:16 am
Twitter: @moneyonlinesorg
Gail, it’s not that marketing is evil, it’s the problem that way to many marketers use UNETHICAL practices, and that’s what makes it so. There are just way to many out there willing to lie, cheat, steal, and make outlandish claims to entice people to buy. As this continues to proliferate, it makes all the rest of the ethical marketers look bad. Over time, good ones cave in because of what the others take away as well, and fighting fire with fire only perpetuates the situation.
Take for instance all the get rich quick schemes. Those are prime example where it’s easy to make money online, you’ll be rich over night, and you can do it in your sleep with little money or time invested. It’s further exacerbated because of the prevailing society mind frame and expectations of something for nothing. The methodology has permeated other markets as well where they use the same outlandish claims and suggestions that simply are not true.
Until such a day when marketers and society change views, the problem will continue to cycle and self perpetuate. Marketers need to learn to be ethical, and people need to learn to think and use the minds they were born with.
Jim Sanders would love you to read ..trogar1971 wrote a new blog post- Ezine Articles Smoke and Mirrors
Twitter: GrowMap
March 20, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Jim,
I agree that some marketers are highly unethical, but it is also true that many consumers who tolerate what big brands do scream if a small business advertises, markets, or contacts them.
The con artists are telling people what they want to hear and they’re lapping it up. Then Newbies listen to what the get-rich quick types like Chow and Shoe teach and start writing about things they know nothing about yet. IMHO, THAT is why it takes so long to figure out what works – because so many Newbies are out hawking nonsense to other Newbies.
There IS room for highly ethical marketers to teach what IS and IS NOT ethical to new bloggers and marketers who do not really understand what they are doing yet. Many are not intentionally unethical – they are only doing what some famous con artist is teaching.
growmap would love you to read ..Small Business Internet Marketing
Twitter: moneyonlinesorg
March 21, 2011 at 5:41 am
Twitter: @moneyonlinesorg
Exactly Gail, my next blog post will be about Alen Sultanic along with Matt Bacack, and a bunch of others in one of their recent Mass Moneymakers send the internet a message thing through ClickBank sales. I’m lining up the research on how they took a get rich program, knowing that Google was about to make radical changes that would render some of that program useless, yet they still pushed through selling thousands, if not more, worth of memberships to that program alone. I’m also including some screen shots of emails from Sulatic himself, how he mentions that something will only be available until such a date, yet ironically, I wind up with messages AFTER that end date for the same thing.
I’m also including links to some things outlining some of the big names that went along with it as well, including names like Shawn Casey and others. If this piece doesn’t get people thinking, I don’t know what will. It’s not done yet, I just finished the research, and yes, I DO buy these once and a while to see what the norms are. This is one of the recent ones I did to see if anything had changed.
Jim Sanders would love you to read ..trogar1971 wrote a new blog post- Ezine Articles Smoke and Mirrors
If one intention is scamming then i think that is what people call Evils in Marketing…i agree with U.Ethical Marketing is possible if given the right tools
I see marketing as a necessary aspect of business and no more evil or ethical as the organization behind the message. In a way small businesses have an advantage over larger corporations in that they are able to quickly adapt their marketing message based on current marketing trends.
Twitter: bradhensler
February 23, 2011 at 1:51 am
Twitter: @bradhensler
Thank you for illustrating the point, that small business owners need to become more net-savvy and engaged in a marketing campaign using strategies, technology and vocabulary that did not exist 20 years ago, in some cases even 5 years ago.
The new Economic Normal will be heavily slanted toward those businesses and individuals who use the social media effectively to facilitate such marketing campaigns. It can be a daunting task yet an opportunity at the same time.
I agree that marketing is not evil. It is really not actually evil. It maybe costly but very effective to all who have their own business. In this way, people will be aware of their products and services. And their business will be known more by internet users.
Kirsty would love you to read ..Leaving Reviews for Your Own Products
Good marketing is only possible if you have quality products and complete communication with the customers and introduce every novice product in the market at cheaper price
Twitter: Brad_Harmon
February 4, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Twitter: @Brad_Harmon
Thank you for adding a link to my post here, Gail. In my post, I only dealt with marketing as it relates to the sales process. As important as that is, I think the most important part of marketing is in the research and how it redirects the efforts of a company to produce what’s really needed by it’s target customers.
Marketing is definitely not evil, but it does seem to be very misunderstood. You have a LOT of great suggestions here. We should be supporting other small businesses by promoting each other. It’s one of the things I love about bloggers – they support others in their own niche. That’s the way small business owners should look at others – even their competitors.
Thanks again for the mention and the link, and also for the great information in this post.
Brad Harmon would love you to read ..Are You Confused About Marketing
Whatever you’re trying to sell, I think it’s important to get the quality of your product or service right first. Seems an obvious thing to say, but I’m sure some leap into marketing without fully testing what they’re selling and / or whether it truly satisfies a need. If the quality’s right, then word of mouth marketing will surely be effective.
Word of mouth can make or break a company. It is important to market, yes, and that has a bad connotation. It will not change for a while, so maybe we need to call it something else. lol
Your comments on IBM really took me back, I too was an SSR for a while and saw the exact same pay structure! Selling is still the most important part of any business and I don’t know why it is such a dirty word. It’s hard to make any revenue if you aren’t selling anything.
Your justification is quite appropriate and perfect. I agree with all your comments. Thanks for sharing such useful topic.
Twitter: jamesmspacey
November 5, 2010 at 9:26 am
Twitter: @jamesmspacey
A couple of years back I was working as a team leader for a bank call center. It was a sales job with a bit of customer service thrown in, essentially. However I found it interesting that 70% of my staff, particularly when they first started, didn’t appreciate why the job was sales first and customer service second. Many didn’t even realize they would be selling when they joined the team.
Every business has to sell to survive. It doesn’t matter what you do you’re selling something to someone.
I think it’s odd that people don’t realize this and think that marketing and sales are evil things and should be put down the priority list. It’s just the nature of the beast.
james would love you to read ..Business Contents Insurance
Twitter: GrowMap
November 20, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi James,
It must be a deficiency of our educational system that so few have any clue about how our economy works. I believe many hate marketing because they are tired of being pressured into buying and dishonesty in advertising. Marketers can choose to be honest and helpful instead.
growmap would love you to read ..Local Search Directory Listings
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