Bulldog Marketing

Sometimes you get lucky...

And you get handed a bone. My friend Gerald from Relevant Methods sent me this email today after reading some things on this blog. Gerald is an extremely talented project manager, who has always been more about doing than talking, So enough from me, here is what he has to say.

Go ugly early is probably the most valuable advice I have ever heard. It's
probably the most useful piece of information an entrepreneur or even an
executive of a corporation could capitalize on. You wouldn't believe how
many ideas with potential sit in labs or garages or hard drives of PCs
because of the desire to get it right the first time. There is no such thing
as the perfect PowerPoint presentation or web site or sales pitch or
whatever (venting now so bear with me for a moment). But there is such a
thing as stimulus and response from a sales / marketing perspective. And if
you can get folks stimulated you're on to something. Granted, you have to
bring something forward that is intriguing and thought provoking. But that's
it -- provoke thought!!! Get the person on the other side of the table
(phone?) involved in the process. Seriously -- Trump, Tony Robbins, Steve
Jobs, Marc Benioff (salesforce.com) all went ugly early. And will always do
so. Trump and Robbins basically put The Learning Annex back into Atlanta's
consciousness with probably the tackiest and back of a napkin-designed ad
campaign. AND they shut down downtown Atlanta for kicks. On the other hand,
Microsoft delayed Vista (and Longhorn) and is seeing their competitive
advantage (had to sneak a buzz word in) slip as a result. Not only that,
anticipation got up and headed elsewhere.

That's enough ranting for now. Got to go and get ugly.

Woof!

Take a stand

I have been thinking alot about this lately.

Are you in business for the money or because you love what you do? I went to an internet marketing seminar recently, and it got my hackles up big time. It seems that I could implement a 'system' and turn my computer into an ATM! Wow! How cool is that?

The funny thing is, the thought of that makes me sick.

I am not interested in making money by grabbing a few dollars from a few billion people for no purpose other than waking up and checking my account to see how rich I am. To me, I would be living a life of poverty because I would have no net worth or value of myself. The karma and laws of compensation prove this out. If you don't believe me, then look at lives of people who win the lottery.

I am interested in believing in something, and taking the next step toward making that happen by trying to provide content and information that people can take away and use, not teaching them something that creates a problem that can only be solved by the next seminar. If that is the only way that I can teach my information, then I need to go back and rethink my strategy, or at least tell prospective customers where they are in my product lifecycle. If I can work hard, think differently and have something that people want, I will be compensated farily.

I am giving huge kudos to the Blog Squad for getting this right. If you check out anything that Denise and Patsi do, it is useful, straight forward and actionable.Check out this post and you will understand what I mean. I was afraid to click on the link to get the information, because most people would have tried to get something out of me first. Not them. They haven't made a dime off of me YET, but I know when I need something, they will come to my mind first. Thanks for being a good example for me to follow.

Why do bulldogs have short noses?

In case you have not seen one lately, I am posting a picture of a bulldogs nose. As you may notice, there isn't much of a nose at all on this dog. Working with client's this week, I think that I now understand the importance of having a short nose. Confused? Good. Let me explain...

Here is a typical client scenario. The conversation usually starts like this:

Me: So, we are meeting today to talk about your marketing strategy. Tell me about what you do, where you see yourself in the market, and ultimately where do you want to be in say, six to twelve months?

Them: Well, I'm in transition. I have a job that pays the bills, but frankly, I am bored and burnt out. I want to do coaching, speaking and write a book for Corporate Leaders like me, because I know I can help clients who are typically in Leadership positions since I am one of them. I know what they go through, and I have some unique solutions. I am really excited about coaching people so maybe I could just focus there, but how do I separate myself from all of the other coaches out there? Maybe I shouldn't even be doing this. After all, I have a wife, 3 kids and I have bills to pay. I would need to see a lot of people to get my income where it needs to be, but the more I stay at my job, the more frustrated I feel. I must be crazy for even thinking about doing this, it will never work.

Me: Well, lets not get to far ahead of ourselves yet, and back this up a bit. When you were talking about doing the coaching stuff, you were pretty excited about it. But when you thought about the marketplace, the wind kind of went out of your sails, and then you got sucked right into the cycle of doom. Is that accurate?

Them: Yes. That is what happens. I get excited, but when I think about everything else, I get very unmotivated.

Me: That is because your nose is too long. You are way to far ahead of yourself to stay connected to what is important, and the motivating energy that gets created from there. If you are ever feeling ovewhelmed or unenergized about something, you need to shorten your leash, and get focused on the next smallest step you can take to go in the right direction.
Bulldogs stay focused on what is right in front of them because that's the way they are engineered. Their necks are short, keeping their head and their heart close together, and their best sense of all, their sense of smell is just a little bit further out than that. This way, they survey the territory right ahead of them, staying aligned and on course. The best way to cover great distances is to take small strides, and be aware of your direction. This way, you will arrive at your destination full of energy and enthusiam, and ready for the next smallest step.

When do you give up?

I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but it happens to me. You get an idea, and you get inspired. The idea usually involves a bit of creativity, some input from others (like your client) and some sort of technology to pull it all together. You start running down the path, and you hit the first speedbump. No big deal, you just plow over it with all of your enthusiam, and you barely notice it. You run for while, and bam- the next speedbump. No big deal, you just go around it. The pattern goes on longer than you want it to, and then all of a sudden it happens...you get a flat tire. The obstacles are looking larger than the project, the enthusiam has turned to frustration, and you are mad at yourself, your computer and your client. You are ready to throw in the keyboard and forget about the whole stupid idea. As you try to pull your head out of you know where, you ask yourself a simple question...

If I was a bulldog, would I give up?

G is for Go Ugly Early

Going Ugly Early means get your content out there, and let the market fine tune it. How many times do we critique our own articles, books, audio recordings and marketing material over and over- and never let anyone else look at it. In order to get anywhere, you have to be open to negative comments about your work. Yes it's uncomfortable, Yes it makes us feel bad, but if you think that something needs to be perfect before you can send it out, I have news for you...IT WILL NEVER BE PERFECT! Why? Because things are always changing. There is always new information coming in, and if you keep tweaking your rough draft, you will never launch anything. Do what software developers do, take something as far as your timeline allows, freeze the design and get your product to market. From there, you can create versions and releases as you incorporate new information into your core products.

The mindset of a bulldog is that they don't have to be perfect before going out, they just go. Some people are going to love them, some people are going to laugh at them, but who cares? Knowing who your fans are helps you understand what you have to offer to the world. If you never find out what people think, you will never know how great you can really be.

O is for Outcome Oriented

Bulldogs are very outcome oriented. Once they know what they want, they are on a mission. Brutus was very good at demonstrating this quality. Brutus loved tennis balls. Not the nice clean ones I would buy at the store, he liked the dirty ones that other dogs in the neighborhood would leave behind. We would go for walks, and he could spot these balls a mile away. He would inch toward the balls and then pounce on them, put them in his mouth and immediately head for home, where he would love to take the old tennis balls and roll them all over the clean carpet. I soon grew tired of this, and if I could see a ball in the grass, I would try and get Brutus to walk on another part of the street.

D is for ???

This was suppose to be a no-brainer. After all, of all of the letters that make up the word bulldog, I think bulldogs most resemble a D. I had it all figured out, and was going with the whole Dogged Determination thing. But as I started to write, I realized, that is very pre -dict- a- bull, and I could Do Better. I thought about Dependable. Hey, aren't all dogs Dependable? I could score a few extra points with Dependable because I could do the pun with bull thing, but I thought of adult diapers, so that was out. Then I considered this: Do only the things you love to Do. For me, this is not realistic. If I did that, I would never do laundry. I would spend all my time buying new, clean clothes, and I have a living to make. That was out. So then, I thought of Durable, and doing the Dur- a - bull thing, but thought that maybe people wouldn't think that being durable is cool. That was out. So I ended the post with this...

So may choices, so little time, What would a Bulldog do?

L is for Leverage

Leverage. Have you seen a bulldog lately? They are all about leverage. While most dogs carry thier body weight ON their front legs, the English Bulldog is the only breed whose body cavity is 'slung' between their front legs, allowing their weight to be carried between their legs, not on them. Add to that the fact that their center of gravity is forward, with their gigantic head, and you will soon understand why they are not distance runners, but are great for holding large objects close to the ground. They have taken their 80 pounds of body weight and put it where it needs to be to get things done.
How can you create leverage in your business? By doing the things that will have the biggest impact, and let them work for you. If you are doing a workshop, record it. Now you have a product. You have a prospective client? You can send them part of your recording so they can get a 'free sample' of your service. You have just taken a workshop and created 3 uses for it, two of those have legs. Send your product out into the marketplace, and let it do the work. By leveraging your time and creating recursive products and services, it will take less time and effort to catapult to the next level.

L is for Learning

You know the saying, " You can't teach an old dog new tricks". If this is true, then how does it work? Does the dog stop learning becuase he gets old, or does he get old because he stops learning? As a dog owner, I never remember being warned that trying to teach a dog something after the age of five is a complete waste of time. I think dogs are willing to keep learning as long as we are willing to keep teaching, and we hold a beilief that they are capable. It is only when we decide they can't learn that they can't.

U is for Unwavering Focus

Bulldogs know how to focus. If they want something, they zero in on the target, concentrate on the task, and don't give up. Although this is not extraordinary behavior for dogs and people for that matter, the way bulldogs do this is what makes them endearing.