Startup Guide to Guerrilla Marketing. Jay Levinson Conrad

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СКАЧАТЬ are always sensitive to the code of ethics where they operate, and to the sensibilities of the populace, being ultra-careful never to offend people or communities, never to terrify them, never to deface property, and never to be intrusive beyond the bounds of good taste.

      Guerrilla marketers are sensitive to what their prospects are thinking right at the moment, to what they want, what they lack, and what they read about in the newspapers or hear on the radio. They are sensitive to the dreams of their market, striving to make these dreams come true.

      As part of mass communication, marketing is part of evolution and has an obligation to be sensitive to everyone, good or bad. Without it, non-guerrillas are fighting an uphill battle.

Trait 4: Ego Strength

      By ego strength, we don’t mean having the ego to stand up to those who don’t love you. It’s just the opposite, it means having the ego to stand up to those who love you the most—but give you the worst marketing advice.

      Ego strength means having the ego to stand up to those who love you the most—but give you the worst marketing advice.

      You craft a powerful marketing strategy, embark upon a boundfor-glory campaign, and see that all your plans are falling right into place, just as you wanted them to, and who are the first people to tire of your marketing and counsel you to change it? Usually, first it’s your co-workers and then your employees, followed closely by your family, and then your best friends. “Hey, you’ve been doing that marketing for a long time now. I, personally, am getting pretty bored with it. Don’t you think it’s time to change it?” Your job: Summon up the ego to give these people a nice, warm hug, then send them on their way, knowing they know beans about your marketing.

      Those people who have had their minds penetrated by your marketing three times, they’re not getting bored with it. They’re just learning of your existence. Those folks who have had their minds penetrated five times, the marketing momentum is just beginning with them. They last thing they want is for you to fade from view. Your current customers, they feel wonderful whenever they’re exposed to your marketing because it proves that they’ve hitched their wagons to a winner—the kind of company that has the confidence to continue to market.

      But your co-workers, family, and friends, having concentrated on your marketing from the onset, are tired of it, know it backwards and forwards, and wonder when you’re going to change it. Again, they not-so-gently hint to you that perhaps you ought to drop it and move on to something else, which is another way of suggesting that you move away from your investment, move away from profitability, and move away from the momentum you’ve established. It takes a strong ego to look these people in the eye, give their arms a comforting squeeze, then stay with what you started. A lesser person than you, with a weaker ego, might cave in to their pressure, take their wellintended put poorly reasoned advice, and throw a marketing investment to the winds where, alas, many marketing investments end up.

      If you ever thought that guerrilla marketing, especially at the beginning, is a cup of tea, this is the point where you learn that it’s not for amateurs, not for insecure babies, and more like a cup of nitroglycerine that can blow up in your face if you make a crucial mistake. Lacking the ego to stand up to misinformed well-wishers is that mistake. If you’re a guerrilla, you won’t make it. For if you do, you’re destined to repeat it each time you’re at the helm of a failing business.

Trait 5: Aggressiveness

      When you hear that there are 200 guerrilla marketing weapons and that more than half of them are free, if you’re a guerrilla, a smile crosses your face. Somehow, your bank account lights up, and you hear the musical sounds of money jingling. Ka-ching! That’s the sound of this fifth personality characteristic.

      This is not to say that guerrillas are money-minded, for they’re not. But it is to say that they know what it takes to obtain money. Not luck. Not a lottery. Not an inheritance, though we badmouth none of those. But aggressiveness. That’s the trait we laud to the skies.

      With every business utilizing just a handful of marketing weapons—three, five, ten, or even 15—the opportunity to choose from among 200 is a heady feeling. It takes an aggressive attitude to wrap your ambitions around such a lofty amount. But it’s that aggressiveness that’s going to separate you from the wannabe and wimpy guerrillas, if indeed, there is such a thing as a wimpy guerrilla.

      We’re not saying that you’ll need all 200 weapons or even half of them, but you ought to be aggressive enough to want to know of their existence so you can select the ones that seem most appropriate for you. Guerrillas have a large selection. You’ll find the entire list of 200 weapons waiting for you in Chapter 10.

      When you learn that the average American business invested 4 percent of gross revenues in marketing in 2006, you’re aggressive again. You think, “Only 4 percent? What if I invested 6 percent? Eight percent? Ten percent? You know that the average business goes out of business within five years. The last kind of company you want as a benchmark is an average business.

      The average American business invested 4 percent of gross revenues in marketing in 2006.

      You’re aggressive in your thinking and in your investing. Guerrillas save money not by failing to spend it but by not wasting it. Aggressiveness is your hallmark. You’re among the first to use some of the new weapons of marketing. You probably have a blog. You’ve already begun podcasting. You’ve been hard at work compiling your opt-in list. This kind of aggressiveness is the sign of a leader.

      Because you’re aggressive in your thinking and your investing, your competitors fear you, respect you, follow you, and acknowledge your leadership. The media come to you for quotes, resulting in your getting the lion’s share of free publicity. Very little goes to the lambs.

      At a party or any social function, you may hide behind the foliage, speak in a soft voice, be a practicing wallflower. But when it comes to marketing, you’re a lion. You’re the king or queen of the entrepreneurs. You’re a marketing titan—known for your visible and omnipresent marketing. As you may have heard, size doesn’t matter. It’s all about attitude. And yours is characterized by your aggressiveness.

Trait 6: Embracing Change

      You know it and we know it: The only thing certain is change. No matter what happens in the life if your business, change is the only certainty. How you deal with change makes an enormous difference in your success—or lack of it. You can ignore change, hoping it will go away. But we’re here to tell you that it won’t go away. You can disdain change, detest change, or fight change. Or, you can be a guerrilla and embrace change. Be careful in how you interpret this. Change for the sake of change is not a good thing. But change for the sake of improvement is a very good thing. Don’t let your negative attitude or fear of change prevent you from benefiting from the improvements.

      Face up to the fact that change will continue to happen all around you, especially in marketing. How you deal with that change is what makes you a guerrilla. Get to know change on an intimate basis. Love it or hate it, but don’t pay it no heed. Millions of people lost billions of dollars because they ignored the internet. Millions more lost millions more dollars because they accepted it too soon and misused or abused it.

      Millions of people lost billions of dollars because they ignored the internet.

      When we urge you to embrace change, we want you to do it at the right time and for the right reasons. That takes study. That means you must pay careful СКАЧАТЬ