With Much Trepidation, I Enter the World of Marketing

In case you are not already aware, while I have spent my entire professional career in sales, I know next to nothing about marketing. In fact, I have avoided it like the plague. There is literally nothing about it that I find to be even remotely appealing. A rock may have a better grasp of marketing principles than I do.

However, as they say … “The only difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful one is that the successful person will do things that the unsuccessful person won’t … even though he doesn’t much like doing them either.” Successful people are motivated by results, not actions.

Why marketing and why now? Because I will have to perform this function if I am to have any chance of success with my new business offering. This isn’t a want to. It’s a must do. I’ll discuss what that venture is in a future article.

I’ll be writing about this journey and that’s a familiar exercise for me. Back in 2009 when I was trying to figure out what the hell social media was, this gal told me to start a blog. I said o.k. and then asked her what a blog was. Next I asked what I should write about.

She told me … “Journal about an old sales guy learning new social tools.” When I asked why I would want to do that, she told me to just do it. Good enough. This will be a multi-post series. I’ve broken my plan into 6 phases …

Take inventory – I already know what I have to work with and I have a pretty good idea of most of the things that I will need to figure out.

Identify channels – Social media, email, video, influencers, affiliates. Those kinds of channels. This will need to be inbound as well as outbound.

Get smart – O.k., get smarter. Gather resources and study up.

Develop messaging – What do I need to say and how will I say it? Print? Video? [insert media here]? Where will I say it?

Activate the campaigns – This could be tricky and particularly with multiple channels.

Monitor the results – Hopefully there will be some to monitor. I’m not much of a data guy. I’ll probably just look at my checkbook.

So, armed with little more than Google and my collection of Dilbert books, here go I!

(I have selected several books to assist me including some real ones)

#1 and #2 will be my biggest challenges and it also spotlights how ill-positioned I am to do this. It revolves around reach. I have never built an email list and I don’t intend to buy one. I’ll have to grow one on my own. This will include modifications to my websites to incorporate CTAs and to capture opt-in email addresses.

Back when I had something close to 10,000 followers on Twitter, I quit the platform. Woopsies. Actually, I suspended activity for a year and then I deleted my account. I’m back on … sorta’. I never liked Facebook (no change). I’m pretty good with LinkedIn. YouTube? I actually had some success with this platform but I will need to update and refocus it.

On the brighter side, I have absorbed enough marketing concepts through osmosis to recognize that there are other options available to increase my reach … influencers, affiliates, targeted advertising, webinars, content, guest writing, and other avenues.

Building these numbers will take some time. While I suffer from a low patience threshold, I’m also up for the challenge. At the same time, I am realistic regarding my expectations. I have none. #avoiddisappointment.

Speaking of time, it’s not like I have any to burn. I’m 67 for cripes sake! I’m semi-retired and financially secure so I don’t need this but I like to work (and to learn). I am attempting to provide myself with some level of passive income. If It’s evergreen, even better! Please take pity on me and buy my stuff.

If I can get by the first two phases, at least get my arms around those, the other four should not be that difficult. I’m not saying that I will be able to do those well. I’m just saying that I think that I will be able do them in a fashion without totally embarrassing myself.

But, without getting a handle on the first two, the other four will be doomed to fail. Geez, so many moving parts and I will have to make sure that I don’t get too deep and then stuck in the weeds. If my head explodes, game over.

Once again I’m reminded of why I have stuck with selling. I like “simple”. See food, eat it. Stay tuned for more!

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!