Tiara as Marketing Tool?

This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at Changing Course's "Work at What You Love" workshop, a collaboration with Barbara Winter, author of Making A Living Without A Job (now in its 18th printing) who said her latest motto is, "Jobs are so 20th century."

With her dreadfully dry wit, Barbara did a session on "Fearless Marketing" and I wanted to pass along a few of her ideas. She recommends using:

• An attention-getting device. This could be a tiara (there was actually a woman in the group wearing one, I'm not sure why, but it generated some discussion on the topic of tiara-as-marketing-tool) or cat earrings if you have a cat-boarding service or even the name of your business (she gave an example of Loophole Louie, who was just like every other CPA, except for his name).

• A personal touch. Barbara talked about a cleaning lady who leaves cookies (you can also substitute chocolate) or simply highlighting the fact that when your clients call, they'll be able to reach a real human being, not an automated phone system.

• She also talked about creating a natural monopoly. Here's how she describes that:

"Focus on finding those prospects that you're a perfect fit for and you'll start building this natural monopoly. You want to be so appropriate for your customers that the competition virtually disappears. You'll also find that this helps take away the sting of rejection, when a prospect doesn't go with you. You'll end up saying to yourself, 'Gee, they just weren't the perfect fit for me.'"

I'll be back in Northampton, MA, in early May to speak on marketing at Valerie's next program. This one is her certification program to become an "Out of the Job Box" Career Consultant. Not only will I be a speaker, Valerie has contracted with me to be the personal Marketing Mentor to every attendee for 6 full months following the certification program -- hand-holding included. She's really trying to remove all the obstacles people have to building their own business and I'm honored to be involved. Find out more details here.

Comments

[Karen Commins]

Hi, Ilise. I wear a rhinestone microphone pin every day. I wear it because I like it, and it expresses something important about me.

I didn't expect that my pin would turn into a marketing device. However, it has proven to be quite an attention-getter and conversation starter! People invariably ask whether I am a singer and are always fascinated when I tell them that I am a voice-over artist.

I haven't landed a job as a result of my pin, but I think that day will soon come! :)

Karen Commins
www.AVOICEAboveTheCrowd.com
www.KarenBlogs.com

[Julia Reich]

The part about 'natural monopoly' resonated with me. I've always focused on working with nonprofits, but within the past few years a lot of of my clients have started to be in the food/agriculture/nutrition realm (examples: Hawthorne Valley Farm —package design for yogurt; Slow Food USA—national membership magazine; Bet the Farm—gourmet shop selling artisanal, regional wine & cheese. I think it's because this is a strong personal interest of mine so I am psyched to work with these kinds of clients, and the enthusiasm shows.

Recently I have a new venture, which is to write a monthly food column for my local newspaper called 'The Localvore', which features local food producers/farmers and their recipes. I'm writing about buffalo ranches and beekeepers and maple syrup tappers, and lots more.

A graphic designer friend of mine recently asked, 'Why don't you write a column on design?'

I guess that *would* be the right thing to do for marketing purposes, to position myself as 'the expert'.

I don't know if writing the column will have any trickle down effect for my business. But it sure is fun to do and it gets me out and meeting my neighbors in my region of central New York.

Julia Reich
Julia Reich Design
www.juliareichdesign.com

[Jennifer from K9 Design]

Julia,

I just read your comment and I too have recently started writing about a topic that so far, has nothing to do with my target audience, but I love it and it seems to come without much pain.

I believe in Synchronicity and that many times these things lead somewhere some day, but appear unrelated. I don't think my design prospects would be overly thrilled to read about how I diary my cold calling experiences about them. It's kind of my "little guilty pleasure"on the side.

I say if you love it, do it and you never know what doors it may open. I'd love to read it too - love to cook.