Working From The Basement

Bet the title of this article got your attention didn’t it, well that’s the point. Sticking out in the crowd with all the information available to us today is hard. The real title of this post should be how to write a ransom note, but the serial killer title just sounded too good to pass up.  While you can’t really plan on what is going viral, you can stick out from the crowd by just being different. A good example of this is the wedding entrance dance video that even made it to an episode of the Office. I’m sure they didn’t plan on it being such a phenomenon, but it was unique and got passed around on the Internet.

 Just look at your mail box to figure out what does and doesn’t work. How many of those slick and square mailers with lots of colors do you use as Frisbee’s and throw toward the circular file. On the other hand look at those fake governmental mailers that trick you into opening them, with special seals and wording.  I am not recommending these practices but it is obvious that just a slick flyer with pretty colors doesn’t grab your attention anymore.

In my last business I signed up for Robin Robin’s Technology Marketing Toolkit and while I am not endorsing this product I must say at the time she had some good ideas.  One that caught my attention was sending out a plain typed paper, like it was done on a manual typewriter, believe it or not this stands out especially when it is about technology. A friend of mine makes sure that he buys the most colorful and varied stamps to put on an envelope with different denominations.  He also slaps them across the envelope so they stick out; this ensures that his envelope will at least be looked at. If you are still engaging in traditional marketing and it is no longer working for you try something different next time.

On the Internet you have to learn how to get noticed and draw attention to yourself.  After all this is what Web 2.0 is all about getting people interested in you or your services and seeking you out. Social Media sites such as Linkedin, FaceBook and Twitter let people learn about you and your brand at a more personal level. So don’t be afraid to take a few chances and be funny, or supply information that relates to your personal interests.  You have to be very careful about not spamming them, so creat a Facebook Page and Linkedin group and invite people to join. If you have a flair for writing then start a blog, especially if you produce a newsletter now.  Wordpress.com is a great place to start, or you could just contribute an article to WFTB or another collaborative blog. If you are handy with a camera consider doing videos and posting them on YouTube, try and keep them under 2 minutes though, but we’ll discuss more about that in a later article.

My main point here is that if you are broadcasting a message that is the same as everyone else you are not going to be able to use Web 2.0 techniques to your advantage. If you’re doing traditional marketing it has to stick out from the crowd or it  gets thrown away.  So start thinking viral and send out your first Ransom note to your prospective clients.

Sidenote: I created the Ransom Note on my Iphone here, just for some fun.  In case you can’t read it, it says “Buy my Product or Else!”.

WFTB – Michael Lawson