Don’t trust any marketing firm or person that’s not great at marketing themselves.

I hear it all the friggin’ time: “Yeah, I know my (FILL IN WORD) sucks, but I guess it’s like the cobbler’s children with no shoes. Heh, heh.”

If a marketing “expert” has a lame web site, or a lame business card, or doesn’t carry a business card, or has @aol, @gmail, or @optonline as their email domain, or has no blog, or doesn’t really know what a blog is, or what “Web 2.0″ means, and isn’t on Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, and has no G-Cred, then he or she should not be calling themselves a marketing expert and have no right to be advising you on your business.

It’s the tagline that defined the Obama campaign –  the most successful in American political history.

So, what about your business, product or organization? Does it have a strong, clear, and positive identity? Are your prospects really clear about what your product or service is and how it benefits them? Are you exciting your prospects with your message? If you’re not sure, chances are you’d benefit from a great tagline.

Here are some other effective tagline examples: http://www.follisinc.com/tagline.htm

You Must Build Credibility.

The Follis Report “Top 10 Cred Killers”

10) Non-working web links.
9)  Poor business telecommunications.
8)  Bad Design (especially logo)
7)  Poor production on any business or marketing materials
6)  Weak writing.
5)  Bad G-Cred.
4)  Crappy business card.
3)  No business card.
2) “Website under construction.”
1)  No website.

Have any to add?  Leave your comment.

In an attempt to create some viral online buzz for the launch of its 2009 1-Series coupe, BMW did something different. They also did something fake.

Via BMW films, they created a fake documentary, with a fake director, around a fake German town filled with fake German people (who even had fake teeth) who were blathering on about a fake celebration (“Rampenfest”) for a giant fake ramp that was supposed to launch (literally) the car to the US. After about 20-minutes of the 35 min video I’d seen enough. And, in that 20 minutes, I don’t recall a word about the car.

If this attempt at viral marketing was targeting ad bloggers like me and ad award show judges, then they hit their mark. (Apparently, it was the darling of the award shows) But I’m not sure how many serious car buyers, over 30, it impressed. I’d be happy to be proven wrong so, if anyone knows, please tell me. Because with a storied heritage of German mechanical perfection, it escapes me as to why BMW would opt for silly gimmickry and fakery to try to sell their newest model.

So, what are your thoughts on this? Leave your comment on the “comment” link below.

It’s ALWAYS better to Attract than Chase.

This tip may be the most important one of all. So, I have to say it again:
It’s ALWAYS better to Attract than Chase.

This is not rocket science. If you can …

1) determine the core emotional desire or need of your customer
2) address that desire or need with a really good solution
3) present that solution in a way that’s not agressive (ie: attracts their attention and motivates them…)

…then they’ll be lining up at your door. It’s the difference between smart, respectful marketing, and selling.
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Just do it…We try harder…The ultimate driving machine…Be all that you can be. They’re called taglines and they’re one of the best ways of defining any product, service, company or organization and distinguishing it from its competition. A smart, memorable tagline will build a positive brand image, and reinforce that image for years. Like these others:

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The Importance of Objectivity and Focusing on what you do best.

John discusses the media trends that are changing the marketing landscape and how you can take advantage of them.

See MORE VIDEO CLIPS

Repetition works. Studies show that people need to see the same message several times before they  even recall it, never mind act on it.

Repetition works. Studies show that people need to see the same message several times before they even recall it, never mind act on it.

Humor works too.