This is a guest post by Catherine Caine.
You make shoes. Three kinds of shoes – running shoes, tennis shoes and climbing shoes.
The running shoes are boring and moderately profitable – people always want them and you don’t mind selling them.
The climbing shoes are honestly irritating – climbers are so very demanding and they have crazy-high standards. But the line makes a lot of money.
The tennis shoes are your favourites: you play a lot of tennis, and you’re fascinated by the scope and potential in tennis shoes. (Every other manufacturer seems to think that tennis shoes must be boring. You have different ideas.)
You’re thinking about the future of your business when I *foomp* into your office with a glittery wand, a Nine Inch Nails shirt, and a slightly askew tiara. “Hello there! My name is Catherine, and I’ll be your business fairy today.”
You look more than a little concerned at the appearance of an entire woman in your office, and the next five minutes is full of reassurances and the presenting of bona fides. Eventually you’re bold enough to ask, “So, uh, Fairy Catherine, why are you here today?”
“Well,” I say, “I’m here to convince you to abandon your running and climbing shoes and market only the tennis shoes.”
“Wait, what? I make most of my money from the climbing shoes, and the running shoes are a good steady income. Why the giddy hell should I drop them?”
“I thought you might say that. Tell me one thing: if you could make as much – or more – money from the tennis shoes as you make from all three combined now, would you have any qualms then?”
You ponder. “No, not really. I love the tennis shoes.”
I grin. “Great. Great. Okay, another question then: what are your ideas for the next six months in each category? Start with the tennis shoes.”
You spend fifteen minutes drawing inspired diagrams on an entire pad of Post-It notes for your revolutionary – I stand corrected, evolutionary - new designs for tennis shoes.
Then you solidly describe the three new ideas you have for running shoes.
And then you rack your brain for three ideas about the climbing shoes, referring often to your notes.
“Right, so that’s marketing reason number one to focus on your best work,” I say. “Those other two lines are doomed. You have no inspiration or vision in their future. You’re tough, so you can slog it out – but you’re up against competitors who will be frantically and enthusiastically coming up with innovations all. The. Time. Can you imagine what it’ll be like in six months, desperately trying to stay current? It’ll be like squeezing juice out of a dry orange.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t mean that I can afford to drop them. I’d need to make a LOT more from the tennis shoes.”
“How much more?” You and I do some serious number-crunching and come up with the figure of 250 pairs each month right now, moving up to 700 in seven months when an existing contract ends.
“That’s very doable,” I tell you with a smile. “Let’s play pretend for a second – I’m the buyer for a sporting chain you want to sell to, preferably to the tune of 250 pairs a month as of next week. Sell to me.”
“Hi there. I’m the owner of Sporting Shoes Inc. We make three kinds of…”
“Woahwoahwoah! Remember, you don’t sell three kinds of shoes any more. You are entirely about the tennis shoes.”
“Oh. Crap. Right. Hmm. Hi there, I’m from Sporting Shoes Inc and we make tennis shoes. Really good ones?” You shake your head and blow raspberries for awhile and we talk about whether you should rename your business – fortunately that’s something I have a lot of experience in – and playing with words that express your real opinions. Eventually you have this:
“Hi there. I’m [You] from Sporting Shoes and I make the best tennis shoes on the planet. My team and I do nothing but make totally mind-blowing tennis shoes every morning, and play in them on the courts in the afternoons. In the next six months we’re going to redefine what is possible in tennis shoes and we’d like to have you on board.”
You sit down with a grin on your face and I hand you a glass of water. “And that is the second reason that your best work is your best marketing. Marketing is about emotion, baybee. You don’t give half a damn about the other shoes – ”
“Hey!”
” – except in the sense that they make you money. But you love the tennis shoes, and that shows. It’s interesting, memorable, and attractive – and those are the keystones of effective marketing.”
“It is nice to talk about the stuff I’m interested in. Out of curiosity, are there any other marketing benefits to only doing your best work?”
“Hell yes there are! Most especially: it’s much much easier to do amazing work when your heart is in it. The energy of your involvement gives you loads of extra oomph in your delivery and execution that won’t be present in pretty-good work.”
“Okay. What else?”
I tell you five other reasons why your best work is also your best marketing strategy, and you are eventually convinced. Great things are a-comin’ your way, and we both know it. We high-five each other briskly before I *foomp* out of your office and into the sunset.
What are the other five reasons that your best work is also your best marketing strategy? Tell me in the comments!
Catherine is a magnificence amplifier at Cash and Joy. If you believe that huge piles of money and meaning are equally important in your business, you should sign up for a free 30-minute Marketing Check-up. She promises epiphanies in fifteen minutes… or your money back.
Image attribution: missmeng
Marketing is about emotions, but once you're talking to potential investors, people who have been there and done that, it's going to take more than just emotions to get them to put out cash. Logic also has a lot to do with it.
Yes, absolutely.
Care to enlighten the readers with why your best work is also a more logical decision? (I can think of quite a few reasons.)
Logic is just a cover-up for decisions made emotionally, not the other way
'round. Even with investment bankers. They just don't wanna admit it. But
sorry, all people do that.
Catherine – this really spoke to me, especially because I'm transitioning my career into doing work I'm more passionate about. I'm finding it really hard to tell clients that I do writing now, not PR. I feel whiny doing it. I need to find a way to tell them (as you imply above), that I can help them best doing what I do best.
Hi Erika, I recommend simply saying that! “I've realised that the place in which I can do my absolute best work – the kind that will really revolutionise your business – is in writing. If you're looking for PR, [This Lass] and {Awesome Dude] are great and can both help you.”
Done. And everyone wins!
(If you want to talk that out some more, sign up for that free 30-minute session and we can get it clearer.)
Catherine,
I really enjoyed this “story.” It's a perfect illustration of what happens when we focus on doing the things we're passionate about. Thank you!
You're welcome, Angela!
Amazing Post catherine. I have learned what u told here.. I try sometime back for my bread machine recipe site with a marketing strategy and it worked well too
That's awesome! I was trying to find an appropriately concrete example in shoes – bread machine recipes is even more specific!
Yes yes! I completely agree. The profit is ultimately where the passion is. We will always work 1000% harder on something we love. That hard work and enthusiasm pays off big time.
It does indeed, and “pays off” is an important aspect in more ways than one:
you don't need to focus on money because money's not the focus, the passion
is. The money is a side effect (albeit, a very nice one). I certainly love
to get paid for what I do, but that's not even half as satisfying as guiding
someone else to the point where they're doing what they love and making a
lot more money, too.
(What he said.)
Hells to the yes.