Friday, December 31, 2010

The Secret of "Atomic" Marketing

Bernhard Riemann (1826-1866)
Remember high school geometry?

You may have hated it, like me, but you have to admit -- those proofs were elegant.

The basic facts of geometry were unchanged in the 2,300+ years since Pythagoras and Euclid first drew triangles in the sand with a stick.

For example, nothing is more obvious than this fact about two parallel lines: they can never meet. Like train tracks, two lines running side by side will never touch each other. Right?

Wrong.

In the book, "Further Along The Road Less Traveled," M. Scott Peck writes:
... Bernhard Riemann was a German mathematician who, back in the middle of the nineteenth century, asked himself, "What if two parallel lines do meet?" And on the assumption that two parallel lines do meet, and a couple of other alterations he made to Euclid's theorems, he developed a totally different geometry. [And] much of Albert Einstein's work, including that which led to the development of the atomic bomb (via the theory of relativity) ... was based not on Euclidean geometry but on Riemannian geometry.
All because one obscure math whiz questioned one obvious "fact" that all the experts believed was true.

So ... what does geometry have to do with marketing your business?

Everything.

Marketing is full of obvious "facts" that everyone assumes are true.

But what would happen if you questioned a few of the marketing facts that apply to your business or industry?

You could create a breakthrough that turns your market on its head, that's what.

Try questioning these "facts" for a start ...
  • "Fact:" Selling is hard! 
    • Questions: What if selling were easy? How much more enthusiastically would you tell others about your service or product if you knew it would transform their lives? How would you sell if you KNEW a sale was inevitable?
  • "Fact:" My customers don't have any money! 
    • Questions: What if you sold to wealthier customers? Or offered payment options to current customers?
  • "Fact:" Nobody reads email newsletters anymore! 
    • Questions: Who said you had to use email? What if mailed your messages to prospects? Or delivered it in person over coffee?
  • "Fact:" Customer service is a cost that I need to hold down!
    • Questions: What if you saw customer service as customer retention or referral generation -- or both? What would you do differently?
Here's the bottom line: You won't stand out in your market if you think like everyone else. How can you?

Many marketing "facts" that you and your competitors take for granted are nothing more than assumptions. Why not take a moment to question a few of those assumptions today? It could lead you to breakthroughs that hit your market like an atomic bomb.

(More ideas like these in the Free Report, Guaranteed Marketing for Service Business Owners.)

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