The SECRET to NOT Being Ignored…

The key to our success can be over-simplified to two basic necessities: Getting the attention of our ideal target market (whether that is a demographic of 5 million or a list of five) and Soliciting a favorable response from them – or purchase.

This is where all of us share the same basic struggle as every other business in America – big or small, mom -n- pop or corporate, nobody or celebrity. We need to get attention….and we need to make the RIGHT people pay attention.

And, let’s face it: In a world over-saturated with a barrage of marketing (and other) messages every second of every day, this is a daunting task. From commercials on primetime television, to pay-for-play experts on the local news… from twitter and facebook messages to the several you tube videos we are told we “must see” each day…. from the billboards and radio commercials to the CREATIVE attempts to sneak messages in, it could seem almost impossible for TRULY small businesses to even have a SHOT at breaking through all of that clutter.

So, the first SECRET to business success is this Secret to NOT Being Ignored – and it deserves OUR attention… so let’s look at some general guidelines we can follow to capture attention and avoid the seemingly inevitable “IGNORE” button. FIRST, if you follow the herd, you’ll never be heard!! Above all, it seems Americans value individualism above almost anything else… So, anything less than your own authentic voice is unforgivable. Be yourself. You may offend some, but you’ll never lose more than you gain when you are fearlessly, unapologetically YOU.

Next, know that your first order of business is to get their attention. This means doing something to stand out from the crowd… something that will make them pause long enough to hear what you have to say. Consider that during one SuperBowl game, Doritos held some competition for agencies that wanted to design their SuperBowl ad. Do you know the big winner? A group of inexperienced college students… because their raw, in-the-rough ad stood out from the rest of the big budget, “corporate slick” commercials submitted.

Finally, know what your market wants to see from you. In general, everything you do – from your blog posts, to your speaking opportunities, to your commercials, to your videos, to your sales copy – should meet these three criteria:

** They want you to be honest. Even the fanciest container can’t hide it’s contents for long.

** They want to be entertained. And, no. Your market is not too educated or too sophisticated for this to apply. =) Not only do they WANT to be entertained, they EXPECT to be entertained – even by your marketing efforts or sales presentation. Don’t disappoint them.

** They want content. We live in the information age, and people expect great content inherent in anything they pay attention to for long.

Looking for CREATIVE and FUN Ideas used to Get Attention? Look NO further than E-bay’s www.HALF.com marketing whizzes: They advertised on New York City peanut vendors carts, “Why pay more when you can get ‘em for peanuts?”. They also advertised on the “aiming grid” on urinals in the city, “Don’t piss away half your money. Go to www.half.com” Finally, they began advertising in fortune cookies and NOW, the genius behind that idea has a business advertising for other people on what he calls the world’s “tiniest billboards”. By the way, did you know that only 6 % of people watch TV commercials but 96% of fortune-cookie messages get read and of those, 67% are read aloud?