Marketing for Solopreneurs

Networking: The Wandering Eye Syndrome

From time to time, at a networking event, I have been talking to a colleague or client and their eyes are wandering elsewhere, sweeping the room. I suspect that they are looking for someone in particular. But it always makes me feel insignificant, like I’m just a “place holder” until someone more important comes along.

In fact, a couple of weeks ago I met with someone after a lunch networking event. The entire time we were talking, he was glancing over my shoulder to see who else was coming in the door. It was difficult to even keep my train of thought because I wasn’t sure I had his attention.

So what happens? Yesterday, at a business luncheon, I was visiting with a good friend before the event. I was also periodically checking the entrance door for our guests so I could direct them to our table when they arrived. I suddenly realized I was doing the exact thing I resent when other people do it to me. In fact, my business partner scolded me afterwards. I felt horrible!

Two lessons here. First, when you are talking with a business colleague, or client, or prospect, stay focused on the moment. Whatever your reason is for not giving them your full attention, your wandering eyes will send a message that they are not important to you. Secondly, always practice what you preach!

A Marketer’s Nightmare: The Death of FREE

There was a recurring skit on Saturday Night Live years ago, a TV show parody called, “People Who Ruin It for Other People.” Each week, the host would interview guests who had done something to take advantage of someone’s trust and “ruin it for other people.”

To the guy who first drove off without paying for his gas, the exasperated host said, “What you’re saying, then, is that you screwed up and didn’t pay for your gas, so you ruined it for other people. And now we have to pay before we pump? ”

The guest meekly bowed his head and said, “Well…yes.”

The next guest had gone into a restroom and trashed the place, making it so we all have to ask for the key first. And so on. People who ruin it for other people.

I was reminded of that skit when I recently read an article by Doug D’Anna in Clayton Makepeace’s ezine, The Total Package (makepeacetotalpackage.com). In his article, “Why FREE Doesn’t Work Anymore,” D’Anna declares the word FREE officially dead. His reasons: 1) Too many FREE e-zines (and, I might add, ones that are short on value— and full of sales pitches) and 2) the explosion of spam— and with it the consumer’s expectation that we are dangling the FREE carrot so we can get his e-mail address and hit him with frequent, blatant sales messages. I call this the “Businesses That Ruin It for Other Businesses” syndrome.

How else are businesses diluting the power of the word FREE? Deceptive advertising. Today I saw a TV commercial telling me I could get credit reports for FREE. They even had a website with “free credit report” in the name. But, in tiny letters at the top of the screen, it said, “Available when you sign up for the ‘Platinum Program.’

D’Anna suggests that the better strategy, at least in e-marketing, is to cultivate a relationship of trust with the people on your list first. And if you do offer a FREE e-zine in your sales copy, be sure the reader recognizes the value of your e-zine first—in and of itself.

I am still using the word FREE in the sign-up pitch for our weekly marketing e-tips. After all, they are free, with no purchase requirement — and our readers say that they are useful, so they have value. But it certainly gave me something to think about.

How about you? Has the misuse of the word FREE taken away its power as a marketing tool? Are you skeptical when you see it now?