Startup Blog

Marketing: The wonderful world of YOU

Posted by Mike Volpe on 3/11/10 10:00 AM

tyson goodridge

This is a guest post from Tyson Goodridge, a Principal of DIALOGUE, a Social Media Education and Advisory Services firm.  He is also a lonely NY sports fan living here in Boston, and father of two boys (NY Giants fans).

 

This post is about you as a marketer. Not your company, not your website or blog,
but Y O U. What makes you an effective and efficient marketer every day?

Island vs. Hub

There are two ways to think of yourself. As an island -lets say the wonderful island of Bermuda. or as a hub- like, say Grand Central Station.

Bermuda is a wonderful island. Beautiful beaches, golf courses, hotels, weather, and of course the Ruuuuuum. It's a great place to be.

Grand Central isn't as pretty as Bermuda. There's hustle and bustle, lots of people, noise, traffic, and it certainly isn't as clean and tidy as Bermuda, right?

But look closer. It takes time, money and effort to get to the island. Once you've packed up from your vacation there, you may not go back for a year or two.

But if you're a hub like Grand Central people are always flowing in and out of your station. Think of yourself as the dispatcher at Grand Central. People and ideas are constantly flowing through you. (For a terrific visual reference of this, head to Mike Troiano's slide on Scalable intimacy)

Tell a story

As your grow your business, bring your customers and clients with you for your journey.
One of the best examples of an entrepreneur doing this is Melanie Notkin, Founder and CEO of SavvyAuntie. While creating her business, she brought her family, friends and supporters along for the ride, with constant updates on her blog. Your friends and supporters are much more interested in you and your story, not your cool software or technology.

Quality, not Quantity

Don't try to be everything to everyone. The human mind can only process and manage about 250 relationships at one time. So, when you are out there meeting new people and building new relationships, think to yourself "is this person or resource going to be one of my 250 key relationships?" At the end of the day, relationships are going to drive your business, not 1000 fans on your Facebook page. For more background on this, and a deeper understanding on digital relationships read Stephen Baker's terrific article
"What's a Friend Worth."

Efficiency

So much to do, but so little time. There are hundreds of books out there that teach you about how to be efficient. At the end of the day, pick a process and program that works for you. The ones that seem to always creep back up to the top are:

And, if you're really interested in learning about some of the "7 Habits" of Highly Effective Social Marketers" - like Mike Volpe :-). Head on over here.

Mike Volpe

Written by Mike Volpe

Mike Volpe is a startup advisor and angel investor based in Boston.

Topics: social media, branding

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