BrandingFire Blog

The Secret to Life - and Marketing

Writing by Darrin Dickey on Wednesday, 12 of September , 2007 at 4:23 pm

I had a guy tell me he didn’t have time for all of this “marketing and internet stuff” and asked if I couldn’t just sum up the whole shebang in one sentence. Uh, no. Not really. But since he wanted one special nugget of information to take away with him, I boiled everything down to this simple idea:“It’s not about you. It’s about them.”

It’s an irony of marketing that when you’re trying to tell people about your product, you can’t make it all about you. You have to make it all about them. They don’t care about you or your product. (Sorry to be so blunt, but this is supposed to be brief.) They only care how your product solves a problem for them. People don’t buy from Dell, Apple, Southwest Airlines or Coke because their products or services offer lots of great features. They buy because the product feeds their need for higher self-esteem, being a part of the “in” crowd, saves them money, saves their personal photos, or a thousand other needs (or perceived needs) that people have.

If you want people to visit your history house, museum or buy your history book, don’t make your pitch all about what a great product you have. Make your pitch about how your remarkable product solves relieves some pain they have.

Category: Marketing 101

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About BrandingFire

BrandingFire is a blog situated at the intersection of marketing, history, entrepreneurism, technology, travel and fun. Founded by a guy with a passion for entrepreneurism and history and more than 10 years experience in marketing, this blog follows his thoughts, ideas and attempts at starting his own business. Follow along on the rollercoaster ride... if you dare.