Always Inspiring

Always Inspiring

You're Better than Marketing

Don't leave your value proposition to an advertisement

Matthew Ferrara's avatar
Matthew Ferrara
Oct 09, 2023
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What’s Better than Marketing?

I don’t know about you, but lately I’ve been inundated with marketing about marketing. Not actual marketing from a specific audience (like salespeople or speakers) - but templates from advertisers about advertising. An endless stream of secrets, systems and surprising offers, competing for my attention. Promising tremendous value will be revealed if I heed the breathless reminder to:

Market now, before it’s too late!

Trying to Catch Attention, or Eyes on a Different Prize? © 2019 Matthew Ferrara

Too late for what?

I know some really wonderful people in the marketing world. They do terrific work developing brands, messages and marketing campaigns. They know how to bring a tear to the eye, or get me to jump up and yell, Yes! When you’re good at marketing, you do that with audiences.

Truth is, I don’t really market a lot. I often wonder if I should. Then I remind myself that for the last 30 years, I haven’t even had a logo. I’ve done pretty well nonetheless - with a steady stream of business over the years. Which makes me wonder what I am doing right, if it’s not putting quarters in the advertising machine.

Something Better than Marketing

It starts by realizing we are the product. People hire you. That’s different than marketing a thing like a book, hamburger or seat on a plane. When the valuable proposition is a person, marketing becomes a weak use of precious few seconds we get with prospects and clients.

That’s why I have always done this, instead of marketing:

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