Why Marketing Trumps All
Now before going into the topic, i’ll focus on the headline. Do you know what I’m talking about? I used a very specific word in my headline, can you guess what it is? C’mon….here’s a hint…his on tv and he’s very arrogant…TRUMP
Now Trump is briliiant marketer. People associate NYC Real Estate with Trump because he built a brand around himself. He supported the brand with books and a tv show and arrogant self promotion. Why he may not be respected in most business circles (he isn’t, esp. not in real estate in NYC - he is hated) he is the most brilliant personal marketer in the world. He is fucking brilliant. He can promote himself like Ron Jeremy promotes his dick - he makes sure everyone knows he’s the man and they end up believing him.
Most entreprenuers esp. techies don’t believe in marketing, it’s not scientific they say or it’s all bullshit or if i have a good idea, people will come to me…well they are wrong (and YES IT IS A SCIENCE - ask Lester Wunderman- if you don’t know who he is go back to school)
The better you market yourself the more press you can get. The more people will reach out. The easier it will be to get investors and clients and recruit people. A few examples
I started a company when I was 15. I didn’t know shit. Well, no that’s wrong, I had shit for brains. As a friend of mine likes to say “I was a pimply faced teenager” and I was. I was shy and naive and self conscious and anti-social..however when it came time to do business I went into my phone booth (bathroom in HS) and came out SUPERMAN. I went to my office in the city (yes, i had an office when I was 15 and yes it was insane) and was an arrogant prick. I self promoted my age to no end , got tuns of press and was well known in the industry and people thought i was smart, I didn’t know shit. I got lucky a few times but I didn’t learn the business I was in until after I had LEFT IT. But it worked, now I can admit I didn’t know shit but back then I couldn’t i had to be arrogant and it worked.
Another example, I left the online space for a little while (sort of, partially) and then came back and wanted to tell people where I was so i thought what’s the best way to do it - and i created www.RichHecker.com, the worlds’ only animated website. It impressive every entrepreneur i know (and all the guants think im insane) and it builds a mystique around me. I walked into a meeting with the head of a publishign company the other day and the first thing he said was “I feel like I know you, I love the site”. My personal site has opened up doors you wouldn’t believe.
Then the question becomes how to promote yourself. While arrogance works and is sometimes neccessary (when you are young be arrogant so people take you seriously - no other way to get respect but to demand it at that age) but if you’re not super young you need a way to get noticed. Telling people go to my site is arrogan. I never tell people about my RichHecker site. Instead I have it in my signature in a creative way …
Sincerely yours,
Richie Hecker
Chief BootStrapper, BootStrapper.com
Direct: 347.385.7865
Fax: 877. 678.3346
Email: Rich@BootStrapper.com
AIM: WhoIsRichHecker
Speaking of which, who am I?…www.RichHecker.com
“In fact, I’m such a cereal entrepreneur, I eat startups for breakfasts with milk in the morning.”
Now after my AIM name which is WhoisRichHecker…I answer the question with my site, 1/2 people that i email with end up at my site. And my site is sticky as gum, everyone wateches it for minutes, sometimes hours….i bet you will too if you check it out…
Its a matter of leading people to your brand - don’t demand attention, lead people to want it. This way they become your brand ambassadors and tell other people about it instead of saying “who does this guy think he is telling me to go watch the story of his life” ..see how that sounds and what the difference is?
So say you aren’t a master animator how do you do it? STAND OUT. A great show is called the PickUp Artist on VH1…the guy that runs it teaches people to pick up chics. He says make sure your appearance stands up. Do that in one way or another.
