Tuesday Time-Out: Trust Me, It's Really Good!

This is my son, Brendan, at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We were eating dinner and he managed somehow to get ahold of what was left of someone’s soda.

Brendan is 4 1/2 and really loves doing “experiments.” He mixes soft soap with toothpaste and hand sanitizer and pretends it’s a potion of some sort. He puts sticks and pine  needles in water and tries to get them to grow. In this case, he took all sorts of random things and added them to the leftover soda…leaves, milk, maybe some dirt and rocks, a corn-dog stick, and I think at least one cast-off bone from my ribs.

Then he went around offering it to everyone, saying, “Would you like some soda pop? It’s really good!” and grinning from ear to ear. He repeated this joke in true 4-year-old fashion, about fifty times. Nobody took him up on his offer, and by attempt number 51, he was spent.

Every day, we’re assaulted by marketing messages. Thousands of them. So much so that we can repeat back slogans, taglines and all sorts of other nonsense that corporations tell us about their products, or politicians tell you about their platforms (or better yet, why you should hate the other guy’s platform), or that news sites tell you about things that are only marginally considered “news.”

Sometimes, even, this allows us to justify to ourselves those things that we consume, or pine for incessantly. But it doesn’t change the fact that some of these things are garbage. And we may not care, if the person pitching us is charismatic, or convincing, or even if he just wears us down with a constant barrage of nonsense.

There are certain things I don’t mind about with marketing, but in general, I find excessive marketing to be annoying. As a businessman, I am doing my best to learn ways not to be annoying, and to earn your trust. One way I am pursuing this goal is active membership in communities that talk about this issue, like Third Tribe Marketing (aff. link). I’m getting great advice and perspectives from some of the top minds in social media, marketing and business, like Chris Brogan, Brian Clark, Sonia Simone, and Darren Rowse. The monthly membership fee is less than I charge for one hour of my time, and I got my money’s worth for the whole year before the end of the first week. I am a solid convert.

Even though I didn’t gulp down that dirt-water-and-soda concoction, I can’t say that I don’t give in to marketing at times. If I trust the messenger, this is even more true. And I generally trust this guy, but there are times I take a look at that grin, and I know something’s up.

How am I doing with this whole marketing thing? How can I earn your trust?

What about you? How do you deal with constant marketing, repetitive claims and nonsense? What are you doing to sell yourself? Are you actively seeking natural ways to get your messages across? What are you doing to earn the trust of people you serve?