I can’t help but occasionally be reminded, by some creatives, of Veruca Salt. Ms. Salt is the character from Willy Wonka who, in the classic Gene Wilder version, sings in her most excruciatingly whiny spoiled-brat voice:
I want the works
I want the whole works
Presents and prizes
And sweets and surprises
Of all shapes and sizes
And now
Don’t care how, I want it now
Don’t care how, I want it now.
Today I thought of that because I yet again read about a “frustrated” photographer. This one had been asked to show his book several times (in a very few months) to a very well known agency but had yet to get work with them. Instead of seeing how great it is that they are interested, he’s pissed that he hasn’t gotten any work yet.
I hear from photographers all the time who say things like “I sent a postcard once–never heard from anyone I sent to so it didn’t work,” and “I’ve called the AB there like 100 times but she never returns my calls!” and “It doesn’t do any good to send postcards or emails–they never get you work!”
This is all thinking short-term. No, a postcard or even a campaign of ’em might not directly bring you in any work. It’s marketing, sweetheart, not selling. Marketing is slow–it’s about building a brand and laying foundations and consistency and time. Selling is fast. Selling is about asking for and then closing the deal.
Selling is what the car dealer does when you are on the lot. Marketing is what Mini Cooper does to get you to go to the lot in the first place. No one buys a Mini because they had the coolest ad in Esquire, but they may begin to imagine buying a Mini because of that ad. And then the online experience at miniusa.com re-enforces that imaginary moment of possibly buying a Mini. And the brochure that arrives makes it even more possible.
Imagining a future purchase is successful marketing. Making an AB think “I want to work with PhotoBob someday” is successful marketing. It takes time to happen and it takes time to convert into a selling possibility. When a client calls and says, “We’re interested in working with you on this project” then you sell. Then you need to close the deal. But until then, you need to think long-term and slow–build desire, build your brand.
Not now. Someday.
We all know about the old advertising saying: “I know that half of my advertising dollars are wasted, I just don’t know which half.” …
Great post. A characteristic of creatives is that we are impatient, we easily get bored and want to move on to something else. Maybe it’s time we learn to slow down, develop patience. For me patience has been the hardest thing to learn, but as I see it grow, I see a better future ahead of me.
As I see myself developing patience, everything starts to change including my relationships with people. And really marketing is about developing relationships. It’s about growning relationships. The best take years to cultivate and those will last the longest.
Couple of things jumped out at me:
1. Sending a postcard and not getting any response. Ummm, PhotoBob, take a look at your desk. I’ll bet it has this thing that rings. You know, the telephone. Not only does it ring, you can also pick it up and make some other phones ring.
So, why not call some of the people on your postcard list and see if, maybe-just-maybe, they would be interested in doing business with you? Works for my business, and I’ll bet it will work for yours.
2. People who don’t return your calls. The nerve of those meanies!
I’ve had more than a few of them over the years, and you know what? Some people are just plumb hard to get in touch with.
Does this mean that we are to give up, retreat to a corner, and feel sorry for ourselves? Nope. It means that we should persist. I do. And, get this, some of these hard-to-gets have thanked me for staying in touch!
Great post Leslie. I am guilty of the want it now way of thinking from time to time and can forget that the bigger the company, the slower the decision. It’s was nice to be reminded of the process and mechanics of campaign marketing with the simple Mini example.