To be successful, you only really need to:

1 – BE People Centric
2 – BE Technology Literate
3 – BE Branding & Marketing Focused – And
4 – Do Great Work

Here’s how I distinguish these four tenets of success:

1 – People Centric: With the possible exception of commodity purchases (ie. where you choose to buy your paper towels), contrary to what many believe, business is rarely conducted business to business, or business to consumer. But in fact it’s almost always conducted person to person. We’ve all heard the phrase “nothing personal – it’s just business”. I assert the opposite is true – “it’s not just business – IT IS personal”.

People do business with, refer business to, recommend and in other ways support – other people that they know, like and trust. They also frequently give special consideration for those whom they feel supported by – personally. What do I mean by support? – I mean showing you care, your listening of them, your encouragement and acknowledgement of them, your generosity of time & resources with them. Your willingness to help them overcome a challenge or solve a problem they are struggling with.

Sales trainer & author Ken Foley states “adults are grownup kids with A.D.D.” not the Attention Deficit Disorder that we typically think of – but a persons inner & unmet craving for attention, to be heard, to be understood, to be acknowledged and valued. I’m convinced the greatest & most powerful skill set we can develop is to take a genuine interest in, listen to, give attention to, acknowledge, encourage, and value others. If you make it “all about them” vs. all about you, I think you’ll find you go a lot further, a lot faster, with a great deal less effort.

What difference have you made in someone else’s life today?

2 – Technology Literate: The Internet just is. The personal computer just is. Connectivity, cell phones, email, instant messaging, text messaging, personal Web sites, Blogs, social networking sites, online forums, etc., etc. just are. All of the current technology we see and hear about that other people (see the first tenet) are using, being productive with, are leveraging to solve problems, are communicating with, and most importantly – are participating in and with – simply exist.

The question is – are you participating with, leveraging, connecting with, communicating with & supporting others using these tools & communities? The imperative of learning, leveraging and communicating with and through these technologies is not coming around the bend, or in the future, the imperative is – right now!

3 – Branding & Marketing Focused: Let’s be honest – we now know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that no business, no organization, not even an individual can possibly hope to gain the visibility, exposure, & customer mind share necessary to be successful in the long run using “traditional” advertising. Yes I know, there are still large companies, investing massive amounts of cash into traditional advertising campaigns that do produce “some” results. But these results have been, and continue to diminish, and will do so into oblivion. Traditional advertising ROI is virtually dead.

Are you still beating that dieing & almost dead horse? If so – why? You have a choice, a choice to develop a “Brand” for yourself and/or your business/organization using the first two tenets. A brand that showcases your value & expertise, as it applies to others.

Let me step back and clarify something here. I believe that traditional advertising is dieing/dead because it is by definition “speaking AT people” (essentially vomiting information AT people, about you and your services, whether they want it or not, and most often at times and in ways they don’t want, and frequently resent you the advertiser for). Indeed this is the lowest rung on the marketing ladder.

The next rung up is “speaking TO people” (telling/sharing information that your market research indicates people may want to hear & be willing to listen to) that’s a little better, and often produces somewhat better results.

Almost at the top now is “speaking WITH people”. It’s a two way conversation, it’s asking questions, really listening, sharing idea’s & insights. Proving you actually do care about them, and your willingness to serve & support them (see the first tenet), showing them the value you can be for them, and that you value them! In marketing it’s respecting their choice of what information they want, when they want it, and how they want to receive it (see the second tenet).

This gives access to the very top rung of the marketing ladder – the Holy Grail – having people talk “about you” to and with others. That’s when your Personal Brand begins to pay dividends. You just need to insure that what they are saying about you is the value you’ve brought to them vs. how irritating your advertising is, or how unhappy they are with what you’ve done for them, or your organizations poor customer service – which is why you must:

4 – Do Great Work – for “Them”: Give great advice, be generous, become know as a contributor to others, go the extra mile for “them” – whether they are paying you or not. Simply don’t give “them” (anyone) a reason to talk about you with anything but allocades. Whether they be clients, staff, associates, or even casual business associates.

To validate what I’ve just shared. Look to yourself, how do you want to be spoken to, how do you want help solving your problems & overcoming your challenges, how do you want to receive information about products & services you’re considering?

I’ll bet you’re far more willing & likely to participate in a conversation with, and engage with a practitioner/individual/company/organization that gets & operates with the formula above, than one who is carelessly & constantly speaking AT you, without regard for you, or respect for you, or acknowledging you – as a person. Either way – you’re likely to talk about them to others and your words will have a great deal of sway to those with whom you speak – and so will theirs.

Mark V Bullock
Practice Marketing Advisor & Business Coach