Blueprint >> Marketing

Disclaimer: This document is in raw form as I process and distill 4 years-worth of my personal development notes. Expect some typos and cryptic language for now. I will be updating frequently and polishing up.

Prescription: Understand marketing.
Related Concepts: Provide Value, Money

What is Marketing?

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Why is it Important?

If you want to have impact, if you want to create, you need to understand the dynamics of what people buy and how to get them to look at your stuff. It's also necessary for relationships, promotions, starting any business, freelancing, etc.

Understanding marketing also makes you less vulnerable to getting duped by other peoples marketing. This alone can save you thousands of dollars and much anguish.

Marketing Videos

[coming soon...]

Marketing: Key Points

Marketing a much broader concept than you first think. It's not just about selling products. More generally, it's about understanding how to influence other people. How do you convince someone to buy your product? How do you convince someone to accept a new belief? How do you motivate someone to take action?

Marketing is about attracting attention by clearly communicating value to the potential customer. The more tantalizing you can make the thing you're trying to sell, the more the customer will want it, the more value he will see in it, and the more he will be willing to pay for it.

To a good marketer, put yourself into the buyer's shoes. Empathize with his needs, problems, and desires. What would you want if you were in the customer's shoes? What would it take to grab your attention? You can either imagine, or you can become the customer, or you can interview customers to find out what they want.

A purchase decision is based on a few very basic points: what is the customer's problem or desire? How well is your service or product solving this problem or fulfilling this desire? If the customer can clearly see that your service matches his need, he will want to buy. This is especially true if you can demonstrate an immediate ROI for him.

Many people believe that marketing is bad. Marketing is neutral, just like money. It's a tool. It is not inherently good or bad. It can be used for good or bad. The problem is that a lot of marketing out there is deceptive or manipulative, pitching low-quality products that don't offer truly good ROI for the customer. The solution is to position yourself such that you aren't pressured to use manipulative marketing. Make sure your product is very good. Make sure you believe that it generates massive ROI for the customer. Don't just demonstrate it to him, demonstrate it to yourself first. If you see that the ROI isn't there, have the balls to market another product, or change companies. You need to feel like you are doing the customer a favor when he buys from you, not the other way around. This necessarily means that you need to have a very good product, so invest most of your time in developing a good product.

When you're selling, you are offering a solution to your customer. The more clearly your customer can see how the solution applies to him, the more likely he is to buy. This idea applies to all forms of marketing, more selling a widget, to selling a service, to getting hired for any kind of job. You don't need a lot of fanciness or formality to make a sale. The best marketing is in fact concise and simple, because the customer's time is valuable, and he doesn't want to waste it trying to decipher your value-proposition. Try to spell out exactly what you're offering in as little time and space as possible. Good marketing targets an audience and is specific. Don't use vague language in your marketing.

Buying decisions are emotionally driven. Logic is rarely the thing that causes someone to pull out his wallet.

Do not lie or deceive in your marketing. You don't have to go to the dark side. Instead, focus on understanding your customer's needs and building a better product. This easily applies to selling yourself in the job market. If your resume needs a lot of deception to attract attention, then your product — you — isn't up to par. Find out what your employer needs and make the corresponding improvements in yourself.

References