The Comanche Marketer The Mousetrap Series Intro

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by Matt Michel

A new Comanche Marketing series starts now. I'm calling it the "Mousetrap" series. This series is a must for small business owners. Read today's message and it will make sense.

PROLOGUE

They were a tribe of warriors. They were masters of the horse and masters of war. Through their tactical brilliance, they overcame the inferiority of their numbers to drive the Apache out of Texas and beat back the Spanish. The Utes called them "one who fights me all the time." The Utes called them Comanches. The Comanche warrior was one who fought all of the time.

The Comanche marketer is one who markets as fiercely, as brilliantly, and as relentlessly as the Comanche fought. The Comanche marketer is "one who markets all of the time."

Will The New Telemarketing Laws Affect You?

(GRAPEVINE, Texas) - Maybe, I should ask if they will hurt your business. The national do-not-call list will change the shape of small business marketing. Lots of companies have depended on telemarketing to drive business. Now, they must other ways to do it.

The new laws are not the end of telemarketing. You can still call consumers you've done business with in the last 18 months. You can also call people who contact you for three months.

But what if you're a poor contractor who's customers call you ever other year? Well, tough.

Mess up, and the fine is $11,000 per incident. It's your typical government solution. Beat that wire nail with a sledgehammer. Complain about the economy while you enact laws that make life harder on business.

Ironically, the worst abusers will figure out ways around the law (think twice as a consumer before you enter that sweepstakes in the mall). It's small businesses like yours that will be impacted.

Fortunately, there are solutions. It's the old tried and true. Instead of outbound telemarketing, small businesses will turn to print. They will use newspaper, direct mail, and lots of Comanche Marketing.

Direct marketing offers a number of advantages. It's low cost compared to broadcast. You can turn it on and off as needed. You can target. Because you aren't limited to 15 or 30 seconds, you've got time to build a case and sell.

Uh oh. I forgot. Most small business print marketing is.

C-ruddy

R-otten

A-wful

P-itiful

It's. well, you can figure it out. Over the next couple of weeks, Comanche Marketing will focus on print. I'm going to share ways you can improve your marketing, increase its effectiveness, and use it to earn more money. You might want to download my Comfortech notes from the Freebies section of the Service Roundtable to use as a companion. Some of this stuff has to be seen to be understood.

The first thing you must understand is that marketing is not an option. You must market to grow.

Emerson was quoted as saying, "If a man can make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, the world will make a beaten path to his door."

You've probably heard that before. Do you believe it? I don't.

Take Microsoft. Pleeease. Take them and - oops, got off track there.

Despite their PR, Microsoft does not have a better mousetrap. Microsoft is not an innovator. They are more like the Borg. They assimilate. They buy technology from other companies. They find creative ways to eliminate the competition. Most of all, they market very, very well.

Want another example? What's the best sports insole? Most people will answer Dr. Scholl's because they are the market leader. However, there's a little known company called Spenco that produces the insole podiatrists tend to recommend. Spenco doesn't do a lot of marketing. Dr. Scholl's does.

Emerson was quoted as saying, "If a man can make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, the world will make a beaten path to his door." But, Emerson never said that.

Emerson wrote in his journal, "If a man has good corn, or wood, or boards, or pigs to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs than anybody else, you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods."

The mousetrap quote was written by an ad guy, Elbert Hubbard, who attributed it to Emerson 28 years after Emerson died!

Emerson had the great thought, but it took a good copywriter to make it a memorable thought. In many ways, that is the essence of this Comanche Marketing series. You may have a great products and services, but unless you can communicate well, you're doomed.

Don't miss this series.

Since it helps to "see" examples, you might want to download a copy of the "Build a More Profitable Service Business" notes by clicking on the link below.

http://www.serviceroundtable.com/Freebi ... p?PCID=295

Source: Comanche Marketing. Reprinted by permission.

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www.serviceroundtable.com -- click on the Comanche Marketing tab

Copyright © 2004 Matt Michel