Saturday, 10:11 p.m.
July 14th, 2018
Dear Friend:
First time I read an article called The Craigslist Penis Effect, the author had me howling with laughter in seconds…
“Every woman who has used Craigslist knows that it is a veritable jungle of unexpected penises. In other words, if you ever post a nice, G-rated “women seeking men” post, you will immediately and inexplicably have 50-80 pictures of men’s penises in your inbox.”
His point was: not only are most men HORRIBLE at online dating, but there are many other situations where everyone else is so bad, that just being half-decent is enough to dominate the competition and win.
Since I’m always looking for stories with hidden lessons, I realised that The Craiglist Penis Effect also applies when marketing and growing a small business.
I often hear from businesses owners that “advertising doesn’t work”. Which really means…
They ran a worthless ad in the newspaper for a few weeks… had no idea if it worked or not… then went back to relying on word-of-mouth and foot traffic.
They were smart to stop paying for the ad. They just came to the wrong conclusion. It’s not that advertising doesn’t work. It’s just that a specific ad doesn’t work.
If you ever struggle with marketing–I’m writing to tell you that it’s ok.
I’m a small business owner, too. And I get it. There’s social media, newspaper advertising, Google Ads, signage, direct mail… the options are endless. Marketing can be overwhelming and time-consuming. It’s hard. But it’s definitely not as much of a mystery as most business people believe.
There are proven methods for creating ads and marketing campaigns that sell. Once you know the insider secrets, it becomes much easier to produce head-shaking results.
And remember: you don’t have to be great at marketing to grow your business–just better than your competitors.
Sincerest wishes for a happy life
and profitable business,
Callum Birch.