All You Need is a Good Idea!: How to Create Marketing Messages that Actually Get Results

Chapter 3. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, ANYWAY?

Please understand, I don't mean this question in a confrontational sense along the lines of "You are really loudmouthed and arrogant. Why did you push ahead of me in line?" I mean it in the sense that the first thing you have to accomplish if you want customers to know who you are is for you to genuinely understand who you are. What is the essence of your business, the fundamental nature of your Phufkel? In short, what is your reason for being? What do you believe makes your Phufkels different? Why are yours better? While the answer to why you are selling your Phufkels should not simply be as glib as "to make money," neither should you spend too much time on the couch seeking faultless "I have journeyed to the mountain" answers. You probably already have some definitive ideas and an intuitive grasp of who you are, but it is essential that you write it down. Not as a mission statement. Not as a business plan. It is not a description of who you think your customer base is or a list of benefits of your Phufkels. It is, rather, a brief, basic summation of what your product or service is, to be used as a guide, a strategic direction for the marketing ideas you will be creating. There is an important reason for doing this, aside from the clarity it brings to your thinking. The really good marketing ideas—like the ones you will be creating—come directly out of your Phufkel and are not just layered on top of it.

If your Phufkel requires 17 steps ...