Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: Non-Boring, Fluff-Free Strategies for Marketing and Promoting Your Business

Chapter 1. The Shift: Finding Those Eyeballs and Big Mouths

Imagine that you have the greatest product ever. (And maybe you do!) Perhaps it's some kind of software. Or a product line. Or maybe it's simply your own expertise. You have developed it whatever it is—and now you need to sell it, one way or another.

To be successful, you need eyeballs—which are attached to people, who buy things (simple, right?). People have the tools to make their big mouths heard. The more passionate of these will not only know, like, trust, and purchase from you—but will also tell everyone they know about you. As one of these people myself, I can attest to the effectiveness of this method. If I get excited about something, I try to spread it like wildfire.

But not all eyeballs are created equal as far as your business is concerned. You want to reach folks who are genuinely interested in what you are marketing—right? You are probably aware of the more traditional ways of capturing eyeballs: TV, radio, print (newspapers and magazines), billboards (seriously?), and setting up booths at trade shows. But are these the most effective?

The location of your customers' eyeballs is changing. Whether your customer is an 8-year-old schoolgirl or a 77-year-old retiree, eyeballs are increasingly moving online. It is no secret that consumers of all ages are shifting their attention from mainstream, traditional media to the far more active and evolving world full of blogs, social media (what I like to call the social ...