Internet Marketing

There are only two types of products in this world: need to have products, and want to have products.

Need to have products are the typical staples of life: food, clothing, a roof over one’s head, a car, a lover on the side (no, just kidding).

Want to have products are, by definition, products you don’t need to have:  caviar, an Armani wardrobe, a 24-room mansion, a Lamborghini in the garage, two or more lovers on the side. 

Now, for the most part, the rich really don’t need anything, but the list of what they want is nearly endless.

By the way, how you go about selling the staff of life (need to have products) versus how you go about selling the frills and adornments of the good-life (want to have products), from a tactical and strategic perspective, is distinctly different, and a subject for another post.

Nonetheless, how would you, as a marketer, go about selling to the rich… a pair of scissors made of 24kt gold?

Now scissors are, by and large, a need to have product. And your market research has already determined that there is a large and viable market for a pair of quality shears.

But you’re looking to sell to the rich - and you want to sell them shears made of 24kt gold - something they clearly don’t need, and probably don’t want. Yet, you’ve got a warehouse filled with enough gold to make Fort Knox look like a run down trailer park.

So how do you sell a pair of 24kt gold scissors to the rich?

Would your marketing efforts tout the quality of the scissor cut, the durability of the blades, its ease of use, etc. etc.?

No. Scissors are scissors. Okay, some are better than others, and some cost more than others.

But who the hell in their right mind needs a pair of scissors make of 24kt gold that cost more than a mortgage payment? The rich, who else!

But wait… do they need it? No, of course not. Do they want it… well, a lot of what the rich will buy are items that they don’t need or want - at least not at first.

Sure, it’s easy to sell the rich on a private Mediterranean cruise, dinner at 5-star restaurant, jewelry from Tiffany’s.

But what if they never heard of your product, or it has no immediate, intrinsic or universal cache…

So, how do you sell a pair of scissors made of 24kt gold - or anything for that matter - to the rich?

The answer is in the next and final post of this series… so stay tuned.

–Barry

www.WritingWithPersonality.com

Popularity: 28% [?]

Have you heard about the 18 year old girl in Boca Raton, Florida, who died from complications from a boob job?

Yes, tragic, unfortunate, and I’m shedding crocodile tears, no doubt. And yet, if it had happened to my teenage daughter–I’d be a mess–forever! But then, I wouldn’t have allowed her to get a boob job in the first place!

Listen, I’ve got nothing against boob jobs–buleeeve me, I don’t. But what the hell were her parent’s thinking?

Why permit an 18 year old girl, a high school cheerleader (the media reports she wanted to be a doctor when she grew-up-as if to add some intellectual heft to her profile, and that she just wasn’t a female version of Shallow Hal) get sculpted, nicked and cut–as if doing so were no different than getting braces.

After all, you need your teeth to chew, and yes there is the issue of appearance, smile, etc.. But tits–for a kid?

Okay, you want bigger knockers? Fine, finish college and pay for them yourself. That’s my answer.

Wondering what this has to do with marketing? A lot! But first let me continue with my rant.

What kind of a lesson in values, self-worth and pride of accomplishment had they been teaching their daughter? That without a good pair of jugs–she’d be nothing in this world–of no value to anyone-not herself or her friends? That life’s not worth living without beautiful melons?

Ever heard of Boca Raton? Well, there’s part of the problem. It’s another one of those flashy, wealthy small city/suburbs that dot the American map, where the amount of money you purport to possess is directly related to your self-esteem, self-image and social acceptance. Like Beverly Hills in California for example, and the Hamptons in New York. Practically every city has one of them nearby. You can probably name one near you.

These are cities where leased BMWs, Ferrari’s, Lamborghinis and Aston Martins are driven by unemployed people.

Naturally, (and I say naturally for a good marketing reason), these cities attract a huge proportion of starry-eyed wannabees, air-heads, dead-beats and other parasitic-dreamers looking for a fast, easy, soft and comfortable float on a magic carpet ride.

As a side note, I think Boca Raton has the highest ratio of plastic surgeons per capita of any city in America. There’s enough silicone, saline and Botox jiggling down the roads of Boca to cause a Hazmat team to run for the hills. I know, I used to live in South Florida. And I have family and friends who live in Boca. In fact, I’m headed there in three weeks.

Boca is a sun-drenched metaphor for where marketing and life meet at the crossroads of money and desire.

Okay, enough with the cynicism and the rant…on to the marketing lesson.

There are 12 eternal human desires that every marketer should know.

• 1. Money
• 2. Improved Appearance
• 3. Security in Old Age
• 4. Leisure
• 5. Comfort
• 6. Proof of Accomplishment
• 7. Increased Enjoyment
• 8. Self-Confidence
• 9. Popularity
• 10. Praise
• 11. Time
• 12. Health

Every human being walking the earth wants at least one of these 12 things.

It’s your duty as a marketer to figure out how many of these 12 desires your target market values above all else!

Because it’s not the features of your product that will compel your market to buy, but rather the fulfillment of these desires.

Show how your product will help your prospects achieve their desires–and your product, your service–is as good as sold.

And now, just for fun–name the desires the stereo-typical Boca Raton denizen values above all else.  Need a hint: think boobs.

–Barry

www.WritingWithPersonality.com

Popularity: 90% [?]