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Lars Lofgren

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The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Rapid-Fire Style

December 13, 2011 By Lars Lofgren Leave a Comment

There is a single book that will teach you more about marketing in 134 pages than an MBA will. It’s not just a classic, it’s a must-read. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is the most valuable marketing book you’ll ever buy.

In fact, I’m betting that you are breaking most of these laws right now. Why? Because nearly every business breaks them. Except for the incredibly successful ones.

These laws are critical to the survival of your business. If you learn nothing else about marketing, it needs to be these 22 laws.

In marketing (and business) there are volumes of best practices, principles, and methods. But there are very few iron-clad laws. Well, here they are.

Since it’ll take some time for the book to arrive at your doorstep, I’m going to get right to the good stuff for you. I’ve compiled a rapid-fire list below with brief explanations on each law.

Don’t just skim this list and think to yourself that you’ve gained an understanding of how they work. You owe it to yourself to completely internalize them. And the best way to do this is by reading the book. Since it weighs in at a speedy 134 pages, you’ll breeze right through it and have all the insight you need to strengthen your business for the long-term.

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

1. It’s better to be first than it is to be better.

The business with the largest market share is usually the business that got there first. Being first in a market is the single greatest advantage you’ll ever have for your business.

2. If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.

Rarely will you have the opportunity to be first. So when you’re not, just create a new category. Instead of trying to beat Facebook as a social media site, be the social media site for moms.

3. It’s better to be first in the mind than it is to be first in the marketplace.

Being first to market is only valuable if it helps you to be first in the prospect’s mind. It doesn’t matter if you’re first if no one knows about you.

4. Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perceptions.

Whether or not you have the best product is irrelevant. Your customers need to perceive that you have the best product. This is usually accomplished by being first.

5. The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospects mind.

Pick a single word or phrase to dominate. Google owns search. Fedex owns overnight. Amazon owns online shopping. Focus all of your efforts on a single word and neglect everything else.

6. Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect’s mind.

You’ll never succeed if you go after the same word as a competitor. They got to it first.

7. The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder.

You’ll need to use different strategies depending on when you enter the market. If you’re second or third, customers will only listen to information that’s consistent with that placement. Dell can’t claim to have “America’s favorite tablet” because Apple already dominates that space.

8. In the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race.

When a new market forms, there’s countless competitors. Over time, those competitors will consolidate into just two companies.

9. If you’re shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader.

To secure second place in a market, figure out the main benefit the market leader provides. Then provide the opposite. If you try to copy the leader, you will fail.

10. Over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories.

As a category evolves, it will break into multiple categories. First there were personal computers. Then desktops, laptops, work stations, tablets, etc. Each fragment will have it’s own market leader. Expect fragmentation. Since being first is exceptionally hard, look for fragmentation and build a new category (the second law).

11. Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time.

Short term profits usually produce long term losses. Run too many discounts and you’ll train your customers to only buy discounted products from you. Be careful when maximizing for the short term.

12. There’s an irresistible pressure to extend the equity of the brand.

You’ll feel constant pressure to expand your brand into new products. This rarely works. Be very careful about expansion and make sure you don’t dilute the focus on your core product.

13. You have to give up something in order to get something.

One of the easiest ways to super-charge your chances of success is doing less. Carry fewer products, narrow your target market, or reduce your service offering to only the most profitable. If you try to do everything, you’ll end up with nothing.

14. For every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute.

If a competitor already owns a word, secure second place by going after the opposite word. Instead of building your company on “intense,” build it on “comforting.” This opposite word probably won’t be the most valuable word in the market (the leader already owns it). But you will be able to defend your position in second place.

15. When you admit a negative, the customer will give you a positive.

Negative statements about yourself are immediately accepted as truth. Positive statements are approached with skepticism. So if you start with a negative statement about your product and then turn that attribute into a positive, more people will believe your positive statement.

16. In each situation, only one move will produce substantial results.

Your competitor usually has a single weakness. Focus exclusively on that weakness.

17. Unless you write your competitor’s plans, you can’t predict the future.

Be careful with market research. New products and markets are impossible to predict. Make your business flexible so it can handle unforeseen changes.

18. Success often leads to arrogance and arrogance to failure.

As you become successful, you’ll overstate your capabilities and assume your brand can do any product. This is a mistake. Continue to heed the laws of marketing.

19. Failure is to be expected and accepted.

Recognize your failure early and cut your losses.

20. The situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press.

Hype rarely predicts actual market revolutions. Real change sneaks up on you in the middle of the night.

21. Successful programs are not built on fads, they’re built on trends.

Avoid chasing fads, look for long-term trends to build your business on. If demand is explosive early on, it’s probably a fad that will come crashing back down. Trends build slowly over time.

22. Without adequate funding, an idea won’t get off the ground.

To properly test any new idea, you’ll need funding. The fastest, most effective way to sell a new product is to front-load the investment to find out what works.

That’s it, all 22 immutable laws of marketing.

Like I already said, you definitely want to pick up the book and go through them yourself. By reading the book, you’ll understand these concepts at a much deeper level than you do right now. This will improve your ability to build your business within these laws and take your business to the next level.

Get it from Amazon here.

Everything You Know About Sales is Wrong

November 6, 2011 By Lars Lofgren Leave a Comment

Most business owners HATE sales. And for good reason. When most people think of sales, images of the Boiler Room or used car salesmen come to mind. This is the hard sell, a high pressure routine designed to sell product without any regard to the actual needs of the customer.

This is not the best way to sell.

If you’re looking to create a devout following and delight your customers, you won’t get very far with the hard sell. The entire way you think about selling needs to change.

Instead of focusing on closing the sale, you’ll want to look for excuses to not sell your prospect.

That’s right, you want to find a reason for your prospect to go elsewhere.

This sounds ludicrous. And it is. But it works wonders.

Put the Prospect First

Your entire focus during the close (and all marketing or sales) needs to be figuring out how to provide an extraordinary amount of value to every person you do business with. In other words, you want to filter your prospects to make sure you can make them incredibly happy.

When you only do business with customers that are practically guaranteed to love your product or service, you’ll drastically increase word of mouth which is one of the three engines of sustainable growth.

Granted, you will lose revenue in the short term as you turn away some prospects. But you’ll make more than you could have possibly imagined in the long run as your customers evangelize your brand.

This will also free up your time and allow you to focus on the small percentage of your customers that contribute significantly to your bottom line. Remember: 20% of your customers account for 80% of your revenue. And when you focus on your best customers, you can also figure out how to find more of them which will grow your business substantially.

Reasons to Turn Prospects Away

First and foremost, find out if they’re looking for a solution that you can provide. Ask them the following questions:

  1. What’s your primary goal with _____? (Fill in the blank with the general service you provide like fitness, marketing, accounting, etc).
  2. Where do you want to be 3 months from now?
  3. If you achieved X, what would that mean to you?

These three questions will give you an excellent idea of whether or not you can genuinely help your prospect. Feel free to ask followup questions to really dive into their goals and aspirations. The best salespeople listen more than they talk.

Once you’ve determined that you can help them achieve their goals, you’ll need to make sure they’re able to purchase your product. Ask them what their budget is and when they would like to start. If they don’t have the cash on hand and aren’t willing to start right now, turn them away. Then offer to get back in touch with them when the timing is better.

How to Turn Prospects Away

If you discover that you won’t be able to help a prospect, don’t just bail on them. You want to point them in the right direction so they can still find what they’re looking for.

Know the best players in your industry that go after slightly different target markets than you (different types of customers, different price points, different specialties, etc). This will allow you to give amazing referrals to people that aren’t your ideal customer.

And when these prospects find everything they were looking for, they’re going to remember you. They’ll recommend you to their friends because they have a really clear idea of what you do and also know that you’re as honest as it gets.

What if you don’t have many customers and need every dollar you can muster just to keep the lights on?

If you’re just starting a business, you won’t have the luxury of turning away a few customers. This is completely fine. In fact, you probably don’t have a great vision of what your value offering is or who your most valuable customers are. This means you need to be doing a lot of testing, getting to know a lot of customers, and going after every sale you can.

Even if you need every sale and they aren’t your ideal customer, you still need to make sure that you’re providing them a great deal of value.

Once you’ve figured out what your target market is, how you want to differentiate your product, and what your customers care about the most, you’ll have enough revenue to turn away some prospects.

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