Bring In The Reliever
OK…your baseball team is tied up with the World Champion Boston Red Sox 3 games to 3. And you’re in the bottom of the eighth inning. Your pitcher’s facing an ace hitter with the bases loaded and the Sox are only 2 runs down.
You make the call to bring in your 23 year old reliever. Talk about pressure cooker. Then you put your arm around his shoulders and give him some seasoned, coaching advice.
“Alright, kid. I know you can do this. We only need one out. Remember…just one out. Nothing else matters. Just get the one out, and we go to the ninth inning ahead 2 runs. Don’t sweat it. You’ve been working your whole life for this moment, and here it is. You can do it. Just one thing…no pitching!”
What?!
You can’t strike out anybody if you don’t pitch the ball. And you certainly can’t win the game. Pitching is the very essence of baseball. Without it there’s no game. No strategy. No winning.
You Need A “Reliever” Too
As chance would have it, though, marketing (especially online) doesn’t rely on “pitching” anymore. You know what I mean. At one time “pitching” your product or service was so vital to a business we even had the term “pitch men”. These were the ace sales guys…the guys who could come into the “game” when the odds were against ‘em and get the “score”…the win, the account, the business.
Nowadays; however, with access to personal computers and the internet, a so-called “average” consumer is armed with way too much information to be “pitched” to. And when he/she starts to feel “pitched”, they simply “click”, and they’re gone. Probably for good.
Good news is: you don’t need “pitching” to win. But you do need to build a relationship with the reader or viewer or listener. There’s a ton of effective ways to do this online. Social media sites are everywhere. Social networking is easy, free, and growing in leaps and bounds. You need to get involved with these “groups”. Find out how and where you can contribute answers and information and even “freebies” in your niche.
Now, You’re The Ace
Once you’re seen as someone who wants to help…someone who genuinely cares about the success of others, they decide for themselves about you and your product. It’s implicit marketing rather than explicit. Suddenly you’ve allowed them to “pitch” themselves. And you didn’t have to coerce, beg, or negotiate.
When you have the attitude of a “getter” it’s much harder to get anyone to give. But when you have the attitude of a “giver”, you often get what you hoped for. Think in terms of how much you can benefit someone else. Not like a what’s-in-it-for-me hard core business tycoon. When someone’s thirsty, you give them a glass of water. You don’t think of ten different ways to sell ‘em the glass.
Not if you care about your future at all.
Get in touch with your market. Use the full potential of the internet to find out what they want, need, and desire…
…then you can win without pitching.
Here’s to staying in the game,
Tags: baseball team, coaching advice, strike out
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