Lies Start-Ups Tell Themselves to Avoid Marketing: A No Bullsh*t Guide for PH. D. S, Lab Rats, Suits, and Entrepreneurs by Sandra Holtzman, Jean Kondek

From the Publisher

Lies Start-ups Tell Themselves to Avoid Marketing uses the tough love approach to steer you clear of the pitfalls and self-deceptions that have been the undoing of many when confronted with the harsh realities of today's marketplace. Sandra Holtzman and Jean Kondek employ their combined 40+ years' worth of marketing savvy to cut through ail the usual malarkey-and, let's face it, bullsh@#*-to give you a streamlined approach to successfully launching a product, service, or company. Better than a handbook, Lies Start-ups Tell Themselves provides 10 fast-track, step-by-step chapters for planning and implementing a successful marketing program that you can get started on Today.

The writing is clear and concise, breaking down concepts into bite-sized, easy to grasp nuggets for today's busy audience. Moreover, each chapter is stand-alone and immediately actionable. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the value of a well thought out marketing program. But carving your niche in the marketplace can be a daunting task. Lies Start-ups Tell Themselves to Avoid Marketing guides you through the pitfalls and challenges to a successful start-up or product launch.

About the Author:
Sandra Holtzman a Madison Avenue copywriter, became a marketing manager and founded Holtzman Communications, LLC in 1997

About the Author:
Jean Kondek taught marketing in her local community college and creative thinking at the School of Visual Arts in New York City

Product Details

• ISBN: 159079107X
  
• ISBN-13: 9781590791073
• Format: Hardcover, 114pp
• Publisher: Select Books, Incorporated
• Pub. Date: March 2007
• Sales Rank: 445,694

• Table of Contents
• Read a Sample Chapter

Table of Contents

Read a Sample Chapter

If I Build It, They Will Come

"First, create value. Next identify the highest probability customers. Finally, find the most cost-effective (with the emphasis on 'effective') way to get your message across."

Marv Goldschmidtt, Serial entrepreneur who launched 1-2-3 for Lotus

Let's talk about this. Even if your product, concept, or idea is wonderful, how can you be sure they will buy it?

Of course they will, you say. "I'm a scientist, I know. This is great science. This is going to make everyone's life easier. It's a unique solution that's going to save time, money, and resources."

Let's say that's all true. How will your prospective buyers learn about the existence of your product?

We need to be clear here. Lab researchers, CEOs, and other decision makers are not sitting around waiting for your product to show up. They're too busy solving problems with the technology they have today. They may be eager to use your product once they know about it, but how will they learn about it? This is the critical problem that marketing solves. It's true for every new product or service, whether it's intended for the scientist in the lab or the average working Joe.

Another critical issue is timing. If your ideal customer is a company, how fast will it be able to set aside a budget to purchase your product? And how long is its approval process for purchasing? Your ideal purchaser may be a company whose budgets are approved based on spending plans submitted about a year in advance. Are you prepared to wait? Can you afford to wait?

Do your marketing homework, and you shouldn't need to wait at all. This applies to any product or service.

TRUTH #1: You aren't waiting for someone else's product, so why should they be waiting for yours?

Until you lay the marketing groundwork for your product's introduction (the "launch," as it's called in the communications business), no one will know it's there. It is important to understand the process of marketing-and the purchasing process of your potential customers-even though both may be outside your area of expertise.

Here's an example: You take vitamins. One day at the store you notice that among the products from familiar names-Twin Labs, Kal, Solgar, the house brand-there's a new brand of vitamin. You read the label and see that it has better ingredients. But you've never heard of the brand and know nothing about the company. So, though you've been exposed to a product that sounds a lot better, you buy the same old thing. There's a simple reason for this: You weren't prepared for it. You know nothing about the vitamin or company that makes it, it hasn't been recommended in any way, no one you know uses it, you haven't read or seen ads about it, and it may even cost more. It's sitting on the shelf, and that's what happens if you "build it" but don't prepare the purchasing environment. The product just sits there. That is, if you're lucky enough to get a distributor or retailer to carry it.

Though this example is from consumer marketing, the same scenario happens in any marketing environment.

It's true even if you're building a unique science that will increase the number of XYZ molecules, making them cheaper and of a higher quality (more pure) than anything available. It's equally true if you're opening a new candy store. Your entry into the marketplace has to be announced. Awareness and credibility need to be established to reach profitability as quickly as possible.

So, what have you done to build awareness and credibility for your product or business?

How are you going to reach out to your customers? Do you know who all your potential customers are? Really? If you're selling directly to your customer, how many sales calls do you think it takes to get one appointment? How many appointments do you think it takes to get one sale?

Let's put it another way. How many blind vendor calls do you accept each day? Maybe you're going to write your prospects a letter of introduction. How much unsolicited mail do you get each day? How much of it do you pay attention to?

Maybe you're going to network at trade shows. How much time do you have to play hit and miss with the 200 business cards you will surely collect? More importantly, where is the best place to put your energy? Aren't you more valuable managing your business and doing what only you can do to grow and enhance your company's value?

Let's face it: Your value to your company is in your head, not in selling your product and your business, one phone call, one business card, one letter at a time.

CRITICAL TAKEAWAY: Even if you've been talking up your product or idea for years, the purchasing environment that needs to be developed has not yet been created. That's what marketing does. It creates a desire or pressure to fulfill an existing need for a product like yours. It articulates the need for your product. This, in turn, initiates a whole chain of events focused on purchasing your product to fulfill that need.

LESSON #1: Building Your Market-The Adopter Pyramid

It's time to understand the dynamics of the arena you are about to enter. Not all of your customers think alike or have the same mindset. The Adopter pyramid (shown here) depicts the different mindsets that exist in your market and how they relate to each other. It helps to explain why not everyone in your market will be interested in your product for the same reason or at the same time even if they need it.

Early Adopters

At the top of the pyramid is the critical group of people who will be immediately attuned to your product and willing to purchase or use it immediately. We call these people Early Adopters.

In the consumer world, they are often the first people on your block with the latest gadget. They can't wait to show it to you and explain how it works. You may even call on these neighborhood experts when you are ready to purchase new technology. You rely on them to tell you what brand to buy, where to get it, how to assemble it, and so on.

This scenario is equally true in the scientific/technology community.

Early Adopters are continually searching for new and sexy technologies to use in their own work. When they take an interest in your technology, they give it immediate credibility. They have the ears of others who might be interested in new technologies, such as corporate CEOs and investors. Because they are seen as authorities, they often can obtain the funding needed to purchase and integrate your technology into their existing processes. In this way, they help you build your product's credibility as they help you build your market.

An added bonus is that Early Adopters frequently find new applications or reasons for your product you never considered, and they can find the financing to develop those new applications. Reaching the Early Adopters is the first and most economical step to reaching people who will give you credibility, providing evidence that your idea or product works in the real world.

Every product or service has its Early Adopters. You see them when a trendy new restaurant opens. You see them when hybrid cars are introduced. And they're visible when new fashions are for sale.

The pyramid shows that Early Adopters are the smallest market. They are, therefore, the most economical to reach. Like the guy in your neighborhood with all the latest gadgets, they are willing to take the risk with something new. In short, they become the authorities, the trend-setters that introduce your product and its applications to the next group of Adopters.

We call this next group the Professional Adopters.

Professional Adopters

Professional Adopters are equally capable of understanding your product and are always looking for a competitive advantage. They communicate with Early Adopters on a regular basis, hunting for news and information on the latest thing in their area of interest. Professional Adopters actually seek out Early Adopters, who then influence them to follow their lead.

So, after the Early Adopters, the Professional Adopters are the most likely to pick up your product and use it. However, this second tier of users is larger, which means you'll need to spend more to reach and convert them from their existing technology solutions.

Professional Adopters represent a wider base of potential users and influencers. If yours is a technology or business product, Professional Adopters are more likely to adopt it across departments and whole corporations. This is the market from which you are likely to see your first significant profits. The same is true for consumer products. It represents the point at which your product or business enters the mainstream and begins achieving legitimacy.

This legitimacy now makes it OK for the third group of Adopters to step up to the counter.

General Adopters

We call this third group General Adopters. They tend to be much more cautious about new trends. They may have significant budget constraints, which encourage them to have a "wait and see" attitude, especially toward new technologies. No one in this group wants to recommend a new technology that might fail, cost their company money, and perhaps cost them their job. Nor do they want to recommend a restaurant or fashion item that hasn't been fully proven by others. They depend on the Professional Adopters for information on proven new trends.

By the time General Adopters pick up your technology, it will have a few gray hairs on it. However, they are a very large market. In most cases this is the market that will generate your most significant revenues. Think of them as your general use market.

They, in turn, influence the Latent Adopter market.

Latent Adopters

Latent Adopters adopt your idea long after it has become the standard. In fact, this group often adopts it after the Early Adopters have thrown it out. Latent Adopters are a mixed bag. If businesses are your customers, Latent Adopters can be large, slow-moving companies, start-ups with small budgets, or new under-funded divisions. In the case of consumers, they can be those who hate change, have less to spend, or only buy when forced.

The plus side? Latent Adopters are a larger market, and when they buy, they buy in volume. The minus side? You have to stay in business long enough for them to catch up. If you're a typical entrepreneur you may not even own the company anymore by the time these guys buy. (You may want to make provisions for them in your exit strategy.).

Strategizing Your Market

So, let's sum up.

The most economical way to begin selling your product is to start with the Early Adopters. They are the smallest group, so your message can be more focused. They have a similar mindset to yours, and they'll look at your product or business and understand the need it fulfills immediately.

Early Adopters are the most influential group on the pyramid. Reaching them requires the least amount of money and time; however, you'll have to be innovative in getting your message to them because they are not found in traditional trade and business venues.

You can't lie or over-promise to Early Adopters. If your product has problems, you must address them. Early Adopters almost always work around problems, which is especially true in technology where they expect to find bugs. If your product has drawbacks, own up to them. If you don't, rest assured someone will find them, and the result will be bad publicity. Remember that all segments of your market will speak to each other and find out the truth.

Even with kinks, your product needs to deliver the first time out. If it doesn't, you will have lost a significant opportunity, since this same group of positive influencers can influence others negatively. This group is not concerned about risk. They are willing to hear an exciting message, and they are driven to find new technologies that pique their interest with little regard for return on investment (ROI), profitability, or risk.

The next most economical group to reach is Professional Adopters.

You need a sexy message for them. This audience is concerned with ROI, profitability, and risk. Because Professional Adopters are a larger group than Early Adopters, they will cost more to reach, and your message will have to be seen in more venues. You will face more competition from others wanting to reach the same audience. Likewise, they will have more demands on their time, attention, budget, etc.

By the time you get to the General Adopters, your product should have a track record and be less risky to adopt.

Now, your sexy message needs more. It needs to have "permission to believe" added to it in the form of usage examples by respected groups like the Professional Adopters. And you have to turn up the volume of your message to break through the marketplace clutter. This entails more expense. You have to fight this audience's inertia and its resistance to change. They will often agree with you that your product is great and yet still resist.

Competitors will become a significant factor. They may have entered your marketplace with "me-too" products, so your marketing efforts will need to be more intense to make your product stand out from the clutter caused by the competition. Here, your product is the most vulnerable because the competition can take over the whole market. You have paved the way for them to do that by being first.

However, most of your profit will come from the General Adopters. It's also the group with the most resistance to your sales message, since they are already financially, emotionally, and politically invested in existing technologies.

Now we come to the Latent Adopters.

By the time they purchase your product, they are so far behind the curve that they have to buy it just to keep up with the industry. They have the most inertia. Though the risk factor for your product has virtually disappeared, this group is driven by a different kind of risk: the risk of being left behind and not being able to utilize new technologies. Think of it as not upgrading your computer often enough. Suddenly, you can't interface with others as you used to.

CRITICAL TAKEAWAY: Though all of these markets speak to and influence each other, they do not do this in a vacuum. You must constantly be sending your message into the pyramid to reinforce what they are hearing on the inside.

A Note of Caution for Being First

The sad fact is that being first to market does not necessarily mean you will win the market. There's a saying, "First to market, first to fail." Apple's Newton is a perfect example of this theory.

First developed to be a new form of personal computing, the Newton offered handwriting recognition, a notepad for input, a new way of programming, and a new kind of operating system in one handheld device. As with many innovations, all of its advances offered their own set of problems that programmers and users had to overcome. Nevertheless, it was unique, and it opened up a category that would be called the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). The Newton was introduced in proper order to Early Adopters who talked it up. And it was supported by all the marketing drama we have come to expect from an Apple product launch. Yet in spite of its revolutionary nature and all the buzz surrounding it, the Newton failed to grab hold.

Though many reasons existed for the failure, three were most critical. The Newton's cost was too high for its market. Though it was a handheld device, it failed the "pocket test" (it didn't fit into the user's pocket). Most importantly, the Newton's handwriting recognition did not live up to its hype.

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from Lies Start-Ups Tell Themselves to Avoid Marketing by Sandra Holtzman Jean Kondek Copyright © 2007 by Sandra Holtzman and Jean Kondek. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---