UnMarketing. Stratten Alison

      Cover image: © iStock.com/Tomasz Pietryszek

      Cover design: Michael J. Freeland

      This book is printed on acid-free paper.

      Copyright © 2017 by Scott Stratten and Alison Stratten. All rights reserved.

      Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

      Published simultaneously in Canada

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750–8400, fax (978) 646–8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748–6011, fax (201) 748–6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

      Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.

      For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762–2974, outside the United States at (317) 572–3993, or fax (317) 572–4002.

      Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

      ISBN 978-1-119-33500-9 (cloth)

      ISBN 978-1-119-33602-0 (ePDF)

      ISBN 978-1-119-33603-7 (ePub)

      INTRODUCTION

      “Good afternoon!”

      It was the start of an exchange that would set off a chain of events and would shift our opinion of a billion-dollar establishment with one simple act. Let us explain. It's no secret we “enjoy” Las Vegas. After going there 15 times in the past four years, we consider ourselves unofficial tour guides and residents of Sin City.

      A place that you definitely cannot miss on the strip is the Wynn – very fancy, very pretty, and very expensive. Because the place cost $2.7 billion to build, we assume selling 99-cent hot dogs isn't going to make that money back. We really didn't care about the Wynn – not in a negative way, it just wasn't on our radar. After getting comfortable staying at MGM Grand, the Venetian, and other places, we didn't really see a need to change, until that Saturday.

      We had a meeting at the Wynn during the BlogWorld conference. We strolled in through the majestic doors. As soon as we walked in, we spotted a man (Wes) using a large carpet-cleaning machine. He wasn't in our way, so we really thought nothing of it, but he thought differently. He stopped what he was doing. He looked up and smiled. Not one of those “it's part of my job to smile” ones, but a genuine, warm, authentic smile. And then he said, “Good afternoon, and welcome to the Wynn, please enjoy your day,” all the while looking us right in the eye, like it was his mission to ensure that we knew he meant business.

      His welcome changed our entire perception of the Wynn. Almost $3 billion went into making this mega-casino resort, and it was one guy who made us want to stay there. He made us want to tell the world about it – made us want to blog about it. The carpet-cleaning dude. We have passed hundreds of people cleaning in casinos in Vegas, but we've rarely been given eye contact, and not once felt welcomed. As a matter of fact, we have never, ever been greeted like that by anyone in Vegas. It is wonderful and sad at the same time. This gentleman, who made us feel welcome at his place of employment, was not only exceptional, but he was extremely rare.

      Casinos (and probably most of you in business) all have the same stuff for the most part. All accountants offer accounting services, all coffee joints serve coffee, and all five-star resorts have fancy smells, spas, and pretty patterns. But only one resort has Wes.

      Marketing is not a task.

      Marketing is not a department.

      Marketing is not a job.

      Marketing happens every time you engage (or not) with your past, present, and potential customers. UnMarketing also takes it one step further – it is any time anyone talks about your company. Word of mouth is not a project or a viral marketing ploy. The mouths are already moving. You need to decide if you want to be a part of the conversation, which is why we call it UnMarketing – the ability to engage with your market. Whether you employ thousands or are a one-person show, you are always UnMarketing. It's what comes naturally, not being forced to do things that make you ill. 1 It's authentic, it's personal, and it's the way to build lifelong fans, relationships, and customers.

      If you believe business is built on relationships, make building them your business.

      That's the one line that you need to believe to UnMarket. If you don't believe that, return the book. Trash-talk us online.2 Tell us that cold-calling is a great tool if you know how to do it right. Just put the book down.

      If you don't believe that your business is to build relationships, then tell us that the foundations of some of the greatest businesses in the world were built through cold-calling. What worked decades ago does not work as well today, if at all. Getting a 0.2 percent return on your direct mail piece isn't cutting it anymore. Placing an ad multiple times in a newspaper3 because “people have to see something seven times before acting” is a crock.4 You need to return this book if you say, “I don't have time to build relationships online!” and yet will drive 45 minutes to a networking event, stay three hours, and drive 45 minutes back home.

      You need to read this book if you've had enough of the old-school ways of marketing and want to believe there is a better way. You are the person who wants to believe that if you are your authentic self, you have no competition. That even though you may have thousands of providers in your industry to compete with, you bring unique things to the table (which you do).

      Let's focus on building relationships and still building a business instead of throwing aside those who don't want to buy (Buy or Good-bye) and build lifelong relationships and a profitable lifelong business, today. Being authentic