'Common-Sense Marketing'

Admin
  • Home
  • Learn more about…
    • Adopt a “Common-Sense” Marketing Strategy
    • Marketing Strategy
    • You Must Explain What You Sell In Detail
    • Front-End: Back-End marketing
    • Advertising
    • Websites
    • Sales Letters
    • A Successful Sales Letter Example
    • Brochures
  • Free Reports
    • Get Instant Access To Seven Steps to Winning Sales Presentations
    • Get Instant Access To How To Keep Your Customers Reading, Listening, Or Watching Your Sales Message
    • Get Instant Access To How To Avoid Waste In Your Marketing, and Target Only Customers Who Are Capable Of Buying
  • What Our Clients Say
  • Marketing Services
    • Copywriting Service
    • Pay-Per-Click Advertising Management for Facebook and LinkedIn
    • Email Marketing Service
    • Direct Mail Campaign Service
    • Special Report & Guide Writing Service
    • Testimonial Creation Service
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
    • Who Is Richard Lomax
    • Client History
    • Whitelist Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Earnings Disclaimer
    • Terms and Conditions
    • cookie-policy

What F. Scott Fitzgerald Can Teach You About Getting Free Publicity


Posted in Common-Sense Marketing Revealed Articles, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Support
What F. Scott Fitzgerald Can Teach You About Getting Free Publicity

F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, was smart enough to understand and articulate one of the most powerful public relations (PR) techniques ever developed. The technique is “controversy” – getting attention for yourself, your business, or your product or service by focusing on an emotional, important, or timely issue … and taking sides.

 

It works best if your opinion is contentious – that is, if you disagree with the most widely held view. As Fitzgerald put it: “The cleverly expressed opposite of any generally accepted idea is worth a fortune to somebody.”

 

Marketing expert Marcia Yudkin gives us a great example of this principle in action. She writes about Bob Baker, who – with three colleagues in the music business – collaborated on a press release titled “What’s Wrong With American Idol?”

 

“Their press release criticized the popular U.S. talent show for misleading aspiring musicians and the public about what it takes to succeed in music,” says Yudkin. “Baker’s reward for stirring up controversy: five radio interviews that highlighted his status as an expert on careers in music.”

 

So, how can you use this principle in your PR to get media attention?

 


Yudkin suggests you can do it by taking issue with a survey result … disagreeing with a common belief … counteracting a stereotype … championing an underdog … exposing flaws in something assumed to be beneficial … or describing the underside of something popular.

 

Example: When desktop publishing software began selling in large volume, thousands of businesspeople gained the ability to design their own documents. During that time, a graphic design consultant self-published a little book titled The Awful Truth about Desktop Publishing.

 

His premise was that amateurs who use desktop publishing software without proper training in design fundamentals risk producing sloppy, amateurish documents. And the book got him significant publicity, as well as a number of paid speaking engagements.

 

Another variation of this technique is to make a prediction that others disagree with.

 

Financial guru Doug Casey did this in his 1979 best-selling book Crisis Investing. The book, which took the position that the USA was on the brink of financial disaster, was on The New York Times best-seller list for 29 consecutive weeks – taking Doug’s career as a financial editor and advisor to a whole new level.

 

I’ve used this technique myself, though on a more modest scale – and in my case, it was not intentional…

 

In marketing, there are a lot of consultants who make a living selling unsuspecting clients on the hot new technology of the month – even if the technology is unproven and has not generated significant ROIs for any of the consultant’s clients. The consultant, of course, rakes in nice fees by speaking and advising clients on how to jump on this new bandwagon before others get wind of it.

 

Today, that new marketing technology is probably messaging Apps and Bots. But a few years ago, it was Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). And I happily shared my disastrous experiences of paying an ‘expert’ specialist SEO agency to boost my rankings, only to find that many of the ‘vital’ inbound links were from completely irrelevant sites like car repairs, and even goat breeding!

 

What I discovered (or, more accurately, re-discovered, since I had known it but forgotten it), was the corollary to Fitzgerald’s law about controversy being profitable – and I am sure you’ve heard it many times: “Even bad publicity is good publicity.”

 

And it’s true.

 

If you come out on one side of an issue, half the market will revile you. But the other half will think you wise beyond your years, and seek you out so they can do business with a person of your obvious savvy.

 

Should you worry about half the market rejecting you because of your strong controversial opinions? Well, if half think you’re all wet … and half think you walk on water … that’s a 50 percent market share. I’ll take that any day of the week.

 

 

PLEASE NOTE: This article has been adapted from one that originally appeared in https://www.earlytorise.com/what-f-scott-fitzgerald-can-teach-you/

 

P.S. I’m preparing my work schedule for the final two months of the year, so if you’d like, we can jump on the phone together for an hour, and I’ll identify where your weaknesses are, and map out a follow-up strategy that will make BIG improvements to your sales over the coming months and into next year.

 

Simply go here to book your slot in my diary, and tell me a little bit about your business, and your ambitions and goals.

Leave a Reply

Cancel Reply

Would you like…

We 100% respect your email and data privacy.
Your information will never, ever be shared with anyone under any circumstances whatsoever,
and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Recent Posts

  • Will Direct Marketing (vs Brand Marketing) Work For My Business?
  • 7 Tips to Creating Success From the ‘Inside -> Out’
  • What Makes A $1 Billion Dollar Sales Message?
  • What is a ‘Lead Magnet’ And Why Are They Vital To Your Business Success?
  • How To Create Your Strategic Foundation For Ultimate Marketing Success. By Jay L. Abraham. Part 2.
  • How To Create Your Strategic Foundation For Ultimate Marketing Success. By Jay L. Abraham. Part 1.
  • 21 copywriting tips from Clayton Makepeace. Part 3.

Categories

  • Brochures
  • Case Studies
  • Common-Sense Marketing Revealed Articles
  • Copywriting
  • Design
  • Email Marketing
  • Facebook Customer Generation
  • Lead Generation
  • Marketing Plan
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Marketing Support
  • Personal Success & Mindset
  • Sales
  • SEO
  • Social Media
  • Testimonials
  • Websites

Search

Have a question?

If you’re seeking some sound advice to improve your marketing, then take advantage of our 27+ years’ experience helping companies across the UK achieve increased sales revenues and profits.

Join Richard Lomax’s Marketing Support Network, and get all the answers you need for just £1.80 per day!

Still not convinced? Take the tour >>

© 2019 'Richard Lomax & Associates Limited' All Rights Reserved