The Slow Build

Marketing in the Age of Less

Here's what Seth Godin thinks: "You can no longer market to the anonymous masses. They're not anonymous and they're not masses. You can only market to people who are willing participants."

What if he's right?

Even if he isn't, in our Age of Less, who has mass marketing money anyway?

What if you found 10 people who love your show and you did something so extraordinary, so remarkable for each of them that they would feel compelled to talk about you?

Here's the thing: Listeners aren't expecting you to do anything at all with them. They're not expecting anything personal, so the bar isn't set too high to be reachable.

You just need to surprise and delight them enough to cause them to talk about the unexpected experience they had with you to a few of their friends and co-workers.

I'm not talking about taking 10 listeners to lunch.

I'm talking about providing an experience for 10 separate people that will be amazing enough to talk about, and doing it for 10 different people every week, for a year.

You have entrée to a world they don't.

You can get them backstage to meet artists and authors and local celebrities.

You might be able to get them into the owners box for an NFL game, or be a part of the audience for a taping of their favorite TV show.

You won't know what it is until you starting talking to them, until you begin a relationship.

That's the point.

Start building relationships with individual listeners. See it as part of your job, as a way to become irreplaceable, rather than as an inconvenience.

Give each individual something they cannot buy.

Give them a reason to love you.

And watch the word spread...