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Content Marketing Case Study: How Dave Gorman Discovered a Brilliant Technique for Coming Up With Interesting Ideas

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 24th, 2012.

Like many other people, my primary marketing strategy is to produce valuable content to showcase my expertise and build relationships with potential clients long before we ever meet.

And whether it's blog posts, longer articles, podcasts or videos – the core challenge for anyone following such a content strategy is coming up with interesting stuff to “write about”.

In fact, the number one reason I hear from people who want to get into blogging or content marketing but have struggled to do so is that they just can't imagine producing enough interesting material. Or they've tried and then run out of steam.

Well, let me introduce you to Dave Gorman.

Dave's a comedian based here in the UK. He started his career fairly gently by writing for established acts, and his first show at the Edinburgh Fringe “Reasons to be Cheerful” was based on an analysis of whether the items mentioned in the Ian Dury song “Reasons to be Cheerful #3” actually were reasons to be cheerful.

So far, all pretty standard.

But then Gorman hit on a brilliant idea which would propel him towards 4 bestselling books, sellout live shows and his own TV series.

And it's one we can all use ourselves.

The simple idea was that instead of trying to think of interesting things to write about for his act, he would do interesting things – and then write about those.

It turns out that people are far more interested in the weird or exciting things you've done that in the weird or exciting things you've just thought about.

So Gorman's 1999 Fringe show was called “Dave Gorman's Better World” and was created by him writing thousands of anonymous letters to local newspapers asking for suggestions from the public on how to create a better world – and testing them out to see if they worked.

His next wheeze was triggered by spotting that an assistant manager at small Scottish football team East Fife had the same name as him. So he drove 450 miles to meet him and photograph the event. He then set about meeting another 53 Dave Gormans across the world (one for every card in a pack of cards plus the jokers apparently). He chronicled his adventures meeting these Dave Gormans in the book and TV show “Are You Dave Gorman?”.

Next, he resolved to live his life according to a literal interpretation of his horoscope each day. Turned out pretty well when he bet everything he had on rank outsider Ian Woosnam (who he shared a birthday with) winning the Dubai Classic golf tournament (which, of course, he travelled to see) and won.

After that, he started his “Googlewhack Adventure” when he became obsessed by finding google search phrases with only one result – and then travelling the world to find the person behind that single result. The result for him was another bestselling book and TV show.

More recently, he travelled America avoiding all corporate outlets and using only family owned hotels, restaurants and petrol (gas) stations. “America Unchained” was again a bestseller.

Then he challenged the public to take him on at any game of their choice – from poker to darts to Khett to Cluedo to Kubb. And of course, he travelled to play them and chronicled his adventures in yet another besteller.

So how can we harness this approach for ourselves?

The key is that people are more interested in what you've done than what you think.

What I mean by that is that it's great to have new ideas, theories about your field, predictions for the future.

But what really gets people hooked is hearing about practical experiences.

You can cull those from your own personal experience. Or you can interview others or create case studies.

Or you can do what Dave Gorman did: go out and do something interesting.

You recommend a particular approach to leadership, for example? Use it yourself. Get your clients to use it and record the outcomes. Video interview them afterwards. Get them to chronicle their experiences.

You show people how to get more traffic to their website? Create a live case study from scratch. Build a website, put some content on it, follow your traffic strategies and record the results.

In my case, I test out the marketing strategies I recommend myself. A lot of what you see on my blog is a result of my own experiments (particularly with online marketing) to see what works and what doesn't.

You can do the same.

You want inspiration? Need something interesting to write about?

Then do something interesting.

———-

For a whole bunch more sources of inspiration for blog posts, emails and other content, check out my articles on 21 Sources of Inspiration for Blog Posts and Emails.

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Strategy

The Twin Track Strategy For Startup Professional Firms

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 21st, 2012.

One of the stories I hear the most often from struggling solo professionals or small firms is that they did well for a couple of years after starting up and then just kind of plateaued.

Usually what's happened is that work came in easily in the early days. Ex clients and colleagues heard they were now out on their own and sent work their way. They did a good job and got repeat business and a few referrals.

But eventually, they ran out of steam. The close circle of people who knew them well enough to feel confident sending work to them ran dry or was hit by recession, retirement or other factors.

Sometimes the steam runs out after 12 months. Sometimes after 18 months. Sometimes it can be as long as 2 or 3 years.

But eventually it will run out, unless you start actively marketing yourself and widening your network.

Clients buy for meany reasons. With clients who know you well, who like you, and who trust you and your capabilities, you don't have to do much active marketing or selling to them.

But this can trap you into complacency.

You see, the potential clients who don't know you so well – the ones outside your close circle – they see a different picture.

They don't have that history with you. That experience that tells them you're a safe pair of hands. So they look for external indicators that you'd be a good choice to work with them.

Are you a recognised leader in your field? If they google your name do they see lots of articles where you share your expertise? Are you presenting on your topic frequently? Can they find lots of testimonials saying what a great job you did? Does your website inspire them that you know the area they need help in like the back of your hand?

For most professionals who've been getting all their work from existing relationships and referrals, the answer is usually no.

Many of them are incredibly talented – but they've never had to showcase that talent to the world before. The clients who hired them already knew they were good.

And it takes time to build your reputation. To build your website and fill it with content. To build a portfolio of testimonials, published articles and successful speaking engagements.

So you need to start on this early.

When you first start up the majority of your business is likely to come from people who already know you. Ex clients and referrals. You need to focus and actively work these channels.

But you also need to adopt a parallel strategy of building your authority in your field. Writing, blogging, speaking. These are the things that will bring clients to you in the future and prove your capabilities for people who don't already know you.

In know this from my own personal experience. I went through the exact same pattern with the business from ex clients and colleagues largely drying up after a year or so.

But thankfully (and I have to admit, somewhat luckily as I'd done it out of interest rather than as a deliberate strategy) I'd been writing and blogging for over 12 months by the time that happened and was beginning to bring in leads via my website.

If you're just starting your own business make sure you do something similar. Don't rely on people who already know how great you are to keep you in business forever. You need to start working on building your authority and market position from day 1.

———-
Image by the real kam75

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More Clients Memorandum

Sell more by selling less

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 8th, 2012.

Something for you to ponder this morning…

“People buy based on emotion”.

You've probably heard that before.

Like me, your experience probably tells you it's true too.

But what can you actually do about it? How can you harness emotion to help you market and sell your services better and get more clients?

Let me ask you this:

When was the last time you were moved to tears by a powerpoint presentation?

Or inspired by a list of benefits or a business case?

Yeah – pretty much never.

But what has moved you, harnessed your emotions recently?

How about a film, a book or a play?

That's much more likely.

The difference? Films, books and plays are about stories. Stories with real human characters we can empathise with. Heroes we can cheer. Villains we can boo. Plucky orphans we can root for and unsuspecting victims we can be frightened for.

It turns out that the ability to empathise is hardwired into our brains. Thanks to something called “mirror neurons”, when we see a big nasty spider crawling up someone's arm our own flesh creeps, for example.

But we don't have to see things in real life to empathise. We can read or hear stories and it can evoke deep emotions and visceral reactions.

And that's the secret of how to help your clients “buy on emotion”.

Instead of pounding them with facts and figures to illustrate your point, tell them a story. Preferably with one of your previous clients cast as the hero.

Tell them how (with your help implied, of course) they overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles to win the day. How they saved their company from ruin. Or found that great new career that allowed them to lead a fulfilling life. Or clawed back that tax overpayment despite the tax man's best efforts to thwart them.

When I was with Gemini Consulting in the 90s we differentiated ourselves from typical “vendors” in sales meetings by sharing stories of client successes rather than boasting about features and benefits or our USP. And it powered our growth for many years.

You can do it too. Think back to some of your client successes and the challenges you helped them overcome. Think of the ones similar to the challenges your future clients are likely to face and construct a handful of little stories.

You can then use them face-to-face in sales meetings – or in your marketing.

They'll have a powerful effect, I promise you. Less selling, but more sales.

(Of course, you've got to use powerful techniques like these ethically. With great power comes great responsibility, as Ben Parker told young Peter).

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Strategy

“How I Escaped My Certain Fate” – A Comedian’s Lesson In Niche Marketing

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 2nd, 2012.

Over the holidays I've been reading comedian Stewart Lee's How I Escaped My Certain Fate which chronicles his rise, fall and rise again in the world of stand up comedy.

As well as being a pretty funny book, it contains a huge marketing lesson for all of us.

Lee was part of double act Lee and Herring who had a relatively successful show on the BBC for a couple of years (relatively successful in the sense that it was my favourite programme and lasted a couple of series). Despite that, when he returned to the stand-up circuit he struggled.

In essence, his nonchalant delivery, choice of material and complex routines meant that he didn't have the mass appeal of more populist comedians of the era. Despite his TV success and respect from “those in the know” (Ricky Gervais cited him as his favourite comedian, for example), he simply couldn't get enough people turning up to his gigs to make money from them. So he retired from stand up in 2000.

After achieving critical (though again, not huge monetary) success as the writer of Jerry Springer The Opera, he returned to stand up in 2004 – prompted partly by being accused of copying Gervais who had actually been influenced by him.

This time, things were different.

Instead of trying to make a success of the mainstream circuit, he took advice from comedy poet John Hegley who told him “you only need a few thousand fans. And if they all give you ten pounds a year, you're away” (which, of course, is a version of Kevin Kelly's “Thousand True Fans” idea).

He wasn't particularly ambitious. He just wanted to do what he loved doing and, in his words, “survive”.

Rather than trying to get booked in big venues and trying to attract large mainstream audiences, he got his booker to focus on smaller locations with audiences who would be be open to his type of humour.

“Instead of going on for guaranteed fees in empty council venues and failing to build an audience, or boring the shit out of Friday night punters who just wanted to have some fun between work and the disco, I needed to be in the dedicated comedy clubs that had flourished in my absence from the circuit, playing for smaller fees to smaller crowds composed of people that would get it and would come back next time with a friend”.

His shows were promoted by “…letting nerds all over the land know about your work via these newfangled social networking sites…”.

He took inspiration from the obscure Jazz musicians he loved and how they ran their affairs “direct marketing their work to sustainably farmed fan bases”.

And it worked.

Audiences of 20 to 30 became 50 to 60 became 100 to 200 and eventually up to 500 to 600.

A TV series followed which won him best comedy programme and best male comedian at last year's British Comedy Awards. He's currently mid way through a 4 month daily run at the Leicester Square Theatre before heading out on tour again.

The lesson for all of us?

Most of us and our businesses are more like a Stewart Lee than a Michael McIntyre or a John Bishop.

We're never going to have the widespread appeal to fill stadiums with the average man on the street. But we should be able to find a few thousand people who love what we do.

And that's enough.

If we can find them. If we can connect with them and inspire them to hire us or pay us for something. If they become big enough fans to “bring their friends”.

Then we've got very successful business.

And the way to do it is the same way Lee did it. Direct marketing to a targeted fan base – rather than trying to please a mass audience.

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