The 3 C's You Should NEVER Do.

NOTE: This blog has moved to: http://www.HonestOnlineSelling.com

You've heard of the 3 C's of marketing, right? Contact, Connect, Communicate?

How about the 3 C's you should AVOID? I call it: Confuse the Crap out of the Customer. Your company or current employer is likely guilty of the 3C's.

Example: My previous employer (we'll call them RBA - Really Big Agency) shows this diagram (above/right) during client negotiations.


The diagram even has the uber-friendly name 'QueryMatrix'. Sounds like a game in the new TRON Movie.

If that wasn't enough, here's what accompanies the diagram:

"RBA provides innovative solutions within the areas of Digital Content Optimization and Consumer-Initiated Advertising. Our holistic Search Marketing methodology leverages four key strategies to connect your brand to your audience through queries. Each of these strategies corresponds with the intersection of Advertising and Content at the Point-of-Search and Post-Search. The RBA QueryMatrix helps marketers drive more profit from each Search Query by closing the loop from awareness to consideration to engagement to conversion. Click on each arrow to learn more about our Query Marketing Solutions.


Congratulations, You’ve Found RBA."

No: Congratulations, You've Confused the Crap Out of me.

What's wrong here?

Any agency - any company - must communicate the value of their service to their customer clearly and concisely.

Since I've left the agency world (last February), I've seen how ridiculous companies like RBA must look. They try too hard to be 'classy' (there's another 'C' word) when describing what they do. Their executives spend weeks huddled in their conference rooms, pontificating and blowing a lot of hot air around deciding what THEY THINK their customer thinks about them.

The end result? Lots of gobbledy-gook and 4-color diagrams. And a Customer Confused as Crap. Do customers REALLY want to "close the loop from awareness to consideration to engagment." Or do they just need to, um, I dunno, MAKE MORE MONEY?

So what can YOU do that's different?

Whether you sell widgets or marketing programs, DO THE OPPOSITE to your clients: Express your value to customers in 1 sentence, 2 maximum.

Here's an example:

"Tell me what you want to do. I'll automate it so you can make more money." - Mike Koenigs' Social Media Marketing Machines (Not an agency per se, but Mike provides marketing services to people like Tony Robbins and Paula Abdul).


Clear? Yes. Concise? Yes. Confusing crap? No.

Here's another one:

"Skills to the Pay The Bills." Jeremy Schoemaker's Shoemoney.com. Schoemaker is one of the most sought-after and revered Internet marketers today. His company trains people to earn a living by building robust websites and blogs and monetizing them, honestly and effectively.


Clear? Yes. Concise? Yes. Confusing crap? No.

So what about you? Can you say what your company does in 1-2 sentences? Tell me, maybe I can help you refine it.

Stay Classy, Internet.

-J.B. Malik, Founder
http://www.HonestOnlineSelling.com