written by john c ashworth
I would be doing you a disservice here if I tried to tell you that marketing and the sales that result from it were easy. Remember, the mission here on the ash flash is to share real expertise in small doses for both your small business and your health and fitness program.
Why?
Two reasons.
First, I have a lost of expertise to share when it comes to your health and fitness. And though I currently spend most of my time working as a salesman and marketing maniac, I spent the first 25 years of my career focused on clinical exercise physiology, personal training and fitness coaching. As my son Carl has pointed out on many occasions, "it would be a shame to waste all that talent and wisdom, Dad." He's right.
Second, there is such a preponderance of nonsense out here anymore that I also fee strongly that those of us committed to the good stuff, the real stuff, absolutely MUST make a commitment to sharing what we know. And what I know is that if you spend even just a little bit of time here on the ash flash, and especially if you come back regularly, you are bound to run into things that help you cultivate the slight edge .
Today, that might be the following two things I felt compared to share with you today.
A really great blog and expert whom I was fortunate to find and connect with on linkedin and the latest post on his blog about story-telling.
Assuming you really want to get it right, and that you want to build the ultimate sale machine inside your business, you must embrace the idea that you are a marketer in the business of whatever it is you're doing. Not the other way around. Once there, the next step is to embrace the complexity of creating a system from which you can derive a steady stream of leads and new business as well as cultivate more business from existing customers, generate referrals, constantly obtain good reviews and success stories, and so on.
Feeling overwhelmed by all this?
That's OK.
Start telling stories. As pointed out in the article, marketing at its core is really about stories. About seeing stuff, writing it down, and then sharing it in ways that are compelling, interesting, and prone to stir emotions and drive people to the actions that you desire.
So, if you're in need of something today that will ground you in the ultimate truth that simplicity really is the ultimate sophistication, tell me a story. If it's a good one, I'm always ready to listen.
-John
