Golf advertising taking it on the green

I’m not too much of a bourgeoisie kind of a guy, in fact, I probably relate more with the serfs (I know I just mixed socio-economic systems, bear with me). This particular fact about me is the result not only of a static social hierarchy (although social fluidity is touted like its simple matter of signing up for your preferred lot), but also as a little bit of personal taste. For one, I’m not real big on the uniform that seems to permeate the elite. Pastels don’t sit well with me and pleated white and khaki shorts just above the knee make me feel uncomfortable. I’d rather sew up the rip in my jeans, put my feet on the table and curse a little with my friends. There is one thing though…golf. Wow, getting a group of friends together, totting along a course regulation breaking cooler and swinging some sticks…now we’re talking. The thing about golf is that there isn’t a thing about golf. I like to be outside. I like the tranquility. I like the sound when your driver connects just right with the ball. I like walking up my ball and quietly thinking about my next shot. I like that I could measure out 150 yards for you with a golf ball and my 8 iron. I like that on some days the cup looks really big and on others I fear it. I really like the sound made when the ball finally drops. And I even like that I’m not very good at golf and probably never will be, it’s a big outdoor chessboard. These are the things about golf to me. Recently, though, the sanctity of my church has been infiltrated by heretics and plunderers. By far the most unnerving area on the course for me is on the tee box. I have a slice, sometimes I miss the ball all together, I can usually feel the group behind me creeping up, it’s just an all around difficult spot for me. So what I’d like is for anything that can be not unnerving to be so. That’s why when I started to see golf advertisements placed on the tee box I felt wholly unhappy. I’m not sure if the tee box should be designated as an advertising free zone, or not, but I really can swing better with a mind free of the heaviness that bears upon it when confronted with issues such as freedom of speech, product branding and commodity fetishism. So, golf advertisers…you’ve got us. We’re hooked, we like your game, we use your product, we’ll read your magazine, but please, please leave the tee box alone.

Deciphering marketing lingo for small business owners

Maybe you've heard these different marketing terms, maybe you haven't. Either way, let me help to clarify the difference between them, because you should have all three if you want to market successfully. And knowing what they are may be your first step to accomplishing all three for your business. Unique Selling Proposition A unique selling proposition, sometimes referred to as a USP, is the one thing that is unique and valuable about your business, product or service? And it must be unique and valuable to your prospects or ideal clients, not just to you. It may be an inherent attribute of your product or service (it's the only blue widget available and blue is the color your ideal customers prefer) or it may be something you create. I created the USP for my business, 10stepmarketing. There are many marketing training programs and educational products available. But there were none I could find that taught small business owners how to create and implement their own marketing plan using a simple, step-by-step, question-and-answer method. So I created my marketing training program (name and all) to fill this void in the marketplace. And it became my "created" USP. It didn't exist when I first started training 5 years ago — I created it and built my business around it. Your USP is an idea or a concept. It is not the exact words you feature in your marketing. You will however use it to write and create your marketing messages. Single Message This is what you say about your business, product or service when you market. It is the one key idea or message you include in all of your marketing. It may be very closely related to your USP, but it may not be exactly the same. You will determine your single message AFTER you determine your USP. Additionally, look at your single message as the one thing you could tell your prospects to change their mindset about your product or service, from what they currently think to what you WANT them to think. It is usually written in the form of a short statement or sentence. Its job is to take your prospects from what they think now to what you want them to think. Most likely you will NOT feature your single message in your marketing materials exactly as you have written it in your marketing plan. The idea will be communicated, but you will very likely use different words in your actual marketing materials. For 10stepmarketing, my single message is "If you can answer 10 questions, you can successfully market your business." (In my case, I turned my single message into a tagline because it was succinct, it communicated exactly what I wanted, and frankly, it just WORKED!) Tagline Your tagline is an actual line of marketing copy you write to sum up what you do, or what you want your prospects to know about your product or service, or a key benefit they will reap if they purchase. You will draw on your USP and your Single Message to help you craft your tagline. This is the only one of all three (USP, Single Message, Tagline) your prospects will see exactly as you have written it in your marketing plan. As stated above, my tagline for 10stepmarketing came directly from my single message. This is not usually the case, but it just happened to work out that way. You may have the same situation. Your USP or your Single Message may be so spot-on you choose to use it as your tagline. As long as your tagline communicates a customer-focused message that's great. Always ask yourself the question "What's so great about that?" when you are thinking of putting a tagline or any other message or copy in front of your prospects. If "what's so great" is obvious, your copy or tagline is probably already very customer-focused. If you can further drill down to a more specific customer benefit when asking this question, then you are still in business-owner "feature-land" and you will want to keep asking "What's so great about that?" until you can't drill down any further. (C) 2005 Debbie LaChusa