Take Your Marketing Efforts On A Fishing Trip
by Abe Cherian, Multiple Stream Media

So what does this have to do with marketing for new clients and getting referrals? When we market whether it's ads, phone, mail, referrals, email, web sites, seminars, or whatever we are fishing. Going fishing you must find where they are. Then use the right bait they desire. Get the presentation of the bait in view, wait for the pick-up, set the hook, reel it in and land the fish.

If you try to skip anyone of these steps, you will not catch many fish. Sure, sometimes you can set the hook immediately, and get lucky once, however, if you learn how to tell exactly when to set the hook, you'll catch them every time. Simple intelligence and patience to know when the timing is right is all that matters.

If you have a fish hooked and try to reel in too fast with too much energy, the line will break. If you try to grab and land the fish before the net is ready, it will fall into the water, never to return. If you use bait the fish doesn't like, it'll never bite in the first place - And so on. There is absolutely nothing different about getting clients or fishing.

The fish will not be caught unless you follow very closely the steps necessary to catch them. You cannot change how fishing works. If the bait isn't what fish want, or what you're using is goes against their natural choice, they're not going to be caught.

Realistically, let's say you and a partner go fishing, and you purchased some top of the line, fancy lures you thought the fish should like. It turns out the fish would not bite your special lure. Your partner is using bait worms and catches a dozen fish. The only thing your partner can say is "Don't be upset, I guess the fish like worms." Unfortunately, we all do the same thing with our marketing.

We act surprised they don't respond when we're using the bait we think they should like - not the bait they really want!