A Problem A Solution

+++ title = “10” date = 2019 +++

I studied marketing in college, and we studied it the right way. We were taught how to adjust product, price, and brand to meet the demands of a segment of the market.

But then I started reading about marketing online and most of the content was about how to get a higher search result on Google, how to increase follower count, how to “hustle” and make money, and a bunch of other to-dos that are more about having bragging rights than they are about marketing.

One of those to-dos is to create a sense of urgency. You see this tactic being used when there’s a sign that says the sale ends in 24 hours. Infomercials use it to when they say call in the next 20 minutes for a free thing!

It’s harder to create urgency when someone is a door-to-door marketer, unless you repair roof shingles. A few roof repair companies in the area have stopped by my house to tell me that my roof is falling apart, and it just so happens they’re in my area and can give me a free estimate. I hate it and I never do anything but the shut the door on these people.

But another time I was in the Ikea parking lot, and a guy drove up and offered to remove the dents from my car while I was shopping. I declined, but I’ve thought about it for years. How simple it would have been to just pay him $100 to come back to a dent-free car. No need to make an appointment at the mechanic or spend extra time on it. It was great marketing: there’s a guy with a dented car, and someone who fixes that exact problem.

So now I aspire to be that type of person who has the exact solution for an exact problem. Forget about jobs, careers, promotions, raises… if I can be this type of person, then perhaps a lot of other pieces will fall into place, naturally.