Your Marketing Sucks

Extreme Marketing for Professional Services Firms

by Mark Stevens

Number of pages: 233

ISBN: 9780609609835

About the Author

Mark Stevens is the President of MSC (www.msct.com), is an expert in ROl-based marketing. He’s an entrepreneur, and the author of books such as The Big Eight, Sudden Death: The Rise and Fall of E. F Hutton, and Extreme Management.

Editorial Review

Three entrepreneurs, each president of their own company, came to my office to hire my company to create a series of ads for them. One sold insurance, another was an investment advisor, and the third did estate planning. They had decided to join forces and create one company. They held a quick meeting, pitched some ideas. Now, they were on for an ad campaign for their merged company. “What’s your selling proposition?” was my first question once the small talk was out of the way. “We haven’t figured it out yet.” They answered. “How are you different from the competition?” Silence. I jumped in: “Let me see if I have this right. You want to run a series of ads for a company that doesn’t know what it’s selling or how it’s different?”This situation is far too typical, but it happens frequently in the business world.

Book Reviews

"But this gem of a book is brimming with anecdotal evidence of advertising strategies gone awry, and full of examples of better plans. Diversification of programs is key, as are market testing and tracking. And if Stevens's examples aren't enough to convince (though they should be), his passion for his subject may carry the day. At the book's conclusion, Stevens instructs readers to not return to the office until they have figured out how to implement his advice. This is as different from more traditional and staid marketing how-tos as its title suggests." Publishers Weekly

"Does your marketing suck? According to Mark Stevens, the way many businesses approach marketing can be compared to throwing thousand dollar bills out the window. Having read several formulaic marketing books, I found Your Marketing Sucks refreshing. The author challenges some of the "sacred cows" of the marketing world, advising the reader to put aside the assumption that you must do certain things when marketing. Instead, he recommends that you ask yourself whether a particular activity will drive a sale or not. If it will, Stevens says "do it". If not, forget it." canadaone

"Stevens' energy and passion make his relatively common sense ideas seem revolutionary. Test, execute and monitor your marketing efforts every time. Seems like a no-brainer. Start being original rather than copying the competition. Duh! Stevens urges managers to stop all marketing efforts to see what's working and what isn't. It's radical, but Stevens' conclusions are contagious enough to convert even the most skeptical." Book Page

"Your Marketing Sucks gives you an opportunity to take a look at all of the elements of your advertising, sales, and software marketing programs, and to revamp them. Stevens urges you to stop following the followers, and to do what you think makes sense with the market that you're trying to target. And while he states that you have to take bold and sometimes outrageous steps, you still have to measure the financial impact of everything that you do, and continue to do only those things that work." DP Directory, Inc.

"Getting back to the fear of marketing, the reaction to the title of my book is a good example. When I told executives within my own firm that I wanted to call the book Your marketing sucks, you can imagine the responses–it’s inappropriate; it’s disgusting; people will be pissed off, and so on. I said, no, no, I want to get attention to make a point and that’s the title I’m going with. The book has been a great success for our business." Mark Stevens—Management Consulting News

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Wisdom to Share

Why is it that smart people do stupid things, when it comes to marketing?

“Anyone can be a parent. Being a good parent is where the tricky part comes in.” Well, a similar dynamic occurs with marketing.

Just revise your attitude about marketing: you are not in the process of marketing to protect yourself, or satisfy your ego, or demonstrate that you’re a well-rounded businessperson.

Doing what your competitors do, even if you do it better, is not the way to become a market leader.

Extreme Marketing commands you to stop every marketing program you have under way, unless you can prove that it is producing a substantial return on the money invested in it.

Extreme Marketing is not “spending money” on ads, websites, brochures, direct mail, or anything else. It is the process of generating incremental sales and profitsand thus building valuation.

If you want to do business with someone, it is your responsibility to do everything possible to get in front of the prospect and truly initiate the sales process.

Most traditional Lazy Marketing is just wrong! As it aims to battle competitors, not convince customers.

Instead of worrying about what the competition is doing, or whether you will look dumb, Extreme Marketing tries to reach the hearts and minds of the customers.