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New media has gotten marketing confused

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Apr 17, 2008 in Marketing, New media | 60 comments

I had an epiphany of sorts in the shower.

What a lot of new media folks talk about – audience building, impressions, and the dreaded M word, monetization – is not marketing.

Marketing is the sharing of ideas.

So what is all the stuff we in new media talk about? Sales. Whether it’s pay per click ads, podcast subscriptions, blog readers, speaking gigs, whatever your metric is around getting someone to take action, that’s sales.

Marketing is the sharing of ideas.

Sales is the conversion of ideas into actions.

It’s the job of marketing to share ideas with the audience, to help them to understand what they’re missing out on, what value is awaiting them. It’s all about the content. Content is king, so the cliche goes.

It’s the job of sales to turn those ideas into actions. Create the path for people to take. Make it easy for people to do what you want them to do. Tell them what you want them to do. Click here. Subscribe now. Call the comment line. Leave a comment on the blog. Upload your webmail contacts. That’s all sales – do, do, do.

Once the sale is over, it’s back to marketing, back to sharing. Marketing takes over and reinforces to the audience that the action they took was the right one. Marketing continues to provide value upon value until the customer is so enamored of what you’re doing that they are compelled to share with their friends – and they become your salesforce and marketing team.

Share. Act. Share. Repeat.

This is especially relevant because in many ways, I think we’re reading the wrong books.

Most of my friends in new media are brilliant people. Smart, insightful, good at creating ideas and sharing them. Most of them also wish to be more, do more, achieve more, and this is where the disconnect is. There’s a gap between sharing and acting. Go to any blog and figure out what the action the blogger wants you to take is, and how easy it is to find. Get out your stopwatch, go to any podcaster’s web site, start the clock, and see how long it takes you to subscribe.

Folks like Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, and the marketing folks are perfectly okay. They’re sharing the ideas, and they’re a source for our own inspiration.

Note, however, when you ask any prominent blogger, podcaster, networker, etc. about their bookshelves, they never mention Tom Hopkins, Zig Ziglar, Ira Hayes, Dan Kennedy, Brian Tracy, etc. They never mention the sales books, the sales guys who can help get you from idea to action. Once the customer knows who you are and is willing to make a commitment, you as the new media outlet have to change gears and guide your customer, your audience, into action.

If you want people to do more with your new media outlet, complement your marketing knowledge with sales knowledge, and you’ll blow past the competition in a heartbeat.

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http://www.thinkjose.com Jose Castillo

As individuals we are an entire company in one person- bizdev, sales, marketing, CSR, prod development, quality control, janitor, etc. It can be easy to focus to much on one thing. Good thoughts, thanks.
http://www.thinkjose.com Jose Castillo

As individuals we are an entire company in one person- bizdev, sales, marketing, CSR, prod development, quality control, janitor, etc. It can be easy to focus to much on one thing. Good thoughts, thanks.
http://www.flyovermarketing.com Kevin Behringer

Great post! I think that this is a great explanation because it truly highlights the importance of standing for something and properly articulating your idea.

If a bad or fuzzy idea is what is driving the company, obviously sharing the idea is made more difficult and the selling/call to action for the idea is going to suffer.

By approaching marketing and sales from the point of view that they are related to the idea, it should help an organization focus on getting that right before worrying about how to market or sell.

Kevin
http://www.flyovermarketing.com Kevin Behringer

Great post! I think that this is a great explanation because it truly highlights the importance of standing for something and properly articulating your idea.

If a bad or fuzzy idea is what is driving the company, obviously sharing the idea is made more difficult and the selling/call to action for the idea is going to suffer.

By approaching marketing and sales from the point of view that they are related to the idea, it should help an organization focus on getting that right before worrying about how to market or sell.

Kevin
http://javelinmarketing.blogspot.com Bob Richards

I dont really get this whole thing about on-line marketing: blogging and social networking, etc to generate money. People marketing in the off-line world generate a lot more money (I don’t see anyone in the on-line world making $100,000 sales but that’s an everyday occurrence in many areas, off-line). It seems that people hoping to make a living with web sites will:
never earn more than $100,000 a year
are trying to not work
failed at making a living in the real world
have no sales skills

Am I being to harsh or is this the reality?
http://javelinmarketing.blogspot.com Bob Richards

I dont really get this whole thing about on-line marketing: blogging and social networking, etc to generate money. People marketing in the off-line world generate a lot more money (I don’t see anyone in the on-line world making $100,000 sales but that’s an everyday occurrence in many areas, off-line). It seems that people hoping to make a living with web sites will:
never earn more than $100,000 a year
are trying to not work
failed at making a living in the real world
have no sales skills

Am I being to harsh or is this the reality?
http://www.ChristopherSPenn.com Christopher S. Penn

Bob – I think, as much as people would love to deny it, that you’re right to a degree. There are plenty of folks earning over 100K, but they have business models that function and make sense, not just “look at me!” attention-based models.
http://www.ChristopherSPenn.com Christopher S. Penn

Bob – I think, as much as people would love to deny it, that you’re right to a degree. There are plenty of folks earning over 100K, but they have business models that function and make sense, not just “look at me!” attention-based models.
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Great information, I love Seth Godin and feel that hes a great asset to the online marketing community as well as the whole marketing community. Great inspiration and really knows his stuff.
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Great information, I love Seth Godin and feel that hes a great asset to the online marketing community as well as the whole marketing community. Great inspiration and really knows his stuff.
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Content is king for Google and Google alone. Exposure is reached by many other means. Your web presence should be in every popular place. Video marketing will be your biggest adversary…
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These are good infos, and yes I totally agree: marketing is the shares of ideas without doubt.
http://dieta-dash.blogspot.com/ Dieta Dash Ipertensione

These are good infos, and yes I totally agree: marketing is the shares of ideas without doubt.
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I agree, without ideas there's no way to move forward. Without technology ideas can never change as many lives that it does. Anyone who makes it and then gives it away ,will surely get more back.
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I agree, without ideas there's no way to move forward. Without technology ideas can never change as many lives that it does. Anyone who makes it and then gives it away ,will surely get more back.
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Nice concept.
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Nice concept.
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Hmm that gives a lot to think about. Great post.

-Ivan
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Really decent piece of blog and informative post. This post is very help full for people like me as well who are new to this internet world. Keep on sharing such up to date information.
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Great Post – thought it was a very interesting read – ideas are key

Thanks!
http://www.viewcreatives.com Howard

Great Post – thought it was a very interesting read – ideas are key

Thanks!
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Action in my opinion is what the majority of people are lacking in. For instance there are people who buy all these valuable ebooks on marketing etc. Then instead of taking action they just sit around and look for another ebook or report. Many people have all kinds of ideas but it still comes down to action. Without taking action then nothing will be accomplished.
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Great post. I too have thought that most of what is touted on the web as “marketing” is not really. The web is a poor medium for the old stodgy “marketing” as you say it's more about sharing ideas and finding your audience, then figuring out how to sell them something, and then sell them something again.
http://www.teambuildinginformation.com Jesse "team building" Boland

Great post. I too have thought that most of what is touted on the web as “marketing” is not really. The web is a poor medium for the old stodgy “marketing” as you say it's more about sharing ideas and finding your audience, then figuring out how to sell them something, and then sell them something again.
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Very interesting. We just need to look at marketing at a more positive way, or as you say – “sharing ideas”, and then we can become more creative. Thanks for this inspiring post!
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Very interesting. We just need to look at marketing at a more positive way, or as you say – “sharing ideas”, and then we can become more creative. Thanks for this inspiring post!
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When you consider the use of auto-responders, exit pop-ups etc, online is by far the greatest medium to be working from.
24/7 people are constantly searching for information online, and with the convenience of online security, people tend to purchase more information products online than they do offline.

Amazon comes to mind and, in terms of online marketers making a serious living online, one need only go to any search engine, type “John Reese, Russell Brunson,” to name a few, of the top names making over 7 figures each year.

With the recession still biting, brick and mortar buildings are losing market share, and shedding employees faster than a snake sheds its own skin.

Food for thought.
http://www.creative-visualization.net/ meditations for manifesting

When you consider the use of auto-responders, exit pop-ups etc, online is by far the greatest medium to be working from.
24/7 people are constantly searching for information online, and with the convenience of online security, people tend to purchase more information products online than they do offline.

Amazon comes to mind and, in terms of online marketers making a serious living online, one need only go to any search engine, type “John Reese, Russell Brunson,” to name a few, of the top names making over 7 figures each year.

With the recession still biting, brick and mortar buildings are losing market share, and shedding employees faster than a snake sheds its own skin.

Food for thought.
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@ Bob Richards: People make good money from blogging. The more blogs you have, the more niches you cover, the more money piles on. All with very little effort.
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@ Bob Richards: People make good money from blogging. The more blogs you have, the more niches you cover, the more money piles on. All with very little effort.
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Business needs more sales rather than just the marketing. Marketing must aid to conversion into more sales. More marketing must lead to more sales. Period.
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Business needs more sales rather than just the marketing. Marketing must aid to conversion into more sales. More marketing must lead to more sales. Period.
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As individuals we are an entire company in one person- bizdev, sales, marketing, CSR, prod development, quality control, janitor, etc. It can be easy to focus to much on one thing. Good thoughts, thanks.
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marketing is the shares of ideas without doubt. i liked that one too much
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marketing is the shares of ideas without doubt. i liked that one too much
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Marketing is only the catalyst to provide more sales. Without an increase in sales, marketing can be of no use.
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As individuals we are an entire company in one person- bizdev, sales, marketing, CSR, prod development, quality control, janitor, etc. It can be easy to focus to much on one thing. Good thoughts, thanks.
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As individuals we are an entire company in one person- bizdev, sales, marketing, CSR, prod development, quality control, janitor, etc. It can be easy to focus to much on one thing. Good thoughts, thanks.