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Your Effective Self Promotional Marketing Tool -
The Rule of Threes
Now we'll take a look at a classic self promotional marketing tool, The
Rule of Threes. Keep the qualities of your effective offer in mind as
you learn about this method of generating that most sought-after of marketing
tools—word of mouth.
The Rule of Threes is a way to create an image in the world that corresponds
to how you want to be perceived and that attracts the business you
want. This is accomplished by focusing on three positive attributes of
your offer and promoting awareness of those attributes in three media
or channels of communication three times over a period of three months.
When I first read about The Rule of Threes in Kim Krisco's book Leadership
and the Art of Conversation, I immediately recognized a powerful and
practical promotional marketing tool to gain recognition and generate
new business. Why did The Rule of Threes make such an impression?
First of all, it simplifies marketing by requiring you
to choose a specific desired outcome and to identify three attributes
of your work that, if widely known, would encourage that outcome. Simplicity
makes it easier to remember what you are up to and thus to stay on track.
Second, it is focused. By choosing three channels of
communication in which to promulgate and repeat your core messages, you
will be focusing and repeating your offer enough that it can be recognized
and acted upon. Too often, inexperienced marketers use a shotgun approach,
spending time and money on multiple but unfocused efforts that never create
a strong enough impression to move prospective clients to action.
Third, The Rule of Threes uses your authentic gifts
and resources as the fulcrum for promoting your business. The "right"
messages to promulgate and the "right" communication channels
will be based on your true gifts and the channels or networks available
to you. It does not require you to be someone else or to have resources
you do not have. It builds on what is already true for you.
Here is a step-by-step summation of The Rule of Threes:
1. Name the outcome you want and
consider the way you would need to be perceived in the world in order
to get that result.
2. Choose three attributes that
are true of you and that, if widely known, would bring about these results.
Write down the attributes, as you will be using them in various ways as
you implement the Rule of Threes.
For example, a therapist who wants to attract new business working with
adolescents might identify these attributes:
• I've raised three teenagers and have a great relationship
with all of them.
• Teenagers trust me to listen to them and to be able to really
hear their concerns.
• I have 15 years experience in family therapy and I know how the
family system affects teens and vice versa.
3. Choose three channels (venues
or media) in which to "place" these attributes. Extending the
above example, you might choose:
• Offering a free monthly talk, for teens only, at a neighborhood
church or recreational center.
• Telling colleagues and friends about this new focus in a letter
or personal conversation.
• Writing a tips column addressing key issues and sending it to
churches, non-profit organizations, and schools, with permission
for them to reprint it in their newsletters and post it on their bulletin
boards.
4. Express or declare these attributes
at least three times in each channel within a three-month period. In the
above example, this is satisfied by repeating the monthly talks, talking
to colleagues and friends about this focus over a three-month period,
and sending a fresh column to your mailing list each month.
While any one of these steps may result in new work, the real results
begin to show up as a result of the combined effect of these multiple
but focused efforts. What's more, according to principles elaborated in
Malcolm Gladwell's fascinating book The Tipping Point, it is
the second- and third-hand word of mouth that will create the biggest
buzz. That is, your new clients are more likely to be people who heard
about you second-hand than to be folks who were in the audience for your
talks or who read your articles.
Implementing this business marketing tool will develop a "buzz"
that establishes you in the public eye as the person you need to be in
order to get the results you want. It requires that you really BE this
person, so please invest thoughtful time in choosing a desired outcome
and articulating the attributes that you will promulgate.
As time goes on and you continue to use this powerful promotional
marketing tool, you will find that you revise and refine the steps
because you will be weaving action with self-discovery and reflection.
The how-to pieces and the who-to-be pieces will inform and transform each
other over the course of your work.
* * *
Learn more about Authentic Promotion - a comprehensive
small business marketing resource that turns marketing and self promotion
into a path of increasing self-awareness, authenticity, and right livelihood.
You can look forward to promoting your work. (It is possible.)
* * *
Self Promotion Index
|| Self Promotion,
Small Business Marketing, and Your Business Values || Expand
Your Vision of Your Small Business Marketing and Self Promotion Practices
|| Your Effective Self Promotional Marketing Tool - The Rule of Threes
|| Preparing
Your Promotional Marketing Materials - Inventorying Your Unique Appeal
|| Preparing
Your Promotional Marketing Materials - Inquiries || Elevator
Speech || Self
Promotion Resources: Websites and Books || Reprint
Terms for Self Promotion Articles
* * *
Contact an acknowledged expert
on self promotion Molly Gordon at:
Shaboom Inc. Life could be a dream…
PO Box 195
Suquamish, WA 98392-0195
mgordon@authenticpromotion.com
As a business coach and small
business marketing consultant, Molly Gordon, MCC, is available in Greater
Seattle Area and internationally |
