Only 5 people showed up.
That’s it.
The seemingly brilliant “free facebook photo day” took me days to plan and organize, $50 for the home-made background, and tons of Facebook Marketing.
Posting, creating an event, inviting people.
Seriously.
Only 5 people showed up.
The speaker I had listened to gave us, his small audience of around 15 photographers, a different tale…
….A tale of viral word-of-mouth,
…A tale of excited adults, teenagers, and children pouring into the event and sharing their images with all.
…A tale of bringing in new business.
But that wasn’t the case for me, obviously.
I was ashamed.
Ashamed of how few people came.
Ashamed when people asked me, “oh how did your Facebook photo event thing go?”
Worse?
My biggest competition did the SAME EVENT the next week, with a better backdrop, no rain, and more people.
Did she copy me?
Nope.
We were at the same regional conference learning from the same guy.
But I doubt her event brought her in any new business either.
So why am I sharing this horror story with you?
This story of hard work, excitement and anticipation on my end, and then shame that “nobody showed up to my Facebook photo event?”
Because there’s a lesson here.
The “Free Facebook Photo” event thing was a random tactic with no real strategy for me or my business.
Unless you consider the terrible strategy of screaming “look at me, pay attention!” Without ever considering that maybe a free facebook photo just wasn’t ACTUALLY a compelling reason to come in to my studio.
“Screaming ‘look at me’ just doesn’t work…instead, you need to whisper, ‘I get you’” – Bernadette Jiwa from Marketing: A Love Story
Re-read that quote for a second, and let it sink in.
….
It’s a big-ass, high level concept, right?
One that makes a lot of sense…
Truly, it is in my opinion, the RIGHT way to market…
Marketing that will make you feel good, instead of feeling annoyed that for the 7th time this week you are getting yet ANOTHER friend request then personal message from somebody you haven’t talked to since high school (and you were only acquaintances any ways) asking you if you would like to try a loose weight with a shake challenge, try a teeth whitening toothpaste, or plump your lips with the latest lip gloss.
But this concept needs a bit of explaining, something to make it more concrete.
Once mastered, this concept will help you stand out WITHOUT screaming, without a million tactics, and without being copied.
That will be an email for next week 😉
Do me a favor – hit reply and tell me what your biggest marketing horror story is!
Cheers!
Lisa Edwards
P.S. I want to share the most interesting marketing horror stories in an email with my commentary! Please, hit reply and tell me YOUR marketing horror story…if you’d like it to stay anonymous, I can do that, just say the word 😉
I feel we can all learn from each other.