There are a lot of smart people out their explaining how to make your marketing better.  How to make more sales, more clicks, more inquiries?  Thanks to the web and the algorithm whole new cottage industries have grown up around the more-more.  The speaking circuit, conferences and webinars are growing like a dookie thanks to the new tools.  But they are only tools.

My shtick is all about finding your brand idea and organizing it with the right planks so that when you pick your tools the job is easier.  “Here’s a canvas, now paint a picture.”  Or, “Here’s a canvas, now paint a fall landscape.”

There are some wonderful tenets of marketing that are not very often preached or practiced but, when followed, have a powerful impact on efficacy.  (And we overlook them because we’re trying to find the message in the dark, sans brand plan.)  Here are a couple of those tenets:

Surprise and Delight. Humans love to be surprised. And they love to be delighted.  But often, marketers are so tired and beat down they just default to selling — even if nobody’s buying.  Whenever you create something for a customer or prospect ask yourself “Is this surprising?” Or is it the same old, new color. Ask “Will this put a smile on someone’s face”?  And probe its toothsomeness.

Be Artful. I read today about Ben Wilson, a U.K. artist who paints pictures on discarded blobs of gum.  He brings his brushes and color palette and bellies up to the sidewalk and creates art. As Keith Haring did before him, Mr. Wilson creates wonderment and art for the people. The man and his work are beloved. If you want your marketing to outwork your competitors, it must possess artfulness. Find a strategy, then worry about the really important stuff.  Do it in didge, traditional, PR or whatever.  Stop poopin’ it out.  Peace.