Truly Twisted Marketing

Okay, this tip applies to you if you are selling a product or service. Once you know who your market segment is and hopefully pinpointed WHAT they are looking for product-wise. You can further establish your positioning and branding by being a resource.

Providing resource information to your customers is extremely important. It legitimizes who you are, builds trust and furthers the relationship you are creating with your customers. Ideally, you want a long-term relationship with each and every customer. By giving them more than what they ever thought they needed, you are taking steps beyond what is expected and moving into the realm of good friend and partner.

So, how do you go about becoming a resource? First off, think about the whole ‘green’ market area. It’s rather new and while it’s a growing trend there are still a lot of terms being thrown around and concepts that are crying out to be clarified.

Recommendation #1
Get a good list of working definitions going. I mean, what does photovoltaic REALLY mean? How about hydro-electric? Sustainable? Fair Trade? Organic?
Get your terminology down and publish it on your site or blog.

Recommendation #2
You’ve got the catch-phrases and words defined that apply to the ‘green market.’ Now, how do you use it? Create articles and content and guides for your customer that tell them HOW to APPLY these concepts to their lives. Be sure to include how it impacts THEM, not you. This information is unbiased (or should be), helpful and succinct. It can be in the form of daily tips or a full blown article or both. Yes, it might take research, yes, you might have to hire a free-lance writer or two but yes, it will be sooooooo worth it.

Recommendation #3
Tools and calculators are just plain fun. They can be turned into widgets that keep customers connected to you in various ways from their desktops, their newsletters or blogs they read regularly. If you aren’t sure what widgets are, I’ll be talking about them more but for a real quick working definition look here.

Here are a few of my favorite fun tools.

• Earth 911 – to find a recycling center for all sorts of household items from oil to glass to printer cartridges
• Conservation International - Check your carbon footprint and figure out how to offset it
• See Green Now - Check your own green knowledgebase and see how green you really are.

Ok, there you go – Tip #8. Use the recommendations. Do your research. Create your content. Become a resource. It might not happen overnight but with a little hard work and dedication, you can do it. You’ll thank me for it later…I promise!