The Miracle on 34th Street School of Marketing

Kendra Bonnett--Getting Read #2

With this much snow outside my front door, I'm definitely in the holiday mood. I have to go to the post office today because I have four more books that need to go out priority if they are going to arrive by Christmas. Fortunately it's so cold outside (and windy) that the snow is light and has blown off my Jeep and banked up against the house. At least I don't have to dig out. 

This has been an exciting year professionally. I've been making a list of all the new ventures I've started this year, new technology I've gotten the upper hand on (if not mastered) and the breadth and depth of my connections on networking and social media sites. You can see more about these thoughts over on my post at Two Women Business.

My musings about this year of Internet marketing (and what it's done for Matilda Butler's and my writing, publishing and entrepreneurial ventures) have merged with the snow, eggnog, carols and the smell of a freshly cut balsam. I'm reminded of a marketing philosophy I defined years ago...long before I was doing much of anything online except reading email.

I called it the Miracle on 34th Street School of Marketing. If you've seen the original 1947 version of the movie with Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn, perhaps you'll remember when Santa sends a Macy's customer to Gimbels Department store because Gimbels has better skates (more support for young ankles). The woman customer tracks down the Macy's floorwalker (do they even have floorwalkers today?) and says (paraphrasing): "I've never been a regular Macy's customer, but after the sound advice your Santa just gave me, telling me to buy the skates at Gimbels, well, I'm coming back to Macy's."

For me, that exchange is the most profound of the whole movie. Good customer service, transparency in relationships with prospective clients and treating each and every person with respect and care pays off. I've always made this a part of my marketing strategy, which is probably why I've personally enjoyed being a marketing executive. What I've realized this last year is that the powerful communication tools available to us today--blog platforms, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Safari, YouTube, Squidoo, Ning, to name just few--have made my Miracle on 34th Street School of Marketing more possible than ever before.

As you look toward 2009 and the many ways you'll bring your writing to online audiences, remember to be yourself. Share generously. Be a friend online before you start promoting your books and other products. You'll feel better about your work. The Internet will appear less anonymous. And you'll succeed more than you could ever have imagined. Readers, fans, customers will come to know YOU...and that will make all the difference.

Enjoy the holidays. I look forward to our conversations in 2009.

Comments

[Susan Albert]

Kendra, thanks for this post! Like you, I am so excited about all the online ways of sharing that I've learned this year. I've been writing professionally for most of my life (and I'm celebrating my 69th shortly!), and I am more excited about the Internet than about any other way I've ever known of offering my work to the world. What an amazing time we live in. With all the current economic "downs," the Internet is a wonderful "up" for me.