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Marketing the Woman's Way—Connect & Collaborate
Copyright © 2002 - 2010 by Susan Harrow. All rights reserved.
What do a jewelry store, three greeting card designers and a mid-list
humor author have in common?
They all have something to sell, and they each benefit from getting 250
women out on a Wednesday night.
The same things applies to a budding rock star, two spa owners, a furniture
store, three Mary Kay reps, the Greenville Junior League, an Atlanta Unitarian
Church, a Tampa charity, seven life coaches and a woman who sells dog
biscuits.
Every single one of the above mentioned people and businesses are part
of a nationwide Whine & Cheese Girls Night Out series of events that
demonstrate the power of synchronicity and connections.
I'll give you the details in a second. But first, let me share with you
a magic collaboration formula that can guarantee you great press and huge
crowd of people excited about what you have to offer.
Here's the secret formula:
Take one retailer, add one of more local artisans, coaches or sellers
of interesting stuff, inject an out-of-town headliner (speaker, author,
or entrepreneur, etc.) and you've all the elements you need to create
a phenomenal event that benefits everyone.
Here's the way it worked for my client Lisa Earle McLeod.
After a few rounds of lackluster bookstore signings on her first book,
"Forget Perfect," Lisa decided that for her second book, "Finding
Grace When You Can't Even Find Clean Underwear," she'd rather
cross the country having fun with her girlfriends, versus standing alone
in a Barnes & Noble giving directions to the bathroom.
So here's where the jewelry store owner and the greeting card designers
come in. Childress Jewelers in Greenville SC wanted to host a Girls Night
Out, but owner Karen Childress knew that a simple jewelry show wouldn't
get much press or a big crowd. The greeting card designers wanted a crowd
of women to view their new card line, but they knew that a table full
of cards wasn't enough to make the ladies miss church on Wednesday night.
The Solution: A Whine & Cheese at the jewelry store with Lisa Earle
McLeod as the headlining entertainment (humorous & heartfelt speaker),
and a viral
Evite with
Suburban Myth card imagery sent to every woman within 30 miles of Greenville.
The beauty of this collaborative event is how the whole is greater than
the sum of the parts.
How many retailers could get several hundred woman out on a weeknight?
How many greeting card designers, or any type of creator, could get people
to not only forward an example of their product to hundreds, but also
show up and buy it? And how many authors could swing into town for one
night and have 250 people excited to hear them talk, and know that those
people had already downed enough free wine to insure huge book sales?
Not only do all three benefit, but the uniqueness of the event, and the
one time out of town headliner, got them great press. Lisa is scheduled
for TV and radio, and the local paper is planning a big feature.
Would any of this have happened if these people had tried to pull this
off alone? I don't think so.
I love this model because it works, no matter what you're selling. (And
yes, we're all selling something).
Whether you own a restaurant, you're trying to attract clients for your
coaching business, you're a poet, a martial arts master, or you're trying
to promote your skin care line, the magic combo is:
In other cities, Lisa is doing events at schools, having groups of coaches
host parties and, in one instance, even speaking at a huge Florida golf
retirement community (apparently the 55 plus crowd loves nothing more
than a few Cosmos and a funny speaker—who would have thought?!).
Lisa says, "I love these collaborative events because they're not
all about me. It gives me the chance to promote other people's businesses,
and it gives them the chance to get a big crowd without having to stand
up in front of everyone and talk. I mean how many other authors get to
speak at the Ritz Carlton Wine Bar and plug the Department of Peace because
they got 200 people to show up?"
Others involved in Lisa's Whine & Cheese tour are several churches,
a few groups of cosmetic sales people and even a woman who makes natural
dog food.
The point here is when you're trying to promote yourself or your business,
think outside the box. If you make it all about you, you're going to do
all the work and probably get a fraction of the people you would if you
collaborated. When you change your focus to making the event a success,
it takes the pressure off of you and shifts the dynamic—you're there
to help your collaborators promote their goods or services and they are
there to help you promote yours.
This small shift can produce big results—both in your psyche for
those of you who still feel that twinge when you're "selling,"
and for the exponential magic that happens when you team with other like-minded
people.
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Susan Harrow, CEO of
http://prsecrets.com, is
a top media coach, marketing strategist and author of
Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul® (HarperCollins),
The
Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah, and
Get a 6-
Figure Book Advance. Clients include Fortune 500 CEOs, bestselling authors and entrepreneurs who have appeared on
Oprah, 60 Minutes, NPR, and in TIME, USA Today, Parade,
People, O, NY Times, WSJ, and Inc. |
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