Issue 8 - Marketing Is About Help, Not Hype  July 14th 2022

Be a Bass Player in a (Marketing) Rock 'n Roll Band

Ever thought about what instrument you would play if you were a member of a rock band?

Lead guitarists get all the glory as does the lead singer. Makes sense — they're the ones out front putting on the show.

But what about the bass player? They are often in the background getting little notice (that is unless you are Paul McCartney or maybe Flea). But their role is essential. Along with the drummer, they provide "groove" the band needs to stay together rhythmically.

Let's apply that to your freelance business marketing.

Which would you rather do? Pay for slick ads that get some momentary attention or build long-term credibility and trust by providing helpful content?

In his book, Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is About Help Not Hype, content marketer Jay Baer asks:

"What if instead of trying to be amazing you just focused on being useful? What if you decided to inform, rather than promote?"

Now, it's certainly possible to be both amazing and useful (if you've ever seen Jay speak while wearing one of his very plaid, very bold suits, you know what I mean). But if given the choice, I'd pick useful any day (i.e. a bass player rather than lead guitarist).

With that in mind, here are three tips for credibility-building usefulness (apologies for the awkwardly forced music analogy):

1. Play your own tunes. By that I mean, create original content. You can't gain notoriety, credibility, or trust if you don't put your knowledge out there in some form — video, podcasts, blog posts, feature articles, etc. — and in a place where people can find it: social media.
2. Set a rhythm. Establish a regular schedule in which you publish content, whether that's weekly, bi-weekly (like this newsletter), or monthly — more often when publishing to social media.
3. Pick an instrument and master it. You have a content creation style and form that fits you. For me, it's writing; for you, it could be video... or podcasting... or whatever. Regardless, go with it and stick with it. Oh, and don't try to play all the instruments at once, you'll spread yourself too thin. Concentrate on one or two at most.

I'll leave you with this link to a video of my favorite bass player Marcus Miller. He embodies all of those traits.

Rock on!

(Photo credit: Unsplash)

Paul Chaney