Lesson Thirty-Two: 10 Rules for the Marketing Ace

I don’t do lists very often because I don’t find them very eloquent; however, sometimes you’ve just got to lay it all out.

So here it is: 10 Rules for the Marketing Ace. If you can nail these, your business will prosper and the life of your dreams will be within your grasp.

1. The core of a company is in its promise. Everything comes from that.

2. Your brand is simply the execution of your promise. The goal is to be “Total Branded”—living your promise inside and out.

3. Marketing is a 52-weeks-a-year effort and lasts the length of time you plan on being in business.

4. No action can be taken until a person sees themselves taking it—engage the imagination. Because of this, sell to the heart and imagination of a prospect, not the mind.

5. “You” is the most powerful word you can put in a piece of copywriting. “Us,” “we,” and “our,” are, conversely, the least powerful words.

6. Repetition breeds familiarity which breeds trust. You don’t buy from people you don’t trust, do you? Thus, advertising needs to be sufficiently repetitious to make a mental impression on your prospect.

7. The more singular and specific your promise, the greater the impact you will have on your prospect. This is called positioning. The tighter your niche, the greater likelihood a prospect will buy.

8. Buying is an emotional journey. Create a little mystery around your business or product.

9. “Educate” customers at your own peril. People universally respond to education efforts the same way. They don’t buy it.

10. Perception is the currency of marketing.Understand it, and you understand the market.


Principles of Persuassion by Shane Spark