Fail Forward

I have failed.

When I wrote my book, It's Not About You, It's About Bacon, I thought I would finally find fantastic success. I had dreams of speaking worldwide, pontificating about the virtues of Relationship Marketing. In short, I thought I was going to be rich and famous.

The rich did not happen. I sold 1000 books my first year which only covered the expenses of creating the book in the first place.

The famous did not happen. Sure, I was speaking almost weekly. Most of those were free to local networking and chamber of commerce groups. I was recognizable, but I found more people who wanted to use my audience or sell me something than those who wanted to pay me for my experience and knowledge.

I kept doing everything I could to build a tribe, audience, or group of followers, but it was more work than reward. I spent countless hours and dollars trying to live up to what others seemed to have figured out.

After years of trying, I figured out that you could inspire people with woo-woo, but getting them to change or do something was not the point. The point was to get them to sign up for something and not care if they got anything out of it. That's not what I signed up for!

I failed because I cared too much about the people and wanted them to succeed.

Then it hit me, that's what Relationship Marketing is all about. Helping others achieve success without caring about fame and fortune. Just quietly but actively making a difference.

What's That Noise?

There is a lot of noise out there. The goal is to get your audiences to listen through the noise and want to tune into your channels.

How many spam emails do you get per day? I have nine email accounts so I average around 100-200 per day. Of the legit ones, five real emails are urgent, ten are important and some are at least interesting.

That's a lot of noise.

How many notifications do you get from social media per day? I am on six social platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads, YouTube) so I average another 200 per day. Of the legit ones I get per day, five are business-related and urgent, ten are important and the rest are just reactions to my posts.

That's a lot of noise also.

I am sure you are saying, “Why would you do that to yourself? Who needs nine emails and six social platforms?” Well, I do. Those 30 REAL messages per day are how I pay my bills.

It's part of doing business today that makes me want to separate the wheat from the chaff.

So how do we overcome being noisy to our audiences while turning that wheat into bread (or dollars)?

Conversational Content

I started to analyze those 30 messages I paid attention to. A third of them were direct requests for help or information. Another third were daily doses of wisdom I subscribed to. That final third was something that I was interested in at the time they sent it.

So, I decided to send out content similar to what I received.

First I need to do some introspection as to WHY I categorized these the way I did and why I paid attention.

The main reason was because I felt they were speaking with me and not just at me. Secondly, they were or could help achieve my business goals. Finally, they were timely and entertaining.

Most of the spam was flat-out trying to sell something or trick me into giving away usernames, passwords, or credit card info.

The messages I wanted and paid attention to showed me where I am now and helped point me to where I want to be in the future.

They are aiming to spark a conversation or enhance an existing relationship. The products I was already using offered me tips and insight on how I could learn or achieve more with them. They were not selling me on buying more, but guiding me to become an expert and advocate for their brand.

Be The Brand

Although my brand as a Relationship Marketer never reached the heights I dreamed of, it is still alive and kicking. Its audience is smaller yet more potent than I imagined.

My business brand still lingers as an expert, trainer, and influencer, but it has dwindled to a whisper. So, I have been re-positioning my business brand as a company, different from a typical agency that offers on-demand, high-quality services, and continues learning techniques that make the most of current data and trends. All of that is based on helping companies do the same through Relationship Marketing.

Most of my clients still follow the leads and sales path, so changing their habits and culture is an uphill battle. The other limiting factor is that our most successful customers don't want their competition to know how our secret sauce has helped them reach their goals.

The content we create for them follows the formula that gets people to notice, stay engaged, and take action when appropriate.

Less Is More

It's tiring trying to become rich and famous. You work hard to gather followers and then try to get them to become advocates to bring the masses into your camp. Focusing on the few people or companies who want to build and maintain a real relationship is much easier. There is satisfaction in knowing each other and feeling like partners in success.

While your competition is trying to win the internet game, you will be focused and learn to improve how and why your customers and prospects are engaged, active, and want to hear from you.

Having a smaller audience to serve makes your business and personal branding easier to create and maintain because you are clear about who is already engaged and what messages motivate them.

Your content should be able to confirm to your audience that you are always there to help. It should also inform and instruct them on trends and pitfalls you know they need to know. Finally, it should inspire them to look ahead and feel like they can count on you and your staff to have deep and tough conversations that will help you both stay profitable, relevant, and safe.

Closing Thought

The noise will continue to get louder, but you have the power to help people tune into your signals. It takes quality, consistency, and relationship.

Sometimes writing content can inspire you to do great things. It's coming up on ten years since I wrote that first book. It's time to revise and update it.

Although the why or basic concepts of Relationship Marketing have stayed the same, the tools, environment, and the interjection of AI have changed the how!

I may have failed my initial goals, but I have learned lessons that have reaped amazing rewards for myself, my smaller audience, and my clients!

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. – Abraham Lincoln

Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.