This past week I worked at Rich Redmond's 3rd annual Drummers Weekend in Nashville. No, I wasn't one of the instructors. "And now Cris will demonstrate how even the simplest groove can go horribly wrong."
One of the best clinics was given by Mark Poiesz, drummer for Tyler Farr. In addition to his advice about becoming a better musician, he also spoke to the students about not discounting who they are as individuals. He said, "Being yourself is the best thing you can ever be." Constantly learn from others, but don't get caught up in thinking you have to be exacty like them. It is a rare message to hear in the music industry ... or really anywhere in life. But Mark spoke about it with sincerity and heart. (photo: Elle Jaye) No one ever says, “Wow I love pop-up ads!” Much like no one ever says, “Wow I love this venereal disease!” For some reason, though, a number of websites still use them. Pop-up ads I mean. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that some websites used venereal diseases too. “The consultants said we could increase our click through numbers if the code for our homepage included a strain of herpes.”
After all, many companies think that online marketing is about gimmicks. Some try to make their gimmick seem noble. “If 500 people retweet this, we will give this child the medicine he needs to live.” Some try to attract customers with a game. “Try our new first-person shooter game! You’ll have fun while learning about the ins and outs of home mortgages!” And some think they can build a loyal following just by creating a hashtag. “Tell us how the Smith Wellness Center has helped you or your loved ones. Just post your story with #myrectum.” And that last example appears again and again. Someone has a good idea for connecting with their customers, for humanizing their business, and then they ruin it by adding the conversational equivalent of a bar code. I understand that there is a lot of competition out there for people’s attention. But if you want quality customers, genuine fans, you will need to attract them with quality content. Not gimmicks. I buy flowers for my wife whenever I sign a new client. I have yet to come up with a tradition for when I lose a client. But there are many possibilities. "That alternative band broke up. Here's some expired milk."
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AuthorCris Cohen Archives
March 2021
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