Is your Marketing cutting through the traffic by riding the White-Line?

There are a few universal truths of human behavior…

One of these is our utter disdain for getting stuck in traffic. Is there anything more consistently frustrating?

In 2010 I embarked upon the motorcycle trip that all motorcyclists fantasize about; tight curves, breath-taking vistas, minimal traffic, and slower drivers actually pull over to let you pass!

We’re talking about Highway 1 in California.

Unfortunately, it’s not all sweeping curves of leaned-over, knee-dragging, peg-scraping bliss. In Monteray, California I hit traffic. Amidst my epic 5561 miles in 15 riding days, I was bumper-to-bumper in stop-and-go traffic. My clutch hand was getting sore. The sea of BMWs, Mercedes, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Aston Martins had lost it’s entertainment value and was just another reminder that I was going nowhere fast.

Then it happened…

As I was completely stopped, I heard the deep growl of a v-twin. A low-slung Harley cruiser was making short time of this traffic by riding the white-line between the cars.

How could I forget!? I’m in California! White-lining is allowed (heck, even encouraged)!

So I slid behind the Harley on my 147hp sportbike and got through the traffic in about 1/4 the time it would have taken me had I been a cager (what we 2-wheelers affectionately call everyone who drives around in a cage).

The Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Aston Martins were all stuck. Like a lot of marketing, at least they looked good, right?

As I embarked on the goal of creating a 60-Minute Annual Marketing RoadMap, a plan that ANY small business could implement to guide all of their marketing for the next 12 months by investing a single hour, I promise you, I got stuck in some traffic jams.

Can you actually put together a useful plan to maximize the effectiveness of your marketing for the next 8,760 hours (1 year) by working ON your business for a single hour?

Well you get to be the judge of that at CDANA 2012 because I think you can!

During my research,planning, writing, spreadsheet creation, flowchart designs and redesigns, I may have figured out the shortcut.

Like my eureka moment when I realized that I no longer had to wait in traffic and could squeeze past all the yuppies in their flashy cars to get moving, the goal with white-line marketing is to get you focused on the details that get the best results.

More importantly, I’m ready put this plan up to the public scrutiny of a few hundred small business owners.

Obviously in a single hour you aren’t going to reinvent your entire marketing plan. However, for an established business that isn’t confident they’re getting the most out of their marketing dollars, this will help get you on track.

And I’ve managed to distill it down to 4 questions.

That’s it.

Ask these 4 questions about each marketing piece that you create and you’ll cut through the relentless bombardment of marketing traffic we all face every day to reach your ideal, target market.

Just like I cut through traffic by riding on the white-line between all the anchored cars, you’ll be taking the white-line to the most effective marketing you’ve ever done.

Of course every time I tell someone about the glorious beauty that is white-lining you can guess what I hear, right?

That’s great until someone opens a door or switches into your lane.

Admit it, you were thinking the same thing.

A USC study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Transportation found that lane splitting is actually safer than sitting in stop-and-go traffic, where bikers are far more likely to be sandwiched between two cars.  “For a motorcyclist, that’s the safest place to be,” Professor Harry Hurt said shortly after releasing his study. “A lot of people think it’s a hazard, but the cold, hard facts are that it’s not.”

The same is true with the Annual Marketing RoadMap.

You may have that same reaction. Sounds too dangerous… Or uncomfortable… Or I don’t have a spare hour this year… Or motorcyclists are all crazy (that one may be true)… I can hear the excuses and you know what? I don’t really care.

White-Line Marketing is not for everyone. I can appreciate that.

If, however, you are a bit frustrated by sitting in marketing traffic and you can admit the real reason you’re annoyed by the motorcycle who just whizzed past your door is that he’s actually getting somewhere and you’re not…

Then we’re going to have some fun and learn a lot!

To your white-line marketing success, Bryan

 

P.S. This is not white-lining, this is just insanity:

btrilli

btrilli

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