Oops, Did I Mention That I Was a Marketer?

To the regular consumer, there is very little difference between a “marketing expert” and a salesman.  And with so many “experts” on the Internet, it is often difficult to differentiate between who is selling you a genuine product versus who is more concerned with their bottom line.

The dictionary defines a market as the following:

an open place or a covered building where buyers and sellers convene for the sale of goods; a marketplace: a farmers’ market.

Over time, this idea of a “market” has changed.  While there are still physical markets around (such as your local farmer’s market), more people have now turned to a virtual market- more commonly known as the Internet.  And as Dave Evans points out, consumers are the ones who are really in charge of how successful the marketplace is.  They can turn a blind eye to the things that they want more easily on the Internet than anywhere else.

Would you believe that there are actually some people who avoid going to the mall nowadays because of the vendors at the kiosks in the middle of the mall who try to sell you things as you pass by?  How nice is it -how convenient it is to not have to deal with salespeople harassing you to buy their product!  However, there is sometimes a fine line between being a salesperson versus being a marketer.  Sometimes marketing experts are sneaky.  They don’t tell consumers right away that they are marketing a product, which is a huge mistake.  After all, one of the ways to build up trust with consumers is to be honest and up front.  People will be more willing to purchase a good or service as well as tell friends and family about it if they believe that the marketer’s intentions are clear and justified.

It’s Not Always Easy

Being in marketing and/or sales isn’t always easy.  I, personally, find that the most successful marketers are those who truly believe in the product or service that they are selling.  They are honest with their customers and go out of their way to ensure that their customers are satisfied with the product.  Sometimes it takes quite a bit of trial and error to reach this point though….Take a look: