Scott Sonnon: Born to Fail - Made to Succeed

Evolve Beyond Ad Copy

Today, I’ve begun a new multi-layered co-branding campaign. Because of time-tested success of RMAX International, I’ve built 14 years of brand equity into my endorsements. My referral carries weight because I’ve earned that privilege. And today, I’m sharing with you how your personal business can benefit, because in the current economy, the more successful you become, the better our entire global situation becomes.

That’s really the point. Market competition is an obsolete, Darwinian model of commerce, which espouses the belief in battling for scarce resources. To transcend our current economic crisis, we collectively must evolve to higher order commerce - to an authentically service-oriented perspective. Realize that the only competition that you ever have in business is the prospective client’s resistance to self-transformation… and you should be co-venturing, co-promoting and co-branding your efforts against that singular foe, for the sake of the client!

Transparency and value service are the shield and sword of the current economy. Kennedy-esque ad copy has begun its death throws having lived out the course of its life. In the digital age, people understand the tricks you’re using, and they don’t buy them anymore. They want something and someone to believe in, or they won’t be parting with their investments.

Today, people need to BELIEVE YOU! That means no amount of advertising will work effectively. Actually, if it’s advertising, it may work against you. Today, the more apparently accessible and transparent that you, the more you’re trusted. We exist in an era of “reality television” life, and if people can’t relate to you, they’re not having anything to do with you.

For example, today I published a promotional piece on Ryan Murdock’s and Adam Steer’s Bodyweight Exercise Revolution book. As described in this exclusive interview, this book actually “competes” with a DVD course of mine: the 4X7 Formula Magic in the Mundane. The Bodyweight Revolution is based upon my 4X7 course, but is “stand-alone” with no-equipment-required, turn-key programs at a fraction of the cost of my DVD course, so you need nothing else but this amazing manual to have optimal fitness for the rest of your life.

Why would I do such a thing? Aren’t a giving away potential customers with no financial benefit or royalties? Yes. But even though we don’t have a financial “kick-back” relationship, we’ve interwoven a co-branding experience. You see people aren’t buying products because of the bullet points of benefits. People buy these incredible resources, because I’ve earned their trust; because when I send them to a product, my referrals over-deliver results.

You do need to believe in your network constituents, because merely shwagging some strategic ally’s goods will be as transparently ad copy as hawking your own with slick advertising. Even by sharing this example, I’m building trust and generating sales for Ryan and Adam by disclosing the process that I’m using to promote a product that I believe in. I’m leveraging my brand equity by revealing that though I have no financial kickback from the Bodyweight Exercise Revolution, we’re co-branding my DVD package since it was the genesis for the book…

You see, the real currency of the modern economy is trust. People know that though I’m highly impassioned, and prolific to the point of being mad, they know that I won’t bullshit them, and that I don’t promote anything that I haven’t done myself and believe in.

Now’s the time in our current economy, to get our asses collectively serious about collaborating. I’ve assembled (and continue to reassemble) a TEAM of professionals. And my team is a force with no equal. That’s what I have that even professionals much smarter, wealthier or more networked - lack. No assemblage of strategic allies could ever withstand a team, because allies only act for mutual benefit when it also includes individual benefit. But with a Team, you act as a unified front even when only one benefits. In this case, promoting Ryan and Adam’s book, but that further reinforces our brand, which in turn ultimately benefits us individually.

Team tactics are the next evolution in the marketing world. Team tactics will always overcome the under-resourced strategies of gluttonous corporate warlords. You get your team together, and you’ll get your dream together. Cliche, but true.

And assembling your team will be absolutely essential for your success in the economic coma of today. Generating brand loyalty through your transparent involvement in various social media outlets will allow you to simply refer people to your co-branded product and service line. They’ll buy not for bullet points of benefits, but because they believe in you and your team.

Flow Thyself™,