Hey guys,
So last week I’m in Winco, right?
(Winco is the Walmart of grocery stores…except Walmart is also the Walmart of grocery stores, so there’s some competition there…)
And I’m walking along the refrigerated section, where they have all the sketchy looking cheeses that look like they were made with plastic and Yellow Dye #34…
As I’m walking, MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS, I hear a voice…
(Not of an angel, unfortunately. Of a middle aged white dude.)
“Boy, you must be from somewhere that gets really cold!”
Shocked and startled, I look up and see this older couple smiling harmlessly back at me.
They’re crazy bundled up. Like, as if Sacramento had suddenly become the frontier of the Arctic tundra. It was a little overkill, honestly. I was dressed in my gym clothes having just come from *drum roll* the gym.
I laughed disarmingly and said, “Well, my last name is Snow, so maybe that’s it!”
We all laughed and had a jolly good time.
The bundled up white man extends his hand with a smile
(His hand wasn’t smiling, he was. Get it right.)
“Dan, and this is Darlene” he said, motioning to his wife.
I introduced myself and tried to ignore the vague feeling that was coming upon me that I was about to get set up for an MLM (multi-level marketing) pitch…
And out of the blue, he’s just like, “Soo…you look like you own your own business. What do you do?”
I was a little surprised, but I told him I was a copywriter and I work for the best business in the world…1MT.
I expounded on our numerous virtues as a company…that we’re on a mission to solve all the problems of the Entrepreneur so Entrepreneurs can solve the problems of the world…
And I told him how 1MT stands for 1 Million to a Trillion (amongst other things) because our goal is to get 1 million Entrepreneurs to 7 figures and beyond sustainably in order to add $1 trillion to the global economy…
He seems interested.
(I mean, how could he not? I’m an interesting guy 😂)
He mentions something about how he’s in a business that makes lots of money and his mentors retired at my age, blah blah blah. It was standard MLM schpeel-type stuff.
I still found him mildly interesting, so when he asked for my number, I gave it to him.
Soooo….fast forward to this week…
And you GUYS.
I’m in Winco AGAIN.
After the gym. My tattoo is showing.
And some guy walks up to me and is all like, “Hey I like your tattoo, where did you get it done?”
IMMEDIATE red flag. What are the odds that TWO different older, bald-ish, white guys strike up a conversation with me in the space of a week at Winco???
I politely tell him where I had the work done, shut down the conversation, and shuffle-run to the other side of the store…
AND that’s when I saw him…
0_o
There, on Aisle 6 with the rice and pasta…
…was Dan.
He was striking up a conversation with another unsuspecting Winco-er, and getting THEIR phone number.
I was floored!
And now, I had to find a way out of Winco…
WITHOUT DAN SEEING ME.
You guys, I was sneaking around that store like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible.
I literally walked up to each aisle, and stuck my neck out to peak around the corner in case he had moved.
And I got out of there faster than you can say “lickety split” after a can of Rockstar Energy Drink!
Now, as I walked to the car, I got to thinking about what a terrible marketing strategy Dan was employing. Whoever his coach was should be ashamed, because he was doing everything wrong.
#1 Rule of Ethical Marketing: Don’t bother people who don’t want to be bothered. That means not disturbing them when they’re trying to find food to sustain their existence!
“Permission based marketing” is KEY. It’s so key you almost don’t have to say it. It’s like saying that you prefer to be in a relationship with someone who’s breathing.
Well, duh! It’s so obvious, it doesn’t need to be said!
This is why the entire online marketing industry is built around the opt-in. People have to say, “Yes, I’d like to learn more about what you do.”
If they don’t opt-in…they’re not a lead. Period. Doesn’t matter how many Winco aisles you scour, people have to know what you stand for, understand what you’re offering, and consciously choose to pursue it on their own terms.
Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, likes being conned into a marketing campaign, or pressured into a sale.
And if you do end up making sales with high-pressure tactics, you’re more likely to have higher refund rates, displeased customers, and a product that ultimately doesn’t work.
Go the other way, my friends. Create marketing that’s delightful, and helpful. Valuable and fun.
And DO NOT go prospecting for leads At. The. Grocery. Store.
Srsly.
OK, that’s all, amigos.
Until next week…or sooner…
-KamBam The Copy Man