Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch
Book Review – 5 Stars
The full title of the book is Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
John Jantsch is the author of the Duct Tape Marketing blog. This is widely regarded as one of the best small business blogs on the Internet.”
I think it is a terrific marketing book for small business owners although I don’t get the Duct Tape analogy.
The message John Jantsch is intending to put across is that, just like duct tape, the Duct Tape Marketing system is easy to use, simple, convenient and immensely practical.
What Is Marketing?
There is an excellent definition of marketing in the Duct Tape book.
Marketing is “getting people who have a specific need or problem to know, like, trust and do business with and refer you to others who have this same need or problem.”
I’d change this to…
Marketing is “getting people who have a specific want, need or problem to know, like, trust and do business with regularly and refer you to others who have this same need or problem.”
Now I think you have the perfect definition of marketing to keep you on target. I’ve added “want” to allow for purchases driven by a strong emotional desire and “regularly” to reflect the ongoing opportunities with customers.
I also like the Guerrilla Marketing definition “everything you do from the time you conceive your business to when you have customers buying regularly”.
What Is In The Duct Tape Marketing Book?
I will give you a quick run-down of the chapter titles as they are descriptive and show you what’s covered in the book.
- Identify your ideal client – it is essential when you have a small marketing budget that you can target your expenditure.
- Discover your core marketing message – just how are you going to stand out in a crowd and define your particular niche positioning.
- Wake up the senses with an image to match your message – as a trained Guerrilla I know that “image” is fake and in my terms, what John really means is Identity. To be fair he uses the term identity throughout the chapter.
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Most people are too sophisticated these days to be fooled by a fake image but you do have to make sure that you present your true identity is a favourable way and stop doing things that damage the message.
- Create products and services for every stage of client development – this takes you through the sales funnel and a great concept called the marketing hourglass which I believe John Jantsch should have made more of. What’s a marketing hourglass? It’s the sales funnel balanced out by the development of the back end where you make the money and a great reminder that marketing must not stop at the first order.
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>>> The Marketing Hourglass = Sales Funnel + Back End
- Produce marketing materials that educate – people love to learn and there is no better way to show that you know the answers your prospective clients want.
- A website that works day and night – practical tips on website design and rudimentary search engine optimisation tips. Not particularly advanced but very practical and it may be all you need to get to the top of Google for local searches.
- Get your entire team involved in marketing – I completely agree with this chapter. First of all every employee represents the business so their actions reflect back on the business and it is important to understand the consequences. Second, it is alleged that the whole world is connected within six relationships. Your employees know potential customers or know the family and friends of potential customers.
- Run advertising that gets results – this starts with the truth that “most advertising doesn’t work” but a fortune is wasted in this area. Jay Conrad Levinson (Guerrilla Marketing) goes further to make the point by saying that advertising doesn’t work on its own. Because of the cost, it should probably be the last element of marketing you spend your money on because it only works in combinations with your other marketing weapons.
- Direct mail is an ideal target medium – I am a fan of direct mail but many business owners will have found it an expensive mistake. The keys to success are a good letter, a great list and persistence. John Jantsch recommends lumpy direct mail and I agree that it is great for attracting attention to your marketing message.
- Earned media attention and expert status – this is PR and is a great way to gain attention although you can’t control exactly what is written.
- Ramp up a systematic referral machine – a great chapter on generating referrals. John Janstch has written a follow-up book called The Referral Engine.
- Automate your marketing with technology tools – this chapter includes advice on autoresponders, rss feeds, email newsletters and is packed with good practical tips.
- Turn prospects into clients and clients into partners with an advanced education system – which is basically focused on converting the lead once he or she has raised their hand and said “I could be interested.”
- Commit to your marketing with a plan, budget and calendar – John tells you to block time for your marketing in your daily schedule. I agree entirely because many business owners don’t want to “do marketing” but it pays the bills.
General Thoughts On Duct Tape Marketing
I like the book very much. My biggest criticism is that I believe the book under-represents the marketing opportunities after a prospective customer starts to buy.
Existing customers often represent a sizeable pool of hidden profits which can be unlocked quickly and comparatively easily.
The Marketing Hourglass is such an outstanding visual analogy of the marketing process within a business – attracting customers in through the lead generation process and then focusing on their needs by providing greater and greater benefits.
I give the book a review rating of 5 stars.
It’s particularly recommended to business owners who have just started and need to get their first customers and clients.
You can buy the book from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
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