Here’s an evergreen article from the ScLoHo archives, first published in the summer of 2008, for #TBT:

Business owners and marketing people, before you buy any advertising, ask yourself this simple yes or no question:

Does this help to build relationships with my current and potential customers?

What does it take to build relationships?Don & Alice Howard-1

Think of it as dating. If you were asked to get married on the first date, the odds are that you would have said no. After two or three dates, the answer would have been the same, but you can see the process is building.

You don’t date and marry every person you meet. So it is with your marketing and advertising. You are not going to get everyone that sees or hears about you to be your customer.

And from a customers perspective, you are not going to use every product or service that you see advertised.

It takes repeated exposure (dates) for the consumer to decide to commit, buy, (marry) or reject, (dump) you and look for someone else to spend their money with.

So, if you are doing short term non-relational marketing and advertising, expect very little satisfaction (one night stand) instead of a long lasting satisfying relationship that supports your business over and over again.

One last thought on this.

Husbands and wives mess up and annoy each other at times. But they stick it out, because the benefits of the relationship outweigh the negatives.

As a business, you need to earn your customers business and referrals and take care of the occasional mess ups that are bound to happen.

Remember, we are all people dealing with people and by following these principles, it is not that hard to do the right thing for you and your business.

Want help figuring this out? Contact me.