Funky jewellery courtesy of Slashpile Designs (www.slashpiledesigns.com)

Dogs may understand marketing far better than we have ever given them credit for. They know, for example, that if they want to establish themselves in a certain territory, they need to leave their scent all over it.

Male dogs generally mark their territory to lay claim to it; female dogs mark their territory to attract a male, (although dominant females may want to lay claim too.)

Either way, it’s marketing 101.

No one will ever buy from you if they have never heard of you.

In the dog-eat-dog competitive world, this may be the most important lesson.

You can’t build a business by keeping who you are and what you do a secret — no matter how great you are, no matter how much you believe in the laws of attraction, and (even) no matter how compelling your Essential Message.

That’s why the most successful among us are constantly marketing — writing articles, giving speeches, attending networking events, sending newsletters… being ‘out there’.

And like a dog’s scent on a fire hydrant, your customers’ memories can be easily painted over by fresher, more recent and possibly more dominant ones. That’s why you have to constantly remind the people in your target market that you are alive and well and open for business.

So what are you doing to mark — I mean ‘market’ – your territory?

Essentially yours,

Michel Neray
Chief Differentiation Officer
The Essential Message