My neighbor girl, a teenager with big ambitions, had come up with the idea of starting her own business. ‘I’m going to sell sneakers through my own website,’ she said to me at the neighborhood barbecue.
I, who have been an entrepreneur since he was weaned, could not help but admire him: ‘Hats off! That’s quite a project!’
But another me, a more critical me, couldn’t help but ask the following question: ‘How are you going to make sure your target audience finds you?’
“I don’t have to do anything for that,” she proclaimed at the top of her lungs, “good sneakers sell themselves!”
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“No product sells itself,” I told the girl with kindness and wisdom in my voice.
And suddenly I felt bad. I felt a sour feeling that made me sad. A sense of betrayal ran through me. I regretted my words.
Who had I betrayed? Myself. Or rather: a younger version of myself. I am now 55 years old and have been the owner of a communications agency in Antwerp for twenty years . Once upon a time, however, I was young and inexperienced, but full of ambition. In other words, I was exactly like my neighbor girl.
My passion for marketing and my big dream for my own company started in 1985 in the Kempen, my birthplace. I had read the book Ne dites pas à ma mère que je suis dans la publicité, elle me croit pianiste dans un bordel by Jacques Sègula. The book was funny, that was the first aspect with which I bothered family and friends to death. But the book also gave insight into the crazy world of publicity from the mid-seventies, with a few salient details about famous personalities incorporated.
From that moment on I was convinced to work in advertising. My mother said I should learn a proper trade. I insisted, she gave in.
The road to marketing success was one of trial and error, of blunders and highlights. Like a true traveler on the starting track of his life, I made many stops: I worked as a bartender, cook, bouncer, gallery owner, organizer of video shows and seller of life insurance and printed matter. Finally, I was able to (finally!) start working as an account manager in advertising agencies in Ghent and Brussels.
I felt I was on the right track. The years passed as I found my way in Ghent and Brussels. The desire to have my own crazy marketing company kept bubbling all that time.
In 1995 I took the first step to make that dream come true. A photographer, video editor, interior designer, web designer, recruiter, fashion designer, product developer, stand builder, graphic designer and communication specialist (me!) founded the Zirkus partnership in Antwerp. We were personalities with an edge and big plans. Together we formed one network: there was a shared Belgacom Centrex exchange, a shared coffee machine, a garden that was open to everyone. This was coworking long before the word ‘coworking’ was invented.
But after many fruitful years, many of us were ready for new challenges and the crazy club of yesteryear broke up. My next step was to found Motionmill. My vision was to enter the emerging market of video on the internet at a time when the bandwidth was not really ready for it. After the entry of copywriter Dirk Verbeeck, we started providing companies with content and helping them grow via the internet. The madness of the Zirkus years made way for structure and order.
I can remember well that around 2010 or 2011 I spoke with the owner of an Antwerp shoe store. The man had been whispered by another online agency that he needed a website with a webshop of several tens of thousands of euros. I made him another proposal: we start with a basic website of about two thousand euros and expand the functionalities as the years go by.
The man looked at me in surprise and said, “You are an unusual salesman.”
That comment made me think for a moment. I had never realized it until then, but I am indeed an unusual salesperson. I believe that if your sincere goal is to help people through your expertise, you don’t have to go out of your way to sell someone something. You don’t have to use tricks or subtleties. After all, if your goal is sincere, you will always and everywhere (in personal conversations but also on your website) want to share your knowledge. Free of charge and without conditions.
For me, sharing knowledge is the same as selling: the recipient of the information will be able to interpret my expertise and indicate that he needs my help. Because he already knows by then that my knowledge of my profession is far-reaching, my price will be less decisive than in a standard sales process.
So I answered the shoe man: ‘I don’t like selling.’
What attracted me (and still attracts me) to the world of marketing and communication what to use instead of zoom skype teams discord is the creative facet, the creative force: clients come to me because they want me to help them grow. And I do that as best I can. I use traditional means for this (think of brochures and advertising posters), but also modern techniques (SEA, SEO, webshops and the whole shebang).
My point is, I never got into marketing to get rich. I wanted to give my restless brain a healthy outlet to channel my creativity. It gave (and gives) me a thrill to help a client grow, both in quality and quantity.
I repeat: when you do this, people will automatically see you as an expert in your field and will come to you when they need help.
Of course, people need to know where to find your helpful advice. So you definitely need aob directory to do your best to be heard. That’s why I use a mix of inbound marketing, SEA and email marketing with Motionmill to spread my gospel. But the difference with traditional selling is that I don’t have to come up with any promotions, offers or nonsense. I share my knowledge and that’s enough.
Maybe I’m not a salesperson, maybe I’m a helper?
I realized all this while standing face to face with my neighbor girl at the neighborhood barbecue. I swallowed the sour feeling and corrected my earlier words. Instead of speaking like an old man, I spoke as I would have thirty years ago: “I know you will succeed. If you just try your best.”
I had realized that the girl is basically right: a good product or service does indeed sell itself.
That’s why I say to all young entrepreneurs: dare to believe in your plan, pursue those ambitions, even if old guys like me grumble when they hear your ideas. Chase your dreams, run towards the horizon.
But I want to ask you one little thing: sometimes, just sometimes, listen to those old people who keep talking about their life experiences. Because sometimes (it’s cliché but true!) you can really learn something from them.
