Watch Steve Jobs launch Apple’s Think Different marketing campaign. There is so much for anyone to learn:
What is the purpose of marketing?
“To me marketing is about values. This is a very complicated world; it is a very noisy world and we’re not going to get a chance for people to remember much about us. No company is. So we have to be really clear about what we want people to know about us.”
Jobs goes on to talk about Nike and its success in marketing:
“Nike doesn’t talk about their product or their competitors. They honor great athletics and great athletes.”
Finally, he defines what Simon Sinek calls Apple’s “Why”:
“What we’re about isn’t about making boxes to help people get their work done . . . Apple’s core value is that we believe people with passion can change the world for the better.”
Your Marketing = Your Mission
There are hundreds, maybe thousands of other people trying to do the same thing you are. What makes you stand out from the rest?
You have to have a mission.
You can’t just make things.
You have to make things on a mission.
People will get excited for you when you have a mission.
People will follow you on a mission because they want someone to lead them. They need someone to lead them.
What is your mission?
Once you figure this out, marketing because a lot easier. It won’t feel like marketing at all. It will just be you talking about your mission.
All you have to do is find people on the same mission as you and connect with them.
Tell them about what you are making to advance the mission.
How do you find your mission?
Passion comes from pain.
- What drives you crazy?
- What do you get emotionally fired up talking about?
- What keeps you up at night?
- What challenges have you overcome through painful hard work?
Start with the pain, then:
- What helped heal the pain?
- What helped get through the suffering to success?
Make it your mission to help heal the pain and walk with people in their suffering.
This is how you grow a platform. It is how you find your 1,000 True Fans.