Marketing is in the Eye of the Beholder

by: Fred Brown, Director of Marketing/Member Development, Northeast Family Federal Credit Union

I attended an event the other night with my wife and invariably someone always asks “How did you get her, to marry you?” Granted it seems like a shot and a very good one at that, but the more I thought about it, it was actually a compliment to me. To me I heard “Damn, you are a really good marketer.” After all how could I get this wonderful woman who is above me, to marry me. It’s all in how you market yourself. Isn’t that the goal, to get what we want?

I started out practicing marketing for a furniture/TV/appliance rental company and if you think retail marketing is tough, try marketing used items, especially furniture. I must have done it correctly, because I rose from delivery man to General Manager within three short years. I really learned to market during my tenure owning my own marketing consulting business. My clients ranged from a regional construction firm, a local mobile salon, a national provider of heating elements (boy, that one was a barrel of laughs) and a local stove/hot tub company.  I followed seven steps when I created a marketing plan:

• First, define who you are and your special set of talents. You need to know what you’re marketing. I’ve heard people say, “I can’t market/sell something I don’t know.
• Second, set your marketing objective. What is your goal? Make it measurable & realistic and set a timeline. How can you work towards something unless you know what it is. It needn’t be grandiose, but it must be real.
• Third, gather analyze, and interpret information about your situation. Create a SWOT analysis. By the way, SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. (Find more info on SWOT at www.businessballs.com). A SWOT doesn’t have to be multiple pages, as I’ve seen. But make sure it’s honest.
• Fourth, Identify your target markets. Who needs to know you, your capabilities? Why market to the wrong crowd?
• Fifth, make sure to develop your marketing strategy as well as activities aimed at your target market.
• Sixth, create an implementation timeline. What will you need and when will you need it. Make sure to include obstacles.
• Seventh, every once in awhile, take a look back and reassess. You don’t need to follow it down to the letter, but use it as a general guideline.

Remember, the only one who can best market you, is you. A mentor of mine once said, “You make your own luck”. As I think about my “luck” through the years, I have to admit, there wasn’t anything magically lucky about any of it. I was in the right place at the right time. I’ll grant you I worked damn hard, but so did a lot of people. Look at the successful people you know, I mean really know. Do they seem to be “lucky”? Do they seem to always be in the right place, at the right time? Emulate those you look up to. Oh and remember, an important quality of success, is believing in yourself. Over time I learned to market myself, thus the lovely Mrs. Robin Brown.

Fred Brown, Director of Marketing/Member Development, Northeast Family Federal Credit Union
Fred has only been in the credit union world for a short time, but has learned much. Fred received his CUDE (Credit Union Development Educator) designation in 2008 and has since gone on to educate youth as to the benefits of credit union membership and better control of their finances. Oh and if you’ve ever seen a superhero in blue and red, flashing by you, look up www.CreditUnionMan.com