Sell a lake map and fishing lure combo. Take specific fishing lures and tape them to the different lakes on the map. This way the out-of-towner will know the proper bait to use at each particular lake, and will lead to a more successful fishing experience.

If you’re at Watermans Reservoir and want to catch a Northern Pike, you need a spinner lure. At Worden’s Pond after Jackfish? Use a fish-imitation lure or cut bait.*

Here comes the business segue…

We marketers and business owners become frustrated and don’t understand why the money we spent… on fishing poles and worms to catch Orange Roughy at the lake… hasn’t paid off.

If we did our homework, we would have known (a) orange roughy are a salt water fish, and (b) you get them with deep nets, not a fishin’ pole.

It is easy to miss your audience by not using the right venue (lake) or the right message (lure).

Here’s an example. I worked with a client who own a spa. Her customers include:

1. women looking to be pampered,
2. women looking for stress/muscle ache relief,
3. men looking for pain relief (often sports related), and
4. men looking to buy gifts certificates.

A first approach would be to target the women and men differently. That’s smart. But if you look deeper, you also realize that “woman wanting pampering” isn’t necessarily the same person as “stressed woman.” And “sporty man” has different habits than “gift-giving guy.”

They each have a different motivation for purchase – therefore will respond to a different message. They each have different lifestyles, and the vehicle/venue to reach each will differ.

The more time you spend defining the who, what, where, when, how, and why the better your outreach / communication / advertising strategy.

Don’t simply “fish where the fist are.” Fish for the right fish, with the right bait, in the right waters.

*That scene takes place in the comedy, Best In Show. However, the fishing advice is mine, not from the movie. Also, I posted this earlier today at the Marketing Prof’s Daily Fix blog.

However, have you ever tried to peel a tomato?

No matter how careful and patient you are, the peeler hacks up the tomato.

Luckily I remembered my “how to peel tomatoes” lesson Chef Dad taught me: Blanching and Shocking.

If you put whole fresh tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for 15 to 30 seconds (blanching) followed by a pot of iced cold water for 15 to 30 seconds (shocking), the skins slip off with ease and leave the tomato perfectly whole.

This is how chefs do it. Blanching releases the skin, and shocking stops them from cooking.

Peeling tomatoes by hand can be done. It isn’t easy. It isn’t pretty. It takes a while. But, why would you? Blanching is a miracle compared to hand-peeling.

The marketing segue?

It is amazing how much better you can get the job done when you use the proper process and tools.

Dan and Chip Heath recently wrote an article for Fast Company magazine, A Problem-Solver’s Guide to Copycatting, where they detail examples.

Don’t reinvent the wheel, somewhere out there is something round!

Enjoy!

The 50 Lectures for Marketers is part of a series of compilations Online College has created. Other compilations include…

• 100 Inspiring, Educational Videos for Writers
• 100 Educational Twitter Feeds for Journalism Students
• 100 Inspirational Twitter Feeds for College Students
• 100 Awesome Lectures for Art Enthusiasts
• 100 Best Blogs for Book Reviews

Online Colleges is smart. They’re attracting people to their site by adding value instead of shoving their message at us.

(Thanks Amber for sending this my way!)

(1) Fix Something Broken / Problem Solving,
(2) Grow Something,
(3) Get Ideas / Fill Idea Pipeline, and
(4) Innovate / Make Something New

(1) Fix Something Broken / Problem Solving

This is what is traditionally thought of as Creative Problem Solving (CPS). You’ve identified that you have some sort of problem (or ‘opportunity’ as some prefer to call it), and need to brainstorm some solutions. Perhaps you need to drive sales by x% in Q1? Determine ways to raise money to put a new roof on the church? Find ways to stand apart from your competition? You’d identified something that needs to be addressed (the problem) and need solutions.

Think About: Are you sure you’re solving the right problem, and not simply addressing the symptoms? What are the assumptions? Constraints?

(2) Grow Something

Your franchise has reached a certain size and you want to grow bigger. Your new company has a steady flow of clients – now you want a “brand” – a logo, website, long-term goals, etc. You’ve got something already established and want to make it bigger.

Think About: Where are you now? Where do you want to go? Is this an ultimate goal, or a next step? Are you ready to manage the responsibility associated with the growth? What do you feel you “must keep”, or can growing mean starting over from scratch?

(3) Get Ideas / Fill Idea Pipeline

You’re tapped for ideas. You need to come up with a series of new product flavors for the next year. You want to determine your FY’10-11 promotional calendar. Your idea bank is near zero and you need to replenish the account.

Think About: How refined do you need the new ideas to be: sketch ideas or near-final proven concepts?

(4) Innovate / Make Something New

Combine ideas in a way that hasn’t been done before. You want to do something innovative in your business category. Something above and beyond (a) your competition and/or (b) what you have done in the past.

Think About: Do these ideas need to be truly “new” or just new to your category? (You may find a practice in another industry can become your best practice.

As I’ve looked across the clients I have served, and meetings I’ve attended with employers; the reasons for brainstorming always boil down to these basic four situations. Even if – at times – the reason may be a combination of one or more of these… these are still the root situations.

Understanding these four situations will help you define clear objectives and the desired outcome of the meeting.