Shakin' It Here Boss – Internet Marketing 101

If you are a Paul Newman fan, you undoubtedly recognize this post on growing your business acknowledges the passing of one of the great guys in film.  The words "shakin' it here boss," were of course used by Paul Newman in In the film Cool Hand Luke.  In this 1967 film about Luke (Paul Newman) and the other prisoners on the chain gang, if you needed to take a bio break you went into the ditch where you would frequently shake a branch of the willowy shrubs and and yell out "shakin' it here boss."  This accomplished a couple of things (beyond that bio break).  One, the boss knew you were still there and had not run off.  And two, he knew you were exactly right there! — so he wouldn't mistake you for an animal moving around in the brush and shoot you.  That will keep you on your toes!  And don't forget the Charmin.

Here's the point.  This is a lot like Marketing where you have to make some noise to get noticed.  If you think of your customer or prospect as "the boss", then you understand where I'm going with this.  Your customers like to know what you are up to.  They really do.  We call this communication.  If they don't hear from you every now and then, they forget about you.  You won't get shot, but you may lose them as a customer, which is pretty much the same thing today.   The key is it doesn't have to be complicated.  That's one the beauty of Internet Marketing as compared to traditional marketing.  You have the means of quickly communicating a message through such methods as blogging, social media marketing, and micro-blogging. As long as you keep shakin' it, your business will continue to grow and you'll remain relevant.  That's the formula:  Have a simple, relevant message, and get the word out about it frequently. 

Now, to take this analogy with Cool Hand Luke further, let's continue the story.  Well, Luke decided at one point that he had had about enough and was going to escape.  So, on this particular trip into the ditch he brings a long stretch of string that he ties to the branch of the shrub he is using as cover.  Just for good measure he yells out one or two times — "shakin' it here boss" — then proceeds to run off, all the while shaking the branch with that string as he gets a head start on the boss.  It works because the boss has an expectation about that shaking branch.  In markets, there are expectations too.  If you are just meeting expectations, you may be alright, as some expectations are good.  Then again, do you want your business to just be alright or do you want more?  You can use your Internet Marketing to shake things up — to stay ahead of the game.  That's something you also have to clearly understand.  With Internet Marketing it is so easy to be copied.  Yes, people will "borrow" your ideas.  You can try to fight it, but that seldom works and takes too much effort.  Better to just continue to raise the bar and you'll get noticed even more.  Position your company in unique ways that demonstrate you are on top of your game.  Lead the market.  And to paraphrase a line from the movie…..now that's a real cool hand!

Finally, if you'll be at the Green Industry Conference later this month in Louisville, Ky, I'll be presenting a session on Blogging and Social Media Marketing on Saturday October 25th at 9:30 a.m.  Come and learn more – especially if you are a green industry professional.