This is an extremely important marketing concept when you want to market/sell yourself/ an idea/ product/ company/ partnership etc to anyone. Allow me to tell the truth with compassion because no one care about what you do or how good your concepts/products are but rather how can you benefit them. Let me show you 2 real life examples:

1. I received this email from a blog in my mailbox earlier this week,

"Hi Ken,

Long heard about your stories from rags to riches. I'm very interested in your way of skills, interested to share some experiences with me. I'm interested in getting rich myself and being a speaker/presenter.

Any means of contacting you apart from email?

Thanks

Regards XXX"

Notice how this person phased the question? "I am interested to...", "I want to...", "I'm interested in getting rich myself..." etc. Hello, I am happy that this particular individual has such aspiration and desire. Great! But, where is the win-win situation here? WIIIFM? Seriously, why should I help apart from Humanitarian reason?

One of my young friend, Adam Wong understood this marketing concept and instead of asking his mentor Adam Khoo to coach and guide him to become a millionaire, he went to Adam Khoo (nope, Adam Wong did not change his name to model after his mentor) and offer to help him to market his IP materials online because Adam Wong is keen in Internet Marketing himself. In the process, he gets private time with his mentor and observes and model after his mentor while making money online for his mentor and himself. Smart chap. Warren Buffett under studied and worked for his mentor Benjamin Graham to gain mastery on value investing. One of my ex-staff, Jimmy Han came to me one day and say this even after I told him that we are not hiring because of budget, "Ken, I am willing to work for you for $500 dollar a month plus commission for a year because I want to learn about marketing and advertising". He did and now he is running a start up business using his new found marketing and advertising insights with another EAP graduate, Mike Sim dealing with Laptop accessories. This is his email to us,

"...I would like to thank both Azhar and you for being my mentor during my stay in Just Media. Thank you and I have learnt a lot from you guys.

Cheers, Jimmy Han Qiyong"

2. I receive a phone call and an email marketing proposal today!

Happy new year.

I'm a EAP graduate of Executive Directions 2006. It's great to know you at the boot camp.

I've set up a company named XXX International Pte Ltd. We conduct events such as conferences, forums, seminars etc. that builds on 'People' through engaging people in the public, private and people sectors.

We are planning to launch a 'people action forum' to kick off the platform for people in the corporate and community to learn, network and exchange to further develop in their own organisational and community initiatives.

XXX International will be featuring presentations by professional speakers or trainers, keeping with the theme 'People for Success'. Speakers are invited for presentations that share real insights,experiences, knowledge and expertise. We aim to promote people engagement to foster and strengthen community relations and engagement with corporate groups in furthering organisations' objectives through the network exchange platform.

The program includes an opening performance from people sector at the forum and a dinner after the forum to bring light moments to participants.

The event is targeted to see a gathering of 200-350 performance managers and leaders from corporates (public and private) and people sector.

As this is a newly incorporated company, I would be pleased to have your views or suggestions of how we can work from here with your expertise and resources.

The areas that we're looking forward to besides event organisation are: a. sourcing for speakers, invitation of Guest-of-honour. b. marketing communication or advertising to carry messages across effectively, in reaching public, speakers, potential partner organisations. c. building up of teams and subsequent programs and activities.

More information of the company is at website: www.xxx.com.

I would be glad to answer your queries moving forward and any recommendations.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

Have a good day.

Best Regards

XXX XXX International Pte Ltd tel: XXXX XXXX>

Now, my intention is to support EAP network and we grow together. One of my key secret of securing big deals and be successful with it: I ALWAYS LISTEN AND ASK QUESTIONS FIRST! In fact, ask good marketing and personal questions. I will explore and understand the pain/ desire/ challenges that my partners and clients are facing. I will then evaluate whether my company service or marketing/advertising expertise can add value to them. I am sorry to say that this particular graduate email did not trigger my interest because he/she did not even attempt to understand my needs! The above email is what I call features/data dumping.

Now, before you approach and market your great idea/ product to your partners or clients next time, pause and ask: What Is It For them? I am sure you will achieve a better result!

Forward this blog to your friends if you find this beneficial. Thanks! About Author :

Ken Chee is the Group CEO of Integrated Media Group Pte Ltd. The companies specialized in ROI (Return on Investment) marketing and have spearheaded regional and local campaign in Asia. The content may be used only in its entirety with all links and his bio included. Visit www.kenchee.com for IDEA THAT SELLS!