TODAY I RECEIVED A TEXT MESSAGE FROM A PROSPECTIVE CLIENT I spoke with a few days ago. I was in a meeting, but took a quick glance to find that it was an automated promotional message for her business.

Even though I know her and am interested in building a relationship with her, I found the automated text invasive and off-putting. I let her know that I prefer she email me with such messages and to leave texting for personal, direct communications. Thankfully she immediately apologized and removed me from that list.

Take my money, but don’t you dare ask for my attention.

Attention is the hottest commodity around today. It’s no longer about money. In fact, people pay, oftentimes lots of money, in order to block demands for attention so they can focus and clear their minds.

We live in a world where it’s not just the clinically diagnosed that have issues with “Attention Deficit.” The idea that it’s “just 5 minutes of your time” has nothing to do with it. The effort it takes to divert your attention for those 5 minutes, or even 1 minute, and the increased effort it takes to get back on track with what you were doing & thinking, is disabling and desperately counterproductive. We are starting to realize that “multitasking” is a fallacy. That in order to truly accomplish anything well, we must keep both eyes on the target, excluding all else. It’s hard enough to do this when our attention isn’t continuously being demanded upon.

As business owners, how do we reach people without invading their privacy or becoming an annoyance they just want to block? In comes that dirty word: “marketing.” It’s a word no one really wants to hear. I recently came across a website called “everyonehatesmarketers.” This is a truth.

That’s why this movement against traditional “marketing” really resonates with me. Mark Schaeffer calls it The Marketing Rebellion, which is the title of his book. We have gone to great lengths to block ads, stop unwanted callers and even pay money to watch programs without ads.

“FREE” is a Lie

We’ve learned that “Free” is a lie. Everything always comes at a cost. Whether it’s having a sign-up form or video ad thrown in your face, blocking the thing you came to watch or read—or even more invasively, seeing an incoming call from what appears to be a person in your local area, only to find a robotic message about something being sold that you have no interest in—the breach of privacy, trust and personal space is everywhere, like flies in a barnyard!

No One Really Cares How Great You Are

As business owners, we have worked hard to perfect what we have to offer, so naturally we want to expound on that. Reality check: no one really cares how great you are! (Sorry.) Your audience’s top-most concern must be understood if you want to truly reach them. Lead with identifying their problem.

5 Tips for Non-annoyance

Next time you think you just need to post more, push more advertisements through or sign-up for a sales funnel marketing plan, ask yourself these 5 questions first:

1. Is it going to reach my ideal customer through the channels I’m using?
2. Does it solve a problem my ideal customer is struggling with?
3. Is it especially for my ideal customer? (Think about this: “It’s for everybody” actually means “It’s for nobody.”)
4. Is my product or service really and truly the perfect solution to their need?
5. Is my primary message about them? (Tempting as it is, beware of making it about you and your offerings.)

If you can answer YES to all 5 questions above, it’s less likley that you’ll annoy a bunch of people that have no interest in what you’re selling. And you won’t need to reach so many people either.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes. And if you’d like some help determining who your ideal customer is and what problem they’re trying to solve, sign up for a free 30-minute consultation (and I really mean FREE) with me.

Lindy Bostrom officially launched Bostrom Graphics in 2003 in California after working for more than a decade as an Art Director and Graphic Designer in NYC. Bostrom Graphics develops branding and marketing strategies for small businesses. We have vital interests in working with businesses with humanitarian causes, health & wellness, and advocates for freedom of expression using mediums like filmmaking, writing and public speaking.

We take pride in maintaining the highest level of integrity and accountability in building trusting, growth-oriented relationships.