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Secrets to Success
Deborah Cole Micek
and John-Paul Micek
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Beware the Witches of East & West
If you're looking to use new media to market, it can feel like you're Dorothy sucked up in a twister and dropped in Oz. Once you land in this majestic world of New Media Oz, how do you make heads or tails out of this fantasy land of reported fame and fortune?
On the outskirts of Oz, the self-appointed elite of mainstream media and Madison Avenue thumb their noses at new media. They gaze into their crystal balls of packaged propaganda and pronounce new media as a fantasy land populated by horny teenagers and political pundits. We know that the new-media marketplace is much more than that.
For instance, when my partner Deb and I were completing research for our book, "Secrets of Online Persuasion," we found well-meaning fans of new media misleading entrepreneurs who wanted to market with it. Much of that misinformation comes from two camps within new media the Wicked Witches of the East and of West.
As an entrepreneur, the Wicked Witches from the East should be easy for you to crush. These witches think fame equals profit. Like in the movie, "Wizard of Oz," Dorothy's house crushes the Wicked Witch of the East, so your house should crush these witches as you land in New Media Oz.
» Fact No. 1: Fame does not equal profit. "Ding dong, the witch is dead." But just when you think things are fine, along comes another witch.
Enter the Wicked Witches of the West. This group is much more dangerous for business owners, especially startups. These witches are social-media evangelists who think that they run a business just because they use a communication channel.
Like the winged monkeys from the Land of Oz, these evangelists swoop down in fanatical devotion to "social media," proselytizing newcomers into the religion of "transparency" and "conversation."
Like their Madison Avenue and Internet marketing guru counterparts, they're careful to capitalize on just a kernel of truth. They leverage the hype and pomp of their brethren in the Eastern coven and talk up famous examples as proof of the power of new media.
Beware the coven of blog, social media or any other new-media evangelist who doesn't have a business other than the content they push.
Make sure that what you're consuming is coming from someone who has a successful (that means profitable) business under his or her belt, whether online or off-line.
The business owner's mindset is what's most important. It's what will help ensure that what you hear from them is focused on profit, not fluff. Far too many new-media voices cry out from caverns of creativity. But, they are witches who are barely making it from paycheck to paycheck.
John-Paul Micek is the lead business coach at RPM Success Group Inc. Reach him at
JPM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.
Deborah Cole Micek, chief executive officer of RPM Success Group, is a business success coach and life strategist. Reach her at
DCM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.