September 24, 2009
How to Be a Rainmaker
Rain- Thats been the prevailing climate here in New York for what feels like aforever! Since when did Seattle and New York have a trade that I wasn’t made aware of ?
Being that rain was the lead topic of discussion for most of us of us in this part of the States at the beginning of the summer, it does bring to mind a lesson on Branding I learned from one Dr. Ben Mack which he did last year.
I will make a great effort to reveal some of the most important parts given at this very informative event over the next ensuing articles so stay tuned or check out my blog for updates. The lecture contained topics such as: 1) Making lightning Strike, 2) How to keep the lightning striking and 3) Bottling your lightning.
In case your not acquainted who Bejamin Mack is, he is one of the foremost powers that be on Branding at present in the USA. He is considered legendary in certain Ad agency circles for this work. Over the years Ben has held positions at some of the best advertizing agencies aorund and held position of Vice President for Brand strategy for a very large corporation.
In a nut shell what that means is he was in charge of a budget of ” billion dollars (now thats big money)! To me that indicates someone who has some clout on Branding, do we see eye to eye? In addition to being a professional magician, Ben Mack has worked magic for most of his employers, and at age 19 was the receiver of the esteemed (if your into magic) Award of Merit given by the AMA.
So, what is a Rainmaker and why do we want to be one? a Rainmaker, aside from the apparent implication of an indian medicine man or shaman who uses his “magic” help insure a good harvest, is an individual with uncanny ability to attract customers, use political connections and increase profits. However, with the rain also follows the the lightning! I will expand more later.
The cheif duty as a marketer is to “up sell” folks understanding of reality. In Benjamin Macks book entitled “Think Two Products Ahead” he elaborates on the whole concept of how practical branding only occurs when businesses (large or small) think two products ahead instead of the current time frame and for these companies to put together thriving affiliations with their client or customers through their Brand. The section in the book where Ben Mack discusses the process of developing your Legend Platform is absolutely priceless!
The “Brand” (called YOU) is built by using legends or tales that are told over and over and gain strenght with time. These stories should be permitted to say the opposite of what the others say and will increase as the stories get older. So, if you had to make a choice of the type of story you use to make your business shine like a diamond (you are reading articles like this to help you right?) why not let them be legends. A Legendary business is a profitable one!
Stay tuned for the next part in the series of articles covering Dr. Bens How to Become a Rainmaker.
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