First of all, I apologize if the title of this blog gets that Bonnie Raitt song stuck in your head. If it makes you feel any better, it’s torturing me non-stop as I write this. But I figure it could be worse so, onto my thoughts sans the theme music.

I spend a fair amount of time emphasizing word of mouth as a primary goal when consulting with clients on marketing their services & goods. I often refer to it as encouraging the messenger (see ‘It’s the Messenger not the Message’  http://asageinreallife.com/?p=31) because as one person (or even as a small team) you can only reach a relatively small number of people in a real, connected manner so you need your contacts and network to connect with their people and pass on your message. But the question is, what will motivate them to recommend you?

Seth Godin got me thinking about this after I read his blog about what he calls ‘the first circle. Basically he’s just bringing into focus how important your connection is to your immediate contacts versus worrying about the number of contacts you have. (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/09/the-big-drop-off.html) That’s because you aren’t really marketing to your first circle as much as trying to market through them.

Your first circle–or first messengers or direct connects, whatever you want to call them–are the people you want to spend your resources on. If you skimp and do nothing but Twitter about what you have for sale, you aren’t going to have much effect. You need to give them a reason to pass the word along, a reason to talk about you.

You can do this a number of ways. Making humorous comments, videos, and pictures are great as are items that are visually or situationally amazing –just think of what makes the biggest hits on YouTube and what most of your forwarded emails are about.  Sending out messages with items of high value to your market such as novel advice or links to great resources will make people remember you. My favorite method of connecting and getting my messengers to pass the word along, though, is to help them out first. Appreciation is an intense motivator.

Instead of wasting time (and money) sending out announcements and sales pitches, try investing your time and effort in personally chatting with your contacts–especially to encourage or compliment. Buy a product or employ their services if they have something to sell. Or help them in their endeavors by spreading the word, offering your professional advice for free, or connecting them with others who can help them out further.

If you do things like this, your first circle is going to talk about you. Not only that, but you will also get that very necessary personal interaction that will translate into more enthusiasm for your own work and industry, not to mention the seredipitous encounters that result in great friendships and even business ventures along with more sales and exposure.

So go ahead … give them something to talk about. Then go throw on a CD of Patsy Cline or Queen or whatever floats your boat to get that song out of your head. Sorry about that …