Laura Lowell - 42 Rules of Marketing. A Practical Guide to Marketing Best Practices That Ensure Your Messages Are...

by Laura Lowell

Copyright 2012 by Laura Lowell

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Super Star Press cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

Published by Super Star Press, a Happy About imprint 20660 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 210, Cupertino, CA 95014

http://42rules.com

2nd Edition: July 2012

Ist Edition: September 2007

Paperback ISBN (2nd Edition): 1-60773-092-8 (978-1-60773-092-7)

Paperback ISBN (1st Edition): 0-9799428-0-2 (978-0-9799428-0-8)

eBook ISBN: 0-9799428-1-0 (978-0-9799428-1-5)

Place of Publication: Silicon Valley, California, USA

Library of Congress Number: 2007936178

Trademarks

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Happy About, nor any of its imprints, cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

Warning and Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible. The information provided is on an as is basis. The author(s), publisher, and its agents assume no responsibility for errors or omissions nor assume liability or responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the use of information contained herein.

Praise For This Book!

These 42 Rules are gems of advice and gentle reminders that every marketer needs to hear from time to time, packaged in concise, fun-to-read nuggets. If marketing is in your title, you need to have this book in your library.

Chris Shipley, Co-Founder, Guidewire Group Inc.
Executive Producer of the DEMO Conference

Lauras insights in The 42 Rules of Marketing are invaluable. The book is an easy and fun read, and is a great reminder of many of the things that we marketers know intuitively but may have forgotten in the rush of doing our daily jobs.

Brian Lawley, President, 280 Group, and
Silicon Valley Product Management Association

This book is full of practical reminders that help marketers stay focused on what works.

Karilee Wirthlin, Founder and Managing Principal, KL Consulting President, Women in Consulting

Its an actionable guide for anyone looking to improve the quality of their marketing. Lauras rules have sparked ideas with me and my team and have helped us make a lot of progress. Keep it on your desk, refer to it often and tell a friend.

Melissa Johnson, Director, Annual Fund, Walter A. Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley

Its a funny, honest look at how marketing really works. Laura has written a book that captures the basics we know about but dont always do.

Kathy Johnson, Co-Founder, Consort Partners

Publisher

Mitchell Levy
http://hanciyabout:info/

Cover Designer

Cate Calson
http://calsongraphics.com/

Copy Editor

Teclarity
http://teclarity.com/

You can have brilliant ideas, but if you cant get them across, your
ideas wont get you anywhere.

Lee Iacocca
Chairman, Chrysler Corporation

Dedication

To Mom and Dad for teaching me to assume I can do anything.

To Rick for patience, support and unwavering enthusiasm for my tangents.

To Taylor and Riley for thinking its cool.

Scores of people contributed to this book. It would be impossible to name and acknowledge everyone Ive worked with over the yearsall of whom have shared their experiences and insights with me, and indirectly influenced my perceptions of marketing.

I do want to thank some people who have directly contributed to this book. Without their input, the book would not be what it is.

To Valerie Romley for holding me accountable to myself and my vision; Kelli Glass for being my editor and having the patience to correct the same mistakes over and over again; Landon Ray for having the respect to ask me what I was really trying to do and inspiring me to do it.

In addition, the following people provided support, stories, feedback and motivation I counted on when I ran out of steam: Amy Bowers, Sally Thornton, Karla Carlen, Mike Freier, Walt Duflock, Hilary Glann, Jean Shimoguchi, Stacy McCarthy, Laura Thurman, Siobhan OConnor, Jan McDaniel, and my sister and friend Pamela Castellanos.

The concept of 42 rules is that almost anything in life can be summarized into 42 distinct ideas that capture the essence of the topic.

I am often asked Why 42? In the science-fiction novel turned cult film, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, a computer is built to answer the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. The answer is simply 42. As I approached writing this book, 27 rules seemed too low, but 51 were way too many. Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhikers Guide, was on to something when he chose 42. It felt right to me as well.

The 42 Rules of Marketing is a compilation of ideas, theories, and practical approaches I have been collecting over the years. The idea was to create a series of helpful reminders; things that marketers know we should do, but dont always have the time or patience to do.

As you read through the rules, I ask that you dont take them literally. They are interesting stories, anecdotes and observations. Keep the book on your desk as it is intended as an entertaining antidote to long, boring conference calls. Dont read the rules in order, but flip through them until something strikes you. If it sparks an idea, then Ive done what I set out to do.

Feel free to pass the rules along to anyone you think might benefit from a friendly little reminder. Use them to start a discussion about what other people think the rules should be. After all, these are my rules. What are yours?

Marketing is the way you create and distribute messages to get peoples attention so you can convince them to buy more of your stuff

Marketing is creative, exciting and dare-I-say fun. Brainstorming ideas late into the night while munching on M&Ms and stale Doritoswhat could be better? Throwing ideas around, watching them get better and bigger by the minutehow cool is that? Seeing your ad in print for the first time, or watching the results of an email campaign right after you hit the send buttonit is pure adrenaline.

There was a time when brilliant creative was appreciated for being brilliant creative. Now, most CEOs actually want their marketing teams to help sell products. They are holding CMOs accountable for specific performance metricslike all the other C-level folks at the table.

Marketing folks are, for the most part, not too fond of process, reporting or anything that might limit creativity. At least thats how most non-marketers view marketing people. Some marketers would certainly classify themselves as right-brain types, not inclined to documentation, data or discipline. Not everyone fits this description, and it might be hard for some of you to hear. Marketing is one of the last disciplines to apply process, automation and technology to improve both efficiency and effectiveness.