Persistence

By Ken Gasque

There are four rules we think are the key to success. We made a poster to illustrate these rules and very cleverly called them “The Four Rules of Success.” You will find our posters in elementary, middle and high schools across South Carolina. We offered it to schools and most accepted because they believe there is a valuable message in our poster. You will also find our poster in businesses all across this country and even in China (we offered the poster on our website and we had one request from Beijing). The following story illustrates the Four Rules of Success.

When I started in business one of my first clients was a newly formed company that wanted to sell ceiling fans. The only company that was manufacturing and selling ceiling fans was Robbins & Myers. They had a 65-year-old fellow named Charlie who was wiring the fans. As soon as Charlie retired Robbins & Myers was going to shut down their ceiling fan business. My client believed that there was still a market for ceiling fans and that maybe the problem was no one had advertised the product.

We designed some ads and placed them in Southern Living Magazine. These were very small ads—a little more than 1 inch tall by 3 inches wide. Just enough room for some very carefully worded copy and a photo of the 52” ceiling fan. At that time Southern Living offered a special—buy three classified display ads and get three ‘advertorials’ free.

We placed the first ad and waited. Nothing happened. We placed the second ad and waited. Nothing happened. I began to worry because even though these ads were small they were very expensive. We were reaching 7,000,000 people and nothing was happening. We ran the third and final ad and nothing happened. I was very disheartened and I called the client and told him I did not understand what had happened… the message was good, we had a product that I felt was something almost every home could use and we were reaching the right audience. He interrupted me and taught me a valuable marketing/branding lesson. He said, “You have to believe and you have to have patience—we have the right ad and the right media. Have faith and wait.”

The next month we ran our first free ‘advertorial.’ Two weeks later a letter and a check arrived.   The customer wrote, “I have seen your ads for years and finally I asked myself why wait any longer, go ahead and buy the fan and enjoy it.” The consumer’s desire for the product made it seem like he had seen our ad for years but we had only run the ad three times over the previous three months. More and more orders and letters followed.   My client believed in advertising and we expanded the program to Sunset Magazine, Yankee Magazine and other consumer publications. My client brought back the ceiling fan business for Robbins & Myers and became the largest ceiling fan dealer in the country.

He followed the Four Rules of Success. 1. Show Up—we advertised in publications that reached his audience. 2. Pay Attention—before he embarked on this venture he bought a ceiling fan and put it in his house and observed how friends and guest responded to it. 3. Ask Questions—when guests and friends commented on the ceiling fan he asked if they would ever consider purchasing one. And most important is rule number 4. Don’t Quit—marketing and advertising are as necessary to your business as accounting, paying taxes, employees, and good credit.   A consistent message presented persistently will build your brand and your revenues.

For a free copy of the Four Rules of Success Poster click here.

Be there, advertise, it pays.

About Ken Gasque

Ken Gasque is a brand image-maker, marketing planner and designer. Ken works with small companies and Fortune 500 companies who recognize the need to differentiate their products and services to stand out in a cluttered market. Ken is a highly visual, outside-the-box-thinker on advertising, branding and marketing—his work reflects his belief that “We buy with our eyes.” Ken writes and lectures on brands, design, images and brand development.

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