You see marketers on social media pushing systems for building a business. There’s a grain of truth to it, but only a grain.
What Is A Marketing System?
For instance, what is a franchise like Chic-filet or McDonald’s if not a brand with a “system” for expansion?
In instances like that, you pay to buy into the franchise. You go through an indoctrination course. Then, you follow a step-by-step system (that works) to build a business with that franchise.
Replicated in the micro-view, you get a McDonald’s. In the macro-view, you get a billion-dollar empire with each store as an apparatus of the machine.
Do Marketing Systems Work?
The CEO of Papa Johns, Blockbuster, etc. during their respective times, tinkered around. They developed their own systems that worked for them.
Then, they rinsed and repeated that system to build their empires. That’s what scaling means. To scale a business idea means to develop a system that allows you to delegate to managers. Then, those managers can delegate to different workers, in a ladder.
The problem is not in the intrinsic concept of a system. The problem comes into play when marketers try to sell a system that works for everybody.
The principles of economics are universal. The mechanics of marketing, in general, are universal. They apply the same way for every business.
However, each brand has its own soul. Each company is the character of its own story. And that character reflects the strengths and weaknesses of its founders.
Maybe a company has an introverted CEO who’s great at strategy and macro-planning. He would likely need an extroverted partner for sales and micro-execution.
And, maybe, it’s the reverse. In either scenario, different systems would develop based on the founders.
Maybe there’s one founder. Maybe there are ten, each with different traits. And the best system needed would be the one that incorporates those traits in their own best ways.
Tesla’s system is not the same as Netflix’s system. Sony’s system is not the same as Kellog’s system.
Marketing Systems Don’t Work For Everyone
So, it’s not the intrinsic idea of a business system that’s bad. All public businesses use some form of a system. It’s when someone tries to sell the idea of equality of outcome on one universal system for all.
They “I did it this way, so you can do it, too!” marketers. Those people
Then, they get the bright idea that they can capitalize on what they learned. They solved their own business puzzle.
This is when they become a mentor. They start going on charismatic speaking engagements
There’s nothing wrong with that in and of itself. Tony Robbins does that, and he’s helped
Equality Of Outcome And Equality Of Principle
The difference exists in the debate between equality outcome and equality of principle
The universality of principle, ethics, and mechanics are fine. With those, you can take what’s unique about you, your brand, and develop your own system
However, e
They might recommend something that only a person with 180 IQ can pull off when the client doesn’t have a 180 IQ
When this happens, yes, a small number of people may succeed with the system that’s offered. But the vast majority won’t. The marketers who are aware of the difference but don’t speak on it are malevolent. The ones who don’t are just well-meaning idiots
Both of them are still wrong, though. The difference is in how aware of how wrong they are
Equity Of Outcome Marketing Systems Don’t Work
Equality of outcome marketing systems
Thus, it always comes down to the people. Not any specific business tactic. This is why whenever there’s a management change at a company, they tend to fire lots of other people too.
The whole business tends to change when the CEO
To keep the business functioning as a whole, the new leader or manager has to come in and tinker around. Then, change the system to fit their unique strengths and weaknesses
You have to select your preferred entrepreneurial styles. Then, within the umbrella of your style, develop your own system that works for you. And you only.
Your business reflects who you are. You make the business; the business doesn’t make you. This is why genuine entrepreneurs tend to be self-actualizing people. They tend to be people who constantly focus on self-improvement.
As they improve, so does their business. Self-improvement enhances their strengths. This then determines what they can and cannot pull off with their own systems.
What do you think?
What’s been your experience with entrepreneurship and marketing, and have you thought of it in these terms?
Leave a comment below.
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Mike Norton is an American award-winning marketing strategist with a BA in Internet marketing from Full Sail University.
He’s also a writer, entrepreneur, and a physicist studying part-time at the University of York who is a veteran of the United States military and the 7-time winner of the USS Dwight Eisenhower award for essays about world peace and respect.
As a mostly self-educated vagabond, he gains inspiration from a myriad of experiences wrought from the adventures of his nomadic lifestyle. He prolifically writes and journals where ever he goes in the world, from one country to the next.
You can find his personal blog on self-development at NortonsMind.com. Follow him on LinkedIn and Quora.
