OK, this may sound a bit like sour grapes, but I’m going to say it anyway.
As a Fire & Security company director or owner you may prefer to do your own marketing. That’s fine, it can work out very well. But, that success comes at a cost; you categorically need to learn how to market effectively.
A great choice is to attend workshops with experts – either online or in person at local venues. If you do this, you can be happy that you are ahead of the game. You’re stealing a march on the competition.
But you need to ask yourself two questions about the training you want to take.
- Is it cutting edge?
- Is it tailored to the specific problems of marketing a security systems installation specialist or fire safety professional?
Caveat Emptor – buyer beware… We have seen several marketing training courses being advertised recently that seem great at first glance. But when I check out the people running these courses, they don’t seem to practise what they purport to teach.
Is your Fire & Security digital marketing training cutting edge?
At Lollipop, it’s part of our ongoing CPD to regularly attend workshops and training hosted by recognised ‘gurus’ from across the world. It’s the only way to be sure we stay on top of our subject – Digital Marketing! Then it’s a case of applying the latest knowledge to the problems experience tells me my own prospects and customers in the Fire & Security industry are facing.
But, what can you do, Mr Fire & Security? How can you be sure your ‘guru’ is worth listening to?
The answer… You need to scrutinise your ‘guru’! And ask 3 questions:
1 – Is your guru practicing what she preaches?
I recently checked out the profiles of the teachers delivering LinkedIn workshops. There was very little recent activity. How can you give EFFECTIVE AND RELEVANT training on a platform that you don’t use on a regular basis?
2 – Is the workshop material up to date?
Another of these teachers I checked certainly was not. Included in the course content was material on features that were removed from the LinkedIn personal profile for at least a year!
A workshop teaching content that is at least one full year out of date!
That kind of time wasting makes me livid! It’s lazy and gives the whole industry a bad name. *Expletive deleted!*
3 – Do they exhibit subject matter expertise?
Exhibit 3, your honour, a marketing and SEO course. Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of the subject could see that the website of the marketer showed precious little evidence of SEO experience or expertise.
It’s a bit rich if your guru is ignorant of their own subject matter! And, more importantly, what benefit will it be to innocent customers like you, Mr Fire & Security?
And yet, in all three cases, these teachers had glowing reviews on the booking pages for their events. How can that be?
Why testimonials and recommendations can be deceptive…
If, under scrutiny, your ‘guru’ appears to be more snake oil salesman than genuine Ghandi, how come the testimonials are so good?
It comes back to the age old saying…
in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
We’ve all been there! You attend a course and pick up new tactics that you have not heard of or tried before. As a beginner in the subject, it’s all new and exciting. You enter curious and leave enthused!
Naturally, the teacher will seem like some a Professor. Enthused, you may be tempted to rave about your experience on the course.
But, hold your horses!
It’s only when you come to implement these tips, tricks and tactics that the penny drops. It’s like a kick in the teeth! You realise you only have half the story. And you begin to doubt your ‘guru’.
By that time, your hyperbolic testimonial is spread across social media and it’s nigh on impossible to retract it!
And that’s how the bullshit spreads!
So how can you tell if your Fire & Security marketing training course will be worthwhile?
The truth is you can’t.
If you are new to marketing, you’ll not be able to answer the three questions from earlier:
- Is your guru practicing what she preaches?
- Is the workshop material up to date?
- Do they exhibit subject matter expertise?
To avoid being burned you need to practice due diligence. Here’s what you can do:
- look at the website of the person running the course – do they talk about working with companies in the Fire & Security industry?
- check out the activity on the person’s social media profiles – do they have lots of recent updates and interactions?
- Email or phone up and ask probing questions;
… but, as a beginner, you may not recognise the tell-tale signs of a charlatan?
Indeed your host may not even realise the problem, they may believe they’re still teaching cutting edge material.
Caveat Emptor – beware the one-eyed marketer teaching in a town near you…
Of course, even if you manage to avoid the charlatans, your troubles may not be over…
There are pitfalls in every marketing option available to Fire and Security companies. This eBook examines the choices and clearly illustrates the pros and cons of your options. Read it and absorb the lessons so you can make a wise choice based on more than price. Get it wrong and your business will suffer – while your competition prospers.
Choose in haste and repent at your leisure.
Download this eBook in two clicks. It will save you time, money, disappointment and frustration. What are you waiting for!
