Introduction
Spring has historically been synonymous with new beginnings and a fresh start. Appropriately we have decided to begin work on a new book which we are calling “Vulnerable Marketing”, the progress of which we will update here on our blog. Of course we will continue writing this blog with discussions revolving around entrepreneurship, personal development, and other areas deemed appropriate. The book will be more of a side project that we anticipate will be complete by the end of this year. This blog post will serve as our stake in the sand informing others of what we intend to build. We will keep you updated as we make progress on our journey.

What is Vulnerable Marketing?
Vulnerable marketing is an idea that we have talked about, brainstormed about and put into practice here. It is a culmination of our reading, learning, and evolving over our combined lifetimes. It is a mixture of our diverse academic education, real-world experience, and relationships which act as a force multiplier when combined – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Vulnerable marketing embodies the principles of decentralized control, open source, and transparency.

Historical marketing focused on pushing a message to target audiences in the hopes that a small percentage would be receptive to this message an act upon in. This type of marketing was characterized by individuals and businesses throwing large sums of money (often millions) at a problem and watching to see what, if anything, would stick. The originator of the message was a closed system which maintained a tight level of control – image was everything, which was usually a false pretense. A lackluster product or service was generally masked by a polished front. Most in the audience have been victimized enough by this false form of marketing over time to cause most to see right through this with disdain.

Vulnerable marketing turns the traditional way of doing business on its ear.   By allowing yourself, as an individual or business to become vulnerable – you portray yourself in truth – as an authentic, sincere brand. In essence you are projecting who and what you are, both strengths and weaknesses, for the world to see. Vulnerable marketing is not about spending large sums of money to become something you are not – it is about embracing who you are and capitalizing on these strengths. By using this philosophy you stand to attract the ideal customer for your brand and since it is an ideal match, the brand relationship will be long term rather than a flash in the pan. Like most things of quality this will take time to accomplish, however when done correctly the rewards are great.

Vulnerable marketing is giving up control. It’s open, honest, and transparent. It’s letting your clients see, really see, your company/product/service without hiding behind press releases, pumped-up reviews, or hype. People love reality, so put that idea to work for you!

Vulnerable marketing embodies new techniques that are in line with modern business. If you have a 21st century company, don’t use your parent’s marketing strategy!

Inspiration
Our inspiration for this project stems from a convergence of factors. First and foremost is Amy, who has done most of the background work behind the scenes for this blog. She has made the technical aspects possible, and put up with me at various times of difficulty. Without her and our partnership none of this would have been possible especially writing a book.

Second is the blog itself and accompanying audience. CCBbuzz has allowed me to increase my writing skills, find my voice, build confidence, and provide me with a sense of urgency. As those who blog undoubtedly realize, blogging is hard work – not only must one develop new content on a somewhat regular basis, a blogger must be a committed life-long learner, staying on the cutting edge of their subject matter, at least while they are authoring a blog. I attempt to blog day in and day out, admittedly this does not always occur, however it does translate to quite a bit of writing, the culmination of which is writing of a much higher quality than when I had started out. I do hold strict to the core value that I will not sacrifice content for frequency and although not ideal, I would rather miss posting for a duration of time if the content requires further refinement, even at the expense of traffic building efforts.

The drive for high quality content has increased my creativity, and in my opinion, a blog is truly a piece of art and a reflection of oneself – this exploration has allowed me to find my voice which will assuredly evolve over time as I continue to learn and grow as an individual. Like most anything else in life I have found that the more I blog, the better I get at it, and therefore my confidence increases, like the old saying goes – practice makes perfect! I have also found the comment forum to be equally beneficial in that the majority of the comments have been motivating and encouraging, this pushes me to a further degree knowing that there are readers in the audience whose lives I am adding value to. At one point I had waffled between enabling and disabling comments having read about the advantages and disadvantages of both approach. In the end I believe it all comes down to personal preference – and I receive a large amount of value from the comments – they further refine this product and energize me.

Finally, one of the most beneficial aspects of blogging is the sense of urgency it instills. Blog readers are demanding, in that they require high quality content, consistently.  If as a blog writer you write great content, gratification is quick – traffic will increase over time. If you post great content consistently and do so frequently, traffic will grow at an even faster rate. On the other hand, the opposite is true. If quality slips, or posting frequency drops off, traffic will drop off just as quickly if not more so. Maintaining a blog instills a sense of urgency that is beneficial in that it offsets procrastination – a habit that has been known to creep up in my life every now and then. I anticipate that if I handle authoring a book in similar fashion as writing my blog it will make the project manageable. To me blogging seems like a natural segway to book writing which should be an interesting progression.

Another source of inspiration for my undertaking of this project originates from the pioneering authors who have blazed the trail in this area and whose lessons have been documented for me to readily draw upon. In an earlier article called “The Power Of Viral Marketing“ I had discussed the success of Lisa Genova and her book “Still Alice”. “Still Alice” was Lisa’s first book and was self published and promoted by using viral marketing techniques. I commend Lisa for this and plan to model my approach after her by using a combination of viral and vulnerable marketing. This approach will entail first developing high quality content while simultaneously marketing the product – once complete I will shift the energy once used for developing the content to further marketing efforts. Her self-determination from taking “Still Alice” from unknown to a New York Times Best Seller serves as encouragement to me.

Concerning my method of completing this task and writing high quality content I hope to model the behavior of successful authors such as David Meerman Scott and Chris Anderson, both of which periodically posted content from their books to their respective blog. I have not read Chris Anderson’s work yet but have come across many references, one of which was an interview in the book “Blogging Heroes” by Michael A. Banks and another “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” by David Meerman Scott which I am currently reading. The main technique I hope to model from these successful authors is to periodically post content to be used in the book to this blog and elicit reader feedback. This will result in a higher quality product and one which you will have the pride of having refined.

Authors such as David Meerman Scott and Chris Anderson are truly pioneers and understand the true meaning and value of the term Open Source. Without their confidence to put their work out there for public consumption prior to making a profit on their work and their diligent documenting of their journey none of this would be possible. Their willingness to take risk has provided me with a solid foundation on which to base my proposed work. My hope is that when all is said and done I can further fuel their thoughts as well as others – which is of course the true value of Open Source and an open brand.

So Begins The Journey…
At this point I just wanted to briefly describe our concept and inspiration, and to begin the journey down this path. Amy and I are very excited and look forward to sharing our journey with our readers.

Spring is a time for renewal – consider your inspiration and how it will empower you!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding