5 things your kids can teach you about marketing

Posted by Jeremy L. Knauff | October 21st, 2009

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Do you remember when you were a kid? Life seemed so much easier and more fun. Back then, you didn’t have to worry about a mortgage, the economy or a difficult boss (or client). As you grew up and had to face the real world, you began to look at things with a more pragmatic perspective. While there are some obvious benefits to this point of view, in many ways, it limits what you can accomplish.

But if we start thinking like kids more often, we can become much more effective and achieve far more than we’ve ever imagined. In case you need a quick refresher, here is how to start thinking like a kid again:

1. Get excited

When your son gives you a home made Father’s day card he made out of construction paper, he believes with absolute certainty that it is the best Father’s day card in the world. You can’t help but agree, knowing that he made it because he knows you are the best father in the world! The fact that he is nearly bubbling over with excitement and pride when he gives you his masterpiece adds to the impact.

If you’re not excited about your own product or service, why should anyone else be?

2. Think big

As a kid, I didn’t want to build just any fort, I wanted to build a giant sprawling complex, complete with camouflage, secret underground passages, and even a periscope. I wasn’t deterred by the magnitude of my plans, on the contrary, I was motivated by it. As kids, most of us had dreams that were considered unrealistic by adults. The thing is, it takes about the same amount of effort to produce outstanding results as it does to produce average results. On a side note – it’s a lot easier to get excited (and get others excited) about a big idea.

By the way, I did end up building that fort!

3. Be creative

Kids love to be different, and they want attention for it. Most adults just want to fit in though. That’s killing your marketing. Take a stand and differentiate your self from your competitors in a bold, fresh way.

4. Make friends

Kids can make a new friend in just a few seconds on the playground. As adults though, we often finds that we’re too busy with what we’re doing to think about others. That’s nonsense – we should embrace every opportunity to make new friends. Maybe they can help us meet that dream client, spark a new idea or help provide just the leverage we need. Perhaps they can become a mentor or even a business partner. Or maybe we end up doing something for them instead, and learn something in the process. The bottom line is we can achieve more together than we ever can on our own.

5. Have fun

Many of us can remember sitting on the top bunk bed pretending to be in the crows nest of our very own pirate ship, scanning the high seas with a telescope made from a paper towel tube. When we were kids we had fun doing almost anything, but as adults we often find ourselves putting fun off until later. That’s a bad idea because when you take the fun out of something, you begin to be less passionate about it and become less effective at it.

 

Besides, if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, why are you doing it?

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