Getting the word out and false marketing

Marketing is the process of determining customer wants, fulfilling those wants and move customers to your product.

Advertising, public relations, research, retailing, etc. are all REQUIRED parts of the equation.

Regardless of the time available to conduct all this, if you aren’t meeting all these expectations, you are not marketing.

If you are limiting your communication about future events to message boards or niche sites (like this one!) and hoping that others spread the word for you, you are not advertising. No press? Buy ads. Can't afford ads? Go to places personally. Can't get out there? Get someone who can.

If you aren’t communicating with your fans (your customers), your racers (your customers), about the things you’re doing that aren’t just promoting the next event (that’s advertising) then you are not practicing public relations. If you aren’t managing ALL your channels of communication (print, online, radio and TV), then you aren’t doing public relations. Bad press? Get the word out. Poor image? Communicate the positive. Always reacting? Be proactive. Can't write? Find someone. Can't find anything positive? You got bigger problems.

If you are not looking at your previous events and seeing what works and what didn’t, what shows did well and what do not, what makes money and what doesn’t and you aren’t looking for feedback from your customers, then you aren’t doing research. Have a show that doesn't get crowds? Ask why and be honest, think about why YOU would want to attend. Put yourself in the customer's shoes, ask the customer. Ask the POTENTIAL customer as well.

If you don’t know how to accommodate your customers with a pleasant experience, access to your goods and services (like seats, concessions, pit space, hell – the PA system), then you are not retailing. Weather killing your shows? Look at your scheduling. People leave early? How long is your program? Concessions not selling? Look at your prices and product.

If you are just doing a few of these things, you aren’t marketing.

If you do small parts of these things, and still don’t have the crowd and the cars, you aren’t marketing hard enough.

You need to grow beyond message boards, niche sites, pretty pictures, gladhanding buddies at racing events. If this is all you do, you aren’t marketing, at the best, you are performing small parts of the components of marketing and if you can't do it all, you aren't doing anything.

The old saying goes, "one finger pointing at me, three pointing back at you." The press didn't give you empty grandstands, the TV didn't give you a bad track, the message board didn't run off your cars. YOU didn't put on a show worth seeing, YOU didn't get the word out, YOU didn't give a reason for cars to attend, YOU and only you didn't overcome the obstacles presented.

The difference between the ‘Field of Dreams’ and ‘Field of Reality’ is that the ghosts were already in the field of dreams. The rest of the world has to bring them to the park.

And the way to bring them in is with marketing - REAL marketing.