Back in a village in 19th-century Michigan, there lived an influential man.
He was the leader of his community.
Head of the school board.
Couldn’t read or write.
Here’s his secret to achieving influence in spite his handicap:
Following a ship wreck some years earlier, a large barrel of whiskey washed ashore Lake Michigan.
This man found the barrel, and he put it in the corner of his living room.
He was generous with the whiskey. Folks started dropping by his house. They would sit on soap boxes next to the barrel and discuss local gossip.
In time, his house became the headquarters of the local community. And he became the leader.
I read this story in My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins.
It made me think of something I’d heard in a long-lost recording of another influential marketer, Gary Halbert.
Says Gary: marketing is a process, not an event.
In other words, when businesses buy (or luck upon) a big barrel of whiskey…
They often use it to throw a one-day party for the whole village.
The next day, everybody’s groggy, but a few villagers say, “Bro, that was awesome.”
A week later, however, nobody remembers or cares who threw the big party. And all the whiskey’s gone.
It’s better to keep the drip of whiskey coming, evening after evening…
All the while listening to what folks are saying as they sit around your living room…
While gradually gaining their respect and trust, and nudging them towards seeing you as the village elder.
That’s a process.
Of course, you need to start somewhere. Such as by sending out invitations to your whiskey barrel that get the attention of whiskey lovers within a country mile of your living room. And if you want to see one effective way of doing this, check out the following: