Hillbilly...Flamenco? (On Refusing To Give The "Usual" Response):

How do you describe what you do?

One sneaky trick for marketing your business: Have an unusual way to answer the usual questions. 

You know, questions like: “What do you do?”, “Tell me about your business?”, or “What kind of therapist [or insert profession] are you?”.

Derek Sivers tells the story of a band that wanted to get more festival gigs, so that they could reach a bigger audience. There's a lot of competition to land big festivals, and things weren't going well. 

When the band leader would describe their music as “kind of a jam band, but more- we have an eclectic mix of musical influences," he could practically hear the festival-booking managers rolling their eyes over the phone. Blah.

At one club gig, the band noticed one guy in the audience who was very drunk, very loud, and very enthusiastic about their music. (There's always that one guy, right?).

As the man stumbled and danced to the music, he shouted/slurred “You guys are awesome! You're like…hillbilly…flamenco!"

The band guys looked at each other, amused. “Hillbilly flamenco?” Weird. “Drunk guys, amiright?”

The next time the band leader was on the phone with a festival-booker, he got the usual question: “Tell me about your music.”

“Um, we're like…well, we've been called ‘Hillbilly Flamenco’.”

“I have no idea what you mean by that, but I have got to hear this. You've got the gig.”

This pattern continued itself. The weird description of their music made them memorable; it created a velcro-like effect in people's brains, leading others to think of them and promote them. The unusual response helped others do their marketing for them. The band booked a record number of festivals that year.

What's your “Hillbilly Flamenco?”

How can you answer the usual questions with an idea, image, metaphor, or wording that'll create a “hook” in people's brains, or pique their curiosity? 

If you can't think of anything, let your clients come up with it for you. You never know when you'll hear them utter an interesting word or phrase to describe the work you do.

For example: A friend of mine started calling his therapist “The Ninja," because this counselor “cut straight to the heart of the matter” so quickly. Other friends heard this description and suddenly decided they wanted to go to therapy, too. The nickname became the marketing tool. 

[Note: In this case, the therapist didn't adopt the name as a professional marketing phrase, because he wanted to avoid cultural appropriation. But it's a strong example of how your clients are often your best marketers]. 

Play with metaphors. Listen to the wording your clients and customers use. Think of other professions you could draw from to describe your work (ex. "I'm like _______, but for ______.")

Most of all, have fun with it. Tell me what you come up with in the comments. I'd love to hear it.