When marketing with the 5-Channels of New Media: business blogs, online video, podcasts, social networks and social filters — there are some precepts that you must follow. Similar to advanced practice in secretive martial arts; If you break these precepts you’ll die a horrible painful death being ripped apart by a gang of midget Ninjas!

OK, so they aren’t really precepts in the true sense of the word. They weren’t written in stone by the finger of God. You won’t be struck down by lightning if you break any of them. And it’s likely you’ll escape the wrath of those pesky midget Ninjas.

Seriously though — much of what you’ll read about New Media Marketing is laced with personal opinions and common practices positioned as so strongly as rules that you’d think they were commandments.

Now don’t get me wrong, some rules are good (and necessary) in many areas of life. But very often in business and marketing rules do nothing but hinder creativity and create a herd of mediocrity. Sometimes, to spark creativity, you just have to poke fun at the “rules.” Remember that “industry norms” make you normal, and in the New Economy — average is death. Profitable precepts make you stand out and move you to the top of the pile.

The only rules worth remembering are the ones that help you NOT to break rapport with your ideal audience

When you’re getting started marketing with New Media, the only rules worth remembering are the ones that help you NOT to break rapport with your ideal audience. And the only guidelines worth following are those that help you develop the right mindset for Marketing with New Media. A mindset that helps you focus on people, participation, and persuasion.

Marketing success through failure

One piece of advice my Dad gave me when I was 12 has always stood out for me over the years, “Don’t just learn from other people’s success stories. You’ll learn more from other people’s mistakes, so you won’t have to make them yourself.”

When it comes to online persuasion and influence, there are things you can learn from the success and failures of other business owners. This is what will give you a huge edge over your competitors who don’t know any better.

Now I’ve made a lot of mistakes before I came up with these ten precepts as a primer for New Media newbies. Over the next few posts, we’ll take a look at these ten profitable precepts for successfully marketing with New Media.

These guidelines come from over 12,000 hours of research and testing with our coaching and consulting clients and QuanSite members, as well as our own personal experiences. If you break them once, you may not get caught. If you break them over and over again, you’ll feel it where it hurts – your profits…pocketbook…ego — or all three!

Let’s get started with the first two New Media marketing precepts since they’re the easiest to follow:

1. Be a market observer, not a product pusher

This means you are going to be part of the marketplace without being engulfed by it. The goal is to look for problems people have and solve them.*

Contrast that with the typical salesperson or traditional interruption-type advertising campaign. They’re all about pushing a product or service, with no regard for the end user. The focus is on one more sale. Like a crack dealer pushing a temporary high for a quick buck, these product pushers have no regard for the long term satisfaction of their clients and customers.

The market leader defines his or her ideal audience, then looks to understand, interact with, and ultimately deliver what people in that ideal audience want, need, and desire… persuasively, without ramming another offer down your throat.

(*Note: Ultimately to maximize persuasion, positioning and profits; this means becoming a leader using the principles of Tribal Seduction. Something you’ll be learning lots more about here.)

2. Participate and profit without becoming an evangelist

Observe, participate, and leverage the new media marketplace without getting caught up in the hype or the technology. You want to always stand guard at the door of your mind while participating. But don’t follow the Social Media crowd who blathers on endlessly about New Media this and Social media that . . . it gets old real quick.

Many evangelists tend to be hammers and, therefore, see every problem as a nail. When’s the last time you had a pleasant experience with a self-admitted street evangelist? You get the point, right?

Just like any other idea or technology, when enough people get going in a line, it’s just like a flock of sheep headed back to the pen. You need to stay outside of that herd mentality. If you enjoy using New Media channels and they work for you and your business, great! But share your excitement by example, not by evangelism.

It’s like a saying I remember one of my old pastors using; “Preach the gospel and sometimes use words.” Constantly innovate using lateral (instead of literal) thinking, and keep an independent mindset. You’ll win more fans and profits, and have more fun in the process too.

In the part two of this series we’ll reveal two more profitable precepts of marketing with New Media that will help you connect with your ideal audience… even if they’re a bunch of midget Ninjas. … Hey! Where’d those damn midget Ninjas come from again!?

John Paul Micek is a co-founder of the RPM Success Group ® Inc., the leader in software, systems & coaching to double your profits in 12mos or less in the New Economy. QuanSite New media marketing software is one of those tools. He is author of the 1st published book on New Media marketing, the best seller Secrets Of Online Persuasion.

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