Remember that “marketing waving guy” I told you about?

The guy who waves and points and even tips his hat and bows when you drive by him and honk your horn?

Well, yesterday, while driving through town, I saw him again.

But this time… the dude instead gave me the finger!

Well, it LOOKED like it, at least.

I think it was just the angle I was driving from and sunlight was flashing my eyes and blocking my vision. Most likely, he simply pointed at me and smiled when I honked.

Still… all this got me to thinking.

What if he DID give me the finger? Or what if he’d made a raunchy gesture? Or if he yelled an obscenity about my mom or something?

Would I even care?

Probably not.

In fact, I’d probably make excuses for him — like a bad day, etc.

I mean, he’s the waving guy.

He’d never do something like that in his right mind.

All of which proves a valuable sales and marketing point:

If you are the “waving guy” of your market… who makes people SMILE and like you so much they look forward to spending money with you… and you screw up (as we ALL do), then you’re automatically in a MUCH better position than those just doing “business as usual.”

I mean, think about it:

When competitors or snarky people spread nasty rumors about you in the forums or social media sites, your fans rush to your defense.

When you make a mistake, all is instantly forgiven.

And when you have to raise your prices or change something about your services, people don’t freak out, call you names or assume you’re a greedy bastard.

Instead, they understand — and are behind you.

I’ve observed this with many businesses over the years.

There are certain marketers who conduct their businesses with so much class and transparency and ethics, even when they make a huge blunder, nobody cares.

Nobody gets on their case.

And nobody makes a big deal out of it.

Anyway, just something to think about.

When you’re the “waving guy” of your niche, you wield a power far greater than anything your cash-flush, loud-mouthed competitors could even dream of.

And who knows?

Maybe you’ll even (figuratively!) give ’em the finger on your way up.

Ben Settle

P.S. Two marketing “waving guys” that immediately come to mind are Terry Dean and Ken McCarthy — both perfect examples of how you can succeed BIG TIME without using the questionably ethical tactics so common in cyberspace

They also both were gracious enough to contribute some of their best marketing secrets to The Copywriting Grab Bag.