The #1 mortal sin of marketing is…

Two thousand years ago, Rome’s Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis, aka Juvenal, “bread and circus,” is now “pot, porn, and playoffs,” but the meaning is the same…

From fake news to binge-streaming to 24/7 sports to medicinal marijuana to disastrous food pyramids to the election for President (I refuse to call it the “Presidential” election because I see nothing presidential in either major party…but I digress), people want to be entertained, amused, and distracted.

As soon as kids hop into the car, their headsets and iPads are on before their seatbelts.

Adults can’t go to the restroom without checking their smartphones.

Webinar attendees keep multiple tabs open on multiple screens.

We all watch TV with our smartphones and our laptops on.

Hell, we even drive 75 in a 55 and text while playing air guitar and singing at the top of our lungs while playing hot potato with a venti grande extra large gallon cup of 211-degree coffee.

We have become a nation looking for entertainment. 

A nation that is easily bored. 

And that is good news, and it is bad news.

It’s bad news because it takes work and effort and thought and creativity to be entertaining, which is the opposite of being boring.

It’s good news because your competition is lazy and won’t do what it takes to remain competitive. 

So, the #1 sin of marketing is being boring. 

That doesn’t mean you have to shoot clowns out of cannons while blaring Air Supply on your website (are they still playing music?), but you do have to understand the needs, wants, fears, desires, and concerns of your prospects and address them in a way that captivates them…

Which is not natural for most people.

Most of us are so into what we do and so knowledgeable about it that we can and do go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and…ZZZZZZZ…on and on and on and on and on and on and…

…on and on and on and…

Sound familiar? 

It’s not your fault.

You’re a giver.

You’re not a pushy, cheesy, slimy pitchman.

You appreciate all of the nuances of your offering, and you want your prospects to know and appreciate them, too.

But in the process of attempting to educate them to bring them up to your level—which is impossible to do during a 30 or 60-minute meeting—you’re losing them all because you’re committing the sin of being boring.

You can learn to be entertaining in your marketing. Want to learn how?

Check this out…

Market like you mean it. Now go sell something.