PIC No. 100: Pails in Comparison (April 28, 2025)
• Title: Marketing Your Ministry: Ten Critical Principles
• Authors: Robert D. Hisrich, Ph.D. (1944-2023) and John W. Pearson
• Publisher: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc. (Jan. 1, 1990, 116 pages)
• Management Bucket #6 of 20: The Program Bucket
Welcome to Issue No. 100 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.
Give people the choice to say “no” to a few options—yet still say “yes.”
When our son, Jason, was about four,
I taught him an important marketing principle I learned from Bob Hisrich, the
co-author of the book Bob and I wrote, Marketing
Your Ministry: Ten Critical Principles.
Late one afternoon, Jason asked his mom for a cookie. “No,” Joanne
said. “It’s too close to dinner time.”
I took Jason aside
and gave him my fatherly advice on effective marketing. “Here’s how to get your
cookie, Jason,” I began. “Tomorrow, go into the kitchen and ask Mom this
simple question, ‘Mom? Can I have one cookie or two cookies?’”
My street-smart kid
learned fast and was patient. The next day he joined his mom in the kitchen and
nonchalantly asked, “Mom? Can I have one cookie or two cookies?”
The answer was
immediate. “Just one!”
Jason enjoyed his
chocolate chip cookie that afternoon because he gave his mom the opportunity to
say no and still say yes. He gave her choices. It’s a simple marketing
rule of thumb, but it’s easy to overlook in the Program Bucket: “Give people
the choice to say no to a few options—yet still say yes.” (For more
examples, see Chapter 6, “The Program Bucket” in Mastering
the Management Buckets.)
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Below are the 10 critical principles from the book, Marketing Your Ministry. It
reads like a business novel, similar to The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey and other business fables. Suggestion: Identify the one principle
that is most urgent for your organization to address:
#1. If
you have $10,000 to spend, invest $5,000 in researching and understanding your
audience.
#2. You
can’t be all things to all people.
#3. Ask
people what their real needs are—then listen, listen, listen.
#4. If
you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.
#5. Know
your strengths, roll out from them, and then make sure others know them, too.
#6. Don’t
be the 8th lemonade stand in a row of 9.
#7. Don’t
over-engineer. Your audience won’t pay extra for something they cannot
appreciate.
#8. Caution!
People are creatures of habit.
#9. Give
people the choice to say “no” to a few options—but still say “yes.”
#10. One
clever direct mail piece does not a marketing plan make. People buy a total
package.
Robert D. Hisrich, Ph.D. (1944-2023), authored or co-authored
more than 35 books and wrote more than 300 articles on entrepreneurship,
international business management, and marketing. He served as the Bridgestone
Chair of International Marketing, Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship,
at Kent State University, and was on the faculty at other universities
including Boston College and Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Hisrich presented these 10 critical principles three times a
year for several years in the 1980s at the Leadership Development Institute for
executive directors of camps and conference centers. The program was organized
by Bob Kobielush when we worked together at Christian Camping International/USA
(now CCCA). Marketing
Your Ministry was born out of these day-long sessions taught by Bob
Hisrich. (Note: I also featured this book in Issue #52 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews on Sept. 3,
2007.)
Note: When the book was published in 1990 (35 years ago!), videotape teaching
series were the hot new thing! Read the eight questions that Skip (the
consultant) asked Brooks (the nonprofit CEO) regarding how much he knew about
his customers. Learn why the organization should have invested $5,000 in
researching and understanding their audience FIRST! While the example is
out-of-date (videotapes!), the principle is as relevant as the corporate
missteps in today's Wall Street Journal.
[ ] Entrepreneurship, by Robert D. Hisrich, Michael P. Peters, and Dean A. Shepherd. (Order from Amazon.)
[ ] Corporate Entrepreneurship: How to Create
a Thriving Entrepreneurial Spirit Throughout Your Company, by Robert
D. Hisrich and Claudine Kearney. (Read my review.)
[ ] “Entrepreneurial Wisdom: 5 Career-saving Principles
for Ministry Entrepreneurs,” by John Pearson (from Outcomes
Magazine, Winter 2010) – (Read the article.)
Note! The 10 critical principles in Marketing Your Ministry are
also summarized in the following book and workbook:
[
] BOOK. See Chapter 6, “The Program Bucket,” in Mastering the
Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or
Nonprofit, by John Pearson. (Order from Amazon and visit the 20 buckets here.)
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Marketing Your Ministry: Ten Critical Principles, by Robert D. Hisrich and John W. Pearson. For more reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews.
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