Master Word-of-Mouth Marketing at Dominic Canterbury’s second Marketing University in Seattle
Talented consultants like Dominic Canterbury can really help take your business to the next level. But the biggest barrier that many indie business people face when considering whether to hire a consultant is price – you simply can’t afford the steep hourly rate that every consultant worth his or her salt is going to charge. To overcome that barrier and make his services accessible to just about business in the Seattle area, marketing consultant Dominic Canterbury created Marketing University. The first University was held last month, and it was such a success, that he’s added a second opportunity to take his classes in Seattle later this month. Word of mouth, Dominic believes, is the most powerful form of marketing for small businesses. And his Marketing University is designed to help indies learn how to become “word of mouth marketing machines” in just 30 days, over 4 classes. I asked Dominic a few questions about Marketing University to learn more about it.
Q: How did the first Marketing University go?
It was great. Marketing University is a pretty ambitious idea. I wanted to
do more than just tell people what to do to generate word-of-mouth. I
wanted to actually get them to the point where they understood it and could
do it for themselves. Even though I had worked through the lesson plan in
minute detail, I was still a little nervous about whether it would go as
planned. Surprisingly, it went better than I had imagined.
Q: You’re offering to waive tuition for a randomly selected first-year
indie. What’s the story behind that decision?
I just thought it would be a nice thing to do because I wish I had that kind
of guidance when I started. A person’s first year in self-employment can be
one of the most terrifying life events. But it doesn’t have to be. There’s
absolutely no reason that a first-year business needs to struggle. For a
business to be successful, all they really need is Relevance, Credibility
and Value (we go over the finer details of that in class). The only thing a
new business necessarily lacks is credibility, and there are countless ways
to quickly build that.
Q: I see you’ve already added the next Marketing University event in the Biznik
calendar, and people are already signing up. Are you going to be making any
changes or improvements to how you approach this one?
Marketing, and business in general, is about constant and relentless
improvement. So, yes, the next one will be even better. From the first one I
came up with some great ways to make the ideas easier to understand, and
techniques easier to implement.
I also created a Marketing University Forum on my website so that graduates
can easily exchange ideas or ask me questions about their own plans. And I’m
designing follow-up services to help graduates through the process of
becoming word-of-mouth masters.
Q: What will people who attend this event be able to walk away with?
Simply put, I want graduates to walk away with a clear vision of exactly
where they want to go, how to get there, and what to do today. And by
“today”, I mean TODAY. In the final session we create a simple
Get-Clients-Now plan designed to boost their business right now.
Q: Have you thought about teaching this event in other cities like, say,
Portland?
Definitely. It’s all part of my long-term plan. After perfecting the model
here it should be pretty easy to take it to cities throughout the country.
The potential for this is limitless. The indie world is exploding and most
of them do not yet understand the full power of this kind of marketing. If
I have my way, they will.
Learn more and sign up for Marketing University at http://biznik.com/events.html?id=170