Sonya Neblett: Truly Twisted Marketing
It’s pretty clear that Sonya Neblett likes to put her own twist on things. Take the name of her company: Truly Twisted Marketing. The Asheville, North Carolina based writer, designer and marketing strategist believes that “marketing should be about being honest, being transparent, building relationships and not pushing people.” Sounds refreshing, hey? Let’s find out more about her and her approach…
Q: Tell me about yourself and what gets you excited about what do for a living.
I love marketing. I’m one of those people that was built for it. So, it’s not really like work. I get to write, find creative solutions to problems, do research (I’m pretty nosy by nature you should go ask my family members
a lot of eyeball rolling goes on around our house because I’m always asking the “w” questions - who, what, where, when and the biggest one why). I started out in print publishing as a writer and editor. From there I moved online and started a little web design company to help local businesses create a web presence and it was just a natural progression into online marketing. I’m not a full indie at the moment as I’ve been contracted out and given a title by a pure play ecommerce company called SpecialtyLiving so I consider myself half indie.
I think what I love the most about marketing is the relationship building. Once you know the underlying motivation of people (customers), it’s pretty easy to come up with creative answers to their questions then, boom, you’ve got them — that’s when you can build up your relationship. If I had an interest in you as a customer, the first thing I’d want to know is what keeps you up at night? What’s the problem you are having that I can help you solve or, better yet, how can I create an experience that will make you feel better about it? It actually feels pretty good to help people out.
Q: How’d you come up with “Truly Twisted Marketing” as a company name?
Well, you’ve probably heard about push or pull marketing. My theory is you can push or pull people only so far. I mean, I don’t want to be pushed, told what to do or pulled into doing anything. I want the information but I want to make my own decisions. Truly Twisted Marketing is really about being honest, being transparent, building relationships and not pushing people into taking action which is a bit of a twist from traditional marketing. So, the name came about from a discussion I was having with a colleague about pushy marketers and the fact that marketers, especially those focusing on offline marketing, don’t really seem to get it. There is this big gap between online marketing and offline marketing and the two haven’t quite met up yet. The idea is to take both and twist them up together. One thing led to another and viola - TrulyTwistedMarketing.
Q: So, how would you characterize this gap? What is it that online marketing is doing right, and offline doing wrong?
I’m really using the term offline marketing to mean traditional forms of marketing which are typically not geared toward the web.
And, in all truth, I don’t think traditional (offline) marketing should be characterized as bad and online marketing as good. But because of technology, marketing, in its original state, is changing. For example, you might get a better response from a viral video on YouTube than from a television ad. Your podcast might have a better ROI (return on investment) than your radio spot. Press releases are sent not only to news media outlets but to bloggers and individuals who might be interested in spreading your news. And, in addition to all that, traditional forms of marketing tend to be more about businesses telling people what to do and less about creating a conversation with customer input and feedback. Online marketing, in its current state, is more about creating a relationship with customer interaction.
That’s the gap. Basically, it’s a different way of thinking about marketing and a grasp of how to use technology to enhance the conversation you are trying to create.
Q: One of your stated goals is to “empower people to free thinking in their professional lives.” How is that valuable? And why do you think so many otherwise free thinking people don’t to apply that same thinking in their professional lives?
Oh boy, you opened up a big can of worms. I threw that in because it’s ultimately what I want to do. It isn’t really about marketing so much as it is about opening up people’s minds to what can be. I think we all get stuck in the quest for more - climbing the corporate latter or in running our businesses and keeping an eye on the bottom line. It’s like a disease we American’s are afflicted with. You know, each and every one of us has unique talents and gifts and in the quest we tend to forget who we are and what we can bring to the table.
It’s interesting you asked about why, what you and I might consider a “free thinking person,” wouldn’t take that into work with them everyday. My gut feeling is that an average work place environment doesn’t support free thinking. Employees are supposed to be sheep more often than they are supposed to be radical and think creatively outside the box.
Q: Tell me a bit about eBooks. You’ve written one? Have you had success with it? Do you see it as a viable way to deliver information that can compete with traditional print books?
e-Commerce Unveiled is my first eBook. It just recently launched and came about because of a collaboration between myself and eCommerce technology provider ProjectThunder in CA.
So far, the success part has come from people who read the book and call me up to get marketing help or want to do a quick consultation. My personal goal was to pack the book so full of information, tips, tools, strategies and new technology that anyone could use it. The problem I ran into is that there is so much important information to cover I had to break it down into digestable tidbits. It took about 4 months to do all the research, interviews and compile the information and I still feel like there’s more to add!
The eBook format is really interesting. It provides instant, easy access and it’s not complicated to create. Updates and revisions are a snap. I actually do think it’s a viable way to deliver information and there’s no publishing house to deal with. The only real downside to an eBook is that it isn’t available to anyone without an internet connection, which is shrinking by the second, I think. The whole eBook phenomenon (if you can call it that) is really a reflection of the whole socialization of the web.
Sonya’s website is www.trulytwistedmarketing.com. If you’d like to purchase your own copy of Sonya’s e-commerce eBook, she’s offering a special discount to Biznik members - use coupon code “sonya” to purchase the book for $29 instead of the normal price of $87.30.
January 6th, 2007 at 8:10 am
Sonya, I have built a huge career without asking anyone to buy anything but my advice, and by bundling my advice with tangible IT technology; I think the model would work well for you here; give the book away for free, everywhere, in several languages; become the recognized expert on the topic, as I am on mine, and clearly define and sell the results of what you do, rather than the methodology.
BTW, I love you twisted name, your approach, and you attitude, and I would love to discuss a business relationship with you. We have learned that nobody who needs a consultant wants to admit it; so it is easier to sell them advertising, and give the advice for free.