Marketing Tips from Charlie Sheen
It’s been a couple days since I’ve seen Charlie Sheen in the news, so I think it’s safe to assume something outlandish is just around the corner, right? Well, for you as a freelancer, you might get a kick out of watching Charlie Sheen be – Charlie Sheen, but what if I told you that you can actually learn a thing or two from this guy?
In my personal opinion, Charlie Sheen is a marketing genius and someone who should be looked at in that light, at least by freelancers and small business owners who are trying to grow their business. So, if you’re trying to grow your business as a freelancer, you might want to take notes on the below marketing tips from Charlie Sheen.
Be as outrageous as possible
You can’t wave around a machete on a balcony, drink tiger blood and refer to yourself as a drug that if taken by anyone else, they’ll die, without people thinking you’re outrageous. You also can’t (allegedly) go on a multi-day cocaine binge and kidnap a porn star without raising some eyebrows. Now, I’m not saying to mimic Charlie Sheens outrageous behavior, but I’m sure that there’s a few ways that you can market your business in an outrageous (a.k.a. Guerrilla Marketing) way that your competitors aren’t currently utilizing.
Always have a short, memorable catch phrase
#winning – What else is there really to say? If you type that into Twitter, everyone on your list (or at least all of the human run twitter accounts) will know what you’re talking about. Charlie Sheen came up with a memorable, short catch phrase that everyone can remember and can use for their own benefit, yet still market him at the same time.
Never forget your current fans & clients
Charlie Sheen built a reputation as a very funny guy on Two and a Half Men when he played a character that pretty much mimicked his real life shenanigans. Sure, some people won’t like you for certain things you do, but you’re not trying to cast a big net, you’re trying to build a loyal following (or Tribe, as Seth Godin puts it). Always remember who your most loyal fans, clients and influencer’s are, because they’ll push for you even when no one else will.
Over deliver and people will always love you
Going hand in hand with the previous marketing tip, if you over deliver to your clients, you’re able to get away with doing pretty much whatever you want, because regardless of your personal views on topics (ie: I’m an Atheist while a lot of the design community are devout Christians), as long as you put out amazing content and do amazing work, the majority of the world can care less what you do with your free time.
Go on #winning!
Never stop pushing and doing what you believe to be right, no matter what’s standing in your way. Charlie went on rants about his boss and got himself fired from his television show, but he didn’t let that stop him. On the contrary, he went on an outlandish tirade about his former bosses and coworkers, gaining a huge amount of attention and in the process, he just keeps #winning (there’s rumored deals on the table for him right now, which no doubt will make him a shit load of money).
More from this series
This is the seventh installment of our “Marketing Tips From…” series. You can read the previous articles below, listed in order of when they appeared on this blog.
