I don't think there is anyone on this plant who hasn't heard of Harry Potter - that is incredible!

Apart from the obvious Marketing and PR triumph, the secret to the Harry Potter mania can be seen in the eyes of the children and adults who queued up for the books and films.

It’s a great success story because it combines the natural artistic talent of J.K. Rowling with some very advanced PR and marketing strategies. Anyone who can create this craving in their potential customers offers us some important lessons.

• They did not just want the next book or film 
• They did not just get excited at the idea of owning the book or watching the film
• They CRAVED Harry Potter.

This brings me to the subject of your business. Many business owners and managers focus on what they perceive as being great about their product or service. They are justifiably proud of the years of effort they have put in to creating the business, or the hard work or genius involved in creating what they are offering. But there are also many authors out there who’ve written masterpieces that no one has read – because the greatest book in the world still needs to create a massive desire for the world to go read it.

So, I have a question for you. It can be a tough question to address – but if you’re honest with yourself it can have a profound effect on the direction of your business. Here’s the question:

• Do people CRAVE what you are selling? I mean, really crave it?

Are you turning people away at the door? Do they all turn up with their family and friends clamouring for what you’ve got? Do they all go back and rave about you to everyone they know?

And if not, why not?

Now if you sell widgets, I am not suggesting that the world’s media is going to turn up at you door – but I am sure you get my point. You can still create a craving – because even if it’s tough to get people craving your widgets, they can still crave the experience of doing business with YOU. If you’re starting a new business, asking yourself whether people are going to crave what you have to offer is the most important question that you will ask yourself. You don’t need to invent the ‘next big thing.’ You just need to professionally sell people what they crave.

If you have an existing business, even a successful one, the single most important step you can take is to turn your product or service from something that people just have an interest in, to something that they CRAVE. The good news is that if people don’t currently crave what you have to offer, it may have more to do with how you are promoting your product or service, rather than the product or service itself.

How do you create this desire in your potential customers? By educating people in a lively, entertaining way through outstanding Marketing, whether that’s in the form of a website, emails, brochures, advertising, conversations etc. I know this from personal experience. I have absolute certainty that I have what it takes to grow peoples’ businesses and impact their profits on a large scale. But I learnt a long time ago that that’s not enough.

As a professional marketer I need to give people enough of an experience of what I can do for them that not having a long term relationship with me is worse than not being able to taste that delicious chocolate or ice cream that you crave. It’s the thought that if you don’t do it, you could be missing out on something great.

There are two types of business in this world. The first is like the book hidden at the back of Waterstones hoping that one day someone will buy it. It could be a great book. It might actually be better than the Harry Potter book - but if nobody knows about it, the author and publishers have a big problem.

The second type of business is where marketing is easy and fun because people crave what you have to offer. You are a Marketing Wizard. Harry Potter would be proud of you. Please think about how you can get people craving what you have to offer – and let’s turn your business into a Best Seller.

Happy Marketing