This guy’s a jerk.  That’s what he calls himself.  Actually, he calls himself a Rich Jerk.  This is one of the hottest clips on YouTube right now and maybe not for all the right reasons.  He’s pushing a lot of hot buttons in this video and getting a lot of attention for it, but he’s also making an essentially rational and compelling argument. Two actually:

1.) Describing the benefits of what you do is more important than your title.
2.) Most marketing material has, essentially,  very little value any more.

Jerkiness aside, he’s kind of right.  Focusing on benefits and standing out from the crowd through quality is a very effective strategy.  Now, we’re not advocating spending $4 a business card…that would be reckless for many businesses particularly in this economic climate. But you can look at it a different way. So much information can be put online today that printed material should be more of a premium and less of a way to convey information.  If you really look at what he’s got, it’s not a business card — it’s a really concise (and still expensive) brochure with a simple message: “I Build Crowds Guaranteed”

At a tradeshow, sometimes we get fixated on volumes of literature as opposed to creating truly memorable and valuable relationships. Creating literature…or even business cards, that have a higher value that are handed out to relatively few leads may be more effective in the end as an overall sales strategy.  After all, how do we judge success at a tradeshow?  Volume of leads?  Numbers of business cards passed out?  Or is it in number of truly valuable relationships created?  Successful follow up calls in the days and weeks following the tradeshow?

The couter-argument is: How do you know what lead is hot and which isn’t? Can’t business come from anywhere? True, but a business card is not going to qualify a lead for you. Too many salespeople make the mistake of simply making initial contact without any real commitment to follow up. An exchange of business cards with a smile and a handshake doesn’t mean that the phone call in a week or two will be any more cordial.  The lead may not even remember you.  Take the time to learn about a person’s business and their challenges.  Also create an impression on the show floor — that moment of personal interaction is pivotal.  An exchange of business cards can be a positive experience but too often it sends the message that “I don’t really have time for this now.  Let’s connect later when I do.”

More valuable printed material could actually force this point by making the paper exchange (which usually signals the end of the conversation) a real decision. $4 business card? Maybe not. But more premium literature and more time spent deciding who gets it? That could be a real strategy.