How Melania Trump Creates Inbound Sales

This is not a political post.

While I'm not afraid to mix politics, sex, religion, etc in with my business, there is no need to do so in today's email.

Today I want to analyze how the Trump campaign is either stupid and lazy or sly like a fox in regards to Melania's "plagiarized" speech the other day…or both?

Like most, I was a bit perplexed when I saw the news and the trending topic on X in regards to the comparisons of Melania's speech 36 hours ago to Michelle Obama's from 2008. Almost an entire paragraph was flat-out stolen from Michelle's speech.

Rather than get all up in arms and distraught and offended I started digging in and researching: 

1. How could this happen? Was it allowed to happen / intentional?
2. If so, what would the benefit be?
3. What can we learn from this to create inbound sales?

Here are my thoughts on all of the above.

How could this happen? Was it allowed / intentional?

The Trump campaign is either not as well-organized as one would imagine / expect / hope a campaign would be for a major party candidate at this stage of the game—which is entirely possible—or there was a rogue writer in their midst—which is sort of possible—or this was intentional.

After a year of campaigning I'm going to assume the Trump camp has their act together, which leads me to the conclusion this was intentional and ordered by the Trump camp. 

Why would Trump benefit from a plagiarism scandal?

He benefits in several ways:

• He hijacks the news cycle for days again for free
• Now Melania Trump is compared to Michelle Obama, which makes her appear First Lady-like and embeds that image in the minds of potential voters
• They can blame it on an intern or lowly writer so they can keep this at arm's length
• In the big scheme of things it's a minor transgression that the public will forget quickly

What can we learn from this to make inbound sales?

All of life, including sales, marketing, fitness, relationships, even the cars we drive is about compromises.

• "Great taste! Less filling."
• "0-60 faster than you can blink. Bad on gas mileage."
• "Low fat so it's 'healthy.' Tastes like cardboard."

In my humble opinion I think the Trump camp made the decision that the benefits from the bump in coverage and public dialogue as well as the subconscious impressions and comparisons of Melania to Michelle outweighed the plagiarism charges so they ran with it.

So am I telling you to steal marketing content from your competition?

Not at all. But I am telling you to take calculated risks and to go out on a limb in your marketing to stand out.

People don't buy from you for one of two reasons:

1. They haven't heard of you.
2. They have.

You need to choose who to lose.

Trump knows that his supporters will stick with him through a little plagiarism scandal so he ran with it to stay top of mind. (Imagine what games he'll play next week during the Democratic National Convention. I'm willing to bet he makes headlines at least once during their convention.) 

Your marketing needs to be bold and memorable or you will be fighting for scraps and "sharpening your pencil" to even get the scraps.

Inbound Sellers eat well and write their contracts in ink.

Subscribe today and eat well tomorrow.

Good Selling,
Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer®