Me And My Hoodie

I love wearing my rhino hoodie (that’s me at left).

I wear it every night when I walk my dog around my neighborhood in the dark. In the winter, it protects me from the cold and wind. In the summer, it keeps the mosquitoes away. Sometimes, when people get close to me, they give me strange looks, appear obviously uncomfortable and say things like “Oh. Hi. I didn’t know who you were.” But they’ve never started a physical confrontation with me (at least not yet).

I wear it on long airplane flights to get some sleep and keep my earbuds on during takeoff and landing without the stewardesses seeing, in protest of the insanely dumb rule that one must turn off all electronic devices so as not to cause a crash (if that were even remotely possible, that would make all electronic devices at least as dangerous as four ounces of shampoo, thus causing them to be banned from being carried aboard all planes, wouldn’t it?). Sometimes I get strange looks from other passengers. But they’ve never started a physical confrontation with me (at least not yet).

Fortunately, I’ve never worn it while on a walk through George Zimmerman’s neighborhood.

In case you’ve been completely ignoring The Biggest Story In America, he’s the guy whose hobby was acting out some kind of vigilante fantasy by joining his “Neighborhood Watch” program and following people around his neighborhood with a loaded gun, looking for trouble.

That hobby ended last February, when he confronted a teenager named Trayvon Martin, because he felt Martin looked like a suspicious “punk” by walking from a convenience store back to his dad’s home while wearing a hoodie. After a brief physical encounter, Zimmerman shot the teenager right in the middle of the chest at point-blank range.

Here’s a very brief, straight-to-the-point summary of the case, courtesy of Bill “No Spin Zone” O’Reilly as explained in the “Talking Points” segment of his first nightly “The O’Reilly Factor” television show after a “not guilty” verdict was delivered in Zimmerman’s murder/manslaughter trial:

“Zimmerman focused in on Martin, who wasn’t doing anything other than walking to his father’s house. Zimmerman also made a mistake by not following the advice of the 911 operator to back off. Talking Points understands the anger towards George Zimmerman. He initiated the fracas. But you don’t convict someone of murder because he shows poor judgment, or because he racially profiles.”

Makes sense to me.

Since this was a case of “he said/he shot,” of course Zimmerman could tell any story he wanted. And since he shot Martin on a dark, rainy night, there were no witnesses who saw the whole situation unfold.

So it would be hard to imagine there not being enough “reasonable doubt” for a jury to find Zimmerman not guilty of murder. Were it not for all the politics and racial undertones, it’s hard to imagine a case like this even going to trial.

Therefore, I’m okay with the finding of “reasonable doubt” and therefore the “not guilty” verdict.

I’m just glad George Zimmerman doesn’t live in my neighborhood.

So…

What does any of this have to do with marketing your business, you ask?

Here are just some of the important lessons…

1. If you live in a dangerous neighborhood, you should be especially motivated to do everything you can to get the heck out of there.

There are many ways to become wealthy, and building a successful business by taking massive amounts of the right action is certainly one that any American can choose. I’ve lived and worked in some of our nation’s worst ghettos (back in my door-to-door sales days), and just about all I could focus on was building a business and getting the heck out of there.

2. Controversy is one of the very best ways to get people’s attention.

Shortly after the verdict was announced, all of social media blew up with emotional reactions on both sides. I posted to my Facebook page about the absurdity of how there’s nothing our legal system could do to hold Zimmerman accountable for his deadly behavior, and some of my followers immediately chimed in on both sides of the issue. Here’s my favorite reaction:

Facebook Follower: “Steve, did you listen to the trial. I watched all of it.”

Me: “Of course I didn’t listen to the trial. I have a life.”

(*And what would you expect me to tell my clients? “Sorry. I haven’t gotten anything done lately, because I have such a dull life of my own that I had to stay glued to a TV set all day long for the past three weeks watching someone else’s drama?”)

3. If you want to people to notice you, you have to be willing to take strong, controversial stands.

You’ll alienate some people and strengthen your bond with others. (For example, I’m about to find out how many people leave me angry comments below, and/or opt-out of my email list and social media accounts just because they’ll have a strong emotional reaction to this post.)

4. Track everything you do, and pay attention to what your audience tells you they really want.

“HLN” started out as the “CNN Headline News Channel,” and has now basically become the “Controversial Trial Channel.” Almost all of their programming consists of finding a criminal trial to sensationalize, and then presenting non-stop, 24/7 coverage from every conceivable angle, before, during and after the trial.

Is there an area of your business that has been remarkably successful, that you can make the complete focus of your business – and cut out the rest?

5. Look for every opportunity to be creative and persuasive (and sometimes even outrageous) in your sales pitch.

Believe it or not, during his closing argument, Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara actually defined a sidewalk as a weapon (and even said that to suggest otherwise “is disgusting”). This, of course, is news to millions of people who only THINK they’re unarmed when they routinely walk down an average street. O’Mara may have a future as a copywriter, if he ever decides he’s had enough of the courtroom…

These are just some of the business and marketing lessons we can learn from America’s latest “Trial Of The Century.”

What’s your number one takeaway from it?