5 Successful Marketing Strategies Learned from Steve Jobs...

As a big Apple use, I’ve always been fascinated by Apple’s ability to take something that no one even knew they wanted, create it, market it and then sell millions of them at a super high price point.

I mean after all, anyone that can launch a product and have customers happily camping outside in the wind and rain to get their hands on a copy needs to be paid attention to.

So with that in mind, here are 5 successful marketing strategies we can all take from the life of Apple’s visionary, Steve Jobs:

It’s about people, not stuff. I don’t think I have ever heard Steve Jobs babble about the latest greatest features of Apple’s products. Rather, he always spoke in terms of how those products made life easier for others. I truly believe that if you focus on solving the problems of others, you will never lack for anything.

“It’s not about pop culture, and it’s not about fooling people, and it’s not about convincing people that they want something they don’t. We figure out what we want. And I think we’re pretty good at having the right discipline to think through whether a lot of other people are going to want it, too. That’s what we get paid to do.” – Steve Jobs on CNN Money

Keep it simple. Why are Apple products so popular? Why do they create raving fans who wouldn’t think of leaving to go to the competition? I believe it’s because the products are so simple to use – they’re intuitive. You don’t need instruction for most of them, you can simply turn them on and get started. And whatever you need? It’s right there at your fingertips, or downloadable as an app. Always design your products and services for maximum user friendliness and you cannot go wrong.

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” Steve Jobs in BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998

Think big. REALLY BIG. Steve Jobs and Apple weren’t just about technology, they were about leaving the world a better place than they found it. Small dreams and goals yield small results. Big dreams and goals can move mountains, create fortunes and change the world.

“I want to put a ding in the universe.” -Steve Jobs

Focus your energy. While it might seem smart to conquer half a dozen markets just in case half of them don’t pay off, you’ll never fully realize  big success that way. Instead, carefully choose your market and then focus all of your energy on truly great products and services within your marketplace. You didn’t see Apple building vacuum cleaners – in fact if you look close you’ll realize they didn’t put out a lot of products for a hundred billion dollar company. But what they did produce totally ROCKED, because they focused on doing those things RIGHT.

“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.” Steve Jobs in Fortune

“I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.” Steve Jobs in Businessweek

“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.” Steve Jobs in Businessweek

Be Passionate. Why do you suppose Steve Jobs took a salary of $1 a year? It wasn’t just that he wasn’t concerned about money – I think he was truly passionate about his company, his products and changing people’s lives. When you love what you’re doing, it takes on a life of its own. It’s no longer work, it’s the highest form of play, and it’s also when you’re the most successful.

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” Steve Jobs, The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 1993

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement speech, June 2005

In closing…

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Think Different, narrated by Steve Jobs