First, I wanted to write a headline that was bad, not true, but I wanted it to be something you would HAVE to click. It could be a headline with sex in it, something political (oh dangerous) or what about something including one tradeshow over another? But I chose to put my own brand/name into the headline - taking a risk!

It's called click-baits, and we all use baits from time to time. Most of us click on headlines, because of catchy headlines, too-good-to-be-true promises, etc. I am sure you at some point have got 'sales letters' promising you "Millions of dollars in savings," or "Lose weight with a minimum effort." (I still believe in that promise). We click them. We hate them. We work hard every day to find methods to earn clicks!Now I should add a link. I would say a link to something that you hardly believe. Could be about a printer who grew more than 250% year over year by using guerilla-marketing methods? 

Well, that would probably only work if you are in the printing industry - so what about:

Click here to win $250.000!

Did you click?

I would. I would be so curious that I couldn't resist clicking. I would probably be more likely to click it if the message is sent from a company or person I trust - so why not namedrop? Or what about testimonials? Let customers, or famous people, appreciate or endorse your products and services!I would say, Pat McGrew. Everybody knows her; she is a celebrity, she is a capacity, and she is my friend. She is on the march to 5K followers on Twitter, so she would probably not mind ( I have asked to use her name, don't worry!) I need more. So who can I mention? Well, I could say all the people that shared my endorsement of PRINTING United. I was thinking of this since I like the shares I've got, but I also want the traffic to the rest of our films, so why not using shares and namedropping? Well, I won't. This story is about examples, not so much about doing. My daughter came over for dinner, and I asked her to read my first draft (she is well educated marketing woman!) She asked me for my objective. Why are you writing this article? That is a good question! It's soo good since I, and maybe others write and publish so many words, and opinions that many people don't care? Why should my words be of any importance? Why should an editor from a small online-channel from a country far away at all express an opinion that should be of interest?

When we started INKISH five years ago, I never imagined myself to be in front of the camera. I am not comfortable with my look, my overweight, but more important the stories we tell are the important ones. A few years ago, a person in my network referred to me as a leading influencer in the Scandinavian printing industry! I have never seen myself as such, and therefore, this is a role I need to get used to. I am an influencer, and I am influencing the print community by the very fact that we find stories, film them, edit them, and publish them. So when we endorse PRINTING United, we are used to influencing the viewers watching the promotions. We have made two so far - we plan to make three more. 

The intention is to tell people to go to Dallas October 23-25th. But, hey. We are not only endorsing an event, but we are also supporting our own mission! We want people to know that we are in Dallas. We want to meet our viewers. We want to show and tell the world about all the great stuff we do. We want our promotions to be spread as much as possible so that we can take advantage of this in our brand building. It's quite simple!We are choosing to take any opportunity we can to do what we believe we are best at. We want to tell stories about interesting people, interesting companies, interesting products/services, and, of course, we endorse people and events that support our objective. This article is showing you some of the techniques marketing people use to engage with their audience. You can always argue whether these methods are useful, sane, professional, etc., but these are used regardless. You can see the most stupid advertising on your TV, and though you hate it, you will sing-a-long on the stupid tune that was used to support the message.Are we 'victims' in this marketing/opinion/'I don't dare to express my thoughts' roulette? Well, when I saw my not so pretty face spread on various Social Media, websites, tweets, etc. 

I must admit that I was wondering why this endorsement resonated so much. My conclusion is simple. How many media in the printing industry do you see promoting an event before it takes place? How many editors of magazines, websites, etc. stand up and tell their viewers what to expect? How many editors dare to express their opinion about things going on in our industry? The conclusion; INKISH supports the printing industry. We are a small company, so the best way we can help our industry is to encourage people to go to the event (any event). To report what happened. To bring the most exciting stories forward so this can be used to inspire all of us.

The rest of it - I don't really care.