Can you believe that you can learn all you need to know about marketing from fly fishing? It is true.

I went on a quick trip with my Dad and a good friend to Wild West Virginia. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and quickly started in on the research. You must know what your target fish is eating for dinner.

Match the Hatch – is king when fishing for trophy rainbows and brown trout. Trout are very smart and picky about what they eat – if you do not give them want they want, you can forget it. Current conditions can also influence how well you may do – in West Virginia if the water is too warm, the trout will not look at a thing. So timing in important!

After many tries at matching the hatch, I tied on a green woolly bugger (king of all flies), carefully placed it with precision and masterful casting skills right in front of a nice 17-18 inch rainbow – wham! The fight was on. If you do not know how to properly cast the fly or how to present it just right, the trout will stick her nose up at you every time.

So here are four Marketing Lessons: They may be basic, but just about everyone ignores them.

1. Understand what your target market is eating (what are the problems you can solve for your hungry prospects)
2. Understand their eating habits (online searching, local events, associations, media – you must know where your target market gets their information)
3. Understand how they like it served (Design for effectiveness not awards.)
4. Test, Test, Test (Marketing is a guessing game as much as it is science. People don’t always follow the rules)

The RevMan