See bottom of the page for photo credit.

If you live in a 25-mile radius of Dardanelle, Arkansas, you probably know my mom. If you don’t know her from church, school, or football games, or from reading her weekly column in the local newspaper, you know her as that woman who brings her chickens to town. I’m not talking about a clucking, flapping chicken. I’m talking about a chicken with a dress, long eye-lashes, garter, and 2 size 12DD boobs. She’s one sexy chick. Mom calls her “Dolly Poultry”. She’s made countless Dolly Poultry’s, including a few “Nurse Good Chickens”, and some “Biker Chicks” (complete with Harley-Davidson emblems on their leather jacket). Yeah, they are stuffed dolls. They are the cutest things ever, and they always cause a stir. She takes them to restaurants, in the car, to the doctor’s office. Anywhere really. They have weighted bottoms, and their legs cross, so she can sit them in a seat or table nearby and let people look at them. She has given a lot away to friends, teachers, and random people. But everywhere she goes, she sells one! To the tune of $30 a piece.

Another of her hobbies is cross-stitch embroidery. She makes beautiful pieces that look like paintings. Those, too, are often given away, but she sells a great deal.  I truly think that my mom could sell anything if she wanted to. People listen to her and respect her, and truly enjoy seeing her come their way. She’s also a fantastic writer, and I’ve always wished she would get into blogging and let everyone see what she can do. But how does she do it? She’s never read anything about marketing. She went to junior college to be a secretary, but no fancy business degrees, and no selling experience. It’s a technique that’s not a technique. Nothing is planned. People just gravitate towards her. I call it natural marketing.

So how can you bring this into an online or offline selling campaign? Here are a few tips:

1) Be active in your community – My mom is the mom who went along on field trips (and made sure my hair was brushed), the mom who gave out peppermints to kids at church and made sure you had a ride home, the one yelling the loudest at football games, and the woman you could always talk to when you were having trouble. She’s always there with prayer, nice words and hugs. Are you there for your community? Whether that is your hometown, your nation, your company, or your twitter followers. You can’t just go around passing out business cards and hope someone will buy what you’re selling. You have to give back. When you’re an active personality, people know who you are. You’re no longer a stranger. Don’t do it for the recognition, do it because you love your neighbors. Re-post cool tweets, link to interesting articles, support your co-workers and customers. They will remember you, and they will give back.

2) Do something interesting – Mom could probably sell Tupperware, or knit ugly sweaters. And she might sell some, but her products also set her apart. They’re unique, they’re conversation-starters. And they fit her wacky, bubbly personality. You may not be able to market the boob-ed chicken, but you can find something interesting about your product or service that sets you apart. Something that not everyone can do. Enhance that, and keep it going.

3) Personalization for your customers – One thing my mom does is add personality to her chickens. She took a basic design for a rather plain “endowed” chicken, and added details like blush, eyelashes, and a garter. She makes nurse chickens for doctor’s offices, and biker chicks for women who love motorcycles (I think they get tattoos). If you order a chicken, she’ll ask you what colors you have in your house so it can match your decor. These little extra touches don’t take a lot of time or money, but they show off her creativity and they add a lot of value. One way you can do this is to make sure when you write e-mails or post content to your website or social media page you are not using automated software to send out automated messages. Of course, some automation is necessary if you have a large membership base. But get to know your users. What do they want? What are they talking about? See them as people and not just numbers or dollar signs. It makes a big difference.

4) Don’t be afraid. Be yourself – I was sometimes embarrassed of my mom when I was growing up. She wasn’t “normal” like other moms. She wouldn’t sit quietly and make dumb chit-chat about soap operas. And she wouldn’t spend hundreds of dollars on new name brand clothes for me. I was quite shy and very quiet, and I just wanted to fit in. But she would talk to anyone and everyone! The new person in town, the bank cashier, the stranger at Wal-mart. She didn’t put on a face to go outside, either make-up or an emotional front. She used to dye her grey hair, but she doesn’t care about that anymore. She’s proud to be who she is, even if that person is not ordinary. After all, if we were all the same, wouldn’t life be boring? Be yourself. Don’t be afraid to let your humor or regionality shine through your blog posts or in your business meetings. It’s what makes you memorable.

5) Always bring your chicken to town. You never know who you will meet! – Mom has met people from out-of-state that she will never see again, and sold them a chicken. You can’t go around blabbing about your business to everyone. That’s boring. But always be prepared, and remember that you never know who’s watching! This might keep you from posting that hatred-flaming comment, or the nude picture that your ex-boyfriend took that time you got drunk on Facebook. And it will keep you shining forth your best work all the time. Every new contact is a potential sale, every person you meet could be your next customer or member. So smile and set your best chicken on the table.

Note: Unfortunately I am out of touch with my mom, so I can’t refer you to her, but the talented people at cuziscustomcrafts.com make a very similar chicken, probably from the same original pattern Mom used. I have used their picture for this post. I hope they forgive me! Support their chickens.