Because many people don’t believe I can write a short post… this one is short… for me. Let’s see what happens…
If you don’t know who Yosemite Sam is, you’ve been living under a rock or on a volcanic island. Yosemite Sam was the 20th century’s greatest marketer.
Not Yosemite Sam lol
Photo by Julia Solovey on Unsplash
I say that because he always knew how to get a new job (when he wasn’t trying to take your money forcefully), always knew how to promote himself, was loyal to whatever organization he happened to be shilling for at the time (even if it was just him), had ultimate self confidence, and by being loud and obnoxious he was able to promote others by extension, even when that might not have been his ultimate goal.
Truth be told, if all of us ran around extolling our virtues like Yosemite Sam we might be carted off in a white jacket with belts and never be seen again. But in such extremism we can find things that we should be applying to our own marketing processes which might help both our online and offline efforts in getting business. Let’s take a look at some of those things.
1. Every time you meet Yosemite Sam he tells you who he is and what he does.
Many of us run into someone we think we know or have met but either have forgotten their name or what they do. It might seem strange telling people what it is you do up front every time you run into them, but telling people your name gets both parties out of the embarrassment of short term name recognition failure.
I’m suffering this one more that usual, forgetting people’s names even if I’ve known them for a while, as I’ve gotten into my 60’s (ouch!). Being able to tell someone where the two of you might have met, if possible, can replace telling people what it is you do and get a positive conversation started. Still, it never hurts to remind people who you are.
2. Yosemite Sam gives off supreme confidence in who he is and what he can do.
Most of us were taught not to brag about ourselves, to be modest, and I tend to think that takes away some of our swagger when we interact with people, especially in business situations. We don’t always give off the vibe of confidence; we’re more likely to give off the vibe of desperation because we’re trying to get someone’s business.
Yosemite Sam doesn’t care; he’s fearless. In his way it’s intimidation; in our way it’s abrasive. It’s smart to learn how he does things, then figure out ways to do it your way. Business isn’t kind to cowardice, perceived or not.
3. Yosemite Sam is relentless; he never gives up trying to get the job done.
Whether he’s trying to rob you or put you in jail, he lets setbacks bounce off him and comes back for more. Many of us give our marketing or sales a try, and when we don’t get the type of response we want we bail, say that kind of thing will never work, and often don’t try it again. There’s only so many ways of marketing that if when we adopt these principles we reach the end quickly, and they are sitting around wondering what the heck we should try next.
I’ve been here for a long time; it’s easier to get discouraged than to plow through. I’m changing that this year; I’ll still be mister nice guy, but I’ve got goals to pursue and money to make… here I come y’all!
4. Yosemite Sam is nothing but pure energy.
If he weren’t a cartoon character, you’d admire him for his energy. He might be energetic to the extreme, as he never goes on vacation and is relentless, but he’s obviously someone who realizes that without hard work no one succeeds, and he’s had some great jobs over the course of his life.
There are a lot more things I could come up with but let’s hear from you; what marketing lessons do you think you could learn from Yosemite Sam?
Oh my – I’ve embarrassed to say I haven’t heard of him! I will have to read up on him. He sounds like a fun fearless person 🙂 I forget names too and now write them down when I meet new people. I try to associate them with someone else who has the same name
The lesson from Yosemite Sam for me is to brag (market myself) more – I don’t do it enough. (Guilty!). I’m always telling clients too as well but need to do more myself. Must teach by doing! Thanks Mitch for this informative piece.
You must not have been a Warner Brothers or Loony Toons fan, but I’m shocked that you also must not have been a Bugs Bunny fan because they were mortal enemies. lol When I’m ready to launch my membership site, I’ll have to find my inner Yosemite Sam persona… hopefully I’ll have enough in me to pull out. lol
I used to love Bugs Bunny as a kid – but I didn’t know a thing about marketing back then 🙂 Every Saturday morning, all I remember is a beep, beep!
What kind of membership site Mitch?
Health care finance, aka revenue cycle; it’s what I mainly consult in. It’s an area where, as far as I know, there’s no specific training or learning facilities that cover what I’m going to be covering. At least there wasn’t within the last 3 or 4 years, but I was a bit busy then.
I am fortunate that YS has not touched my life. As yet that is. Who knows what tomorrow brings?
I bet you’d have been great being like Yosemite Sam. In your mellow way I bet you’d have charmed people to give you anything you wanted… and some things you didn’t want. lol
I feel truly challenged. I’ve never heard of him. But I surely want to. This post is very engaging from how it starts, it just lured me into the entire copy. Love it. I want to know more about Yosemite Sam. I’ll research about him.
Enjoy the research. If you want more, as in finding out why he’s funny and how he talks, go on YouTube and look him up.
The three best things Yosemite Sam has going for him are:
That energy and eternal belief that he will succeed. Add that failure never stops him, he just keeps coming back.
The question is, does he learn from his mistakes and adapt.
As far as I can remember, only once did he say “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”… I’m trying to remember which cartoon that was. Still, if he’d been better at changing, would he be as memorable a character? I find that sometimes a bad example can be turned into a good example for something specific. lol
Hi Mitch
I was wondering, what would happen if marketers today start enacting like Yosemite. There could be two possibilities, either he/she will be too popular or will be too infamous. But certainly can learn from the energy he used to have.
What do you think?
Well, we begin with the reality that he’s an over the top cartoon character, so don’t literally act like he does. lol With that said, that, your postulations are somewhat correct on what could happen if one goes to extremes; check out this article and watch the video that’s near the end of it to see what I mean: http://www.imjustsharing.com/the-art-of-hype/ The idea in general is to not be shy of marketing and showing confidence in yourself and what you have to say to have the best opportunity to reach those you’re hoping will want to invest in your product.
I did not know about Yosemite Sam but he seems like an interesting person to me. So I am further reading more about him. It was good to learn something new today. Thanks for sharing.
Well, he’s a cartoon character, but he was a great one. However, don’t read about him; go to YouTube and watch clips of his behavior… then do something like that, only tone it down a lot and see if it works in marketing your business.