Don't be afraid of the path that others avoid

Fear is the biggest impediment to communicating properly in today's marketing or PR world.

And it's usually not a fear of saying or doing something wrong. It's more a fear that precious marketing dollars will be wasted without a clear-cut return on investment.

Some of the best marketing ideas I've ever been a part of never came to fruition because somebody, somewhere, was worried that they wouldn't work.

So we fell back on plan B, which no doubt was something really productive like another news release or sales brochure.

In this post, I wrote that telling stories, adding value and providing hands-on experiences are key elements in creating and nurturing a community ... providing consumers or prospects with a reason for interacting with your brand.

Yet they are also the type of activities that can make naysayers downright giddy with negativity.

Telling stories about our company? How will that help? We need to sell, sell, SELL!

Adding value? You mean give away information? Yeah, right.

Providing hands-on experiences? Sounds expensive, time-consuming and difficult to pull off.

Of course, the very reason these types of communication activities work well is because they aren't sales-oriented. They are designed to create an opening, an opportunity ... not to close the deal.

In today's world, public relations and marketing should be designed to facilitate dialog and stimulate interest that will lead someone to learn -- on his or her own -- more about your product or service.

That's a pathway that doesn't always lend itself to neat and tidy ROI measurement. But don't let that fear stop you from taking the road less traveled.