What’s new in the second edition?

I started to draft the second edition of Watertight Marketing in 2016. It would appear that my gestation period for a book is four years, as that’s how long the first one took too. If you’re a fan of the first edition, you may well be wondering what’s new in this second edition. So, let me walk you through it.

1. Who the book is for…

When I wrote Watertight Marketing, I was crystal clear who I was writing for. I actually had a photo of a chap called Patrick Nash tacked to my computer as I wrote. At the time, Patrick was CEO of a £2m turnover business. This was the sort of business, and character, I had in mind. A business that had firm foundations and now wanted to scale, and a CEO that was pragmatic and saw marketing as a key building block. However, over the years the book has gathered a few other audiences. So, in the second edition, I’ve spelled out clearly the seven typical readers and what they get from the book. These are:

1. The CEO or MD of an established seven to eight figure business, still categorised as a Small to Medium Enterprise (SME), that now wants to systemise and scale.
2. The owner-manager of a smaller, but fast-growing business, with a core team and big ambition.
3. A senior leader within a larger business, or corporate, looking to align disparate disciplines, and get the whole team contributing effectively to the marketing effort.
4. Solo and micro businesses (particularly those who sell their expertise looking to promote themselves more effectively within the time they have available) have also found the materials useful.
5. The marketing person within the organisations described above. For example, the marketing director, head of marketing or marketing manager – and those in their team.
6. A marketing consultant or business growth coach working alongside any of these people.
7. A student working on a marketing or business degree, or professional qualification.

2. How to use the book…

On working with thousands of businesses who’ve used the materials in our online courses, workshops, training and consultancy exercises, I now know how those that get the most from it approach the material. It’s been really clear that there’s a bit of a method to navigating an implementing Watertight Marketing that works best. So, I’ve added a section that collates these into a set of tips, I’ve even created a free online video course to run through this as it makes such a difference to the impact that can be achieved. I’ve also scoped out the four phase approach that our most embedded clients use to take their business through the whole 12-month marketing transformation that the book forms the heart of.

3. Re-emphasis and re-imagining…

Having now presented the Watertight Marketing methodology in front of a combined audience of over 20,000 people, I know what lands and what leaves people scratching their heads. The way I explain things has developed over time and I’ve been able to pull this through into the way that key concepts are now explained in the book. In vast swathes, I’ve wholly rewritten it – not because the methodology has changed, but because I have new and better ways of presenting it. In doing this, there have been a few changes in emphasis. Where I’ve gone into too much detail on something that turned out to be common sense, I’ve pulled back. Where I’ve made a passing comment that people have wanted to dive into, I’ve expanded.

4. Naming conventions and neatness…

I find this change really exciting! I’ve done some tidying up. Might sound dull, but in terms of the ease of navigation through the materials, it’s a quantum leap. I’ve given every framework its own name, which then links to a definitions page, which we’ll keep updated with up to date links and examples. The biggest tidy up job has been in the Touchpoint Leaks, for each one I have organised the tried and tested tweaks into three themes. Beneath each theme there is a practical idea for you to implement. There’s lots of new material here, mainly inspired by what I’ve seen real clients actually put into place. I love it – it means I can draw the relationship between the materials really easily.

5. Two sexy new frameworks…

There’s lots of new content in the Tweak Themes (detailed above). The two wholly new frameworks appear in chapters 5 and 11. They’ve been aired here on the blog, and at our conference in 2018. The first is TDM Value Exchange, where we look at the increasing levels of value exchange across a buying decision. The second is the PP Matrix, where we overlay Profit and Purpose to create a grid for determining your ideal client mix. It feels great to integrate these into the book to show where they fit in the methodology.

6. New companion materials…

The book signposts the new companion materials. Previously, we gave away a massive workbook with the book. This was proving really overwhelming for people. So, we’ve slimmed this down into one key exercise per chapter to get you going. These core exercises are still available for free. You can then choose to dive deeper in one of our paid programmes. These will be released month by month within our Masterplan Programme from June 2020.

7. Nifty new formatting…

One of the things I noticed about the first edition is how well thumbed they become. A well used copy will have sticky notes poking out and annotated margins. To allow for this, we’ve added a wide outside edge for your notes. We’ve also extended the front cover so that readers can use it to mark certain pages. To get you easily to the part of the book you want, we’ve added shaded blocks to the outside edge to indicate the four parts of the book, and the index has been expanded, This is a living tool, and we’ve made it as easy as possible for you to use it as such.

8. New client examples…

The client examples that I used in the first edition were all from my own consultancy engagements prior to the release of the book. They’re now all from businesses who have actively used the book. Every one of them is from a business owner or MD who has read the book, done an online course, or worked with one of our Certified Practitioners. It was a real pleasure collecting these success stories and I’m delighted to share them with you.

9. Know your audience and proposition…

One of the key things about Watertight Marketing is that is a go-to-market strategy. That is, it’s premised on you knowing what you are selling and to whom, and that this methodology helps you to scale that. However, we found that a number of readers needed some guidance on this. So, I’ve added two new short sections. One walks you through how to characterise your audience, and the other how to articulate your proposition. Even if you do indeed know what you’re selling to whom, these will help you tighten it up.

10. New imprint…

The new book is published under a new imprint, Human Business Thinking. This is owned by us, and we’ve set it up ready for a whole series of spin off titles. We’ll be doing Watertight Marketing for Industry x – looking in detail at sector specific implementation, as well as The Watertight Marketing Guide to Social Media and other key techniques. 

It’s taken me four years to re-write it. I’m really excited and proud of the book that’s coming your way. I hope you love it too.