Does Anybody Good Like You?

I’m going nuts trying to track down a video on YouTube, or anywhere for that matter. It’s an MTV commercial from the early 90s; in it, there are two punk rockers, a boy and a girl, sitting on a curb.

The boy complains, “Nobody likes me.”

The girl replies, “I like you Oliver.”

After a long pause, the boy responds, “Nobody good likes me.”

I remember laughing so hard the first time I saw it that I almost shot soda out of my nose. I wanted to find the video today so I could embed it here for you to watch; it’s funnier that way. So if anyone knows where I can find it, let me know and I’ll replace all this rambling text with what may be the best MTV commercial of all time. Then I can get to the point.

So here’s the point: does anybody good like you?

I think we all get caught up sometimes in the issue of traffic; we think that if our site just gets enough traffic or if our product or service gets in front of enough eyes, we’ll have it made. But is that really true?

I’ll use Jack in the Box as an example. The Jack in the Box commercials (featuring Jack, the man with an giant antenna ball for a head) of the past few years are hilarious. While I normally fast-forward through commercials (I could kiss the guy who invented DVRs), I always stop and watch when I see that big white head flash across the screen.

Here’s the kicker, though: I never eat at Jack in the Box. I really don’t care for their food. I find myself wondering why, if they have all that money for advertising, they can’t make a decent taco. And so, while I like them, I’m not someone good liking them.

And so I’ll ask again: does anybody good like you? In other words, are your marketing efforts reaching your ideal clients, the ones who’ll actually be happy to buy your stuff? If not, it’s time to get clear on who you want to reach and go talk to them in a language they’ll connect with.  Otherwise, no matter how many people like you, nobody good will like you.