How Marketing is Like Competitive Eating

You might not know this, but I can eat eleven hot dogs in less time than it will take for you to finish reading this sentence.

Mmm. They were delicious.

But I’m not just trying to impress you with my gastronomical feats. I’ve actually learned a lot being a food warrior, and a lot of it can be applied to content marketing:

1. Set your goal and come up with a strategy

You don’t want to go into this blind. Do your research ahead of time and learn as much as you can about the subject matter that you can.

Figure out what your approach will be that makes sense given the challenge ahead of you.

2. Pace yourself

Don’t bite off more than you can chew. It’s tempting to blast out of the gates with guns blazing, but this is the quickest way to get overwhelmed, nauseous and burnt out.

Take inventory of your resources and set realistic timelines on projects.

3. Focus on your own approach, not on the competition

It’s okay to peek at your competition out of the corner of your eye, but trying to mimic them is the easiest way to get discouraged and distracted.

There’s no guarantee that they’ve thought out their approach and they may be pulling a “trial by fire” approach.

You’ve done your homework (presumably) so stick to your guns and keep at your own approach.

4. Use the energy of the crowd

Take advantage of the chatter surrounding you, and channel it to improve your efforts. If there is constructive criticism, use it to alter your approach. If there is baseless trash-talking, ignore it and keep plugging away.

If you can, give a shout out to the people who support you – you can’t underestimate how good it will make them feel and their cheer will turn into a roar.

5. Mind over matter

Don’t let a mental block keep you down. Press through the struggle to pull material together and stay positive. A majority of people will say that it cannot be done like that, but push that nonsense aside, impossible is nothing.

And always, keep your eye on the prize and keep the antacid within reach. It’s a grueling marathon, and you’ll probably need it whether you’re in an eating competition or in the marketing trenches.

[image: mr_t_in_dc]

http://www.socialmeteor.com Troy Janisch

“using the energy of the crowd” is the social media part (grin).I Love this analogy. The only thing it lacks is VIDEO. Let’s see that 11 hot dog intro!
http://www.doodlehaus.com Mark Anderson

Pace is huge. It’s easy to overwhelm yourself with a list of tactics a mile long. The fact is that you will need to adjust after your first few salvoes anyway. Better to remain agile, execute and adjust your approach. I’m with Troy, more Joey Chestnut!
http://socialmediaexplorer.com Jason Falls

Just when you thought you couldn’t make a decent analogy to competitive eating, there it is. Now I’m hungry. Good stuff, dude.
- http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com Matthew Bavosa
  
  Thanks for the praise Jason. These days content marketing is just as important to me as eating. In both arenas I just can’t get enough lessons out of my experiences. Glad you like my work, reading this post makes me hungry every time too.
Chloe Thompson

Ha ha. GREAT analogy, Matt. You’ve clearly been taking Andrew lessons!
http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com Matthew Bavosa

So unfortunately I do not have access to any video of my eating escapades, but I do have some pictures for credibility. I am a member of the first ever collegiate competitive eating team, which is at the University of Maryland. I hope you enjoy these pics. Google search “Matthew Bavosa Eating” for more pictures and articles about my teammates and I. Feel free to friend me on Facebook to get exclusive access to my competitive eating pictures. Next stop, Nathans!
http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/livefamilylife Daca

Wow, great post. Thanks for advices.
- http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com Matthew Bavosa
  
  Thanks for the compliment! Always appreciated. I never thought competitive eating would teach me so many great lessons.
http://www.edtechmag.com/higher Steve Zurier

I see Coney Island in your future!!
- http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com Matthew Bavosa
  
  Thanks Steve, I dream of one day rubbing elbows with the top hot dog eaters. Until then I train, challenges welcome.
  - xxOxx
    
    Dog eaters? 0_o
    - http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com Matthew Bavosa
      
      *Hot Dog eaters
http://www.marketingwithoutanet.com Ilana Rabinowitz

I like that idea of drawing energy from the crowd. Part of the allure for me of digital marketing is that the feedback is specific and immediate and it comes from “the crowd”. You know how many links, comments, likes, views and downloads you have very quickly and you aren’t waiting for the approval of one or two people or a gatekeeper.
- http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com Matthew Bavosa
  
  Great insight Ilana. The crowd is what gives me fuel all the time. Whether my spectators are shouting “Chew Chew Swallow” or people are mentioning me on Twitter, I draw energy from the crowd. Check the crowd in this article: http://www.readoz.com/publication/read?i=1034443#page10
http://www.dydacomp.com Dydacomp

Love the comparison between competitive eating and marketing especially “Take advantage of the chatter surrounding you, and channel it to improve your efforts. If there is constructive criticism, use it to alter your approach. If there is baseless trash-talking, ignore it and keep plugging away.”

This is a great point and applies to the use of social media for small businesses. Social media is a great marketing strategy that allows businesses answer real time complaints ect and find ways to turn negative reviews into positive ones. Definitely an article worth sharing with our eCommerce clients here at Dydacomp.

Thanks for this one!

Molly Griffin
- http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com Matthew Bavosa
  
  Thank you Molly for the support! I will definitely keep these points in mind in my work and continue to look for more that apply. Glad to hear my work is worth sharing with your team!