A Marketing Cheat Sheet For Business – Read The Binman’s Guide To Marketing

I remember a few years ago The City Bin Co. exploded into my consciousness. I’m not sure why. Was it a radio ad? TV? something else? All I know is that I knew that City Bins had red wheelie bins rather than the standard, green or grey. There marketing was working, if I’d been in an area they served I’d have wanted a red bin and I’d think of them every time I saw one.

Oisin Browne, the author of  ‘The Binman’s Guide To Marketing’* started his career in refuse working as a binman in his brother’s business, The City Bin Company, now he works as part of the sales, marketing, and innovation team there. In this book, he shares his top marketing ideas.

It’s the second in a planned series of books by Oisin, the first was ‘The Binman’s Guide To Selling’ and ‘The Binman’s Guide To Customer Service’ is in the works.

As someone who is self-taught in marketing, I’m always on the look out for more information and a better understanding of the marketing process. Digital marketing and traditional marketing go hand in hand yet so many who work on the digital side are like me and have no formal education in the area. It was with the aim of plugging my knowledge gap that I picked up a copy of this book.

The main body of the binman’s guide consists of 100 marketing ideas. Each with an outline of the idea, how to implement it, tips and a digital nugget.

Most of these come from Oisin himself but he has also invited guest authors to contribute. These tips give anyone new to marketing a good overview of the different techniques you can use.

The 100 ideas are complimented at the end by expert interviews with marketing professionals including those from small businesses and large corporations.

For me the main value of this book is the marketing ideas. If you are going to read it I recommend doing so with a pen and paper next to you, not all tips will fit all businesses but there will be something in there for every business owner. Choose the ones that will work for you, make a note and go away and work on them.

I would have liked a bit more, I tend to read business books for two reasons. 1. To get inspiration and 2. To learn. The binman’s guide sat somewhere between these two. Although I got lots of ideas I’d have loved a website I could go to and download extras and templates so I could easily put the ideas into action. I’d also liked to have known more about Oisin, he hints at his involvement with The City Bin Co but it’s not until the end that I discovered it was his brother’s company.

All in all, this is a handy guide and one you should have on your bookshelf for reference. There are ideas there that you will go back to and ideas you’ll want to put into action straight away.

*Affiliate link – I get a small cut of the sale if you buy using this link.