If you’ve read your bible, you know there are a lot of parables in the bible. Well, the story of the great herring war is a parable of sorts. It is meant to make you understand something about marketing that very few people just starting out understand. So while the following story may sound a little strange, there is a purpose to it and a moral that goes along with it. I think you’ll find it quite entertaining and hopefully, you’ll get something out of it in the process.

Back in the 1600s, the Lindstroms and The Svensons, of an old Swedish town that no longer exists, started what was later known as the great herring war. It seems that the Lindstroms wanted to take all the herrings from the local river and pickle them while the Svensons wanted to have the herrings join the circus. Well, each family went about doing their thing in an attempt to get other families to follow along. The more followers, the more money they could make.

The Lindstroms built a herring pickling factory. They got all the equipment that they needed and bought all the supplies, including vinegar, spices and so on. They hired about 50 people to work in the factory and make the pickled herring. They worked day and night to get their business going and prove that pickled herring could catch on and be eaten all over the world.

While this was going on, the Svensons started on their circus. They went down to the river and captured as many herring as they could and recruited them. One of the acts was going to be shooting a herring out of a cannon. The problem was, when they shot the herring out of the cannon, it ended up in a tree and splattered all over the place. The circus had its first casualty and because of it, customers stayed away. The herring circus was a failure.

In the meantime, the pickled herring factory thrived and pickled herring caught on all over the world. Every nationality was eating pickled herring. Business was good.

Okay, what’s the moral here? The herring circus was certainly a novel idea and looked like it could be a novelty hit. But usually things like this, not rooted in prospects real needs and wants, don’t do very well unless they are very well thought out and marketed cleverly. The Svensons didn’t market cleverly at all and ultimately, their idea bombed. However, had they gone with something more concrete (people need to eat) they probably would have had a better chance of success.

So the moral is this. Don’t always look at the glitzy and the glamorous. Sometimes it’s the simplest and most basic thing that is going to make you the most money…simply because it’s something that people need and want.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to get your business off on the right foot? Tired of spinning your wheels? Go to http://www.nichetoolkit.com/ and sign up for early bird admission into the complete solution for your training, product and promotion needs.