It’s Not About the Money

A Thesis on the Foundations of Marketing & Business Strategy

by Belal Khan

FOREWARD

I've been entertaining the thought of doing a workshop tour on helping communities develop
fundamental business and marketing skills. The workshop would emphasize the use of fundamental
business skills in the formulation and implementation of a strategy with the use of marketing and
communication tools presented from both a theoretical and practical perspective.

This workshop would also focus on increasing understanding of the many variables involved in
marketing decision-making and an awareness of current high tech online tools to consider when making
those decisions. I'd also cover the foundations of how to use specific marketing tools, the variables
involved to build social capital and how to use it to affect the delivery of your core message or idea
through the vehicle of business.

If this is something that you believe would be of benefit to you and your community then send
me an email at khanb@leechon.com with the subject line "It's Not About the Money WORKSHOP"

Business isn’t just about making money. Strategy in

business, marketing, military and society is about the
evolution of a core message in a dynamic and changing
world. It’s about influencing and leading people.

MessageMastery.com
 It’s Not About the Money
A Thesis on the Foundations of Marketing & Business Strategy
by Belal Khan

My Exposure to Marketing

In 1993 my dad was working for AT&T as an IT manager and he brought home America Online.
This was my first exposure to the Internet. In 1996 my dad bought me two technical text books. One was
on HTML and the other was on graphic design for the web. He told me to read it and make a website. I
devoured both books and created my first website about the Marvel Comics superhero Silver Surfer.

By 1999 I was on my third website that focused on video games. At that point in time, I was
trying to think of ways to drive traffic to my website so I can make money off the ads I had placed there.
There were a lot of websites about PC and Sony Playstation video games, but hardly any on Sega
Dreamcast because it was still new to market. I kept thinking, “What can I do that’s different from
everyone else out there but people want it?” Within 24 hrs I made the necessary changes and posted
links to my website on several indexes so the word could get out. Within a short time and I was getting
over two thousand unique visitors every day until my website got shut down by the host.

At this point I started exploring the option of developing an online strategy game that
incorporated the use of video. I produced a short animation and posted it to specific online gaming
forums and communities to see what sort of response there would be if I were to go forth with this idea.
Although there was a response, it wasn’t to the extent that excited me to move forward with it.

In 2002, as an English assignment we were assigned to tell stories using video. I produced three
video projects. The first of which never got past the classroom. I decided to share the last two videos I
produced online with people simply as a means of entertaining them. This actually resulted in a request
to produce a promotional video for Young Muslims, a national youth organization I was a part of. After
six months of grueling editing, I finished my finest work at the time, which to this day is played at
national conventions to promote the organization.

In 2004 I focused my web skills and graphic design knowledge towards marketing the events and
online image of the MSA (Muslim Students’ Association) a student organization I joined on campus.
Instinctually, I started doing research on “the competition,” basically websites of other MSAs across the
nation focused on the same message. I found that there were only three worth comparing to. None of
the websites were utilizing any of the newer technologies for communication and marketing such as
blogs, videos and link indexing. Within one year, the MSA I was part of was ranking on the first page on
Google for specific keywords and had the most online traffic according the ranking websites, until the
host shut us down because some of the technologies I was utilizing went against the terms of use the
host had in place.

In May of 2004, the promo video I had made for Young Muslims caught the eye of Muhammad
Alshareef, the founder and President of AlMaghrib Institute, a non-profit organization focused on
teaching Islamic sciences, currently operating in over 30 cities internationally. However, at the time
AlMaghrib was operating in only three cities in the United States. He requested I produce a training
seminar video for him that would bring new instructors up to speed with the organization. I ended up
using some of the footage to market AlMaghrib at the Texas Dawah Convention held In Houston, TX

MessageMastery.com
 It’s Not About the Money
A Thesis on the Foundations of Marketing & Business Strategy
by Belal Khan

annually. I noticed that no one was using video to attract the attendees to their booth. I had footage
that made the AlMaghrib instructors seem “dynamic” and “fun to be with” which was different from the
“grim” and “serious” image that teachers of Islamic sciences had. I figured, people will gather around
someone that is “fun and dynamic” over “grim and serious” any time of day. This approach worked like a
charm.

Following this assignment, In November of 2005, I was requested to produce a short commercial
that would be used to market the AlMaghrib to a crowd of 15,000 people at a convention held in
Toronto, CA. In January of 2005, I saw my commercial being played in front of a crowd of thousands of
people. It was at that point I had an epiphany and I understood significance of marketing.

My epiphany was: marketing isn’t just about making tons of money or attaining lots fame -- It’s
not just about influencing people. Rather, marketing is about influencing people towards a legacy that
will outlast you. A legacy that I can stand with in front of my Creator on the day of resurrection and say,
“I did this for your pleasure and your pleasure alone.”

Marketing is about influencing people towards a legacy

that will outlast you.

MessageMastery.com
 It’s Not About the Money
A Thesis on the Foundations of Marketing & Business Strategy
by Belal Khan

The Significance of Mastering Your Message and Marketing It

If one were to make a statement saying that the Qur’an is the ultimate literature, compared to
any language, someone listening to that statement might respond saying the statement is very
subjective. Literature by itself is subjective; one person might consider it beautiful, another might
consider it ugly. However, if you take the statement in the context of a purpose it becomes objective.
(Khan)

Within the Qur’an it’s written that the Qur’an itself is a means of communication and the
purpose of communication is to influence the audience. Based on this context, we can objectively judge
what the ultimate literature is by measuring what influence it has. What impact does it have on the
world? What change does it cause? How does it influence behavior? How does it command over
people? (Khan)

Throughout history, no society went through a transformation based on a single text in the way
which the Muslims went through from the Qur’an. (Khan)

Understanding this point, the ability to master the message directly correlates with what level of
influence and impact the message will have. Strategy is developing that core message, understanding
whom that message will be going to and having a general idea of how that message will be delivered to
those people. Marketing is the means in which that message will touch, influence and impact that
audience in the shortest amount of time for the longest possible duration.

Our ability to market effectively has always been limited to the means of communication that
we’ve had at our disposal. Before the printing press was invented, communication and the spreading of
ideas was controlled by tribal and communal leaders. Oral traditions and poetry were the vehicles of
spreading ideas because the common man couldn’t read (Tribes, Godin). This was true for the desert
Arabs as well as the Roman Empire (Mubārakpūrī). Before mass media, ideas were best spread through
books. The invention of TV and radio and newspapers allowed for the mass feeding of messages and
propaganda to the masses (Meatball Sundae, Godin).

In today’s day and age with the advent of the internet and social media, our ability to share a
message with someone sitting across the table or someone across the world is the same. Practically the
whole world is moving toward this direction. During the terrorist attacks in India and the riots and
demonstrations in Iran, the lay people were the one updating the rest of the world on the situation in
140 character message before CNN could say it was “ breaking news” (Comm).

The advancement of mobile technologies and faster internet connection speeds has enabled
people to literally share information and connect with other people all over the world at anytime,
anywhere. This is unprecedented (Comm).

MessageMastery.com
 It’s Not About the Money
A Thesis on the Foundations of Marketing & Business Strategy
by Belal Khan

This massive online instant connectedness has brought the world back to the small town
mindset (Vaynerchuck). In our desert Arab tribal setup, if a merchant wasn’t fair, all the members of that
town would know and they would in turn tell all their friends and relatives to not deal with that
merchant until they changed (Mubārakpūrī). Today, if a business deals unjustly with a customer or they
deal exceptionally well with a customer, everyone knows about it because of the massive social
infrastructure of the internet today (Vaynerchuck).

The social communication standard that we have in place today allows for businesses,
organizations and governments to bring the factor of human relationships back into the marketing
formula. It’s this relationship that enabled President Obama to raise over 50 million dollars in 28 days
during his presidential campaign (Comm). Without building relationships and appealing to people with a
tribal mindset in place, the communication of ideas and the sending of messages will cease to function
for any particular business entity or individual (Tribes, Godin).

The advancement of mobile technologies and faster internet connection

speeds has enabled people to literally share information and connect
with other people all over the world at anytime, anywhere.

This is unprecedented.

MessageMastery.com
 It’s Not About the Money
A Thesis on the Foundations of Marketing & Business Strategy
by Belal Khan

The Current Status of Business

The means of communicating with people and sharing ideas has changed recently over the
years. However, the principles that govern and manage businesses, organizations and governments
hasn’t changed (Lemberg).

Some of the conventional questions that people are asking are: (1) how do you build a
following? (2) How do we use the new communication tools to support our existing organization? With
conventional questions lay deeper insight. What people are really seeking to understand is, “Who and
what are the centers of power and influence?”

When you understand the sources of power and influence, you understand who the
gatekeepers are that will determine whether or not your message will get across to the people you want
to reach. It’s at the centers of power and influence you want to concentrate all of your energy and force.
This is your strategy. It’s a clear intent to replace, bring under your influence or have the blessed
endorsement of a center of power and influence (Lemberg).

In the process of developing your campaign and figuring out the avenues of communication best
suited for you and your message, you may discover others are vying for those same centers of power
and influence (Walker). Based on that discovery your success or failure depends on answering, “How
well you can position the message you’re communicating for greatest possible value and how difficult is
it for your competitors to take your positioning?” (Abraham) In simple terms, “How can you be
different?” (Ries)

Once you’ve understood and internalized the message you’re aiming to communicate and have
developed the positioning for your message for maximum impact, what remains is knowing how to
communicate it; this is where a lot of people, businesses and organizations fall short. People tend to
gravitate toward the obvious methods of communication which most people instinctually ignore in our
over-communicated society, and they don’t spend time developing new and/or innovative ways to
educate the audience on the core message they have internalized (Holmes).

Developing new ways to deliver the message depends on: (1) maximizing on the specific
strength of resources that are available, (2) understanding what weaknesses are present in one’s ability,
(3) trying to foresee any possible opportunities that might come to pass and preparing accordingly to
take advantage of them, (4) being prepared of any possible hindrances that came on in ones path of
delivering the message and preparing accordingly for that (Gamble).

Another problem people and organizations fall short on, comes after they have properly spent
their time doing the leg work communicating the core message to their audiences. They fail to follow up
and remind their audience of their core message and they fail on building and maintaining a relationship
with them (Tracy). A lot of times, the source of this improper execution has to do with not having the
right people in the right places to deal with the right gatekeepers to deliver the message (Collins).

MessageMastery.com
 It’s Not About the Money
A Thesis on the Foundations of Marketing & Business Strategy
by Belal Khan

The advent of social media has made a lot of gatekeepers disappear. The playing field in which
we aim to deliver our message has been leveled (Vaynerchuck). This leveling has brought forth a number
of trends.

The most important trend that has come about is the communication and commerce between
the ones receiving the message and those delivering it – it has become direct, almost to the point where
it’s a public conversation (Meatball Sundae, Godin). The strength of a conversation depends on whether
the topic is worth talking about (Ferrazzi). Throughout time, the value of the topic depended on the
story that it came with and whether or not that story was being told by many people (Meatball Sundae,
Godin). This authenticity is known as social capital (Hunt).

In summary, social capital is defined as, “the culmination of your reputation, influence, the
ability to bridge and bond capital, current and potential access to ideas, talent and resources, saved-up
favors and accomplishments (Hunt). All of this is what’s needed to be considered and acted upon when
attempting to influence an audience.

The advent of social media has made a lot of gatekeepers disappear. The
playing field in which we aim to deliver our message has been leveled to
an extent.

MessageMastery.com
 It’s Not About the Money
A Thesis on the Foundations of Marketing & Business Strategy
by Belal Khan

Concluding Reflection

The current state of marketing communication – the ease of the flow of information between
the people and their publics -- won’t last very long. The people who act now in developing a sound
strategy with solid marketing methods that take advantage of both the offline and online media of
communication will have the first mover advantage and will end up being way ahead of those who
decide to get with the program later in the game.

Some possible future works that I could look into would certainly explore the specific strategies
and methods used to communicate the message of the Qur’an to the masses. Throughout history, no
text has been the source of the change and impact as the Qur’an has been to Muslims. There’s a lot to
be explored here in areas of strategy, communication, relationship building, education methods and
leadership all of which lend toward the delivery of a core message.

MessageMastery.com
 It’s Not About the Money
A Thesis on the Foundations of Marketing & Business Strategy
by Belal Khan

Bibliography

1. Abraham, Jay. Getting Everything You Can Get out of All You've Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-think, Out-perform
and Out-earn the Competition. New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Griffin, 2001. Print.

2. Anderson, Chris. "Wired 12.10: The Long Tail." Wired News. Oct. 2004. Web. 08 Apr. 2010.
<http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html>.

3. Collins, James C. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap--and Others Don't. New York, NY:
HarperBusiness, 2001. Print.

4. Comm, Joel. Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2009.
Print.

5. Ferrazzi, Keith, and Tahl Raz. Never Eat Alone and Other Secrets to Success: One Relationship at a Time. New
York: Currency Doubleday, 2005. Print.

6. Fisher, Lawrence M. "Fernando Flores Wants to Make You an Offer." Strategy+Business 24 Nov. 2009. Web. 22
Apr. 2010. <http://www.strategy-business.com/article/09406?pg=all>.

7. Gamble, John, and Arthur A. Thompson. Essentials of Strategic Management: the Quest for Competitive
Advantage. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2009. Print.

8. Godin, Seth. Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. New York: Portfolio, 2008. Print.

9. Godin, Seth. Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync? New York: Portfolio, 2007. Print.

10. Godin, Seth. The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable. New York: Portfolio, 2005.
Print.

11. Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. New York: Random
House, 2007. Print.

12. Holmes, Chet. The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key
Strategies. New York: Portfolio, 2008. Print.

13. Holms, Chet. "Continuous Business Growth." Super Strategy Setting Summit. Lecture.

14. Hunt, Tara. The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business. Crown Business:
New York, 2009. Print.

15. Khan, Nouman A. "Divine Speech Prologue." CCNY, Manhattan. 19 Nov. 2008. Lecture.

16. Lemberg, Paul. "Carl Von Clausewitz on Strategy and War." Super Strategy Setting Summit. Lecture.

MessageMastery.com
 It’s Not About the Money
A Thesis on the Foundations of Marketing & Business Strategy
by Belal Khan

17. Mubārakpūrī, Ṣafī Al-Raḥmān. The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Noble Prophet = Ar-raheeq Al-makhtum
(The Sealed Nectar). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Darussalam, 2008. Print.

18. Porter, Michael E. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors : with a New
Introduction. New York: Free, 1998. Print.

19. Ries, Al, and Laura Ries. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-
class Brand. New York: HarperBusiness, 2002. Print.

20. Ries, Al, and Jack Trout. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing. London: Profile, 1993. Print.

21. Ries, Al, and Laura Ries. The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding. New York: HarperBusiness, 2000. Print.

22. Tracy, Brian. "Gaining Competitive Advantage." Super Strategy Setting Summit. Lecture.

23. Tracy, Brian. Victory!: Applying the Proven Principles of Military Strategy to Achieve Success in Your Business
and Personal Life. New York: AMACOM, 2002. Print.

24. Vaynerchuk, Gary. Crush It!: Why Now Is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion. New York]: HarperStudio, 2009.
Print.

25. Walker, Orville C., and John W. Mullins. Marketing Strategy: a Decision-focused Approach. Boston: McGraw-
Hill Irwin, 2008. Print.

MessageMastery.com