Take the Mystery out of Marketing
BOOST YOUR PROFITS:
CREATE CONFIDENCE DESPITE THE PRESENT ECONOMY
In this current environment the public perception is that we are entering or in a recession. Even if not true, it is the perception.
Because of that, it is even more important to build confidence in your business. The public perception changes and right now people are pulling back on their spending. The gas prices are up, the cost of the war is far reaching and affects everyone whether they know it or not, and many seem to think money is scarce now. Even if it’s not. There seems to be no instant solutions.
In actual fact there is just as much money in circulation as there always was, but where it is going and how it is diverted leaves the average small and medium sized business short. Discontent with the way things are run leads to some loss of confidence in the economy. After all, money is backed up by confidence—confidence in our system, our leaders, our way of life. Any dent in that confidence does adversely affect things. You can see the truth of this in your own business.
Whether you have clients, customers or patients if they start to distrust you or lose confidence in the value of what you do for them, how does it affect your bottom line?
A proven solution is to create so much abundance, so much goodwill that you can ride out any dips or loss of income until things turn around again.
To create abundance of clients, customers, or patients you need to precisely know what they think so you can market to them, sell them, close them and talk to them in the exact way that will produce best results. And what they think changes. It is vital to know what that is.
Internet Marketing includes research and surveys (in-depth interviews) of your target public (the people you want to sell your service or product to) so that you can gain every bit of knowledge of what they want, what they value, what you can offer them. Your profits depend upon knowing this information, and marketing is highly effective if you know the hot buttons to interest them and what your target public want and need. You can even find out specifics on what promotion they listen to or read, what publicity they listen to, where they go on the internet, how to attract them to your website, how to get them to call you, and so much more. If you don’t, you can miss the mark and lose their interest. And that can be fatal for any business.
So next time you are ready to cry because you can’t make a profit and things seem a little hopeless, next time your income is down for a few months and you don’t know why, next time you want to shout it is all the government’s fault, that it’s the economy’s fault, or there’s too much competition I suggest you hold that thought.
The only reason a business is down is because the correct reason has not been found. The correct actions to turn it around have not been discovered. The correct marketing, promotion or public relations actions have not been used.
I recommend you find out. To do that, ask them.
* Survey your public and get the responses, find out what promotion or PR works
• Research and find out the right reasons why you are down
• Write a marketing campaign to implement what you find out and DO IT.
A key principle in marketing is that OUTFLOW EQUALS INFLOW. Once you know what to send out and where, get it out there broadly and in greater quantity that ever before. Your viability depends upon quantity first, and then quality.
You can be the greatest in your field but if no one knows about you, you will not survive well.
And, my friends, I want you to flourish.
Here are some simple steps to follow, to increase your marketing results, no matter what business you are in:
Ask for referrals. Ask a lot, ask often, and let them know you want to help others like themselves. Don’t be afraid of asking, even though they may say they don’t know a soul. It never hurts to ask. And in fact it can create great word of mouth and spread the name of your business, especially if you have a testimonial or two from happy clients.
1. There are many ways to spread the word and some do not require you to be a genius in public relations (PR) to get an article submitted. There are websites for press releases as well as postings on Myspace or communication in a blog that can generate good word of mouth for you, as an individual or a business. For businesses, LinkedIn is a good resource for networking and you can spread good news and gain links to others. Let them know about your wins, awards, commendations and successes. Keep it positive.
2. Look at your most successful actions and keep doing them. In fact, increase what you are doing successfully. Do it in more quantity than ever before. I have found that people, even the best businesspeople, forget what they have done successfully and get caught up in the daily demands of life. If you aren’t doing as well as you did at one time, I bet I could find things that you used to do successfully and now they have dropped out to some degree. Keep your marketing goal in mind and make progress working toward that goal. Don’t drop what is working.
3. Don’t assume anything. Find out, ask your public, get the information you need to market correctly and use the information from research and surveys. Don’t be a hit or miss marketer—hit the bull’s eye and boost your profits!
It is easy to blame the economy, your staff, your spouse, or your poor accountant! But it doesn’t lead to better survival. So go ahead and market your business well. Know before you go and for heavens sake (or for your own sake!) be a high volume success in your field and weather anything life throws at you!
Lynda Hubbard, President
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