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Your Marketing Strategy Is Failing You

October 29th, 2010 | Author: Marketing

Your Marketing Strategy Is Failing You

If your brand does not command greater preference or produce increased margins then you do not have a brand — you have a business. The only reasons to invest in competitive brand development are to grow margins and/or increase preference. If your brand is not adequately delivering one of the afore mentioned values, then this month’s Brand Thief is an imperative read.

Too often the foundation of your marketing strategy, your brand, is ignored when developing marketing strategy and tactics. It is where your strategy gets its permission to play that proves to be the most important part of your entire marketing strategy.

In the Art of War, Sun Tzu states, “Those known as sophisticated at strategy do not have unorthodox victories, are not known for genius or valor — because their victories contain no miscalculations,” and his thinking is point-blank. The question now becomes, what constitutes an “unorthodox” victory in the marketing arena? The temporary victory that comes from developing a marketing strategy without redeveloping or redeploying your brand strategy is anything but orthodox.

Branding As Marketing

At Stealing Share®, we cross the boundaries because we know that your brand needs to steer your marketing strategy. Branding and marketing need to blend organically. When we discuss brand permission, we are referring to the permission attributed to the brand by the customers in order to accomplish a particular meaning, advantage, or to occupy a specific position. Most marketing strategies lack this permission because they have confused their brand with their corporate proposition or product efficacy. As a result, the expensive marketing juggernaut fails to fulfill marketing department expectations.

The reason most marketing strategies fail is not because the strategy was wrong, rather because the marketing department was unable to observe the brand dispassionately. Just take a look around and see how many people have no idea as to how they appear to others. Look for example, how many bald men think the “comb over” is an effective disguise. People cannot see themselves as others do, and marketing departments quickly reinforce this fundamental truth when they step into the “corporate body” — unable to see itself dispassionately. The corporate body sees its circumstances in terms of its own precepts. Such blindness presents an opportunity for visionary brands that are willing to see brand development as central to its marketing development and not simply as something to be “managed” by the best intentioned of brand managers and marketing mavens.

Napoleon warned “The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one’s designs to one’s means.” In this case, “means” can be defined as “brand truth,” as surly as it can be defined as marketing budget. There is often a wide gap between what we push to be true and what the consumer believes to be true. The good news is that your main competitor is sitting in the same boat.

How Marketing Has Changed

Brand IS about persuasion because it is all about the beliefs that drive your target audience to covet it. It is not static and needs to illuminate marketing activities and strategies that were submerged. Stealing Share is a brand development company, but brand development without a concrete marketing strategy as part of its deliverables is like going to the finest restaurants in the world, deciding what it is you want to eat, and then eating the laminated menu rather than what you ordered. This meal has the same taste and nourishment value as tree bark.

Ad Agencies Are Not The Answer

The current market environment is a living and breathing example of “Who Moved My Cheese?” The market seems more competitive and crowded than ever, and new fresh ideas are scarce. Promotions seem run of the mill, and they often reduce the brand’s ability to command good margins. Collaboration with advertising agencies seems to be increasingly adverse because there is a growing gap between what the agencies consider great and the brand’s understanding of outcome. Marketing messages tend to define category benefits (i.e. ATM availability in the banking market). The positioning differences only exist in the minds of the marketers and seem to be completely lost for the customer.

Large gaps and incomplete perception in the market is good news for any brand that is willing to undergo a rigorous and dispassionate brand overhaul. Are you willing to challenge everything for the sake of profits and preference? Are you willing to partner with outsiders who have the benefit of objective viewpoints? Are you willing to really listen to your target market and build your entire strategy on their beliefs and self-affirmation?

The worse news you can get from Stealing Share® is that you are doing everything right — it is as good as it gets. Change and opportunity is always possible when you round the corner of the track and hit the gas at exactly the moment that your competition taps the brakes. We agree with Sun Tzu when he says, “Attack their weakness and emerge to their surprise.”

Tom Dougherty
CEO, Senior Strategist at Stealing Share, Inc. (http://www.stealingshare.com)
Tom began his strategic marketing and branding career in Saudi Arabia working for the internationally acclaimed Saatchi & Saatchi. His brand manager at the time referred to Tom as a “marketing genius,” and Tom demonstrated his talents to clients such as Ariel detergent, Pampers and many other brands throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa. After his time overseas, Tom returned to the US where he worked for brand agencies in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. He continued to prove himself as a unique and strategic brand builder for global companies. Tom has led efforts for brands such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, Fairmont Hotels, Coldwell Banker, Homewood Suites (of Hilton), Tetley Tea, Lexus, Sovereign Bank, and McCormick to name a few. Contact Tom at tomd@stealingshare.com

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Marketing’s Role in Entrepreneurial Business: Understanding Where It Fits

October 28th, 2010 | Author: Marketing

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When I first meet them, many of the business owners and Entrepreneurs that I work with would prefer to avoid the whole issue of marketing altogether. They want to leave marketing up to the
“creative” people on their team and focus on the more tangible aspects of business. Or
they don’t see the need for marketing and prefer to rely solely on a strong sales team. The
exact opposite approach is needed for businesses that want to dominate their market and
achieve stellar results.

If you own a business, you must accept the fact that you won’t be able to create
sustainable, profitable growth without continually expanding your marketing knowledge.
Knowledge equals power, and, when it comes to marketing, clear and understandable
knowledge is a bit hard to come by.

As an entrepreneur, it is your job to know what is possible, what strategies make sense
for your business, and what results you should demand from your marketing system. This
requires a fundamental understanding of the role of marketing.
Marketing is one of the only activities in business that can help you make money. And
marketing done right can have astounding results.

Marketing Definition

The first step toward understanding marketing’s role in your business it to get a handle on
exactly what marketing is. When most small business owners think of marketing, they are
generally thinking about promotion-either advertising or sales. These are two elements
of marketing, but there is more to it than just promotion.

The simplest definition of marketing for the small business is “everything you do in your
business that puts money in your pocket.”

That’s a pretty broad definition. But true, nonetheless. Yet this definition, while it makes
a good point, doesn’t help us really understand what marketing is.

I prefer to define marketing this way:

Marketing is the business activity of creating value, communicating value, and
exchanging value to satisfy the needs of businesses and individuals.

This definition covers the entire scope of the marketing function. In your business you
create value through products or services, and then you tell people about the value you
have created, and then you deliver that value in exchange for something you value: that
green energy that fuels your dreams.

Let’s take it apart to make sure we understand the definition…

Satisfy the needs of businesses and individuals

Any effective definition of marketing must be built around satisfying the needs of
businesses and individuals. Without the need, there can be no value created or
exchanged.

You will notice that the definition includes “businesses AND individuals.” To be truly
successful, you can not take an ‘either or’ approach to the market. Markets are made up
of both businesses AND individuals, no matter what business you are in.

Create Value

Marketing is about creating value to answer the needs of your market through products or
services. The need comes first, and then you create value (products or services) to meet
that need.

Communicate Value

Now we get into familiar territory: advertising and sales. Certainly a large part of
marketing is about effective communication. This is where you inform those businesses
and individuals about the great value you have created.

Exchange Value

Finally, we come to the part where money changes hands. You exchange the value you
have created (your products) for something that you value (money).

But Isn’t That Everything My Business Does?

Aha! Now you have taken the first step to a major shift in thinking that will change the
way you look at your business and will significantly improve your profitability. In order
to really be successful in a small business, you need to start thinking of your business as a
marketing machine. You might bake bread, but your business is the marketing of bread.
You might be a software engineer, but your business is the marketing of software. You
might be a personal development coach, but your business is the marketing of coaching
services.

Don’t take my word for it. This is what Peter Drucker, who in 1997, Business Week
called “the most enduring management thinker of our time.” says about it:

“Because of the nature of business, it has just two functions, and
only two; marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation
make money. Everything else is a cost.”

Now that you have a workable definition that doesn’t leave any critical element out of the
mix, you can start to make sense of what this means to your business.

If you are in business today, you are a marketer. Your job is to facilitate the exchange of
value between your company and an eager market. To really succeed in the marketplace,
your entire business must be focused on the business activity of creating value,
communicating value, and exchanging value to satisfy the needs of businesses and
individuals. When you truly get focused on these three elements of the marketing
definition that is when you will see your sales and profit expand dramatically.

Doug Hudiburg – Marketing Consultant, Entrepreneur and Creator of the MPaX Marketing System

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Reset Your Business Marketing Model and Create Marketing Ease

October 28th, 2010 | Author: Marketing

Reset Your Business Marketing Model and Create Marketing Ease

Combine traditional business marketing and Internet marketing strategies and increase your business revenues.

Business Marketing Works.

Without marketing your business has no revenues. This marketing may be from word of mouth of clients you’ve served already. Or it may be intentional marketing you create your self. Either way business marketing works. Marketing is the only way to your business success.

Traditional Business Marketing Techniques that Work

Traditionally, we know that ads in magazines, direct-mail postcards, direct-mail sales letters, business networking, telephone calls, and building business relationships all work. In fact, if you’re business marketing strategies are not working, take a look at the copy. What does each ads say? Are you tracking the results of the ad? Did the ad generate revenues for you? If not, you may have had an expense as a result of applying the traditional business marketing techniques. It could be costly to run the ad again using different copy until you find the copy that gets the result you want.

Combine Tradition Business Marketing with Internet Marketing Strategies that Work

Putting internet marketing strategies to work in your business can give you an opportunity to test your ads in a cost effective way. Using internet marketing strategies you can discover what works and doesn’t work with your ad for little or no cost.

Once an ad is getting results using internet marketing strategies, you can put the successful ad in magazines, postcards and even use it on your business card. With an ad that you know gets results the expense of the more traditional marketing techniques is viable.

Powerfully Effective Business Marketing

The combination of internet marketing strategies with traditional business marketing techniques is a powerful way to move your business forward and increase your revenues. It can take as little as three weeks to 90 days to begin seeing new results in your business.

It’s a Magical Combination.

Combining internet marketing strategies with traditional marketing techniques gives you a freedom for expressing yourself uniquely, unlike ever before. Your unique selling point can be easier to create. Your purpose becomes more defined. You are able to attract your ideal clients to your business more easily as a result

Just as business marketing is systematized and repeatable using traditional methods, internet marketing is repeatable and predictable as a clear system to follow. Learn these systems and surge your business revenues forward using the “magical combination” of traditional business marketing and internet marketing.

You’ll be smiling as you check your continuously increasing bank balance.

Juanita Bellavance is an internet marketing mentor with a focus on passive income streams combining internet technologies with other business models.

Create the Magical Combination of Business Marketing and Internet Marketing in 90 Accelerated Days!

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What is Affiliate Marketing?

October 27th, 2010 | Author: Marketing

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Most people are aware of online marketing, but what is affiliate marketing? Essentially, it is an Internet marketing practice where a business rewards an affiliate for sending customers to the company’s website to make a purchase. The affiliate is given a commission for each sale made.

Today, there are more affiliate marketers doing business online then any other type of marketing. This practice takes a load off the businesses when other independent contractors can do the marketing of their products for them. It is a win-win situation for the affiliate and for the business.

Q. What is affiliate marketing, in terms of a program?

A. There are several different affiliate programs that businesses will use, depending on the type of products or services that they might offer the public. Some of the compensation plans that are offered within affiliate programs are straight commission for each sale made. This type of affiliate program is most popularly used. Other affiliate programs will offer commission structures for sales and bonus commissions for customer referrals to the company’s sites. Multi-level businesses will offer compensation plans that are much more detailed in nature. MLM compensation plans should be looked over carefully.

Q. What are the affiliate marketing commission plans for referrals? A. Often times, certain businesses will offer affiliate programs that pay for referring target traffic to their websites. They are looking for qualified customers to sell high-end products or services. Some of these companies would be, but are not limited to, Insurance companies, Brokerage companies, the auto industry, the airplane industry, travel resorts, mobile home companies, etc. Affiliate referral programs can be extremely lucrative. As a rule, these types of programs are not available for just anyone to affiliate with. Quite often, these companies want experienced affiliate marketers that have a previous background in their industries.

Q. What is affiliate marketing doing in the multi-level marketing business?

A. There are many MLM companies doing business online that offer affiliate marketing programs that are open for almost anyone to join. Remember, affiliate marketing is to affiliate with a company and sell their products for a commission. This is exactly what many independent distributors do with multi-level businesses. The network marketer usually falls under the term “affiliate marketer”, also.

In many cases, they do not own any of the product lines that they sell to others. The network marketer is an affiliate marketer that makes most of his or her income by recruiting other independent distributors into their downline operations.

Q. In terms of Internet marketing techniques, what is affiliate marketing using to create sales?

A. Sales are the end result where the affiliate makes commissions. Before that goal is realized, affiliates must generate a lot of target traffic to either their own promotional website or to the company’s promotional page. Generating traffic is where Internet marketing methods get a work out.

Many affiliate marketers will use a variety of marketing techniques to generate streams of quality traffic to the promo site. Article marketing, Pay-per-click programs, forum marketing and social site marketing at places like MySpace and Facebook. There is no single method that successful affiliate marketers will use to get traffic.

Q. What are the affiliate marketing budget constraints on a new affiliate who has never marketed before? A. The beautiful thing about affiliate marketing is that you can actually join an affiliate program with a company for free. You can even begin generating traffic to the company’s promo site for free by using article marketing techniques and other “bum” marketing methods.

These free methods of generating traffic are easy enough to learn how to do, but they do require a lot of dedication and work. You are basically learning about affiliate marketing as you go. There are many free resources online about affiliate marketing. Many individuals start marketing part-time until they begin making some hard cash.

Q. What is affiliate marketing url coding all about?

A. As an example, you join a company’s affiliate program to sell their ebook called “How To Date Beautiful Women in 10 Days”. You read this ebook and found that it worked for you. So now you are very motivated to make a lot of sales.

After you have read the company’s training manual “What Is Affiliate Marketing Really All About?”, they give you a unique piece of code that is part of the company’s promo page’s url. Every time that someone clicks on this linking code and arrives at the promo site to buy the ebook, you get a commission from the company. They track your hits with this coded url. The code is specific to you.

This should cover a few important points and help to answer your question: “what is affiliate marketing?”. It can be a very competitive but lucrative business to get into. The successful affiliates are the ones that create a business plan of attack, then stay on course.

About the Author:

Kevin Urban offers affiliate marketing help at Affiliate-Marketing101.com. Visit the site to learn affiliate marketing strategies and techniques from someone who has built a successful niche affiliate marketing business.

Permission is given to reprint this article in its entirety provided all links are left intact.

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Benefits of Affiliate Marketing For Marketers and Product Owners

October 22nd, 2010 | Author: Marketing

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Affiliate marketing is derived from Internet marketing. In this program, the ad publisher receives a payment on each customer for any sale done. Affiliate marketing serves as a base for other strategies of Internet marketing where management companies, internal domestic managers and third party sellers are used for search engine marketing, e-mail marketing, display advertising and RRS capturing, so the product launch is successful on the market.

Traffic to the web site is traceable using self-affiliate programs or through any third party. This process surely involves hard work. First, marketing through these means involved spamming, trademark infringement and false advertising. However, since the findings of advance security and complex algorithms, the same is safe for shopping online and doing business.

Through affiliate marketing programs, online merchants find it easy to scrutinize their terms and conditions. Affiliate marketing has become more profitable and opened doors to opportunities facing a stiff market competition.

Benefits:

Affiliate marketing has many benefits to offer its sellers. It provides sellers with a big scope for advertising e-book, software product or any service, cutting down on the marketing costs involved therein. Higher the number of affiliate web sites intended to promote a product, higher is the targeted leads for converting the same into sales. To have a working sales network of people aimed at marketing is the same as affiliate marketing. Here, the commission depends entirely on lead generation.

Benefits to product owners: In affiliate marketing, owners have a great space for promoting their products and services. The market expands when there are more affiliates promoting the product. It is advisable owners do not select associates only for the sake of adding to the strength. Make sure that the Internet site of an affiliate has a connection to the business. If the web site of affiliate marketer fits the product idea, then there are chances that the sales may boost. The web site may attract prospective customers willing to learn about the product.

In affiliate marketing, a number of affiliate marketers promote the products of product owners. This results in more sales in little time. The owner’s Internet site also looks after promoting the product. If the owner’s web site along with that of affiliate marketers caters to customers’ demands, the product attracts more traffic. The web site of affiliate marketers on the Internet directs leads to the owner’s main business site.

Affiliate marketing calls for a tough task of promoting the owner’s product. Affiliates are engaged in this work. Since they work on generating targeted audience to the product, the owner need not invest much effort on the same. This saves both time and money for the owner. All the owner needs to focus on is improving the product quality and putting new products on display.

Through affiliate marketing, owners are able to build a strong customer base in a short time with the help of affiliates. The program creates additional income for them. The marketing banners of their products result in quick sales. As for the affiliates, they need not worry concerning customer support, e-commerce and bookkeeping. It is on the part of the owner to look after these works.

Customers need not attend the owner’s store in person for purchase of a product. They may avail of membership facilities in affiliate marketing programs. This online business has gained popularity ever since the introduction of Internet marketing. Product owners depend largely on this type of marketing for their source of livelihood. Most web site owners actively participate in the program without having to invest many efforts. Simply place an ad on a web site of the affiliates and reap long-term benefits.

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Beware: Marketing Sinkholes Ahead!

October 21st, 2010 | Author: Marketing

Beware: Marketing Sinkholes Ahead!

Life provides your business with enough opportunities for failure. Don’t help it along by creating sinkholes to consume your limited financial resources. There are seven key mistakes most businesses make in the game of marketing. Learn to avoid them!

Marketing Sinkhole #1: Indiscriminate Lust

Many companies want as many customers as they can handle (and then some). Because of this indiscriminate lust for volumes of customers, they treat everyone alike in their marketing efforts. Much like a randy stud will hit on every female at the bar, your marketing comes off just as “special” to your prospective customers. If you won’t take the time to decide who can really benefit from using your product or services, why should they take the time with you?

Successful marketing efforts start with identifying the specific customer who will benefit the most from your product or service. Then all your efforts should be directed at learning more about her, rather than creating the second sinkhole of marketing.

Marketing Sinkhole #2: Veiled Contempt for Customers

The most powerful marketing tool you have available is to truly understand your customer’s unique needs and problems. Every customer segment will have different concerns and problems you need to address in your marketing efforts. When you don’t even attempt to understand them, you are demonstrating contempt for them. You have to earn the right to be a supplier to your customer.

Your customers don’t really buy your specific products and services. They are actually buying solutions to their problems. So, provide them with enough information to make informed buying decisions. Use articles, presentations and case studies to educate them about what you do, how it works for them and why it’s the best solution to their problems. Don’t be arrogant enough to think you know better than your customers.

Marketing Sinkhole #3: Arrogance

There is a very thin line between confidence and arrogance (I have crossed it many times so I know of what I speak). You and your company are not the “end all” and “be all” of the Universe. You need customers! They are (or should be) the “end all” and “be all” of your business.

Because you need customers, don’t treat them like they are stupid! Your marketing should never talk down to them. Your ads should never be insulting to them. Isn’t this apparent? You would think so. However, many companies violate these principles every day. They use hand puppets or animated germs to advertise their product.

Building off of the information you have learned about your customer, speak to them in their language. If they are 13 years old, talk to them as a 13 year old. If they are college educated, talk to them as if they have earned their degree. This will start you on your way to standing out from the crowd of competitors your customers have available to them today.

Marketing Sinkhole #4: One of The Crowd

You may have spent all of high school trying to be part of a crowd, now it’s time to break old habits! As a business, you need to stand out from your competition to be noticed and make sales. You need to be one in a million, not just one of the millions. In Marketing, this concept is referred to as your “Unique Selling Proposition”, or USP. Your USP must tell customers “what’s so special about you?” It needs to answer the question “why should I do business with you?”

How do you develop your Unique Selling Proposition? What makes you different from others offering a similar product or service? Don’t know? Better find out fast! The more competitive your industry the more important it is to emphasize even the smallest differences. Are you better than others in addressing a specific issue? Is your product unique in some way? Do you guarantee your work?

Better stand out from the crowd or expect a lot of red ink on the bottom-line. Wasting time and money on your marketing efforts is not a goal to aspire to.

Marketing Sinkhole #5: Wasting Marketing Time & Money

Which of your marketing efforts being employed right now result in the most new business? Don’t know, do you? Have you ever measured? Without measuring the success (increased sales) of each marketing effort, you are wasting time on ineffective methods. You are also neglecting the highest yield activities.

As an example, most professionals believe that networking is the best way to get new business. Let’s see. Add up the amount of time you spent networking last month and attach a dollar value on it based on your fees. Then, add the actual price you paid to attend those events. When you have a total, divide this total amount by the number of new customers your networking produced. Are you happy with your results? Maybe not!

Now, do this exercise for all your marketing efforts. Marketing does take effort. Never forget that!

Marketing Sinkhole #6: Build It and They Will Come Marketing Vision

By virtue of the fact that you have a business (and maybe a website) doesn’t mean you get any customers. Tough fact! That’s life!

Too many people naively enter business thinking that the world will beat a path to their door. Sorry! You have to work, and work hard, for every customer you’ll ever get and keep. Marketing is about promoting yourself and your business in a way that motivates customers to buy from you, return again to purchase, and refer others to you.

Marketing Sinkhole #7: Not Asking for Referrals

One of your biggest costs of running a business is the cost of acquiring new customers. So, how can you take that investment you already made on existing customers and get the maximum return? Referrals! But you have to ask!

One of the biggest mistakes made by most small business owners or salesmen is not asking happy customers for a referral to someone they know who would benefit by the same product or service. It is far easier to call a prospective client and say, “Mike Eastman asked me to call you”, than to make a cold call! You will buy yourself an extra minute or two in that sales connection to promote yourself and a customer solution. If you have trouble getting the referral, at the very least, ask if you can use them as a customer testimonial in your marketing efforts.

Many online businesses have other mechanisms to encourage referrals from happy customers by providing “refer a friend” links on their websites. Others also offer monetary return to the customer administered through an affiliate program. No matter how you do it, you need to use the happy customer to create more business. It is easier and cheaper than the alternatives!

Conclusion

The game of business throws you enough curve balls without contributing to your own demise. Learn to avoid building and falling into your own sinkholes of marketing. Now, go back and read the article again, applying its concepts to your business. Do the work and reap the rewards. Like “they” say, NO PAIN, NO GAIN! Or, better stated, NO WORK! DIE BROKE!

Michele Schermerhorn calls herself a “Corporate Freedom Fighter” dedicated to freeing cubicle prisoners to experience their own successful online business. She has over 30 years experience in the business world and over 12 years running her own successful online businesses. She is President of Online Business Institute Inc. (http://www.obinstitute.com), authors a sassy marketing blog (http://www.imarketblog.com), and regularly conducts free online seminars. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to “Create Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time”.

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Marketing From Your Conscience

October 19th, 2010 | Author: Marketing

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Years ago I learned a simple yet powerful marketing secret: You must become so convinced of the benefits of your product or service that you feel you’d be unjustly depriving people by not doing everything in your power to get the word out.

I was infected by this attitude from Jay Abraham. Jay has an absolutely brilliant way of thinking about marketing. For example, if you’re an accountant, and you’re skilled at saving people money on their taxes, Jay might ask how much you save your average client. Say it’s $500 per year. And then Jay would ask how much you charge. Say it’s $200. Then Jay might take you through a conversation like this:

Jay: So it’s costing people a net $300 per year not to do business with you.

You: Yes, that’s fair to say.

Jay: How long does your typical client stay with you?

You: About three years.

Jay: So that’s a total of $900 then. People are effectively being charged $900 not to work with you, $900 they would have otherwise been able to keep.

You: Alright.

Jay: So if you meet someone and don’t tell them about your service, you’ve just cost them $900.

You: Hmmm…

Jay: You have a duty then to share this knowledge; to do otherwise would be irresponsible.

You: That’s a strange way to think about it.

Jay: What’s strange about it? If you have the ability to save people $900, then you’re costing everyone $900 they could have saved whenever you don’t tell someone about your service. Don’t you have a moral obligation to save people this $900 if you can do it? Wouldn’t it be unethical not to do it?

You: How is it unethical?

Jay: You’re cheating people out of $900 you could have saved them. All you had to do was speak up – or at least try. What might that $900 mean to certain people? You’d be costing people a great deal of additional enjoyment, education, retirement income, vacations, etc. I consider that kind of negligent behavior unethical. Don’t you?

You: I just never thought about it that way before.

Jay: Start thinking about it that way then.

In other words, if the product or service you provide is truly of benefit to others, then marketing becomes a duty. Not spreading the word is irresponsible and unethical.

Of course, the opposite is also true. If you have a product or service with no real benefit, then to actively market it would be irresponsible as well. If deep down you have doubts as to whether what you’re providing is of real value, you’ll probably sabotage yourself in your marketing efforts. I see this all the time among small business owners — they often don’t believe enough in their products to aggressively market them. So they hold back and fill their days with non-marketing activities instead. Doing too much marketing makes them feel uncomfortable.

I’m not advocating trying to fool yourself into believing in your product/service when you don’t. I’m suggesting you consult your conscience to see what you already believe. If you run your own business and don’t market it very well (a common situation), is it possible you don’t really believe in the benefits you provide? Or if you feel you’re ready for a better job but don’t go out and apply for one, could it be that you secretly feel the potential employer would be better off hiring someone else?

How well do you market yourself in other areas? Do you hold back from pursuing new friendships or relationships because you don’t believe enough in the benefits that others would experience from your companionship? What would happen if you truly believed in the benefits you can provide?

When you find your conscience is holding you back from effective marketing, don’t try to squash that inner voice. Listen to it. Hear what it has to say. Are your products just wasting people’s time? Are your services pointless? Would an employer be better off hiring someone other than you? Would a friend be better off without you in their life?

Your conscience can point you in the direction of greater internal congruence, allowing you to market yourself very naturally and eagerly. Sometimes this involves recognizing the genuine benefit that’s already there, such as with the accountant example at the beginning of this article. But other times it requires changing the offering to create a new benefit that really matters to you.

When I started StevePavlina.com, I had to remember this powerful lesson: marketing must align with conscience. I can tell I’m congruent in this area when I’m eager to do marketing work instead of wanting to put it off. If I feel a desire to procrastinate on marketing, I know something is wrong. So I run through one of those imaginary Jay Abraham conversations in my mind to see where I stand. What is the real benefit I’m providing? How can I quantify it? What will I be costing people if I don’t market to them? Why do I have an ethical duty to market this information?

Be careful not to confuse this with vanity, which is self-directed. This type of motivation is directed outward. It’s not about telling yourself how great you are. It’s recognizing what you can do for others that really, truly benefits them. If I think about myself being a great writer or speaker, that isn’t going to help my marketing. In fact, it will likely hurt me by injecting too much ego into the message. But if I think about what real benefit I can offer someone, that is very motivating. My understanding of this benefit must be rooted in the facts, not on a fictionalized exaggeration. Recognize and acknowledge the real, down-to-earth benefits and what they can actually do for people. And if the benefits are too weak to give you the feeling that marketing is an ethical duty, then stop your practice of junk marketing, and listen to what your conscience has been trying to tell you all along.

What kind of product or service do you feel you really should be marketing and selling? What skills do you need to develop that would make you an intelligent choice for your preferred employer to hire? What do you need to change in yourself to make it genuinely beneficial for others to befriend you?

By creating and acknowledging the real benefit that you actually believe in, you accomplish two things. First, your feeling of certainty will move you to action. You’ll become driven to market yourself, your product, or your service because that’s the right thing to do. Secondly, you’ll actually be providing something of value that genuinely helps others. And together these two results will create a positive feedback loop where the more aggressively you market and sell, the more people you help, and the more certain you become that you’re doing the right thing.

Acknowledge the real benefit you provide. Don’t fall into the ego trap by exaggerating your impact, but don’t minimize or deny the positive benefits either. Find the truth of the situation. Is your conscience congruently committed to the belief that you’re marketing something of real value, or have you been lying to yourself? And if it’s the latter, how can you correct it?

When your marketing message is congruent with your conscience, your motivation for promotion won’t be restrained by hesitation. When you believe that marketing is simply the right thing to do, you’ll do it eagerly, not for your own gratification but because you know you’re genuinely helping people.

Steve Pavlina
Personal Development for Smart People
http://www.stevepavlina.com
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog (blog)
http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles (articles)

Steve is intensely growth-oriented. He trained in martial arts, ran the L.A. Marathon, and graduated from college in three semesters with two degrees. He can juggle, count cards at blackjack, and make damn good guacamole. Steve is also a polyphasic sleeper, sleeping just 2-3 hours per day and only 20 minutes at a time. So chances are good that he’s awake right now.

Michael Tasner: The Number One Secret to Marketing

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What a Difference a Decade Makes to Marketing

October 18th, 2010 | Author: Marketing

What a Difference a Decade Makes to Marketing

Imagine that you could continue to market successfully the same way for ten years. Do you like that thought? Well delete that daydream because it just isn’t so. Welcome to marketing 2008. It’s more threatening, more promising and more exciting. Buckle your seatbelt, take your motion sickness pill and be prepared to be amazing. Because that is what you need to compete today.

Still the Same

Of course some things remained the same. Let’s establish our foundation before we venture into the swirl of the Time Tunnel.

The fundamentals are the same. That’s what makes them fundamentals. Marketing is still closely intertwined with selling and the purpose of marketing is to help you sell more. Marketing and selling are both strategies to help you make a profit. In fact marketing was and is a fundamental responsibility running through every function of your business.

“Marketing is so basic that it cannot be considered a separate function. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is, from the client’s point of view.” Peter Drucker

Strange that even though management guru, Peter Drucker, offered that advice more than a decade ago – many organizations ignored his wisdom. That’s why we still see marketing departments and sales departments with little cohesion and cooperation. Why? Perhaps too many marketers see themselves as artists or statisticians while they see sales representatives as slimy. And the sales department labels marketing as a bunch of flakes who don’t know about the real world.

The purpose of marketing is to do one or more of the following three things:
1. Grab attention
2. Demonstrate value
3. Build relationships

The world is still round – or is it now flat? How is the “How” of those fundamentals changing?

Grab Attention Grabbing attention has always been a prime concern for marketers. Your message needed to defeat the noise of all the other marketers.

In 1998, if you had a huge marketing budget, the place to be was TV and the grand dame was the Super Bowl game at $1.3M for a 30 second spot. Of course ad production costs were extra. The top three ads that year were for Tabasco, Pontiac and Doritos. Do you wonder how many Doritos they needed to sell to pay for that ad? Oh yeah, Denver triumphed over Green Bay.

The Super Bowl is still the place for marketers with multimillion dollar budgets costing $2.6M for 30 seconds in 2007. But the holy grail of marketing today might more likely be to appear number one on a Google search. You don’t need millions to triumph.

Demonstrate Value Value was once demonstrated with celebrity endorsements, quality awards and longevity in the business.

Today client testimonials carry more weight than celebrities. Quality awards and certifications are so common that they have become ho-hum. Depending on your industry, a long time in business could be three years. We’re more interested in the results that you achieved for your recent clients. If you want to demonstrate value be sure to offer a free trial or money back guarantee – without the weasel word clauses.

Build Relationships Relationship building is more important today. Prove to your clients why they should buy from you – every time. Brand loyalty was once given blindly to sellers. Loyalty didn’t die. It shifted. Loyalty is now bestowed more on our friends and family which is why client testimonials become more convincing. And why networking is so much more powerful.

Changes and Trends

Some trends have been going on for longer than the past decade – but they are easier to notice now. We realize that both selling and marketing are more science than art. Sales representatives are no longer allowed to wing it. Of course both sales and marketing staff were being well trained by successful companies before 1998. But the integration of these activities is more evident in today’s training and daily activity. Today you are also more likely to see the large corporations training their sales reps with marketing skills and integrating marketing folks into the front lines. To be competitive small and medium business must convert all staff into marketers. And it will take more than a memo!

Technology

Technology in the form of computers, software and mobile devices has had a huge impact on how we market. The tsunami of influence is the Internet which has presented marketers with new challenges and incredible opportunities.

Mobile Devices

The proliferation of cell phones and Blackberries mean that clients expect to reach you anywhere and any time. In order to compete it seems that you need to be more available and respond faster than your competition. Be careful because that mentality can lead to the worship of instant satisfaction which results in more mistakes, distracted professionals and grumpy people. Too many are adapting their process to suit the tool – instead of using tools to improve the process. Warning Will Robinson!

Database Marketing

Use your database. In 1998 small business had access to PC based contact managers including ACT, Maximizer and Goldmine. Today you need to build on those fundamentals with a CRM (client relationship manager) system and integrate your data between your computer, mobile device, email and website forms.

Networking

Building Relationships is critical to buliding your business. Because of our increased emphasis on building relationships networking activity has exploded both offline and online. We see this in the growth of specialized networking groups and events. Business Networking International (BNI) a lead sharing group has over 5,000 chapters in 36 countries. Online enhancements include social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo plus the business oriented service Linkedin. For more networking tips visit NetworkingExposed.com.

Email

In 1998 folks were exploring the use of email through internet providers AOL and CompuServe. Coincidently the number one movie of 1998 was “You’ve Got Mail”. Today not having email would be like not having a fax machine in 1998. But today it isn’t enough just to have email. You must have an email address with a professional domain. Using a free email address is acceptable for your personal life – but not for business. If you are still using Yahoo, MSN, Gmail or AOL for business you are looking amateurish – or stuck in 1998.

Websites

My first website launched in 1999 when very few small businesses had websites. In those days you were special if you “had” a website. Websites looked like your printed brochure – hence the name “brochure sites”.

It is no longer remarkable to have a website. In fact you must have a website and it must be remarkable just to compete. It’s as necessary as a phone or business card even if you don’t sell on the Internet. Why? Because clients want to check your site before they call or visit you. Your website needs to grab them, identify what you sell in the first five seconds – or they will leave your website. Then you need to engage them, offer them what they seek, do it quickly and capture their contact information for your database. Today the question is not “Should you have a website?” The question is “How many websites should you have?”

Informing your clients A decade ago the way to train, educate and inform your clients was to hold seminars or mail them a printed newsletter. Both still work but are expensive compared to the new alternatives. Today you might inform them with an opt-in email newsletter, articles and FAQs on your website, posting on your blog, and holding teleseminars and/or webinars.

Today everyone on the Internet can be a publisher via their own websites, blogs, article sites and forums. You need to be out-communicating your competition. You might expect your competition to compete with your message but also watch for damaging exposure from disgruntled clients or employees.

Marketing Research Gathering Market Intelligence is easier for you, your competition and your clients. You might want to reread that last sentence and think about the implications. Take advantage of the opportunity. Using search engines you can learn about your competition and their offerings. Use “Google Alerts” to stay informed of daily mentions on websites, blogs and news sites of your name, your product name, your industry and your competition. If you are not yet receiving these Google Alerts – you might be missing news about what others are saying about you and your industry. Go to Google and register for this free service. Ignorance is no excuse.

Test opinion by visiting groups and forums on major sites such as Google and Yahoo or on industry websites. Conduct polls on your website or hold a survey with SurveyMonkey.

Client Service

Lots of opportunity here. We still seem to be struggling with customer service. Some shine while others annoy. I experienced a good example of good customer service today when I bought a coffee from Starbucks. I ordered my “small regular coffee”. I refuse to speak their language – no ‘tall latté” for me. The staff still smile at me, deliver what I want and thank me as they give me my change. Compare that to the hordes of sales staff that seem to expect you to thank them for giving them your money. And they don’t thank you for your business. So I pay the $1.75 for the Starbucks coffee and feel good because of the friendly service. I don’t get that consistently from Tim Hortons.

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What a Difference a Decade Makes to Marketing

October 17th, 2010 | Author: Marketing