Stay in Touch.
Half of successful marketing is getting in front of prospects. The other half is staying in front of them. How you do that depends on your budget and goals. But whether it’s a national TV campaign, or a newsletter, no business can afford not to do it. Other highly popular and cost-effective ways are via online Social Media, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and having a blog.
If you’re a business owner you’ll eventually get to the point where your question changes from, “Do I really need marketing help?” to “How do I find marketing help? And how do I know who’s good?” So, here’s the 11 key criteria to base your decision on:
1) The Work. Many marketing experts are personable, persuasive people who don’t necessarily have the talent or range of work to back it up. So, you’ve gotta spend a few minutes on their site to see the work they show. And, if it doesn’t turn you on, rule them out.
2) Credentials and Experience. Your main guy/gal had better have there bio on the website, and it’d better be impressive.
Do-It-Yourself Marketing: Pros and Cons.
Entrepreneurs, by nature, are a resourceful bunch. When they see a need, they try to fill it. If they see a problem, they try to solve it. It’s a good trait. Where it becomes problematic is when they meddle with things they’re not great at, and will never be great at. One such thing is their marketing. In some cases, it can even be fatal.
Case in point — a business-owner doctor once hired us to help and then sat me down for about an hour telling me how clever he was at marketing. It was like someone showing me ugly pictures of their baby and bragging how cute he is. The doctor is now out of business. I did what I could to help, but it was a case of “too little, too late.” He had blown so much money on his own unprofessional efforts, we couldn’t recoup from the damage. So, if your business is more sophisticated than a lemonade stand, it would be wise to get help.
How do you find it? One thing I suggest when seeking any kind of help is to 1) listen to what their clients say and 2) see how well that marketing expert markets themselves. So, check out their website, read their client testimonies, and see what kind of G-Cred they have. That will give you a good perspective on whether they are worthy to be hired.
BlogTalkRadio is the social media radio network that has included such guests as Arianna Huffington, Oliver Stone, Hillary Clinton, Brad Pitt, Maya Angelou, Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales, and Yoko Ono.
In this interview, John Follis discusses Follis Marketing Therapy and his book “How to Attract and Excite Prospects – A marketing guide to getting the best results.”
So, I was on the phone recently with yet another marketing expert promoting yet another marketing seminar. Considering that this expert’s website gave me a big ERROR message when I logged in I was extra curious to find out more about who this genius was. Ironically, her seminar was entitled: “How to Market Your Business.”
Hear John Follis talk about the campaigns that built his award-winning ad agency and explain why most small business owners need therapy. (Download MP3)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
1) They don’t fully understand it.
Perception: Marketing is advertising.
Reality: Marketing may not even include advertising.
Perception: Marketing is an expense.
Reality: Done right, marketing your product is the best investment you can make.
2) They rely almost exclusively on Word-of-Mouth.
Even if you have great word-of-mouth you can’t afford to sit back and wait for customers. You must be proactive.
3) They think they can’t afford it.
This ties in with the perception/reality issue where people hear marketing and think traditional advertising that’s expensive and often ineffective. Effective marketing involves a smorgasbord of very cost-effective, non-traditional, creative options and executions.
You’re bound to read plenty of articles about how to succeed this year. Some undoubtedly have great tips, but just as many have uninspired, absurdly upbeat ideas that you’ve read a hundred other times. So, I thought I’d mix it up a little with a primer on how to shoot yourself in the foot, create your own problems, and just plain screw up this year.
No, I don’t want you to follow my advice, but these not so gentle reminders will help you avoid some of the most common ways that so many of us fail. Enjoy! (more…)
