You Can't Afford to Not Advertise!

2012-02-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

Over the years, hundreds of individuals and corporations have struggled to discover the perfect system to market their product or service. Thousands upon thousands of books have been written on the subject. Countless researches have been conducted, and billions of dollars have been spent in searching for the ultimate marketing secret. So called "marketing experts" promise to have the secret to marketing success, so they sell their books, publish their articles and blogs, and sell their expertise. The newest trend today is the "Secrets to Marketing with Social Media" and "How to grow you business with Social Media" with hundreds upon hundreds of so called marketing experts promising to to sell you the secrets to success with social media and making it sound like there is some kind of master formula that, when followed, is guaranteed to jump-start your business.

These claims are lies! There is no master forumla. There is no ultimate solution. There is no "one-size-fits-all" solution to your marketing woes.

Here is the fact. As a business owner, you have two resources at your disposal. Time and money. The more time you spend personally hunting
for potential customers, the less money you can get away with spending in order to succeed. However, choosing to pursue a marketing strategy that is completely devoid of paid advertising can significantly hinder you.

Going back the the filling the swimming pool analogy I used last week, if you're content to be the lone gunman who goes sniping for business all by yourself, bringing one bucket of water back at a time, you need not spend any money on marketing. Instead you can rely on cold calls, booking sales appointments, and growing your business on your own terms. You would also likely devote your own time to your Social Media strategy by updating your Twitter lists, writing your blogs, and maintaining your Facebook pages, but understand that while these techniquest don't cost any money, they are the slowest method to get massive results. You can only talk to so many people in a day/week/month when you're selling your service one customer at a time, and unless you are bringing an extremely timely and relevant piece of information to social media, that process does not yeild fast results.

Here is the fact. If your time is limited, you have to spend money on your marketing. The more money you spend, the less time you have to spend on your marketing. You can simply outsource all the decision making to an outside agency for a few thousand bucks, hire a virtual assistant to handle your social media, and get your accountant to cut the cheques for all your television, radio and print advertising. Now you have all the time in the world to devote to other areas of your business. The problem now is that you are completely hands off, leaving the marketing to people who may not understand the nuiances of your business.

Here is the fact. Most business owners can't afford to choose one of these options exclusively. The true secret to marketing is finding the right blend of time and money spent to reach your maximum effectiveness in the most economical way possible.

Imagine if I organized a trip around the world for three seperate groups of people. The first group was going to walk the whole way. The second group was going to take a combination of buses, bicycles, boats and air balloons, and the third group was going to take the space shuttle.

The first group has a huge problem. Once they hit the first ocean, they'll be stuck. This is how it is for most entrepreneurs who fail to realize the value in spending some money on their marketing. They're doing it all themselves, but the work load and time involved for bringing in each customer actually inhibits them from going as far in their business as they could if they brought in some tools. These tools may cost some money, but it frees up time that can be spent on important important activities like building systems, creating business plans, and actually delivering quality service to customers. You can't cross an ocean on foot, and you can't expect to grow your business past a certain point without the right tools.

The third group taking the space shuttle gets the job done fast. But, they're not in control of their own journey. A space shuttle could just as easily take them to the moon, or crash into the Pacific. They're spending millions of dollars, but they're putting everything in the hands of a pilot who in many cases, isn't qualified to market their company, or doesn't know enough about their company. A person following this marketing method is also in danger of missing the ride. Becoming a better businessperson means taking the reigns yourself every once in a while so that you can learn from the process and be better prepared for the future.

I would recomend every business owner become a member of the second category of people who travel around the world using a variety of transportation methods. By taking advantage of the tools at their disposal, the can get around the world much faster than the walkers, and the liklihood of making it is much more likely than the space shuttle. This is where the adventure of business takes place. Through trial and error, you learn how to navigate the crazy business world. You devote time and energy to your craft, but you don't shy away from the risk of growing faster by engaging in more traditional media. You learn the ins and outs of social media, but you also figure out how to use television and radio. You experiment with direct mail, and most importantly, you don't rely too heavily on any one method. For your marketing to be effective, you want to dabble a little in everything.

Toyota is a great example of a company taking advantage of all the tools at their disposal. Each week you can find a Toyota dealership advertised in most major local newspapers. On top of this, Toyota and the dealerships can be heard on the radio in major markets throughout North America. They take advantage of signage in and around their buildings, and they air television commercials to showcase their products. From time to time, a dealership with send direct mail to the local community, then as if this isn't enough, they attach their names to major events like the Superbowl Half-Time Report on Superbowl Sunday. If you asked Toyota if it's worth the millions of dollars they spend on marketing each year, what do you suppose they would say? Seeings as the company continues to grow year over year, the answer seems obvious.

So as a business owner, what kind of marketing plan would you like to have? Are you looking for faster results than you could get doing it yourself, but don't have the budget of a Toyota or Wal-Mart? That's OK. There are effective, affordable marketing solutions for small business owners if you're ready to take that step. Look into newspapers and radio stations in your area, and don't be afraid if it's not the biggest paper or station either. You can find success through small community bulletins like Coffee News, and most major markets have as many as 10 radio stations, each one with a unique demographic of listeners, and these stations are eagerly waiting to compete for your business.

Marketing shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg, but it should cost you.

So what are you waiting for?

Get to it!

What is Marketing?

2012-01-31T12:05:00.000-08:00

What is marketing? These days there are as many conflicting views about the actual definition of marketing as there are opinions about the right way to do it. But let's cut through the proverbial crap and take an unbiased look at what marketing is so we can answer the age old question, is marketing even worth it?

First of all, it's important to keep in mind that there is no one size fits all marketing solution. Traditional companies are staring in wonder at the amazing growth that some industries are experiencing with social media marketing and, considering its cost, looking for an effective way to do it themselves. While some industries can quite easily transition into social media and find great success with it, the fact remains that not every business can achieve the levels of success required to sustain themselves through social media alone. On the same token, many companies are ignoring an extremely lucrative opportunity in social media to pursue traditional marketing tactics that will ultimately only yield minimal results for them.

The goal of all marketing is to feed the funnel. Imagine for a moment that your customers are water, and in
order for your business to be successful, you need to fill a swimming pool. Traditional selling would suggest that you should go out and cold call, book sales appointments, and find customers though your own skill as a salesman. This would be analogous to going out with a bucket, filling it, then coming back to your swimming pool and pouring your customer in. Then you go looking for the next bucket to fill. If you are only trying to fill an inflatable kiddy pool, you could be successful this way all day long. However, if you're filling a hot tub, you might want to grab the garden hose. This is a different approach. Now you're turning on the tap, and letting the system pour water into your business for you.

But some business owners have much loftier goals! Some business owners are trying to fill a giant wave pool like the one at the local community centre. Would you fill this kind of pool with a garden hose? You might need a bigger hose. A more powerful marketing system like a fire hose. Now, how fast do you want to fill the pool? You could stand there with the fire hose for hours trying to fill a wave pool to the top. If you want faster results though, you might decide to grab a second hose. Then a third, and a fourth.

You see, the goal of marketing is not to make enough money that you don't have to do it anymore, the goal of marketing is to make enough money to do more of it, and more, and more. And every time you increase your marketing, you increase the number of potential customers for your company.

Again, the goal of marketing is to feed the funnel. You will never sell your product or service to a customer who doesn't know you exist. So it's absolutely essential that you get your name into their heads. Now, here's the real secret. You need to get your name into their heads before they even need you. This is the true separation between marketing and sales. Selling is the actual act of providing your product or service to a customer who needs or desires it. Marketing is selling your product or service to a customer BEFORE they need or desire it. Because you never really know when your customer is going to need what you offer, so if you're not being proactive, you may miss your opportunity to earn that business.

So what is marketing? Marketing is getting your message in front a potential customer to create top of mind awareness so that you become a contender for their business before they even need you. If your marketing is good enough, you could be the first company they think of when they need your product or service. This kind of top of mind awareness is what companies like Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Microsoft, and GoDaddy are paying millions of dollars for every year. Now that's not the be all and end all of effective marketing. Going forward, we can explore not only how to do this, but how to do it effectively and affordably to maximize your success.

Market For Success

You Can't Afford to Not Advertise!

What is Marketing?