So they made sure they dug wells that were in the right place, deep and could supply the water that was needed.

If they didn’t do it correctly then it had serious consequences for all who lived in the village.

When you are developing your marketing strategy the same principles apply.

You need to make sure there is a supply of current and potential customers to ensure your business is thriving and profitable.

Otherwise it can become very difficult to succeed.

Going too narrow and not making sure there are enough customers can stop the growth of your business and it can have nothing to do with your expertise.

It can be a trap whether you are just starting out or if you have been in business a while.

Here are a couple of areas to consider and avoid the too narrow trap:

There Must Be Depth

If there are not enough potential customers then it can get really frustrating. You may think they are hiding somewhere but it may just be a case that there are not enough of them.

You need to ensure that there are enough customers who are in the market for your products or services.

There Must Be Demand

The other side to consider is you may think there are many potential customers that could have a need for your type of products or services.

The issue is the desire part.

It is easy to get a little blinkered with thinking they should have the desire especially if you have a service business as it sounds so logical to you. For a customer this may not be the case.

There needs to be demand and ideally ongoing desire for what you offer.

If it is only a small percentage of customers then it can be tough unless you are marketing a very high priced product or service.

These are just two factors that can have a big impact on your business. From your experience what are other factors we should consider? 

The first interview is with Keyuri Joshi from On The Ball Coaching 

She easily came to my mind when I decided on this new section I am really pleased she took the time to share her story.

Here are her answers to my questions:

 Could you tell us a little about your background and your business?

No matter what role I have held in my life, teaching has been a part of it.  As a nurse, I taught my cardiac patients how to manage risk factors for a healthier lifestyle. As a Sunday School teacher, I taught little kids how to apply values in their young worlds.

As a mom, I continue to teach my son about non-academic life skills to navigate the roller coaster of reality.  Teaching is a good portion of what I now do as a Certified Parent & Emotional Intelligence Coach.

I currently work with parents of children aged birth to 10 years on how to successfully navigate past parenting challenges by setting goals and implementing strategies to achieve them.

I hold them accountable at every step and also enjoy teaching them ways to teach their kids the skills of emotional and social intelligence.  This focus on ESI skills is what sets me apart from other Parent Coaches.

Why did you choose to specialise in the coaching you provide?

Most importantly, I felt a deep conviction about its value to both parents and children.

While most parent coaches are generalized, I have added the speciality of teaching Emotional and Social Intelligence skills so parents can help kids navigate the tough emotions of growing up.

Too many parents just focus on academic growth.  Great grades are important, but they are not going to help kids know what to do with disappointments, bullying, competitiveness, anger, sadness, etc.

Furthermore, we all know that the teenage years are full of angst for all.  Lots of parent coaches focus on that population.

I focus on a younger population so parents can start early with effective parenting strategies and ultimately reduce the challenges of the teen years.

While I currently work with parents of kids birth to age 10, I am seriously considering narrowing my niche target to parents of kids birth to age 5.

This would allow me to attract an even more concentrated population of clients who would benefit from a more targeted approach to parenting in the early childhood development years.

What are the benefits to your business and clients?

The benefit to parents is that they know where to get comprehensive information and solutions targeted to their unique needs.  I hope a parent of a younger child would be more likely to retain my services over a coach who is a generalist.

The benefit to my business is that I can hone my marketing to a specific population and create content specific to their needs instead of trying to be everything to everyone.

Remember the saying “A jack of all trades is a master of none”?  I want to be a master in my field.

If someone was looking to specialise what tips or advice would you give?

First, I suggest finding that service or product that you believe in down to your core.  If you are not confident about what you are selling, you will not generate the enthusiasm to succeed.

Second, I do believe in specialisation.

This allows for easier marketing or core content or products.  In the spirit of supply and demand, it may also allow for increased revenue generation as you provide a service that others may not.

What are the key marketing tactics you use?

Word of mouth is optimal.  There is nothing more valuable than a testimonial of delivering stellar customer service coupled with tangible results. Personal networking at both organized events and casual social gatherings is also helpful.

I have blogged with little success perhaps due to infrequency of posts and generalized content as opposed to targeted content.  That said, I occasionally write for a local publication which has allowed me to stay on the radar of some parents and paediatricians who are generating referrals.

My marketing goals for the new year are to jump out of the computer and into reality by capitalising on more face to face contact.  I am delivering workshops to my target market.

You can find out more about Keyuri and her services at www.ontheballparent.com As well you can you can connect with her on twitter @BestParentCoach

Yet there are just as many articles written urging small business owners to have a presence on the never ending list of social networking sites.

Marketing tactics including networking are an important part of marketing your brand.

You know that and today having a presence on social networking sites can make a difference to you business and customer relationships.

However in one way or another you need to ask the question of what is the return you are getting for your efforts.

The reason for this is whatever you do comes back to money.

Specifically revenue generated versus the cost of participating.

Paying a Price

Normally when you read articles or see tweets etc they are often about the potential benefits to you business and how to participate.

These are really helpful especially when you are starting out.

In the end though, you do need make a decision as to which ones are the most effective for your business and customers. Making these decisions can be difficult as they all sound so good and are enticing.

As they are free to join and participate.

Like all marketing decisions you need to make choices and one way I have found that helps is by asking a simple question.

 Would I pay to be there?

If  for example you had to pay $20 each time you participated would you still have a presence on all the social networking sites you are currently involved with?

If you are feeling you need to simply your activities perhaps asking yourself the question may help you decide where you should have a presence.

As always there are many ways to make decisions, please share how you decide what social networking sites to have a presence on. Do you factor in the cost?

And yet it is one of those “icky” subjects many businesses prefer not to think about much.

I have often heard business owners say they worry they may appear greedy or think they will lose business if their price is high.

Often their thinking is not based on any rational reasons. Sometimes it can be traced back to their feelings about price.

So let’s look at the price and signals.

If you think about any market there are premium products and services, ones in the middle and the cheap and cheerful. And they price accordingly.

Premium

• These products or service can command higher prices due to certain factors such as exclusivity, specialised knowledge or service, high demand and low supply.
• The quality must live up to the pricing, however this is not usually a problem as they have a very definite focus with their business and marketing model.
• They also are pretty clear on their difference and don’t worry about what others are doing.
• You often see them charge a set price rather than a rate per hour in service businesses.
• They keep an eye on their competitors but they are certainly not following them and their actions.

Middle

• Often if you find these businesses have a less focused approach. They don’t want to be amongst the cheap and cheerful but for a number of reasons can’t match the premiums.
• It is like playing it safe, so you may find they offer similar products as services  as their competitors, in a similar way at an average price with a similar message.
• You often find they offer a range and don’t really specialise.
• Because of this customers can think their products or services are in the okay category.
• Not great, not awful. Just average.

Cheap and Cheerful

• Sometimes the cheap and cheerful works if you have an extremely low cost base and there is huge demand.
• Interestingly customers who frequent the cheap and cheerful can be more demanding than the premium’s customers.
• These service businesses rarely set prices. Instead you may find them open to give you freebies or reduce their price in the hope they can get a foot in the door or charge more on another project.

Pricing is one of the key elements when developing your marketing marketing strategy so it is important you make sure you are sending the right signals.

What tips can you share to that you use to send the right pricing signals?

Pinterst is a new social sharing site where as they say “you organise and share what you love.”

It is a specialist site so they do not have to worry about Facebook and Google + as competitors.

One look at the site and you know that it is ideal sharing visuals such as crafts, food, and photography. It is not for everyone.

They have capitalised on a growing trend of sharing, but importantly tapping into visuals and you know the saying about the worth of a picture.

On a completely different tack is Paul’s Famous Hamburgers which started in business in 1957.

Their specialty is hamburgers and many of their regular customers over generations regard them as the best hamburgers.

They have thrived even with the onslaught of fast food chains.

Read the story and you will see that by specialising they operated the way they wanted and not what is normally done.  And be sure to check out the gallery which shows customers lining up in the street.

Apart from specialising both embrace simplicity.

What can we learn from these two examples?

Secure The Base

If you have a speciality that is your base then it is a lot easier to build from. The wider the base the harder it is to have focus and clarity.

The more services you add under the one brand name the harder it is for your customers to know what your specialty is.

And to build a profitable business.

Let Go Of The Fear

Sometimes I call this trying to hedge your bets. You can be fearful if you specialise that you won’t get enough business.

It is like throwing it out there and hoping something will stick and make sales.

This is often caused by not doing real homework to identify the best option that has the most demand.

Once you clarify all aspects the pieces have a tendency to fall into place such as your positioning.

Embrace Both Passion And Profit

You often see articles about follow your passion and success will follow. That is true in one sense however and yes this rather practical but there has to be money in it.

The sweet spot is finding the intersection between the two. Indentifying your speciality needs to be something you really enjoy doing and you can make money from it.

Let’s share. What are your thoughts on this?

Both visuals where taken from their websites.

To have a thriving profitable business, sometimes the most strategic option is to not embrace what is happening and do the opposite.

In this case give complexity the flick and embrace simplicity.

And this idea was reinforced over Christmas eating Lindt chocolate.

Lots of it.

Chocolate has been their specialty since 1845. To me their range of premium chocolate and all they do says they have a great hold on the concept of simplicity as well as focus.

And as other companies have found it is difficult to compete against this brand.

Embracing simplicity can actually be done at any stage with your business. Whether you are starting out or have been around for a while.

Your Products or Services

This starts at the core of what you offer. If you offer a range of products or services across categories you can be up against businesses that specialise.

These specialists have in depth knowledge and expertise. To compete against them you need to use more time or money to get up to their level to compete effectively.

And this adds complexity to your business.

Your Marketing Strategies and Tactics

Continuing on the simplicity concept the more marketing strategies you select to achieve your objectives the more complex your marketing can become.

And the reason is you need to then select and implement more tactics to support the strategies.

There will always be new ideas floated around or the new tools you must use or networks to be involved with but if you go after each one again it adds complexity.

Your Processes

Making it simple for customers to interact, buy and have a strong relationship with your business is a no brainer. If your processes are complex then it makes it just that bit harder for your customers.

If you could simplify even a few of your processes it may help you achieve a competitive edge.

So now over to you. Are you embracing simplicity to have a thriving profitable business? 

And then if you are lucky take a breather for a few days or longer.

This time of the year is also when we reflect and often refocus on what we want to achieve in both our personal lives and with our businesses.

Some of you may make minor tweaks, others may make major overhauls to increase the sales and profits of your products or services next year.

For me I will be making some changes to what I offer and how I offer them as well as finally upgrading to Headway 3.

One thing I know next year will be exciting and challenging which is always the way with the marketing of brands.

And that is what makes it fun.

At this time of the year there are also many articles on predictions as to what will be hot, must do or what will happen.

The only prediction I am making is based on observations over the year:

• Markets are getting increasingly crowded.
• Too many small businesses are what I call generalists.
• Standing out is getting harder when it should be.
• Change will continue to be a constant.
• Information overwhelm is still alive and kicking
• People and business owners are also feeling uneasy hear and read what they ‘should” do with the marketing of their brand.

So my prediction is the way to have success with the marketing strategy for your brand will be by embracing specialisation and simplicity which I will expand on next year.

As this is the last post for the year, I would like to thank you for reading, adding insightful comments and support through sharing the articles through social media.

I wish you and your families all the best for a wonderful Festive Season and terrific New Year.

If you have a few minutes add your predictions for 2012.

Although it does seem to get a few mentions each day on Twitter.

However at this time of the year for those celebrating Christmas the weather takes on importance.

In my country many celebrate the day having picnics and visiting the beach with friends and families. And many from the northern hemisphere travel down under to escape the cold and snow.

However this year the start to summer has been in a word lousy and unfortunately it is not improving.

To sum it up in two words – wet and cold.

The forecast at the moment is for a few showers for Christmas Day which has upset some plans.

Talking to a few friends about this on the weekend as background for this article they had different approaches.

A couple of them lived in hope that the forecast was wrong. And to be fair it often is.

They do not have a backup plan so I am not sure what they will do as a picnic in the rain may be fun for the children but not for the adults.

So they will be anxiously waiting to see what happens.

Others have made small changes to cater for the possibility so there is no last minute scrambling if it is not a sunny day.

They are ready if the weather continues and will be having a much less stressful time this week.

Marketing Strategy Flexibility

As with the weather sometimes we can’t control circumstances affecting our business and the marketing of our brands. However we can be alert to real possibilities that may happen and have a backup plan.

This doesn’t mean redoing everything.

As marketing planning is a continuous process, putting your head in the sand and hoping it will all turn out okay is not a good approach if you want your business to grow.

Having flexibility built into your marketing strategy just in case you need to put it into action quickly with minimal disruption is one key to success. The businesses that are quick to take the right action often gain a competitive edge.

So the question for you this week is do you have flexibility built in to make sure if circumstances arise you can turn them into opportunities if you need to?

Many do and think automatically think it is all too hard.

So nothing happens and growth is stalled.

Healthy growth doesn’t necessarily mean making big sales overnight or making radical changes to your marketing strategy all at once.

It is often the small steps you take that make the difference over time especially when each new step you take builds on the previous one.

As an example and you probably have read it many times when you want to grow flowers there are certain steps to take before they bloom.

You plant the seed, water them, add nutrients etc. Each step builds on the previous one and over time flowers appear.

Prepare

As we head into the new year reviewing what steps and actions have worked and what ones haven’t produced the results you desired is important.

The reason for this is so you can focus on the rights ones and take the next step to grow your brand.

Remember when you review look at your numbers and not just the actions.

Plan

Once you have completed the review and have identified the key areas take a little time to work out the next steps for growth.

This could be a case of making an improvement to your product or service or increasing your activity in a channel.

It is up to you to decide.

And it is important to bring the actions back to numbers to see if they make sense and will get results.

One key thing to remember is not to get caught up in trying to do too much. Instead if you can identify 3 key action steps that will grow your brand then often that is all you need.

The more you add to your list the harder it is to do them all as well as you need to.

Action

Start taking action and don’t forget to review to make sure your brand is growing in the direction you want.

Over to you, have you identified the next key steps you need to take to grow your brand?

For a while I have been noticing quite a number of comments left on my blog posts that  do not come from business owners.

Most of them are general in nature at best and have email addresses like i592h/6@gmail.com which is a bit obvious.

This week I received a comment that didn’t make much sense, had punctuation mistakes and for the grammar it is best not to go there.

So I decided to check it out to see what was happening.

The website and business it linked to looked legitimate so I filled out the contact form asking if one their employees had left the comment or if they didn’t then perhaps someone was using their URL.

This was being polite as the comment referred to having a partner in the business.

I did get a reply but not from the company. Instead it was from an SEO firm who asked if I could send the comment.

To cut the story short the company appears to have employed the SEO firm to increase links as part of the service.

The SEO company turns out got someone else to leave comments and obviously hasn’t overseen the activity to ensure quality control.

My site is probably just one of many that this SEO company is letting the person comment on and who knows what others are thinking about the company footing the bill.

I can only image what the business owner would have felt seeing this type of comment left with his business name.

If you contract out your marketing activities here are a few tips:

Brand Reputation Tips

• If you are outsourcing delegate but do not abdicate.
• Have clear guidelines on what they do and get regular reports to ensure quality is occurring and not rubbish quantity.
• Make sure that anything done in your brand’s name enhances the reputation.
• Find out whether the company doing your SEO or anything else outsources in turn to someone else and make sure the other person or company is quality.

You work long and hard to maximise your brand and reputation so don’t leave it in the hands of another without your input and guidance.

Over to you, what are your thoughts on this and please add your tips to the list.