Are you on track for hitting all your business goals for the year? A quick check-up of your promotional efforts can reveal "week spots" and help identify what needs tweaking to give your business a healthy boost in the next few months. Here are five key areas to focus on with your mid-year marketing makeover.
1. Clarify Your Objectives (some prefer to call it goals)
Are you clear on where want to end up? If you are thinking this has nothing to do with marketing ? think again! You cannot design and implement effective strategies unless you know exactly what you want to accomplish.
If you are looking for a magic formula to give your business a boost here is a tip: there is nothing more powerful than writing down your objectives. Your ability to language and clearly articulate what you want to achieve exponentially increases your chances of getting it!
2. Makeover Your Business Model.
Many of my clients "paint themselves into a limited-income corner" by structuring their business in a wrong way. No matter how hard they work and try, they can't seem to be able to make more money and just end up being more frustrated.
Take Debra for example (not her real name). She is a successful small business consultant. Her well developed lead generating process attracts enough clients to actually make them wait a few weeks before she can start working with them. But she still makes only half the money she wants to make. Let me explain...
You see, Debra's business model is to deliver her services using one on one engagements and she can only handle about 15 clients at a time. With her average monthly client value approaching $1,500 she's right on target to make just over $250,000.00 this year. But she wants to m@ke $500,000.00 ? can you see the problem?
Chances are in some way, you might have a similar challenge ? your current business model is incapable of producing the results you want.
What's the solution? Here are a few ideas:
* Diversify your product/service offering. Analyze the needs of your clients and look for new ways to serve them. (Hint: you do not have to deliver all the solutions yourself ? instead form strategic alliances).
* Find new ways to work with clients. If you work with people one on one start offering group programs. Develop tele-seminars or live workshops. You'll actually be able to attract more clients and exponentially increase your earnings.
* Multiply yourself. Chances are if you have a successful service business ? you are following a proven process. Bring in others who can be trained in facilitating the delivery of your process to clients who are not willing to pay your rate ? but will settle for working with your associate at a discounted rate.
* Develop info products. There is no better way to leverage your knowledge than turning it into passive streams of revenue. If you are not regularly putting out new products ? you are missing out on a huge opportunity to boost your income.
3. Makeover Your Lead Generating Systems.
How many ways are you generating new leads? Do you have at least three to five lead generating vehicles that are consistent and automated?
Too many businesses don't understand the lead generating process and depend on vague methods of getting new clients ? like "word of mouth" and "networking". No having structured and easy to duplicate system to attract attention and turn it into sales is a sure pathway to a total disaster.
* If you need clients fast ? consider direct mail, fax broadcasting, narrowly focused direct-response advertising, strategic alliances, ask your current clients for referrals and ? don't forget the big one ? reactivate your past clients!
* To ensure long term positioning and visibility in your market place focus on publicity, getting speaking engagements, and writing and publishing articles.
4. Makeover Your Follow-Up.
Are you keeping in touch with your clients and prospects? Do you have a way to automatically connect with them at least monthly? If not ? you are only getting about 20% of the m0ney you could be making!
Most people give up following up after just three attempts. Most prospects don't make a buying decision until they've been exposed to your marketing message at least five times? See a problem here?
* If you are not doing it yet, start an online or offline newsletter. Create a monthly postcard program. Regularly send out information you come across that your audience would benefit from.
* Use technology to automate your follow-up. Online use sequential autoresponders that can be put on total auto-pilot. Offline use fax and voice broadcasting technology to leverage your time and connect with people quickly, meaningfully and affordably.
5. Makeover Your Marketing Assets.
We all have a limited amount of time, and if you are spending it all working with clients you are not creating long-term leverage. Schedule time every week to create marketing assets that work for you.
* Invest in your own knowledge: read more books, attend high-end training programs, purchase home-study courses, hire mentors to help you gain greater proficiency. Become a perpetual learner and always look for ways to transfer or implement your knowledge quickly.
* Continually build your credibility and positioning: ask all clients for testimonials, develop new talks on your subject of expertise, create information products.
* Give your marketing materials (like business cards, websites and brochures) a quick look-over. Are they consistently communicating the right marketing message? Are they written in a lively, persuasive and client-relevant language or are you still insisting on telling your prospects your company's history, vision and mission statement thinking they actually care?
* Develop tools and systems: create checklists to make routine tasks easier to delegate, implement an extra follow-up step that can be automated or outsourced, record your talks and teleseminars and turn them into Attraction Tools.
Finally, keep this in mind: these are all simple things but combined they can make or break your business. So while others are preoccupied planning their summer vacation, I suggest you get busy giving your business a marketing makeover.
(c) 2005 Adam M. Urbanski
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam Urbanski, the Marketing Mentor, helps Independent Service Professionals and Small Business Owners attract more clients. For more promotional tips and a FREE 32-page marketing guide go to http://www.themarketingmentors.com
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
A brochure can be a wonderful promotional tool for a... Read More
There's just no time to waste in a cyber day;... Read More
Many artists create art but when it comes to marketing... Read More
Some companies that use direct mail to sell their products... Read More
Being a master of your craft, skill, or talent doesn't... Read More
More and more people are realizing that the Internet offers... Read More
There is a simple but almost mystical law which governs... Read More
A lot of small businesses make the mistake of thinking... Read More
Promotions are everything you do to let your customers know... Read More
Now that you have had a chance to create a... Read More
It is often difficult to manage to do marketing tasks... Read More
"Get your positioning and your programs implemented properly, and the... Read More
Two years ago I started my small Virtual Assistant business... Read More
There comes a time in every small businessperson's life when... Read More
How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth?: Powerful Lessons In Marketing... Read More
Entering into Global markets is a great way to organically... Read More
Fear and Greed. The stock-in-trade of sales. Appeal to them,... Read More
Brochures are one of the oldest marketing weapons in the... Read More
Who says scientists can't market? Here are 10 easy marketing... Read More
Looking for a great way to drive traffic to your... Read More
Powerful Marketing has become elusive to many companies seeking strong... Read More
"Dig your well before you're thirsty" is the title of... Read More
Step 1: Where Am I Now? Before you decide where... Read More
Half my immediate family trained in Judo and excelled in... Read More
If your members, parents or donors wear clothes, watch t.v.... Read More
The most important part of any marketing you do is... Read More
I'm a board member of a local nonprofit and we... Read More
The media is a business's absolute best friend. It is... Read More
First of all - keep in touch with your customers!... Read More
How Colors Effect Our Emotions?One of the most interesting things... Read More
Postcards can drive a huge amount of traffic to your... Read More
When people think about promoting their business, the first thought... Read More
Maybe you don't want to work that hard, or maybe... Read More
The world is full... Read More
Marketing A Resume BusinessWhen starting a resume business, your marketing... Read More
There are so many competitions by running business. So you... Read More
A marketing tag line is the one or two line... Read More
When people think about promoting their business, the first thought... Read More
Its become fashionable to bash marketing "gurus" nowadays.There are some... Read More
Over the years as I have attended trade shows, networking... Read More
"Instead Of Wasting Time Trying To Hit The Lottery Of... Read More
Having a strong foundation enables you to build a thriving,... Read More
If you're in the IT business, that's an important question.Most... Read More
This past weekend I received a disturbing message from a... Read More
This article is meant to be a brief review and... Read More
Most of us are used to the concepts of risk... Read More
Building a business that grows steadily in size and profits... Read More
One of the most powerful, yet over looked weapons in... Read More
Postcards are an effective way for many business owners and... Read More
I don't know about you, but I secretly love watching... Read More
Recently, I discussed a loyalty card system with a vendor... Read More
If your members, parents or donors wear clothes, watch t.v.... Read More
In the age of e-newsletters and e-mail, you may not... Read More
Think about all those Cracker Jacks you ate as a... Read More
Your market is who you want to reach. Your customer.... Read More
December marked the 40th anniversary of the original broadcast of... Read More
If I were to ask you right now, what marketing... Read More
A person or business that might buy from you is... Read More
What?!? Sabotage your own success? Who would do that? Well,... Read More
One of the hardest jobs in fundraising is crafting original... Read More
So you just dropped a tidy sum to attend a... Read More
With promotional items there are standards: t-shirts, mugs, note cubes,... Read More
Lanyards are fast becoming the new "must have" promotional item.Events... Read More
Jay Conrad Levinson coined the term guerrilla marketing, which I... Read More
I have always enjoyed talking to a Realtor friend of... Read More
How To Save Yourself From The Pits of Marketing Cyber... Read More
Marketing |