What to do when Marketing Your Small Business isn’t fun anymore!
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...By Gregor Anton
Published: December 15, 2009
The overwhelming majority of small business owners that I’ve interviewed struggle with marketing and making it fun.
It’s true. Marketing can be challenging, labour-some, and not the least rewarding. It’s not unlike any other activity you take up. It requires a little bit of effort, the right know-how, and lots of practice. Of course having someone to guide you and fall back on for support, like a coach or mentor, helps big time.
If you’re not excited about your marketing, chances are your marketing needs to overhauled. First and foremost you need to make it fun.
What makes Marketing fun?
Here are some great ways to make marketing a fun routine for you.
* Keep World Records – Hockey and the Olympics wouldn’t be much fun if we didn’t keep score. The obvious statistics or Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is Sales. Just like in sports, you must concentrate of supporting stats. i.e Shots on Goal or Leads, # of phone calls, appointments etc.
* Marketing Calendar – Put together a marketing calendar for the entire year and keep track of your marketing initiatives. Nothing motivates staff more than activity. It should motivate you too. The more activity you have, the more results you should see. If you don’t, well you need to talk to me!
* Sales Board – Lets keep score of your world records and statistics leading up to your new Sales Records. You need a 4 month planner that just like the Marketing Calendar is visible to you. Keep track of # of leads, appointments, and sales at a minimum and determine what other stats would be fun to track.
* Attend Sales & Marketing Events – Keep an open mind and seek out new ways to get more done in less time, with more of a bang. Visit www.MarketingWorkshops.ca for a list of upcoming Marketing Seminars that will put your marketing efforts on steroids.
* Rewards – All your efforts need to be rewarded, the more success, the bigger the reward. The more fun marketing becomes and the more results you get!
* Prizes and Competition – Who doesn’t like to win a prize? You’ll find yourself and your staff working harder to win a prize for most amount of referrals. Not convinced? Try it!
* Referrals on Steroids – When done right, a referral program will flood your sales funnel with leads. And it’s fun. Prospects, clients, and staff get excited about being part of the company and promoting your product/service.
* Set Marketing Goals – Make them bite size junks. Don’t be a hero and try to do it all at once. Set realistic and simple goals. For example, make it a goal to set aside just one hour for Marketing per week. Before you know it, you’ll be spending two or three hours per week. Don’t get tempted to block off an entire day or half day for marketing. Often you’ll find yourself dreading that day and then the real world sets in and you spend 7 hours dealing with day to day stuff and clients and you feel your marketing time got you no-where. Less is more. Set aside smaller time frames and you’ll get more accomplished.
* Get a coach – Tiger Woods has several and didn’t pick up golf by reading books or asking a friend. His coaches guide him and keep him on track to attain his goals. You’ll spend more time and money trying to do it yourself. Get a qualified coach that’ll bring you to the next level.
* Track Conversions – If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. You need to keep track of conversions and record them ongoingly. If it’s not written, it’s likely wrong data that’ll lead you to making bad decisions. It’s alot more fun to make decisions based on quality data.
* Promotions – The right promotion makes marketing your business easy. Sales becomes alot more fun when it doesn’t feel like sales. Marketing does just that and promotions make it all come together almost effortlessly.
What do you do when no matter what you do marketing still isn’t fun?
You’ve either not implemented all of the above or there are key elements missing. Marketing isn’t easy and you don’t have to do it all on your own. Get smart, get savvy, get results… Get yourself a coach that will bring you to the next level. Attend my Marketing Webinar at http://www.MarketingWorkshops.ca and I’ll show you how to put your marketing efforts on steroids and make them fun. I guarantee it!
Looking to find information on Marketing Your Small Business, then visit www.MarketingResourceCentre.ca to find the best advice on Marketing.
Tagged with: advertising, Business, business consulting, marketing, sales, sales and marketing, Self Employed, small business, small business marketing
