If
you own your own business and you want to grow, you must
actively and continuously market your products and services
regardless of the circumstances.
As
a CPA, I see far too many business owners who use a shotgun approach
when it comes to marketing. They make several key mistakes. First,
they spend way too much money on inappropriate media. As an example,
they’ll spend money on radio when they should be using
newspaper, or they may focus strictly on direct mail when they
should be doing
a little bit of everything.
The second mistake
owners make is that they quit too soon. Marketing is a process.
It involves a properly designed strategy and a wholehearted commitment
to investment and repetition. The secret to marketing is
to view it as a bucket with holes; no matter how much water you
put into it, it’s always going to turn up empty unless you
put more water back into it.
How
do you think large companies like Coca Cola, McDonalds, and Disney
got to be
that way? Do they market because they’re big? Absolutely not!
It’s because they decided a long time ago to direct a substantial
portion of their earnings each year towards strategic marketing.
(These big companies, by the way, were once small businesses too!)
There’s
no reason why a small business shouldn't be investing a portion
of their earnings on marketing. In fact, a consistent marketing
strategy is usually what separates gold mine businesses from
mediocre
ones. Marketing pays, especially during down times.
When
times get tough, or when sales pools dry up, some business owners
make another
error: they cut back on their marketing efforts or cut it off completely.
This is a big, big mistake. In fact, research and experience
shows
that companies who continue to invest or even increase their marketing
efforts during slow times manage to outperform businesses that
don’t.
In addition, companies that increase their marketing efforts during
economic downturns, rebound much quicker when the economy gets
better
than businesses that cut back.
As
an example, at the end of 2001, Kmart cut it’s marketing by 50% and suffered
the worst sales in a long time. Eventually the company filed for
bankruptcy. On the other hand another company, Ace Hardware, doubled
its marketing expenditures during the same period and had
it’s best sales ever.
As
a business advisor, I’ve worked intimately with hundreds of companies
in dozens of industries. Guess what the highly successful ones all
have in common? They religiously invest a portion of their earnings
in acquiring new business. They invest anywhere from 3% to 10% (and
sometimes more!) of their annual gross revenues in strategic advertising
and promotion. Guess how much the slow or stagnant businesses invest
in marketing? If you guessed little or none, you’re right!
Keep
in mind also, that it’s not only how much you spend, but
what you spend it on that counts. If you own a business and you want
to grow, remember that marketing is not an option. It’s
an investment in your company’s growth and future earnings
much like the purchase of a piece of equipment or the decision
to
hire an additional employee.
Additionally,
marketing is an insurance policy. If you’re successful, it’s
the key to staying that way. Sergio Zyman, former Chief Marketing
Officer of the Coca-Cola Company said this about success and marketing:
“Success is perishable: you can’t take your business
for granted no matter who you are.” In other words, it doesn’t
matter how big or small you are, if you don’t market on a
regular basis you will fade away too!
All
you need to do is look at what happened to Levis, Snapple and
Converse Sneakers.
When was the last time you saw a commercial for these one-time
brand giants? By the same token, look what’s happened to Adidas.
They stopped marketing in the eighties and virtually vanished from
sight. Now they’re back in a big way thanks to marketing.
Sure these are big businesses, but the same rules apply to smaller
businesses too. In fact, they apply even more.
A
small business can’t rely on millions and millions of people
all over the world to remember them. If you expect your business
to grow to any
size, you must become an effective marketer, advertiser and promoter
of your business. To do this, you need to develop an aggressive
and consistent marketing strategy.
In Gold
Mine Tactics: The Business Owner's Success Manual I discuss
the basic elements of marketing and show exactly what's needed
in
order to develop an effective marketing strategy. I then present
dozens of tactics and strategies to help you light a fire in your
sales department. I also cover why smaller business people don't
market and what you can do about it. To
learn how this manual can help you to explode your sales, click
here.
This article may be freely reprinted on your website or in your newsletter provided
you follow these instructions.
If
you'd like more information or would like to discuss this
article personally with me, please write to
me at alex@goldminetactics.com
See
below for author information.
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by Alex Goumakos
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Alex
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tax. If you're ready to build a gold mine business, be
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