So often a business owner will say to me that they "hate"
marketing.
If you are a small business owner who "hates" marketing or even
feels a sense of uneasiness when you contemplate marketing for
your business, this article is dedicated to you.
Why Business Owners H8 Marketing
Once you get past the "nameless dread" business owners feel
about marketing, some interesting issues surface:
Marketing Just Isn't Their "Thing"
They're Not Really Sure What They Should Be Doing
They Wonder Whether Their Large Investment of Time, Effort,
and Money Will Really Pay Off
If you hate marketing because it just isn't your thing, I'm not
going to try talking you out of that. I believe we're best off
playing to our strengths.
However, you'll need to find and pay someone else to do your
marketing. If you can't or won't outsource marketing, seriously
consider whether you want to own a business.
If you hate marketing because you're not really sure what you
should be doing, rejoice because there's a lot of good support
for learning and practicing marketing skills: books, classes, and
coaches.
If you hate marketing because it feels so darn vague and
risky...ah...read on.
There are things you can do to reduce that uncertainty and get
more comfortable with risk as a natural component of the
marketing process.
Risk is Inherent in Marketing
Prior to starting my business I spent more than a decade working
for large consumer products companies. I worked in the research
department and my job was to study customers so the people who
were planning and producing products would maximize the chances
that customers would buy.
Note I said "maximize the chances" rather than "make buying a
sure thing."
Because even giant companies spending millions using customer
research in their marketing decisions will never tell you
marketing is a sure thing.
It's like the batting averages in baseball. No one, not the
greatest hitter of all time ever hits every pitch.
Hitting one ball out of three is considered spectacular. Hitting
one ball out of four is average.
This is very important to keep in mind: that in all your
marketing efforts, you will rarely, if ever, get great results
the first time you attempt to market your offer.
More often, you'll begin seeing real results on your 3rd or 4th
go.
You can, however, improve your chances to succeed faster.
How to Improve Your Odds
The good news is, in fact, there are many, simple, inexpensive
ways to improve your marketing and improve your chances of people
responding.
Numbers Matter
The more impersonal your marketing approach the the larger the
number of people who need to see your offer. For email offers
having 1% of your list purchase is normal.
If you are enrolling for a ten-person class and you have 200
people on your mailing list, you need to use other, more personal
methods to fill your class.
Lesson: to improve the odds of internet marketing success, build
your list.
Make Improvement Your Objective; Not Perfection
Please oh please don't wait until your offer is perfect. If
you've checked for typos, made certain that details are correct
and the links work, get your offer out to people.
Lesson: It's not about hitting the first ball, or even the
second ball, it's about showing up, seeing how people respond,
and tweaking.
Find Out What Worked and Didn't Work
Ask some of the people who received your offer:
Did they even see the offer to begin with?
Did they know what the offer was for?
Were they interested in your offer?
Did they open and read your email?
Did they click on the link and go to the place where they
could get more information, sign up? etc.
And at each point, ask "how come" with the sincere intention to
find out what didn't work.
The sincere intention bit is very important. If you're talking
to someone who fits your "ideal customer" you don't want them
to gloss over what didn't work. Tell them you want their input
so you can be of service and help them and businesses like them.
And remember to thank them for their help.
Lesson: Ask for honest input, don't defend or explain, and
listen carefully.
Use the Suggestions that Make Sense
You don't need to use every suggestion that crosses your path.
As the owner of your business, it's important that you make sure
each nugget of advice makes sense for your budget and
communication style. And that your heart says "yes."
If it doesn't make sense; if your heart doesn't go along, you
won't fully own the actions you take to improve your marketing
and you won't get the results you want.
Lesson: make sure your intuition and heart are fully engaged
before you act on a suggestion.
Bottom Line
If you're a small business owner and find yourself avoiding
marketing because it seems like tons of work with no guaranteed
results, take heart.
Although uncertainty is inherent in marketing because we can't
perfectly predict how people will respond there are things you
can do to improve the odds of getting good results.
It also helps to remember that you're in the same boat as every
other business owner. Regardless of what you might hear, it's
near impossible to hit every promotion "out of the park" every
time.
The successful marketers know it's about putting your offer out
there and improving your offer based on feedback; sometimes two
or three times.
Judy Murdoch helps small business owners create low-cost,
effective marketing campaigns using word-of-mouth referrals,
guerrilla marketing activities, and selected strategic alliances.
To download a free copy of the workbook, "Where Does it Hurt?
Marketing Solutions to the problems that Drive Your Customers
Crazy!" go to http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm.
You can contact Judy at 303-475-2015 or [email protected].
