Kocaeli Business Portal

Archive for May, 2009

Let’s face it, if you’re in business, you’re in marketing. What was true 50 years ago remains true today: nothing happens until something gets sold. And selling begins with effective marketing, but most marketing plans fail for two simple reasons:

1. They fail to capture the customers’ attention. As strange as it may seem, the big task is not simply getting your message out to customers. In fact, that doesn’t count for much. You can see the evidence for it everyday and everywhere.

Look at your mail, read newspaper or email ads. Most of what passes for getting the message out totally misses the mark. We’re flooded with messages – and most of them go right by us. Why? Because they focus too much attention on the advertiser – not the customer.

What purports to be a message is no message at all. It may tell your story but if it fails to capture the customers’ attention, it’s a waste of money.

2. Perhaps the most pervasive marketing problem of all is a lack of consistency. Everyone starts out with a bang. It’s going to be a great ad campaign or product promotion. Time, effort and money go into the projects. And where are they six months or a year later? More often than not, they’re either all but forgotten or already a memory. The success of marketing is not so much in award-winning ads and brochures as it is in keeping the program going.

Business owners have an enormous challenge when it comes to marketing. They almost never have the time to put together and implement a comprehensive marketing program – and, most importantly, to sustain the program consistently over a long period of time. Here are some tips to help you create a lasting marketing effort:

1. A little planning can go a long way. Your calendar is a potent marketing tool. Start with your deadline and work backwards writing down each step required to complete the marketing endeavor.

2. Get others involved. Very often marketing initiatives require coordinating with printers, designers and even your staff. Getting everyone on board ahead of time will save you a tremendous amount of aggravation.

3. Avoid the temptation to waiver from the plan. Results from your effort may take months to manifest so don’t give up too soon. Remember, consistency is an important factor contributing to a successful marketing effort.

Have you ever heard the saying that when you cease to dream you stop living? I came across this quote the other day on a poster in the waiting room of the dentist office. It really struck a cord with me because I began to realize that I had stopped dreaming about some of the accomplishments I wanted to make. I had set aside many of my dreams to raise my family and to work a job so that I could pay my bills. I was working in the field that I had my education in, but I was working for someone else. I had wanted to have my own business and reap the benefits that come with being the boss. I knew that there extra headaches and responsibilities that come with being the owner of a business, but I wanted to try my hand at this.

I came home from my dentist appoint energized to do this. That night over dinner I told my husband that I wanted to research small business opportunities. Once I assured him that I was not high on the gas I had received during my dental procedure he began to realize that I was serious. He recognized the dreams that I had placed on hold to parent our children and to work my present job. He agreed that I should look into small business opportunities, but that I should try to keep us from going into debt. We have been talking about our retirement years so getting involved in small business opportunities seemed risky to him. We agreed that I would try to find a small business opportunity that would have low start up costs and that I could do part-time while still maintaining my present employment.

I began looking for small business opportunities that could be done from home over the internet. Many people warned me that there were many scams out there and that I should do a lot of research before getting involved with anything. As I was looking for a small business opportunity I did encounter several scams that promised huge money with little or no effort. I knew that it was not going to be this easy or everyone would be millionaires. I was able to find a company that had a solid reputation and many support services to get a person started. I signed on as a dealer and began retailing environmental products. It was actually easier to do this while I was still working because I could use my co-workers as a client base. I am now at the point where I have cut back on my hours at my job and am making good money working my small business a few hours a week. I sent a note to my dentist thanking him for hanging the poster in his waiting area. I explained how it had opened a whole new world for me.