What most small business owners don’t realise is that marketing becomes your number one job when you have your own business. Because without marketing there are no customers and without customers there is no business.
When clients say to me that they’ve tried everything to bring in more business and nothing’s working, what they really mean is they’ve tried a few things and they haven’t worked yet. Here are three possible reasons why they may not be getting the results they want:
Only doing what feels comfortable
While this is better than nothing at all, the danger is that you’re only going to be doing ‘passive’ marketing. You need to talk to and meet your prospective clients face to face and by phone. It’s also important to keep trying new ways to get your message across – aim for one a month!
Not doing it often enough
I’ll never forget a young business owner’s words when I invited her to a networking breakfast. She said "Oh I tried networking for a month and it didn’t work, so I don’t do it any more.” That’s like placing just one advertisement, or sending out only one mailshot and expecting a flood of orders. Remember that people usually need to see or hear your marketing message at least 9 times before buying.
Not having an adequate follow-up system in place
I make no apologies for writing about this yet again! You must put in place a system to follow up with clients and prospects means that it will get done, even when you’re busy. It’s the only way to avoid the ‘feast and famine’ trap that so many small businesses fall into.
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