The 7 Myths Of Marketing A Service
Business
by: Jane Hendry
Myth 1: Marketing is a cost, not an investment
When you spend time and money randomly on marketing, then it probably
is an expense because you're not generating a return on the resources
invested in it. Many people make the mistake of emulating the
marketing tactics of large companies (such as image advertising) that
just don't produce good returns for small businesses. The fact of the
matter is that small businesses have to produce BETTER marketing than
large businesses because they can't afford to make mistakes by
dropping hundreds or even thousands of pounds/dollars onto campaigns
that don't work. What often happens is that business owners spend lots
of money on ineffective campaigns, then erroneously conclude that
marketing is an expense, or not worth doing at all.
However, the secret to marketing success is to create a marketing
system. A system of activities, strategies, tactics and automation
that reliably and predictably create measurable results and positive
ROI. I call this the "marketing slot machine". It's a slot machine
that for every ?1/$1 you put in, you get ?1.50, or ?2 or ?5 or more
back out. Once you've created this system (which requires a small
amount of experimentation and testing), you should be able to turn it
on and off at will, and invest as much as you can to gain maximum
returns.
Myth 2: Marketing is expensive
Marketing is only expensive (and therefore an expense rather than an
investment) when it is either unaccountable or ineffective. There are
myriad ways to market you business inexpensively that are highly
effective, once you know how. The key is to understand the elements or
variables that go into each activity or campaign, and how they affect
the ultimate outcome. This is where most people go wrong, and that's
why their marketing fails to produce the results that they'd hoped
for. Often the message is weak or confusing, it's being sent to the
wrong people, or they fail to follow up. Get the formula right, and
marketing can be very inexpensive - I spend less than ?100 per month
on marketing and I'm getting great results.
Myth 3: Marketing means I have to be pushy and salesy
Good marketing, done the right way is neither pushy nor salesy. It's
a complete myth that pushy, "gift of the gab" people make the best
sales people. Why? Because they spend most of the time talking about
themselves or their products and then manipulating people into buying
from them. Whilst this used to work, and still does occasionally, it
often results in buyers remorse and a general sense of uneasiness on
the part of the buyer. Much of the time it creates resistance and a
feeling of wanting to run for the hills - have you ever felt like
that?
Ironically, the best marketers and salespeople are those who listen.
They listen to what potential clients are saying and see if there's a
match between what they offer and what the buyer needs. They build
relationships and educate their prospects about how they can help
them. The art is to get in front of people who have demonstrated a
need or want for what you offer, and who will gladly learn more about
what you do and how you can help them.
Myth 4: Marketing produces instant results
Some people believe that if they keep running their adverts/campaigns
that they'll "increase their profile", and somehow, magically one
day, a stampede of clients will come rushing to their door. I don't
subscribe to that theory, because I believe that all marketing should
produce a measurable result that can be observed in a fairly short
time frame. If you're marketing efforts are not producing obvious,
tangible results then you need to look at the elements that aren't
working.
Having said that, marketing is not something you can usually achieve
overnight success in. It's somewhat like rolling a snowball down a
hill - there's a cumulative effect and momentum increases over time.
To create the cumulative effect and momentum requires sustained and
consistent effort. Marketing isn't something you do occasionally, and
then put on the back burner. It's something that you need to do
constantly, bit by bit, in the same way that a sportsperson needs to
train every day to be good enough for the Olympics.
Myth 5: Once my diary is full, I can stop marketing
It's human nature that once you've got some well-paying work you feel
rather pleased with yourself, and focus most of your time on
servicing your new clients. However, if you have a sales cycle that's
usually more than a couple of weeks long, then you're going to come a
cropper once the project finishes. Because if you don't continue to do
your marketing whilst you're working on the project, then at the end
of the project you may find that your sales pipeline is empty and you
have to start up your marketing all over again. It may then be a
number of weeks before people start to progress down your sales
pipeline towards actually doing business with you. This is what is
commonly referred to as the "feast and famine" syndrome.
If you prefer to avoid these peaks and troughs of income producing
activity, then you need to think about how you can do a little bit of
marketing on a consistent basis. Even better - create a marketing
system that easily and reliably entices prospects into your sales
pipeline without huge amounts of effort from you.
Myth 6: My business is small, so I don't need a marketing plan
I tried some marketing plan software once. It asked me a lot of
questions about market share, mission statements plus product, price,
promotion and place. Great fun, if your mind likes to chew on such
imponderables. As a graduate of a business studies degree I knew
exactly what it was referring to, but had no idea how that was useful
to a small business. And guess what - that's because it isn't!
No wonder then, that most small businesses don't have written
marketing plans, when traditional style marketing plans seem
convoluted and esoteric. However, this doesn't mean that a marketing
plan in your head is any better. The question is whether this results
in any organised activity.
And to me, that's the essence of a marketing plan - a blueprint for
organising your marketing activities. It doesn't have to be
high-falutin' or fancy, or be filled with marketing-jargon, but what
it does need to do is focus resources on specific action steps that
need to be taken to achieve specific goals. There's a world of
difference between carrying ideas around in your head, and writing
them down into an organised plan of action.
If you don't have a written marketing plan, then I urge you to
consider this: research suggests that businesses that create a written
marketing plan increase their revenue by about 30% after having
created one.
Myth 7: External marketing help is expensive
If you enlist the help of what I refer to as "traditional" marketing
consultants, then it probably is expensive. You're probably looking at
thousands down in one shot, rather than hundreds and probably no
guarantees of success. It's quite possibly a stark choice between
taking the family on holiday, or paying for your PR or marketing
consultant.
If giving up your family holiday doesn't appeal, then you may choose
to go down the route of taking training courses, reading books,
attending seminars, enrolling on e-courses and all manner of other
self-study options. The problem with all of this, is that there is
rarely any hands-on, customised support for you and your business.
And, there's no accountability - or as I like to say - a friendly kick
in the pants to keep you on track. It may also take you quite
literally years of trial and error to find out what works for your
business. And that's assuming that you even implement what you've
learnt, which, sadly, most people don't.
However, a new alternative has emerged in recent years - marketing
mentoring or coaching. Rather than paying thousands to have a
marketing consultant do it all for you, or struggling up the learning
curve by yourself, you now have the option to work with a coach or
mentor who can advise you, guide you and show you how to do your
marketing for yourself. Plus they'll make sure you stay on track. If
attracting more clients is important to you, and you haven't yet
created your own "marketing slot machine" then I highly recommend you
find a marketing coach who will help you create a marketing system
that works for you.
Copyright 2005 Attractioneering
About The Author
Jane Hendry helps professionals, consultants and coaches to create
marketing systems that easily and consistently attract their ideal
clients. To get
your f*ree Attraction Marketing Starter Kit please visit http://www.attractioneers.com" target="_blank">http://www.
attractioneers.com
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