Overcoming Your Biggest Marketing Obstacle

by: Nandang S Nugraha | Total views: 47 | Word Count: 669 | View PDF | Print View

 by: Charlie Cook

At times, no matter what you do your marketing is stuck
and you're not attracting new clients quickly enough. It doesn't seem
to make a difference how much time or money you put into it, its like
you are driving in slow motion. You just seem to be spinning your
wheels and not getting any traction to move your business forward as
quickly as you'd like.

What is it that's keeping you from growing your business and your revenue?

IS THE ECONOMY LIMITING YOUR BUSINESS? Possibly but
unlike many large corporations that get hammered by economic trends,
independent professionals and small business owners don't need mass
movements of clients to be successful. Most small businesses need a few
hundred or few thousand clients to do very well. You just have to do a
better job of marketing than your competitors to bring them in.

IS THE LACK OF MONEY TO SPEND ON MARKETING LIMITING
YOUR BUSINESS? The most successful independent professionals spend very
little on marketing relative to profits. They utilize email, referrals,
and other marketing tactics to get attention, build trust and attract
clients.

IS THE LACK OF TIME THE PROBLEM WITH YOUR MARKETING? If
you run your own business, there is never enough time in the day to
accomplish everything you need to do. But the people who make the time
for marketing see their businesses grow.

Let's face it; your biggest marketing obstacle is you: your perceptions/ attitudes, behavior and organization.

Common problems that may be holding your marketing back:

• Not enjoying marketing yourself and your business.
  

• Not having a marketing strategy or plan
  

• Not integrating marketing into your daily schedule.
  

• Taking over two minutes to describe how you solve clients problems.
  

• Spending too much on promotional campaigns without testing your copy or inexpensive tactics first.
  

• Talking too much and not listening to prospects.
  

• Not giving away helpful ideas to prospects in order to
  build trust and establish yourself as the expert who can solve their
  problems.
  

• Not regularly contacting prospects.
  

• Forgetting to provide prospects with offers they can't refuse.
  

Are you stuck by your own thinking, your behaviors or your perceptions about your marketing and what is or isn't possible?

GIVE YOUR MARKETING A CHANCE The good news is that if you
are your biggest marketing obstacle you can easily become your biggest
marketing asset. Take the following steps to change your marketing
behaviors and perceptions and give your marketing a chance.

Goals - Write down goals for your business and for your
marketing. Studies show that people who commit to written goals are
more successful, often making ten times as much money as those who
don't.

Knowledge - Leverage all you know about your business
to provide prospects and clients with a steady stream of ideas they can
use. In this way you demonstrate your expertise and stand out from the
competition.

Money - Spend as little as possible on marketing, but
do expect to spend money relative to the returns you anticipate. For
example if you are an independent consultant and want to grow your
business to two hundred or three hundred thousand dollars in revenue
per year you will need to spend some money on your marketing effort.

Time - Schedule a meeting with yourself every week to
review your marketing strategy, look at what is and isn't working and
write your next ad or article. Your most important job is to market
your business and then to deliver the services and products. Make sure
the way you spend your time reflects this.

Get out of your own way to improve your marketing and
attract more clients. Change your marketing actions and perceptions. If
you don't have it, get the marketing knowledge you need and make good
use of the time and money you do have. When you remove the obstacles to
your marketing you'll find your business gaining traction and clients.

-

2003 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

About the Author

The author, Charlie Cook, helps independent professionals and small business owners who are struggling to attract more clients and grow their businesses. To get the free marketing guide, '7 Steps to Get More Clients and Grow Your Business' visit www.charliecook.net or write ccook@charliecook.net

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