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Finding the Strength to Focus
Reflecting upon the results and feedback from our PUSH Marketing Academy I’ve been thinking about reasons why so many business owners never really plan.
As we all know, the backbone of the UK business economy is driven by micro and SME enterprise; a nation of shopkeepers, as Napoleon once said. For many, the route into a small business comes from a desire to create and own something that gives space for opportunity, a chance to do things your own way and, above all, a shot at simply getting more from life.
It’s also about a belief that you can do things better; how often have you walked away as a consumer thinking “I could run that business better!”..? I believe it’s an equally valid reason to go for it. Ferruccio Lamborghini told Enzo Ferrari that his cars looked great and the engines were sublime but his gearboxes were trash. So Lamborghini, who made tractors, decided to prove that he could do it better… the rest, as they say, is history!
"I can help you get real structure and a plan to follow..."
Owning and running a small business can bring great rewards; a creative outlet, strong self-esteem and status, a better standard of living and wealth creation, of course. More millionaires have been made from the sale of home-grown businesses than property sales. More than this though, it’s also about contribution; I’ve met many business owners who have greater pride in the fact that they are creating employment, supporting their local economy and leading the way, rather than just relying upon profits to measure their business success. And a sincere compliment from a customer is often worth more than just the profit in that sale (just don’t try paying your mortgage with it!).
However, the flip side of this, as every small business owner knows, is that self-employment can often mean very long hours, a constant focus on business needs, high stress levels, huge demands on time and emotional energy and even a feeling of constant dissatisfaction; always wanting it to be bigger and better. Well, all this just comes with the territory and you’ll need to expect it if you want to have your own business.
However, I can’t help thinking that some business owners are just making it way too hard for themselves, unnecessarily and that with a little time to step back and reflect, a better plan can emerge that could liberate time, resources and emotional energy, as well as turn up the volume on profits.
A significant mentor in my life always told me that “business should be boring and predictable; get your kicks somewhere else!”. What he meant was that when you plan how your business should run, start to treat it like a real business and not a job, then you will have more control over it and an ability to run systems that make everything stack up. Then you can really enjoy your business! This approach means you are truly a business owner and you’ll have the pleasure of being able to step away from it, safe in the knowledge that customers are still being served and that profitable sales are flowing in the direction of your bank account.
So why is it that so many business owners just don’t make the time to properly plan? Well, I believe there are two key reasons, 1) they’re not yet confident enough in their own abilities to set a workable plan, and 2) they’re so entrenched in the day-to-day running of their business that taking time out to plan seems impossible.
My personal focus is on Marketing Plans; about 80% of the business owners I meet who actually have a business plan have no credible marketing plan. When you consider that good marketing is often the starting point for every sale in every business this is a worrying situation.
So my encouragement to you this week is simple; firstly, stop, take time out, even if this is only one hour in your diary this week and look at your business plan. Do you genuinely believe that it explains clearly enough what your strategy and tactics are for marketing your products or services? Perhaps you don’t yet have a plan. In this case, begin doing a little research and decide why having a plan could make things easier for you. There’s a wealth of free information available out there. Or perhaps talk to a friend, colleague or close business acquaintance who has a business and marketing plan and ask them how it helps. Above all, commit to action, then get some help and support to make it happen.
It could just be one of the most important things you’ll do for your business this year!
For more about marketing plans visit www.PushYourMarketing.com
Music Industry Shows Us The Way!
Music industry shows us how to discover more value in our products -
My close friends will tell you that I’ve a rather eclectic (or perhaps that should be eccentric!) taste in music. I grew up as a young teenager on a diet of hard rock and heavy metal. Then I discovered the beauty and complexity of classical music and fell in love with composers like Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Rachmaninov, etc.
Broadening my tastes even further as young adult I went all retro and spent my time soaking up the likes of the ‘Stones, the Doors, Clapton, etc. Now my tastes have changed even more and my iPod carries a complete mix of everything from indie, pop, dance, house, trance, blues and some very obscure ‘world-music’ but my real passion lies with ambient trance and in particular any of the amazing work by Simon Posford, a genius of acoustic/electro ‘ambient psy-trance’… no seriously!
So why am I telling you all this? Well, here’s an interesting lesson in marketing that I’ve just been massively impressed by.
Younger Brother, a music project by Mr Posford and Co, are about to cut a new CD but have taken a very different route to market; you might have even become aware of it before. It’s called Pledge Music and this is how it works; before the CD is actually recorded the artist asks their followers and fans (their community or ‘tribe’ in marketing terms) to pledge what they will commit to buying when the new CD is released. It’s a form of pre-selling, if you like.
By asking for fans to pledge their support in advance the artist knows if the new production is going to be a success before they’ve even created the actual product. Clever, eh?! If the volume of support just isn’t there, then they won’t go ahead with the recording and it’s back to the drawing board (or should that be rehearsal studio?), I guess.
I hope you’re really getting the point here; this is how a business – perhaps your own – can test market a product before it is even created, avoiding the risk of stacking the shelves with something that people perhaps won’t want to buy.
Even more than this though, it completely changes the dynamics of how the consumer relates to the vendor. And it’s this element that I’m really very excited about; it’s a perfect example of a shift in strategy that I’m trying to make business owners more aware of.
I’ve pledged my support for the new Younger Brother project and pre-ordered my signed copy of the new CD. So I’ve played my bit in helping this creative work to actually take place, I feel far more attached to the product, even part of the whole process, one of the team. Now we’re on the same side.
You should know by now that marketing has changed massively over the past few years and this approach of community marketing, attraction marketing, whatever you decide to call it, has and will continue to change the dynamics of how we engage with our customers and clients and them with us; it also builds far stronger bonds and real customer loyalty and attachment.
Now here’s the icing on the cake and the real reason that has inspired me to share this with you; Younger Brother are not only asking for pledges for enough CDs, they have come up with a whole list of other exclusive offers that will raise enough finance to make the project fly.
Here’s a list of just some of the additional extras that I can pledge on:
- Handwritten Lyric Sheet
- Handwritten Thank You Note
- Come to a Rehearsal
- A signed drum skin
- Be in one of our videos
- Signwriting Sketchbook
- A personal track mix
And my all-time favourite…
- An acoustic gig by the band at my own house!
Here’s the link if you want to see the whole list (and prices) and you might even want to become part of the project and pledge your support too – http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/youngerbrother
Oh, of course you get to sample their previous work on the site as well! Personally, I’d recommend anything from ‘A Flock of Bleeps’, which sits firmly in my top ten CDs.
I hope you can really see why this is such an inspirational way of looking at how you can create multiple products and from the example of something as humble and ubiquitous as a music CD.
So, how could you look at your own sales/marketing proposition differently and how many new products are there for you to create from the resource you already have?!?
Now go and get your magic monkey juices flowing… and get creative with your marketing!
Nial
NEWS: the PUSH Marketing Academy has the new Autumn Term starting on the 11th October and you’re invited to find out more. The Academy Open Event takes place in Norwich on the 28th September. For more information and your free ticket (worth £97) please visit www.PushYourMarketing.co.uk
Common Marketing Mistakes
Ten Common Mistakes that Business Owners Make with Their Marketing
I’ve written the ten most common marketing mistakes that I’ve come across over the years. Small business owners everywhere are looking for better results from their online and offline marketing strategies. It’s not all about government grants, business loans or having a budget the size of a Formula 1 racing team like Ferrari. You just need the know-how and someone to show you the ropes.
Ask yourself if you are making any of these and then make a plan to learn how to get it right:
- Gambling with resources rather than using proven strategies to make marketing produce a profit – understand the concept of Cost of Acquisition and apply some logic. Learn how marketing works, get help to apply it, then build your business.
- Becoming obsessed with the look and feel of the brand at the expense of expressing what you are really offering – sell the benefits, not the packaging. Remember to see your offering from the (potential) customer’s perspective, not your own.
- Having no marketing plan at all – even a basic plan, which is easier than you’d think, is better than nothing; come on, this is your business we’re talking about!
- Not testing results – the absolutely fundamental rule of marketing; test and measure everything you can. It’s the only way to know if you’re succeeding or just wasting money.
- Trying to be too clever – don’t make your audience work for it; keep it simple and spell out your offering in a way that’s easy for people to understand. There are no prizes for making your customers think you’re clever!
- Sloppy brand identity – there’s no excuse these days, everyone in business should have some pride about the way they present their business; make sure you look the business and you’ll gain the respect you’re seeking.
- Ignoring the power of new strategies and tactics like Social Media – remember the .com gold rush a few years back? It’s here again; harness Social Media now and you’ll see rewards for years to come.
- Confusing Price with Value – price is nothing more than a concept; value is what people are looking for; stop trying to price your services and create a value proposition instead.
- Ignoring the value in referrals; about 80% of the businesses I meet tell me that about 80% of their business comes from referrals and about 80% of business owners have no strategy for getting more referrals… spot the pattern?!
- Over estimating the short term and underestimating the long-term – smart business owners recognise that good marketing strategy is a longer-term plan. Do the right things today and build on them month after month. Don’t scramble about looking for a short-term fix and expect to create effective results.
If you really want to change things, if you want to stop gambling, scrambling and spinning your wheels on marketing that’s not producing, STOP, take some time to learn how to do it properly and then you can start to enjoy it…
Learn effective marketing for small business
Marketing Inside-Out!
Ready to move up a gear with your marketing? This simple shift in mind-set will increase your marketing ROI, guaranteed!
People often ask me “what’s the one thing that I can do quickly and easily to get a better result from my marketing”.
Not surprisingly, everyone’s looking for that elusive silver bullet to transform their marketing output. Well the good news guys, is that there IS a fundamental principle that will transform your marketing results, and what’s most surprising is that so few business people are aware of it.
I believe that business should be like any other professional vocation; you need to know your subject and continually update and expand your knowledge; and you probably feel the same – that’s why you’re reading this blog! Also see the PUSH Marketing Academy if you’re serious about getting better results.
So what’s this amazing principle and how does it work?
Let me describe a scenario that many business owners and managers would recognise. The vast majority of people I meet in business have a view of marketing that looks not too dissimilar to gambling. They expect to pay a price for the risk they take in trying to marketing their offering, be it products or services. They accept, without question, that they’re going to throw money at marketing and hope that they get a result that makes a profit. This is known as ‘spray and pray’. I’ve even met people who tell me that as long as they don’t lose money on their marketing spend they’ll be happy… that’s just crazy, marketing is all about creating a profit!
Marketing is actually very simple; it’s not an exact science and you’ll need to accept that some guesswork is required. However, there’s a fundamental principle you need to know before you commit to spending anything on your marketing plan and this is it:
Learn how to BUY more customers at a PROFIT
Most people spend their budget and hope that they’ll get enough back to make it worthwhile. This is a totally flawed approach and if it’s one you’re using now, I implore you to seriously consider what I’m about to tell you next.
Take a long hard look at your figures and understand the relationship between the Average Lifetime Customer Value in your business and your accepted/defined Cost of Acquisition. The relationship between these two will tell you how much you are able to spend to BUY each new customer at a profit. So start with what your figures tell you and they will guide your marketing strategy.
Understanding how Average Lifetime Customer value is calculated is essential to every business – Here’s a tool produced by Harvard Business School to explain it.
I’ve described this as a form of Inside-Out thinking for marketing. Many business owners/managers are looking outside for the answer, they want to use resources to go out and hunt down enough customers to keep the business alive. Instead, they should understand what their business is able and willing to spend to buy each new customer. This can be applied to any business, it’s not industry specific and a completely scaleable concept.
When you know the relationship between the real value of each customer (by looking at your costs and margins) and have decided what you feel is worth paying to buy them (known as the Cost of Acquisition) you will have a defined budget that you can work within and always ensure your marketing is profitable. And here’s your starter clue… aim for a CoA of 10-15%.
Applying this sort of mind-set to the way you view your marketing will transform your overall strategy. You’ll understand what you need to do to acquire more sales and build customer relationships that support and grow your business. You’ll feel in more control and above all you will feel far more confident in your marketing.
If you want to know more about this principle read more on my blog at www.nialadams.com and look out for the next edition of The Marketing Index about to be released later this month.
Nial Adams
PUSH Marketing Seminar with Nial Adams
The Money’s in the List!
A phrase I often heard from one of my mentors; “Nial, remember, the money’s in the list!”. What he meant was that the list of contacts, prospects (or even ‘suspects’), customers and clients we have is where the real value is in our business and the same is true of just about every business.
Smart business people understand the value of data and place a great deal of importance in it. Some businesses are designed simply to harvest data and little more else. I remember someone saying to me just a couple of years ago “so what’s facebook all about then; how are they going to make any money out of it if it’s free?!”. We could all laugh now at that statement but it was a valid point back then. I often find business owners who have great ideas but have actually put very little thought into how they can monetise their business proposition. One element that every business should focus on is the value and integrity of their prospect/client data. This is essential.
In March of this year (2010) facebook was estimated to be worth something in the region of $11Billion. With over 400 million subscribers (and growing fast) it’s interesting to see that this value is based purely on advertising revenues; remember facebook doesn’t actually sell anything, other than advertising to its list (nor does it have any sales people!). You might also be surprised to know that this year facebook’s advertising revenue is estimated to peak at $1.1Billion. Not a bad business model eh?
What’s more, a value of $3.60 was placed on each facebook fan to the various commercial fan-pages that exist. So even before we’ve ever bought anything through facebook we’re already a statistic and a valuable asset to the advertisers and facebook alike.
So, it’s fine to throw around these large numbers and unless you’ve got the next facebook planned out the point could be lost in all the excitement. No matter how big or small your enterprise is I would strongly encourage you to ensure your business model has a focus on your client/subscriber data. If you’re not doing much or anything about it right now, stop and take note. There are some key reasons why you list will be vital to you as your business grows:
Re-sales and repeat orders are a significant profit driver in every good business. Unless you have a product that can only be sold once and once only, you need to ensure that your business has an element that creates repeat sales. As you’ll no doubt have heard; it’s six times easier to resell to an existing customer as it is to find a new one. Whether this statistic is accurate is not the point here but the theme is critical. Too many business owners focus on sales and marketing that is ONLY directed at finding new customers, while they leave existing potantial profits on the table. Worse than this, if you don’t service your customers, keep them happy and help them buy more from you, you’ll see your competitors take them away from you.
Create a customer for someone else. I’ll be writing more about the power of communities soon but here’s something for you to think about now. Every time you attract and retain a new customer they are joining your community. At the same time there will be other businesses out there who could sell to your community. These would be parallel but non-competing. For example; we sell marketing services but our clients may also need accounting help, or staff training. Just think of the value you could already have in your list. Of course you must follow the rules regarding the sale/transfer of data but think about how many other businesses could gain value from working with your community and importantly, vice versa!
A friend and professional colleague just said to me the other day “selling data is a bit like prostitution, you get to sell the same thing over and over again!”. As an entrepreneur who has created a business worth over £2million (within four years) I’d say he’s got a point!
So my point is simple; if you’re not currently focusing on the data in your business, remedy this immediately. If you need some help to understand how to do this effectively and appropriately; then get some help (contact me for a start).
And remember, the money’s in your list..!
http://www.stevewrightphotography.co.uk/
The New Email Marketing Revolution is here, will you be joining us?
Find out how every business can harness the power of EFFECTIVE Email Marketing… today!
A 60-minute presentation that lifts the lid and shows you how you can steal the advantage!
For too long email marketing has been ineffective and hard to measure accurately. Many businesses still see email as a way to just stay in touch; however, significant new advances in email marketing technology have changed all this. The smart business owners and managers are using this already, are you?!
“Since we’ve been using the new system we’re getting results that are 100-200% better than anything before”
Email marketing is still rated as the most cost-effective way to get your message right under the nose of your target audience. Even more than this, it can deliver a number of ways to accelerate your business.
Nial Adams, acclaimed marketing specialist and public speaker will be delivering this presentation and sharing his knowledge with you.
“This guy knows what he’s talking about and shares everything!” – Previous Seminar Delegate
Attend this presentation and find out how properly managed Email Marketing can help you:
- Sell more and increase your profit margins
- Reduce waste in your current marketing
- Refine and grow your prospect/client data
- Help you find out what your customers actually want
- Build your client community and relationships
- Ensure email is integrated with your other marketing
Email Marketing has been around for years and for many the perception is that it simply doesn’t generate results and can alienate potential customers. New ways of managing and distributing your email campaigns can significantly increase the results you get and help you build on this month after month. Best of all, you can be up and running, in control, with your new email campaigns in a matter of days, and with low start-up costs.
People tell us:
“I don’t want people to see us as spammers”
“How can I effectively measure my results?”
“I don’t know enough about it to be confident”
In this fast-paced sixty-minute presentation you’ll find out how the new PUSH Email Marketing System is generating controllable results, today, that significantly beat the competition.
You will see a live demonstration of how powerful systems can help you run a campaign in the morning and start making sales in the afternoon. You’ll also find out why most businesses that use email marketing currently are actually damaging their brand, losing out on simple ways to increase results and letting their profits end up in the pockets of their competition.
TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT PLEASE CALL - 0843 289 1590
OR EMAIL – briefing@pushemailmarketing.co.uk
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Does email marketing really work?!
Email Marketing – Scourge or Saviour?!
Today email has changed the face of modern communications. We have the ability not only to open and read our emails at our desk or on our laptop but with mobile technology, our email accounts (and we’re sure to have more than one) can live in our pockets. Smartphones and netbooks mean we can take our email wherever we go. And who knows what the new iPad from Apple will do for it!
So how has all this affected the power of email marketing? Well, firstly there has been a significant change in the way smart marketers are using email. Sadly, there will always be the spammers, happy to spew out millions of emails a week with completely non-relevant subjects to every possible address on the planet. However, new technology and greater access to it now allows everyone the opportunity to harness email as it should be used, following that well-worn marketing mantra of Right Message – Right Person – Right Time.
With a stronger move towards the powerful concept of Permission-Based Marketing, good marketers out there are looking for ways to get appropriate messages in front of potentially interested customers. More than this, we can learn about our customers too.
Email marketing, used properly, can become a cornerstone of a solid marketing strategy. It can be used to attract new customers, as well as maintain effective contact with existing ones. It allows us to deliver the right message in a timely way and, most importantly, to the right individual.
Other reasons why email marketing is still among the top tools for SMEs include:
Speed; there really is no other way (with the exception of SMS Marketing perhaps) of getting a campaign running faster. You can release a campaign in the morning and start making sales in the afternoon. You also get very fast (real-time) statistics that allow you to fine-tune your marketing campaign as you go.
Split-testing; I can’t believe there are still people out there who continue to run the same adverts week after week, month after month, with no plan to test them. This really is CRITICAL and split testing is the easiest way to achieve this. If you’re not aware of how to do this, FIND OUT and stop wasting your money.
Return on Investment; because email marketing can be so much cheaper than other forms of marketing, if you USE IT PROPERLY, you’ll see an amazing ROI. It’s no longer about ‘spray and pray’ it’s all about getting the mix right.
So what is the magic mix? Well, I’m going to give the game away at my next seminar on email marketing but here’s a sneak preview of the elements that I’ve found have a massive impact on results:
Get good data – This really is rule number 1. You will want to collect and source data in the right way and if you’re buying/renting data then use good suppliers, there are many out there.
Use a good email system – Forget about trying to manage your emails through standard applications like your Outlook account, you’re wasting your time and money. A proper email marketing tool will give you amazing power and control over your campaigns and help you to build progressively. Try this one!
Know how to play the game – Understand how email marketing works and what the ‘rules’ are. These are really quite simple (when you know them!) and will help you double, treble or more your campaign results.
Get strategic as well as tactical – Ensure that you build your email marketing into your overall sales and marketing plan. It will never work effectively for you if you just do it occasionally and with little thought or attention.
And lastly…
Always remember to use email to appropriately – It will help you to build your community and maintain contact with it. Stick to the guidelines and you’ll ensure your emails are seen as positive communication, not intrusive and annoying.
STOP PRESS: Watch this space… PUSH Marketing Partners will be running a competition and giving away 1 License for their new PUSH Email Marketing System and 1 years worth of free support and training, worth £1480..!
Why most businesses struggle with their marketing
And why your business should be boring and predictable!
For a little over twenty years now I’ve been looking at what makes a successful business tick and, more to the point, why it is that so many businesses struggle to get off the ground and stay aloft. For several years I was convinced that the only way to be sure my own business would be successful was to read every book, study every ‘guru’ and learn the hidden secrets that clearly eluded so many.
I also fell for the big lie; I now call this the M-myth… OK, Mr Gerber got there first but just as the ‘E-myth’ explains what holds back so many business owners (and it’s a must read!), my version, the M-myth, is a simple way to let you know that marketing really isn’t as difficult as you might imagine and much of what people believe about it just isn’t true.
Now, I know I’ll ruffle more than a few feathers when I say this but let me share something very important with you. Most of what you’ll read and hear about marketing, especially from the so-called marketing experts, is total bunkum. What a lot of marketing experts want you to believe is that marketing is actually a very difficult and complex subject and far too technical for the average business owner to understand.
The truth is very different. I believe (and have proved) that you can teach most business owners and managers the simple mechanics of good marketing practice and that these can be applied very quickly and easily. Above all, you don’t need to spend a small fortune. There’s no magic involved and there is a simple formula that can be learned and followed. You just need someone you can trust to show you how this works and how to apply it to your business.
Certainly, there is no getting away from the fact that a very large proportion of businesses, of all sizes and types, are wasting hard-earned profits, making unnecessary mistakes and losing out to the smarter, better informed competition. The big problem with marketing is that there are so many ways you can approach it and an almost endless list of marketing methods and approaches. This tends to be confusing for a lot of people; as a result they normally resort to doing one of two things:
1) Try to do what they THINK will work for them and spend time and money going around in circles never really getting the consistent results they want and never being really clear about what works and what doesn’t. Or…
2) Alternatively, they trust a marketing ‘expert’ who helps them spend money on feeling good about their business but still doesn’t really produce results that can be defined or, most importantly, replicated.
There are a couple of really vital things I’d like to make you aware of and can guarantee that if you start to apply this type of thinking to your marketing, and your business as a whole, you’ll begin to see better results and be able to build on this progressively. Both of these points were vital business components I learned from my mentor about ten years ago and I’ve proved since then how essential and valuable these really are.
RULE No. 1 First of all, make marketing the core of your business.
This radically changes the way many business owners think of their business. All too often marketing is an afterthought in many businesses. Let me paint you a picture; most of us go into business, in a particular field, because we have an interest, passion or in-depth knowledge of it. This is exactly what Gerber talks about in the E-myth. This is not wrong but what is vital is to understand that the core strength in your business is probably not going to be your knowledge of the given subject but rather your knowledge of business mechanics themselves. In other words; don’t focus on your expertise in making chocolates, selling insurance, designing IT solutions, or whatever it is you do; focus on your business skills first.
It’s shocking to consider that most people running their own business are doing so not because they know, have learned or have been taught about good business skills but rather because they are knowledgeable and have a passion for the subject of their business. Many business owners and managers actually know very little about how to run a business using proven and successful systems and processes.
Of all the business skills you need to learn about, one of the most essential (arguably THE most essential) is to know how to market what you have. If you cannot successfully market what you have, every other element of your business fails to have any purpose. It’s no good being the best salesperson if you can’t attract good prospects and potential customers. It’s no good being the best specialist in your field if you don’t have anyone to buy your products or services from you. It’s no good being adept at the management, financial control, etc. in your business if you don’t have a queue of people wanting to buy from you.
Many business owners will look at a way to outsource their marketing. If you make and sell widgets, or if you provide customers with a great service it seems obvious that this is where you need to focus your efforts but the fact is that everything in your business will flow from your marketing.
I’ve often come across business owners who tell me that they have such confidence in their brand and customer loyalty that they simply don’t need to promote or market what they have. Admittedly, a very few businesses are so famous, so unique, that they will always have a queue for their product/service, however this is very rare. It’s no coincidence that a large number of these other businesses have simply withered and perished during the last recession. You cannot, ever, be complacent about your ability to attract new customers, if you have no marketing platform, you put your business at serious risk.
My mentor shared with me a concept that your business should become a marketing business and in fact you should outsource everything else! That might sound a little too radical but I hope I make the point. Know how to successfully market what you have and you will always have a business that thrives and has the potential to be profitable. Invest in yourself and your business; learn how to market what you have properly and successfully, everything else will fall into place.
RULE No. 2. Business should be ’boring and predictable’
When one of my early mentors first told me this I was a little shocked and really rather disappointed; I wanted my business to be fun, exciting and a challenge that I could really get my teeth into. Then he explained more fully; your business should follow a proven system. Every business is a ‘system of systems’. You should know what happens in your business and learn that when you do something the result will be predictable. I’ve come to understand this philosophy and appreciate the simplistic beauty of it.
When you begin a marketing campaign you should have a resource of data and knowledge from your previous campaign and be able to build upon this. Each time you run a new campaign or exercise you can get a better result and continue to fine tune it. Just like a Formula 1 racing team, you don’t turn up at the next race and start making radical changes that you are uncertain about. You build on the experience you have and the business data that tells you what works and what doesn’t. This is something I’ve been applying over the past couple of years to email marketing; now my results are consistently 200-300% higher than the industry averages.
I know this concept works and I can prove it to you. Just about every successful business I’ve ever come across, worked with or engaged with as a consumer, has something in common; they have solid systems and processes that they follow every day. These aren’t guess work, they are supported by the evidence of success built up over time. So what about that new business that’s just starting out? Well, even better; if yours is a new business you have the chance to start as you mean to go on and build systems in your business that test and measure what you do and what results you get. Once you’ve got systems in place you can repeat these over and over again, continually fine tuning and refining your business. This will help you to ensure your business becomes ‘boring and predictable’ – and why do you want this?
- Your business should be systemised, then you can train others to run and manage the different components for you.
- You can actually take time off, step away from the day-to-day running of your business – do you have a business or a job?
- You can replicate and scale up your business when you have proven systems and processes – think of all the largest companies; from a coffee chain like Costa to airline like Virgin, a high-street bank and supermarket, they all share something in common, they have standard systems and operating procedures.
- You can build systems within your business that become part of the asset value and you can sell it!
KEY LEARNING POINTS:
- Don’t believe everything you hear or read in the marketing books – marketing doesn’t need to be complex!
- Accept that learning and understanding about business skills is often more important than the subject of your product or service
- There are lots of marketing methods and approached; you need to find the ones that work for you; you’ll need to test and measure to find this out.
- Don’t continually repeat marketing campaigns and exercises because you THINK they work; get the evidence from your results!
- Put solid marketing at the core of your business and build everything else around this, or outsource parts of the business that you don’t need to do.
- Don’t become reliant upon strong customer loyalty always have a marketing plan in place and use it.
- Build systems in your business, no mater how small it might be – scale up and replicate these for growth and capital value.
- Avoid radical changes and jumping around with ideas; follow a structure and build your business on it one step at a time.
And lastly…
Aim to have a business that’s boring and predictable - this way you’ll know what to expect, have control over your business and the ability to step away from it and enjoy it. Remember; you’re building a business, not giving yourself a job!
Resources; Michael Gerber on the E-myth.
Nial Adams
The 7 Key Buying Criteria
“Follow this simple advice and I guarantee you’ll see the results from your marketing increase!”
Here are the seven key buying criteria (or key purchasing criteria) that a potential customer/prospect will consider when presented with an opportunity to buy something, anything – this applies whether we are standing outside looking at a restaurant menu, thinking about purchasing a new car, or considering professional services. Your job is to give them the answers they are looking for!
- What is it?
- What does it do?
- Why do I need it?
- What will I get?
- Why should I buy it from you?
- What’s the price?
- What’s the deal?
This is an obvious and logical sequence of questions we would all ask when making a buying decision. Your responsibility when marketing your products or services is to help potential customers make a “quick and confident buying decision”. To do this, you need to communicate effectively and help them to answer these questions. Once they have done this they are then able to move towards making a purchase. And always remember, buying something is a very different experience to ‘being sold to’.
Once you’re able to satisfy the questioner, they are then free to engage emotion and become more open to the desire of buying from you. Essentially, your marketing can help to speed up this process by providing this information early on. This helps to shorten the sales cycle and, above all, builds a higher degree of trust and confidence. All of this leads the consumer to feeling a greater degree of control; an essential element and the key difference between buying and being sold to.
WARNING: of the last two criteria listed be very careful. It is not always wise to disclose the cost of the product/service you are looking to sell. Specifically, you should never disclose the PRICE until you have firmly established the VALUE. Some products, like mass consumable goods, have a recognised price point, these goods have a nominal value (the most obvious example of this is fuel – there is very little scope for adding value on petrol, so many of us buy on convenience and price). Don’t ever be drawn into selling on price; customers you win on price, you will lose on price!
In the next section we’ll look at what each of these Buying Criteria actually means and how we can use them to create powerful and compelling marketing messages.
Here is the breakdown of how these criteria actually work and how you need to answer them:
1. What is it?
This may sound very obvious but in some cases – and the marketing of professional services is very relevant here – we simply don’t understand quickly and easily what’s being offered for sale. Do you ever find yourself reading an advert, sales letter or watching a TV commercial and thinking “but what actually is it?”. In marketing there are prizes to be won for clever designs and smart campaigns, however most business owners prefer to measure success by profit in the bank!
Keep it simple; that’s always the rule. Don’t try to be clever or keep them guessing, just tell them what it is. By doing this you can then move on to answering the next questions, accelerate the process and maximise your sales results.
2. What does it do?
Okay, once your prospect has a good idea of what you’re actually offering for sale the next thing is to explain what it does. This is where we need to start unpacking the ‘features and benefits’ that we often hear and read about.
Again, keep this simple. If it’s a product or service that your customer may have no experience of or never have purchased before, they’re going to want to know what it does. Don’t make this complicated. The best forms of advertising are able to get the message across in succinct terms and with clarity. Avoid jargon, test your message with people and ask for sincere feedback.
3. Why do I need it?
Here we are focusing on the benefits to the end-user and this is where we need to focus on the EMOTIONAL reasons why we feel a consumer will want to buy this product from us. A very good way to express this (given sufficient time/space in your marketing message) is to use case studies and examples of how other customers have used the product/service themselves. This establishes third-party credibility and uses the concept of ‘social proof’ (see R. Cialdini’s work on Influence). This is an extremely powerful tool in marketing. The power of branding is at its core all about social proof.
Remember even though emotion is the key to creating a great marketing message we need to support this with logic – “We buy on emotion and justify with logic”. Some consumers are less interested in tangible reasons, others are much more ‘left-brain’ and will want you to fill in the detail for them.
4. What do I get?
This is probably one of the simplest elements to articulate and again requires clarity. When we buy anything we really want to know what we will receive as part of the transaction. In many cases this is very simple; we want the detail of the product/service we are purchasing. However this still gives us the opportunity to use good marketing practice to increase the perceived value of the sale. In some cases this could be achieved by giving more detail on the features and benefits. Alternatively we can ADD VALUE. Stacking up the value is a very powerful way to increase the emotional desire; just watch a TV shopping channel to see how it’s done! Remember as well, giving detail at this stage is important in terms of the specifics that set the legal basis for our sale, so be clear and open.
5. Why should I buy it from you?
This is a very interesting element of the marketing message and one that often gets forgotten and left out of the way that businesses present their offer. REMEMBER: there are always TWO elements to a marketing message 1) promoting the product/service itself and 2) promoting you as the seller. Many businesses forget this (or simply don’t know it) at their peril. Have you ever been convinced about buying a new product, something that you weren’t previously aware of, only to then go off and find somewhere else to actually make your purchase? Online sales have demonstrated this significantly. As the online market expanded a few years ago, many shops and businesses began to lose vast numbers of sales because people would try/experience a product for real in the retail environment, only to go home and then order it for less on the Internet. Sound familiar?!
To ensure your marketing message is complete and effective you must always give a good reason why the customer should buy from you, over and above the other providers out there. This means you need to differentiate your offer. You need something that makes you stand out. One of the simplest, most effective and yet most overlooked way of doing this is to offer some form of guarantee. Because so few businesses have the confidence to do this it can be a highly effective way to ensure the prospective customer buys your product/service.
6. What’s the price?
As mentioned above be very careful about how you disclose price. There are several mechanisms that can be used to enhance this element; one is known as ‘price-positioning’. This is where we essentially build up the value and demonstrate why we believe it to be the case and then offer what appears to be a discounted value. Again, adding value is far more powerful than offering any form of real discount.
Price is a very important element of all business operations and one that many fail to test or really give enough consideration to. It could be that because of the nature of your product or service you may not want to disclose the price openly – this can be dangerous, especially if your competition can use this information against you. Above all though, the one most important thing to remember is that price is still all about perceived value. Price means different things to different people.
7. What’s the deal?
We all like a deal, right?! So with this final element we have the chance to establish a good deal and used correctly this is something that can close the sale. Remember, your customers should be left with a compelling feeling to buy from you. When offering a deal always remember to use the TWO key elements of scarcity – make your deal time sensitive (put an expiry date on in) and limit the volume available.
In Summary:
- Your job is to help customers make a quick and confident buying decision – not sell to them!
- Don’t try to be overly clever; good marketing practice gets to the result quickly and cleanly
- Get honest feedback and test your message – communication is about the response you get
- Engage people’s emotion – it’s the key to selling anything – but support this with logic
- Remember there are always TWO elements when marketing your business and products/services
- Only ever disclose your price once you’ve established the value of your offer
- Use time and volume scarcity to increase your offer and shorten your sales cycle
These seven points will help you to articulate what you’re offering and help customers to move towards you; get them to buy from you, give them a product/service that stacks up and you’ll not only have them coming back for more but also telling all their friends about you!
Make your marketing work!
When PUSH comes to shove – business propulsion with a Trusted Partner
Businesses everywhere are missing the opportunity to expand, grow and most of all become profitable and stable, especially in these more turbulent times. There are several reasons for this, including their approach to systems, marketing, sales and people, to name a few.
For many it’s more about knowing who to listen to and who to trust for sound and practical advice. Selecting an appropriate Marketing Partner can be daunting. For many the experience of choosing one agency over another can be little more than a roll of the dice. Likewise, expensive consultancy can leave you with more questions than answers.
PUSH is a very different concept in marketing support. Through a network of specialist and experienced business growth consultants we work side-by-side with the owners and managers of businesses who are serious about growth and stability.
“Business growth is a choice, not luck; some people understand how to move their business forward, others need help, guidance and the resource of knowledge proven to deliver results…” Nial Adams – Consultant & Marketing Partner for PUSH
PUSH Marketing Partners; someone to share the journey and show you the way… Building a business can be a rewarding, exhilarating and exciting experience! For many people an in-depth knowledge of their subject, product or chosen field is a good place to start but may still show up gaps in business knowledge.
Marketing, for example, is where we often find business owners and managers struggling. Knowing how to apply appropriate and effective marketing methods that generate bottom-line revenue is essential for every business. And yet surprisingly so many businesses and organisations burn hard-earned profits month after month simply because they lack essential knowledge and the support of an experienced partner.
PUSH Marketing Partners take a refreshing and unique approach to helping you get fast, tangible and profitable results from changes to your marketing. We work with clients, remaining focused on their key objectives and match these to a strategy and tactics that are designed do deliver tangible results.