MARKETING
stay in contact with and extend your power base.
"THE TYPES OF MARKETING THAT WORK
BEST ARE A COMBINATION OF RESULTS-
ORIENTED DIRECT MARKETING AND
LOW-COST OR NO-COST VISIBILITY-
ENHANCING PUBLICITY TECHNIQUES."
W
When things get slow, increase the amount of time you spend on
marketing and prospecting for new business. If you usually devote
10 percent of your time and energy to marketing and prospecting
when things are fairly busy, you might increase this to 50 percent
when things are slow. It’s easy to find yourself doing little more
than being worried, scared and unproductive when sales aren’t
coming in. When things tighten up you must be more disciplined,
structured and constructive with the time you have.
Here are two ways to start selling your products again:
1. CREATE NEW PROBLEMS:
Attack every aspect of your marketing platform with massive
action and energy. Massive is defined in the dictionary as “large in
comparison with what is typical.” My own personal definition is,
“that amount of action that will create new problems for yourself
and your company.”
Yes, you read that right. You want to create new problems. Most
people stop short of this approach; in fact, they usually try to
avoid all problems, just to end up with the same old boring
recurring situations that they have had for years. They then end
up with dull, familiar problems instead of adventurous and
positive problems. Massive is critical to making your marketing
efforts effective.
2. GET CREATIVE:
In addition to traditional approaches, research and employ
creative ways to make your organization more widely known.
Don’t think of marketing in terms of just costing money since a
lot of efforts can be made without any budget just by utilizing
your energy. The types of marketing that work best are a
combination of results-oriented direct marketing (direct-response
print ads, sales letters, self-mailers, special offers) and low-cost or
no-cost visibility-enhancing publicity techniques (press releases,
articles, speeches, booklets, seminars, newsletters, radio and TV
interviews).
Never try to replace the more labor-intensive marketing efforts
with traditional paid advertising. A lull in business requires that
you expend extra effort to attract clients, follow up on leads, and
While you can accomplish this through traditional advertising,
utilize activities that don’t cost any money: phone calls, personal
visits, mail, emails, fliers, social networking on the Internet,
church activities, newsletters, seminars, briefings, “good news”
newsletters, instructional videos, community involvement,
magazine writing, taking on a public office, speaking at Rotary
clubs, coaching your kid’s soccer team — and so on. These methods
build goodwill, get you better known and cost nothing but your
time and energy!
Whatever you do, be sure you stick with it. Take action
consistently and aggressively during every day, week and month
throughout the year. You must commit to a marketing program
throughout the year — not just when you need the business — in
order for any one of these initiatives to work. Whether it’s a
traditional advertisement or some of the other marketing
strategies already mentioned, make sure you can stay with it
because all marketing takes some time to get traction.
I look at how much it will cost to run that program over the course
of a year, not a week or month. While this technique ensures a
steady stream of new business contacts in the future, it isn’t
guaranteed to reap immediate results. The promotion you conduct
today sets in motion a selling cycle that will result in new business
when you need it six months into the future.
You have to aggressively and effectively learn to market. It’s about
investing energy. Remember that no economy, no matter how bad,
can hold down a goal that is followed by enough action.
BONUS MATERIAL
TM.MEDIA/TM111
GO HERE TO LISTEN TO HIS PODCAST
Best-selling Author, TV and
Radio personality and Self
made Entrepreneur and
American Patriot Warrior
for the Middle Class, Grant
works with Fortune 100
companies customizing sales
processes and improving
customer experiences. His
clients include Google, Morgan
Stanley, Ford, Chrysler, Aflac,
Sprint, WellsFargo, Allstate,
StateFarm and more.
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