During hard economic times your business depends on
marketing more than ever. Don't just give up and wait
for the recession to pass. Your business can thrive
even during the recession, but you need to do MORE
marketing than you do when the economy is booming.
I was recently consulting an artist specializing in
drawing quite unique type of portraits -- portraits of
houses. Like so many other business owners she was
struggling with attracting enough clients willing to
buy her art.
When I asked how she markets her talent and art
pieces, she answered that she belongs to a leads club
and to the Chamber of Commerce. She also had a yellow
page listing but she admitted it was generating calls from people
shopping by price, not for high quality art pieces.
No wonder her business suffered. It was not NEARLY
enough marketing to make any business survive, let alone
thrive!
Sadly, it is not an isolated case. Chances are that
you too have no consistent marketing strategy.
Are you using just one or two, sometimes three tactics,
rather haphazardly? That kind of scattered approach
produces low quality leads. Don't get surprised that
the orders or inquiries are not from your ideal type
of client.
The key to marketing is to focus on the most desired
segment of your possible prospects and to expose them to
your marketing message repeatedly. It takes on average seven
times for your prospects to SEE your message before you are
able to overcome their natural barriers of mistrust, apathy
and lack of interest.
Here are my favorite Marketing Pillars -- to succeed in
difficult times, set a goal to implement all of them in
your marketing plan:
1. Direct mail -- regularly send to your target market
letters, cards, coupon books, postcards, etc.
2. Print advertising -- targeted newspaper advertising
is essential for most types of business and produces
excellent results if done properly.
3. Directory listings -- although the yellow pages is not
effective for every business (rarely for an artist),
there are some specific directories in which you should
be listed.
4. Telemarketing -- make it a part of your marketing mix
as well. Quite often the ONLY way to reach the best
type of prospects is by phone!
5. Referral System -- structured referral program and
personal endorsements can bring you new business
predictably and consistently. But the process needs
to be orchestrated, not left to a chance.
6. Customer education -- give before taking. Offer special
reports, booklets, brochures and educational seminars.
This is an extremely powerful way to generate leads and
to establish yourself as the expert in your field.
7. Public Relations -- frequently send press releases to the
publications your prospects read. Having your name in print
is a powerful (and low cost) method of keeping your name
in front of your target market.
8. Internet marketing -- keep in mind that just having a web
site is not nearly enough. You need a web site that
consistently generates leads. And you need to combine
it with effective e-mail marketing.
Putting to work all those different marketing methods will
create a consistent flow of qualified leads for you and your
business. And that will not only protect you from a dry spell,
but it will catapult your business to the orbit of success.
Even during the recession.
How to Succeed in Business During a Recession
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