Applying Leverage To Beat Bigger Competitors

As football coach, if you give me a slight, 150 pound running back and I can show him how to block a 300 pound charging linebacker. It’s the same as in your business…It’s all about how you apply leverage to what you have!

I can be awfully intimidating when you look across the line and see a man twice your size waiting to knock you out. But when you understand the fundamentals and have confidence in your abilities, it is inevitable that you will defeat this bigger, badder opponent.

All it takes is positioning yourself so you can apply leverage to his weakest point.

There is no such thing as a perfect product or service that has the ability to appeal to everyone in the market. It just doesn’t happen. You can be as big and strong as Nike, McDonalds, or Starbucks but you will always have a weakness that can be attacked and exploited by savvy and more nimble entrepreneurs – like you.

Even if you are facing well established competitors with deep pockets, you can defeat them by attacking their weak points and leveraging your strengths. That’s what winning the marketing game is all about…Scoring the most sales by better positioning your offer as the obvious, risk free choice to prospects, clients and customers.

You can defeat that 300pound linebacker you face in your market just by leveraging your strengths against the vulnerable gaps in their marketing. It all starts with your strategies, tactics, and techniques!

It's Time for Some Football!!!

Yippee! Football season is almost here!

As most of you know, I coach football in the falls for my local school district in Dexter, Michigan.

Besides marketing, football is my other passion that I pursue. Hence the name of my marketing system - Touchdown Marketing System.

In my humble opinion, football is the ultimate team sport because it requires a diverse collection of players with different skills working together to achieve a goal. It requires toughness, tenacity and perseverance....just like marketing your business.

I love all sports and have played a lot of baseball, basketball, volleyball, bowling and many others. All these games have merit and I highly respect those who are dedicated to competing at all levels. But football is the most demanding physically, mentally and socially.

There are so many parallels to marketing that I could fill dozens of blog posts. Them most important is the need to prepare before you play. Preparing and practicing for a single game each week is intense and difficult. As small business owner, so is developing and sticking with your marketing to it works.

There is nothing more exciting than scoring a hard earned touchdown in football. To me it's just like winning the trust of a prospect and make a sale.

Marketing Lessons from a Magazine?

I write to you today from the Plymouth District Library. I’m in between appointments with coaching clients and all the tables at Panera Bread were taken because it’s lunchtime.

(Sidebar: when you’re at Panera by yourself during lunchtime on your laptop, get up and let someone who is there to eat lunch have your table. It’s just common courtesy and your $1.69 cup of coffee doesn’t cover rent for 3 hours.)

I’m sitting in the library adjacent to the magazine racks and a magazine caught my attention. On the cover was the title: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

I thought to myself, “Interesting, a magazine devoted to atomic scientists.”

Then I remembered, “There’s a magazine for just about any topic or industry.” Sure enough, after glancing around a little more, I spotted Backyard Bird - for bird watchers, Costal Living – even though Plymouth is land locked, Cooking for 2, Current History, Cosmopolitan, Genealogical Helper, The Herb Companion and on and on.

Each had an attention grabbing headline. Atomic scientists do have a sense of humor; one article is called “Home On the Nuclear Range.’’ Coastal Living is touting “Summer Vacations” and, of course, Cosmo’s is “Taboo Sex.” Each of these did what they were designed to do…stop me in my tracks and notice it!

Magazines are a great place to start as you select your target market of potential fans. They are so focused on a single, niche subject that you can gather a lot of marketing intelligence from the ones that serve your chosen industry.

You may not be able to afford to place an ad in a magazine at this moment. But you can check out the tactics and techniques that are being used to market to that niche. What’s their strategy…image or lead generation? Are they trying to drive traffic to their website? Do they use coupons?

Notice their headlines and ad copy. What’s the benefit their selling? What’s their call to action? Do they have a guarantee? What are the emotional triggers their using?

Check out the articles inside. What topics are they discussing? Are there any trends that you can spot? What’s the point of view and the attitude they are using? Is there anything you can leverage in your marketing?

You can learn a lot inside the cover of a magazine that serves your market. Take the time to do some research in your industry magazines and study the contents. You may find a wealth of ideas and concepts that point your marketing in the right direction.

At least now I know how to reach atomic scientists! Oh, by the way, here's their website - http://www.thebulletin.org

Whew! Here's an Offer You Can't Refuse.

Greetings fellow marketers!

I've been neglecting this blog recently due to the fact that I've been working on my new marketing program - "How to Win The Marketing Game: Six Strategic Fundamentals to Take Your Business From Existing to Marketing Champion"

I must say that writing can be very exhausting and frustrating. I respect anyone who pens any significant amount of copy or content for people to read.

Writing allows me to share my passion for marketing with others. Marketing is a big mystery to a large majority of people who start a business. My goal is to help educate as many people as possible on the need to market their business.

So for a limited time, until July 25th to be exact, I'm offering a free coaching session to entrepreneurs who want to learn how to market their business better. This will be a phone session where you call me and we will discuss the marketing challenges you currently face.

I'm doing this so I can get a better understanding of what you are facing in your business. This will help me develop my next marketing product and to serve your needs better.

You can request your coaching session by clicking this link: Free Coaching Session.

I hope you decide to take advantage of this one-time offer!

To all your marketing victories,

Coach Ron