Dedication, Hard Work, Persistence: The Stuff of Champions

What does it take to become a champion in your market? The same as it take to win the Stanley Cup.

As a resident of Michigan and a Detroit Red Wings fan, it has been a thrilling week. The Wings brought home the Stanley Cup to Detroit for the 11th time in their history.

I've been fortunate to have witnessed four of them and also have seen other championship trophies be hoisted by our local heroes - 2 by the Tigers, 3 by the Pistons and several by the Wolverines and Spartans.

So what does this have to do with marketing? A lot!

The lesson is this: It doesn't matter what you are trying to win, there are many critical factors involved that put you on top of all of your competitors. But, there are three factors stand above the rest: Dedication, Hard Work and Persistence.

This year's NHL champs had a huge supply of each of these qualities. A typical small business owner must also possess large quantities of all three. Most businesses don't go through a defined season that begins at opening day and ends with a trophy presentation. Instead, they compete in a never ending competition each and every day to score sales and win profits.

Every entrepreneur must be dedicated to their business success. Like hockey players, there's a lot of sweat and blood that goes into reaching the top. It's not easy to come out on top with all the hurdles and obstacles that are put in front of you. Being dedicated to your vision and working with a sense of purpose is indispensable to consistent sales.

Hard work is usually the difference between success and failure. As a football coach, I could tell plenty of stories that show a less talented player achieving success because of their work ethic. It's no cliche that hard work is rewarded in business and life. However, hard work must also be teamed with working smart to truly lead to a championship.

Persistence is the most vital intangible in sports and business. Handling adversity and refusing to give up on your goals is critical to winning anything. At heart of persistence is an unwavering belief in what you have dedicated to yourself to. Without this belief, there is little chance of reaching an goal.

Marketing your business must be built on dedication, hard work and persistence. If you lack in any of these three qualities your business will suffer and not achieve the status of being a champion.

You may never get to hoist the Stanley Cup, but as a marketing champion in your industry you could hoist a big, fat wallet full of cash instead.

Go From Underdog to Marketing Champion!

To go from underdog to champion in your market you must master the fundamentals and develop the skills of marketing better than you competitors.

Chances are you are good at what you do. You have the technical knowledge and experience to make the products or perform the services that make you money. But do you know how to market and sell them effectively and consistently?

To do so, you must have a winning marketing system that is designed to dominate your competition!

As a marketing coach, I can help you go from the position of marketing underdog to marketing champion in your industry. I would like to provide you with what you need to win the market game and dominate your competition.

For a limited time, I am offering you a FREE Tryout Membership to my TOUCHDOWN MAKERS LEAGUE.

This is a two month membership which will start you down the path of a marketing champion.

As a league member every month you will receive, valuable tools, techniques and resources that will help you develop the four action areas of your marketing – your game plan, your strategies, your tactics and your execution.

Here’s are the FOUR league member benefits you get with your FREE Tryout Membership:

• League Member Benefit #1: Two issues of the “Marketing Champions” newsletter.
• League Member Benefit #2: Access to my "ChalkTalk Marketing Clinics" teleseminar.
• League Member Benefit #3: Receive by fax my monthly “Hot Marketing Play Sheet”.
• League Member Benefit #4: Access to my "Touchdown Makers Members Only" website.

Together, these four monthly tools will guide you through the fundamentals of the marketing game and teach you how to become a marketing champion. You will gain the knowledge, the skills and the confidence to take on the big, bad wolf in your market and come out on top!

But wait! There's more! (Sorry, couldn't resists.)

I also have four free gifts for you! Just like the four League Member Benefits listed above, these gifts are valuable marketing tools which will help you grow your business.

There is just too much to put on one single blog post, so to learn how to get all of this great marketing information. Click on this link now - TD-Marketing-System.com/freetryout

Somebody is going to win the marketing game in your industry. Is it going to be you?

The place to start is here - with your free league tryout.

To all your marketing victories,

Coach Ron

Is Your Marketing Ready For The Media's Bad News?

In U.S. the Memorial Holiday weekend is upon us and, of course, gas prices have shot up even more. In southeast Michigan the prices are just above $4.00 per gallon.

My sympathies to those who are experiencing even higher, more painful gouging at the pump in their town.

If that's not bad enough, the local news media around Detroit just love reminding us of the rising cost of gas...like we couldn't see it for ourselves. Every time they do a story about this issue for dramatic effect they stand some poor reporter to a gas station around the airport.

This gas station is always has the highest price in the region...about 15 to 20% higher than any store. This last chance station takes advantage of the poor souls who desperately need gas before they jump on the freeway to get home. Most people begrudgingly pay the price because they just want to get home.

The point is that the news media always focuses on the worst case scenario to gain viewer's attention. This isn't limited to only gas prices! No matter what the bad news, they find a way to blow reality out of the water and strike fear into minds of gullible viewers.

Problem is that these viewers are your prospects, customers and clients. Is your marketing ready to counter act the bad news that they are fed by the media? The situation in Michigan with gas prices is a real threat to the huge tourist economy in the state.

Typically, people who live in the lower half of the state migrate to the northern woods and lakes for rest and relaxation. (There is much more to Michigan than the problems of the auto industry and Detroit's mayor!) With these kind of prices, the media is subconsciously telling us not to go up north because it is so expensive. They are actually interviewing people who choose to stay home this weekend because of the added cost.

The message is - "You better not go because it will cost you more." Unfortunately, many will heed this message and change their plans. This hurts the companies in the tourist regions and does more damage to the overall economy. These bearers of the bad "news" are influencing the marketplace negatively and worsening the problem.

So how can you prepare yourself from the influence of these drama queens? First, you need to be nimble and ready to shift your marketing message on a moments notice. This does not mean you get away from your core message, but to address the situation as your company as part of the solution. And, second, change the focus of your offer to match the markets shift.

If you own a small gift shop in Mackinaw City you must develop strategies to get buyers to increase the transaction size of their purchases this year. Store traffic will undoubtedly be lower this summer, so you need to be proactive with your marketing tactics to increase sales.

Retailers in the lower part of the state should market more frequently and change their summer marketing message to capitalize on the pent up demand that will accompany more people staying at home. Reconnecting with existing customers with loyalty programs and frequent buyer discounts or bonuses will strengthen your relationship with them and lead to more sales.

There is a way to defeat these pushers of doom and gloom. It just requires creative thinking and speedy execution. So don't get down and depressed from the situation, get to work and turn lemons into lemonade.

For ideas to get you inspired and motivated, visit www.td-marketing-system.com/seminar and listen to the free mini-seminar on how to score more sales.

To all you marketing victories,

Coach Ron
Unabashed optimist in the capitalist system

A Powerful Referral Marketing Secret: Tell a Testimonial Story

The fuel that drives the referral marketing process is the testimonial story.

Testimonials happen when one person shares with another about the positive experience they’ve had with your company. A good testimonial is worth its weight in gold and is as close as you can get to sure sale from a new prospect. But do you really leverage the full power of testimonials as you work to market your business?

By nature, a testimonial is really a transfer of experience to another person. When one shares their experience they are really telling a story.

Storytelling is part of our human existence. It’s how we communicate at a very basic level. When you go home from a day at work, what usually happens? You tell your spouse or family a story of what occurred in during your day at work.

A good story stimulates the other person’s imagination and helps put them mentally into the situation. When you hear a well told story, you can almost feel like you are the one who experienced it.

In business, we don’t utilize the power of storytelling enough. Typically, most referrals are brief snippets but not the whole story. To become a better referral partner you need to tell more stories to the people you know. Avoid simply giving them the “I know someone” referral. This is only the beginning of the process. Instead, focus on sharing the entire experience you had with the other person.

However, there is a caveat. You must find the right situation to provide a referral story. If you tell boring, unsolicited stories that have no value to the other person, you will come across as annoying. This requires some discretion and utilizing your sales instincts of when to offer the referral story.

Recognizing the opportunity to provide a referral story is a skill that you must be developed. A chance to refer another can come from anywhere. It could be your spouse, your business partner or the guy in front of you at the grocery store. The key is to be ready with your referral story to promote others and they in turn will promote you…the ultimate win-win!

Referrals are the cornerstone of creating relationships - one of the six marketing fundamentals. To learn more about the six marketing fundamentals for winning the marketing game - click here.

To all you marketing victories,

Coach Ron

The Marketing Game - Win or Lose Its Up To You

Allow me to make a bold statement - there’s a lot of sales being made in your market right now that you’re losing out on because of your marketing.

Think of it this way...if your marketing is ineffective or non-existent your competitor wins the sale and you lose money!

Seems a little harsh but it’s true. When they win you lose. Their sale ends up becoming money in their pocket instead of yours.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. You can either stick your head in the sand and accept it; or you can get motivated and do something about it.

Winning or losing…It’s up to you!

To come out as the winner, you must know how to aggressively compete and play the marketing game.

That’s right marketing is a game and those who consistently win and get the sales understand how to play. They have developed the strategies, skills and techniques that are required to become a dominant force in their market. Because they excel at the game they become the marketing champion in their industry.

So how can your business become a marketing champion? What must you do to dominate your competition? How do you score more sales and consistently win?

It all begins with understanding and practicing the marketing fundamentals.

To compete and win you must first know how to play. Most small businesses don’t have a clue what it takes to become marketing champion. As a result they waste a great deal of time and money on marketing that doesn’t produce results. Knowing the fundamentals is the surest and fastest way to stop this problem and generate predictable sales and profits.

When you master the fundamentals of the game and apply them in your business, you will see a dramatic increase in your sales and your business will become the dominant force to be reckoned with.

To find out how to become a marketing champion, visit www.TD-Marketing-System.com and claim your free marketing resources.

To all your marketing victories,

Coach Ron

Become a Marketing Rock Star In Your Industry

I just returned from the Glazer-Kennedy Insider Circle Superconference in Nashville. What a great event! It was a gathering of 1,200 like-minded entrepreneurs who understand the power of marketing.

One of the main speakers was Gene Simmons of the rock band Kiss. This was a big thrill for me because in my younger days (when I had more hair) I was a huge fan. Today, I'm still a huge fan but in terms of his marketing expertise instead. Here's your truly with the God of Thunder.

Gene has created a marketing empire with the KISS brand with over 3,000 licensed products. As he says, KISS from cradle to grave - KISS condoms to KISS caskets and everything in between.

One of his main projects at the moment is the marketing of the Indy car series. He has rebranded it with the tag line of "I am Indy". His goal is to connect with more people and make it cool and accessible again. It will be interesting to see if he will be able to make any headway against the NASCAR brand. We'll wait and see.

He also told his life story, especially about his mother who raised him without a father and how she shaped his life. We all have someone like that in our lives but we often take them for granted. Gene certainly doesn't. He had many comments that were very insightful and right on target for entrepreneurs:

• Your most important asset is you, yourself and once you learn that you’ll make a lot more money.
• Put your personality into your work and add a personal touch that makes an emotional connection.
• The harder you work, the luckier you get.
• You might not like rich people, but when was the last time a poor person gave you a job.

Gene also stayed and presented a photo opportunity with about 400 people. He was accessible and friendly to everyone. The man definitely understands what it takes to market and sell. Also on the platform was George Ross, Donald Trump's deal maker and judge from the apprentice. George talked about negotiation and how it is not about winning, it's about making a deal. He shared with us that it is about your personality and a knowledge of human nature.

However, what was most powerful was answer when someone asked him about his philosophy of business. He quickly and confidently answered; Failure + Perseverance = Success. Simple yet profound. Everyone must fail to succeed no matter what you do.

Both of those guys were great! But the real star was Nido Qubien, entrepreneur and President of High Point University. He challenged everyone in the audience to be change their thinking from being "Transactional to Transformational". Make a difference with what you offer people just don't sell them something to create a transaction. A visit to High Point will show you just what he means.

There were many other great speakers and marketing experts throughout the 4 day event. I highly recommend this conference to anyone who markets and sell any kind of product or service. I'll keep you posted with information on next years conference when it becomes available.

Until next time - Keep on marketing like a rock star!

Coach Ron
www.TD-Marketing-System.com

Absurd? Or Brilliant Marketing?

‘There’s a sucker born every minute.’

‘Give the people what they want.’

These two clichés are part of marketing lore. But as I flipped through my local Sunday paper, I wonder which one applies to an ad that caught my attention. I can’t figure it out: has my highly esteemed, pillar of journalism excellence (note the sarcasm) become “snake oil salesmen” or have they had an epiphany of brilliant marketing?

You decide…

The ad was featured in the “Milestones” section of the paper which features weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and achievements. They recently began printing this in color and placing it as the insert cover for all of the coupon ads, flyers and comics…you know the stuff that makes lifting the paper your workout for the day due to it's 20 pound weight.

As you can see, this ad featured a photo of a happy looking dog with the caption of “Happy Birthday Bella!” Under that was the headline – “Give a pet a greeting!” Hmm, a birthday greeting to a dog in the Sunday paper…either we have some smart dogs in Ann Arbor or this is just plain stupid – weird – funny – brilliant – absurd.

I guess, deciding on which adjective that best describes it depends on your perspective.

So being a student of marketing I began analyzing it in terms of the motivation and needs of both the buyer and the seller. The paper of course is a commercial enterprise on a quest to turn a profit (nah, they are in business to provide a vital public service… yeah right). They are basically selling space on a page to individuals that have a need to inform others or experience having their picture in the paper. For many, seeing ones photo or name in the paper is the 15 minutes of fame that they were promised.

The pet owner’s motivations are a little more personal and passionate. To some, a pet is their main companion in life; it’s their spouse, child and best friend rolled into one hairy four legged creature. As such, they project their emotional needs onto the pet. And sending a personal birthday greeting to Fido or Fluffy makes perfect sense.

Forget about the fact that ANIMALS CAN’T READ, that’s irrelevant.

The newspaper is merely filling a fundamental need that pet owners have to make their pets more “human.” Your could get into a lot of deep psychological gunk here, but the fact remains that some pet owners will spring for the $35 to wish their dog happy birthday. Now, it's brilliant marketing if you’re the newspaper selling ink on paper and might find it stupid if you don’t have a pet.

So, I believe the marketing lesson here is that a combination of the two at work – some people tend to be suckers and you must give them what they want. It is the emotional connection with their pet which will drive the sale and the newspaper understands this. I'm sure that this has concept has been done before in other media with great success.

But rest assured - if this pet message thing gets out of hand your local news reporter will inform us that people are getting ripped off by unscrupulous marketers! Or, will they, if they’re the dastardly culprits taking grandma’s money?

Three Steps To Gaining Your Prospect’s Trust

Gaining your prospect’s trust is the ultimate objective of playing the small business marketing game. A sale has little chance of happening without trust being created during the marketing process. Once firmly established, trust provides the ability to score a sale and to accomplish it more often with less resistance. This is where real small business success can be found.

Creating trust is not as difficult as you might think, but it does require the right marketing attitude, a bit of research and a sound strategy. In this article, we will explore practical strategies to help you create a foundation of trust on which you can execute all your marketing plays.

When you analyze it, the marketplace is so saturated with “copycat” marketing. This occurs when similar, competitive businesses in an industry copy each other’s marketing approach. This situation is usually caused by the belief that ‘if our competitors are doing it that way, it must work.” This can be a costly assumption!

You’ve seen it many times before in fast food commercials, car dealership ads, lawn maintenance companies, and many other industries. Nearly every ad and sales proposition you see attempts to communicate the same message so it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between companies.

The result is there is no differentiation or competitive advantage gained. Worse yet, prospects have no way to tell who is competent, who offers the best solution, or who to trust. When everyone looks the same it’s impossible for the buyer to tell who the best choice is.

Because of all the copycats, the need for positioning your business as the most trustworthy, lowest risk solution is more needed more than ever. The opportunity is ripe for you to become the “go-to guy” in your industry.

A copycat environment provides you with an enormous opportunity to dominate your market and make significantly more sales. It’s much easier for your message to stand out from the crowd in these conditions. The differences in your marketing and the competition don’t have to be huge. However, they must be distinct and memorable.

The most effective difference you can leverage to claim your market position as the go-to guy is one powerful attitude: caring more about your prospects. When you show how much you care, your message will stand apart from your competitors. By creating an emotional connection you can communicate that you understand their needs and challenges and are not just trying to sell something.

This attitude lays the foundation for trust because you are perceived as a welcome friend rather than an annoying pest. As a trusted friend, they look to you first for advice and the solutions to their problems. Just imagine how much business you could be doing if people automatically came to you first to purchase what they need.

So how do you create the conditions to gain their trust?

To begin, it’s critical that you show empathy with their situation. You must articulate that you understand their problems better than anyone else. Explain to them that you, or one of your customers, has faced the same situation and tell a story of what solution you provided and back it up with results.

Do you know your prospect’s pain, problems, challenges, needs and fears? Do you know what keeps them up at night with worry? What really irritates them to the point of needing to take action? Everybody has these irritants – real or imagined.

Your target market niche shares common irritants that provoke them to search for a solution. You need to identify these irritants and create a list of the most important ones that you can solve. To uncover these irritants you must do some research. Here are three steps to get you started:

1. Do a keyword search in several search engines and analyze the content theme of sites it returns. Look at the top ten sites then dig a little deeper down the list for problems and irritants that various sites are addressing. You are searching for patterns and trends within your subject so a broad cross section is necessary.

2. Find the most popular blogs about the subject and read the comments people post on them. This will reveal some of the key issues they face and usually include what really irritates and challenges them. You can do the same in forums and chat rooms where they congregate. Both of these provide a raw, unfiltered look at the issues and reveal many hot button triggers you can use in our marketing.

3. Read the magazines and books that are specifically written about the subject. These give you a sense of what kind of information they are now receiving about their issue and show you where the best positioning opportunities can be found.

After you have researched the issues and created an irritant list, you need to develop a personal story that communicates that you empathize and understand their irritants. This story must be true and show that you have stood in their shoes and were able to overcome the problem. Remember, in their mind they are looking for solutions not products or services to buy.

A word of warning; be careful not to give off the appearance of “selling” at this stage of the marketing game. Prospects are very wise to sales techniques that set them up for the close. There is no quicker way to ruin your credibility and destroy the empathy you have created than pitching them a sale before trust has been firmly established.

For more ideas on how to establish trust within your marketing efforts, visit TD-Marketing-System.com and get your copy of the “Six Fundamentals For Winning The Marketing Game” from marketing coach Ron Abbott. Don’t just compete in your market…dominate it!

Small Business Marketing Success: It’s All About Your Attitude

Small business marketing success can only be achieved when you are mentally prepared to be persistent and tenacious. Having a winning marketing attitude is the first step in creating a business that dominates your market and defeats all of your competitors.

What's your marketing attitude? Do you see yourself as confident winner or a cynical loser?

Most small businesses fail because of lack of sales brought on by a neglect of marketing. Typically, the business owner is wearing so many hats and battling endless problems that they push marketing aside until it is too late and they are hemorrhaging money. Marketing usually takes a back seat to employee problems, meeting payroll, dealing with vendors, satisfying customers, and fighting off competitors.

Unsuccessful business owners perceive marketing as an obstacle to be avoided rather the engine that drives the cash producing machine. Conversely, businesses that thrive for many years understand that marketing is the key to their success and that nothing else they do is more important. It's all about marketing attitude.

Here are six marketing attitudes that generate sales and lead to success:

1. A Belief in the Power of Marketing: Nothing else you will do in your daily activities will create sales and profits more than your marketing activities. Marketing is an investment that generates positive results, everything else creates costs.
2. Persistence and Tenacity: You must never give up and constantly market your business no matter what the market conditions or who the competition. Most small businesses owners quit because of a few of their marketing plays fail to produce. A never-give-up marketing attitude is a must.
3. A Systematic Approach: Successful marketing is a methodical process that requires strategic planning with defined goals and consistent execution with results that can be measured. Most businesses plan by tossing a coin to decide where and execute a single, one time marketing play. This approach never works.
4. Resiliency and Immunity to Failure: When you play the marketing game you will face failure. Not every sales letter, advertisement, or post card you send will get people to act in your favor. You must accept the failures and use them to adjust your approach until you win. Your favorite marketing phrase should always be - 'What's next?'
5. Relationships Matter: Successful small business marketing is the result of creating relationships with clients and customers built on trust. When they know you and like you they will buy from you without hesitation and not consider your competitor's offer.
6. A Winner's Mindset: Marketing is a game that is played on a tough battlefield with many worthy adversaries. Being shy and timid about letting your prospects know how you can solve their problems and improve their lives can be disastrous. A confident message with an aggressive approach is the only way to take on your competition and come out victorious with the sale.

Having the right attitude toward your small business marketing is the surest way to achieve the level of success you desire. It can mean the difference between you enjoying the thrill of victory or the bitter taste of defeat.

To learn more on how to create a winning marketing program with the right attitude, download a complimentary report "Six Fundamentals For Winning the Marketing Game." You can claim your free copy at www.TD-Marketing-System.com

To all your marketing victories,

Coach Ron

Create a Winning Marketing Game Plan

Creating a winning game plan must be the first task you concentrate on before you enter the marketing game. At the heart of your game plan is your strategic approach. It is the ‘how’ of your marketing. Without it you become guilty of what I call “Coin Toss” marketing.

A quick glance through your local newspaper or yellow pages will show you lots of companies who are guilty of “coin toss” marketing. This is the type of marketing that is executed on a whim without any serious planning and strategizing. It’s more or less determined by chance; like flipping a coin. You’ve probably watched the beginning of a big football game on television when they toss the coin to see who gets the ball first. There’s a 50/50 chance who guesses correctly and wins a small victory.

Many small businesses do the same thing. They randomly select a few marketing tactics and guess which one will work best. Take a look around you. Most of the advertising that you receive is sent arbitrarily by businesses that have no game plan. Businesses that have no game plan will select anything they think will work.

Usually they are selecting their marketing in one of two ways:

First, they fall into the “coin toss” trap by jump at any kind of marketing that is pitched to them by a friendly advertising salesperson who calls on them. Yellow pages, newspaper, card deck, or even the local church bulletin; they throw money at it to “get their name out there.”
The friendly salesperson seldom has the business owner’s best interest in mind. They are only concerned with selling ad space and meeting quota. They don’t have a clue about the marketing needs of the business or the desires of the target market. After a few failed ads are run it doesn’t take long for the business owner to become critical of the value of marketing their business. As a result they turn their backs on marketing completely.

The second reason why people fall into the “coin toss” trap is because they are desperate for sales. This happens when sales are low and need a kick start to generate cash flow for the business. So the business owner decides that he’ll send out a post card with some discount coupons. He’s convinced that people are just waiting for his mailer to arrive and will drop everything to redeem it once they pull it out the mail box. A few customers do trickle in but he is disappointed with the results and considers marketing a waste of money.

Take the time to create a marketing plan and use it to drive all of your marketing activities. For more useful ideas and information, go to the Small Business Marketing Hub.

To your marketing victories,

Coach Ron

Are You In the Marketing Game or Just Watching From The Sidelines?

Marketing is a game – plain and simple. Someone is going to win and someone is going to lose. Some will get after it and play aggressively, while others sit on their hands waiting for business to happen. Heck, some don’t even bother getting in the game and are losers before they even get started!

As a marketing coach, I’ve been approached by many business owners to help them get more customers and increase sales. The problem is many of these entrepreneurs procrastinated and came to me too late. The outcome of the game they were playing was already decided. Because they chose not to get in the game, or didn’t know how, they were already defeated by more aggressive competition or unsympathetic market forces.

It’s very sad to see well intentioned, hard-working people suffer as their entrepreneurial dream is beaten down like an over matched opponent. If only they had known that to achieve success they must get their butts off the sideline and take control of their own results!

Marketing is a contact sport. You can’t stand by and watch the competition dictate the game. You must join the action and become a force to be dealt with. You must adopt an action oriented attitude. And, you must claim your position on the field and defend it with all your might.

Simply put – you must get in the marketing game or end up losing anyway. It’s up to you!

For more marketing ideas and information, visit the Small Business Marketing Hub.

To your marketing victories,

Coach Ron

Do You Have What It Takes to Become a Champion Marketer?

The most successful businesses are typically the champion marketers in their industry. They’re the ones whose image and message that you just can’t escape. Everywhere you turn you are exposed to their marketing. They have mastered the marketing game so well that you could recite their jingle or tagline on the spot. Because of their mastery of the game, they are the most formidable competitors who intimidate others into doing nothing because of their shear presence in the marketplace. Yes, these companies have the knowledge, skill and techniques to play the marketing game.

The good news is that you always have the opportunity, and ability, to get in the game, dominate your competition and become a champion marketer! You can take on the “intimidator” in your market and defeat him on his turf.

All that is required of you is the dedication, the knowledge and courage to get in the marketing and compete at a high level. Most companies are always on the defensive because they stand on the sidelines and let the "intimidator" dictate the terms of the game.

As we discussed in my previous post, you must focus on the fundamentals to compete at a high level. It starts with having the capability and confidence to dominate your competition. No matter what stage of your company’s development, you must adopt a stance that you will do what it takes to reach the top and be a champion.

This requires a new mindset and shift in your thinking. about marketing and a realization that it is the most important function of your business.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in business for many years or you just took the leap and opened your new business, your attitude toward marketing will determine your level of success. Just look at what the New York Giants accomplished. They believed in themselves and were committed to becoming the champs. Small businesses must also adopt the mindset.

You must prepare to win, play hard and execute relentlessly. Now, get off your butt and get on the field and start playing the game like a champion.

Until next time, to all your marketing victories.

Coach Ron

Winning the Marketing Game Requires Mastering the Fundamentals

Every game has fundamentals that must be mastered to achieve a championship level. In baseball, it’s hit, throw, run, and catch. Basketball requires you to dribble, pass, shoot and rebound. The game of football demands you to run, throw, catch, block, tackle, and kick. Each game has its unique rules and playing philosophies.

Marketing your business is no different.

When you play without knowing the fundamentals you will quickly fumble away your chances of winning. Many small business owners fly by the seat of their pants when it comes to the marketing fundamentals. What they usually do is copy what their competition is doing!

This is the probably the worst idea they could possibly have. What if their competition is doing it wrong and getting terrible results? What if the competition is going after a totally different target market? What if the competition is pricing their product or service to cheaply to make money? Does soundly like a good approach, does it?

That’s where the fundamentals come in. You must focus your efforts on four different areas of marketing to win the game:

1. Market: Know your target market and what they want, need or desire

2. Message: Create a clear, consistent and compelling message

3. Media: Deliver the message through the media your target market prefers most

4. Relationships: Create, nurture and leverage relationships with your customer or clients

Each of these areas are totally dependent on the other and must be addressed to work. Typically, only one or two are addressed by the small business owner. They create a message and give little thought to what the market wants. Or, they discover a media method to deliver but fail to develop a compelling message that works (think internet websites).

Just like if you were playing for the Super Bowl title in football and didn’t know how to tackle, you wouldn’t have a chance of winning. No matter how well you ran or caught the ball you would lose the game because you lack this one key fundamental.

So as you play the marketing game remember these four fundamentals – market, message, media and relationships.

It’s because business owners and entrepreneurs are struggling to find qualified prospects and communicate a clear, simple offer to them…that leads to steady and repetitive sales. The owner is usually great at doing whatever it is he or she does but has absolutely no “marketing” skills. But…if they only knew how to market clearly, consistently, and relentlessly they would dominate their competition and not worry about how they are going to pay the bills!

What Would Your Business Look Like If You Had More Marketing Wins and Fewer Losses?

How many marketing wins did you record in the last 12 months? How many losses?

Are you even keeping score? Most businesses owners don’t. They only find out the score when it’s too late – when sales bottom out and profits dive into the red and they’re left scrambling.

Marketing is the ultimate game in business. Either you are playing the game and giving it maximum effort or you’re sitting on the sidelines watching your competitors score. Every competitive game has a scoring system to determine the winners from the losers. In the business world its how much profit your marketing generates!

The scoring system of the marketing game is simple: if your marketing generates more sales and profits than it costs to produce you earn a marketing win. If it doesn’t produce enough to cover expenses, it’s a marketing loss. Most business owners have no idea if their marketing is winning or losing. They make the mistake of running ads and promotions and hope one of them will eventually pay off. In the marketing game, hope is not a strategy!

Playing the game can be very aggravating. Your most clever and well planned marketing plays may fail miserably. But you cannot give up and quit playing the game. Every business, no matter their size or stature, experiences marketing losses – think of the infamous “New Coke” or the Edsel fiascoes.

Last time I checked, Coca-Cola and Ford are still in business and spending millions on marketing. Both learned from their mistakes, returned to the fundamentals and tried different direction. So must you!

The Challenge of Being Busy

It has been quite sometime since I've had the opportunity to post another blog entry. It's about time!

I found myself in the same situation as many of my small business marketing clients...competing priorities. My focus has been on several large consulting projects where I am developing and executing the entire marketing program. Good stimulating and lucrative work but very time consuming.

So time consuming, in fact, that I have not been able to invest any time to my website and other personal marketing efforts. This conundrum is faced by small business marketers everyday. It is so easy to get caught up on work and knocking down the tasks on you to-do list that you forget to perform the most critical function of your business ---MARKETING!

So what can you do?

My approach will be to go back to my goals I established and determine what is most important to the success of my business. This will inevitably lead me back to the need to consistently market no matter how busy I am.

Therefore, I resolve today to spend the first hour of every day to marketing my business.

Like a constant drip of water on a stone, this small chunk of my day will produce results. If I continue to ignore my need to market, my pipeline will not be full when these consulting projects are completed.

If you are in the same boat as me, I suggest you take the same approach. A little effort each day accumulates into a lot of results in the future.

Good luck and good marketing!

Coach Ron

The Three Deadly Reasons Start-Up Business Marketing Fails (Part 2)

Last time we established that entrepreneurs often fail because they disregard or ignore the fundamental needs for marketing. There are three deadly reasons for this:

1. Ignorance
2. Fear
3. Lack of Commitment

Let’s continue now and examine all three.

1. Ignorance
You may think that ignorance is a cruel word to apply to a topic on business failure. Yet, time and time again, it boils down to one undeniable fact – most entrepreneurs don’t have a clue how to effectively market their business.

Many do have a basic awareness that they need to market in some fashion to gain attention to attract business. However, they don’t know what they need to do to market effectively and achieve satisfactory results. A common misconception is that they can simply print some business cards, pass out a few sales flyers, and place an ad in the local yellow pages and customers or clients will be breaking down the doors to spend money. Not very likely to happen.
These entrepreneurs are not stupid or inept; they are merely without the necessary knowledge base and skill set required to market effectively. Being ignorant of the fundamentals of marketing is an expensive position to be in and eventually leads to a great deal of wasted time, money, and opportunity.

Investing in a marketing program, attending a seminar or a reading a book written by a marketing expert is a good place to start your marketing education. Just by understanding the most basic marketing fundamentals will pay huge dividends in the end.

2. Fear
Fear is a huge part of why small businesses fail to market. Along with not knowing how, being afraid of the consequences of marketing scares many people into doing nothing. This “marketing paralysis” has killed many well intended businesses that have a potentially great product or service.

It’s safe to say that every new entrepreneur has heard the horror stories from other businesses about how they spent $2,000 on placing newspaper ads and did not receive a single response. This frightens the new entrepreneur and fortifies the unhealthy attitude that spending money on marketing is too big of a risk to take. Big mistake.

fact is, most marketing does not work as expected. But often the expectations are set too high by the entrepreneur and they missed target with the wrong message. This is not a reason to quit or avoid marketing all together. Rather, it presents a unique opportunity to learn from your mistakes and adjust your strategies and tactics that eventually will produce sales.

Other skittish entrepreneurs view marketing as an expense that they just can’t afford. They are afraid that their marketing efforts will ultimately be a wasted of valuable cash flow that they will never see again. This attitude is rooted in a scarcity mentality that hinders their thinking. They never seem to have enough money to invest in marketing and justify it with other priorities that they believe are more important. Again, what can be more important that doing the things that attract buyers to your business?

Another big intimidating fear is the fear of rejection. Everyone has to deal with this fear many times throughout their business life. What if nobody wants your product you are marketing? What if they say no to your offer? What if they believe the competitors are better or cheaper?
Big deal…adjust your message, or your offer, or find better target market! Getting paralyze just because you fail a couple of times is not a reason to abandon your dreams!

Every entrepreneur must develop some thick skin and not take rejection too personally. Just remember there is someone else out there that needs what you have to offer. It’s up to you to do a better job of finding them and communicating the compelling reasons they should buy from you.

3. Lack of Commitment
Lack of commitment is the biggest of all the deadly reasons small businesses fail with their marketing. Period.

Businesses that wallow in mediocrity are the ones that fall short on market themselves on a regular basis. The 'I’m too busy to market” syndrome invades the thinking of many small business owners. This form of marketing paralysis quickly leads to low or non-existent sales very quickly. Before they know it, their revenues have dropped like a stone and they “need” to marketing immediately to generate cash flow to pay the bills.

This is not the time to market. Unfortunately, it usually too late to save the business!

Growing a successful small business requires you to market consistently, constantly and relentlessly. When you do, positive results and cash flow are sure to follow. Doing something every day to market your business is the just about the only guaranteed of success you can have as an entrepreneur.

All that it takes is a decision that you are going to become excellent at marketing and committing to the process. What have you done today to market your business? All the tools, techniques, strategies and approaches have all already been developed by someone, somewhere in the marketplace. You only need to decide which one will work for your target market and to your company’s situation. Adapt it, tweak it, implement it and stick with it!

If you are starting a new business venture do all you can to avoid or destroy these three reasons. Take the time to learn how to market and understand what works. Then, have the courage to market boldly and decisively no matter what the obstacles. And, finally, commit to becoming a consistent marketer everyday that the doors to your business are open.

The results will have a profound impact on your business for many years to come.

Market your butt off today,

Coach Ron

For more marketing resources, tool, tips, and stuff to make your business grow. Click here and visit the Small Business Marketing Hub.

The Three Deadly Reasons Start-Up Business Marketing Fail

Opening and growing a new start-up business is a significant challenge for anyone. The odds are stacked against you as new entrepreneur from the very beginning. The obstacles to success are formidable - intense competition, employees, taxes, government regulation, a fickle marketplace, and a to-do list the length of your arm. It’s no wonder that most small business owners give up on realizing their dream after a few years.

However, the common obstacle that leads to failure is a lack of understanding and implementation of marketing.

The typical small business owner has big dreams and aspirations to turn their company into a profit producing machine so they can enjoy a prosperous lifestyle. They see others launch a successful business in their industry and presume it must be easy to do. The entrepreneurial allure soon becomes irresistible and before they know it, they own business with all the trials, tribulations, and challenges that come with it. It doesn’t take long before the headaches kick in and they are overworked, broke and questioning the intelligence of their decision.

The irony of the situation is that they possess the technical skills and knowledge to make money in the business but lack essential management skills to really become successful. Typically, a critical area that is most often lacking in their business skill set is the fundamentals of how to market their business.

When an entrepreneur lacks the foundation principles in marketing knowledge and skills the business is not long for this world. Marketing is a vital part of every business, no matter what the size, but is treated like a swarm of mosquitoes at a picnic.

Consider this: What other part of your business has a greater impact on the success of a business than an effective marketing program? Accounting…production…shipping…human resources?

Without marketing none of these internal departments would even need to exist. Marketing is the engine that drives a business by creating the environment and conditions to sell your product or service and make money. It’s that important.

Why then do most small business owners disregard marketing and lead their venture down the road to certain failure. The answer is rather simple and is rooted in three key reasons:

1. Ignorance
2. Fear
3. Lack of Commitment

We'll take a look at these three evils over the next couple of posts.

Visit this page for more information on the basics of Small Business Marketing.

Until next time,

Successful marketing to you!!

Coach Ron

The Grass Just Knows...So Does Your Target Market

Marketing parable for the day: Your marketing message is like a lot like the grass of your lawn during the summer heat.

Huh?

Every summer here in the Midwest, there are two or three heat waves with temperatures in the 90’s. (Don’t let anyone fool you it does get hot around the Great Lakes!) The oppressive heat usually lasts a week or more and seems to drag on and on. To go along with these temperatures is a noticeable lack of rain. This results in a lot of brown, crispy grass dotting the lawns.

Most people combat the mini-drought by turning on the hose and sprinkler in hopes to keep their lawn a little green. Usually their lawn resembles a golf course in Arizona – a small patch of green in a sea brown. Unless you water all the time, it turns out to be a waste of time and water.
Eventually, a thunderstorm will roll in and drench the ground with big, fat rain drops and offer a little relief. What happens next is pretty amazing. The brown grass comes back to life and turns green again. No matter how much you watered and sprinkled before it seems like the next day, the grass comes to life again from a little rain fall!

How does the grass know the difference between the water you poured on it and the rain from the sky? What makes rainwater more effective than ground water? Is rainwater more magical? Does it have some special growth hormones in it? Or, is it just more sincere that ground water?
The answer is: the grass just knows!

It’s the same with your marketing message and how your target market perceives your communications. They can tell if you are authentic or a tad bit deceitful. Potential buyers of your products are searching for valid solutions to their problems and challenges. When you hand them a line of deception or “to good to be true” offers they can sense that you are a risky choice.

True, there are many insincere and dishonest companies in the marketplace making outrageous claims. And many of them are making boatloads of money off of gullible consumers. But their deceptions will eventually catch up to them at a great cost.

Honesty and sincerity in marketing is an absolute necessity. Your reputation is at risk every time you come in contact with your target with any marketing message you present. Are you coming across as a sincere, authentic friend or a cold, indifferent shyster?

Just like the grass, your market will know the difference.

Commit to Consistency

What can you do to improve your marketing? Committing to consistency and repetition is the best and most profitalbe way. Failing to be consistent with the message quality and frequency can put all of your marketing efforts at risk. Inconsistencies can confuse prospects and clients to the point where they don’t fell comfortable with your company.

It is very common that business owners will fall into a trap of believing that they can run marketing offers once in awhile. They run ads one week and don’t run them again because the ads didn’t meet their expectations. They forget or are ignorant to the fact that frequency is a major factor in marketing success.

Sometimes they get lucky and find a message that works and draws in a little new business. With this success in hand, they often become complacent and pull back their marketing because they believe the success will continue from this one victory. They forgot that the only constant in business is change and, without marketing, eventually business will slow down.

They will become their own worst enemy by not continuing to consistently capitalize on the message that worked. They have the best intentions to market on a regular basis; however, because of a lack of planning they throw an advertisement here or there. This small business marketing strategy only lead to minimal results and wasted dollars invested. Only a consistent deliver can create outstanding marketing results.

Constantly and Relentlessly Market Your Business

Being constant is another key component of this principle. As we touched on earlier, repetition brings marketing success. Creating an impression takes many, many exposures to your message. That’s exactly why you will see or hear the same annoying commercial over and over. Even though it may annoy you, it’s doing its job by leaving a significant impression on you.

Adopting a constant posture in your marketing doesn’t mean sticking with one tactic using a single delivery method. It is important to take your clear and consistent message and spread it through other forms of delivery to the same target, intelligently. A prime example of this is the discount department stores. You see their ads on TV, hear their radio spots, receive their direct mail coupons, and find their inserts in your newspaper. They make themselves ubiquitous in your life through a constant barrage of marketing messages aimed only at you to take action. You may not always give them your full attention, but they leave an impression that is part of your decision making process.

Being constant is the twin sister of being relentless. Never giving up is a virtue of successful small business marketing strategy. Those who get discouraged and fall into the incompetence trap don’t become successful. It’s that simple. What only pays is a dogged determination that moves a business forward and marketing is no exception.

To be relentless doesn’t mean being rude or overbearing. It is simply keeping your product and service offering tastefully in front of the prospects and clients without intruding. This can be a delicate balancing act for any marketer. You want to be familiar without being obnoxious.

These four qualities of clear, consistent, constant and relentless each interconnect to give you a solid principle that will allow you to spread your benefits to those who matter most…your clients and prospects. All it takes is saying the same thing, say it the same way, say it often, and don’t give up saying it.

Learn more at the Small Business Marketing Hub

What is McDonald’s Thinking? Is it Positioning or Exclusion Marketing?

After a recent business meeting I stopped by the “Golden Arches” during the lunch hour. Sometimes a Quarter Pounder with cheese sounds too good to resist.

As a marketing consultant, I’m on the road a lot working at the client’s site. Most of these appointments are early in the morning or in the afternoon. This allows me a precious block of time during lunch to do some designing, content writing and catching up on emails on my laptop.

Like other small business professionals on the road, I search out a suitable location with decent food and free wifi access. Well, on this specific day the craving for a Quarter Pounder was in charge of my decision making process.

I was aware that McDonalds’s offers wireless internet access along with lots of electrical outlets to plug into. My plan was to satisfy my burger yearning and send a few emails and everything would be good with the world.

However, after sitting down with my burger I attempted to log onto their network and gain access to the net. Much to my surprise, the Golden Arches doesn’t offer this common service for free! They want to charge $2.99 a couple of hours of internet access!

My first thought was, ‘I should have gone to Panera!’ What a kick in the head.

Being the marketing junkie that I am, I started to assess the dynamics of the situation. Why would Mickey-D’s charge you for access when they are launching a line of coffees to shore up their market share? Obliviously, someone is disconnected with the marketplace.

Why are they charging a fee for their access when every other coffee shop and café offers the same service for free? Does they want to attract the independent business owner or not?

As I write this blog entry, I sit in a Panera franchise and can see 7 other people working on a computer. Many work-at-home professionals will set meetings at coffee shops and restaurants because they don’t have their own facilities.

Starbucks, Panera and many small local shops want you to frequent their store because you will buy something. The beautiful thing is that you can spend as much time as you want. It’s like a second office that costs you a cup of coffe to rent the space.

So why does McDonald’s charge for their wifi? I can hardly believe it is a profit center for each location. Aren’t they in the business of making food? Why wouldn’t they use it to draw more people in and sell more Big Macs?

Maybe they don’t want the mobile professional that takes up space. Making it less appealing to a certain segment of the market you find less than desirable is a common strategy. Sometimes it makes sense to exclude a market segment so you can better serve another makes sense when the market dictates it.As for me, it appears that I will need to get kiss the Quarter Pounder goodbye and become fond of the Fontega Chicken sandwich at Panera.

Until next time,
Coach Ron

Check out the Small-Business-Marketing-Hub