"Many a small thing has been made large with the right type of advertising.” -Mark Twain

If you are going to be a world-class marketer (which is the whole point of reading this Series of posts) then there are a few bases that need to be covered.

Most people mistakenly feel that marketing is “advertising that sells a product or service.”

Wrong

Although, this is the “dictionary definition” of marketing, it certainly isn’t the definition for good marketing.

The fact of the matter is that good marketing is really about solving someone’s problems. This is an incredibly important point that you must think about for a minute.

People don’t buy products. They buy solutions to their problems.

• Jane doesn’t go out and buy an expensive dress; she buys a beautiful outfit that will make her look thinner and more beautiful.
• John doesn’t buy a dog; he buys a companion that will keep him company during the day.
• Mary doesn’t buy a Pressure Cooker; she buys a product that will make dinner
preparation faster and easier.
• Peter doesn’t buy mouthwash; he buys the concept of minty fresh breath.

Everyone has problems that they want solved. It is your job, as a marketer, to decide how your product can solve your customer’s problem.

You must thoroughly understand four main points about your business:

1) What is your product or service?

In my case, I am a business coach who helps entrepreneurs boost their business through the four pillars of business profitability: Mindset, marketing, management and, thank God, Money strategies.

2) What problems does your potential client have?

Again, in my case, my client has little or no knowledge on how to access and utilize the four pillars of business profitability strategies.

3) How can your product or services help your client?

My services help entrepreneurs and small business owners learn how to implement the four pillars of profitability strategies that will substantially increase their business profits.

4) Who is your “target” market?

My target market is individuals who own a small business and need help marketing it through the four pillars of business profitability. (Notice that I am not targeting everyone. I am ONLY interested in marketing to small business owners)

Now It’s Your Job To Determine The Four Main Points Of Your Own Business

Before you begin marketing, you need to know exactly how your product or service will help solve your customer/client’s problems.

Take a few minutes to answer the four questions below:

) What is your product or service?
2) What problems does your potential customer or client have?
3) How can your product or service solve their problems?
4) Who is your target audience?

Next week we’ll look at Old Sell vs New Sell and the impact it has on your bottom line

PS. If you really want to grow your business, grab a piece of paper and write down 20reasons why I/we should become your referral partner

My suggestion is that you copy and print this article (and all the following ones), put it in a folder so that you have a handy reference that you frequently can go back to. The key however is to start implementing this from day one……That means …..NOW!

We all have the power; we only need the keys

Talk to you again soon

“The business that considers itself immune to the necessity for advertising sooner or later finds itself immune to business.” - Les Brown

The world of marketing has been around for a long time. Thousands and thousands of years in fact!

Even in the days of the Roman Empire, people needed to sell their wares. No matter if you were a business owner from thousands of years ago or a current business owner today, the fact remains the same: the most successful business owners are also the best marketers.

In fact, research suggests that marketing is the most important aspect of business success.

Unfortunately, your product, talents, abilities, sales skills, personality, good looks or charms won’t get you very far when it comes to your business success.

If you want to succeed with your business, you need to understand how to market your business. It’s as simple as that!

The good news is that anyone can learn to be a good marketer. Individuals with the strangest product in the world have made a killing simply because they knew how to market (think back to the “pet rock” craze of the 70’s).

Unfortunately, there are too many business owners today that don’t take the time to learn how to market their businesses. Instead, they work on their business accounts, invoices, sales pitches…and anything else that doesn’t relate to marketing.

But, at the end of the day, your business can’t flourish if you don’t let the world know who you are and how to find you.

Imagine that you are a gardener. You plant your seeds, tend to them each day and watch as they transform into fruit. Marketing is the same exact process. You plant your marketing seeds, tend to your marketing efforts daily and watch as your business blooms behind your wildest expectations.

It’s time to plant your marketing seeds to ensure that your business bears as much fruit as possible!

Next week we’ll look at The BASIC Concepts That You Need To Know and then we’ll start delving into Old Marketing vs. New Marketing

My suggestion is that you copy and print this article (and all the following ones), put it in a folder so that you have a handy reference that you frequently can go back to. The key however is to start implementing this from day one……That means …..NOW!

We all have the power, we only need the keys

Talk to you again soon

“Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle.” -Ken Hakuta

By now most of you that have interacted with me know that I love helping people create successful business/lives. Working with thousands off small business, solo entrepreneurs and start up companies over the last 23 years I have learned that money or the lack of it :--) often play an enormous role in our advertising and marketing campaigns.

With that in mind I have decided to put together a series of blog posts helping you to implement some of the best marketing strategies for absolutely NO COST!

What you are about to discover is that a radical change has occurred in the world of marketing.

With the onset of the internet and social media marketing specifically, you now have more FREE marketing options than ever before.

In fact, both the largest companies to the smallest one-person operations are changing the way that they market.

However, the most amazing part of the current marketing revolution is that most of the free marketing strategies work as well, if not better, than paid marketing strategies!

If you take the time to learn and implement free marketing strategies, you can quickly and effectively change your financial future.

You will be able to make more money, more quickly and more efficiently than ever before.

The purpose of this series of articles is to give you specific tools for your small business that you can implement immediately for instant results.

You will receive in-depth knowledge of proven no-cost (or ‘very’ low-cost) marketing techniques and strategies to effectively launch a dynamic marketing campaign without spending a cent!

If you follow the advice throughout this series of articles carefully, you will undoubtedly have a strong understanding of the philosophy underlying free marketing as well as a concrete roadmap on how to begin utilizing some of the most powerful free marketing platforms available to the small business owner today.

You will learn how to put your scarce resources to work for you so that you increase your profits and save an incredible amount of time and money.

Let’s begin the journey into the world of free marketing. Once you discover this world, you will never, ever turn back!

However, before we get into the nuts and bolts of free marketing, there are a few essential items that we need to discuss.

Like most entrepreneurs, you started your business with plenty of hopes, dreams and ideas of grandeur. You envisioned yourself making ample amounts of money and living in style!

But, after a few days or weeks, you realized that you weren’t quite sure how to bring in new leads, prospects or clients. You didn’t realize that “marketing” was going to be such an important part of your business!

So, with no other visible options, you began paying for various types of advertising.

Perhaps you used expensive pay-per-click ads, newspaper ads, yellow page ads or solo ads.

You may have even purchased leads and began the horrible job of cold-calling. (Not a job for the faint of heart!)

What you quickly realized was that you were spending more money on your business than you were making!

Don’t worry…this happens to almost every single new business owner that exists. In fact, 95% of small businesses fail because they spend more than they make.

However, at this very moment you are faced with quite a dilemma. You know that if you don’t market your business, you won’t find any clients or customers; if you can’t find clients or customers, your business will die.

You know that marketing is essential to your business success. Up until now, you have always believed that marketing costs money; you subscribed to the motto, “It takes money to make money.”

However, you can take a deep breath and rest assured that you are going to learn exactly how to market your business without spending a cent in the process.

Better yet, the free marketing strategies that you learn often work better than traditional types of advertising.

The marketing world is changing. Luckily for you, there are ways to tap into this change that will allow you to profit without any cost to yourself or your business. What could that be?

Be on the lookout for our next article where we will look at the classic rules of marketing.

My suggestion is that you copy and print this article (and all the following ones), put it in a folder so that you have a handy reference that you frequently can go back to. The key however is to start implementing this from day one……That means …..NOW!

We all have the power, we only need the keys

Talk to you again soon