Marketing vs. Gardening - is there a difference?

Here's a picture of our latest garden bed... ready for a fresh crop of vegies. But what's this got to do with marketing.

You see, when I put in the first set of garden beds (you can see them behind the new one) I learned a few lessons.

What I Learned...

I learned about how to keep the frame level. Especially about cutting the sleepers to match the sloping ground so there are no gaps for soil to leak out of. And how to use nail plates on the inside to keep the sleepers tight and create a good-looking finish.

I learned about how long it takes to actually finish the job. In fact this one new bed took about 8 hours in total. This takes into account measuring out the bed, taking up the grass, digging up the earth (hard work with a mattock), measuring, cutting and assembling the frame, shifting the soil from the pile into the bed (more hard work) etc etc.

In many ways this is similar to creating marketing activities for your business.

What You Can Do...

You need to understand the tasks involved so you can allow enough time to get it done properly.

Plus, there is always a learning curve. And always the opportunity to improve what you have done before. Never expect to get something 100% right the first time.

Too many businesses start marketing activities without full knowledge of what is required to complete the job. Then, when it all becomes more difficult and time consuming than they expected the activity gets dropped. Result: wasted time, effort, and money.

If you are serious about your sales improvement initiatives you will:

• Plan ahead so you aren't in a reactive mind-set - being reactive usually limits your thinking.
• Assess what you have done before - see what you can learn from that.
• Plan your tactics so they are in the correct sequence - for example understand your market before jumping at the latest promotional idea.
• Pay attention to the details - examples: make sure you follow up all leads that are generated; accurately track budget expenditure; update your website or other material to reflect current marketing activities, offers and promotional messages.
• Be sure you have the skills to do the job - for example if you're not good at working with words and writing, outsource that part of the process to someone who is. And if you're not good with technology, use someone who can do it for you.

Marketing vs. Gardening... actually there are quite a few similarities.

The Power of Focused Marketing

Yesterday I was presenting a 'round table' session for a small group from my business club.

We were talking a lot about online marketing options, and how all businesses can use their website to generate more sales, enquiries, bookings, or event registrations.

We spoke about how that even applies for businesses that may not appear at first glance to be 'online' businesses, such as accountants and coaches.

Side bar: I often find that business owners are overwhelmed by the choice of marketing tacics. And I don't blame them. As a marketing professional my head also spins with the amount of options available.

At the roundtable session I made the point that you - as the business owner - have to understand what your prospects need to have, know, or learn, to turn them from a looky-loo prospect to a paying customer.

It is that definition of 'what your prospects need' that should be driving your choice of which marketing tactics to use.

- Do they need educational information?
- Do they need to see proof of your credibility?
- Do they simply need the details spelled out for them?
- Do they already know what they want?

Too often it's easy to simply continue doing what you've done before. And that goes for your marketing activities too.

Just keep doing what you've done in the past. Or what your competitors do. Or what is 'done' in your industry.

But the world moves on.

In particular the marketing world continues to evolve.

Now there are more options to consider with all the social media services and tools available. And it's not just a fad. Many of these tools will be around far into the future.

What are your potential clients using, viewing or reading?

Twitter
Facebook
Flickr
LinkedIn
SEO
Blogs
and there's plenty more (these are just the well-known ones)

The question is... What should you focus on?

If you're not careful you can get washed away in the flood of new ideas, tools, gadgets, gimmicks, and hype.

But will it work for you?

Each business will need a different answer.

- Your answer will be partly driven by your business processes.
- Partly driven by what your prospects need.
- Partly driven by your marketing knowledge.
- Partly driven by your personal or business resources.
- And partly driven by your degree of interest in what is being done.

You need to fill any gaps in your knowledge, make decisions about what to do, and consistently implement those ideas.

TIPS:
Don't bite off too much to do at once.
Don't use tactics that are irrelevant for your prospects.

In this case, more is not always better.

You want to use the best combination of tactics to create the business results you are aiming for. Don't just do things for the sake of doing it.

Read. Watch. Listen. Learn.

Focus on what your prospects need to know to move from being a silent observer to becoming a regular happy client.

That focus will give you the power to make smarter marketing decisions, and the power to attract more clients more easily.

Note - If you need help to set and maintain your marketing priorities you may find my Marketing Mentor Program useful.

Be Ruthless About Your Sources of Revenue

In December it was reported that Apple will be pulling out of exhibiting at the famous Macworld Expo, held in January each year.

As you can guess from the name, the Macworld Expo always relied on Apple as the big crowd-puller. They exhibited every year and provided the keynote presentation, usually from Apple founder and CEO, Steve Jobs.

But not any more.

A press release from Apple said, “Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers.”

In other words, for Apple trade shows aren't worth the effort and the money. Times have changed.

Wow… strong words from Apple.

But smart words.

Words you can learn from.

Are you spending your time, and your marketing effort, in the right places?

Are you working on your top priority prospects?

Or are you spreading yourself too thin? Doing a bit of this… and a bit of that.

A real life example…
Recently I was working with a client and we got to a point where they had clearly identified their target audience (their key source of new business). In their situation they needed to be promoting to, and working joint ventures with, people in the travel industry.

However – even though they had some idea of doing this four years ago – they had not yet focused on this area. Their marketing continued to be ‘this and that’ with some sponsorships, some advertising, some signage etc etc.

Nothing was clearly defined in a meaningful way for their key audience group – the travel industry.

To their credit they quickly came to understand the power of focus. They developed a suite of targeted marketing activities and sharpened their message.

Time, money, and marketing effort become very productive when you have clear outcomes in mind.

> Ditch those low potential markets.

> Be ruthless about where your best opportunities are.

Have the courage to focus on, and put effort into, those sources of revenue that hold the keys to your business success.

Free Online Seminar - Marketing Tips for the Credit Crunch

Have you heard? Times are tough.

Just yesterday Reuters ran a news article headline:
"Cutting costs but still want a fancy phone?"

The article went on to say..

"Now that cell phones are more of a necessity than a luxury for most, the questions are: Which one to buy? How many fancy features do you want? And which service provider fees can you afford?"

Customers are changing their buying habits as a result of the economic circumstances.

"How many fancy features do you want?" As if to say, you cant afford them all, so which ones are most important for you.

How can you adapt to that?

Don't be drawn into negative thinking. See my new online seminar presentation...

Marketing in the Credit Crunch

It's complimentary. My gift to you.

Check it out now at this link >>

Note: You are welcome to share this presentation or blog post with your friends and business colleagues.

I recently gave this presentation as part of a private Australian road show organised by the global firm Expense Reduction Analysts.

Get ready to take some notes! There's plenty to learn in the seminar.

All the best,

Stuart Ayling
Marketing Nous

Office: +61 7 3806 2238
www.marketingnous.com.au

Danger... Danger... 9 of 10 Businesses to Cut Their Marketing Expenditure

A report out this week by PriceWaterhouseCoopers claims that the current economic downturn has severely affected business confidence in Australia. As a result, 9 out of 10 (of the 750 private businesses surveyed) say they will cut marketing costs.

How dumb can you get!

(Aside: they need to attend my marketing planning workshop in Sydney Oct 30)

And I'm not just saying it's a dumb thing to do because I work in marketing.

It is well known that marketing creates new business. To cut back on marketing because it is seen as a luxury, or 'expendable', is just plain poor business management.

Often these decisions are made by the bean counters who control the purse strings within the company.

Now look... I know many nice accountants. But the nature of their profession makes most of them focus on how to reduce costs. Not how to maximise profit.

Don't become a victim to others peoples fears.

Make your own decisions about how successful you want your business to be.

You certainly do need to manage expenditure. But be prudent and make smart decisions to build your business. Don't just throw up your arms and say... we have to cut costs, at any cost.

If you are in Sydney, why not consider attending my 2-minute Marketing Plan workshop on October 30. At the workshop you'll learn all about how to stretch your marketing dollar and choose marketing tactics that will work for your business.

Lost in the Marketing Black Hole

I was working with a client this week. They have been busy. Busy. Too busy to make any progress on the new marketing initiatives we had agreed on at our last meeting. They were getting lost in the black hole of marketing. Where nothing happens, and you cant see out.

They needed to take action. To get focused on what they could do. Because their busy-ness was not going to diminish.

[See the 2-minute Marketing Plan Workshop in Sydney and Brisbane for how you can get out of the black hole of marketing.]

So we made a decision to get their office coordinator on the phone making some introductory calls (also known as cold calls). Part of this strategy requires my clients to work on preparing a few new marketing/promotional documents.

That is what they can focus on. Specific activities that are simple and have immediate impact.

You can do the same. Get focused on marketing activity that produces results.

New Marketing Planning Workshop Launched - Brisbane Sept 30

If you've ever struggled with not knowing which marketing tactics you should be using, then this marketing plan workshop is for you. The 2-minute Marketing Plan workshop is an innovative 1-day workshop being launched in Brisbane on Tuesday September 30, 2008.

At this workshop you will actually work on your marketing plan - not just sit there all day listening to the presenter (which is me by the way!).

If you are located in other cities and would like a workshop run in your area, contact me and let me know.