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5 Marketing
Mistakes You Can’t Afford To Make
© 2005 by Debbie Allen
In virtually every area of
business, there will be pitfalls along
the way. Marketing is no exception. Time and
time again, retail
stores of all sizes make the same costly
mistakes. But knowing
how to avoid these mistakes can save you energy,
disappointment &
and money.
Mistake #1: Eliminating marketing efforts
when times get tight.
When cash flow slows, advertising, direct mail
and other forms of
marketing are the easiest expenses to reduce,
right? But cut
these, and you eliminate the very activities
that will bring in
new customers to turn your business around. This
is the time
when you may be spending more time analyzing the
results of your
marketing efforts. But by stopping marketing
efforts, you will
be setting yourself up for additional loss of
business.
Mistake #2: Not measuring results.
Don’t wait until times get tight to start
measuring the results
of your marketing efforts. By analyzing
regularly, you will be
able to reinvest in what is working, and drop
what isn’t. Ask
customers how they found your business, and then
track the
results. Use in-store or on-line coupons. Or
host a focus group
of a variety of customers to discover what
attracts them to your
business.
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Mistake #3: Putting all your marketing dollars in one
area.
If your entire marketing budget is used on just one method
of
promoting your business, you won’t realize the highest
return on
your investment. Diversifying your efforts will increase the
frequency and reach of your messages and stretch your
marketing
dollars.
Businesses can get hooked into one large advertising program
with
a local newspaper, magazine or radio station, and put the
majority of their marketing dollars there. They feel as if
they
have to advertise with the same media source, just because
they
always have or because fear they will lose ground since
their
competitors are advertising there as well. Some business
owners
actually stay with a company for fear of upsetting their
sales
associate.
Remember, it’s your money and your investment. Don’t ever
let
anyone talk you into an advertising program that is not
producing
the best results for your business. And measure the results
of
your advertising dollars spent vs. the income received from
your
advertising on a consistent basis.
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When you diversify, don’t’ forget about direct marketing.
Many
business owners only do a few direct-mail programs a year,
targeted to their existing customer base. They need to do
more.
Your customer base and mailing list is gold, make sure you
have
budgeted a large part of your marketing dollars to advertise
to
your existing customers. They already love you, so keep them
coming in by sending promotional (promotional & not just
sale)
postcards to them at least six times a year.
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Mistake #4: Allowing your ego to get in the way of
common sense.
Ego can tempt a very bright person to do dumb things. Your
marketing decisions should be based on factors that will
positively impact some area of your business and usually the
bottom
line. Buying full-page ads or covers featuring yourself and
not
focusing on your business’ unique offerings may result in
money
going out the window.
Mistake #5: Not getting help when you need it.
If you find you’re too busy to handle your marketing efforts
or
that your materials aren’t looking as professional as they
should, it’s time to call in the reinforcements. Hire a
full-or
part-time employee to allow you more free time to work on
the
"business end" or hire an independent business consultant to
bring in new concepts and fresh ideas.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Debbie Allen is a motivational business speaker
with an expertise
in sales and marketing. She has presented to
thousands of people
in nine countries around the world. Her
expertise has been
featured in "Entrepreneur", "Sales Marketing
Excellence" and
"Selling Power" She is the author of five books
including her
best seller, "Confessions of Shameless Self
Promoters" published
in five countries. To learn more about her
presentations or to
take her free business card quiz to evaluate
your own marketing,
view the website at
http://www.DebbieAllen.com |
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