I recently returned home from Ali Brown's 3-day Shine Event in Las Vegas. Shine was a seminar all about entrepreneurship, marketing and personal discovery. The second day of the event was devoted to one of my favorite topics'marketing.
Ali gave us her top marketing 'mantras' in her business, and I thought they were so spot on that I wanted to share them here:
1) The marketing is more important than the mastery. I first heard this from Ali a few years ago, and I recently wrote an article about this very topic. It doesn't mean that what you do in your business isn't important, it just means that mastering marketing is as important mastering your craft. You can be great at what it is you do--but if you are not marketing consistently, your skills and abilities won't be enough to keep your business afloat.
2) Always be marketing. Marketing your business is necessary all the time'not just when the economy is bad or your revenues are down. Unfortunately, many business owners are learning this lesson now in the recession. Their bottom line is suffering because in the past, they never thought they 'needed' to market.
3) Emphasize benefits over features. When you market your products or services, think of benefits as answering the customer's question of 'what's in it for me'? <
4) Be original, but clear. Adding your own unique flair to your marketing can help you stand out, but make sure the message of what it is you can do for people doesn't get lost in your quest to be memorable or unique.
5) Work your best methods. There are numerous ways to market a business, both online and off: advertising, books, blogs, direct mail, giveaways, live events, press releases'and on and on. You don't have to pick just one method, nor do you need to be doing a little of everything. As it was described at the event, 'marketing is a buffet.' Choose a handful that work for you and work them continually.
So, what does marketing come down to' Marketing is really just relationship building and communication. Your job as a business owner is to use that communication to accomplish 4 main things:
1. Attract leads
2. Collect leads
3. Follow up
4. Close the sale
Sometimes business owners make marketing more complicated than it needs to be. Follow these five mantras and you'll go a long way toward simplifying the path to closing that all-important sale.
