Small Business: 7 Signs it Might be Time to ask for Help
February 21, 2010
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Whatever you’ve been doing isn’t working. Newspaper ads, yellow pages, direct mail, magazines, and networking. You’re doing it all, yet you still don’t have all the business you want or need and your pipeline is empty. Maybe it’s time to get some outside help.
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- You want to take responsibility for the growth of your company. You know you’re capable of anything when you have the tools and the resources. Sure, you can most likely grow your small business you just don’t know where to begin. Hiring a marketing specialist to guide you will help you take responsibility for the growth of your company.
- You need accountability. You’ve read a few marketing books, attended seminars, and maybe even had some coaching in the past. You know the basics of marketing you just haven’t committed the time and energy into creating a cohesive system to make it work. You know you need help: someone who can give you direction and hold you accountable. Having someone to gently nudge you, someone to answer to will force you to do the things you know need to be done to take your business to the next level.
- You want objective feedback. Your friends and colleagues have been great for stroking your ego. But you know all your ideas aren’t that great. If they were, you’d be a millionaire. You need someone who is going to be objective. Someone who will constructively lead you in the right direction and offer a fresh perspective to your ideas. This objectivity will nudge you out of your rut and point out the areas you can improve upon; in all aspects of your business.
- You don’t have time to do all the marketing research and reading on your own. You are an expert in your industry. You can’t possibly be a marketing expert too; you don’t have time to master the things you need to take your business to the next level. You value your time and know it’s better spent on other aspects of your business where you can reap a higher return.
- You don’t have a marketing plan. You’ve been doing your marketing kind of haphazardly. Doing a little here and there with no cohesive plan or strategy in place. It’s not working. You know that in order to make it work there has to be some consistency and process behind it. A marketing coach can help you develop a system for your marketing – and stick to it.
- You don’t have $10,000 – $50,000 to hire a consultant. Yes, it would be nice to hire someone to do it all for you, but you don’t have that kind of money lying around. You can hire a coach for considerably less and still get a lot of the benefits you get with a consultant. Besides, you’re the DIY type anyway.
Please click here to leave your comments. (And then scroll down to the comments section on the bottom of the page)
Take Advantage of Every Opportunity to Practice Effective Marketing
February 15, 2010
So you have an opportunity to showcase your business for FREE. Maybe it’s a tabletop display at a networking event or a new member table at a Chamber of Commerce mixer. What are you going to do with it? The biggest mistake you can make is to do nothing. 
But you think it’s a big hassle and you won’t sell anything anyway. Well, I have great news for you – you’re probably not going to sell a single thing; your job is not to sell- your job is merely to collect information. Now doesn’t that take the pressure off?
Although it would be nice to sell something every time we come in contact with people – that’s just not reality; and since most of us live in reality, we have to resort to Marketing. Instead of thinking a display table or booth is a big hassle and you won’t sell anything anyway, think of it as an opportunity to collect information – to build your email list. Building an email list full of people who have said, “yes, I want to receive more information from you, because the information you are offering is interesting, educational, and fun to read” is crucial to an effective marketing strategy.
Build your list by collecting cards. You can do this by giving away a free report, a free consultation, or even have a drawing for a Starbucks gift card. You can make a little inexpensive sign and put a fishbowl on your table inviting people to drop their cards for a chance to win and to be signed up for your newsletter, monthly tips emails, special offers ,etc. Offer a demo of your products or services, or simply ask the people you meet if they would like to receive your very educational and informative newsletter.
Whatever you do, don’t waste an opportunity to showcase your business, collect information and build your “know, like and trust factor”. Please click here to leave your comments.
Small Business: Are you a Winner or are you Happy to Just be on the Team?
February 7, 2010
In honor of Super Bowl XLIV I want to write about what it takes to be a winner. Whether it’s sports, business or life there are a few things that separate the winners from the losers.
- The desire to win. This may seem really obvious. But stop. Really think about it a minute: The desire to WIN. Do you really have a desire to WIN or do you simply have a desire to be there? Are you happy just to show up every Sunday and play or do you want to be the best and make it to the Big Game? As a business owner, did you set out to create something that earns you recognition (in the form of lots of customers) and renders the fulfillment of a dream and a lifestyle? Or did you start your business just to show up to a job every day that didn’t require taking orders from someone else? So, is your goal to win- or just to be on the team?
- The belief that you can win. If you go into any endeavor or wake up each morning thinking “I can’t” – you won’t. The key to being a success is believing that you can do anything you put your mind to and putting all of your energy and efforts into making it happen. I doubt a single Super Bowl winner went into the Big Game – or the NFL for that matter – thinking they couldn’t win. There are no pessimists in the winner’s circle. If you think your business isn’t meant for big things, you won’t ever achieve big things. If you think “I can’t {sell, market, grow, find the time…}” – Then guess what, you won’t. If Peyton Manning had said, “There is no way I’ll be the NFL MVP 4 times in my career”, he wouldn’t have been. No matter what, believe that you can – and you will.
- Hard work and commitment. No one ever achieved anything by just sitting around and waiting for good things to happen. Luck doesn’t make winners; hard work, commitment and perseverance do. If you want something you have to go out and get it. You have to work hard, you have to learn and practice and push yourself beyond your comfort zones. Jerry Rice didn’t get to the Hall of Fame by keeping his workouts and training comfortable and easy; he pushed himself -each and every day – to do better than he did the previous day. And Peyton Manning didn’t make it to his 2nd Super Bowl by resting on his laurels after his first Super Bowl win or by giving up when he didn’t win the next one. Success is hard work. Success is a commitment. It’s completely up to you. Do you simply want to play… or do you want to win?
What It Takes To Be a Winner
What are you doing in your business to push yourself beyond your comfort zone to take your game to the next level; to make it to the big time? And for fun, who are you rooting for today and why? Leave your comments by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the next page.
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+Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company
- Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company specializes in helping small to medium sized businesses get the customers they need to sell more, increase profits and achieve all of their business and personal goals. We do this by implementing and managing marketing systems based on data and strategy - there is no guess work. For more information visit us at: FortuneMarketingCompany.com. We'd be glad to help!
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