Ever heard of the ‘Rule of Seven’? The Rule of Seven is a marketing idea that says a customer needs to consume a company’s marketing at least seven times before they make a purchase. Some people dispute whether the number is actually seven. Some people think it might be two or three times as high. Whatever [...]
This might sound controversial, but a lot of small businesses don't know what they're selling. You might think you do, but you don’t. What you actually sell isn’t your product, but the product behind the product. For example, if you run a hardware store, you might think you sell drills. You don’t. What you actually sell [...]
I'm a big fan of the concept 'always be marketing'. The more times you get in front of existing and potential customers and referral partners, the more sales your small business is going to make. But the phrase can make some people nervous, understandably, as they focus on the cost of all that marketing. But when [...]
Repeat after me: "Marketing does not need to be perfect to be effective." Marketing, like most things in life, just needs to be good enough. Some small businesses put off their marketing until ‘all their ducks are in a row’ and everything’s perfect. But guess what? There will never be a time when everything’s perfect. Nor [...]
I love marketing ... but the point of marketing is not to do marketing. The point of marketing is to make sales. So you also need a sales strategy. Oh, and you need to keep customers happy after making sales. So you don't just need a marketing strategy and a sales strategy – you also need [...]
Here’s a great quote from Donald Miller: "Everything you sell is medicine. If it's not medicine, it ain't selling." What that means is that your small business exists to solve problems. And If it isn't solving problems, why would anyone want to do business with you? So when you are doing your marketing, you need to [...]
It's hard to do marketing to strangers, because we don't trust people we don't know. Marketing to old friends, though, is much easier. They know you, they like you and, most importantly, they trust you. The point of marketing is to make sales. It’s much easier to convince existing customers to buy from you than it [...]
Did you know that honing your marketing message can help you improve your business strategy? For example, imagine you run a camping store. You’ve decided that the best way to market your products is to focus on their benefits rather than their features. More talk about adventure, less talk about tents. What now? Your business strategy [...]
Did you know that small businesses have a legal obligation to tell the truth in their marketing? You're not allowed to make false or misleading statements. If you do, you might be in violation of the Australian Consumer Law, and serious penalties could apply. For example, you can’t say you’ve reduced a product’s price if the [...]
Every weekend, the famous retail chain Bunnings allows charities and community groups to hold sausage sizzles at its outlets across Australia. This event is sheer marketing genius. Why? Because Bunnings gets great PR. It gets extra foot traffic. It builds relationships with its local community – all without doing any extra work. So here's a challenge [...]
