Trick question: how much money does your small business spend on marketing each year? Why is this a trick question? Because if you're doing marketing properly, it should be making you money, not costing you money. Of course, there’s always an upfront cost to marketing. But if it’s effective marketing, then the amount of money that [...]
“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient,” Warren Buffett famously said. A similar principle applies in marketing. Marketing is all about playing the long game. There are no quick wins in marketing. Victory goes to the patient. The reason small businesses do marketing is to build trust, credibility [...]
Have you ever seen the James Bond movie Dr No? Well, years ago, Richard Branson’s staff gave him the nickname Dr Yes. Why? Because every time they came to him with a new idea, instead of saying “No, here’s why the idea won’t work,” he would say “Yes, I can see how that might work.” He [...]
It’s hard to build a successful small business if you don’t do good marketing. But good marketing alone doesn’t guarantee the success of a small business. Good marketing attracts the attention of potential buyers. But then what? You also need a system to convert that attention into sales. But a good sales system doesn’t guarantee success [...]
When you do marketing, the best approach is not to sell the product but to market the solution. For example, if you’re in the mattress business, don’t sell mattresses; instead, market the benefits of a good night’s sleep. When you do marketing this way, you focus not on the features of your products but on their [...]
Here’s my new year’s resolution: I’m going to cold-call 2,500 business owners in 2020. That’s 50 owners per week for 50 weeks. No, I’m not a cold-calling ninja. In fact, I have almost no cold-calling experience. But there are three reasons why I believe a cold-calling rampage is a great idea: It’s the most efficient way [...]
Would you cut back on your marketing in a downturn? If so, why? After all, if your marketing has been working, why would you cut back on it? If the amount of money you’ve been investing in marketing has been less than the amount of money you’ve been getting back in increased sales, why wouldn’t you [...]
Why do your customers buy from you? This is not a trick question. You might think they buy from you because of your low prices or fast turnarounds. But if you asked, they might tell you they actually buy from you because of your high quality or friendly service. So why not ask the question? And [...]
The best form of marketing is ... whatever your customers consider to be the best form of marketing. That will differ from customer group to customer group. Some groups might prefer cutting-edge messaging. Others might prefer conservative messaging. Some groups might prefer to be reached through print channels such as catalogues and flyers. Others might prefer [...]
“It is much easier to double your business by doubling your conversion rate than by doubling your traffic.” That advice from Bryan Eisenberg applies not just to online business but bricks-and-mortar businesses. So how do you double your conversion rate? By doing better marketing. If you send higher-quality messages to higher-quality audiences, you’re going to do [...]
