Marketing is awesome! Once you have a product or service to share, marketing is what gets it out into the world and in the hands of the people who need it. Marketing creates a customer and allows you to move forward in changing the world. Marketing is an art, it is your genuine connection to your ideal client.Consistent marketing is the key to business growth. SCHEDULE TIME FOR MARKETING, a portion of each day should be spent marketing. At least one hour and if you need to, schedule one day a week for marketing. Marketing is just as important as spending time with your clients, because it keeps the clients coming. CONTINUE EDUCATING YOURSELF, there is tons of information out there on marketing. Don’t stop learning. KNOW YOUR IDEAL CLIENT, know who they are, where they are, what they hope, fear and what they are feeling. SPEND TIME WITH YOUR CLIENT, find out what they want and continually learn from them. ANALYZE YOUR RESULTS, if you know what is working and what is not, you can make wiser marketing decisions and adjustments. LEARN HOW TO TALK TO YOUR CLIENT, get their attention, gain their interest, create desire and call them to action.
The important thing to remember is that marketing is ALL about your ideal client.
If your ideal client tweets all day long and has never touched Facebook, then stay off Facebook. If your client does not leave their house and does everything online – then you need to find where they are online. You need to speak in the words your client understands, be in the places your client frequents, and know what creates the desire to take action.
“Brands are psychology and science brought together as a promise mark as opposed to a trademark. Products have life cycles. Brands outlive products. Brands convey a uniform quality, credibility and experience. Brands are valuable. Many companies put the value of their brand on their balance sheet.” Scott Goodson
If you create a strong brand with a good reputation, your will have less “convincing”.
Marketing Platforms:
- Social Media; Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, etc.
- Blog
- Email (newsletter, sales letter)
- Workshops
- Affiliate Marketing
- Direct Mail
- Newspaper
- Phone Book
- Website
Choose your marketing strategy wisely, test the platforms and focus on what works for your ideal client!
Please share your marketing and branding experiences below. Did you find this blog helpful? Share it with your friends!
So where do you start? How do you even know where to begin? I’m working on my website. My Facebook page does not seem to be of interest to people and I don’t know what to do to improve interest.
Hi Stacie, You are not the only one who has this question. There is so much information out there, it is hard to know where to start or what to do with the info you have. Did you attend our FanPage webinar? We have a lot of good tips on that. The best place to begin is to take a real deep dive into your ideal client. Get to know who that person is, where they are, what they hope for and what they are afraid of. If they are on Facebook, stay there…target them and keep posting consistently. At first…it feels like you are talking to a wall, but gradually, with good content and increased reach, you will find more engagement. Take one step at a time and build a marketing strategy.
I always find the analysis part to be my weak link. It gets lost in the doing it and the continuing to educate myself part.
Thanks Cathy! I really like the concept in the quote of a “promise mark” vs a “trademark”. At times it all seems overwhelming but then I took a step back and focused on one step at a time- learn my website and continually update, added Facebook page and working on speaking to my audience, next was my Newsletter and now I am blogging!
I definitely need to spend more time marketing!!
I generally market using my website and newsletter, but will need to expand so I can reach a larger audience.
I have really enjoyed getting to know my current readership through phone calls and emails, which has helped me understand who I attract best and who I’d like to serve.
You’ve definitely made me think!!
Great post, Cathy!
I love your reminder to keep marketing “consistent” – not just when you need new clients, but rather, an ongoing conversation with your “tribe.”
I’ve poured a lot of energy into online marketing, and I’m just now shifting my focus to integrate more face-to-face networking and workshop opportunities to fill out my big picture marketing plan!
And in response to Stacie’s comment, great reply – indeed it takes time, so you simply focus and start in one place where your ideal client shows up. Stay consistent and give everything enough time (at least 2-3 weeks) before you start analyzing what does or doesn’t work (often we can’t know the effect the seeds we are planting will have!).
Cathy, thank you for this article! One of my biggest challenges it so schedule and honor time to schedule marketing. It’s biting at my heals. Experience has taught me that it is super important though so I am beginning to bring it into my focus.
I love “focus on what works for your ideal client”. So many times we do and go where we want to go instead of where our target peeps are! Thanks CAthy!
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