Ramping Up Your Marketing Efforts
In the good times, I talked with business owners who were happy with what they were getting.
Prospects were calling and being turned into customers, with very little effort… existing customers were buying more, more often… times were good.
They threw off the idea of marketing, they didn’t see a need for it. They were in the summer of their business lives and all they could see was the sunshine.
But as the great Jim Rohn says… “Life and business is like the seasons”.
As sure as the sun sets at night and rises in the morning… there has to be a winter. And for many that winter has arrived.
They didn’t want to hear about using sustainable marketing strategies and tactics that would keep them ahead of the game, in winter. They only saw the summer.
Now… some of those companies I have been keeping in contact with have let some people go. Worst still… have closed altogether. The layoffs and closures have been so rapid. But you know I wasn’t surprised.
I’m not saying I have all the answers because I don’t. I’ve been running my own business for a long time, and been in marketing for even longer. I knew there was a winter coming, so I was preparing in the summer. Others didn’t and now they’re paying the price.
Of course, some of those businesses that are suffering encountered situations outside their control and there was very little they could do about it. But there was definately some that had the chance to save themselves, but just couldn’t see what was coming. The warnings were there.
So to survive over the next 12 months what do you need to do? Ramp up your marketing activity. Period!
I’m sure people are working hard now and don’t think they can squeeze in anymore time to work on their business. But I say they can.
• If it means, getting up an hour earlier and working an hour later. Then do it.
• If it means, turning off the TV and resigning your favourite radio or tv show. Then do it.
• If it means working till midnight or the wee hours of the morning. Then do it.
• If it means using your weekends, when normally you would be sitting back and chilling. Then do it.
• If it means doing whatever it takes, to ensure your business survives. Then do it.
The extra time you create to work on your business will have to be time well spent. Testing new ideas and approaches to see what works and what doesn’t is going to be very productive.
Using low or no-cost ideas will be the order of the day. Spending a vast amount of money marketing a business is not needed. Some of the really great marketing approaches cost very little, if anything at all.
Nows the time to seek out those ideas and put them to work for your business… and keep on using them, once they’ve been proven to work.
I was too young to remember, my first recession… I was busy playing cricket, football and riding my bike. I was a child and did what children do.
The second one I do remember… because my house was on the line, bills were piling up and money was tight. Very tight.
I had just purchased my first home and then a few months later, house prices dropped like a stone and I was in negative equity to the tune of £16,000.
The recession of the nineties, I worked harder than I had ever worked before and I survived. I got back that £16,000 and moved to a bigger house.
This recession… I’m working harder now, than I did 12 months ago. I’m getting up earlier (2 or 3 days in the week) but I’m always working longer in the evenings. I’ve relegated my favourite programmes (there weren’t that many anyway) and I’m putting my efforts into finding, using, testing and profiting from low-cost and no-cost marketing strategies. And it’s working!
My brother-in-law called me last week and gave me a brilliant quote, which I loved. It read,(words to this effect) “Does a recession cause businessmen to become more fearfull or… do fearfull businessmen cause recession.” – The Law of Unintended Consequences.
I’ve always been of the mind that if you keep your activity high and that activity is the right activity, you’ll reap the rewards. Just by doing something, you’ll get back something in return.
So what if, from today you found 10 marketing ideas that could work and each one gave you 5% – 10% more than what you’re getting right now, what would that mean to you and your business? Would that enable you to feel a little less fearfull?
I’m not sure about you… but the activity I’ve been putting in, working on little proven ways to generate prospects, winning clients and building my war chest, has been making a difference and I’ll continue doing them… and adding more.
We all need to ramp up our marketing efforts, if we’re to survive and thrive.
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