Copyright © 2010 Judy Murdoch
So often a business owner will say to me that they "hate" marketing.
If you are a small business owner who "hates" marketing or even feels a sense of uneasiness when you contemplate marketing for your business, this article is dedicated to you.
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Why Business Owners H8 Marketing
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Once you get past the "nameless dread" business owners feel about marketing, some interesting issues surface:
1. Marketing Just Isn't Their "Thing"
2. They're Not Really Sure What They Should Be Doing
3. They Wonder Whether Their Large Investment of Time, Effort, and Money Will Really Pay Off
If you hate marketing because it just isn't your thing, I'm not going to try talking you out of that. I believe we're best off playing to our strengths.
However, you'll need to find and pay someone else to do your marketing. If you can't or won't outsource marketing, seriously consider whether you want to own a business.
If you hate marketing because you're not really sure what you should be doing, rejoice because there's a lot of good support for learning and practicing marketing skills: books, classes, and coaches.
If you hate marketing because it feels so darn vague and risky...ah...read on.
There are things you can do to reduce that uncertainty and get more comfortable with risk as a natural component of the marketing process.
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Risk is Inherent in Marketing
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Prior to starting my business I spent more than a decade working for large consumer products companies. I worked in the research department and my job was to study customers so the people who were planning and producing products would maximize the chances that customers would buy.
Note I said "maximize the chances" rather than "make buying a sure thing."
Because even giant companies spending millions using customer research in their marketing decisions will never tell you marketing is a sure thing.
It's like the batting averages in baseball. No one, not the greatest hitter of all time ever hits every pitch.
Hitting one ball out of three is considered spectacular. Hitting one ball out of four is average.
This is very important to keep in mind: that in all your marketing efforts, you will rarely, if ever, get great results the first time you attempt to market your offer.
More often, you'll begin seeing real results on your 3rd or 4th go.
You can, however, improve your chances to succeed faster.
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How to Improve Your Odds
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The good news is, in fact, there are many, simple, inexpensive ways to improve your marketing and improve your chances of people responding.
#1 Numbers Matter
The more impersonal your marketing approach the the larger the number of people who need to see your offer. For email offers having 1% of your list purchase is normal.
If you are enrolling for a ten-person class and you have 200 people on your mailing list, you need to use other, more personal methods to fill your class.
Lesson: to improve the odds of internet marketing success, build your list.
#2 Make Improvement Your Objective; Not Perfection
Please oh please don't wait until your offer is perfect. If you've checked for typos, made certain that details are correct and the links work, get your offer out to people.
Lesson: It's not about hitting the first ball, or even the second ball, it's about showing up, seeing how people respond, and tweaking.
#3 Find Out What Worked and Didn't Work
Ask some of the people who received your offer:
And at each point, ask "how come" with the sincere intention to find out what didn't work.
The sincere intention bit is very important. If you're talking to someone who fits your "ideal customer" you don't want them to gloss over what didn't work. Tell them you want their input so you can be of service and help them and businesses like them.
And remember to thank them for their help.
Lesson: Ask for honest input, don't defend or explain, and listen carefully.
#4. Use the Suggestions that Make Sense
You don't need to use every suggestion that crosses your path.
As the owner of your business, it's important that you make sure each nugget of advice makes sense for your budget and communication style. And that your heart says "yes."
If it doesn't make sense; if your heart doesn't go along, you won't fully own the actions you take to improve your marketing and you won't get the results you want.
Lesson: make sure your intuition and heart are fully engaged before you act on a suggestion.
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Bottom Line
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If you're a small business owner and find yourself avoiding marketing because it seems like tons of work with no guaranteed results, take heart.
Although uncertainty is inherent in marketing because we can't perfectly predict how people will respond there are things you can do to improve the odds of getting good results.
It also helps to remember that you're in the same boat as every other business owner. Regardless of what you might hear, it's near impossible to hit every promotion "out of the park" every time.
The successful marketers know it's about putting your offer out there and improving your offer based on feedback; sometimes two or three times.
About the Author:
Judy Murdoch helps small business owners create low-cost, effective marketing campaigns using word-of-mouth referrals, guerrilla marketing activities, and selected strategic alliances. To download a free copy of the workbook, "Where Does it Hurt? Marketing Solutions to the problems that Drive Your Customers Crazy!" go to http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm
You can contact Judy at 303-475-2015 or judy@judymurdoch.com
Follow @judymurdoch on Twitter.
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