The Best Marketing Advice I Ever Received

When I went self-employed seventeen years ago I purposely went to work alongside the most successful people I could find. I was starting from scratch and if I was to succeed then I wanted to be near people who were doing well and had the right attitude.

One particular guy in the office I worked from was the number one sales person for the company worldwide! This meant he sold more than literally thousands of other people, all over the world. Every month he brought in phenomenal amounts of business and always seemed to have a queue of opportunities.

I was intensely curious as to how he managed to do this so I asked him how he marketed himself. He replied "Just do everything, all of the time." It took me a while to work this out but the essence of the situation was that lots of marketing went on ALL THE TIME.

In the years since, and having worked with many other businesses, you notice the same trend. Regardless of all else the ones who do the best do lots of marketing and it goes on constantly. This is especially true right now, in a contracting economy.

The reason so many small businesses fail to reach their potential is that instead of doing everything all of the time they do nothing most of the time. Often, you notice a pattern that leads to constant highs and lows.

When times are busy very little marketing tends to get done because the perception is there's not enough time. But when the work is finished there's little or nothing to take its place. Marketing activity is then frantically undertaken - yet it's reactive behaviour, which costs more money and is far less effective.

The best time to market for new business is when you don't need it, which means finding ways to market your business when you're busy. Although the guy I knew made it look easy, behind the scenes was a well-oiled machine, consisting of:

The marketing mix

The engine ticks over because there are several 'cylinders' all firing at once. For example, there are opportunities coming via referrals, alliances, website, existing clients, tele-marketing, seminars, speaking etc. There's no reliance on just one or two sources of business.

A systematic approach

There is a marketing strategy and well planned tactics. Activities are scheduled well in advance. We suggest creating a 12-month marketing plan. Of course, you need to remain flexible because of external forces but the outcome should always remain in focus.

Constant recording and testing of results

The recording of results is critical to improving the system. For example, where does business come from, in what quantities, how much does it cost and what is the profitability? How can you leverage results if you don't measure what's happening?

Team work

A lot of business creates a lot of 'mess'. What stops people doing more business is that there are hold-ups on the conveyor belt. It's only though systems, delegation and a good team that results become consistent.

A willingness to try new ideas

What works today may not work tomorrow because they world around us is always changing. There has to be a budget to test new ideas and at the same time the courage to let go of old ideas that have stopped working.

Hard work

Very little gets achieved without getting stuck in and some hard graft, despite what the 'guru's' suggest.

According to many experts, 2009 is going to be a tough year. The winners, those who pick up the lions share of the business, will be the ones that continue to market. Last week I heard someone say that because their competitor had gone into liquidation they didn't need to advertise. But people won't turn up unless they know you're open for business, will they?

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The Best Marketing Advice I Ever Received