Are you operating your business month-to-month, even year-to-year, without a plan?
We’re all so busy – too busy, if you ask me. When business is good, we’re so busy filling orders that there’s little time left for anything else. When business is not so good, there’s an urgency to do something, almost anything to bring in new customers. Sound familiar?
It doesn’t have to be feast or famine.
But you won’t fix the problem in 30-minute sound bites. You’re going to need to set aside some time to go deeper, to ask and answer some fundamental questions once again or for the first time, before creating a plan that will direct you through 2012 and beyond.
Questions like:
Why are you in business? For most of us, there’s a much bigger reason than just ‘making a living.’ In fact, if ‘making a living’ is the only reason you’re in business, that’s mindset leads directly to poverty. So what’s your why?
What goals have you set for your business 10 years down the road? Five years? Three years? and for 2012?
Who is your ideal customer? Are you serving that market now? Why or why not?
- What does your ideal customer want?
- How are you serving your current customer base?
- Are you even reaching your ideal customer base?
- How can you do a better job of meeting their needs?
- How can you improve what you offer them?
Do you have a marketing budget?
If you don’t, you’re not serious about growing your business. Effective marketing requires an investment of time, expertise, and money. Leave any one of those items out of the equation and it’s just not going to work. Far too many business owners try throwing money or time at their marketing, but you can spend an awful lot on marketing that takes you nowhere, or spend all your time going in the wrong direction.
Expertise without time or money is just as damaging. You have to be able to implement what you’ve learned, and that often requires additional expense. It can get real frustrating real fast trying to master intelligent marketing practices for your particular business.
Be honest – we’ve all been there.
You need to start somewhere. Setting up a budget will help you get started and show you where the holes are.
Buyer Beware
You’re no doubt getting several calls each week from companies offering to improve your website’s rank on Google. You’re hearing about getting your business on Facebook and Twitter, on television, in local directories, and from companies like Groupon and Living Social. You’re getting calls from big companies and from freelancers – offering everything from full-page phone book ads, websites, and videos to website optimization so your site shows up in local search. It may all sound pretty good. How do you know who to trust? How do you know which you need?
First, return to the basics – to those questions about your why, your goals, and your ideal customer.
Then you listen – to your market AND to those people offering to sell you services. Are they asking ANY of the right questions? If they’ve skipped right on over to how to get your site listed as #1 on Google, they’ve tipped their hand. After all, anybody can get a site listed #1 on Google for something!
Frankly, I’m tired of Internet marketers preying on small businesses. There is no one-size fits all solution – and (SURPRISE!) it’s not all about your website rank. It’s time to look at your business, your goals, and your marketing holistically. Now open a new Google doc or grab a pencil and paper, turn off the distractions, and let the 2012 planning begin in earnest.
Here are a few very important ways your small business should consider automating to fulfill some of its marketing obligations.
