Get a marketing strategy

It's a world wide malaise, do what everyone else is doing, because everyone else is doing it.

Instead, why not break the cycle and get a strategy instead. John Jantsch has a great post on just this idea...

the single greatest small business marketing mistake I encounter - and I encounter it every single day.

Small business owners fall prey to the marketing idea (tactic) of the week because they have no marketing strategy. If I could change anything about the way small business owners view marketing - that would be it.

By strategy I mean your marketing reason for being and I don't mean to exchange money for something. Far too many people think "we want to sell lots of stuff to lots of people" is a strategy.

John goes on to expand the initial idea and it's worth a read. It's a useful stopping point to think first. Why do you think this will work? Do you realise that something like 60% of advertising purchases are not made from a strategy, but because of the relationship you have with the media sales person? [I read that somewhere, but can't remember where so it becomes a useless statistic and hearsay I know] Are you trying that tactic because it will get tested and measured, or because you are fed up of listening to the sales guy and broke down and got your chequebook out?

Think before acting. [or at least practice the process and begin the habit]

Tagged with:

• Strategy
• Marketing
• Think

Battle of the Memetrackers

Micro Persuasion: Breememe, aka Battle of the Memetrackers: "Breememe"

and this week's nonsense word is...

Breememe

Yesterday Steve Rubel began another experiment on tracking the spread of an idea using the new tools of the internet, this is a post purrely to see what happens next

how beautiful is this? how ugly is this?

I always wanted to change the world, just not quite like this though.

Click image below to view video in a pop up window

How have we changed the planet? See for yourself.

the original site is here: Worldchanging Campaign

I haven't any spare money right now to contribute, you may have. Either way, I'd like us all to think just how much we affect those around us with our actions; as people, as businesses, as families, as communities.

Pass it on,

More homework for the CEO and her team

I should add this as a link to the homework page, it's a great example of working on your business, not in it.

20 Questions to Develop Your Business:
"STRATEGIC

1. What are your short term and long term goals (what time period are these goals)?
2. How do you measure success?
3. What do you think are the top three things keeping you from achieving success?
4. What are your company's exclusives? What do you have that your competitors can’t or wouldn't copy?

MEASURES

1. What is the average order size and average order margin? How has this trended?
2. How many customers buy each month? What is the mix of new vs. previous customers?
3. What is a customer worth over a lifetime? Have you calculated the NPV profitability of customers?
4. What is the cost per acquiring a customer? i.e. Total marketing costs / new customers.

MARKETING

1. How do you communicate to existing customers after the purchase?
2. What is your monthly marketing spend, and what is the mix between the different vehicles? What is this marketing expense trend vs. revenue over the past 3 years?
3. How do you measure your marketing? What tests have you run? Results?
4. How do your competitors market differently than you?

CUSTOMER

1. What are the top 3 things customers are looking for when they come to the store / web site? And how do you know this?
2. Where are most customers coming from or going to when they visit your store / site? And how do you know this?
3. If I were a customer, what would my 20 second word of mouth 'sound byte' be if I were to tell a friend about you? What would I say?
4. Who is your primary competition and how do you differentiate your customer service, shopping experience, and products from competition?

EMPLOYEES

1. What are the roles/responsibilities of the top management in the company? How are these made clear to each of them?
2. What are your key performance indicators and how often do you review them as management, and with employees?
3. How are employees compensated? Are there performance-based incentives?
4. What are the career paths? Are they clearly communicated to employees?"

Take a few minutes and ponder why

There's been a bit of time for navel gazing here of late, and I've thought that there's not enough of my personal opinion in the content of this blog. But today once again Seth Godin has a post that is just complete without my blundering input.

The Reason: "The reason the typewriter keyboard is in a weird order is that original typewriters jammed, and they needed to rearrange the letters to keep common letters far apart.

The reason we don't have school in the summer is so our kids can help with farmwork.

The reason there's a toll on that bridge but not on that road is that there used to be a ferry on that river, and the ferryman needed to make a living.

The reason you go to a building to go to work every day is that steam or water power used to turn a giant winch-like structure that went right through the factory building. Every workman used that power to do his work. As factories got more sophisticated, it remained efficient to move the workers, not the stuff.

What's your reason?"

Why do we do the stuff we do? All too much of it is from habit, or even the systems we have devised but not updated or reviewed. There's a lot of scope to improve things if only we set aside a few moments to ponder every now and then. Blue sky your world; today

on my way to fame and fortune

Take back the internet from the A-List Bloggers: Robert Scoble had this to say...

"I see there was a dustup over on Doc Searls blog (and others) about the fact that the Z list is being kept out of the kingdom by the A list bloggers. I guess by linking to Doc’s blog I’m a gatekeeper and I’m just working to keep the Z list down. Hey, it’s a conspiracy. If we only link to each other you’ll never be able to find any new voices, right?

Here, let’s play a game. Everyone in the world say “brrreeeport” on your blog and you’ll be listed on this Technorati page automatically"

here's my entry in the fame game Robert... brrreeeport

It's probably only a ruse, but I'll play along to see how the experiment goes, though I doubt how much it will actually benefit everyone, it's still a matter of having something to say, not being heard as far as I'm concerned, and plainly I've got nothing to say here. But I am interested in the experiment

Another truism

“Any business arrangement that is not profitable to the other person will in the end prove unprofitable for you. The bargain that yields mutual satisfaction is the only one that is apt to be repeated.” B . C . F O R B E S

All of us in business should remember this in our dealings with the customer, [and with our families too].