Helen from Long Island, New York emailed me with an important marketing question. Maybe the most important marketing question there is! I’m going to share it with you, with her permission, along with my answer, as I believe you will find it interesting.
It’s all about a common attitude small business owners have, when it comes to marketing.
Here’s an excerpt from Helen’s email:
“My husband quit his job 2 years ago and now runs a training business. […] Nothing he tries works when it comes to marketing and so I’m begging him to get some professional marketing help. Without my salary propping up his business he’d have no business. He says that getting expert marketing advice is a waste of money. How can I convince him he’s totally wrong Jim?”
Being amazing isn’t enough
There’s a difference between a best-selling author and a best-writing author. The difference? Marketing. An average author with great marketing behind them will always sell more than a wonderful author, whose work goes unnoticed.
The same is true of your business
If your good work is going unnoticed, your less capable, yet better marketed competitors, will win the best clients and harvest the best results.
Sure, some of your delighted clients will recommend you, but usually that happens too infrequently. This is because they expect a great service from you. So, whilst you’re likely to retain their custom, you can’t rely on them to market your business for you.
Since starting my business in 1995, I have never once met with the owner of a failed business, whose marketing was effective. In fact, I’ve found that marketing is easily the most neglected element of the average small business.
Winners have a very different attitude to marketing
Interestingly, marketing is a top priority in every successful business I have ever known. This is not a coincidence. It’s exactly what you’d expect. Why? Because marketing is what provides the lifeblood of your business. I’m talking about cash flow, sales, clients and customers. Without those, you have no business.
Make no mistake, there is a proven, direct link between what your business achieves and the way you choose to market it. Dabbling with marketing is costly. It’s ineffective. It’s frustrating. It causes you to waste months or years, time which you could be using to market your business correctly.
Dabble with DIY marketing or invest in effective, professional marketing? The choice is yours. Choose wisely.