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Salt looks a lot like sugar

By Jim Connolly | March 22, 2017

marketing advice, marketing help

Even close up, salt and sugar look very similar.

So, how come we don’t accidentally add salt to our coffee or tea? How come we don’t continuously have salt and sugar-related accidents?

And what does this have to do with the way you market your business?

It’s all about packaging, marketing and expectation

A salt cellar looks very different from a sugar bowl. We never select a salt cellar and expect sugar. The external packaging is what we use to form our decision. Of course, we use this same strategy all day every day.

  • We choose the vegetables at the market that have the best symmetry. We do this, even though the oddly-shaped ones will taste just as good.
  • We are drawn to books that have attractive covers, even though we tell ourselves we can’t judge a book by the cover.

Here’s the thing… no matter how great your service is, prospective clients will judge you based on the effectiveness of your marketing and the image it creates. If you place your sugar in a salt cellar, people will expect salt. You need to be smarter than that.

Your prospects will form an impression of you regardless of what you do. It’s your job to ensure that the image you project, your brand, creates the right impression. A powerful impression that builds trust, credibility and confidence.

Why this is critical to the success of your business

If a prospective client had never heard of you, what impression would they have, based on the way you package your business? Does your business look like it’s the best and safest option for what they need, when compared to your competitors?

If it does, then you’re already attracting sales leads every day.

If it doesn’t, fix your marketing. And fast.

Why?

Because business has never been more competitive than it is today. Think about it. Google lets your prospective clients (and your current clients) find 10 alternative providers to you, in seconds.

If your marketing doesn’t create a better impression than these competitors, you lose. They get the sales leads and the new clients. Not you.

As a result, marketing has never been more important than it is today.

Now, I haven’t had the pleasure of speaking with you yet. So I have no idea whether you dabble with marketing or have expert marketing help. What I do know, is that today’s digital landscape allows those with expert marketing to see their message spread.

They claim a massively disproportionate slice of their marketplace.

They reach more people.

They attract more enquiries.

They make more sales.

Whilst those who dabble, at best, stand still.

This is great news for you

That’s because in 2018, it’s still a minority of small and medium-sized businesses, which are marketed correctly. This presents you, for now, with an excellent opportunity.

An opportunity to surge ahead, whilst the majority of your competitors dabble.

As the clock ticks, more and more of your competitors are investing in their marketing. This means the opportunity becomes smaller, the longer you delay. The best time to have invested in expert marketing help, was the year you started your business. The second best time is now.

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Hi! I'm Jim Connolly and I help small business owners to increase sales, boost their profits and build amazing businesses. Read more here.

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