The question of what marketing activities to undertake, when, and how much surfaces on a regular basis. This month, I had a question about print advertising. I'm not going to try to wrestle here with the question of what media to use for what kind of business, size of business, or timing for doing so. 

The situation that I hear regularly is this: a media (magazine, TV, radio, billboard, phone book, social media, etc.) sales representative appears via phone, email, or at your office. Their message is usually that they have the latest and greatest answer for solving your marketing problems. They show you the best issue or the cover of an upcoming issue that looks really awesome.  After they leave, many business owners and managers feel they may really lose out if they don't take advantage of this great deal or new media package. I call buying into this process "Opportunistic Marketing". Read on to understand why it doesn't work very well.

All marketing starts with a few key premises (naming just a few here):

• What are your annual goals (knowing the long-term ones is nice too but for now we'll focus on short-term)?
• Who is your target audience? Specifically, what are the demographic profile and buying patterns of your most valuable customers?  What all do you know about them? You may even have more than one type of customer, perhaps a primary and one or more secondary audiences.
• How are you positioned among the competition for whatever products and services you sell? Are you high price, high quality with extreme customer service or the low-cost leader providing good value for the money knowing money is a key issue for your customers, or something in between? What makes your business, products, and services stand out?
• How much should you spend on marketing each year - both in time and money?

So here is the logic that often gets overlooked when the media salesperson shows up at your door. The "HOW" shows up before the "WHAT". Here's what I mean. 

The salesperson has a great deal, the media is something you'd love to be in, but you just aren't sure. So here is what happens. If you don't have a marketing plan with clear goals and a budget:

1. It is impossible to know which goal the advertising will help you achieve.  
2. It is not clear which goals are the most important, and therefore should dictate the most marketing time, effort, and budget.
   
3. You didn't take the time to research and evaluate what other options, effectiveness, and costs exist for achieving your prioritized goals.
4. You might spend a significant amount of money, not doing the most effective and efficient marketing. What can be worse, is a better deal shows up in the form of another advertising person next month but there is no money left for this next media package. 

Getting clear on business goals comes first. This is the "what" you want to achieve and how much you want to sell and to whom. Much of the rest is "how" you are going to achieve the "what". This is the logic to think about the next time you are approached by an advertising salesperson.

Sometimes there are great deals and big ideas to be "bought" out there. Avoid "Opportunistic Marketing" whenever you can. There are many forms of media and unlimited creative ideas to be considered side by side and evaluated thoroughly. Going through a marketing planning process can help you uncover and really think about your business in terms of spending your valuable time and money on the biggest, most important goals first. 


Written by Linda Brown, owner Business Matters. 

Today I was reviewing some writings and quotes, which reminded me of the concept that "thoughts are things", something I regularly observe and believe is alive and well. This is the idea that what we think becomes present in our lives, even who we become. I shifted to thinking about time management and how this principle might apply there. Why wouldn't it? 

So, the question came up again: How do I think about time?  If I think I'm too busy too much of the time, won't that continue to be my experience? However, it may seem in a work situation, and in many personal situations also, that you have no control over what takes up your time. This brings up the topic of expectations, what do you or others want you to accomplish, either in your work or personal life? And, of course, there is a connection between expectations and time used to fulfill those expectations. 

To say, we chose our careers and our personal lives so we must have had some idea the time they would take up, doesn't seem to really answer the question of how to manage time better, and especially how to feel better about our usage of time.  

I approached this topic a few years ago and came to conclusions that:

1. If what we have and experience mirrors our own thinking, I should examine how my own thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes toward time impact how busy I feel.
2. It would be helpful to practice thinking that time is manageable and within my control. This means making a shift in my thinking or attitudes, some of which may be habitual thought processes.
3. I need to continuously monitor two things: a. How busy do I want to be right now?, and b. What is important to me right now in terms of accomplishing tasks or projects, in what time frame?  

Today, I harbor these same conclusions but add some additional thoughts, such as: how real is time anyway? It is intangible; we cannot see, hear, smell, or touch it. It can be argued that we can measure it. Man has created systems of time and the human race has dictated work schedules, sleep, schools, business hours, religions, entire countries and hemispheres around time systems that are fractionalized into equal parts with beginnings and endings of those fractions, that we then fall into step with, or against. Not all of these systems of measuring time are quite the same. 

A question that comes to mind is: "What is more important, measuring achievements by a clock or measuring against what you are really wanting?"  

At the core of the question is what do you want to do, be, and have? Acknowledging your individual purpose, talents, skills, and strengths comes into play. This may create a shift in your energy. When you begin thinking about what you're here to do, what you can contribute, what skills and talents you can bring forward to a task at hand, what goals can you accomplish, are you more or less energized to see what you can get done than when you tie your accomplishments to the time it takes to get them done?

Do you feel you are using your strengths and talents in work that is meaningful to you, that is driven by your own goals, talents, strengths, and purpose? Or, do you feel, you must comply with the constant expectations of others, systems, organizations? If so, you might consider working with a coach to explore what and how you can make changes to be more  in alignment with who you are and what you are wanting.

As a coach, I recommend exploring these questions and seeing what comes up for you? Obviously, the questions have to do with more than just managing your time. Often, working and living a more fulfilling life is about continuously looking at things anew, assessing and reassessing if you feel different about things today than yesterday, and especially asking yourself what it is that you really want now?  

The following chart indicates the importance of treating your customers with respect, caring, and really listening to their wants and needs.  

• 1% DIE
• 3% MOVE AWAY
• 5% OTHER FRIENDSHIPS
• 9% COMPETITIVE REASONS
• 14% PRODUCT DISSATISFACTION
• 68% QUIT     Because of an attitude of indifference (or worse – rudeness) toward the customer by an employee or the business owner.

  Source: U.S. News and World Report

 It is 5-6 times more expensive to get a new customer than to keep a current customer. 

A typical business may hear from only 4 % of dissatisfied customers, leaving a full 96% that may just go away.  Many customers go away because they don’t think they’ll be heard or responded to.  However as many as 75% of customers will do business with you again if you effectively resolve their problem.  A dissatisfied customer may tell up to as many as 15 people.  It’s a good idea to do regular customer surveys to know what your customers think about how they’ve been treated.

Think about times you have been well served?  What did they do?  Why did it stand out to you?  Was it consistent each time you purchased from that company?  Then think about times you were not served well.  Why?  What didn’t you like?  Do you make sure your employees don’t follow this same pattern?

Charles M. Schwab, the great steel magnate, had granted an interview to an efficiency expert named Ivy Lee. Lee was telling his prospective client how Lee’s firm could help him do a better job of managing the company, when Mr. Schwab broke in to say something to the effect that he wasn’t at present managing as well as he could. He said “We know what we could be doing; now if you can show us a better way if getting it done, I’ll listen to you- and pay you anything within reason you ask.”

Lee told Schwab that he could give him something in twenty minutes that would increase effectiveness by at least fifty percent. He handed Schwab a blank sheet of paper and said “Write down the six most important things you have to do tomorrow.”

Schwab thought about it and did as requested. It took him about three minutes. Lee then said, “Now number them in order of their importance to you and to the company.” That took about five more minutes. Then Lee said “Put the paper in your pocket, and first thing tomorrow morning, take it out and look at item number one. Don’t worry if you only finished one or two. You’ll be working on the most important ones. The others can wait. If you can’t finish them by this method, you could not have finished them by any other method. And without some system, you’d probably take ten times as long to finish them- and probably wouldn’t have finished them in the order of their importance.

“Do this every working day,” Lee went on. “After you’ve convinced yourself of the value of this system, have all your executives, managers, supervisors and foremen try it. Try it as long as you like, and then send me a check for whatever you think the idea is worth.”

Mr. Schwab sent Ivy Lee a check for $25,000 which adjusted for growth and inflation would be well more than $200,000 today. He stated it was the most profitable lesson he had learned in his life.