My 5 Keys to Marketing …
In past posts … I’ve posed a couple questions about the importance of branding versus leads and cash flow versus profit.
Both tie into some of my own “rules” or “laws” of business and marketing.
While we answered the question about branding and leads on the side of leads, we can also answer the question about cash flow and profit by saying “both.”
Both are important … but you (and your business) always need cashflow first before you can generate systematic and growing profits.
What does this have to do with marketing?
Everything!
Especially if you find yourself in commodity oriented business, the ONLY competitive advantage you can have in that type of category IS your marketing …
So … if you think marketing is only for the creative-types and big ad agencies, you are missing out on about 50% of the growth potential of your business.
That’s because of the delusion that most business owners have that marketing doesn’t apply to their business, and the illusion created by the creative-types and big ad agencies that branding is the path to business success.
Nothing, at least from my perspective, could be further from the truth.
Here’s my take on speaking “truth to power” … and my 5 basic, yet iron-clad keys to marketing you can literally take to the bank – because adopting this “marketing mindset” will make every marketing resource you spend an investment.
1) Leads first, branding second. We’ve talked about this before … and more on this later.
2) Think like your customer. This goes back to the idea that you need to sell what your customer is really looking to buy … versus what you necessarily want to sell.
3) Know your ALL of your numbers … because what you don’t measure, you can’t change. This is probably one of the biggest keys to any marketing success … and one of the most overlooked.
4) Systemize a consistent lead generation program to overcome gaps in creative, media and timing. Another key area most business owners (and yes, even major corporations) fall short on.
5) Test. Measure. Keep. Kill. This is pretty self-explanatory … but we’ll go into a lot more detail in later posts.
Suffice to say I’ve got a lot more to say on all of these items in the next several weeks …
But as I prepare to get back to the states after our highly successful ActionCOACH Global Conference in Barcelona, I’ll leave you the weekend to think about these 5 keys, and how they might apply to your business.
Jodie Shaw
Tags: 5 keys, Action coaching, Jodie Shaw, marketing
ActionCoaching | Jodie Shaw | 
August 13, 2010 10:43 am
