Hope Is Not a Marketing Strategy
Any business owner who’s managed to survive to his or her fourteenth birthday knows this. It’s pretty obvious.
But once we dive into the day-to-day grind of overseeing and operating our business, any thoughts of marketing strategy are pretty much the first things out the window. And what’s left, day by day, is just the implicit hope that customers will come, that, even though nothing’s changed from yesterday, potential customers will see the business differently today.
Well, they won’t. In fact, they won’t see our businesses at all if we don’t force ourselves to set aside time to work up a simple strategic plan and then force ourselves to devote time every day to implementing it, monitoring results, and modifying our approach.
Marketing your business is a core activity. In fact, marketing your business is your business. Think of everything you do (that isn’t accounting) as part of your investment in marketing. It all works toward bringing in and building sales.
If you don’t devote time to it, who’s going to?
And if you don’t take charge of marketing your business, who are you going to blame when it doesn’t grow?
Hi. I read a few of your other posts and wanted to know if you would be interested in exchanging blogroll links?
very helpful post, you should post more stuff related to this.
Arggg… I really don’t get what you mean with your last sentence…
Corey:
What I’m suggesting with the last line is that ultimately, the business owner has to take responsibility for everything that happens in and to his business – including all aspects of marketing, particularly setting and executing a marketing strategy. And that has to include accepting responsibility for the business’s failure if he doesn’t take control of his marketing. I’ve known too many small-business owners who, after failing to take any initiative in getting their name out and bringing in customers, were all too quick to find someone or something else to blame when their businesses didn’t last – the economy, the competition, lousy employees, slow suppliers – instead of accepting their responsibility.
Hey, can I share your post with my readers? Let me know if it’s okay or not.
Dear Julian:
I’d be honored if you chose to share my post with your readers. And I hope there will be more posts in the future that you like.
Thanks very much,
Randall Seefeldt
incredible…