Are We All Similar?

Daily Spin:

1.  Hold up three fingers of your writing hand.

2.  Think of a flower.

3.  Think of a piece of furniture.

4.  Think of a color.

5.  Think of a number between one and ten.

When you set the vision for your small business, I hope it's a vision that personally drives you because chances are that if it drives you, then it will drive customers to you.  

One key expectation management goal of any small business is to remember to grow naturally.  Said differently, don't try to be someone you're not.  Having growing pains that are in stride with your growth needs have their own challenges, but those challenges are easier to deal with than to add too much business too fast and ending up sacrificing your quality to get the business.  Remember, if you're a one person shop, adding too much too fast can take you out of your comfort level and out of the work that you enjoy - the work that drove you to start your own business in the first place.

I think we're all more similar in what we want, than not.  I think we all want a vision that helps us stay true to our self, and have the faith necessary to know that success will follow.

Building your business for you, around you, isn't selfish.  In most cases you'll be creating something that others want, too - and, when all is in motion, you'll know how to service your customer's needs because your servicing something that is also passionate to you, too.

Final Torque:

By the way, regarding the requests at the beginning, Are We All Similar?:

1.  96% of us hold up all but our thumb and little finger.

2.  96% of us think of a rose.

3.  Chances are one out of three that you thought of a chair.

4.  Chances are more than 60% that you thought of red.

5.  Chances are one out of four that you thought of seven.

-MAC

Enjoy your ride on the flywheel.

The Very Beginning Of A Marketing Plan

Daily Spin:

A Friend to Walt Disney's brother at the second opening of Disney Land:

"I wish Walt could have been here to see this."

To which Walt's brother said,

"Oh, he saw it.  That's why it's here!"

What's Your Plan?

To start life's flywheel, you first need a plan.  Life's vision is complicated, and can cause you great stress if you try to control its every move.  It's an art, really, to learn to let go, but still be in control.  I know I've got a long way to go in controlling myself to not be controlling.  I have so much room to get better in this area, that I wonder if I can ever reach such control or if this kind of control is always an arms length away.  None-the-less, I know I need to visualize, and not get stressed out when I can't control every move of my vision.

You have to chart your course, and then navigate your ship.  Having a plan puts your vision in motion.  It's a fact that it is easier to adjust when you know what the plan is in the first place.

As a manager, business owner, entrepreneur, or if you're involved in any leadership role, etc., the best way to navigate your ship is to make sure everyone knows your plan, and to give key individuals who will be involved in your plan the opportunity to provide their input. 

When you're involved in small business, one of the hardest things to visualize is your marketing plan.  Why?  Well, there are many reasons, but the main reason is that most small businesses are comprised of one or two key individuals that do the majority of the work - and if you're in the field all day working, there isn't sufficient time to implement your marketing ideas.  

In many cases, true small business America doesn't have the financial resources to hire a person to handle the marketing portion of the business.  Which is sad, because marketing is the main ingredient.  The truth is that most small business America owners ARE their own marketing plan.  Owners rely on word-of-mouth that their reputation will speak for itself and will market their future success.  I guess this approach is OK, but it won't necessarily work if your business isn't local, or if you're business relies on the Internet for sales.   Most businesses must have some type of marketing to succeed.

"Marketing is so basic it cannot be considered a separate function of the business, on par with manufacturing or personnel.  Marketing is the whole business, seen from the point of view of its final results." - Peter Drucker

So what type of marketing strategy will work for you?  How do you visualize the plan?  How do you put the plan in place?

First, you need to really decide your marketing mix:

• Service
• Fee / Price
• Personal selling / Commitment
• Advertising & public relations

More than likely, your marketing mix is a combination of each of the above activities.  So which of the above areas do you give the most emphasis?

The president of Revlon once said, "Fifty percent of our marketing works.  I'm just not sure which fifty percent."

First and foremost, and the simplest place to start, is to ask yourself what do you need to do to generate immediate sales and, second, what should be done every month to generate a type of top of mind awareness in your customer base so that they are always aware of your services when they need them.

"The choice for a professional service company is not whether to market or not, but whether to do it poorly or well."  Aubrey Wilson in marketing professional services

Final Torque:

If you can't differentiate from your competition in service, personal attention and commitment, and product quality, then, in most cases, the price of your service will be the only means in which your customers will make their decision to work with your company.  Working with an unbalanced marketing mix is like trying to sit on a two-legged stool.  It's just not very long-term.  And only selling price will put you into a "commodity-type" situation that can lead you and your customers down a constant path of always being unsatisfied.

Give some thought on how your marketing can differentiate you from your competition. 

-MAC

Enjoy your ride on the flywheel.