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Do You Make These 7 Mistakes In Your Business?
Mistakes. Nobody likes to make them. But when we do we try to
learn from them, survive them and then value the 'experience'
that we now have because of them.
As a internet marketing consultant having worked with many
different businesses I've seen a lot of foul-ups in my career.
In this article I'll just like to address 7 of these mistakes
that have crippled or handicapped many companies that otherwise
could have been very successful.
1. Failure to differentiate your business by showing the unique
benefits you provide the customer.
Some may call this the Unique Selling Position (USP) or a host of
other titles meaning the very same thing, but you want to show
how you are different from your competition. Even if you are
selling a very common product you can still differentiate
yourself from your competition by picking one unique quality.
If you own a pizza place then maybe you are the only business in
the area that delivers after midnight or offer star-shaped
pizzas. Whatever will help you to stand out from the other pizza
places will help you to stand out in the customer's mind. Think
about how many credit card companies, gas stations, bakeries
. and a host of other businesses that offer similar services
to other companies.
Differentiate and you'll win.
2. Failure to test your advertising strategies.
There are many companies that run various ads. This includes
Yellow Pages, radio spots, newspapers and direct mail. Yet they
cannot determine which ads are doing well and which are just a
waste of money. This is because they do not test to see where
their results are coming from.
Any business should have some parameter by which they measure
where they are getting results and where their advertising is
losing money. Very large corporation are particularly guilty of
this because they have large adverting budgets. They can afford
to do 'branding' advertising that is not intended to bring a
direct measurable response. A small business owner cannot afford
such luxury however.
So test, measure and use only what works.
3. Marketing to 'everybody'.
Any business should have a niche or target audience that they
market to. Except you are selling water your target audience
cannot be the universal population. And even if you were selling
water you may not be able to reach all languages and some people
already have an abundance.
If you focus on your target market then you are more likely to
get a greater response because your message will be more focused
and direct. When you have a target in mind then you are more
likely to strike it than to just throw mud up against the wall
and hoping that something will stick.
The sharper your arrow point is the more likely it will strike
the bull's eye. Know who your target audience is and design your
advertising to reach them.
4. Not asking your customers what they think of your product or
service.
If you don't survey your customers to find out what they love or
hate about your product or service then you may be losing them
without even realizing it. Customers appreciate when you value
their opinions enough to ask for it. In this way you can find
out how to improve your products to better suit your market.
The more satisfied your customers are the more you'll get with
less effort.
5. Ignoring your present customer base.
You know the saying, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the
bushes". This could be said about customers as well, but this
time try five in the bushes. Yes, it can take 5 times as much
money and effort to win a new customer as it takes to keep an old
one.
Rather than just concentrating on building your customer base you
should spend a greater amount of your marketing resources to
keep those that you have already happy. If you don't do this
then you'll just be trying to fill up a leaking barrel. You'll
continue to lose customers as fast as you gain them-a great way
to waste your marketing resources.
6. Not having a 'back end' product to sell to your existing
customers.
After your customer has made an initial sale, you should have
another complimentary product to sell to that customer. You have
already won their confidence to do business with you so the
second sale should be easier to make.
Even if you don't sell such a product or service then you should
form a joint venture with another business owner and split the
profit. Ignoring the wealth that is in your present customer
base is a grave mistake. Yet many businesses do this year after
year.
7. Not 'spying' out the competition.
Even if you are #1 in your niche you should be still keeping an
eye on what your competition is doing. You may learn some
valuable lessons and it may help you to see the weaknesses that
you have in your own company.
No general will want to go to war without knowing what type of
armor the enemy has and how well they use them. The same for a
business as well; you must know what your competition uses and
how you can translate the successful strategies to your own
business.
About the Author
Ray L. Edwards is a master copywriter, published author and Internet
Marketing Consultant. His copywriting clients have claimed up to
1,600% increase in their comversion rates just from using his
services. He is an expert in writing sales copy for the web. He
has studied extensively the relationship between website
structure and design as a factor in internet sales success. You
may visit his website at: http://www.webcopy-writing.com
learn from them, survive them and then value the 'experience'
that we now have because of them.
As a internet marketing consultant having worked with many
different businesses I've seen a lot of foul-ups in my career.
In this article I'll just like to address 7 of these mistakes
that have crippled or handicapped many companies that otherwise
could have been very successful.
1. Failure to differentiate your business by showing the unique
benefits you provide the customer.
Some may call this the Unique Selling Position (USP) or a host of
other titles meaning the very same thing, but you want to show
how you are different from your competition. Even if you are
selling a very common product you can still differentiate
yourself from your competition by picking one unique quality.
If you own a pizza place then maybe you are the only business in
the area that delivers after midnight or offer star-shaped
pizzas. Whatever will help you to stand out from the other pizza
places will help you to stand out in the customer's mind. Think
about how many credit card companies, gas stations, bakeries
. and a host of other businesses that offer similar services
to other companies.
Differentiate and you'll win.
2. Failure to test your advertising strategies.
There are many companies that run various ads. This includes
Yellow Pages, radio spots, newspapers and direct mail. Yet they
cannot determine which ads are doing well and which are just a
waste of money. This is because they do not test to see where
their results are coming from.
Any business should have some parameter by which they measure
where they are getting results and where their advertising is
losing money. Very large corporation are particularly guilty of
this because they have large adverting budgets. They can afford
to do 'branding' advertising that is not intended to bring a
direct measurable response. A small business owner cannot afford
such luxury however.
So test, measure and use only what works.
3. Marketing to 'everybody'.
Any business should have a niche or target audience that they
market to. Except you are selling water your target audience
cannot be the universal population. And even if you were selling
water you may not be able to reach all languages and some people
already have an abundance.
If you focus on your target market then you are more likely to
get a greater response because your message will be more focused
and direct. When you have a target in mind then you are more
likely to strike it than to just throw mud up against the wall
and hoping that something will stick.
The sharper your arrow point is the more likely it will strike
the bull's eye. Know who your target audience is and design your
advertising to reach them.
4. Not asking your customers what they think of your product or
service.
If you don't survey your customers to find out what they love or
hate about your product or service then you may be losing them
without even realizing it. Customers appreciate when you value
their opinions enough to ask for it. In this way you can find
out how to improve your products to better suit your market.
The more satisfied your customers are the more you'll get with
less effort.
5. Ignoring your present customer base.
You know the saying, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the
bushes". This could be said about customers as well, but this
time try five in the bushes. Yes, it can take 5 times as much
money and effort to win a new customer as it takes to keep an old
one.
Rather than just concentrating on building your customer base you
should spend a greater amount of your marketing resources to
keep those that you have already happy. If you don't do this
then you'll just be trying to fill up a leaking barrel. You'll
continue to lose customers as fast as you gain them-a great way
to waste your marketing resources.
6. Not having a 'back end' product to sell to your existing
customers.
After your customer has made an initial sale, you should have
another complimentary product to sell to that customer. You have
already won their confidence to do business with you so the
second sale should be easier to make.
Even if you don't sell such a product or service then you should
form a joint venture with another business owner and split the
profit. Ignoring the wealth that is in your present customer
base is a grave mistake. Yet many businesses do this year after
year.
7. Not 'spying' out the competition.
Even if you are #1 in your niche you should be still keeping an
eye on what your competition is doing. You may learn some
valuable lessons and it may help you to see the weaknesses that
you have in your own company.
No general will want to go to war without knowing what type of
armor the enemy has and how well they use them. The same for a
business as well; you must know what your competition uses and
how you can translate the successful strategies to your own
business.
About the Author
Ray L. Edwards is a master copywriter, published author and Internet
Marketing Consultant. His copywriting clients have claimed up to
1,600% increase in their comversion rates just from using his
services. He is an expert in writing sales copy for the web. He
has studied extensively the relationship between website
structure and design as a factor in internet sales success. You
may visit his website at: http://www.webcopy-writing.com