I thought it was my sales pitch but speaking to other marketers around the world, they are all experiencing the same thing.

Prospects, clients, people in general are waiting for things to get better.

Well guess what.  They aren’t.  At least not for a long time yet.

And they will never go back to how they were.

I was chatting with my buddy, marketing ace, Brain Meredith from The Marketing Bureau the other day and we decided that this IS the new normal.  So accept it, move on and grow with it or live in denial and …. well, you can work out the rest of that line.

Yep, fragmented markets, cluttered minds, information overload, new technologies, new ways of marketing – they are all here to stay. And it will get worse.

OK, so having put the majority of my readers further into distress, what can you do about it?

First up, recognise that more opportunity comes from a major disruption than there was before it.

Second, more millionaires were created during the Great Depression than at any time before or since.

Third, realise that if you don’t grab the new ways to market your business before your competitors, then you will be locked out.  This isn’t like “old-style” marketing where anyone can buy an ad.  With the Internet, it’s possible to create barriers around your position and your customers so that competitors will find it extremely hard to get in.  First mover advantage is very powerful.

Fourth, there are so many options with Internet marketing, that you simply cannot understand them all.  I think it was Vic Conant who said it takes 1,000 hours of practice to become an expert. If you work full-time on only one of the techniques, that’s six months you have to commit without doing any work in your business.  Hmm – which business owner can afford that time commitment?

As I see it, you have three options.

1.    Carry on as usual hoping things will go back to normal.
2.    Reckon you can get to grips with SEO, mobile marketing, social media, website conversion, video marketing (that’s 2 ½ years full-time) while still running your business.
3.    Call in someone who has already learnt this stuff so you get an advantage over your competitors.

Which one will you choose?

Technorati Tags: Marketing, new zealand marketing, Small business marketing

Knowing how to write good copy.
Managing staff.
Building rapport with prospects.
Sales skills.
Understanding accounts.
Marketing.
Being open to Internet marketing.

And those answers will probably be influenced by their own area of expertise because they believe that their skill is the key to your business success.  That’s a fair position but you need to think about who is giving you the answer.

The problem is that not humanly possibly to be good at all of those so something has to be sacrificed which ultimately is better business results.

How about this as the key skill?

Decision making.

Al of the skills I gave above you can have done by other people – your staff, contractors or expert agencies.  In fact, you should probably have them all done by external suppliers so you can concentrate on your strategy and talking with customers.

But how do you have them undertaken by others?

By making the decision to do so.

Just decide.

I want more sales.  I want better staff relations.  I want more marketing.

And then find someone to do it for you.

I had an example this week.

Someone rang a client of mine asking how they had got such a good position in Google.  He referred her to me.  We chatted about her situation – she already had a good basic SEO in place but hadn’t got any results yet.  Sometimes you just need patience because it takes time for Google to find sites.

So we were able to talk about the next level for her, not just waiting for people to come to her site but actively going out and getting among people looking for her type of material. I call it marketing off-site.  More on that next week.

It’s the difference between having a shop, hoping people will walk in or sending out flyers, running ads and issuing press releases. You have to actively market your business online, not just wait for people to come to your site.

I gave her a proposal on Monday, we spoke early Wednesday. By midday, she decided to go ahead.

And the result?

Instead of hoping people would come along to her site and maybe see some articles she has written, she now a small part of her has her knowledge in 50 different locations where people are actively looking for material and articles that they can use in their own publications.  You can imagine how much more likely it is that people will find her work now.

She has plenty more material so over time, she will build a huge number of contact opportunities out on the Web.

Plus she also now has 50 links into her site. (Links account for 80% of the ranking of a website).

That’s the power of decision-making.

Making decisions is hard
Decision-making is like any other activity.  The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Try this exercise.

Stand still, move quickly to one-side and then immediately try changing direction.

Now do the same thing but this time start off by bouncing on your toes or swaying from side to side.

See how much easier it is to change direction when you are moving?  It’s the same with decisions.  If you are in the mind-set of deciding, it’s easier to change to a different tactic.

What if I make the wrong decision?
If you do happen to make a decision that doesn’t give you the results you wanted, when you are in decision-mode, you can easily make another one to do something else.

Teddy Roosevelt, former US President, said,
“In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

So, what decisions have you been putting off?  Make a decision today to do something that will take your business forward.

Technorati Tags: action-taking, Internet marketing, Marketing

As with most business people, the conversation soon turned to business conditions and how each of our businesses are doing.  We both agreed that each was doing significantly better than last year.

Rather than simply saying that the economy was picking up, she said in her case it was because she was doing more marketing, hence her new website. It’s the same for me too – more marketing which may sound odd coming from a marketer.  More on that later.

And then she made the comment “Anyone can sell in good times. In tough times you have to market yourself.”

It was like a breath of fresh air.

I’ve said the same dozens of times but when a client volunteers that thought,  Wow!

Take a look around, see which way the wind blows

When you look around and don’t like what’s happening, you have two choices – do nothing and hope it will all get better or decide to do something about it.

There’s the old saying, “Three types of business; those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and those that things happen to.”

In any economy but especially in tougher ones, the companies that make things happen (the marketers) grow and that growth comes at the expense of those that watch who eventually become those that (unpleasant) things happen to.

And it’s especially difficult when the media you’ve known for years have stopped working.  Just this week Yellow Pages in NZ was put up for sale by its bankers who want to get some cash out of the fast ailing business.

The proof

McGraw-Hill researched companies in recessions and found that those that continued to market grew by 275% over five years.  Those that cut back or stopped marketing grew on average only 19% over five years.  Hmm, makes you think doesn’t it…. Well not for long.

It’s a no-brainer – your competitors are stuck in fear too, so start or pick up your marketing.  Anything but do something.  And if you know you must start to use the Internet but don’t understand how, ask someone.

Not marketing in a recession creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Oh and why was it odd that a marketer might be doing some marketing?

Well, we are amongst the worst when it comes to marketing ourselves.

I used to think it was me but talking to marketers from San Francisco to London to Auckland, they all said the same.

It’s almost impossible to do your own marketing.

A case in point just two days ago.

A web marketing buddy rang me and said he’d read my newsletter about procrastinating.  “We need to work together on this project” he said and it sparked him into action.

Why is it so hard to market yourself?

There are lots of reasons but some common ones are:

• You know too much about your area of expertise.
• You don’t want to toot your horn.  (That’s a biggie).
• You are too close to “your baby.”
• It’s scary to try something new.  (Excitement and scary are the opposite sides of the same emotion, it just depends how you look at it).

Among that list is probably the reason why you aren’t upping your marketing too.

So, don’t feel it’s your fault.

97% of other people feel the same.  It’s just that at any point in time, 3% of people decide to

do something about it.  Others take action later. The majority watch and wonder.

As my client said, “Anyone can sell when times are good.”

So what Internet marketing initiative are you going to take this week?

I’d love to hear from you.

And if you are confused about SEO, Social media, Web2.0 or any other buzz term, drop me a line.

I’m here to help and keep it simple for you.

Technorati Tags: local marketing, Marketing, Small business marketing

Read it ‘cos it probably affects someone you know.

It’s been a long time coming.

Not the autumn, the economic recovery and
not my birthday (that arrives far too quickly).

No, this newsletter.

I’ve been intending to do it for ages but …….

It’s one of those odd things about us as humans
that we “know” what we should do. For many
of us, we even advise clients on good courses
of action, but don’t put that same action into
practice for ourselves.

It’s like the builder with the unfinished home.

This newsletter falls into that category.

I advise clients on how to develop their businesses
using Internet marketing and a key, make that THE
key strategy, is a regular email newsletter to their list.

But how many have I done?

You already know the answer to that.

I’ve been thinking about it for far too long.
I almost did it a couple of times but something
got in the way.  More accurately, I allowed
something to get in the way.

Simply, I chose not to make the decision.

But I have now.  Made the decision that is.

So the main point of this first newsletter is.

What decision have you been putting off
that you know you should be doing?

• Is it making those extra sales calls?
• Perhaps it’s writing your newsletter too?
• Or maybe you’ve been putting off that review of your website?

Whatever it is, make a decision to do it.

Do it now.

Because you know it will improve your business.

And I can tell you, it’s liberating to take control
of your life and make the decision you’ve been putting off.

Imagine how you will feel in a few hours time
when you have too.

Be back soon.

Warm regards

Andrew

Technorati Tags: Action, Marketing

This was good news for those entrepreneurs who could see the opportunities and took advantage of them.

Not so good for those that didn’t either see them or especially not act on them.

Fast forward ten years or so and over 50% of businesses still don’t have a website.

So were they wise not to leap headlong onto the Web?

Not really because they are still small businesses.  They haven’t grown. Because that’s where prospects go to look for new suppliers.

Plus, many of those local business now suffer from price pressure from “foreign” suppliers.  (Foreign can be the next town or state for traditional businesses).

They have lost hordes of customers and have seen new suppliers come into the market.

All-in-all, life is certainly tougher for those local companies that didn’t grasp the opportunities that the Internet provided.

How has history turned against your local business?
But now, in 2010 there is an ironic twist in fortunes for smart business owners and managers.

The vast majority of those companies that had a website put up in 2000 or even 2005 have done very little to them since then.  Their websites area as fresh as the day they were put up.  They’ve gathered digital dust and let’s face it, most of them look it.

•    They were built with very little understanding of what makes a website successful.

•    Most have little or no marketing and selling from the site.

•    There are few sites built so that Google will offer them as a credible answer to prospects’ problems.

•    And less than half of one percent of local companies uses the full range of Internet marketing capabilities.

For those companies that do any marketing, most still rely on newspapers, Yellow Pages and other traditional marketing tools.

But you know they don’t work like they used to do they? In March, the Advertising Association in NZ announced that ad spend had dropped 11.9%with newspapers losing over 13% of its revenue.  The numbers are worse in other countries.
So smart marketers realise that too.

Is there any hope for your business?
There quick answer is “Yes.”

The Internet.

It’s under-used by over 90% of businesses which means if you decide to grasp the opportunities, you will be miles ahead of your competitors how either can’t make a decision or who stick with what they know.

Plus it’s easy and very cost-effective.

And there are so many different ways to use the Internet.  It’s not just putting up a website.
I can think of 27 different marketing techniques that local companies could use.

That ironic twist?
Well, those business that have suffered from those “foreign” and new suppliers could, if they were smart and grasp any one of those 27 marketing techniques, they could out perform their competitors with ease by using the very platform that squeezed their business in the past.

Technorati Tags: local marketing, Marketing, Search engine optimization, Small business marketing

When I drove into the industrial park I was amazed to see not 1, not 2 but 3 businesses in the same basic industry all within 100 metres of each other.  I wondered how they could all operate in such close proximity.

I later learned that one of them is actually a material supplier to the bigger of the two component manufacturers – my prospective client.  (The material and the end-product have very similar names).

It turned out to be a really cool meeting – with the web developer, myself on the SEO and copywriting plus a client who “gets” marketing.

As I learned more about their business I discovered that they’ve moved away from the lower price, higher volume end where loads of other makers scrabble for crumbs, shaving even more of their already thin margins.  The result is they now make far more profit on much more interesting applications with more appreciative clients.

The client also has a really wonderful product range – top-notch quality, a range to meet any preference, highly innovative and fabulous production standards.

They were wondering how to communicate all of this and I thought of the Schlitz beer ads developed by Claude Hopkins.

A quick overview for those who don’t know the story.

Claude Hopkins had won the Schlitz beer ad account and was being given a factory tour.  They were 6th in market share at the time.

As the production guy was explaining all of the components and the effort they went to in the production process – water selection, roasting the malt, cleaning, brewing and many more aspects, he was amazed at how much attention to detail they had.

He said they had to tell the story but the production guy said, “All the brewers use that process.”

Hopkins said, ‘Well no-one knows all the work that goes into a bottle of beer.”

So they told the story and within 18 months they were number 2.

Jay Abraham calls this the Theory of Pre-eminence. Which brings me back to today’s visit. My prospective client could see the value in using this method to express their passion and pride as they have so much to tell.

My next appointment was with someone from one of my networking meetings.

We meet most weeks but hadn’t spent any quality time listening to each other.

After we both explained to the other, we both realised how much knowledge the other had.  How expert we are at what we do.  How much experience and passion we each have for our businesses.

Later, as I was driving to yet another meeting, I thought on a few lessons from that morning.

1.Differentition – nothing immediately differentiated each of the three companies yet each are very different – so find your point of difference and make it obvious.

2.Integration – how can you integrate with other local companies to make more profit for both of you and give a better outcome for your customer?   Hint: It doesn’t have to be just the obvious supplier / buyer relationship.

3.Expertise – be confident in your expertise, don’t try to be a generalist.  The web developer knows what they are good at and that SEO is the foundation to a successful website, not an afterthought.  Ahhh – there’s a different type of integration you could use – collaborate with other experts to give a better total experience for your customers.

4.Marketing – the bigger company has been at the forefront of marketing in their sector, in fact they had the first website in their industry.  It’s no coincidence that they invest in marketing, are bigger and have a much better quality customer base.

5.Education – tell not just your customers, but friends and colleagues too, how much detail you go to to provide your service or how much expertise you really have.  And don’t be afraid to tell your story.

Technorati Tags: local marketing, Marketing, Small business marketing

Most people will obviously say their business.

• Your car is a cost, it doesn’t produce income.
• It’s a depreciating liability not an appreciating asset.
• It doesn’t provide for your retirement.

Yet imagine this.

If your car isn’t working properly.

• Maybe you haven’t had it serviced for a while so it’s using too much fuel.
• Perhaps it’s not running smoothly, stop-start.
• It may even have stopped working altogether.

What do you do?

Do you wait for an enterprising auto-repair guy to make some marketing calls to see if by any quirk of fate, that on that particular day, your car might need fixing? An unlikely chain of events isn’t it?

Do you wait for a friend to give you a call so they can recommend their car repair man?

Perhaps you leap onto Twitter or Facebook and hope a car repair shop will send out a message.

Or do you take definite action to find a company to mend your car?

Of course, you get on the phone or search in Google to find someone to do the job.

And then there’s the cost.

Car repairs are usually accompanied by that infamous sharp intake of breath before the car guy hits you with an astounding figure.

But what do you do then?

You find the money at all costs to get it fixed.

Now imagine this scenario.

• Your business isn’t generating enough sales leads.
• Your website is only producing a few visitors.
• Perhaps it’s not even generating any leads at all because no-one can find it in Google.

What do you do now?

If you are like over 97% of other business owners, you do nothing.  (Your business is your livelihood).
You might be one of the 98% or so business owners who turns away help to increase your income.
Or maybe, you are one of the 2% or so who accepts the help offered to you.

Or maybe, just maybe, you are one of the less than 0.5% of business owners who recognises that their business is REALLY important to them and takes proactive action to protect, increase and develop their business.

What do you think?

Cclick here for more ways to get higher in Google.

Technorati Tags: local marketing, Marketing, Search engine optimization, SEO