Marketing is really about 50% Common Sense and the other 50% is about taking Action and Implementing Proven Systems. Many Consultants will make you think that Marketing is really complicated and only an expert can do it.

It’s just not True…you can do Cost-Effective Marketing and over the next few issues of this newsletter, we’re going to share with you the “Secrets” of how you can double or triple your business, even in today’s environment.

My New Series is called “Marketing in a Minute” and you’ll want to save these “Marketing Minutes” and share them with other business people you know.

Here are 10 “Marketing Minutes” that can help transform your weekly / monthly cash flow (profits.)

1. You need to know a lot more about your “ideal customer.” What’s the Number One rule of Marketing? Know your customers better than anyone else they could buy from. What keeps them awake at night? What’s the #1 problem they have that’s looking for a cost-effective solution? If you don’t have what’s going to make life easier for them, they’ll find it from someone who can. You need to Know!
2. You’re not writing or speaking to your customers and potential customers in a way that makes them feel you really understand their situation better than anyone else. Stop thinking from your own business perspective and train yourself and your staff to start thinking like a customer. Don’t use “industry buzzwords” but talk in clear and simple language they understand.
3. Your “selling points” are not unique enough. You may think they are, but to the customer, if you sound just like everyone else in your industry, you’ll have a tough time increasing your customer base and daily revenues.  You have to prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that you’re the absolute best place to get the product or service they need and don’t have to “shop around.”
4. Always do a weekly competitive analysis on your competition. What offers are they promoting. Don’t be a “copy-cat” but instead lead the industry in your “value offers” that customers will talk about to their friends who have similar problems. There’s another rule in Marketing you need to know: When all your competitors (the herd) are all stampeding one way – you need to go in the opposite direction. Otherwise you’ll become just another “commodity” and there’s no profit in that.
5. How many customer testimonials do you receive every week and how do you use them in your marketing/advertising programs. Very few people trust traditional advertising anymore. What they do trust is the opinion of other people, especially those of family, friends or business associates. This is called “social proof” and the more genuine customer quotes you can use will help you gain trust and reinforce the important benefits your products and services provide to current and future customers. Don’t be shy – if you’ve provided outstanding service and solutions to a customer and they’re really happy – ask them for a simple testimonial and they’ll be flattered you asked.
6. When writing your copy (or if someone else is writing the copy for you) – keep your sentences to “bite-size” pieces. The same is true if you or your staff is speaking to a potential customer either on the phone or in person. Today, people want to get a lot of information in the shortest period of time. Give them the solution to their most pressing problem as quick but as clearly as you can – without sounding like the “used car guy.”
7. Be careful you’re not guilty of asking too much for too little. This means you have to learn to sell based on “value” and not on price. Here’s how the “value proposition” works. If people perceive that the price you’re asking is a lot higher than the value they believe they’re getting, you’ve just created a “Price Grinder.” On the other hand, if people perceive that the VALUE they’re receiving is worth a lot more to them than the price you’re asking – you’ll get the business every time.
8. One of the scariest words in the English language is “Change.” You have to keep asking – what’s changed in your business that’s different than it was 5 years ago, last year, last month, last week or even yesterday? How have your customer and prospective customers changed in relationship to the products and services you provide? Change alters business environments and personal lifestyles. Change demands innovation, creates new customer expectations and demands action. You have a choice Change or be left behind – Change or become extinct – Change or Decay. Here’s another Rule – Change before you Must!
9. How good are you are forecasting or anticipating Change? We are now a “consumer culture” and when we change what we buy – and how we buy it- we change who we are and what we need. That’s a quote from a “Faith Popcorn” – a brilliant futurist who spends most of her life trying to figure out what the next big changes are going to be. We need to do the same.
10. Knowledge is Power. The more you know about what customers not only want or need, the better you become at providing those products and services long before your competitors even think about them. How do you get this Knowledge? Simply ask them. You’ll be amazed at how willing people are to talk to someone who actually cares about them and their problems. Knowledge Means Profits.

More next month.

George Gonzo
Email – info@Gonzo Marketing.ca or call 403-932-7746