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Today's Feature Article

7 Steps to Marketing Success
Kathleen Gage

In the past it didn’t take nearly as much marketing effort to build a business as it does today. Unfortunately, many people are holding on to the belief that things are still the way they were and are not doing what needs to be done to make their businesses succeed.

Marketing your business is something that is a constant process and takes a considerable amount of focus and commitment.

Competition in virtually every industry has increased.

Additionally, there is no guarantee that once you do manage to attract a customer to your business they will keep coming back. We have a highly mobile and fickle society. This simply means it is more important than ever to evaluate what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what you must do in the future in order to stay competitive.

Here are some steps you can take to increase your chances of success in your business.

1. Get clear on your values and mission. I recently read a book called “The Path” by Laurie Beth Jones. She begins the book with a story her uncle told her of his experience during World War II. According to her uncle, if an unidentified person appeared to a soldier and could not immediately identify their mission, they were shot on site. Wow! Would this ever make a person clear on their mission. It was literally the difference between life and death.

This can hold true in business. If we are not clear on our values and mission it is easy to flounder and eventually our business could die. However, by being very clear on your values and your mission, you are assured more of a chance for your business to grow and thrive. Take time to write out what your values are. From there, create a statement that clearly defines what you offer your customers and clients. If you find that you are getting off track with what is important, simply take time to review your written statement.

2. Effective and realistic planning. I strongly suggest you create a solid marketing plan. As a result of completing the plan you will be much better prepared and know whether or not your marketing idea is feasible. Additionally, take time to fully understand how marketing works. Marketing is not a one - time shot or one size fits all. You must plan your campaigns. You must be committed for the long-term and test various types of campaigns as you move forward. The more solid your plan, the more success you will experience.

3. Take action. Once you create a good marketing plan take the necessary actions outlined in the plan. More times than I care to think about, I have talked to business people who put together plan after plan after plan and yet, don’t take appropriate or consistent action on the plan. For whatever reason time is invested in the plan, but then very little, if anything, is done. Again, keep the long-term goals in mind as you take action.

4. Have realistic expectations. Many people expect overnight results and give up when the results they wanted don’t materialize as they had hoped. Unrealistic expectations always lead to frustration and dissatisfaction. Talk to other business people to find out what they are experiencing at any given time. You may be surprised at what you will learn. Define realistic, quantifiable performance metrics that reflect your business goals.

5. Be persistent and persevere. There are going to be times when you get very frustrated with what is going on around you. If you don’t think this is true my guess is you haven’t been doing what you are doing for very long. Truth be told, business can be extremely frustrating. There are times things can seem so overwhelming you wonder how you can get through the situation. It is when you revisit why you are doing what you are doing and what your purpose in business is that you can get back on track. If success were easy, everyone would have it. Persistence and perseverance can pay handsomely.

6. Create a focused marketing message. The main purpose of marketing is to identify the appropriate markets for your products and services and then open up a conversation with those markets. That simply means finding market segments that can benefit from your products or services and communicating with them in a way that motivates them to take action.

Keep in mind; the first action is not always going to be to buy. Your customers first action my simply be to stop by your store. Maybe it is to make a phone call to gain more information. Perhaps it is visiting your website to fill in a request form.

Regardless of what the first step is it is what you do after someone takes the first action is crucial to the success of your business. Develop a solid follow up system that allows you to develop long-term relationships with your client base. The health of your bottom line depends on it.

7. Believe in yourself and your vision. Regardless of how much you want something, the re will be times the temptation is to give up and throw in the towel. The greatest test of your character is to be willing to follow through to the very end. You must find ways to believe in who you are and keep your vision close to your heart. Many years ago I was taught to keep going on my dreams and to not quit five minutes before the miracle.

Fact is I never know when the miracle will arrive. The only way to find out is continue forward in spite of all outward appearances.

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Kathleen Gage is a business advisor, keynote speaker and trainer who helps others gain dominance and visibility within their market. She is the recipient of the 2004 Giant Step Award for Business of the Year in the State of Utah.

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Today's Motivational Reading

Don't Be Satisfied... Do more!
Donald J. Trump

No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life. --Samuel Goldwyn

If you see each day as an important day for your future and a special day just because you have it, you will be amazed at how productive and energetic you can be. It’s the best way to be at your best at all times. Have you ever said to yourself, “What a great day!” and felt a renewed drive to make things happen? Say it to yourself right now, and feel the enthusiasm that positive thinking generates.

That’s the first step, and it helps if you’re already doing something you love doing. You won’t have to work as hard at gaining momentum or generating enthusiasm. No matter what the job is, you can always do more and do better. That’s how I avoid complacency.

For example, after I had finished Trump Tower and it became a great success, I knew I was just starting. I kept moving forward and built Trump World Tower at the United Nations Plaza, which was a sensational success, both critically and personally. Don’t be satisfied with your best—do more!

Maybe I thrive on challenges, but the best challenges are the ones you give to yourself. I don’t need to impress anyone at this point, but I do need to satisfy my own goals and ideals. When I was asked to host Saturday Night Live, I really didn’t need more exposure, but it presented a new challenge. I knew I wasn’t a seasoned comedy pro, but why should I decline an opportunity for some fun and a new experience? Just this week I announced a deal in Dubai where I will be building a 50-story, tulip-shaped hotel on a man-made island. Dubai is one of the world’s fastest growing cities, so why not?

Don’t ever think you’ve done it all already or that you’ve done your best. That’s just a short cut to undermining your own potential. Unless you’ve already kicked the bucket, there’s still a lot more you can do. We’ve all been around know-it-alls who, like the cynics, know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Avoid that trap by realizing your own potential and the intrinsic value of things, including your own efforts to make the day a great one for yourself.

I’m a cautious optimist. Believe me, it’s a good way to be. I zap negativity while remaining aware that negatives exist. I just refuse to dwell on them. Acknowledge the negatives, move on, and rest on a positive plane of thought. When I had some financial troubles in the 1990s, I resolved to remain positive about my circumstances. I knew they would change for the better. They certainly have, but I had to be tough in adversity. I can honestly say that things are better now than my best day back then. I bettered my best.

Do more, be more, give more. Best of all, better your best every day. Give yourself a chance to do your best, and everyone will benefit. Know that today is full of possibility and opportunities to prove yourself are there for you. Be the best!

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Donald J. Trump, Chairman of Trump University: At Trump University, they believe the key to success in today’s business environment is knowledge, no matter how you define success — whether it’s in advancing your career, starting a business, or creating wealth through investment. With this in mind, Trump University offers programs and courses in a wide range of subjects such as marketing, real estate, and entrepreneurship.

The faculty of Trump University includes experts from some of the world’s leading educational institutions, such as Columbia and Northwestern universities and Dartmouth College. In addition, the teaching staff includes Fortune 500 senior executives and leaders from the entrepreneurial world. And of course, they have distilled and integrated the insights, experiences, and practical know-how of Donald Trump himself. You can ask Mr Trump a question here!

Today's Subscriber Article

Controlling Your Company's Cash Flow
Ken Bidgood

Cash flow is an entirely different subject than profit. Cash flow is defined as the money coming into and going out of the business bank account. Sometimes that cash flow will not be synchronized with the profit. Perhaps the profit will show on the books well before or well after the cash flow occurs.

You may be tempted to think that you should be able to spend anything in your bank account. That money in the account is actually the cost of doing business and possibly some profit left over from doing so. You are heading for disaster if you go out and spend that money because then you will be hard pressed to meet things like payroll and other expenses.

Some businesses use holding account for times when a significant sum of money comes in before the completion of the job. This helps the bank account from appearing to far greater than it truly should be. The money is not considered earned by the company until the job is completed. Then the accountant will transfer it to the appropriate account.

If someone gives you a large deposit for a job they wanted you to do for them but then changes their mind before the job is completed, then it becomes a simple matter to refund their money out of the holding account. But, if you did not have that holding account and just put the deposit money into a normal business account, it is very possible that you would spend that money and not be able to provide a refund.

What is someone provides cash flow but later changes their mind and backs out before the job is performed. If you have the money in a separate bank account, you can simply refund their money based on your corporation's refund policy. If the money were not kept in separate accounts, it would not be so easy to make the refund.

Cash flow, like the name, is very easy to let "flow". But the cash flow coming in has to cover those crucial expenses that go out - maybe sooner, maybe later, but they WILL go out and the cash flow has to be there to cover them.

There are some people like a former boss of mine that refused to keep a ledger for his business. He thought that he could just give the bank a call, ask his balance, and that amount was his to spend on whatever he needed. While this fantasy is nice to believe, it does not take into account that payroll, expenses, bills, and other priorities had to be met with that money and he was literally jeopardizing his business by having this practice.

I worked for a man once who didn't keep a bank ledger. He just called the bank, asked for his balance, and felt that was the amount he had to spend. He was so wrong. He didn't allow for outstanding check, upcoming bills, outstanding payroll, and taxes. Not to mention what would happen if one of the large company trucks broke down and needed costly repair.

You will either become buried in debt or not be in business at all if you do not know how much it costs to run your company or maintain adequate cash flow to pay your expenses on time. With a little forethought and planning, you can come up with a one-year plan and even forecast costs further into the future. Then, by tracking performance, you can adjust your plan accordingly.

Operating in the dark is a scary thing. Plan and operating with a light shining on your financial picture, differentiat ing the different funds you hold and their purpose and you will operate in a clear, well-planned manner. A good bookkeeper or accountant can set up a system that can easily be maintained by your office to do business in this enlightened manner and the cost is well worth it if you do not understand accounting yourself.

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Ken Bidgood writes exclusively for Advertising XP at: http://www.advertisingxp.com It's one of the webs most up to date Business sites, while you're there sign up for the free newsletter. For more quality articles on Business why not visit:

You can also find out where to get the cheapest, most profitable pay-per-click traffic on the net.
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