| |
| |
|
Marketing Resource Center |
|
|
|
A Good Marketer: What's the Measurement?
As a business owner, you know how valuable being good at marketing is. Yet, I have found working with business owners for the past 20 plus years that 99.9% of them have never defined what a good marketer is -- what it means in their terms. Let's take a moment right now and think about what you are measuring yourself against. Without a measurement, you can't possibly know what you are shooting for and this will lead to a misconstrued representation or always believing you are never good enough or doing enough. Yes, the best measurement of good marketing is the revenue you are receiving. Yes, there's nothing like the confirmation that people are opening their wallets to your business. There's also feedback -- the testimonials -- they are good for pats on the back or to show other people that someone cares about what you offer. Is that it though? To most big companies it always the bottom line -- profit after taxes. It's how much the stockholders make or some other reference to money. Yet for entrepreneurs who purposes when their own direction because they "wanted something more" what is the measurement. What is the "something more?" Okay, you want to be happy and have fun along way. Oops and before I forget to have balance between the business and the rest of your life. Hey, I think we've made good progress so far in starting to define what your measurement definition of a "good marketer" is, didn't we? Not actually, we defined what you want for the whole business most of the time with a few exceptions, like the revenue. But what makes up a "good marketer" in your definition. Great, I love challenges, don't you? Today, let's take a few minutes out sometime and ask ourselves, "What is my measurement of who I would be if I were a good marketer?" Here is a list of questions to guide you as you think through and create our own definition. On a scale of 1-10, give each of these a measurement of where you know you stand right at this moment. 1. How well do you think you know who you are selling to or who has purchased from you in the past? 2. How well do you KNOW the principles of marketing? 3. How well do you practice those principles? 4. How well does the public understand what you do? 5. How do you teach them what they need to know to understand what you do? 6. Are you leaving it up to someone else to do this, or have you taken it upon yourself to make sure you educate at every possible opportunity? 7. How well do you know what you are selling - your uniqueness, your product's uniqueness? 6. Do you change your marketing strategy frequently whenever you get tired of it? 7. Is the change timing when the market has changed or when you are tired of it? 8. Are you enjoying what you have accomplishments or beating yourself up for what is left to do? 9. Are you enjoying the learning process as fun or frustrating? Are you allowing additional time to learn and grow? Are you including the learning time to be included in with the "this needs to give me results" time? How are you measuring that growth? 10. Do you repeat your offers frequently? Did you know that the "open" rate of emails is only 48% on a good day and 8% on a bad day? The 48% rate is for opt-in material. This means that there are a low number of people taking the time to read your material most of the time. This is why it is important to repeat your messages. Yes, a few will read it several times, however, they will use the delete key quickly. 11.Are you commitment 100% to marketing when you do it? Are you playing full out when you are in marketing mode, or is your heart only half in it? 12.Is it making the money you expected? 13.Do you take "no" personally? 14.Do you take good care of your health and other parts of your life as well? There are lots more questions that you may want to ask yourself. What you want to come up with are 5-7 measurements for you to measure yourself against. If you still are having problems with defining this for yourself, ask other people who you feel meet that description. Is all of it dependent on "results" only? When I get" when I'm over there" when I have $X dollars in the bank, then I will be a good marketer. When you know what you are shooting for you will not ever come short or overshoot. This will keep you focused, clear and very attractive in the universe. Especially since most of it is competing against you. Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing & Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
My Product is Obviously Better - Why isn't it Selling? The movie, "Field of Dreams" opens with a farmer standing in a cornfield. He hears a disembodied voice saying, "If you build it, he will come"?by the end of the movie the mantra has changed to "If you build it, they will come". How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth? Powerful Lessons In Marketing & The Psychology Of Selling - Part 6 How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth?: Powerful Lessons In Marketing & The Psychology Of Selling - The Final PartAdditional Lessons from Popcorn MarketingI'm assuming that the movie theatres have tested their price point and figured out what the highest price is that they can charge and get away with - the highest price the market will be willing to pay.And, that's what they charge for their popcorn. Sell More Online By Offering a Big Fat BONUS! I don't know about you, but I secretly love watching infomercials. I enjoy dissecting how they sell, how they get people excited, how they entice people to take action now and pick up the phone and order something they completely don't need!As you know, these programs always offer a huge bonus or multiple bonuses for people who buy. Trade Show Marketing - Getting Prepared for the Big Event With the increase in number of tradeshows being held across the world, it has become imperative to check the trade shows' credentials before you commit participation. Here are some quick tips on checks to ensure that you are not heading for a dud trade show:1. What You Need in Your Marketing Calendar Marketing calendars are used by many businesses to help keep sales pipelines full of new prospective customers. Small businesses may just keep a simple calendar with handwritten items on the dates that marketing efforts need to be completed. Prepare Your Communications For Growth As the American economy emerges from recession, many businesses are now reexamining their marketing materials and realizing that their communications are outdated, ill-prepared for the return of a robust, competitive, growing economic environment. Strategies developed to survive hard times are often the wrong ones for profiting in good times. Finding Your Niche: What Do You Want To Be Known For? In my experience, there are two kinds of small business owners: one that knows whom their market niche is and utilize it, and another who tends to waiver or not want to "set in stone" their target market. With the latter group, I always probe for more information: Why don't you want to choose a specific target for your product/service? Time and time again, the response is the same "I don't want to limit my profits by only catering to a few. Marketing Brain Trust Rest assured that no matter how smart you are, you do not know everything about marketing. You don't even know anything about marketing your product! You can't figure everything out yourself, or see all the angles, or provide every bit of critical thinking. The Marshall Plan -- Or, Customer Aftercare: How To Spend Less & Sell More My wife likes to shop at the local Safeway. Is it because of the competitive prices? Yes, that's part of it. Stop Your Marketing Leaks Thirty percent of all the drinkable water that runs between the plant and your faucet is lost to leaky pipes. In marketing, thirty percent of our business is lost to leaky follow up. How Architecture Rendering is Part of the Impact Cartoons have gone from celluloid to digital. Movies have gone from cinematography to computer graphics imaging. T.E.A.M Profit As you network and meet other business owners,keep this philosophy in mind:"Together Everyone Achieves More Profit"Remember this when you meet someonewith a business that serves your target market.Think about how each of you can work together to achieve more and grow your businesses. Beyond Repair: The Fixed-price Model Don't get me wrong. I certainly don't think the majority of vendors who use a fixed-price model are trying to rip you off. A Jack Of All Trades Is Often The Master of None You've heard variations of that saying your entire life. Consider: a marketer to all markets . Packaging Trends You Cannot Overlook (part #1): 1) People are buying in smaller quantities.Our busy lifestyle keeps many people from eating at home on a daily basis. How to Put Law & Order into Marketing Your Legal Practice First in a series of three articlesRegardless of your law firm's focus - criminal, civil, corporate, family, business, etc. - the greatest challenge most small to mid-size firms face is the lack of a strategic and disciplined approach to business development. The M-Word It was a real eye-opener to hear the perceptions people have about what it means to market professional services, as well as the anxiety the "m-word" (marketing) conjures up. It reminded me that, just because professional service providers have a lot of expertise in their chosen field, it doesn't mean they have the same level of understanding about the business of growing a practice. Marketing Tips- Who Are You Competing With? Before you can market, you need to know who you are marketing to. Who is your customer? How will you market? Will you cold call, mail, set appointments or employ a walk in approach? Be careful with the walk in approach as many businesses do not permit soliciting. 5 Tips to Help You Identify WHO To Market To If you have your own small business, it's important to decide exactly who you will be marketing your products or services to. After all, you probably don't have the time or the money to market to everyone. Marketing is More Than Advertising Marketing is a business process about which much is written, however is often not completely understood. Many think that "marketing" and "advertising" are interchange-able words.
|
| home | site map | Advertising Articles |
| © 2006 |
