Author Archive for Joe Costantino

How Does Your World See Your Business?

By Joe Costantino · Comments (0)
Friday, November 2nd, 2012

How is your business perceived in the marketplace? Do you even know? You need to care!

If you’re having trouble getting your prospects and customers to understand what makes you valuable, unique and the best choice among your competitors, then you may be having trouble getting your Inside Realty to match your Outside Perception.

It doesn’t matter what business you’re in, there are two parts to your business . . . the Inside Realty and the Outside Perception. The Inside Realty is all the the important things you do to bring value to the marketplace. Your Inside Realty is based on your products or services, your quality, your people, your systems, etc. A great Inside Reality can be developed by anticipating customer wants and needs and developing your business to meet them.

Your Outside Perception, on the other hand, is the way your business is viewed by your prospects and customers. Your Outside Perception is formed by your marketing communications which includes your ads, website, articles, blog posts, etc.

Here’s the problem; in most businesses, the Inside Realty doesn’t match the Outside Perception . . . . there’s a gap and this is a significant problem for the business owner. Why? Because, unless your marketing communications are clearly educating your prospects and customers about what makes you different, special, unique and the company that can solve your customer’s challenges, then you and your business will get lumped in the sea of sameness or the company that is just like all other companies that do what you do. And this is a bad position to be in.

Why does this happen? It is the result of not effectively communicating who you are or your company does and then powerfully making the case as to what makes you valuable, unique and able to solve the problems your ideal target market experiences better than anyone else in your industry. So let me explain this a bit further.

So, how can you make sure your Inside Realty matches your Outside Perception? By developing great content that educates (not sells) your customers about the important things they need to know about your particular industry and including this content in all your marketing communications. The next step is to demonstrate through the results you have achieved for your clients how your company does the the very things that are most important when choosing a provider of your type of business. This is called education-based marketing. I will explore education-based marketing in my next post, but the key with this approach is to replace sales-driven messages with messages that capture your target market earlier in the sales process and position the business owner as the expert for their particular industry.

To your marketing success,

Joe

Joe Costantino

About Joe Costantino

Joe Costantino is the founder of Business Marketing Success, Inc. and is President and Managing Partner of Duct Tape Marketing Coaching, LLC. Joe Costantino help coaches, consultants, and independent business professionals turn their professional expertise into money, magnificence and meaning. He does this by packaging their expertise, properly positioning them in the marketplace and utilizing the best tools to attract more qualified leads and turning those leads into paying clients.

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Categories : Lead Generation, Uncategorized
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Small Changes Can Result in Big Improvements For Your Business

By Joe Costantino · Comments (0)
Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step”

Lao Tzu

Sometimes business owners can mistakenly fall into a trap by believing that when business gets challenging, you need to make drastic changes to improve, grow and ‘right the ship’.

I just completed a book called Small Changes, by Susan and Larry Terkel. This easy-to-read book, provided me with a timely reminder and a fresh perspective on the fact the some of the most effective and long-lasting positive changes people make in their lives is done on a very small scale or with baby steps.

I thought the book did a fantastic job of recognizing and outlining that any change is better than no change at all.

In fact, the strategy espoused by the authors in the book was the view that the secret to success is to focus on making small or incremental changes, rather than these major changes that rarely if ever stick for very long.

I think the point here is valid. when I work with coaches, consultants and professional service providers, most of the time they are doing many of the ‘right’ things to grow their business. They just might not be doing these things consistently enough or haven’t taken the necessary time to develop a systematic process for successfully positioning themselves and their company in the marketplace.

Small changes, while not always easy, are easier than big changes or massive makeovers. And here is the great thing . . . .

Small change adds ups.

I have found it is difficult for business owners to make big changes, so there is a tendency to do nothing. We all learned in our high school science class with the law of inertia that objects in motion tend to stay in motion, and objects at rest tend to stay at rest.

Small changes are simple and easy to implement. I have learned if it’s not easy, people will not do it.

What are the takeaway here?

  1. Look closely at what you do in your business everyday. Develop good work habits. List the 10 most important things you need to accomplish for each day, and then do these first.
  2. Make only one change at a time. Make one small change at a time, before going on to the next change.
  3. Make small change a constant in your life. Repetition creates mastery in life. My father-in-law was a professional accordion player. He practiced everyday until his death. Everyday!
  4. Trust the power of mall change, and remember, it will add up.
  5. Enjoy making small changes – Reward yourself for making positive changes in your business/life.

Now, go change your life and business one small step at a time.

Joe

Joe Costantino

About Joe Costantino

Joe Costantino is the founder of Business Marketing Success, Inc. and is President and Managing Partner of Duct Tape Marketing Coaching, LLC. Joe Costantino help coaches, consultants, and independent business professionals turn their professional expertise into money, magnificence and meaning. He does this by packaging their expertise, properly positioning them in the marketplace and utilizing the best tools to attract more qualified leads and turning those leads into paying clients.

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Categories : Marketing Strategy
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Five Steps to Direct Mail Success

By Joe Costantino · Comments (0)
Friday, October 5th, 2012

Direct mail is still a very powerful method to grow your business when implemented correctly. But, just like every other tactic on the planet, the success of your direct mail campaign(s) is largely determined by the work or the strategy you develop before the very first piece is delivered.

First, let me address all the marketing gurus and other naysayers that don’t promote this tactic and worse claim it isn’t effective anymore . . . . . you’re wrong! I was going to write this in a different, much softer, more diplomatic way, but decided against it. I have used direct mail marketing to acquire new customers, promote seminars, fill group coaching programs and build businesses for over 20 years. And I still use direct mail as one of my marketing strategies and guess what? It still works!

But like every tactic, there is a right and a wrong way to approach direct mail campaigns. But, be aware at the outset that it takes commitment, action and persistence for direct mail campaigns to succeed.

5 Steps To A Successful Direct Mail Campaign

If you have read this far, here are the five critical things you need to do right at the outset to ensure your direct mail campaigns will be a success:

  1. Develop a strategy -your strategy should include at the minimum
    • What are you trying to accomplish with your campaigns. This can be very simple . . . . to acquire new customers, build awareness, invite to an event, etc. But, you do need to be very clear on this point.
    • Budget – the amount of money you will devote to your campaign over a given period of time
    • Frequency – the number of times you will mail to the same group of prospects over a given period. I suggest mailing to the same group at least four times in a one year time frame.
  2. Use only direct response direct mail campaigns – Direct response refers to what the name implies; all mailings should have a ‘call to action’ or request a direct response. There is nothing that sabotages a direct mail campaign more than to not give the recipient a ‘call to action’. Tell them what to do next . . . . call, write, pick up the phone, etc.
  3. Refine and narrow your list – One of the greatest benefits of using direct response mail as a tactic is your ability to narrow your target list to the degree you choose. Whether it is by geography, industry, income level, gender, the success of your direct mail campaigns depends upon you limiting your mailings to those most likely to use your product or service.
  4. Follow a formula when writing copy - there are a number of formulas that you can use to produce effective copy, but the easiest one out there and probably the simplest to use is the tried and true AIDA formula. AIDA is an acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. If you follow this formula when writing your copy, you will produce better copy.
  5. Test your copy – always test your mailings with a small number of mailings before sending out “the” campaign. A simple method to accomplishing a test is the A/B split test. This is where you have a small sample size of say 200. You mail 100 hundred of your target market a mailing with one headline; and the other 100 a mailing with a different headline to see which mailing will get a better response. An important note for you to remember. If you use the A/B split testing method, you can only change one element of your direct mail piece at a time so that you can determine what factor made one piece more effective than the other. The three parts of your mailing you may want to test include the headline, the call to action or the P.S.

The benefits of using direct mail include:

  • Less competition -because direct mail is not the new shiny object that is promoted these days, there is less competition and a great opportunity for you to stand out from the pack by using this vehicle.
  • Precise target - you can precisely target you messages to a very specific audience unlike other tactics.
  • Control of the message – you have total control of the message you would like to communicate to your target.
  • Control of the timing – you can time your mailings to coincide with the purchasing timing triggers of your target audience.

The most difficult part of developing a direct mail campaign is getting started.

So commit to start your campaign today!

To your marketing success,

Joe

Joe Costantino

About Joe Costantino

Joe Costantino is the founder of Business Marketing Success, Inc. and is President and Managing Partner of Duct Tape Marketing Coaching, LLC. Joe Costantino help coaches, consultants, and independent business professionals turn their professional expertise into money, magnificence and meaning. He does this by packaging their expertise, properly positioning them in the marketplace and utilizing the best tools to attract more qualified leads and turning those leads into paying clients.

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Categories : Lead Generation

How Do You Spell T-R-U-S-T?

By Joe Costantino · Comments (0)
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012

I believe the purpose of marketing for business owners should be to build awareness, credibility and trust. Although all three are important, the one that in my opinion is the game-changer and critical to developing a great business is building TRUST.

So, what exactly is trust?

Trust very simply put is the confidence you have in a person’s integrity and ability to deliver.

I really like the way Jim Burke, the former chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson positioned the importance of trust – -

“You can’t have success without trust. The word trust embodies almost everything you can strive for that will help you succeed. You tell me any human relationship that works without trust, whether it is a marriage or a friendship or a social interaction; in the long run, the same is true about business, especially businesses that deal with the public.”

Think about this for a minute; imagine what your business would be like if you were able to increase the amount of trust you had in the marketplace. Now, maybe you are one of the “lucky” ones that have been able to effectively do this, but who couldn’t use just a little bit more trust to position their companies much more effectively and to get more business faster and for the “right” reasons.

So, how do you build trust?

In Stephen M.R. Covey’s best-selling book, The Speed of Trust, Covey writes about the 13 behaviors that build trust with not only your customers, but in your personal relationships as well. Here they are:

  1. Talk Straight – Tell the truth and leave the right impression
  2. Demonstrate Respect – Treat everyone with respect . . . everyone!
  3. Create Transparency – Be open and authentic
  4. Right Wrongs – Apologize quickly
  5. Show Loyalty – Speak about people as if they were present
  6. Deliver Results – Make things happen
  7. Get Better – Continuously improve
  8. Confront Reality – Address the tough stuff directly
  9. Clarify Expectations – Disclose and reveal what is expected
  10. Practice Accountability - Hold yourself and others accountable
  11. Listen First – Listen with your eyes, ears and heart
  12. Keep Commitments - Say what you’re going to do, then do what you say you’re going to do
  13. Extend Trust - Demonstrate a propensity to trust

This is a pretty comprehensive list, wouldn’t you say?

Are you practicing all 13 behaviors listed or are you at least working on #7, getting better?

In future posts, I will explore some of these trust-building behaviors in more detail and provide specific ideas of how I have incorporated these into my business and my life.

Think differently to achieve amazing results,

Joe

Joe Costantino

About Joe Costantino

Joe Costantino is the founder of Business Marketing Success, Inc. and is President and Managing Partner of Duct Tape Marketing Coaching, LLC. Joe Costantino help coaches, consultants, and independent business professionals turn their professional expertise into money, magnificence and meaning. He does this by packaging their expertise, properly positioning them in the marketplace and utilizing the best tools to attract more qualified leads and turning those leads into paying clients.

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Categories : Advertising, Uncategorized
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Do You Practice the Three Keys to Success?

By Joe Costantino · Comments (0)
Wednesday, July 11th, 2012

What separates the good from the great in any endeavor?

What allows one athlete to compete at a consistently high level for many years, while another, who may appear on the surface to possess great talent isn’t able to achieve even close to the same level of success?

Why do some kids go on to achieve very high levels of success in academics, sports and careers, while others never quite get there?

Why are some coaches, consultants and professional service providers able to operate their businesses at a very high level, making a very good living and living the life they imagined when they went into their own businesses, while others languish, never quite ‘figuring it out’?

I don’t think that success in any endeavor can be explained ONLY by intelligence, hard work, luck or ‘good’ genes. Obviously some or all of these factors do help, but there is something else that separates the top 5% of the people from the rest.

I have coached youth athletics for many years, trained hundreds of coaches, consultants, sales professionals and professional service providers in how to grow and improve their businesses and I have identified what I believe are the three most common (or maybe not so common) traits in the most successful:

  1. Commitment
  2. Action
  3. Persistence

But, I truly believe that the best of the best not only use this approach, but they understand that implementing all three of these behaviors together and in this exact sequence is required to bring them success. Let me repeat this thought. The most successful people I have ever met, whether it is a kid trying to learn how to play the game of baseball, a mother trying to raise fully functional children or a business owner trying to operate a successful business, all these folks seem to understand, whether it is consciously or unconsciously, that in order to achieve greatness, they need to follow the sequence of COMMITMENT, ACTION and PERSISTENCE in order to achieve remarkable results.

Once you understand these are the three things that will lead you to success, then you need to develop a laser-beam focus to outlining what your vision is and what you are trying to achieve (commitment); then developing the proper success factors to get you there (action) and finally developing the ‘fire in the belly’ attitude to keep at it until success is realized. (persistence)

In my next post, I will go into greater detail defining commitment, action and persistence and more importantly the ‘how’ to develop the proper mindset and habits to achieving greater success.

Remember, you have the power to change your business and your life with commitment, action and persistence.

Think differently to achieve amazing results,

Joe

Joe Costantino

About Joe Costantino

Joe Costantino is the founder of Business Marketing Success, Inc. and is President and Managing Partner of Duct Tape Marketing Coaching, LLC. Joe Costantino help coaches, consultants, and independent business professionals turn their professional expertise into money, magnificence and meaning. He does this by packaging their expertise, properly positioning them in the marketplace and utilizing the best tools to attract more qualified leads and turning those leads into paying clients.

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Categories : Marketing Strategy, Uncategorized
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Understanding Business Development

By Joe Costantino · Comments (0)
Friday, June 29th, 2012

I hear a ton of confusion out there from business owners about the differences between marketing and sales; what comes first, do you need both to build a successful business and so on. I believe that if you spend more than a couple of minutes wringing your hands over the distinction between the two, then you’ve wasted time you can’t get back and you fail to focus on what is really important.

In fact, I would suggest that you adopt the attitude espoused by Lefty (Al Pacino) in the movie Donnie Brasco . . . . “Forget About It”.

Understand that both marketing and sales systems are critical to the growth of your business, they are connected and they should actually come under the category of Business Development.

So, what is Business Development?

“Google” the term and you won’t get one consistent answer. What you will find is a myriad of answers that, in my mind, don’t adequately answer the question of what business development really encompasses.

So before we go much further, I would like to provide you with my definition of business development and one that I truly believe will help make this idea much easier to understand:

Business Development is the system that connects marketing and sales. It allows you to communicate your unique value and difference to your prospects and customers so that you can generate revenue and growth for your business.

Let’s explore the components of this definition a bit further to really bring this idea to life.

System - Everything you do in your business should be a step-by-step systematic process so that nothing is left to chance, your consistent in your interactions with prospects, customers, and referral partners. Some of the key systems you should develop in your business include lead generation, lead conversion, and referral programs.

Connects Sales and Marketing - They are both critical to your business and connected to fully grow your company. Stop worrying about the definitions of marketing and sales and what comes first.

Communicate your unique value and difference to your prospects and customers – One of the greatest mistakes that I see business owners consistently make, is their lack of a compelling, unique and useful brand and positioning strategy. This results in marketing communications that are weak and do absolutely nothing to show their prospects and customers why they should choose them as the best choice in the marketplace. If you can’t express your unique value and difference, then how in the world are you prospects and customers going to know and understand what you bring to the table.

Generate revenue and growth
Now this one is easy. The purpose of your business is to generate revenue, profit and growth. I do understand and acknowledge that, for most of you, your ‘why’ was to make a difference and help people at some level.

But, unless your generating revenue, profit and growing, you want be around long enough in business to help anyone.

I hope this helps you understand that BOTH marketing and sales are connected, and critical to building and growing a successful business. Define all your marketing and sales efforts as BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT and ‘forget about the rest’.

Think differently to achieve amazing results.

Joe
Joe Costantino

About Joe Costantino

Joe Costantino is the founder of Business Marketing Success, Inc. and is President and Managing Partner of Duct Tape Marketing Coaching, LLC. Joe Costantino help coaches, consultants, and independent business professionals turn their professional expertise into money, magnificence and meaning. He does this by packaging their expertise, properly positioning them in the marketplace and utilizing the best tools to attract more qualified leads and turning those leads into paying clients.

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Categories : Marketing Strategy
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Grow Your Business By “Hugging Your Customers”

By Joe Costantino · Comments (1)
Monday, May 28th, 2012

Conventional business theory states that there are only three ways for a business owner to increase revenues and grow their businesses:

  1. Get new customers
  2. Sell more services or products to their present customer base
  3. Encourage their present customer base to buy more often

Well, I would like to add a fourth method to the list and the one that I believe is the most important. Drum roll please … number 4 is … retain your present customers by developing and implementing a hug your customer mentality in order to keep them loyal to your business so that they don’t defect to the competition.

So, here’s the new list:

  1. Get new customers
  2. Sell more services or products to their present customer base
  3. Encourage their present customer base to buy more often
  4. Retain your present customers by developing a hug your customer mentality

Let’s think about the above list for a minute. . . . three out of the four ways to grow your business have absolutely nothing to do with getting new customers, so maybe I’m on to something here. Three out of the four, #2, #3 and #4 have to do with strategies for working with the present customer base of a business.

I believe that if you consistently practice #4, retaining your present customers by ‘hugging’ them, then #2 and #3, selling more services or products and getting your customers to buy more often will follow automatically.

Why it’s important to retain your customers

There’s a bunch of stats on the difficulty in getting new customer versus keeping your present customer happy, but the bottom line is that is much more difficult to obtain new customers especially in a challenging economic environment than to keep your existing customers happy.

What is a hug your customer mentality?

The “hug your customer mentality” was coined by Jack Mitchell in his book, Hug Your Customers, The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results. Mitchell is the CEO of Mitchell/Richards a chain of very successful clothing stores in Connecticut.

The hug your customer mentality is a method where business owners adopt and practice methods for creating long-lasting and loyal customer relationships. At the heart of this method is that the relationship-building is the key to success and is accomplished by a series of consistent ‘hugs’ to demonstrate that you appreciate and respect the fact that someone has decided to do business with your company.

Here are some things you can do to immediately implement a “hug your customer mentality” into your business today:

  1. Appreciate your customers for doing business with your company – Something as simple as sending a card, letter or note with a message of appreciation along with a special offer for “customers only”.
  2. Respect your customers – treat your customers exactly they way you would like to be treated . . . really practice the Golden Rule.
  3. Listen to your customers – survey your customers on a regular basis to determine what they want from a business that does what you do. Then DO IT! This is why you’re in business.
  4. Create the proper expectations – relationships are a two-way street. Your customers want to know what to expect from your business. Let them know.
  5. Be Responsive – If there is some issue, deal with it immediately.
  6. Make it easy to do business with your company – life is difficult enough, make it easy to engage with your company.
  7. Deliver Results – Do what you promised. And if this isn’t accomplished to your customer’s satisfaction, get it right!
  8. Train employees – if your customers will engage with employees, make sure they are trained properly to practice all the above.

If you develop a hug your customer mentality your happy, loyal customers will purchase from you more, purchase additional products or services and refer you to others more often.

Think differently,

Joe

Joe Costantino

About Joe Costantino

Joe Costantino is the founder of Business Marketing Success, Inc. and is President and Managing Partner of Duct Tape Marketing Coaching, LLC. Joe Costantino help coaches, consultants, and independent business professionals turn their professional expertise into money, magnificence and meaning. He does this by packaging their expertise, properly positioning them in the marketplace and utilizing the best tools to attract more qualified leads and turning those leads into paying clients.

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Categories : Marketing Strategy
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How to Create Business Breakthroughs With Small Changes

By Joe Costantino · Comments (0)
Monday, April 23rd, 2012

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step”
Lao Tzu

Sometimes business owners can mistakenly fall into a trap by believing that when business gets challenging, you need to make drastic changes to improve, grow and ‘right the ship’.

I just completed a book called Small Changes, by Susan and Larry Terkel. This easy-to-read book, provided me with a timely reminder and a fresh perspective on the fact the some of the most effective and long-lasting positive changes people make in their lives is done on a very small scale or with baby steps.

I thought the book did a fantastic job of recognizing and outlining that any change is better than no change at all.
In fact, the strategy espoused by the authors in the book was the view that the secret to success is to focus on making small or incremental changes, rather than these major changes that rarely if ever stick for very long.

I think the point here is valid. when I work with coaches, consultants and professional service providers, most of the time they are doing many of the ‘right’ things to grow their business. They just might not be doing these things consistently enough or haven’t taken the necessary time to develop a systematic process for successfully positioning themselves and their company in the marketplace.

Small changes, while not always easy, are easier than big changes or massive makeovers. And here is the great thing . . . .
Small change adds ups.

I have found it is difficult for business owners to make big changes, so there is a tendency to do nothing. We all learned in our high school science class with the law of inertia that objects in motion tend to stay in motion, and objects at rest tend to stay at rest.
Small changes are simple and easy to implement. I have learned if it’s not easy, people will not do it.

What are the takeaways here?

1. Look closely at what you do in your business everyday. Develop good work habits. List the 10 most important things you need to accomplish for each day, and then do these first.

2. Make only one change at a time. Make one small change at a time, before going on to the next change.

3. Make small change a constant in your life. Repetition creates mastery in life. My father-in-law was a professional accordion player. He practiced everyday until his death. Everyday!

4. Trust the power of small change, and remember, it will add up.

5. Enjoy making small changes – Reward yourself for making positive changes in your business/life.

Now, go change your life and business one small step at a time.

Think differently to achieve amazing results,

Joe

 

Joe Costantino

About Joe Costantino

Joe Costantino is the founder of Business Marketing Success, Inc. and is President and Managing Partner of Duct Tape Marketing Coaching, LLC. Joe Costantino help coaches, consultants, and independent business professionals turn their professional expertise into money, magnificence and meaning. He does this by packaging their expertise, properly positioning them in the marketplace and utilizing the best tools to attract more qualified leads and turning those leads into paying clients.

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The Real Issue to Address with Inbound and Outbound Marketing

By Joe Costantino · Comments (2)
Monday, April 16th, 2012

I believe that in order to have a fully-functioning business development strategy, you need a combination of inbound and outbound strategies. Companies selling inbound services will try to convince you that outbound marketing tactics don’t work anymore, while the outbound tactic people will tell you that inbound tactics aren’t as effective as the inbound people claim.

I think the key issue that seems to be lost in the discussion about Inbound vs. Outbound marketing conversations and is not addressed adequately by the gurus on both sides of the fence is the fact that what you say, how you say it and who you say it to in your communications is the key element that really brings either one of these strategies to life.

Does it matter what tactical approach you employ, whether you are the hunter (outbound tactics) or the hunted (inbound tactics), if you don’t have a compelling message of differentiation of why someone (customer or client) should choose your company over your competitors in the first place?

A business owner can develop a ton of leads from both inbound and outbound tactics, but if you don’t have a clear process for your prospect to know you, find you credible and ultimately trust that you are the logical choice in the marketplace to provide the product or service you sell, then it doesn’t make any difference what method you choose.

The biggest problem most business owners have when it comes to marketing and business development efforts is not about choosing inbound vs. outbound tactics as many would have you believe. It is about first building your brand, your positioning in the marketplace. It is about powerfully communicating what makes you the better, the obvious choice for the product of service you sell over your competitors. It is about getting more people to raise their hands and say, “I want to know more about this company”.

Folks, until you get this right, your marketing tactical approach, whether inbound, outbound or a combination of both will never be as effective.

An example may help to illustrate the point. One of the greatest tools a business owner has at their disposal to clearly make their case, to differentiate themselves in the marketplace and to be perceived as an expert for the product or service they sell is their company website. Very few would argue this point. This is the hub of all your marketing activities. If this is true, and it is, how come so many business owners use this valuable tool as a static billboard that doesn’t say much of anything expect, “here we are world, buy from us!”

Let’s cut to the chase. Both inbound and outbound marketing initiatives should be included as part of an overall marketing strategy. But, you shouldn’t do either inbound or outbound marketing until you develop your brand and positioning in the marketplace.

Think differently to achieve amazing results,

Joe

Joe Costantino

About Joe Costantino

Joe Costantino is the founder of Business Marketing Success, Inc. and is President and Managing Partner of Duct Tape Marketing Coaching, LLC. Joe Costantino help coaches, consultants, and independent business professionals turn their professional expertise into money, magnificence and meaning. He does this by packaging their expertise, properly positioning them in the marketplace and utilizing the best tools to attract more qualified leads and turning those leads into paying clients.

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Categories : Marketing Strategy
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Does Your Marketing Pass The “Purpose” Test?

By Joe Costantino · Comments (1)
Monday, March 12th, 2012

You’re doing all the things your supposed to do to position your company in the marketplace . . . . e-mail marketing, direct response marketing, engaging in social media, publishing your newsletter and on it goes.

But, have you ever asked yourself what all these marketing initiatives or tactics are supposed to do for your company?  Or better yet, what is the real purpose of your marketing?

Oh sure, to get customers, make more money and live happily ever after.  Yes, we all know that.  But, acquiring more customers is a process, and the process requires certain steps in order to engage with more of the people who will value the product or service that you sell and ultimately stay loyal to your business.

Ask ten business owners what is the purpose of their marketing and you will get ten different answers.  How do I know?  Because I always ask this question at every seminar or workshop I conduct . . . . always.  And I always get ten different answers.

Why do I ask this question?  Because the answer or the lack of a uniform answer to this question gets at one of the the most critical problems most business owners have when marketing their businesses.  And that is the lack of understanding of what marketing should really be accomplishing for their business.

Here are the three major objectives that all your marketing initiatives should accomplish:

  1. Build awareness, credibility and trust with your preferred prospect or customer
  2. Facilitate the decision making process of your preferred prospect or customer
  3. Lower the risk for your preferred prospect or customer to take the next step in the buying process

In order to get more of your preferred customer or client, keep that customer loyal to your business and referring you to other preferred prospects, your ability to effectively implement the three steps above will determine the effectiveness of your marketing and ultimately the loyalty of your new customers once they experience your process.

The process of building awareness, credibility and trust is one of the most important areas to help you improve your marketing efforts. This is accomplished by being ‘out there’, networking, writing articles that educate your preferred prospects, staying active in social media circles, getting recommendations, testimonials and referrals, delivering to your customers what you promised, going above and beyond for your clients.

The process of facilitating the decision-making process of your preferred prospect is accomplished by providing valuable educational content so that your prospects have all the information they require to make a good decision when buying the service or product you sell.

Finally, you need to lower the risk for the prospect to take the next step in the decision-making or buying process. We are all risk adverse to some degree.  We have been burnt before and we want the ability to take baby steps before making the purchase.  Your marketing should provide low-risk methods, such as a free trial, free sample, etc. for your prospects to take the next step.

If your marketing efforts are not passing the ‘purpose’ test, then begin today to make the necessary changes required to engage with more of your preferred prospects.

Think differently and achieve amazing results,

Joe

Joe Costantino

About Joe Costantino

Joe Costantino is the founder of Business Marketing Success, Inc. and is President and Managing Partner of Duct Tape Marketing Coaching, LLC. Joe Costantino help coaches, consultants, and independent business professionals turn their professional expertise into money, magnificence and meaning. He does this by packaging their expertise, properly positioning them in the marketplace and utilizing the best tools to attract more qualified leads and turning those leads into paying clients.

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Duct Tape Marketing Consultant
1800 Central Street, Ste 203
Kansas City, MO 64108
866-DUC-TAPE (382-8273)
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