It use to be that to market a business or product, it was as straightforward as placing an ad in the local paper, buying commercial air time, or being featured in a magazine. The choices of where to advertise and market were few, and it was easier and a lot less time consuming once the ad campaign was designed.
That has changed.
There are so many platforms to market on today, so many different ways to get the word out, and although it seems that should make it easier to be seen and have eyes land on your brand or product, it has actually made it much more difficult to stand out. It also means that, unless you have unlimited hours in the day, nothing else to focus on in your business, and don’t need to sleep, you have to be able to narrow down and decide what platforms you are going to use, and focus in on those.
The mere thought of starting to brainstorm on how and where to market will make a lot of business owners’ brains freeze. There is a lot to consider, and knowing where to begin can be daunting and overwhelming..
But, it doesn’t have to be.
Some business owners hire out and find someone else to help them with this part of their business. Even then, there are a lot of ways that a modern day marketing strategy can look, and unless you feel 100% confident that the person you are trusting this part of your business to will understand exactly what it is you want to say, what your brand is, and have the same level of passion and commitment to your brand as you do, then it's challenging to have complete confidence in how it will look.
That's why I am creating these blog posts. This is the first of 3 initial posts that will help you to have a basic foundation of what your business is and means to you and how you want to convey that to the world.
Part One
About Your Business
1). Write one paragraph about your business, explaining it as if to someone who you don’t know and who is just finding out about your business for the first time.
It’s amazing how many people have a really difficult time with this. But, if you have no idea how to convey information about your business, then your marketing efforts will fall flat from the start. It would be like building a house with no foundation. So, spend some time on this one and really think about an overall, but succinct, description of your business.
5 Leading Questions to Get You Started:
1). What business are you in?
2). What product do you sell or what service do you offer?
3). Who do you sell or offer it to?
4). What problem do you help them solve?
5). What makes you and your business stand out from others who do something similar?
2). What is your big picture vision for your business?
Kind of an extension of question one, and it can be a little longer, but, same concept. Getting you to really think about how you want to convey what your business is and does.
3). What does success look like for your business?
If you have no idea what success will look like, or what you are trying to achieve, then, again, a marketing plan will be rudderless. Not to mention, it’s just a good idea to know what you are striving for, and be able to know whether or not you on track.
Take some time with these and try not to brush past them or rush yourself. If nothing else, it will be a good exercise for a 10 year or business plan.
Part Two and Three coming soon.
Good luck!