The truth is, there are a lot of ways you could be marketing your business. It is also very true that not every one of those ways is purposeful. In order to ensure that you are purposefully marketing your business, you can’t be what I like to call a “willy-nilly” marketer. Instead, you have to be crystal clear that what you’re doing at all times is leading you closer to your overall goal and objective:
Getting found by your ideal clients and positioning your products and services as the solution to their current top-of-mind problem.
Because there are so many ways you could be marketing, it’s easy to get sidetracked and focus on strategies that yield a small return. That’s why when I saw Kathy’s question, I couldn’t wait to answer it via Incredible Factor TV. Check out her question:
“Hi Darnyelle. I have been spending a lot of time, no… scratch that, wasting a lot of time marketing my business, and I feel like all I hear are crickets. What can you share with me to help me become more purposeful in my day-to-day business development efforts?”
See my response to Kathy’s question in this week’s episode now:
As I share in the episode, there’s a lot of confusion out there about what marketing tactics to use in order to yield a return. And, you have to be careful not to get caught up in all the hype. Let’s take social media as an example. I think that most business owners would say that social media is a “must-have” marketing vehicle in today’s marketplace. And while I wouldn’t disagree, I view social media as an awareness-generation activity and not a revenue-generating activity. To prove my point, let me share an important statistic with you:
The average conversion rate in social media is 0.71%.
Other than making sure that you are using marketing streams that increase your return, the other important thing is to make sure that you are consistent. Because the process is “get known, get found, get paid” and then (and only then) “build a business”, time must be spent consistently sharing your message to get known and found by your ideal clients.
I am always teaching my clients to make sure that they spend 80% of their time in revenue or profit-producing activity and only 20% of their time generating awareness. Here are some of my favorite revenue-generating activities:
Networking – Face-to-face interaction shortens most sales cycles. Spending time to get out where you can be found by your ideal prospects is KEY if you want be purposeful in your business.
Speaking – In my opinion, there is no better strategy for filling your cycle with tons of ideal prospects. Allowing someone else to do the work and fill the room with those who have the problem you solve right now, and you show up and wow them with your high-value content, will get you a plethora of new prospects quickly.
Prospecting – Scoping out new prospects via research and development is a great way to expand your reach. Star with a list of what you’re looking for and reach out via phone and/or email to see how many you can get to have a meeting with you; this is a good use of your time.
Sales Calls – Nothing happens until someone sells something, so taking the time each day to hold sales calls is the key to making things happen in your business.
The bottom line is this: Get purposeful or get left behind. After all, I think the reason that 10-12% of businesses fail each year is because they aren’t leveraging purposeful strategy to move the needle in their businesses. Need help getting purposeful? Join us this May at Unleash Your Incredible Factor Live: Positioned to Profit where I will be sharing my coveted Positioned & Profitable Blueprint: Get Positioned; Get Profitable; Get Purposeful. Learn more at http://www.UnleashYourIncredibleFactor.com
Now I want to hear from you, what’s your two cents? Have you ever wasted your time with marketing tactics that yielded little or no return? What advice do you have for Kathy to make sure that she markets with a purpose?
©2015 by Darnyelle A. Jervey. All Rights Reserved. Darnyelle A. Jervey, MBA, The Incredible Factor Business Optimization Coach and Mentor, is the founder of Incredible One Enterprises®, Incredible Factor University® and the Leverage Your Incredible Factor System®, a proven step-by-step program so you experience financial and spiritual abundance in your life because of your business. For more information and a FREE audio CD “7 Critical Mistakes Even Smart Entrepreneurs Must Avoid for Clients, Connection and Cash Flow!” just fill out the form below.
