The Biggest Marketing Time-Waster

I get asked a lot… “What’s the best marketing strategy for me to use to promote my service?” Well it’s NOT Cold calling, NOT Direct Mail, NOT Networking… If fact NO marketing strategy will bring you all the new clients you need, when you need them, without first having created and learnt how to deliver a Powerful Personal Marketing Message. Without being able to talk about your business in a clear and compelling way, you’re only ever going to get lukewarm results from your marketing efforts. In my experience at least 80% of small business owners can’t talk about the service they offer without sounding confusing or bland. I’m left not exactly sure what it is they do, or what might be in it for me. Having a Powerful Personal Marketing Message is the FOUNDATION for ALL your marketing strategies. Without it, you’ll always have to spend more time trying to get your message heard by a whole bunch more people before you make enough sales to keep your appointment book full. You'll be throwing time and money down the drain. Before you spend any time or money marketing your self and your services, it's wise to make some time to sit down and work on your message. How….? First get clear on what it is you have to offer. Then decide who you want to work with. Who makes an Ideal Client for you? Then figure out why they should buy from YOU and not one of your competitors. You must Dig Deep. Sounds simple? Well it is. It’s also probably the hardest work you’ll do in relation to marketing your services, but it’ll also the one thing that will bring you the highest rewards. Best of all… you’ll only have to do this ONCE. Small business is the fastest growing sector of “business” in the world today. So there are literally 100s of 1000s of marketing message out there. This means yours has to be crystal clear and compelling to your ideal prospects. You need to have visibility, to be seen as an expert in your field. You need to have a Powerful Personal Marketing Message so that clients will want to work only with YOU. Put in the work on your marketing message and you’ll get a infinitely higher response rate from all your marketing strategies. You Ideal Prospects will be compelled to take action and contact you. You’ll have as many new clients as you want… when you want them. You’ll spend much less time having to market your service leaving more time for you to focus on what it is you do best… looking after your clients. By Anne Duncan, The Reluctant Salesperson's Coach. For more marketing article, quick, easy tips and great resources on marketing a professional service visit Anne's web site at http://www.thereluctantsalespersonscoach.com Copyright Anne Duncan 2006