Marketing your Business: Where do I focus?

There are only 24 hours in a day and at least 8 of them are spent trying to make it rain. For 8 hours you work; you work on your products, you perform services, and somewhere in those 8 hours you need to focus on getting new work.

So how do you get new business? In the past you would just put your information out there (via Yellow Pages) and the work would just show up! Today, the Yellow Pages is the only place customers aren't! Users are on their smart phones, tablets, computers and soon to be watches - searching, updating, poking and sometimes even working.  In the world of marketing you are expected to have your business omnipresent - existing on every platform there is.  As a marketer it is great that we have options; that's good, but it also can be overwhelming. Should you worry about getting your business on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Periscope or whatever new social media is hot for the moment or should you spend that time working on something else?

This little article is meant to help you decide what to focus on.  It should help you decide what you spend that allotted marketing time doing; where you can get the biggest ROI.

What is your goal?

• Get new sales?
• Get new leads?
• Establish your expertise?
• Generate hits to your Site?
• Gain exposure for your products and services?
• Receive feedback?
• I need all of these!

Get new sales

If you really want new sales, advertising is the bare minimum you can do.  People have to know about your product before they will ever plunk down their cash for it.  Advertising doesn't necessarily mean paying for ad placement - advertising could also just mean getting exposure for your products

1. Advertise (paid or organic)
2. Research and Find your audience (customers are people and getting sales is a numbers game - the more potential customers the more sales)
3. Remove barriers to purchase
4. Work on your sales pitch

Get new leads

Getting new leads is tricky, you aren't selling anything, you are just getting the prospect of selling something.  The best way to get a lead is to get in front of someone who is looking for that thing - which means getting in front of as many prospects as possible.  The least time intensive way is through Advertising - just let the ads work for you.  Spend some time on the ad creative and put it out there.  If you don't like the shot gun approach, then I would suggest spending some time learning about your leads; find out where they are, what they do and how they like to be approached.  No matter what, the more prospects you get in front of the more leads will be generated.  It is also worth mentioning, you should know what you are going to do with the lead once it is gathered.  Basically, you need to know how you are going to seal the deal.

1. Advertise
2. Research and Find your audience (leads are people and getting leads is a number game - the more potential leads the more leads)
3. Network and referrals
4. Work on your sales pitch

Establish your expertise

A good rule is 80/20.  Give away 80 and capitalize on the 20.

1. Write blogs
2. Find your audience
3. Do interviews
4. Engage with other experts in your field
5. Speak at conferences
6. Linkedin

Generate hits to your website

1. Create content (info graphics / videos / blogs / tutorials )
2. Share your content
   • Link to it on social media (twitter, Facebook, Google +, LinkedIn)
3. Give users a way to share your content
4. Put your URL on everything
5. Advertise

Gain exposure for your products and services

1. Create content for your products and services (if you do anything - make content about it and share it)
2. Speak about them to your network
3. Give them away in exchange for testimonials, reviews or feedback

Receive Feedback

• Perhaps you already have feedback and didn't even know it. See what people are already saying.  Google yourself or your company.  Angies List, Yelp, Google Reviews, Glassdoor, Topix, Twitter  - There are so many places for people to complain.
• Another great way to receive feedback is to post to a community on Google +. Many of the communities have 100,000 of members and if you post something there you are going to get some feedback (just don't expect it to be good)  Whatever the case, good or bad, a response can be helpful

I need all of these

The best thing you can do if you are in serious need is create content. Working on content is an investment that always pays off.  Written content can be used on your website, printed materials or even as a script for a video.  A good thing to remember is that content doesn't have to long.

• Work on your content
  • Website
    • products and services
    • blog
    • Make content easy to share
  • Videos
• Share your content
• Network