Massive Marketing Mistake Number Five – 'Follow the Crowd' Marketing

The marketing tools that you could use to promote your small business are numerous. There are now many more tactics available than a few years ago, thanks in part to the growth of social media. There are also dozens of more ‘traditional’ ways promote what you do. So where do you start?

You need to start by reviewing the Massive Marketing Mistakes we’ve covered in the last issue of Scribbles and on our blogs. When you know what makes your business truly different (Number One), what your goals are (Number Two), how you’re going to reach your goals (Number Three) and who your ideal clients are (Number Four), you’ll find it much easier to select the most appropriate methods for marketing your business.

However, if you just jump into trying any old marketing, because you think you should, or because it seems that everyone else is doing it, then you’ll be committing Massive Marketing Mistake Number Five.

How do you avoid the fifth Massive Marketing Mistake? Review Mistakes One to Four. Based on the results you get, create a shortlist of around ten marketing tactics that you know will work for your business. Think about how to integrate them, to make sure they’re all working together, with the same message for promoting your business. You can read more about avoiding Massive Marketing Mistake Number Five here.

Massive Marketing Mistake Number Six – Spending Money on Your Marketing

How often do you think that you’ll just spend a little more on a bigger advert, just to see if it works? Or do you pay out for a networking event in the hope that it might bring you the right sort of clients? And how often do you get to the end of the month and realise that there’s no money left in the bank – and no new clients to show for it?

If you do this, you’re committing Massive Marketing Mistake Number Six – not setting a budget for your marketing and not knowing what you’re spending your hard earned money on.

How do you avoid the sixth Massive Marketing Mistake? Look at the list of potential marketing activities you identified, after avoiding Massive Marketing Mistake Number Five, which you know will work for your business. Then go through the list and work out how much it will cost you to carry out each activity. Be realistic and look at what it could cost to have the work done professionally (such as building a website or writing content for your blog). Once you have an idea of what it will cost to do everything on your list, for a whole year, think about what you can really afford to spend. Click here for more tips on how to set your budget.

Massive Marketing Mistake Number Seven –  Trying to Do it All Yourself

Too many owners of small businesses think that they have to do all their own marketing. Most take this approach as they think they can’t afford to pay someone to do what they can’t do themselves. If you're trying to save money by doing it all yourself, you’re committing Massive Marketing Mistake Number Seven.

How do you avoid Massive Marketing Mistake Number Seven? Unless you’re trained in marketing, you need to look for people who can help you with some of the different aspects of promoting your business. To help you decide where to look for help, start by looking at the list of possible marketing activities that you put together (the list that helps you avoid Massive Marketing Mistake Number Five). Look carefully at each activity to see if you can do it yourself or if you need help. 

How many of these Massive Marketing Mistakes are you making? What are you going to do to stop making them and get your marketing working?
 

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Want to Avoid All the Massive Marketing Mistakes?

• Would you like to find the best marketing tactics for your business?
• Do you want to stop spending money on your marketing?
• Want to find the best people to help with your marketing?

We’ll be writing more about some of the mistakes not covered in the next issue of Scribbles. If you don’t want to wait and you want to start avoiding all the mistakes now, there is another way.

This Spring we’re launching the first of our Marketing MasterClasses, where we’ll be helping small groups of small business owners to avoid all the Massive Marketing Mistakes. We’ve made most of these mistakes at some time over 15 years of running a small business, so we know exactly how to help you avoid them and grow a flourishing business.

Marketing MasterClass groups will meet every month, to build marketing momentum and receive ongoing support. You won’t be following a process – you’ll be receiving the specific help that your business needs. Places on each group are limited – in fact there are only two places left on the first group, so to find out more, click here to book your place!