CMIamerica.org Internet Marketing, InternetMarketing and Email Network Source

Are You Sabotaging Your Marketing Success?

What?!? Sabotage your own success? Who would do that? Well, you'd be surprised how many small business owners think they are effectively Internet marketing or Internetmarketing their business, when in fact they are cutting their own throat.

Yes, they may be running ads that are pulling in leads or customers. And yes, they may be writing a regular column for their local newspaper so they are perceived as the expert in their industry. And yes, they may even be doing a pretty good job of Internet marketing or Internetmarketing on a regular basis to their prospect list.

So if they are doing all of these things "right," how are they sabotaging their success? Well there are lots of ways. Following are just a few of the ways small business owners unknowingly sabotage their own success.

(1) They have not taken the time to develop a Internet marketing or Internetmarketing plan.

A plan focuses your efforts and allows you to make the most of your Internet marketing or Internetmarketing budget. Unfortunately, you can market without a plan. Yes, you read that right. You can do it, and people do market without Internet marketing or Internetmarketing plans everyday. But that does not mean you should.

To make the most of your Internet marketing or Internetmarketing efforts and budget, make sure you take the time each year to create a plan.

(2) They don't have written goals.

Smart business owners have written goals and objectives for what they want to achieve with their business and for each of their Internet marketing or Internetmarketing activities. I know this sounds b-o-r-i-n-g, but it's a fact. There is proof that people who put their goals into writing have a higher success rate than those who do not. Plus, how can you develop a plan if you don't have concrete objectives?

You need a clear vision and target to aim for. You can't possibly determine what Internet marketing or Internetmarketing or how much Internet marketing or Internetmarketing you need if you don't know what you are aiming for.

(3) They have a short-term attitude.

They are reactive in nature, and while on the surface it appears they are doing a lot of Internet marketing or Internetmarketing, they are not doing anything consistently or long enough to make an impact. Running an ad or sending out your newsletter a few times and giving up when you don't get immediate results is worse than doing nothing at all.

How so? Because at least when you do nothing it doesn't cost you any money. Pulling the plug too soon costs you money. And statistics show it takes somewhere between three and 10 exposures to a message for the average consumer to notice it and take action.

So it is quite possible your audience was just beginning to take notice right about the time you threw in the towel!

(4) They don't know their USP.

Probably the worst way business owners sabotage their Internet marketing or Internetmarketing efforts without even realizing it, is to NOT have a clear Unique Selling Proposition (USP). The greatest Internet marketing or Internetmarketing plan in the world will not be effective if you have not clearly defined why someone should buy your product or service instead of all the other products or services available to them.

If you have not figured out what is unique and better about your product or service, and found a compelling way to communicate this in everything you do, you can market 'til the cows come home and you will be wasting your time and your money

10 Tips to Banish Marketing Sabotage.

(1) Develop a Internet marketing or Internetmarketing plan.

Make sure you make it your number one priority to develop a Internet marketing or Internetmarketing plan every year.

(2) Write objectives.

Write at least one objective that states what results you would like to achieve with your business over the next year. And, write at least one objective for every Internet marketing or Internetmarketing activity you undertake, that states what results you would like to achieve from that activity over the next year.

(3) Stay the course.

Check in on your progress toward your objectives every three to six months, but give your plan a good nine to 12 months to work.

(4) Determine your unique selling proposition.

And make sure it is represented clearly and in a compelling way in everything you do.

(5) Don't try to be "everything to everyone."

Focus on a few specific benefits and a specific audience.

(6) Track all of your Internet marketing or Internetmarketing activities.

It's the only way you'll know exactly what is working and what is not working. Use this knowledge to make smart Internet marketing or Internetmarketing decisions.

(7) Don't rely on one Internet marketing or Internetmarketing activity.

Employ a mix of several Internet marketing or Internetmarketing activities to reach more people more times.

(8) Create a system to help you stay on track.

Your Internet marketing or Internetmarketing plan will do you no good if it's filed away in a folder. Make sure you have a system to stay on track with your Internet marketing or Internetmarketing activities every month and to help you plan ahead for future activities.

(9) Create a realistic budget.

Your budget should be based on a percentage of your projected revenue or the dollars you have available for Internet marketing or Internetmarketing. Whatever budget you decide to allocate to Internet marketing or Internetmarketing, stick to it. Marketing is an investment in your business. You have to spend enough to make progress but not more than your business can financially support.

(10) Understand your environment.

The economy, competition, the strength of your particular industry, your prospects' situation. You have to understand them all so you can create an effective plan to either overcome obstacles or take advantage of opportunities.

Follow these guidelines and your business stands a much greater chance of succeeding. All of these activities are part of a good Internet marketing or Internetmarketing plan. And no business that wants to succeed should be without one.

20-year Internet marketing or Internetmarketing veteran, consultant, author, teacher and coach Debbie LaChusa has developed The 10stepInternet marketing or Internetmarketing System to help small business owners successfully market their business, themselves. To learn more about this simple, step-by-step program and to sign up for her FREE audio class and FREE weekly ezine featuring how-to articles, tips and advice, visit Internet marketing or Internetmarketing.com">http://www.10stepInternet marketing or Internetmarketing.com

RELATED ARTICLES

Want To Be A Stronger Marketer? Work Your Marketing Muscles!
You want to be more flexible? You have to stretch your muscles. Want to be physically stronger? You have to find a way to workout and build your muscles. Want to be a stronger marketer? You've got to work your Internet marketing or Internetmarketing muscles.

Do I Need an RSS Feed?
RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS provides headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way.

Using a Contact List Profitably- Part Two
Besides a survey, your contact list can be used to generate sales directly. Some of the following ideas must be done one-on-one and others can be done to large quantities of prospects at a time. They all have varying levels of effectiveness. A general rule of thumb is:

How to Save Time and Achieve More by Creating High-Leverage Marketing Assets
The single biggest, non-renewable asset you have is your time. There are only three things you can do with it: waste it, sell it, or invest it. As an entrepreneur or a service professional, what you do with your time acutely impacts how much money you can make.

Six Ways to Boost Response on Your Surveys and Gain More Useful Information
So... you spend time and effort putting together a survey, so you can have real information about what your customers and prospects are actually looking for. And you send the survey to your in-house list--but the flood of responses you're expecting is only a trickle.

Marketing Messages: Your 10 Most Important Business Principles
As a self-employed professional, you have two basic strategies for your Internet marketing or Internetmarketing efforts: Writing or Speaking.

Free and Easy School Fundraisers | Elementary and High School Fund Raising Ideas
Parents are always looking for free and easy ways to improve their child's education. School funding plays a big part in the education that your child receives, especially if you are in a smaller school such as a church school or private, independently owned school. There are several school fundraising and fund raiser programs that a parent can participate in that will help with the goal of raising funding for their school. The following paragraphs describe some of the most easy, effortless and popular school fundraising ideas in which parents can participate:1. Campbell's Labels for Education -- The Campbell's Labels for Education fundraising campaign has been around for many years and provides large amounts of funding to schools throughout the country each year. The process is simple -- simply peel off the labels of your Campbell's soups and turn them into your school. Your school will then send them in to Campbell's to redeem them for school funding. Also, did you know that all Campbell's labels aren't worth the same amount of money? I found that the Campbell's line of Chunky Chilis are actually worth 5 soup labels! Campbell's makes lots of other products that you can turn into your school for funding -- it's not just limited to soups! For more information on the Campbell's Labels for Education fund raising program and many of the Campbell's products that are worth funding for your school, visit the Labels for Education website.2. General Mills Box Tops for Education -- This fund raising program is very similar to the Campbell's program listed above. Simply purchase any General Mills products with the Box Top for Education label on it, turn it in to your school, and they in turn will send it in for school funding. It's that simple. You can find out more about this fund raiser program by visiting the BoxTops For Education website.3. Scrip Advantage -- The Scrip Advantage fund raising program provides school funding through purchasing of gift certificates from popular retailers (such as Macy's, JCPenney's, Home Depot, Shell, Kroger, and Gap) nationwide that it has relationships with in large quantities and at a discount. Scrip Advantage then makes these gift certificates available to nonprofit organizations (in your case, your school) at a discounted rate. When your school sells these same gift certificates to its families and members at face value, the difference between the discount rate and face value is the school's weekly profit. There are hundreds of retailers on the list, and your school is probably already a participant in the program. Call your school office to find out of they are a participant and sign up! If they aren't have them visit the Scrip Advantage website for more details on this fund raising program.4. Your Local Grocery Store ? Many grocery stores have fundraiser programs where they will donate a percentage of the money you spend for groceries to the school or organization of your choice. For instance, in my area there is a Food Lion store that has a card called the MVP card where you can get grocery items at a discount price if you are a MVP member. Then each time I shop at Food Lion and use my MVP card, a portion of my total grocery purchase will be donated to my school. It's that simple! Hey, we all have to eat, so why not benefit your school in the process, since it is so effortless! To see if there is a Food Lion in your area, visit the Food Lion website. If there isn't then check with your local grocery stores -- I'm sure at least one of them has a similar fund raising program.5. Restaurant Benefit Night -- This is an idea that I think is great! Local restaurants (such as Fuddruckers, Chick-Fil-A and CiCi's Pizza to name a few) have a benefit night that provides funding to the school or organization of your choice. It works like this -- you go to the restaurant and when you order your food, tell them the organization that you would like them to fund. The restaurant then takes a percentage of your meal total and donates it to the school or organization of your choice for funding. Many restaurants have these types of fund raising programs, so next time you go, inquire about it and enjoy your food even more, knowing your are funding your school!6. Department Store Contributions -- Did you know that you can provide school funding every time you use your department store card? For instance, Target offers a school fundraising program where for every purchase you make on their Target Visa or Red Card, they will donate a percentage to the school of your choice. All you have to do is link your card to the school of your choice through the Target website and they'll send the money to your school. Again, it's just that simple!The paragraphs above list just a few easy and effortless school fund raisers and fund raising ideas. They don't require selling of candy bars, candles or pizzas (not that there's anything wrong with those fundraising ideas, but they require more effort), and they provide your school with funding year round, for buying items and things that you would normally buy anyway.Good luck with your school fund raisers and fund raising!

Direct Mail Response Rates Low? Eliminate These Mistakes
Are your direct mail response rates lower than you expect? Check your sales letter or direct mail package against this checklist to uncover the reasons for your poor response.

5 Tips to Grow Your Business Globally
Entering into Global markets is a great way to organically grow your business. However, many small to mid sized businesses have a hard time, if they even venture to go global at all, entering global markets. Here are 5 tips for businesses looking to expand their business by entering global markets:

Make Your Marketing Solve a Problem
You may be engaged in a Internet marketing or Internetmarketing activities that are working against you. Or, at the very least, are making sales more difficult. It's a common problem - Internet marketing or Internetmarketing that focuses on what your company can DO and what your company KNOWS and how much experience you HAVE.

Small Business Pricing: Setting A Price For Your Product / Service
The importance of pricing can not be underestimated as incorrect pricing can often result in the failure of a business. New businesses often make the mistake of either charging too little or too much for their product or service. So to help you avoid making one of these mistakes, the following section will outline some of the guiding principles of price determination. Price is a key part of Internet marketing or Internetmarketing. Setting prices is called pricing.

Why Insight and Flexibility is More Important than Perseverance in Marketing
Marketing successfully requires not only insight into how a product or service can be successfully marketed but also flexibility into the Internet marketing or Internetmarketing of a product or service.

Catalogs are Selling Machines
If you've got a mailbox, you're no doubt aware of the popularity of catalogs. People love to look through catalogs, and more important, they love to buy from catalogs. But mailing catalogs can be expensive. You've got to send a lot of them out, and many of them are going to non-productive destinations-- in other words, most mailings don't just go to sure-fire customers. On the other hand, there are lots of ways to get these powerful sales tools in front of all kinds of motivated, eager customers who want what you've got and are ready to slap some cash in your hand to get it. Catalog Distribution means exactly what it says: getting your catalogs out where they can generate orders. It isn't complicated; in fact, it's incredibly simple.

What Does Your Logo Color Say About Your Business?
And not only your logo, but also your website, your brochure, your business cards and any of your Internet marketing or Internetmarketing materials for that matter.

Time for A Marketing Tune-up
If you have been in business any length of time, I can assure you that habits, not conscious thought, are guiding your Internet marketing or Internetmarketing actions. Many business people are great optimists, or they probably wouldn't have gotten into the game to begin with. They keep doing everything they've ever done in the hope that one day it will produce results. STOP! It's time to get the brain back in the game!

Reasons Why People Usually Dont Buy Again
There are many psychological reasons why people will buyfrom the first time and why they do not buy from you again.There are books on many of these reasons. Many of thesereasons are totally out of your control.

51 Ways to Say Thank-you in a Fundraising Letter for a Non-for-Profit (Includes Examples & Samples)
One of the hardest jobs in fundraising is crafting original thank-you letters. You want to be thankful. But you also want to be fiscally responsible. You cannot afford to write a unique thank-you letter for each of the thousands of donations you receive each year. Here are some ideas for keeping your appreciation original.

Market Your Identity
One of the most critical but overlooked parts of business success is using your identity. If you want to build a successful business you have to strike the word image from your vocabulary right from the start. Webster's Dictionary defines image as an imitation or representation of a person or thing. On the other hand, identity is defined as, the condition or fact of being the same in all qualities.

Why Most Marketing Videos Dont Work
Every now and then I will meet someone who has commissioned a Internet marketing or Internetmarketing video that did not work for their company. It is a sad state of affairs and it is avoidable.

Effective Tips For Telemarketers
I had a telemarketer call me recently. Here's a rough transcript of the conversation.