| One way to achieve entrepreneurial success is | | | | 6. No market research |
| to NOT make the following marketing mistakes: | | | | |
| | | | Many successful entrepreneurs rely on their |
| 1. Trying to sell everything to everybody | | | | "gut" and experience to make strategic |
| | | | decisions. That may be a good compass, but |
| Trying to do everything is a prescription for | | | | take the time to verify your assumptions with |
| a marketing disaster. Being the best requires | | | | market research; sometimes your instincts are |
| commitment and focus. Pick that one thing and | | | | wrong. |
| pass on the rest. | | | | |
| | | | 7. Not giving things time to succeed |
| 2. Cost-based pricing | | | | |
| | | | Building a brand and selling customers takes |
| Most small firms don't have a good handle on | | | | time and money. Set conservative goals and |
| cost accounting and they invariably | | | | make sure you have funds available to promote |
| underestimate their costs. If pricing is | | | | new products; you might get lucky, but |
| cost-based, the end result is often under | | | | generally success is hard earned. |
| priced products. Instead, price on perceived | | | | |
| value. This is pricing which reflects the | | | | 8. Lousy websites |
| potential savings, the highest satisfaction | | | | |
| level, or the maximum use that a client will | | | | Dead links, out-of-date content, and old web |
| receive from the purchase and the use of the | | | | designs will drive your customers away. |
| product or service. | | | | Websites need to be refreshed constantly with |
| | | | new rich content and you need to maintain |
| 3. Inconsistent branding | | | | your site's optimization for the major search |
| | | | engines. This is a requirement of doing |
| Your business cards say one thing, your | | | | business in virtually all industries today. |
| website say something else, and your | | | | |
| brochures tell yet another story. Branding is | | | | 9. Out of date customer lists |
| a promise of value which requires | | | | |
| consistency. Tell one story only. | | | | Your current customers are in the accounting |
| | | | system, your holiday card list is in Excel, |
| 4. Over reliance on one big customer | | | | your prospects are in Outlook and your former |
| | | | customers are in the file cabinet. Your |
| Many small companies become hostage to one | | | | customer list should be treated like a |
| large customer. When that customer goes away, | | | | treasure chest. Keep this list meticulously |
| your firm is toast. How big is too big? I | | | | updated in one file and back it up. Let me |
| suggest no bigger than 25% of annual sales. | | | | repeat: back it up. |
| Take care of this important customer, but | | | | |
| focus your marketing dollars on finding some | | | | 10. Not updating your marketing plan- Even |
| other customers. Do it now. | | | | good marketing plans need to be updated. |
| | | | Things are changing quickly. The promise of |
| 5. Selling product and features | | | | internet advertising is finally coming true. |
| | | | The yellow pages are dead. We have entered an |
| People don't buy products and features. They | | | | era of personalization. One size does not fit |
| buy solutions to their problems. It is not | | | | all anymore. Review your plan quarterly and |
| about you. It is all about them. | | | | update annually. |
| | | | |