Marketing problems ...Marketing has changed part 2.

In the last article I hopefully sent the fear of God into your hearts by talking truthfully about how businesses predictably fail by using marketing techniques, advice that no longer serve your business in this faster than fast generation.

So here is what you can do right now to kick-start a whole new campaign.

Stop

Stop everything that’s being done right now.

Why? Because it isn’t working and if you keep on doing what you are doing right now you are going to lose cash, waste time, lose sales, lose your investment and eventually there is a possibility that your business might fold.

And stopping wont be a problem for the reason that nothing is working right now. Once you have stopped you now get time to …

Think about everything. I said ...

THINK

Now is the time to give your marketing and advertising some real thought. Stop it for a day or a week or even a month and think it through very carefully. Is your targeting correct? Are you engaging your audience in the correct places? Have you found out and mastered all the buzz words spoken by your targets? There are a lot of things to think through to get this right – think it over in full and then …

Take a moment

Yes go get a coffee, sit on a hillside, go fishing or ride out on your Harley for a day or so. Get out of your office and take a moment so you can look from the outside into your business rather than trying to see everything from the inside out. This will give you more clarity and a clean sheet mind to work from. Now you need to …

Analyze

That means start to give your marketing some serious thought here. Be honest … is it working, do you get the numbers, the leads or the results you not only want but you need to grow and expand your business into the coming years? Simple analysis can bring up a lot of thoughts, can help you see problem but can also surface solutions for you. Be honest and truthful and once you have done that you can park your Harley and …

Regroup

Regroup with your team but I will offer you this warning. Those that have already been working on your campaigns will not be the ones to fix what they have already failed with. Think about it – it makes no sense and they will probably fight any changes because your new changes will feel as if you are attacking their skillsets directly. Yet the reality is they have been given a chance and it simply isn’t working. Next you need to think about your …

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Big picture

The big picture is the direction, the profits, and the everything you see and want for your business. The numbers year-on-year and results do you know them? If you don’t know where you are heading your marketing and advertising will reflect that. Work it all out, write it down and then next …

• Remove anything not working
• Remove adverts that don’t work
• Remove webpages that don’t work
• Remove people that don’t deliver
• Remove brochures that don’t work

How do you know they do or don’t work? Make sure you test and measure everything. That is the only way you will and can know what is and isn’t working.

That goes for your team also. Measure and track what they do and if they fail to deliver … they have to go otherwise your business will go and they will simply move on. You also must …

Removed fixed thinking

There are and will be people in your company that have big thoughts on marketing and advertising that are NOT experts. They should be ignored when it comes to an area as specialized as this. In my experience their thinking will be very fixed based on the fact that it could be their business so they think they know best yet the results speak for themselves and are clearly not for the best.

Here are a few more things you must give serious thought to…

Be open to ideas

New ideas, different ideas and ideas that might challenge your concepts of what you have been doing for sometime now with no results.

Don’t ask those that have already failed to deliver to now deliver. They will simply repeat the same mistakes but dressed in new clothes. These ones are great at blaming others for their bad decisions. Find them and throw them out the building.

Just fire them or ask them to make coffee while you solve this with your new team.

Hire an expert thinker

Don’t try and pretend you are an expert at marketing – you’re clearly not as I think deep down you know. A true expert will not cost you anything, they should be seen as an investment. Listen to them closely as long as they have a long track record that is proven.

Release new minds from inside

You might have a few geniuses around the office that are waiting to be unleashed. Now is your chance to let them out of their cages so they can shine. Get smart as there are some very cool ways to get these guys shining like the sun for you.

Create a workspace for minds and pens

If the usual meetings don’t work well don’t do the usual meetings. Shake things up and add or take from the mix. Gets smart and break the routine.

Work out ROI for your new marketing investment

Marketing isn’t a cost and if it is this isn’t marketing. Get a genius like myself to create something new. If you cannot afford a genius like myself get smart and find someone that is a fit for your business. If it is not at least ten times higher than you invest – screw it don’t do it.

That’s it for now.

If you need a thinker that can not only shake things up for you but deliver powerful measurable results you of course know where I am.

Your orange genius

Alan Forrest Smith

Part 1 of this article is here

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