| I hear from many entrepreneurs that
marketing is a struggle. They just can't get enough clients to pay the bills, or they are
spending more money to get each client than the sale is worth. So many of their efforts
seem to fail. There must be an easier way, they tell me.
I think there is. But making the transition from the hard
way to the easy way can be pretty difficult in itself. That's because it requires the
toughest kind of change -- a change in thinking.
First of all, you must accept that there's nothing noble
about working too hard. Working too hard comes in many forms. You may be putting in too
many hours, or spending too much to get clients, or trying a dozen different marketing
strategies all at once, or simply sounding too desperate when asking for the business.
To leave struggle behind, you must be willing to give it
up. This may sound odd, because of course you don't LIKE struggling. But old habits die
hard. If you're used to throwing more effort at problems, it's often challenging to
instead stop, analyze what's not working, and ask if there is a smarter answer.
If you find that clients don't want to pay what you're
asking, instead of trying harder to convince those clients of your worth, look for
different clients who have more to spend. If the places you are networking don't seem to
connect you with enough prospects, instead of networking there more often, look for new
places to network.
You also have to give up magical thinking. No matter how
wonderful your workshop is, you won't get 20 people there just by mailing 200 flyers. You
can be the world's greatest consultant, but you can't expect to land a big contract just
by placing one phone call to three companies.
Business Marketing
Marketing, like much of business, is often a numbers game.
If you want to stop struggling, you have to do the math. The average rate of return for a
good direct mail piece is 1-2%. So to fill a 20-person workshop through direct mail alone,
you would need to mail to 1000-2000 people.
The average consultant can make one sale from every 30
contacts he makes in his target market. (One out of ten contacts results in a presentation
of some kind; one out of three presentations leads to an assignment. Ten times three
equals thirty.) If you want to get two assignments this quarter, you should be making 60
contacts.
To move from struggle-based marketing to effortless
marketing, you need to be able to trust. Trust that if you choose two or three solid
marketing strategies and employ them diligently, clients will result. If you panic and
keep changing your plan, or piling new activities on the plate, the result is more
struggle.
Trust that if you spend some time and money on an
attractive mailer and a targeted list with enough names on it, you will fill your
workshop. And trust enough to spend that time and money up front instead of struggling by
with an amateurish flyer and just asking your friends to spread it around.
Trust that building relationships really is the key to
getting in the door with corporate clients, and be willing to go to meetings, make calls,
and do lunch. If instead, you hide behind expensive directory ads, gate-fold color
brochures, and trade show displays, you are dooming yourself to struggle with a high price
tag.
Yes, there is work to be done if you want your marketing to
be successful, but you need to work smarter, not harder. There is money to be spent, but
you must spend it on the essentials first and save the bells and whistles for later. And
there is magic to be had, but it's the magic that comes from making a plan and working it,
instead of hoping that somehow you can beat the odds.
New Clients
The path out of struggle really boils down to this. How
many new clients do you need each month to earn a comfortable living? How many prospects
should be in your marketing pipeline to result in that number of clients? How much time
and money can you afford to spend to bring in each client? Now... which marketing
strategies will bring in the number of prospects you need within your available budget of
time and money?
If you're not sure, ask a successful colleague, read a
book, take a class, hire a consultant or coach. But once you think you have the right
answer, stick with it, no matter how tempting it is to buy an ad instead of making a call,
or try a new idea instead of finishing what you started, or rely on wishful thinking
instead of crunching some numbers.
To end the struggle, try letting the answer be easy. Ask
the people who have gone before you what worked for them, and then do what they did. |
