Posts Tagged ‘Niche’
What now? SAME AS IT EVER WAS!
The Talking Heads wrote a song, “Once in a Lifetime” that uses the phrase…same as it ever was! What does that have to do with marketing in today’s difficult economic times? Everything! Your marketing initiatives should be the “same as it ever was!” What is… “same as it ever was?”
- NICHE — Narrow your focus, be an expert, don’t be all things to all people!
- CROSS-SELL — Expand and package your solutions to your existing clients and customers whom already “know, like, and trust you!”
- CONSISTENT — One must “receive a message” at least 6 times before “it sticks!” Keep “raining messages” on your target! Don’t give up…don’t ever give up! (my thanks to Winston Churchill)
ARIZONA GOLF & MARKETING?
I recently had the good fortune of a “quick trip” to Arizona for three days of golf! What fantastic weather and fantastic friendship and fantastic golf! Of course, not my playing, but the golf courses which are some of my favorites.
I have been making annual “treks” to Arizona for over a decade now and it is interesting to witness “firsthand” the change in the marketing of golf there. For years, like much of the national economy, it was booming and all one needed to do was to design and build a golf course, and “they would show!”
Given the latest round of economic “stuff,” the courses are now emphasizing service and packaging of services more than ever! For example, one course, offered a substantial discount off of a golf cap or golf shirt as part of the greens fees. Never seen that before! Another included lunch as part of the greens fees. Never seen that before either! And..another included a bucket of range balls, free cart, and free lunch! Never seen that before, either!
My, how the times have changed! The prices have not necessarily changed, but “these add-ons” enhance the value of the package…I highly recommend that for small business owners…don’t necessarily raise the price, but “expand the package!” I love working with Small Business Owners in the Chicago area to assist them with “packaging their services” as a part of their Small Business Marketing System!
Specialization abounds in technology and…marketing!
I had the opportunity to present the “Seven Steps to Small Business Marketing Success” to the Hinsdale Area Networking Group yesterday! WOW! What a dynamic group! They had over 30 business owners in attendance! Fantastic! A very vibrant, dynamic group with fantastic questions and some great success stories.
As each member introduced his or herself, Thomas Piette, Midco Systems, introduced himself as a TELECOM SPECIALIST with some emphasis on security, and his guest, as a SECURITY SPECIALIST with less emphasis on Telecom…Great intro, Tom…like duct tape, that “stuck” for me and assisted me in clearly differentiating “what you do” and “what he does!”
Tom is pictured with me receiving a copy of the Duct Tape Marketing Book! Congrats, Tom! AND…thanks again to the group for affording me the opportunity to discuss the value of building small business marketing systems for their businesses!
Seth Godin, Specialization, Small Business Marketing
Seth Godin appeared recently on an interview with John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing, and offered, as usual, some very thought provoking ideas and “calls to actions” for Small Business Owners!
At one point he said – “If people aren’t talking about you, there’s a reason. You’re boring – your products are boring, your services are boring, your message is boring, your marketing is boring . . .”
To quote John, “You get the point. And he’s right. There’s no excuse for being unremarkable – the bar is so dang low. Because most of your competition is even more boring.”
Seth, also, recommends HYPERSPECIALIZATION and BEING THE OVERWHELMINGLY OBVIOUS CHOICE!!!
If you’d like to listen to the entire Podcast, the link follows…great stuff by one of the great business minds of our time!
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2009/01/14/seth-godin-thinks-youre-boring/
If you no longer want to be boring, please “chat” with us as we are working with Chicagoland Small Business Owners to build marketing systems that work and that differentiate!
NFL Football Playoffs and Small Business Marketing
Now…how do we tie those together? As I watched with intrigue this past weekend the NFL Playoffs, I thought about how the best teams “stick to their knitting” or put differently, they “do what they do best!” Quite an upset, with the Arizona Cardinals defeating the Carolina Panthers…how and why? To me, one of the simplest of reasons is they threw the football to their major strength–Larry Fitzgerald–who is showing himself to the rest of the NFL fandom as one of the best, if not, THE BEST receiver in the NFL! As a matter of fact, his first “big catch” of the game was almost a duplicate of the previous playoff game…ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE GRAB!!!
What’s the point?
Do what you do best and continue to do what you do best! GOT IT? Don’t veer off course and do something that is “not you or your business!”
This is what “we teach/coach” all of our small business owners in building a marketing system for their Chicagoland business! GO LARRY FITZGERALD!!!