If you’ve been reading Branding & Marketing for some time, you know that I value the one step at a time philosophy. Slow and steady wins the race. By doing something, even a little something, every day, you’ll build a BIG result over time.
I believe that to be true with marketing. Using the marketing tools available and working it, that will bring awareness to your company, your products and services. The companies and consumers who want and need your products will find you when they’re ready to buy.
Feeling like you don’t have time for marketing. Or enough money for marketing. Or that marketing should become next years’ process focus. Well, that sets you up for failure… or at least a serious stall in forward motion.
I read something interesting this morning when I was researching the difference between success and failure. Why do some people succeed with a challenging, long-term goal and others fail or give up, even when the goal that is extremely important to them:
They assume a personal flaw or characteristic (weakness, incompetence, lack of will power, self-indulgence, etc.) is responsible for the problem. Often, this goes hand-in-hand with the assumption that, when they are in fact successful, it must be due to something external to them—luck, assistance, or force. In other words, they personalize failure and externalize success.
Not surprisingly, people who are usually successful tend to follow the opposite pattern: they externalize failure and internalize success.
While I think that this probably is true, I believe it is the one bite at a time… the constant forward motion of baby steps, doing something that takes to towards your goal, each and every day, that ultimately makes a difference. The big leaps will come, but it’s way you approach the “normal” day that ultimately makes the difference. Making small incremental changes and improvements over time will result in big success.
What small steps could you start to take with your marketing:
- Check the Google Analytic reports
- Review your website for broken links
- Find a networking meeting near you for new contacts
- Schedule lunch with a valuable contact
- Re-write 2 paragraphs in your bio to make it stronger
- Update your LinkedIn profile for your company
- Look back at this year’s goals and list your 1/2 year accomplishments to date
Marketing is providing the bread crumb trail for potential clients, customers, patients, students or members to find your business and complete the sale. If you don’t sent out the welcome mat and you’re trying to close sales, it’s like asking someone to marry you on the first blind date. (That sounds harsh!) Okay, it’s like trying to close the sale before you’ve developed any relationship at all.
You’ve got to eat the elephant one bite at a time.
So what step will you take tomorrow?
