The Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action
Plan Marketing
and Robert Middleton
-
Ten Dumb Marketing Mistakes -
Are
you doing dumb things in your marketing?
Yes, you're doing at least ten of them. Let me
count the ways.
We
all make mistakes.
And
in marketing, most of us make some really dumb
mistakes. They wouldn't be so dumb, if we
didn't make them over and over and over! Even
though they defy common sense and don't get us the
results we want, we keep making them.
Why?
Because doing dumb things is comfortable. And
doing smart things is often uncomfortable. So the
material in this eZine just may offend you. After
all, we're also very good at justifying the dumb
things we do. There's always some excuse, some
plausible reason.
In
today's eZine I'm going to outline the "Ten Dumb
Mistakes" Independent Professionals tend to make
with their marketing. And then in the following
ten weeks I'm going to propose solutions and
approaches to correcting those mistakes.
Ready?
OK, here's my Ten Dumb Marketing
Mistakes:
1.
Being unprepared - Professionals prepare.
They know their stuff. They study long hours.
They get it right. They have a stake in the
outcome. And a big reason Independent
Professionals don't attract clients consistently
is that they fumble around with marketing much
like George Costanza from Seinfeld.
2.
Not investing - You spent hundreds, if not
thousands of hours and quite a few dollars to
master your profession, didn't you? To become a
competent marketer of your service also demands
an investment of time, energy and money. You
won't become a smart marketer overnight or by
accident. Stop complaining; you need to
commit.
3.
Undervaluing yourself - The value you can
provide to your clients is literally unlimited.
The difference you can make is unbounded. But
you'd never know it. A common mantra of
Independent Professionals is, "I can't charge
what I'm really worth." And it becomes a
self-fulfilling prophecy. True self-value =
long-term wealth.
4.
Not mastering networking - The most powerful
marketing strategy for Independent Professionals
is, and will always be, building networks of
relationships. If you don't master this, you
have no real chance of reaching your true
potential. Get out there!
5.
Avoiding writing - Successful Independent
Professionals write. It's the master skill of
marketing. If you can't organize your ideas on
paper, clearly and persuasively, how can you
expect prospects to understand how you can help
them?
6.
Avoiding speaking - Successful Independent
Professionals speak. It's the master skill of
selling. If you can speak in front of a group
confidently and persuasively, then selling will
not be a big hurdle for you. Don't master it and
selling will always feel hard.
7.
Not leveraging the Internet - You don't need
to be an "online business" to take advantage of
the Internet. A high quality web site, a regular
eZine and posting articles online, are all
relatively simple and inexpensive marketing
tools that give you amazing leverage.
8.
Not asking - People have so much concern
about offending someone or being rejected that
they simply avoid asking. That's dumb. You need
to ask. For time, for attention, for
interaction, for meetings, for the business.
Want it? Ask for it!
9.
Not implementing - If we implemented just a
fraction of what we already knew, we'd be more
successful than we could imagine. You need to
create intentions, action plans and timelines
and then set up systems of accountability to
make things happen.
10.
Not risking - Playing it safe all the time
may be the dumbest thing you can do. It makes
you weak, fearful and complacent. What's outside
of your comfortable little box? Success, joy,
aliveness. Swing out there and risk failing for
a change.
How
do you score yourself on the smart to dumb
marketing scale?
Assign
a number from one to ten for each of the above ten
dumb mistakes. A zero means you virtually never
make that mistake. A ten means you make it all the
time. Like in golf, a low score is good.
0
- 20
- You're a pretty smart marketer. Keep up the
good work.
21
- 40
- Not bad, but you still have some marketing
issues.
41
- 60
- You're losing marketing opportunities left and
right.
61
- 80
- Pretty dumb marketer. Sure you're cut out for
this?
81
- 100
- Hopelessly dumb marketer. Time for a new line
of work.
Stay
tuned to More Clients for the next ten weeks
and I'll share my prescriptions for transforming
yourself into a smart marketer. I'll give you one
action plan a week that will help move you
forward.
*
The
More Clients Bottom Line:
transforming
yourself from a dumb marketer to a smart marketer
is a matter of doing the things that will increase
your visibility, credibility and value to your
potential clients. Work on improving one area at a
time and you'll be amazed how easy it becomes to
attract more clients.
What's
the dumbest thing you're currently doing in your
marketing and business? (Remember, confession
is good for the soul!) Please share it with us on
the More Clients Blog at:
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
*
A
Cure for Dumb Marketing Mistakes
The
opposite of dumb is smart. You need to do more
smart things in your business. Preparing,
investing, networking, writing, speaking, asking,
implementing, risking, etc.
For
the past twenty two years, Action Plan Marketing
has been dedicated to helping you do just that.
But where do you start? I'd recommend these
programs in this order:
1.
The InfoGuru Marketing Manual - $69/$99
A complete system for attracting clients.
http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html
2.
The Relationship Pipeline Audio Program -
$29
A blueprint for networking and building business
relationships.
http://www.actionplan.com/fillpipeline.html
3.
The Value Pricing Audio Program - $29
A system for charging what you're really
worth
http://www.actionplan.com/valuepricing
4.
The Action Plan ToolKit - $49
A complete goal setting, planning and
accountability system.
http://www.actionplan.com/aptk.html
5.
The Web Site ToolKit - $49
A tutorial on building a client-attracting web
site.
http://www.actionplan.com/wstk.html
Until
next week, all the best,
Robert
Middleton
ACTION
PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More
Clients
www.actionplan.com
210
Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790
Contact
by email
©
2006 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You
are free to use material from the More Clients
eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include
complete attribution, including live web site link.
Please also notify me where the material will
appear. The attribution should read:
"By
Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please
visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com
for additional marketing articles and resources on
marketing for professional service
businesses."
|
