Take My Commitment (to Your Biz) Quiz!
Starting and managing a successful small business takes time, energy, money and a HUGE commitment. But the payoff can also be HUGE, in terms of personal accomplishment, satisfaction, happiness, and M0NEY! So just how committed are you? Here's 10 questions to help you find out: (1) Have you taken the time to create a business plan? A business plan ensures you have a well-thought-out plan for your business. It doesn't have to be a big, formal document. But it should outline your budget, your goals, and how you plan to achieve those goals. This way you have focus. (2) Have you taken the time to create a marketing plan? If you don't have a marketing plan chances are you'll spend more money trying to get clients AND you'll achieve fewer results. Taking the time to create a marketing plan, even if it's only a one-page document, will enable you to be laser-focused so you'll get better results. The 10stepmarketing System makes it easy to create one plan that serves as BOTH your business and marketing plans. To learn more visit www.10stepmarketing.com. (3) Have you committed enough financial resources to operate and market your business for at least one year? You have to invest in your business if you want it to succeed. It doesn't have to be a big sum of money, but it's got to be enough to accomplish the goals you've set in your business and marketing plans. (4) Are you willing to invest in yourself? To grow yourself and your business you must always be learning. Take seminars. Buy books and CDs. As one of my teachers Brian Tracy says, turn your car into a "University on Wheels." Education to help you grow your business is a business expense and is tax deductible. Let Uncle Sam finance your growth! (5) Are you willing to spend time to learn how to better operate and market your business? If you don't know everything you need to know to successfully operate and market your business (and who does?!?) commit the TIME to learn. Not only should you be willing to invest money in courses, books, CDs, coaches or whatever it takes, you have to be willing to spend the TIME. (6) Do you seek advice from those are already successfully doing what you're trying to do? Have you identified other businesses or individuals who have already accomplished what you're trying to accomplish? If not, find them. Learn as much as you can about their businesses. Model them. Get advice from them. I just paid a big chunk-of-change for a one-hour consultation with someone who has successfully done what I want to do. Was it worth the money to get her advice and recommendations? You bet! It's definitely faster and easier than trying to figure it out on my own. (7) Do you have a team? If you're still trying to do everything on your own, you should ask yourself how serious you are about building a business. For years, I worked alone. But I now realize I was making a living not building a business. If you're serious about building a business, get the proper team in place to ensure your success. You should be spending your time doing what you do best, and find others to help you with everything else. (8) Have you created systems in your business? All successful businesses have systems in place that allow routine activities to be repeated over and over again, to ensure the same results. This also ensures your business does not rely solely on you for its success. (9) Do you track everything you do? The only way to truly know if what you're doing is working, is to track. While it takes a bit more time and planning upfront, it can definitely save you time and money in the long run. Every time you make a change in how you run your business, track it so you know if that change is making your business more successful, or not. Track every marketing activity so you know what's bringing you business and what's not. (10) Are you willing to take a good, hard look at what you're doing, and make changes if it's not working? Sometimes we have so much time, money or energy invested in doing something a certain way we have a hard time changing our approach if it isn't producing success. That would be admitting failure, right? WRONG! It would be a failure to NOT make a change! Being in business is a learning experience and one that requires constant fine-tuning. Try this formula: Plan, take action, evaluate, fine-tune. And repeat as often as necessary until you find what works for you. So, how'd you do? Don't worry if you didn't pass my commitment quiz. Your business is a work-in-progress. Your goal should be to work toward having all 10 of these pieces in place. If you do, your business will have a much greater chance of success AND you'll be a whole lot happier! (C) Copyright 2005 Debbie LaChusa 20-year marketing veteran Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to help small business owners and solo-preneurs successfully market their business, themselves without spending a fortune on marketing. To learn more about this simple, step-by-step program and to sign up for her FREE audio class and FREE weekly ezine featuring how-to articles, tips and advice, visit http://www.10stepmarketing.com
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Fails to provide the information directory users want Information trumps images and expensive extras, like color. Readers are looking for specific answers. Use your ad space delivering them. Words provide persuasion's heavy lifting. If your message applies equally to the other ads around yours, you haven't sharpened it enough. Keep honing the copy until it embodies why people prefer YOU.
Fades into background - doesn't get noticed While larger ads can be overlooked, smaller ads have to work harder for the same shot at being noticed. Overlooked ads cost just as much as chosen ones. The solution isn't about changing the size, but focusing the words to match what readers want to know. It comes down to saying something unique and relevant to them.
Treats the business name or logo like a benefit It isn't. That's probably the least relevant information, as far as directory users are concerned. Yellow Pages aren't the way to build name recognition. But if you've already developed name recognition in other ways, you have a major chance of getting called.
Inconvenient business location Half of all users scan for location before actually reading the ads' information. They only pay attention to businesses that are convenient (within driving distance) and easy to find. (That distance varies depending on the product or service.) So make sure your location is prominent and findable (maybe a map). Or compensate for an undesirable location with house calls or free delivery.
Expects more than an ad could possibly deliver This problem isn't about the ad, but the advertiser's frame of mind. There's too much hype and biased statistics about what the directory can deliver. New businesses, especially, have unrealistic expectations. The longer a business is in operation, the less impact their listing has upon drawing new business.
Treats the Yellow Pages like a stand-alone marketing method It works best for getting new customers, to capture the "undecideds." But relying on mostly new business is an inefficient way to operate. An enterprise also needs repeat customers and referrals to balance out the high financial and effort costs necessary to keep attracting new ones. Therefore, a business needs a variety of strategies to keep, as well as find, buyers.
Trusts ad size and placement to do the work Industry statistics show that larger ads and those toward the front of the category get more calls. But that over simplifies what makes people choose a particular ad. If an ad doesn't fit the reader's preferences or match what they're looking for, it will be passed by (whatever its size).
Looks like the rest Too bad if your ad doesn't capture the eye in the two seconds it passed by - then landed somewhere else. That's all the attention most ads get. Look-alike ads were probably done for free by directory employees. They follow standardized guidelines and templates without much variation. And they don't have a clue about what's special about your operation. That's not the best way to go.
Fails to track the calls so you know why people call No getting around it, if you don't keep track of customers you can't tell how they find you. Or what's working (or not). Logging the source of new business shows how much credit to give to the Yellow Pages (or other marketing efforts).
Callers can't get information they want That ad did its job fine. But the customer still got away because the call wasn't answered or desired information wasn't forthcoming. Fielding calls effectively is crucial because unsatisfied callers just call the next ad. Develop a strategy that covers all your bases An attention-grabbing Yellow Page ad doesn't just happen. The business needs to back it up with additional promotion to get more than their share of calls. But when the directory works together with other marketing effort, they all do better.
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Comment by Gary Chaison