While that was an amazing movie, and I usually love the concept of building first in your mind, as a marketer I have to warn you that it may bite you in the butt!

I was recently talking to one of my mastermind buddies, Natasha Allrich, about this very concept.  We were sharing the programs we were providing, and I told her about one I had done earlier in the year that truthfully, didn’t get the results I wanted.

Natasha asked one powerful question….

“Did you ask your market what THEY wanted, or did you just create a program based on what YOU wanted?”

OK, she busted me!  That is exactly where I went wrong.  I loved my concept, wrote killer copy, threw in loads of value….but never did the research to see if the offering and price point were what my fun lovin’ business owner types would want.

Have you ever made this mistake?  More than likely, yes.  We all do.

The secret is to go to your ideal clients and have them tell you what they would pay for.

I want to give you some tips on how to survey your audience.

1.  Online Survey – I use www.SurveyMonkey.com – Super easy and very low tech!  Make it short, but ask a few questions about price, content, and how to best deliver the program.  Example, would they like a day time workshop live or an evening virtual teleseminar?

2.  Pick up the darn phone – Calling your old (and ideal) clients about what they would want is a great strategy.  You have to stay away from folks who aren’t your market.  Example, your brother the plumber doesn’t get to tell you that you are charging too much….unless you are serving plumbers, that is!

3.  The power of social media – using Twitter or LinkedIn polls to get answers is another effective way.  You are getting access to way more people that you probably have in your neighborhood, so this is a no cost and easy way to gain some valuable information.

4.  Offer an incentive – you can add something to your newsletter or survey that if folks take a few minutes of their time, you will gift them with xyz.  It could be a free report, a $25 off coupon, entered into a drawing for a session with you, etc.

5.  Make sure you keep it short – no one is going to answer 47 questions.  But if you can come up with 3-5 questions that will get you the info you need, you are probably going to be able to get some good answers.

And finally…I’m gonna ask, because I’m not making the same mistake again!

Can I get your two cents?  I have a quick 3 question survey that I’d love you to answer to help me better design my 90 Day Marketing Makeover Program.  You can grab that here:

http://bit.ly/8gkwb

If you fill it out and email me telling me that you read this on the blog, I’ll enter your name into a drawing for a strategy session which is valued at $297 – cuz I REALLY appreciate you taking the time!

Now go out there and start asking your market what THEY want.

Blessings!

Marketing Mistakes #2 -Thinking You Have to Spend Tons of Money

If you have been following me awhile, you know I’m going to start with the thing between your ears!  Yep, your mindset.  If you feel confident in your products or service, then you have half the battle won.  So many times people don’t feel like they have enough, are enough, know enough, so the “I need better marketing materials” thought is usually a smoke screen to cover up these faulty beliefs.  Years ago, when I suffered from this very challenge, a wise coach told me, YOU ARE FULLY COOKED!  He meant that I had enough, right where I was, to start my business.  So my little pretties….if you have any trace of this going on, you gotta ‘flip the script’ as they say and just commit to taking the actions necessary to get out there.

But, what if it wasn’t as hard as you thought to get your name in front of the right prospects?  Read below to discover some marketing mistakes that you can correct instantly for better results.  Check yourself to see if you are making these mistakes -

I can’t move forward unless I have the perfect website -I can’t tell you how many times people have said that they can’t really get any clients until they have a killer website.  I knew of someone who spent $5,000 on a site, cards, brochures, and all the bells and whistles and had never got a client!  She loved the creative design process, but was stuck in fear about really getting out there to promote the work she did. The moula that she put into that puppy would have been much better spent had she pounded the pavement or used that three grand to invest in some marketing coaching!

If you do get a site, don’t do all the fancy stuff with moving parts   If you need a site, you can do it a couple of different way.  You can go to www.GoDaddy.com and get your domain name there, as well as their WebSite Tonight.  You can do your own 5 page site (using their templates) for about very cheap.

And maybe you don’t even need a site at all.  If you want something that is up in cyberland with your info, a website is good.  Want something you can change content regularly with ease?

TRY BLOGGING!  It looks just like a website, and you can add content to it daily.  You can do it yourself for free just by going to www.wordpress.com.  It’s super easy, but I do suggest that you get a blogging expert to help you customize it or add in the applications.  I use Dave Barnhart of www.BusinessBloggingPros.com.

But I need a high quality, fancy brochure -You are a small business owner!  Sure, in corporate America the big marketing campaign is a must, but if you are waiting to launch your product/service because you don’t have tons of $$ to spend, you are in for treat, dear reader!  Here are some ideas to get you started….

Get it out of your head that if you don’t have the 30 page brochure like BMW does, or the website that does everything except your laundry.

Need cards, flyers or brochures – Just google online printing and you’ll find a ton of resources.

Need graphic design?  Go to www.crowdspring.com.  It’s a very cool space where you name your price, post your project, and designers will bid on it.  You keep it if you like it, and get a chance to see everyone’s work.

Following up will cost me way too much . Many times business owners make the mistake of always trying to get new prospects in their funnel, but completely ignore the ones they have!  This is probably the biggest mistake and the easiest to correct.  In addition to the email/auto-responder campaign that you should have, there are a couple of other ways to stay ‘top of mind.’

Send out Cards.  This is the easiest way to market yourself by doing killer follow up.  For less than a buck you can go online, pick a card, type in the address you want it to go to, create whatever you want it to say, and hit the send button.  The part I love it that you can send one card, or create a campaign to send tons of cards…all in a few minutes.  The cards are real cards, not just the e-cards.  You can use my link to check it out at www.sendoutcards.com/5407.

Voice Broadcast – I love this one!  Having just lived through the elections in November, you probably notice that you were getting tons of calls from your candidates.  Heck, Bill Clinton even called me!  Oh, he called you too?  Does that mean I’m not special to our ex-prez?  What it means is that Bill and all the others got a list of phone numbers, had it loaded in, and recorded a message to be broadcast.  It’s so easy.  I use www.voiceshot.com and it cost twelve cents a call.  I have used it to announce upcoming events, or to thank folks for coming.  If you have something you are marketing, do consider doing a voice broadcast because it’s different from email, and people will remember it.

So what did we learn today, class?  That Bill Clinton didn’t make 2 million personal calls?  Yes, that and the fact that it’s much easier than you think to get out there and market your business!  Pick one or two of the suggestions and let me know how you are doing with them!

Stay in action, and focus on the good!