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Tired of fighting for customers in the bargain basement?

Written by: Lei Wang

Article Overview: Imagine for a second… Your phone wouldn't stop ringing and your inbox are inundated with emails… You diary is filled with the names of people eager to answer your phone calls and hear your sales pitch… People are rushing to your door and begging you to take their money… Wouldn’t that make your life a hell lot easier and get you to sleep better at night? However, the sad reality is that many entrepreneurs are working 16 hours a day and 7 days a week just to make ends meet. They are frustrated by the fact they work an unreasonable amount of hours, yet don't seem to make the money they deserve. Does this sound familiar to you?

Tired of fighting for customers in the bargain basement?

Imagine for a second…

Your phone wouldn't stop ringing and your inbox are inundated with emails…

You diary is filled with the names of people eager to answer your phone calls and hear your sales pitch…

People are rushing to your door and begging you to take their money…

Wouldn’t that make your life a hell lot easier and get you to sleep better at night?

However, the sad reality is that many entrepreneurs are working 16 hours a day and 7 days a week just to make ends meet.

They are frustrated by the fact they work an unreasonable amount of hours, yet don't seem to make the money they deserve.

Does this sound familiar to you?

If you want to escape the cycle of doom and endless frustration, you got to learn how to market, and you need to learn the difference between marketing vs. buying advertising space.

Don’t just go through the mechanical motions of creating brochures and websites, buying advertising space in newspapers and magazines, paying for prime spots on radio and TV, and launching public relation campaigns to pursue publicity and raise public awareness.

Over the years I have helped hundreds of business owners struggling to promote themselves, and here’s the single most important piece of advice I can give you…

“Don’t just follow the herd and copy whatever your competitors are doing.”

There is a 90% chance that your competitors are really clueless. They have no idea whether their advertising campaigns are putting money in their pocket or taking money out of their pocket.

Here’s the second piece of advice I promise will save you a lot of money on wasted advertising…
Do not believe what the advertising industry tells you, that marketing is all about branding and image making. And the answer to your marketing problem is buying more advertising.

Marketing is about getting into the heart of what your customers really want, and offer compelling value for people attention. Once you get a firm grasp on the fundamental principle, you don’t need money to make money.

In fact you can advertise without spending a dime on advertising. The topic is outside the scope of this article but if you check out my bio section and sign up for my *free* online course, you will understand how the strategy works and where to get equivalent free ad placement.

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Article Tags: advertising campaigns, advertising marketing, better at night, business owners, creating brochures, doom, endless frustration, fundamental principle, grasp, herd, motions, phone calls, piece of advice, prime spots, public awareness, public relation, publicity, radio and tv, sad reality, sales pitch



Related Forum Posts
Re: Feb 01 Triple Crown Leaders - Sounds like fighting words!
Re: Are we defined by what we do for a living? - It's interesting, but telling people you're an entrepreneur usually has a negative stigma attached to it. i.e. people usually think it means you're unemployed and working out of your parents' basement. So a better question might be, who are we as individuals? Is that just determined by our unique personalities?
Re: When do you make someone a partner? - [quote="Kevin":i2xtlokm][quote="Alan Mater":i2xtlokm]Hi Kevin, Yes, being able to get along and tolerate them is very important. If you constantly fight and bicker and can't come to a conclusion when it comes to making important decisions, then the partnership will most likely not work out.[/quote:i2xtlokm] Well if you're always fighting with that employee, chances are you would have fired him/her long ago. However, people also tend to act differently when they're of a lower status as opposed to an equal. For instance, a small business owner may make a chef into a partner and love his personality... but then the change in power/status could reveal the chef's true colors (it's just like dating;)[/quote:i2xtlokm] Not necessarily. You can fight with someone, but still tolerate them. It depends on what the situation is and the reason for fighting. In a lot of cases, yes, they'd probably be fired, but not all. Fighting isn't always a bad thing, either. If you're fighting over decisions, that can be bad, but if it's over opinions, then maybe not. The employee could still be a good candidate for a potential partner, but you would have to weigh the good and bad of him/her. I agree, though, that when someone gains more power and respect, they tend to show their true colors. You can have two extremes, one who shows more initiative and cares a lot more about the company after being made a partner, and one who slacks off and becomes less responsible than before. "With power comes great responsibility." A partner should make this their motto and stick to it, realizing that what they do now has an even bigger impact on the business.
Re: Are Economic Recessions Good for Franchising? - I am in the franchise lending business and I haven't really seen any decline in the amount of loans we do daily, if anything i have seen them increase. More and more people are turning to opening their own businesses. Feds lowered the rates in hopes to encourage people to go for it. Franchising is a good first time business owners choice, because the franchise helps you with training and ongoing support. having a name people recognize is going to help that busiensses sales. I think overall, most franchises are not going to suffer in these times. However, your business being a success is more dependent upon your location and competition, how well you run it, advertise it and what type of business you are in. Is it a business with a product or service that is in high demand in your location? Is there a lot of competition near you so you aren't continuously competing & fighting to get customers into your own business? If I could, I would open a franchise in my area. I can think of at least 10 franchises off the top of my head that would do fantastic where I am, because I don't see much competitin, if any at all for them. I know they would do well here because I know the area and what people would like to see here and what the neighborhood needs.
Re: Marketing to Wealthy Consumers - Hi Russell - lots of great ideas so far! I haven't seen talk about referrals yet though. It's the most powerful way to reach more wealthy consumers if you already have an established base. I'm assuming that your customers may be repeat clients but there is a long time period between purchases (they don't come every month for a new item). Have you tried any referral programs for existing customers or thought of a way to stay in touch with your customers on a regular basis so at least they keep your company top of mind?


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