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Ready, Fire, Aim May Not Work in the “New Economy”

Written by: Casey Dawes

Article Overview: Has the economy affected you? It might be how you are developing products and services and getting them to market. The old ways aren't working in the "new economy." This article gives you a way to be a successful entrepreneur right now.

Ready, Fire, Aim May Not Work in the “New Economy”

For the last five to 10 years, many entrepreneurs have been promoting and living by the idea of “Ready, Fire, Aim!” Using this strategy, a business owner invests more in rapid development. They create products, workshops and service offerings that may or may not work. They throw their entry into the marketplace, see what works, make adjustments and try again and again until it works.

It’s been effective. Up until now, that is. There is a sense of desperation creeping into this strategy. If you are at all familiar with the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, you remember when George Bailey comes back into the town of Potterville after he’s “never been born.” Neon signs are flashing everywhere. “Buy Now!” they scream. “On Sale!” they bellow.

Lately, surfing the Internet has begun to feel that I’ve wandered into Potterville. Some people come out with new offerings every week. Daily, I get emails from people who are using different words to promote the same thing. Maybe it’s a hangover from the election. Or perhaps people are trying to mimic spammers’ success without quite crossing the line into spam. (I recently learned that spammers only need to make one sale per 12 million emails to make it worth their while.)

People are simply being more careful with their money. So it’s going to take increased exposure to get them to fork over their hard-earned dollars. Or, it’s going to take being a bit smarter about how you go about creating and marketing products and services.

There is some merit to Ready, Aim, Fire. Beginning with sales copy and marketing research before you actually invest time and money in creating a product or service makes sense. However, too many entrepreneurs skip the “marketing research” part and go straight to sales copy. In the new economy, that is going to cost you money and time – probably more money and time than you can afford.

While we don’t want to go back to the error of “analysis paralysis,” when nothing ever got put out to market because firms spent all their time analyzing the viability of the product or service, we need to do something different. Here’s the approach that I suggest.

First, talk to your current and past customers, particularly the ones you treasure. (You know those – the ones who pay on time, love everything you do and constantly send you referrals.) What do they want? Notice the emphasis on “want” and not “need.” You may already know what they need, but you will have to slip it in with what they want. We are still children at heart, wanting a “spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down.”

Second, do some market research. What are your competitors doing? What is working for them? What do the marketing pundits have to say about the market for your goods and services right now? What do the experts in your field have to say? Take the lead from Mr. Obama who sat down with financial advisors from Warren Buffet to Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google to educate himself before he made any financial changes.

Third, talk to potential customers in your target market. (If you don’t know what your target market is, or if you think your target market is “everyone” you need to do some work there, first.) What do they think that they want? What are they willing to spend? What do they need to know to make the decision to spend? What value do they need in return?

When you have completed your research, you will have a good idea of what the market thinks they need. The last step is to marry the market’s wants and needs with your company’s strategic objectives. And this is very important.

If you create a product or service that dilutes your main objective, you are wasting your time and money. If you own a hair salon and you start selling auto parts because that’s what your customer wants, you will confuse your customer. They will stop coming to your salon because they are afraid that you will put auto grease in their hair!

Now, many entrepreneurs take side trips that aren’t quite as dramatic as that, but they take them all the same. The executive coach who suddenly takes on ADHD children can confuse her message, even though she might be skilled with ADHD children and it is her passion. The bookkeeper who starts selling flowers on the side might find that she can’t devote her energy to either branch of her business satisfactorily.

So, you have an idea for a product or service that your target market and the “experts” believe will sell. It’s aligned with your company’s strategic objectives. Great! Now, you can go write that copy.

And when you have copy that “sells,” you can get to the actual work of creating your product or service.

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Article Tags: 10 years, analysis paralysis, business owner, crossing the line, desperation, earned dollars, george bailey, hangover, marketing products, marketing research, marketplace, neon signs, new economy, potterville, rapid development, ready aim fire, ready fire aim, service offerings, time and money, wonderful life



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