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Patience for Entrepreneurs

Written by: Bonnie Harris

Article Overview: Over the years, I have witnessed small business owners make one of the most harmful mistakes of all; they do not have adequate patience when it comes to their marketing efforts. This lack of patience can be detrimental to any professional, particularly small business owners. Oftentimes, a client tries a new marketing tactic, and when it does not produce the desired results within the client’s desired time frame, they immediately reach the conclusion, “Well, that method does not work.” As a small business owner, do you have the patience you need for the marketing tactics you are employing? This article will help you determine if you are an impatient entrepreneur.

Patience for Entrepreneurs

It’s summer and so for that reason I’ll break from my insistence on pragmatic advice and write on a topic you might consider fluff. Yet it’s the biggest mistake I see small business owners make, including me. We have no patience. I think that it’s a given that a requirement for being an entrepreneur is to have a low grade case of ADD, or in my case, ADHD with an emphasis on the H. And in marketing, that will kill you.

I can’t tell you how many times a client tries something and when there are no immediate results says “Well that doesn’t work.” It’s like lifting weights one day and expecting that tricep cut to develop overnight. I’m not suggesting that we all go out and spend a bajillion dollars on advertising during American Idol. But I do think that in order for your PR and marketing tactics to work you have to learn to wait a bit. Here are a few tips to use to figure out if you’re too impatient.

1. Are you measuring your campaign results by the number of orders you’re getting off each initiative? In a word, DON’T. Look at your website hits instead, or the traffic in your store. What’s the first step toward buying your product or service? Do they request a brochure? Do they visit the website? Measure by those “first steps” in the short term.

2. Are you changing your marketing strategy on a weekly or monthly basis? WRONG. You had better have confidence in your strategy (or your consultant) from the start. Nothing works if you don’t believe in it 100% from the beginning. Switching around what you’re doing on a constant basis and you’ll end up running circles.

3. Are you relying on only one outreach method? It may work now, but it will stop working eventually. Or you’ll end up trying one thing after another. BLEND your messaging channels. If you’re doing radio, connect it to an online promotion as well. Trying guerilla marketing? Make sure you’ve got some PR working in conjunction with those “on the ground” techniques.

Particularly in the online world, patience is the key to success. Jay Conrad Levinson, the founder of Guerilla Marketing, believes that patience is the most important characteristic of successful entrepreneurs. Be confident in your approach. Measure it wisely. And then, like that old farmer in the field, be patient and watch the seeds of your marketing work grow.

About the Author:

Bonnie Harris is the president of Wax Marketing, a marketing and PR agency for small business. She also operates waxcoach.com, a DIY marketing and PR site for entrepreneurs. Bonnie can be reached at bharris@waxmarketing.com.

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Article Tags: guerilla marketing, small business marketing



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