How To Gain Confidence in your Marketing
How To Gain Confidence in your Marketing
On that fateful day, I drove to the post office and triumphantly mailed off 15 press releases. Fully expecting a cavalcade of phone calls, I charged down to my office the following morning. Nothing. In fact, for the next thirty days there was nothing. Nada. Zip.
At this point I had a talk with myself. I said "Jay, you can either believe this was a waste of time and nothing will come from it, or you can truly believe that something good will happen…it's your choice". Being an eternal optimist, I chose the latter.
The very next day I was reading a business journal on the treadmill and noticed a profile article on a local businessman. What caught my eye though was that the writer's name, listed at the end of the article, was not one I had sent a packet to earlier that month. It was a new name. So the following day, I sent off a packet to this writer and, long story short, ended up being featured in the paper 2 weeks later.
Then, the president of a billion-dollar travel company saw the story and hired me to develop a marketing plan for one division. Nine years later, that client is still our largest client. And to think, none of this would have ever happened if I'd allowed my self-confidence to fade.
The moral here is that you must believe to succeed. But are there other methods of building confidence into your marketing? Sure, and here are just a few:
Who's been down this road?
I'm always a little surprised at the number of business owners who don't seek out others' opinions. To me, these people-I call them gray hairs-have already been down the road you're approaching. They have boatloads of expertise and inspiration that will help you gain confidence.
Before launching into a new campaign, whether it's developing a marketing plan, building a website, or just redoing your store sign, ask yourself "Who do I know that's done this before?" Then, seek them out. Chances are, they'll be glad to help.
Be a graduate student of your audience
One of our clients sells educational games to schools. When I asked him where he drew confidence from, he answered "I'm most confident when I know my target audience inside and out. If I can paint a detailed picture-down to what she's feeling, or even what car she drives-that's when I'm most confident."
So, commit to really knowing your target audience. Ask them questions like "What do you look for in a product/service like mine?" After doing this with enough prospects, I suspect you'll no longer feel like you're selling something, but instead like you're helping solve problems.
Success breeds confidence
It seems so obvious, but it bears repeating. The more you practice something, the better you get. So, think of your marketing effort as one big laboratory. Some marketing experiments will succeed, while others will fail. But from all of them, you'll gain valuable knowledge that improves your success rate. And as your success rate jumps, so will your confidence.
'Fess up…
How many of you cooked the perfect casserole, your very first time? Were you an instant Fred Astaire the first time you hit the boards? Who out there belted a home run, your first at-bat? Marketing, like anything else in life, takes practice. But diligent practice, with the right attitude, will bring you success and confidence you've never dreamed of.
How To Gain Confidence in your Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Jay Lipe's Website.
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When I started my marketing firm in 1994, I decided to send out a press release to the local media. Over the next 2 weeks, I wrote and rewrote this release until I was sure it would get picked up in the local papers. By this stage, my inner voice was chanting "This will work! This will work!"
On that fateful day, I drove to the post office and triumphantly mailed off 15 press releases. Fully expecting a cavalcade of phone calls, I charged down to my office the following morning. Nothing. In fact, for the next thirty days there was nothing. Nada. Zip.
At this point I had a talk with myself. I said "Jay, you can either believe this was a waste of time and nothing will come from it, or you can truly believe that something good will happen…it's your choice". Being an eternal optimist, I chose the latter.
The very next day I was reading a business journal on the treadmill and noticed a profile article on a local businessman. What caught my eye though was that the writer's name, listed at the end of the article, was not one I had sent a packet to earlier that month. It was a new name. So the following day, I sent off a packet to this writer and, long story short, ended up being featured in the paper 2 weeks later.
Then, the president of a billion-dollar travel company saw the story and hired me to develop a marketing plan for one division. Nine years later, that client is still our largest client. And to think, none of this would have ever happened if I'd allowed my self-confidence to fade.
The moral here is that you must believe to succeed. But are there other methods of building confidence into your marketing? Sure, and here are just a few:
Who's been down this road?
I'm always a little surprised at the number of business owners who don't seek out others' opinions. To me, these people-I call them gray hairs-have already been down the road you're approaching. They have boatloads of expertise and inspiration that will help you gain confidence.
Before launching into a new campaign, whether it's developing a marketing plan, building a website, or just redoing your store sign, ask yourself "Who do I know that's done this before?" Then, seek them out. Chances are, they'll be glad to help.
Be a graduate student of your audience
One of our clients sells educational games to schools. When I asked him where he drew confidence from, he answered "I'm most confident when I know my target audience inside and out. If I can paint a detailed picture-down to what she's feeling, or even what car she drives-that's when I'm most confident."
So, commit to really knowing your target audience. Ask them questions like "What do you look for in a product/service like mine?" After doing this with enough prospects, I suspect you'll no longer feel like you're selling something, but instead like you're helping solve problems.
Success breeds confidence
It seems so obvious, but it bears repeating. The more you practice something, the better you get. So, think of your marketing effort as one big laboratory. Some marketing experiments will succeed, while others will fail. But from all of them, you'll gain valuable knowledge that improves your success rate. And as your success rate jumps, so will your confidence.
'Fess up…
How many of you cooked the perfect casserole, your very first time? Were you an instant Fred Astaire the first time you hit the boards? Who out there belted a home run, your first at-bat? Marketing, like anything else in life, takes practice. But diligent practice, with the right attitude, will bring you success and confidence you've never dreamed of.
How To Gain Confidence in your Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Jay Lipe's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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