|
Do You Have a Fine Net of Fish or
Do You Need to Rock the Boat?
Sometimes a different perspective, a fresh set of eyes, or even someone with a different set of experiences can bring a whole new light to your business, and give you suggestions on best practices that you never even knew or thought about before.
 | |
Are they looking at the same fish with a different perspective?
|
If you're afraid to make change because you don't want to "rock the boat," then be sure you are comfortable with your current net of fish.
Stop the insanity
However, if you're not getting the kind of results you  expect or desire, consider Albert Einstein's famous quote:
Insanity:
"Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results."
Here are some ways to start getting different results in your business:
- Make sure your business cards include your email address.
- If the copy on your website is the same as when you created it 10 years ago, update it.
- Ensure that the content of your newsletter answers the reader's question, "What's in it for me?"
- If you're still mailing the same postcard and getting only a few "bites," consider offering different bait. Try a new or different offer or incentive.
- Consider making presentations to business groups to get your company's name out.
- Train your staff to cross-sell.
- Ensure your professional services firm has a regular,
 outgoing tool to stay top-of-mind of prospects and referring parties. - If you've been avoiding social media, such as Facebook, embrace it. It's a significant and truly business-building form of networking.
- Learn how to network effectively by taking a seminar, and put the principles into action.
- Include a call to action in all of your marketing material.
Shake it up
If you're going to stay ahead of your competition you have to change, adapt and innovate.
Know what they're doing, and take their great ideas and put your own unique spin on them. Remember Audre Lorde's famous quote:
"There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt."
Break outside of the lines sometimes. That  may be what it takes to get your prospects' attention. Shake it up whenever you're given the chance. For example, if you're a cupcake bakery, and your competition opens a cupcake bakery down the block, don't just sit and fume. Consider what you could do to make a bigger splash.
What about doing different themed cupcakes every week? How about ocean-themed cupcakes one week (with an awesome seaweed frosting), zoo-themed cupcakes the next week (with
zebra or tiger-striped frosting) and perhaps Tiffany-inspired cupcakes the week after with jewel-encrusted cupcakes glittering in your case?
Impact requires effort
This leads us to another principle of better marketing. Repetition is easy, comforting and requires less effort.
Impact requires effort and originality. Changing your cupcake theme every week requires significantly more effort. But you can bet that far more people will be lining up to try your Tiffany cupcakes, than the run-of-the-mill cupcakes down the block.
If you're not sure how to get better results for your business, consider a marketing audit. Like an accounting audit, it's designed to ensure you are using the right marketing tools effectively and following best practices. By identifying tools you are not using, and ensuring you are using your current tools to their maximum potential, you'll be on the right track to expect better results.
At Solutions for Growth, we are experts at marketing and  can conduct a marketing audit that will pinpoint changes you can make in your business that will bring you significant results right away. We'll help you haul in a much bigger segment of your market.
FORWARD THIS ARTICLE TO A FRIEND | 
