Being an educational resource positions you as a thought leader

Providing your target market with educational workshops, seminars, and learning opportunities is an excellent way to spread your messages and position you as an expert in your field.

This is relatively easy to do, yet many of our clients are intimidated by the prospect of presenting to a room full of prospects. The good news is that this is much easier than cold calling to those same 50 to 75 individuals.

Why? Well, simply because these people all chose to attend your event. As opposed to doing nothing more than being on your telemarketing list. They chose to come down to see you, to hear what you have to say, and are open to your ideas. It’s a big leap and one you should take advantage off.

The planning and marketing are pretty turn key and after you do it once, you have the tools you need to do it as much as you want. You might find you actually like it. Many of our clients enjoy the excitement and the energy associated with events.

Tomorrows blog will highlight a couple of key tactics that really drive attendees to your event. In the meantime, check out our new event at www.realitymarketingsummit.com

Square 2 Marketing—helping business owners.

Part 8 of 8: The 8 Key Mistakes Made By Entrepreneurs

You don' have a defined marketing budget to ensure ROI, like you do with your other investments

Your budget includes items for electric, rent, payroll, etc., so why aren’t you doing the same thing for your marketing efforts? Set line items for marketing, which could include your website, email, direct mail, events, PR, search engine optimization, or a host of other potential tasks.

Consider your marketing investments like stocks or mutual funds: they must contribute a certain return, and they must be monitored so those doing well can be funded and those doing poorly can be eliminated. Define the expected results and then review your results monthly (quarterly at the least).

Unfortunately, these mistakes are extremely common in small to medium sized businesses, run by entrepreneurs who are excellent business people, but typically too busy or too out of their comfort zone to effectively create, launch, manage, and regularly monitor an effective marketing program. If you simply boil it down and focus on these eight issues, your marketing will improve immediately.

Square 2 Marketing - helping business owners

Part 7 or 8: The 8 Key Mistakes Made By Entrepreneurs

You haven't set metrics to measure the performance of your programs

At Square 2 Marketing, if we're asking our clients to invest in an email campaign, we're obligated to first define the metrics we will use to evaluate the impact of the program. How many emails will we be sending? How many will get opened? How many click-throughs to the website should it generate? How many people will opt out? How many messages will be undeliverable? And finally, how many viable leads will all this yield?

If you want to make an educated assessment of any marketing program, you need to define in advance the variables that will affect its success.

Square 2 Marketing - helping business owners

Part 6 of 8: The 8 Key Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs

Your marketing is designed to enhance your brand, but you want it to increase sales

This is the most universal and significant mistake business owners make: they model their marketing efforts after mega-branding campaigns. Budweiser, Pepsi, Nike and GM spend billions to make themselves household names. Few of us have the budget for such an aggressive, over-reaching strategy—and few need it. If you're not a Fortune 500 company, don't market like one.

Instead of wasting money reaching out to people who will never buy your product, design a more lead-focused campaign that will allow people to express an interest in what you do. With ubiquitous tools like email blasts and search engine optimization, it's possible to create a consistent marketing "machine" to communicate with your potential customers on a regular basis for pennies a day. Choose cost-effective, targeted, interactive programs that drive sales, as opposed to brand-building.

Square 2 Marketing—helping business owners.

Part 5 of 8: The 8 Key Mistakes Made By Entrepreneurs

You don’t have a written marketing plan

You have a business plan and now that your vision is defined, the business differentiated, now you need a well thought out marketing plan. In no other area are you bombarded with as many opportunities as you are in marketing. Salespeople from the yellow pages, TV, radio, newspaper, magazines and trade shows are constantly vying for your dollars, so it’s important for you to have a way to determine which is best for you.

A set plan allows you to review the year upfront, select tactics, measure their success as you move forward, and adjust accordingly. How else can you decide the fate of your continued investment?