Do you have a brand? Do you know what it is? Perhaps, more importantly, do your clients know? And what about the marketplace? All great questions, but they are not always easy to answer. Your brand is your promise to the market place. When someone does business with you they know what they will get based on this “promise.” A great brand will have clients flocking to you a bad brand repels them. When someone thinks of you they should think of your brand, and conversely when someone thinks of your brand they should think of you. It’s simple –…

In part one of this article we discussed the seven organizational resources that are critical to optimize, and three questions you must answer in any prospects mind if you are to successfully market and sell your product or service. In part two we talked about the four groups you should consider marketing to. Now we need to look at The Four Phases To Marketing Success. There are four specific phases that you can incorporate in your marketing program. 1. Generate, identify and acquire prospects If you are to fill your pipeline with possible prospects and potential sales, you will need…

In part one of this article we discussed the seven organizational resources that are critical to optimize and three questions you must answer in any prospects mind if you are to successfully market and sell your product or service. With that information in hand, it is not time to look at whom you should be marketing to. There are four groups to consider marketing to. – The Universe – Target Market – Prospects – Clients The “Universe” is everyone outside of your immediate presence. If you sold life insurance then the “Universe” would literally be all the people in your…

Sales are often referred to as the lifeblood of an organization. But, it is impossible to have an effective sales program without a corresponding and effective marketing initiative. Most organizations just start trying things in the hopes that one will generate some leads and resulting sales. Like all facets of your business, you should take a strategic approach. You should have an elaborate and systematic plan of action. I begin by defining marketing as everything that happens before and after the sale to identify, acquire, magnify, and keep customers. In other words, any activity your company is involved in outside of the moment that the sale is made can…

The American Heritage Dictionary defines marketing as: The commercial functions involved in transferring goods from producer to consumer. Simple enough. As marketers, we know it goes much deeper than that. To be successful, one must find ways to surpass just transferring goods. What adjective could accompany marketing to define what it takes to make marketing actually work? The American Heritage Dictionary defines smart as follows: 1.a. Characterized by sharp, quick thought; bright. See Synonyms at intelligent. b. Amusingly clever; witty: a smart quip; a lively, smart conversation. 2. Energetic or quick in movement. Alone, these words represent two different ideas….

CREATE YOUR MEMORABLE MARKETING MESSAGE Knowing exactly what business you are in may be the single most important factor in jump starting your marketing efforts. So often, companies see themselves as selling specific products or providing specific services. These specificities, in effect, become blinders on their vision and greatly limit the potential growth of their businesses. Smarketing is all about creative marketing and leveraging organizational resources. In order to maximize every marketing dollar you invest, it is critical to fully understand what you do and for whom you do it. Marketing then becomes the process of transferring that knowledge to…