10 Reasons Why Businesses Fail at Marketing.

1) They don't fully understand it.

Perception: Marketing is advertising.
Reality: Marketing may not even include advertising.
Perception: Marketing is an expense.
Reality: Marketing is an investment.
_______________________________________________________________________
2) They rely almost exclusively on Word-of-Mouth.

Word-of-mouth is the best way to get business and savvy marketing helps create it.
So, you can't sit back and hope for customers. You must be proactive.

_______________________________________________________________________
3) They think they can't afford it.

This ties in with the perception/reality issue?when marketing is primarily limited to traditional advertising that's usually expensive and often less than effective. Good marketing involves a smorgasbord of cost-effective, creative options and executions.

_______________________________________________________________________

4) Their product needs improvement.

Obviously, the better the product, the better the marketing can be. It's hard to get people excited about a product that's esoteric, irrelevant or inferior.

_______________________________________________________________________

5) They expect results too quickly.

Unless you're running some kind of sale, marketing takes time. Like building a house or getting in shape it takes planning, discipline and patience.

_______________________________________________________________________

6) Arrogance or naiveté.

Maybe you think you can do it all yourself or simply don't know where to turn. The problem is, if it's not truly your expertise chances are you'll be wasting both time and money. Think about it. If you're building a house, it helps to have a great architect, right? If you have legal issues, it helps to have a great lawyer. Successful business owners know the same applies to their marketing.

_______________________________________________________________________

7) They don't really know what they're selling.

It's not just the product or service; it's also the emotional and psychological benefit. You need to determine what that is.

_______________________________________________________________________

8) They don't really know who they're selling to.

Many a marketing effort as failed because the prospects they've been targeting for the past few years are not the ones they need to be targeting looking ahead.

_______________________________________________________________________

9) They don't embrace the new technology.

Things are constantly evolving and your marketing must employ every relevant technological advantage to stay competitive.

_______________________________________________________________________

10) They get help, but the wrong help.

Friends and associates are fine if they're qualified. Too often, they aren't. When it comes to getting the best marketing help one obvious test is seeing how well they do it for themselves. Visit their web site, spend a few minutes, see what they've done and what their clients say, and then decide.

(For more Follis marketing facts, see booklet info below.)

© 2005 John Follis. All rights reserved. _______________________________________________________________________

John Follis is one of the 12 "Best Advertising Minds of New York" as voted by The New York Ad Club. His campaigns are in 3 college textbooks, he has written for ADWEEK, and he has taught at 3 New York universities. Currently, John works on select projects, consults, and speaks. He may be reached at john@follisinc.com

For John's booklet: How to Attract and Excite Your Prospects: A Guide for Getting the Best Marketing Results, visit: http://www.follisinc.com/booklet.htm

For consulting info, visit: Marketing Therapy: http://www.follisinc.com/therapy.htm

For speaking info, visit: Follis Speaking: http://www.follisinc.com/speaking.htm

---

Data Map Charting for Mobile Businesses

As we study the demographic regional variations for small service... Read More

Joint Venture: 50 Power Secrets Of Joint Venture Marketing, Exposed

What is a Joint Venture?A joint venture is an agreement... Read More

How Well Do You Know Your Prospects? Find Out With This 10-Point Quiz

It's crucial to know your prospects if you want to... Read More

Five Joint Venture Marketing Skills A Small Business Owner Must Have

Joint venture marketing is a lucrative way of leveraging the... Read More

Using Alternative Media to Generate More Customers

Last week I received a very nice thank you gift... Read More

Help! What Happened?

Let's be honest, when you're writing sales material for a... Read More

Trade Shows Are Not a Waste!

According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (the trade... Read More

Creative Marketing: Just Your Style

You've enlisted some of the traditional marketing methods to sell... Read More

Strategic Internet Marketing

I met Sue at a recent networking event. She is... Read More

Make Your Mailing a Home Run, Not a Strike Out!

You can use great design and copy to get a... Read More

Funnel Your Way to Marketing Success

A funnel is a good way to think of the... Read More

Online Magazine Subscription Services Make Shopping Online Fun For Magazines

If recreating the old experience of subscribing to magazines by... Read More

Top Five 2004 Required Marketing Tips Needed to Succeed

When marketing your practice, as well as designing yourbrochure, web... Read More

7 Cheap & Easy Ways To Get Prospects

Here are some quick techniques you can put into place... Read More

Marketing Manual Sample Outline

The key to success in any business relies a large... Read More

Take the Test: Do Your Marketing Materials Really Grab Attention?

Today's constant bombardment of marketing messages means your materials must... Read More

Mortgage Marketing - What Your Client Wants

Your business depends on the success of your marketing efforts.... Read More

How Toyota Captured the #1 Market Share . . . Through Solid Decision-Making!

How Toyota Captured the #1 Market Share . . .... Read More

9 Highly Effective Marketing Tips

Here are 9 low-cost but highly effective marketing tips to... Read More

Small Business Marketing Tip - Focus on a Niche or Target Market

I think selling and marketing today often feels a bit... Read More

Mail Orders Most Common Mistakes

THE GREAT MAIL ORDER MYTH There are a number of... Read More

How To Choose a Qualitative Research Market

Qualitative research, whether individual interviews, in-homes, focus groups, ethnographies and... Read More

Money Making Real Estate Marketing Ideas

Real estate marketing is a lot simpler than most Realtors... Read More

Develop Your Curiosity And Increase Profits

If anyone was to ask me what my greatest strength... Read More

CD ROM Business Cards - Offline Marketing For Online Promotion

It's a great concept, - and it has a 'cool... Read More

First Steps to Developing a Marketing Plan

Direct Mail . . . Newspaper . . . Radio... Read More

Defining Moment

Do you know your audiences? I mean really know... Read More

10 Beer Budget Event Marketing Tips

Are you planning an event or participating in a trade... Read More

Advertising Your Private Practice: 6 Tips for Maximizing Your Results-Part 2

As discussed in part 1 of this article, "Your Private... Read More

Cause-Related Marketing

Altruism. Corporate responsibility. Philanthropy. These are often used to describe... Read More

Marketing On The Cheap: Join The What?

Your local Chamber of Commerce.Now before you stop reading, I... Read More

Marketing: Can I Trust You?

We live in an unprecedented era of communication. Because of... Read More

25 Ways To Get More Business

Special Requirements for Reprint: we ask only that... Read More