Self-Devpt. Nuggets™

The key to business promotion success is to – as INEXPENSIVELY as possible – get your target audience to notice – and eventually pay conscious attention to – you on a continuing basis.

One business owner who excels at doing the above is Richard Branson.

For years, I have deliberately studied him in developing ideas and strategies to reach my own target audience. And I continue to record uncommon marketing success from doing so.

Certain unique factors matter the most in achieving this kind of success.

I discuss 3 main ones based on my experience based observations over nearly a decade.

1. Keep It Real: Avoid Copying Others

“Don’t Copy. Create!” – Unknown

Notice what I said about studying Branson. I did not copy him. What I did was/is to creatively adapt what I learned from observing him, to suit my own peculiar marketing needs.

That eventually resulted in something almost entirely different.

I’ve given it a name. I call it a Web Marketing System(WMS).

If you run a farm business for instance, you’re better off developing real world relevant strategies that help you better reach and impact YOUR target audience.

Don’t waste valuable time copying methods employed by a friend who runs a restaurant.

If s/he places ads on TV/Radio, it (hopefully) would be because s/he has done the needed homework, and is sure the patronage to be reaped will offset the relatively high costs.

Margins from sales of your kinds of farm products may make it unwise to do same.

You may be better off making potential bulk buyers offers (e.g. restaurant and hotel owners like your friend). Let them do the heavy duty advertising. That will GROW your profits by reducing your cost of sales. So you will not need to increase your price to cover ad costs.

And that’s where a Web Marketing System (WMS) can help you!

Rather than burn time, effort and fuel going round town at the initial stages, you simply need to create, publish and relentlessly promote the right kind, and mix, of content via multiple channels.

Every now and then, you would make an offer and follow it up with a call to action

Here’s an Example Offer You Can Make: “Do you regularly buy large quantities of? Our farm offers a special bulk pricing with doorstep delivery of high quality eggs anytime. Never again have to worry about getting enough quality eggs when you need them. Contact us today…!”

2. Use Uniquely Creative Business Promotion/Marketing – But Always Strive to Do So at Zero Cost

In yesterday’s article, I shared an excerpt from a pep talk I gave to my kids. What I told them was based on my experiences running my own business for over a decade now:

“Even when you can afford it, you can get MORE done with LESS money, if you learn to apply Critical Thinking. Do NOT fall into the habit of throwing money at your problems…” – (me to my kids)

The truth is too many business owners, when they feel they can afford, readily succumb to the temptation to spend in order to attract customers.

They do so because it is EASIER to sit back to wait for the adverts paid for to bring people in.

The problem is however that just like you are placing yours, so are others who think like you…and MANY people think like THIS!

Unfortunately, since the ad limits the space you can use, based on how much you pay, you will often be unable to say (and/or show) as much you’d like to say, to convince a potential buyer who sees the different adverts that YOU will be a better choice compared to your competitor.

Indeed, if the competitor has more financial muscle, most buyers may conclude s/he offers better value than you do.

That happens because people have a tendency to believe “bigger (or more expensive) is better”.

But that’s not always true.

We all know the story of David and Goliath…which brings me back to Richard Branson again.

You see, the David vs. Goliath strategy is what he has always used, and advocated.

After reading Branson’s article on it, I began applying it to suit my own unique circumstances.

Today, I have many examples of exceptional sales and marketing results I’ve achieved as a result –  despite being a one man operation in a harsh socio-economic environment.

So, I’m saying you need to realize that you can use creative Critical Thinking, to achieve profitable business promotion for yourself.

Consider Branson. He always finds a way to get zero cost attention – including media exposure. Many times he has used publicity stunts, which he deliberately wrote about/shared – via multiple online platforms – to create buzz (aside from that resulting from free media coverage he got)!

Every situation in which you interact with others, is a potential opportunity to get share of mind (which is what marketing is about).

The more unusual your strategy, the more likely you are to get noticed. Just be sure to find a way to do so without having to dip your hands in your pockets all the time.

3. Entertain, While Educating and Informing

Once again, I refer to Mr. Branson.

I’ve seen photos of him playing a guitar on stage in a bar; carrying a uniformed Virgin Airline hostess off her feet…and even kissing Desmond Tutu on the cheek!

But each time he posted the photos, there was a message.

There was/is always purpose behind what he did/does.

For instance, below the photo on Facebook, in which he was show kissing Bishop Tutu’s cheek, Branson added a message to educate people about the need to tolerate others regardless of sexual preferences i.e. the need to practise unconditional love.

Now, you could argue that THAT had nothing to do with marketing his brand(s). However, if you think about it, he’s still indirectly selling himself to his target audience.

People buy from people they TRUST. By sharing that photo, with his message, Branson took a stand on the side of those being unfairly discriminated against.

On another occasion, when he shared photos taken during a visit to a country against which some western countires had issued a travel advisory, he linked to an article he had written titled “Why Travel Advisories Hurt Countries and Help Terrorists”.

The above would have won over some people who probably did not reckon with him much in the past.

And such individuals could develop a fierce loyalty to Branson that would make them go out of their way to identify with any companies they know he owns!

In other photos, he makes people laugh, and many comment about how human he manages to stay despite being very successful, and busy.

Again, this gets him more share of mind.

One important point to keep in mind: No pushy sales pitches allowed!

Richard Branson RARELY posts a “come and buy my product or service” message.

Instead, he often focuses on using entertainment to educate and inform, as a means to winning people over to feel like “buying” from his company.

A VERY effective strategy indeed. I know this because I’ve used it for years, and compared to when I used the direct selling approach, I know it yields far superior rewards.

You don’t have to copy Branson.

What you do could (should) be a variant of what he’s doing, that lets you leverage your own unique strengths as an individual.

Find what you’re comfortable doing, and then DO IT – in an entertaining way, while injecting some education and information to win potential buyers over.

Final Words: These 3 strategies when applied in implementing a well conceived WMS will ultimately yield long term lead generation benefits, in addition to helping you close sales.

They can be used offline as well as online.

However my experiences have taught me that you can intelligently use the Internet to achieve much more USEFUL marketing reach and impact faster, and expending less effort, or money.

What’s more, those who encounter your creative marketing online, can over time become your fervent advocates, who go and “preach your gospel” OFFLINE to others – bringing them to YOU!

I know this because it happens to me – a lot.

People contact me saying someone told them to.

This includes people who sometimes use the web ONLY to check mails and struggle to use the PC!

Yet their level of conviction is often so high, that they send FULL payment 100% in advance, to purchase – for instance – my Feed Formulation Handbook, its accompanying Excel-VB Ration Formulator software, and/or my increasingly popular Poutry Farm Manager software.

But you need to know how to do it i.e how to use web marketing to make the above happen.

What I have found from developing WMS for clients over the years is that not everyone easily “gets it”.

They do not readily understand how to use WMS as the powerful timeless marketing (and sales leads generating) tool it is.

And that’s why I offer a Web Marketing support/coaching service to help them.

If you’d like to learn more, about how I can help you in this regard, click here to send me a message.