"It should be encouraging to know that practically all great fortunes began in the form of compensation for personal services, or from sale of ideas. What else, except ideas and personal services, would one not possessed of property have to give in return for riches?" – Napoleon Hill in "Think & Grow Rich"
Business marketing is more competitive today than ever before! Except you are a monopoly or you enjoy exclusive distribution/sales rights, you WILL have to compete DAILY with others who do what you do for every NAIRA the customer wishes to spend.
A question I believe every business owner should ask him/herself is:
Would it be reasonable to expect customers to choose to buy from you, when NOTHING significantly differentiates you – in a positive sense that is – from competitors who offer similar products and services? I doubt any CEO will say "YES"!
Let me use an analogy to drive this home. Think, for instance, about why YOU as a person typically choose to buy groceries from a particular store, and not another one. Even when the price and quality are the same, the fact that you get more courteous and personalized service from the former, could make you prefer to keep going back there. AND you would even refer others to the same place!
Which is exactly the point I am making. Most buyers if given a good reason will feel drawn to buy from you instead of another seller/provider.
As a business owner, becoming the preferred choice of potential customers will naturally appeal to you. But you are NOT likely to achieve that desirable goal if you keep doing the same thing your competitors (and/or others in your industry) are doing – especially in terms of marketing and advertising.
Discounts, promos and other incentive programs are not bad, but it is only when creatively combined with unique offers that potential customers find useful, (and which competitors find hard to duplicate), that you GAIN a competitive advantage – leading to increased sales leads!
The unique offer I refer to will be one that gives buyers in the market place a COMPELLING reason to buy from you, even when your price is higher than that of other sellers!
Without the above, most of your marketing/advertising will amount to calculated gambling with limited chance of yielding sustainable results.
How to Make Yourself Preferred by Customers
One proven way to build the needed credibility that will make buyers prefer you is to embark on diligent provision of accurate and HELPFUL information that:
a. Empowers potential buyers to make better informed buying decisions.
b. Simultaneously demonstrates you have the expertise to facilitate that process, should they choose to buy from you.
It’s so obvious, that I often wonder why many business owners out here still do not see it!
Once people come to ASSOCIATE your name and/or that of your company with such helpful information and other resources you provide, they are more likely to think of you when eventually they have a need related to your products/services offer.
TRUST is the basis on which most successful business transactions take place. The strategy described above enables you get that trust, and keep it for as long as possible.
To get started using this strategy, simply decide on the channel(s) you will use to reach out to potential buyers, with your HELPFUL information. Communication media like print newspapers, TV and radio readily come to mind and are often preferred by most people.
The truth is however that compared to a "web marketing system", those traditional channels are not just expensive, but they also have much shorter shelf-lives.
A Web Marketing system includes Articles Marketing, Newsletter marketing, Branded Face book Page Marketing, Branded Information Products Marketing, Search engine optimization and others.
The above combine to help you achieve your goal of getting name/brand credibility.
The best part is you do NOT have to part with money to make use of them. All you need is an Internet Connection!
So, I urge you to try them before spending your hard earned money on more expensive alternatives.(Googling each of the aforementioned phrases could yield some ideas – but I also offer some of my own further down.)
Note that if you set up your web marketing system FIRST, any other communication channels (TV etc) you choose to use, will benefit from that. This is because your listeners, readers or viewers can be referred to your online system, increasing your chances of having those of them who go there, become customers!
LEARN MORE:
The following articles provide further details on the various strategies/ideas I advocate for adoption by business owners who want to make use of the strategies discussed above:
1. A Massive Blind Spot That’s Making Some Facebook Business Page Owners Miss Getting NEW Fans
2. Potential Benefits of Promoting Your Business Online Via Articles, Newsletter and Facebook Marketing
3. To Make More Profitable Sales, Educate Your Prospects and Clients
4. Make a Greater Impact – Improve the Quality of Your Facebook Conversations
5. Start Controlling Your Site and Saving Money, Using the Joomla Content Management System
6. Does Your Website JUSTIFY the Money You Spend
Important Notes
1. This article was first published online on 7th February 2011, in Issue No. 59 of the Self-Development Digest Newsletter, which has since been replaced by my Self-Development (SD) Nuggets blog.
2. The author (Tayo K. Solagbade)’s byline in the above linked syndicated articles may still have URLs pointing to my former 9 year old spontaneousdevelopment.com primary domain name. Work continues to update such links following the loss of that domain on 4th May 2014.