Two Secrets to Marketing Your Product or Service

The Secret to Success in Marketing

You will hear a lot of suggestions about how to market your business. In fact, you may hear so many different strategies and tips that you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. There a whole books written and programs designed to teach entrepreneurs how to market. And then of course, there are also businesses that will market for you. Most marketing gurus will tell you that when you first start you should do your own marketing, not because you know what you are doing, but because you don’t know and you really need to get to know your product or service and how to best sell it before you put it in someone else’s hands. Once you know where you are going, you can hire someone to help you get there.

So what should you do to get started? There are really just two things:

•   Identify your dream client.  Too many entrepreneurs spread themselves thin trying to reach out to everyone.  They sign up for every networking event, blast every social media platform and promote with endless free webinars. Certainly each of these strategies has value and you will get some sales with this scattershot approach, However, a better way is to first identify who you are trying to reach and (this is really key) what is the problem that you solve for that client. For example, if you are a coach who helps individuals who are overcoming traumatic childhood experiences, identify the problems of that audience as adults.  Do they avoid drama or conflict in their lives or are they attracted to it? Do they have difficulty making decisions and tend to rely on others to make decisions for them? Do they repeatedly find themselves in unhealthy relationships?
  • ~Bottom line:  Know your dream client so well that you know how they think, what their pain points are and where they hang out.  Then communicate with them there.
• Develop a relationship with your ideal client. A relationship takes time to develop. It means that you listen and learn what they need and want.  It means you ask how you can help. Keep in mind that the stages of a new relationship are first, curiosity, then enlightened, and finally committed. Provide the information they need to move through each stage at their own pace.
  • ~Bottom line:  Just as you probably wouldn’t go out on a date with someone you didn’t know that approached you at the check-out in the grocery store, don’t expect someone to purchase your product just because you approached them and asked them to. We buy from people who we know, like and trust. So target a small group that you are genuinely interested in and care about, build the relationship and then know that the sales will come.

Sometimes what we know to be true in one arena of life, we forget to apply to others.  Think about the last time that you bought anything. Value is certainly important and is a necessary ingredient. But equally important is the relationship and the sense of being appreciated in the sales transaction.  If you build this into your marketing plan, you will find the success that you are seeking.