I attend a networking lunch each month and at the end of it my friend who watches my 2-year-old daughter when I have business appointments brings her to me so my friend can go home and I can stay longer to socialize without watching the clock.

At this month’s lunch our organizer had brought several balloons to give to volunteers. My daughter ended up with four of them which she contentedly played with until she decided it was time to go home. A friend tied two balloons to one wheelchair handle and the other two balloons to the other wheelchair handle.

My friend said she tied them so they would be easy to pull apart and I was just hoping they would make it the mile or to my house without coming loose. Otherwise I would have a very unhappy two year old to deal with.

We rode the 15 to 20 blocks with my daughter on my lap and the purple and teal balloons flapping in the wind behind me. The only thought in my head as the balloons were flapping was, “There is not a chance these balloons are making it home.”

About halfway home there is a section where the trees are not maintained. Those tree branches hang so low that I (at less than four feet in my wheelchair) get smacked in the face when I go past. I expected to lose the balloons there. They made it through still flapping on my handles.

I got home and as I am closing the gate behind me I notice that only two of the balloons are still tied to one of my handles yet I still have all four balloons. At this point I am thinking, “Please let these balloons hold on until I get them inside.”

I get inside, turn around to close the door and there are all four balloons floating between me and the door, inside. I look at the balloons and see their strings have all become intertwined while they were flapping in the wind. That is why I did not lose the two that disconnected outside. They were held fast by the other two.

Take a look at your business to see which parts you can intertwine so that if one section disconnects for any reason you have other parts to pick up the slack until that section can be resuscitated or cut loose. (I am working to disconnect her balloons, however scissors may be necessary.)

If your business is currently a one-trick pony look to see how you can create multiple streams of income. In my business I do this by offering strategy sessions, workshops, online training and done-for-you services. I plan to phase out done-for-you services in the future but right now it is the twine supporting the rest of my balloons.

I met a woman recently who combines massage therapy with an MLM for essential oils. The essential oils will help attract clients for massage and the massages can help attract customers of essential oils. If she ever has a time when she is unable to perform massages due to injury, she has her essential oils balloon to fall back on.

I would recommend she develop another balloon also simply because of the inherent risk in both balloons. Massage is a very physical job and injuries happen. Some MLMs go out of business. I am hoping it never happens to the business she is building but I have seen the MLM businesses other friends of mine have built crumble or completely disappear. Both massage and MLM businesses can be gone in an instant. It would be in her best interest if some of those massage and essential oils customers became part of that third balloon now.

Until next time...

Have a great day,
​Susanne

How do the balloons in your business intertwine? I offer brainstorming sessions to help you find ways to create multiple streams of income. Click here to find out more.

P.S. The balloons were successfully untangled; however I got too close to a corner while I was attempting to separate them and popped one.

We are wrapping up our blog series today that is dedicated to the mind-set marketing mistakes that are often made by business owners. Each mistake has also included a recommended fix to help you attract more business and get better results from your marketing, regardless of how big or small your marketing budget is.

Here are the links to the rest of the blogs in the series if you missed them and would like to check them out - Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 1, Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 2, Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 3, Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 4 and Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 5. Today’s mistake is about treating marketing as an event.

Mistake - You think marketing is an event.
Marketing is not an event - it is a daily and consistent process. It is very common for business owners to simply focus their marketing around their events. While it is very important to market your events (I market my events like a madwoman), it is also very important to keep a steady stream of general marketing flowing to continually attract new customers and stay “top of mind’ for current customers.

Too many businesses blast out lots of information for their grand opening and then there is not a peep for months. There will be another blast of information when they have a special sale and then, once again, crickets.

We examined creating a broad-level marketing strategy in the previous post and now it is time to start implementing it. Your plan needs to include a general marketing strategy as well as a special-promotions strategy. It is very simple to create and you can outsource some of the tasks once you have a process set up.

Here is an example from my general marketing strategy. I have several products for sale so I rotate offers for each of those products through my social media accounts. This way my followers get a reminder of each of my products at least every couple of weeks. I also rotate links to each of my how-to marketing videos and I am getting ready to do the same with my blog posts. (At the moment I am posting my blog links only the week the blog is new.)

Here is an example from my special-promotions strategy. When I offer a local workshop I create Facebook and Twitter photos and posts. I have a schedule for how often and when I start using these posts. I also post my classes on community calendars and promote them at networking events.

You can use Hootsuite or another third-party service to schedule your social media posts ahead of time. You can pick one day a month to schedule all your general marketing posts and then plug in all your posts for each special promotion as you finalize the details.

I have been creating a fill-in-the-blanks template to use with my local workshops to make it easier (quicker) to use a third-party social media scheduler. With this template all I need to do is change the event title and date for each post and schedule my posts according to the template.

Take the time to review your marketing to see if you are consistently putting your business top of mind with your customers and potential customers.

​Until next time...

Have a great day,
​Susanne

If you feel you are spinning your marketing wheels, join me for a Marketing strategy session.

We are currently doing a few blogs that are dedicated to the mind-set marketing mistakes that are often made by business owners. Each mistake also includes a recommended fix that helps you attract more business and get better results from your marketing, regardless of how big or small your marketing budget is.

Here are the links to the last blogs if you missed them and would like to check them out - Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 1, Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 2, Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 3 and Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 4. Today’s mistake is about Bright Shiny Object Syndrome.

Mistake - You continually search for the Next Best Thing.
I confess I have several unfinished project and marketing wrecks cluttering up my hard drive. A book I decided would better serve people as an online course (no online course on that topic yet); a blog about raising my youngest that lasted less than a year and several outlines for products that have not been looked at for several weeks. These are all abandoned because I found another “easier” path to follow.

Marketing is just like our other projects. So many times we come down with Bright Shiny Object Syndrome. “I heard about Facebook; I need a page.” You create a page and post like crazy and a few months later the excitement wears off and you abandon your efforts.

“I heard I need to build my list; I need to create a newsletter.” You get an email marketing service, create a template and send out your first newsletter. A few months later the excitement wears off and you abandon your efforts.

“I heard about this SEO strategy that will bring me all the customers I want with no effort on my part; I need this service now.” You sign up and two months later when you did not get an instant flood of customers you start looking once again for the Next Best Thing.

Sustained marketing is achieved by commitment and consistency. After you build it you have to continually attract and maintain customers. Start with a broad-level marketing strategy. Hire a marketing coach to help you identify your ideal clients and create the strategic plan to attract those clients to your business.

Once you have committed to your marketing strategy and you are contacted by someone offering the Next Best Thing you can look at it with an objective eye and you will know which questions to ask to determine if it will fit into your plan. If it does not, move on and do not second guess yourself. Even if that Next Best Thing works well for some businesses, (maybe even ones in your field) if it does not speak to your customers you will be wasting time and money.

I still have one more marketing mistake and solution for next time so be sure to check back.

​Until next time...

Have a great day,
​Susanne

If you feel you are spinning your marketing wheels, join me for a Marketing strategy session.

We are currently doing a few blogs that are dedicated to the mind-set marketing mistakes that are often made by business owners. Each mistake also includes a recommended fix that helps you attract more business and get better results from your marketing.

Here are the links to the last blogs if you missed them and would like to check them out - Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 1, Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 2 and Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Owner Makes - Part 3. Today’s mistake is about unrealistic expectations.

Mistake - You think if you build it they will come.
If only life was like a movie. You hang out your shingle; customers come in droves; you are making money hand over fist… Oops, real life gets in the way.

You launch your business and you tell all your friends about it. They are all supportive but none of them buy your products. You launch your Facebook fan page and eight months later you have 20 likes. You tweet every day but no one ever retweets your posts. Your videos have never gone viral. Where is that movie magic?

Running a business is not a spectator sport; it is a full contact experience. After you build it you have to continually attract and maintain customers. Most “overnight” success stories are years in the making. How can you build that movie magic business?

First make sure your business provides a good customer experience. Remember the old saying, “If you have good customer service you tell a few people. If you have bad customer service you tell everybody.” People are quick to take to the Internet to air their grievances about your company so try very hard to minimize the chances of that happening.

Next make sure you have an online presence that you control; I am referring to your website not your Facebook page. People search for companies online. In some categories “He with the most money wins.” However you do not have a chance if you do not throw your hat in the ring. I am constantly amazed at how many businesses do not have a website. You do not have to run out and spend thousands of dollars to create a website; it is okay to have a low-cost “starter” website if that is what fits your budget.

Third (and final for today) create an email strategy and start building your list. It does not matter if you are an automobile mechanic, a chiropractor or an insurance salesman. Email marketing can be a low-cost, effective marketing strategy. Start today if you do not have any list yet and reconnect with your list if you have let that fall by the wayside.

I still have a few more marketing mistakes and solutions on tap so be sure to check back.

Until next time...

Have a great day,
​Susanne

If you feel you are spinning your marketing wheels, join me for a Marketing strategy session.