Pam had been excited when she first started her small business she had her marketing planned out and working her marketing plan.  Somehow her passion wained and her motivation was at an all time low.  She was losing sleep at night.

When I asked her what was wrong, she said she was doing so much marketing to promote her business and there wasn’t enough time in the day to get it all done.  By the end of  the day she was tired and her phone wasn’t ringing like it used to.  I found Pam committing the forbidden 6 marketing sins.

For many entrepreneurs, we have difficulty doing a lot of marketing without getting the return on investment with our time.  Listed below are the seven sins of marketing.  They’re so simple I’m afraid that you might dismiss it at a first glance. So give it a read. I’m sure you will get ideas how to tune-up your own marketing system.

MARKETING SIN  #1- No marketing plan.

Let me ask would you go on vacation with out  a plan?  It’s no different in marketing. Small business owners and entrepreneurs are “doers.” There is nothing wrong with that – that is why they work for themselves and get things done! But often they get so busy they lose sight of where they are going and how they want to get there.

Just by giving the name of marketing plan sounds UGH and boring just the thought of those two words are less than motivating. The fact is creating a simple marketing plan can be so easy.  Hung up on the naming your  marketing plan still?  Call it your money map!

Let me give you the first three steps of creating your money map:

MARKETING SIN #2 – You’re like everyone else.

Most small business owners just name their selves by the profession.  For an example: I’m a mortgage broker, I’m a therapist, I make jewelry.  YAWN.  It’s like looking at a herd of zebras.  There is absolutely nothing to differentiate you from the herd. But if you were the color-striped zebra; you would stand out in everyone’s mind.

Take a long look and ask yourself these top two questions.  What makes your business different?  What makes you, your services or products unique? With the explosion of  new businesses, it should be your top concern – to set yourself apart from the pack.

If you are providing an ordinary product or service it may be hard to set yourself apart based on what or how you do it. But there is one thing in your business that no one else can duplicate – YOU!

MARKETING SIN #3 – No Visibility

If no one knows who you are or what you do you will always struggle to get enough business. Networking, public speaking, publishing articles are just a few no cost ways of getting the word out.

One BIG caution.  Do NOT do what one of my clients did before they came to me. They had a meeting with a television advertising salesperson who promised them everything and of course the delivery was way less than promised.  In fact this small business owner did not receive one lead from all his efforts and money spent. (If you
do approach the radio and television advertising arena, make SURE you are working with someone who KNOWS the business.)