Are you frustrated by the meager results of your marketing efforts? You?re putting in long hours, yet you still don?t have enough clients. And you?re far from alone. A lot of other small business owners and solo professionals are in your shoes. So what?s going on and how can you make your marketing more effective?
As it turns out, many business owners find getting more clients challenging for the same three reasons ? and those reasons can be fixed. Here they are?
1) They don?t know exactly WHAT to do to get more clients
If you?ve been in business for a few years, you may have the feeling that things have been getting a lot more difficult. And your impressions are right on the money. It HAS been getting tougher.
What used to work just a few years ago doesn?t necessarily work anymore. For starters, there?s more competition. And then, your potential prospects have become immune to some of the old ways of marketing and don?t respond anymore. In addition, social media have changed how we need to market ? from outbound marketing to inbound marketing.
Meanwhile, you may be flailing about, trying to find clients any way you can. Like a cork bobbing about in choppy waters, you?re floating from networking to blogging to Facebook to Twitter. You may even try to get in on those Groupon deals. You?re incredibly busy, but you don?t get the results you are hoping for.
2) You don?t know exactly HOW to use a specific marketing strategy
You may well have picked a good marketing strategy, but if you don?t know HOW to use it, your results will be less than impressive.
For example, you may know you need a Twitter account, and you know how to send tweets. But if you don?t know how often to send them and what to write in them, you won?t get results. And if you don?t know how to get followers and how to engage them, no one is even going to see your tweets.
Marketing is highly complex. Without clearly defined instructions it?s nearly impossible to get the results you want, and you?ll end up being frustrated.
3) You?re not using your strategies consistently
Even if you have the right marketing strategy and you know how to use it effectively, it still won?t work if you don?t use it consistently!
Sending tweets just every other week is not as effective at building an audience as sending your tweets every day. Going to networking meetings just once in a blue moon won?t work as well as going regularly enough to get to know people at those events.
But who has the time, you ask, and how do you stay on top of all those things you need to do?
What is takes is a plan, with specific activities scheduled into your daily and weekly to do lists. But the best-laid plan won?t do you much good unless it?s put into action.
So how can you get better results?
Pick the right marketing strategies and do them correctly and consistently. Of course, that can be a tall order, so you may benefit from getting help.
If you resonate with these challenges, I?d like to invite you to my free teleseminar on how you can blast past your competition in 2013. For more info and to sign up, just go to http://www.sueclement.com/webinar
Last 5 posts by Sue Clement
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Tags: business growth, marketing, sales, Small business, solo professional
Source: http://www.ladypens.com/3-reasons-why-business-owners-struggle-with-getting-enough-clients/
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