Magical Marketing Secret #1

I get asked all the time, “What do I need to do to generate more leads, get more customers, and ultimately, help my business growing in this tough economy?”

While it’s certainly a logical question given the fact that so many small businesses fail within the first few years of inception, the sad fact is that when I hear that question I also hear in the inquirer’s voice a faint glimmer of hope that I’ll offer up some golden nugget of knowledge.  Or even better, the proverbial ’silver bullet’ that will solve ALL their problems forever.

Well, as much as I’d love to say there’s one standard answer that applies to every single situation (HINT: That means there’s no such thing as a silver bullet!), there are certain principles and foundational ideas that apply to every single business.  And when these principles are actually applied, they can have a powerful impact on the success of the business that applies them.

Over the next few days I’ll share with you some of these foundational principles that when applied correctly could have an incredibly powerful impact on your small business success.  I call them the 7 Critical Components of Effective Marketing, but I think they’re also extremely important to the success of your business overall.

The first of these seven secrets is the simple fact that as a business owner, your primary responsibility MUST be marketing your business. Now I know that might sound a bit odd, especially considering the fact you have so many other responsibilities to worry about (providing your product/service, overseeing employees, finances, etc.), but if we took a step back and analyzed how it is your manage to stay in business, what do you think we’d find?

Exactly. The ONLY reason you’re in business today is because you have either a client or customer that’s willing to part with their hard earned dollars in exchange for whatever product or service you offer.

THAT’S IT!

So what happens if you don’t have any customers willing to make that exchange of value?

That’s right, no more business, which means no more products or service to deliver, no more employees to manage, and no more finances to stress out about, although I guess some might see those things as positives.

At any rate, if you want to truly grow your business, especially in today’s extremely tough marketplace, then marketing MUST become your #1 responsibility.  There’s absolutely NOTHING you can do in your business that will provide as much long term payoff like effective marketing does.

Now, I’m not suggesting that marketing should become your one and only job (although in some cases it might be appropriate) and that you should be the one writing sales letters, creating your website, or any number of the myriad of tasks associate with effectively marketing your business.

What I am suggesting is that the overall strategy and execution of your marketing plan is a responsibility that should never leave your office. Yes, you’ll want to implement systems and processes to make sure you’re not the one doing all the actual work, but again, the responsibility of marketing should be your biggest concern.

After all, if your business really is your ‘baby’, don’t you think it makes sense to give it all the attention and care it requires in order to ensure its success?