Hello Friend,

Before you sink your teeth into today’s excellent content from our guest, I want to quickly call to your mind our survey from a couple of weeks ago. Thank you once again to all of you who participated. I told you then that you would be helping to steer where things go. Today’s message is a direct result of your requests for more information about promoting your business, growing your revenue, and also about locating business opportunities!

The list of people that Debra Thompson Roedl has worked with is replete with names you would recognize were I to mention them. She hasn’t just contributed to their success… in many cases, she is responsible for their success. We’ve been connected with her for a little over a year now and space does not permit me to go into detail about how significant she is to our advancement. I know you’re going to enjoy hearing from her this week.

How To Make Sure Your Business FAILS! (Part 1 of 3)

I bet that title grabbed your attention and it should!  With today’s economy you need to do everything you can to ensure that your business SUCCEEDS and does not Fail.  But it is up to you to take action and make it happen!

You see most Christian entrepreneurs who are either starting out in their business or well on their way with their business leave out one key ingredient that can make them or break them and cause them to FAIL.  It is called MARKETING.

These entrepreneurs are not typically trained or educated in marketing.  They don’t even understand how essential marketing is to their business in order for them to start, sustain and/or grow their enterprise.  Can you relate?

In fact… because of this lack of knowledge, the typical business owner’s approach to marketing is “Fire… Aim… and then get “Ready”. And guess what?  They don’t hit the Bullseye with this method.  The less you hit your bullseye, the less money you make and you know what that means… it is just a matter of time before your business fails.  Then what are you going to do?

To ensure success in your business you have to create a new mindset and that is…

Marketing Is A Continuous Process!

Marketing is the foundation of your business and everything else that you do is built upon this foundation.  From your products, to your services, to your customers… marketing is in every aspect of your business and it is a constant process.

When it comes to Marketing your business… I have created a specific System to make sure you succeed and do not fail! It is called the BULLSEYE Marketing Accelerator System.  With this system your approach to your business is Ready, Aim, Fire and then BULLSEYE!

OK folks, I hope today’s message from Debra has served to whet your appetite for much more!  Don’t miss Part 2 tomorrow, as she drills down into the 4 key steps in the illustration. I know you’re going to benefit from it!

None of us got to where we are without the help of others. One of the people who has contributed to the success we had at Selling Among Wolves in 2007 was David G. Johnson of Epiphany Marketing. His specific area of influence had to do with the growth of our business using the internet. Because his input was valuable to me, I thought his input might be valuable to you as well. With that in mind, I have asked him to contribute the content for the blogs this week. He is limited to just a few blogs this week, so I suggest you don’t miss a one of them.

In my work with clients over the years, one thing I’ve observed is that most marketing mistakes made by businesses both small and large come from a fundamentally poor understanding of the real identity of the business. If you don’t know who you are, how can you properly introduce yourself to your future customers? In truth, how can you have any real clear idea about who your future customers are if you aren’t crystal clear on who you are? It’s an extension of a personal identity crisis that gets carried over into the business world, and it’s much more common than I ever would have imagined had I not observed it first-hand again and again.

To illustrate this phenomenon, I’ll let you in on one of the processes that I take nearly every client through to help them better understand who they are. It’s actually a very simple process, but is typically overlooked. It begins by asking the very simple question: what is your true product or service?

Before you respond with the most obvious answer, let me ask it a different way. What business are you really in?

Most companies (and this is particularly true of small businesses) define themselves too specifically and do not think about the answer behind their answer.

To illustrate this, let’s use a well-known company as an example. Starbucks roasts coffee beans purchased from growers all over the world and sells them primarily by making drinks out of them in their local retail stores. What business is Starbucks in?

a. Coffee

b. Beverages

c. Legal Addictive Stimulants

d. Entertainment

Be sure to watch your inbox for details of an important marketing meeting David and I will be holding very soon!