76 / 116
make sure your brand shows up
as its best. Make sure you look
at the before, during and after
transaction steps. Marketing
doesn’t stop once you get a
customer. Instead, the focus of
your marketing should shift from
bringing them in to making them
feel welcomed and appreciated.
Remember, you’re building
relationships. Think of your
business’s pre-sale as the curb
appeal of a house—then bring
customers into your house.
How do you want to make them
feel so they return again and
again, and bring other people
with them?
A good marketing plan
is frequent, consistent and
intentional, and should be
reviewed and modified every
three to six months. Marketing
builds over time, so be patient.
Be willing to shift as you analyze
results. Be open to trying
new things.
Remember, there is no one
secret to success, but there
is
your
secret to success. You
just have to find that special
marketing “something” that
works for you.
It is in marketing your business
that I recommend you hire the
best professional you can afford.
Don’t just hire a tactical expert,
hire someone who can help you
see the big picture, see beyond
what
you
can see and see it at
a 360-degree view. Marketing
is where you can transform
your business.
I always compare marketing to
that high-maintenance friend or
family member. You love them
but they make you crazy. Yes,
that’s marketing.
Watch for Part 4 of this series on
sales strategies in the February issue.
Abigail Tiefenthaler, founder of
Aiken, South Carolina-based
distributor Sweetspot Strategies,
Inc., is also a speaker and consultant
helping entrepreneurs run the
businesses they really want to run.
With 30-plus years of business
experience, including 15 years in
corporate America working in a
variety of marketing capacities,
and 19 years running an award-
winning promotional products
business that put her in the top five
percent of the industry, Tiefenthaler
understands how critical it is to
play full out, and use marketing
for the heavy lifting it is designed to
do. Her goal is simple: simplify the
marketing process and eliminate
confusion. Reach her at spmi@
mindspring.comor 954-804-9413.
A good
marketing plan
is frequent,
consistent and
intentional,
and should
be reviewed
and modified
every three to
six months.
78
|
JANUARY 2017
|
THINK