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How can I improve my marketing? 10 Steps to do today

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How can I improve my marketing? by Teena Hughes

Are you wondering, “How can I improve my marketing?” or

“Why isn’t my marketing working?”

The answer to this could be several things, here are two which are extremely important:

  1. have you been putting in a LOT of effort to get your name out there in front of people who might be interested in what you’re selling?
  2. have you done any research to find out if anyone actually wants to BUY whatever you’re selling?

Have you done more than this in the past month?

  1. if you posted a couple of times on Facebook and made a couple of replies, that’s NOT a marketing strategy
  2. if you posted a couple of tweets on Twitter or another social media platform, and made a couple of replies, that’s NOT a marketing strategy either.

That’s chatting, connecting and communicating (which is fantastic!) but unfortunately it’s not enough to be considered really SOLID marketing.

If you got a ton of LIKES or RETWEETS — that SOUNDS great, but at the end of the week the question you need to ask is:

  • how many people people either SIGNED UP for my updates, OR BOUGHT SOMETHING FROM ME?

If the answer to that is no-one / nobody / zero / zilch / nada — then you’re either doing the wrong type of marketing, or you’re not doing enough of the RIGHT type of marketing.

Please know that to get consistent results it’s important to have a consistent Daily, Weekly and Monthly Marketing Calendar.

To get started:

  1. create your Daily and Weekly Calendar (proposed wish list) of how many items you can publish to your website, YouTube, Pinterest and social media accounts
  2. block out 15 minutes each day on the Calendar and STICK TO IT
  3. each day, set your Timer for 15 minutes – this should be the MAXIMUM amount of time spent on social media each day
  4. videos will take a bit longer to create, so choose one day a week to create and publish a video
  5. consider setting up some automated postings, and combine with some manual postings, commenting etc for a good mix
  6. be consistent and post at least daily or every other day (be prepared to post for months at a time) about your product or service
  7. write down and track the RESULTS from each type of marketing so that at the end of a month you will know WHICH ONE WORKED BEST.

The amount of sales that it’s possible to make in any given period of time depends on quite a few things.

The main action a business owner needs to take to improve marketing

  1. Make sure to be offering great information about your product (or service) each day in the places online where your potential customers hang out.
  2. Consider using Questions and Answers as a simple yet powerful way to reach your potential audience. Post an image, video or audio answering one question per day to really kick your efforts into high speed!
  3. Make sure  A WEBSITE LINK is visible on EVERY piece of content to be shared anywhere
  4. Make a list of EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF CONTENT/INFORMATION you have posted online in the PAST 7 DAYS, and WHERE it has been posted — for example:
  • Video 1 posted on my Facebook Business Page on Mon, Wed, Fri
  • Photo 1 posted on Facebook on Tues, Thu, Sat
  • Photo 2 posted on Facebook on Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun
  • Photo 3 posted on Facebook on Fri, Sun, Wed
  • Video 1 posted on Twitter on Mon, Tues, Wed, Thu, Fri
  • Video 1 posted on main website on Monday
  • email the mailing list about the new Video posted on main website
  • Video 1 posted in Facebook Business Group 1 on “Share News Saturday”
  • Video 1 posted in Facebook Business Group 2 on Fri
  • Photo 3 posted on local Women’s Networking Group weekly “share” page on their Forum
  • Podcast Interview with XYZ about my products, published on Wed, potential to reach a huge audience interested in what I am selling.

The list above show 20+ times that different pieces of content were posted online in a 7-day period.

Measuring Stick – Are You Doing Enough Marketing To Get Noticed?

In 7 days, if you have posted less than 20 piece of Content (video, photo, audio file, meme etc) then the likelihood is that you may not be reaching out in enough places to find enough people who may be interested in what you have to sell.

Don’t worry! There is a way to improve your results!

If you cannot make a list like this, then it’s highly possible you may not be doing enough to market your product or service — YET.

The GOOD news is, you have total control over how much and when you post content — so increase your activity, and you’ll start to see results pretty quickly.

Another idea to boost your marketing!

  • Have you had a look at your competitors’ websites?
  • Have you searched for their names and product names to see how many times they appear online?
  • Make a note of this for each competitor, it may give you ideas on how / when / where / what to do for your own marketing.

Action Steps to Start Marketing Like A Committed Business Owner

  1. set up a Mailing List is THE most essential first step – but be warned — if you do a bunch of marketing and people flock to your website, but you don’t have a mailing list for them to sign up for, you’re losing money:
    • offer a great “gift” in exchange for their email name
    • and then send WEEKLY emails to remind them about you
    • share interesting stories and tips
    • don’t try to “sell”, let that happen naturally
    • every third email, share a story (client success etc) and then remind them of your products or services and HOW they solve a problem just like the one they’ve experienced
  2. only after you have set up STEP 1 ABOVE, should you proceed to the next steps
  3. create a Daily, Weekly and Monthly Marketing Calendar for the next month
  4. create images, videos, audio files and brand them with your website links (or some link you own) so people can track down the creator (you)
  5. contact local radio stations, and search for Podcasts online — start searching for “guest speakers” plus your “niche” – and then ask to be interviewed
  6. contact local newspapers online and offline and ask if they’d like to interview you about your products, and tell them a great client success story to get them interested
  7. contact local groups, networking groups, Meetup.com groups, Chamber of Commerce, Mum’s groups etc — and offer to be a Guest Speaker, with an offer of a Bonus Giveaway of one your products or services
  8. contact local business groups, local groups related to your product or service, who would benefit from hearing you speak passionately about your business – have unique flyers and business cards so they’ll remember you
  9. write a Monthly Press Release and publish online.

Phew! Are you still reading? Fantastic!

Thanks for hanging in there!

Is all of this too much marketing for you to consider?

But — if you seriously think this is all too much work, it might be time to do some soul searching and really think about what you’re trying to achieve.

Sometimes writing down the Pro and Con points about being in business might help you crystalise what you’d like your business goals to be.

If you decide this isn’t for you, there is absolutely no shame in that.

In life and in business, knowing what you DON’T want is just as important as knowing what you DO want.

Have you decided that you really are cut out to be a business person selling your product or service?

If you are, that’s fantastic news! Bravo!

All you need to do now is work HARDER at getting your name out there!

Follow some of the steps above (and the links below) and do something new each week to start increasing those marketing muscles :-)

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Best of luck, let me know how you get on – I’d love to hear of your upcoming successes.

Ciao ciao for now,

Teena Hughes signature

Teena Hughes

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