Many small business owners neglect the basic principles of marketing – such as relying on a description of the services they provide rather on the benefits these services offer to clients. Let’s take a simple example of that, and while it is obviously made up it nevertheless explains the point being made.
You are selling a fitness machine. This is the best fitness machine in the world, it is inexpensive and fits into your den or garage – even your bedroom, and is totally silent in operation so it won’t wake the kids when you are using it. It combines the benefits of a top-of-the-range treadmill and a rowing machine, and has 100 different programs you can set for different gradients of hill and can even be adjusted to your particular weight and size.
You market it as this and sell none! Why?
Because you did not target the benefits to the client! You will sell dozens of fitness machines that will help your client lose a half a pound a week while eating ice cream, and build up fantastic pecs and abs while doing it. These will sell like hot cakes – yet they are the same machine!
Small business owners neglect marketing for a number of reasons, but the main one is that perhaps they have never been shown how to market a product. Rather than focus on the benefits of their products they focus on their features. Your clients purchase products to meet a need or solve a problem – if one guy says his fitness machine builds great 6-pack abs while you lose weight, and the second guy says his fitness machine fits in your trunk and can be used in the office – guess who sells the machine!
Goals are very important, and marketing must keep the client’s goals in mind. If you are marketing a sunbed you are not offering ‘California sun 24/7’ but a ‘fabulous golden tan all year round.’ Target your market and show them how your product meets their needs and their deepest, innermost desires.
Making money counts, of course, and that is also where small business owners fail while the big guys win. Show them what you can do. If you design web sites give them a free website and then sell the applications needed to make it work!
“It looks great, doesn’t it – now get it to work making money for you!”
“Make money while you sleep!”
Most small business owners don’t use headlines like that, and neither do they keep in touch with their clients and prospects. “A list? What’s that?” and “What’s a Squeeze Page?”
They fail to capture contact details of everybody that displays some interest in their products – or their websites. Small business owners neglect marketing for a number of reasons, but mainly because they don’t know what the word means, they fail to grasp the concept of ‘benefit’ to a potential customer rather than a ‘feature’.
Small business owners should learn the simple things and then they could use their knowledge of their products to make a killing online. Attract your customers, stay in touch, give them information, meet their needs and solve their problems. Achieve each of these and your small business will soon be banking large business income.