One Trait of Successful Business Owners

Think about the local video store. How many have you seen close down. How much marketing did you see from those who have closed down? I would hazard a guess that you didn’t see much and if you did, it never tried to sell you the experience of watching a new release movie or old classic from the comfort of your own home. Typically store owners get so caught up with the day to day running they forget the need to market their products or services to continue to bring in new customers or clients and just continue to market their store name.

Let me try and provide anther example. You have a novelty shop with a physical storefront location and have named it “Joan’s Store”. That is not your business. In fact, the store itself is usually an extra expense of running a business. If you are like many business owners, you put up a sign out the front with your store name and run an ad in the local paper telling people your store name and location. How will anyone know that your shop (Joan’s Store) sells novelty items? How differently would your business grow if instead of advertising just your store name, you advertise your novelty items and their benefits? Or if your marketing efforts sell the experience (or sizzle) of getting many laughs?

Your real business is the marketing of the novelty items…you just use the store front as a way to sell your novelty items. Instead of a store you could also use mail order, a phone order line, a website, or stores owned by others to sell your products and services. Your real business job is to drive potential customers (or traffic) into your store to buy your novelty products. There are hundreds of ways to drive traffic to your store and its products; and that is the art of marketing.

Marketing can include: advertising, direct mail campaigns, classified ads, TV infomercials, email courses, email mailing lists, banners, sponsorship, direct mail, postcards, events and contests, drawings, JV’s, open houses, press releases, logo branding, etc. Marketing is anything which brands your product or services, brings them to the attention of potential customers and drives them to do business with you.