NO RESULTS

Frustration, disappointment, and an “I give up” attitude are a few of the thoughts that enter a small business owners mind when something doesn’t work the way they hoped it would.

You have the right product or service and you have been told that social media is the way to compete yet the anticipated sales results did not happen.

When your marketing efforts do not yield the expected results, there are several things to consider and giving up is not one of them:

• Your message is not reaching your target market. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes, where would you look or who would you talk to, to find out about a product/service similar to yours?
• Do you know the type of media that your target market looks at and trusts?
• Your message is not reaching the “pain” points that your target market has.
• Does your message differentiate your product/service from other similar products/services on the market?
• Have you developed and shared your credibility factor with your target market? An example may be sending your target market copies of an article in your trade publication or a copy of an article about your business.
• Consistency and frequency are key words in small business marketing. Too often the problem is the anticipation of results without having allowed the necessary time for the marketing effort to produce results.
• Your marketing material lacks the content necessary to initiate action.

There is another major factor and that is doing everything alone, not having a support person to discuss options. Small business owners are frequently “reinventing the wheel” when it comes to growing their businesses. Their only point of reference is the knowledge that they have, which in most cases is really a “lack of knowledge.”

Other words include an ability to “trust” someone who says they can help and the word “discipline” which requires perseverance in doing what needs to be done. Always remember, growing a successful business requires 100 times more work than you planned for when you started your business.

You have been assigned this mountain to show others it can be moved.