Branding KISS!
“Imagine” he said.. after thinking of how much one would plausibly make online if a site gets more than a thousand hits a day. He was all excited. He looked at me, and said that I was on the right track. I don’t know about being on the right track really, as long as I am doing something that fills my endless boredom, and emptiness. Alicia queries about the fact that I constantly talk to her about this emptiness, and yet can’t figure out what I’m saying, or telling her.
“You’d have to be empty, to be filled…” I said. I didn’t want to go into all the complexity of having to explain everything from the metaphysics up to how attaining Christ within, would actually help the evolution of the human race. It’s too tedious, and besides I’d have to write tomes just so humans would comprehend.
Its not simple to expound the nature of the Universe, let alone expound beyond the concept of being, human.
When Frederic said that I should be marketing the sites, he didn’t realize that when you’re working online on your own, online marketing is only part parcel of building a site. SEO is just 1/3rd of building. The other 2/3rds come into spending your marketing dollars off line – Irrespective whether a business is brick and mortar, or virtual, the marketing factor is KEY in meeting people, networking, talking about your products and services, creating partnership, making contacts, flirting about opps did I actually type that – heck… its a lot of work! Marketing your products is 1/3 of the effort – the other 2/3rds come in play when you can give the masses what they need {as opposed to what you think they ‘want’} – It would take great skills {and loads of advertising dollars} to sell the masses what they don’t really need but is it really worth it?
Unless one is in Entertainment media, and not the whole world is, best to stick to the practicality of creating awareness of your business{es} – making it a generic verb instead.People don’t really realize that there is such a thing as online business, and business. If you want to migrate your business from a traditional platform to a virtual platform, the marketing does not end by just having an online presence.
It is an ongoing process – one has to be consistent about doing it {the business i.e}.
Yes, it’s cheaper to have an online presence but if you’re into say trading lifestyle products, you’d still need a brick and mortar showroom for your targeted clients. I for one, wouldn’t just buy anything online, if its not from a reputable store like Amazon. So unless your business has become reputable in the sights of the populace, how can you ensure that your new business ‘projects’ the reputation of being a ‘credible’ store? Now that’s where branding, love marking and marketing comes in. And that’s a lot of cash in play when it comes to making it work.
You can also say… strike a deal with a local journal / newspapers to create a buzz about your business, but what can you give them in return? Creating a win-win ‘partnership’ long or short-term especially in marketing takes a wedge of your inventory. If you’re supplying say, a gadget, complimenting a gadget to a publication media is nothing – in return you do get ‘buzzed’, so to speak. But what if you deal with say… ten thousand exotic jars from Cambodia – would you be smarter in finding a reliable drop-shipper in handling your ‘online business’ or would you still think the traditional way of doing business by storing an inventory of 10,000 jars in a showroom is feasible ? In the 21st century, you would not only need the savoir-faire of doing business trying to rid the 10k jars, but also find means to balance. Always remember, the basic rule of buying: buy only what you know that you can sell. And the same thing goes with advertising, and marketing your products both online and off line.
Points to ponder to build your business credibility
Do your research on all the aspects of the business, what good comes and goes, which one you need to accomplish. Make sure you have enough funds to cover you for at least the first year. Don’t spend money until you earn it. If you don’t know the business, hire a company who makes sure to research it for you. The best way to promote your business is through existing customers. Keep the customers satisfied, and they will recommend other people to your business. Enjoy what you’re doing, Learn what marketing works best from others in your business and become a team with your employees – Critical! Give the customer what they expect plus a little bit more, they will come back to you, and they will patronize your business, and they will recommend you to other people. If you don’t do that, they will bad-mouth you.
Focus The Do’s:
- Use a “before you start” checklist
- Focus on selling a great product or service at a fair price
- Specialize – Specialists outperform non-specialists
- Train your employees thoroughly in marketing skills
- Consider outsourcing the manufacture of your product to a low cost producer
- Minimize inventories by a just-in-time delivery and ordering system
- Consider your suppliers as a source of financing
- Now, before you start, develop a database of future customers
- Open quietly to work out the bugs before you schedule the grand opening promotion
- Include the Internet in your marketing plans with an appealing {user-friendly!!!} Web site
Remember The Dont’s:
- Order from a vendor without a written purchase order outlining all terms
- Hesitate to repeatedly contact suppliers to expedite needed merchandise
- Launch a new product or service without test marketing it first
- Be satisfied with unprofessional décor, logo, name, attire packaging or advertising
- Open unless your cash flow projection is positive for the first 12-month period
- Be in a hurry to open
- Compete with discount chains unless you efficiently serve a specialized need
- Fail to meet IRS rules regarding employment practices
- Be afraid to say “no” to poor credit risks
- Depend on your customers to complain; they just won’t come back.
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