Marketing is about you not me

So What!?

This was a lesson I learnt shortly after launching Coo Marketing. I don’t want to sound arrogant but I was really proud of my corporate career and I was really excited to finally be turning my attention to my number 1 passion – helping smaller business build brands.

I wanted to shout from the roof tops about my academic achievements, My First Class Degree & Masters in Marketing & my Chartered Institute of Marketing Post Grad Diploma. I ended up droning on about how many millions of pounds I had added to the household brands I had worked on for international businesses and how all this information was now available to smaller businesses….

Then it hit me square in the face like a big sloppy fish. Nobody really cared! Well that’s not quite true (& I love all of you who listened to me waffle on)…but I am the first to admit I had been whipped up into a frenzy of talking about “me me me” when all people wanted to hear was what was in it for them. If you like marketing jargon, think of it as a radio station called “WIN-FM”. What Is In It For Me & it’s an important station to tune into.

Think of your customers. It does not matter if you sell sausages, satellites, solicitor services or salamanders….you need to explain to your customers what is in it for them rather than falling into the trap I did. This will make your customers be at the very heart of your business – just where we like them!

The moral of is this. Make your business “You You You” not “Me Me Me”. If you would like to hear about my background including stories about throwing vodka and coke around a room full of directors of the biggest UK companies – I’d love to chew your ear ….but until then this blog is for you.

Helping you shake things up and grow your business. To make sure you get regular marketing tips into your inbox, visit marketing help

Claire

Why I give away free marketing information

Tomorrow I have been invited to speak on a webinar about the benefits of marketing to less people with niche marketing. It is completely free to join but I have had a number of people ask me why I would give away valuable information free of charge so what better way to explain than with a quick blog…

The first reason is a (potentially sickly) genuine one. I love marketing! I love helping businesses get to grips with it. I love watching businesses grow. I decided to specialise in marketing many years ago and I now enjoy helping business owners that have not submerged themselves in strategies for business growth as much as I have.

The second reason is a hard commercial one because free information is a very good marketing tool! People are sceptical. People need to know you before they will buy. You need to work with people who like you and trust you so what better way than build up trust than with a free taster of what you are all about?

So there is the truth. Free marketing tips act as bait. They give you a flavour of how I work. Same principle as the tasters you are offered while you do your weekly shop.

Can you think of ways that you could give free tasters or free trials of your products or service so that you can break down the barriers? Works for me, so could work for you too…

And on that subject, why not take a sample. No pressure, just free information to help you grow your business. What have you to loose?

Get free marketing tips by registering at http://www.coomarketing.co.uk/ or if you are quick, free webinar access to learn why marketing to less people will bring in more profits at http://bit.ly/gArJjh

After all, free is the best price of all!

Enjoy,

Claire

How was 2010 for you?

Hello,

Can you believe it? Christmas is in sight and a new year just around the corner….

So how was it for you?

I really hope 2010 has been a good year for you. With the world in panic and press busy spinning doom and gloom, it has been our duty as business owners and leaders to move and shake in the right direction. So what direction have you been going this year? Did you get to your destination? Got stuck in traffic? I hope you didn’t get snowed in!

And the coo marketing journey? Well there have been a couple of hoola hoop circles along the way but overall an amazing journey of a year. A brilliant chance to learn, win awards, meet inspirational people and grow thanks to my supporters.

Thank-you!

Are you getting your free tips?

Coo has been receiving inspiring comments from business owners who have been motivated to take the marketing bull by the horns and follow the simple advice in our free coo marketing tips. However, a handful of people have not received them recently….Please let me know if they are not arriving in your in box every fortnight so that I can sort it out by hitting reply.

A favour to ask..

Thanks to everyone who has filled in the survey about new coo products and services. If you have not done so already, please could you spare 5 minutes by clicking here?

A simple Christmas message…

Finally, I have been busy thinking up a witty marketed-up Christmas message to sign off but sometimes the simple messages are the best….so here goes…

Happy Christmas!
Claire x

Twittering? @clairenield
Mailing? info@coomarketing.co.uk
Surfing?  www.coomarketing.co.uk

Why You Should Be A Marketing GITT…

The last blog was all about the FOWTW principle to marketing – Find Out What They Want.
But the principle does not stop there. You see finding out what your customers want is a critical step towards success but some businesses I have spoken too end up getting a bit stuck at this stage. Have you heard the phrase “paralysis by analysis”? It’s jargon for getting so hung up with so much fact finding and research that you end up doing nothing. This is when you have to become a marketing GITT. A marketing GITT is someone that finds out what their customer wants and then Gives It To Them! Being a Marketing GITT distinguishes businesses that are customer focused from those businesses that are production and product led. You see in my book (and the books of the greatest businesses such as Virgin, Google, Microsoft etc etc…) the customer is much more important than the product!

I could have the newest, shiniest and most fan-dangle-diest (if that is a word??….) product in the world but if nobody wants it….I haven’t got a business! By being a marketing gitt however and giving customers what they want rather than what you want to give them, all of a sudden….wallets are opened, the good will is flowing and your business grows.

The moral of the story is this.

So have you taken time out of your busy diary recently to ask the killer questions to find out what your customers really want? Have you then figured out a plan for how to give it to them? If not, this is a great time to open up to a new way of doing business that involves many more happy customers, no hard sales &….MORE PROFIT!

The FOWTW Rule of Marketing

There is one very simple principle that has stood the test of time in all successful businesses. Your customer may not always be right…but they certainly hold the answers to your marketing questions!

So many times I speak to businesses who ask me what I think of this or what I think of that. They speak to their mother-in-laws, they ask their best friends or the postman what he thinks about a new idea for a product or service. The truth is that you need to ask the right questions to the right people to get the right answer. The right answer is not always a positive one so be warned. It is however the answer that will prevent you making costly mistakes & will set you on the path to meaningful business growth. The marketing dream.

So what is this mystical FOWTW rule of marketing? Simple: “Find Out What They Want!” Before heading off in a new direction or giving up completely on an old one, just step back for a moment and invest some time to finding out what your customers (or future customers) actually want. If you do this, you will no longer need to second guess or cross your fingers when doing something new. You will have a pretty good idea what is going to happen & the power card will once again be with you. How you actually get the answers and ask the questions is a story in itself but the first step is to understand the principle. As a business owner you don’t know everything and that is just as it should be. Just remember to FOWTW before going head long into the unknown!

The moral of the story is this. Marketing is a mindset. It is about putting you customer first and matching their needs to things you can sell to them. When you start to look at your business this way, you will be well on your way to more sales. Be patient. Your empire will grow as long as the foundations are solid and FOWTW is a great brick to lay early on.

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Hello world!

Marketing must not break the bank…

It has been a really interesting journey since setting up Coo Marketing in May 08. As many of you know, my specialism before hand had been big brand marketing and adding millions to the bottom line of household brands. My passion has always been to help smaller businesses and entrepreneurs realize their ambition to grow brands and businesses however, so it has been a journey that I am thoroughly enjoying! 

What has struck me most is that the defences go up when you talk about marketing to so many smaller businesses & I want to put a couple of things straight. Marketing need not cost lots of money! Honestly! Just getting your head around a few marketing concepts can prevent you pouring hard earned money down the drain. I guess it goes back to the misunderstanding of what marketing really is. Some people see it simply as getting a flashy website, a glossy brochure and some snazzy letterheads. Sure, they all have a part to play but what is most important is what your objective is so lets go back to basics for a minute…

After dedicating years of study to getting a Masters Degree in the subject and devoted blood sweat and tears building household brands such as Thirst Pockets and Vimto – it suddenly struck me that marketing can be boiled down to a couple of principles….

1. You must add value to your product or service or you will not survive
2. Marketing is about communicating that added value.
3. That’s it – Simple huh! (& what a waste of education I hear you shout!)

OK, before I talk my profession out of work completely, there are thousands of tricks and techniques to make these things happen but in a nut shell you have to start at the beginning and work out the basics & this need not cost any money at all. Take the time to consider the basics. Why are you creating that website? What should your business cards be saying about you? Why do you not have as many customers as you would like?

The moral of the story is this. Before you reach in your pocket to fix all your marketing problems with something glossy – STOP! Take a bit of time to take stock and challenge yourself as to why you are doing what you are doing. Go back to basics & invest the time in thinking about your business before spending money on marketing. You will be amazed how far you can get by not spending anything at all…Remember: Get into the marketing mindset before you get out the wallet. Bet you were not expecting me to tell you that!

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www.coomarketing.co.uk