Tag Archive for: Business Failure

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5 Common Reasons Why Your Marketing isn’t Working (And How to Fix It)

Some common reasons why your marketing isn’t working are probably less obvious than you might think. Marketing, when not done right, can easily fail to produce the desired results. Many times, I have seen business owners sit down to come up with their own marketing strategy, only to end up with great disappointment. However, this is all part of being in business. When we fail, we pick ourselves up and go again.

Nevertheless, I have identified a few common mistakes when it comes to marketing and outlined some strategies for how to fix these problems.

Here are 5 common reasons why your marketing isn’t working

 

1. Trying to be everything to everyone

Many businesses fail to send out a clear message that is targeted at their ideal customer (Avatar). Instead they try to keep their message as broad as possible. This approach results in generic messaging that doesn’t work. Instead, be very clear about your purpose, what your product or service is about and who exactly it is for. Identify who your ideal customers are and craft copy that speaks directly to them. The clearer your message and targeting, the better your sales will be.

2. Competing on price

One approach many businesses take when competition moves in is to lower their price. In some industries, this has led to a war on price between competitors leaving little to none for anyone. Rather than lowering your prices, try to find ways to add more value to your customers. This won’t just leave you better off financially, but also position you as the expert amongst your competitors. Ever seen Apple run a sale?

3. Limiting Marketing to Just One Platform

Businesses have to consider more than one marketing platform. Digital marketing offers countless tools to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your campaigns and proactively increase your sales when you choose to. Social media is just one platform. Email marketing is another. Traditional forms of marketing are also worth testing, especially when targeting customers who are yet to embrace the digital era. Muti-channel marketing also allows you to identify where your best customers are coming from and where to spend most of your budget in order to get the best return.

4. Lack of Strategy

Without a strategy, marketing fails. This is one of the most common reasons why your marketing isn’t working. In marketing, strategy is everything. In fact, the right strategy produces stunning, hitherto unimagined results. Develop a marketing plan and stick to it. Test what’s working, repeat what does, discard what doesn’t. Numbers don’t lie.

5. Dead Techniques

Dead marketing techniques kill businesses faster than ever before. Don’t get stuck in the old ways. If it’s not working, change it. Replace it with something that works. Tweak it if necessary. There’s no need of staying loyal to ideas that cost a lot of money yet have nothing to show for all that investment. Even if it once was your best strategy.

Do you currently have a strategy that allows you to get new customers “on tap”? If not, I might be able to help. As an independent marketing consultant, I help business owners in the retail and hospitality industries to design and implement automated marketing strategies that take their business to a whole new level. When you’re ready, let’s have a chat about your business.

 

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6 Common Business Mistakes You Want To Avoid When First Starting Out

When I started my first business at the age of 21, I had all the right reasons for why I would be different and succeed. Well, guess what? I lost thousands of dollars because I really had no idea of what I was doing at that time.

In Australia, more than 60 percent of small businesses fail and cease operating within the first three years of starting.[1] This fact is too often ignored by young entrepreneurs who are just as naive as I once was.

I now know that the main reason I failed was because of my lack of marketing skills at the time. I had a good product that people were actually buying, however, I wasn’t able to reach enough of the right people and turn them into buyers. Here’s your chance to learn from my mistakes.

6 common mistakes you want to avoid when first starting out

1. Giving up too quickly

It’s all exciting when starting out as an entrepreneur. Until you hit a brick wall. There will be many obstacles along the way and sadly most people simply give up as soon as the first challenge arises. It’s all too hard and staying in your job is just too comfortable.

2. Not having clear goals

A shiny new product in a pretty box is not a very good goal. After all, you didn’t go into business because you wanted to sell pretty boxes. You went into business to live your passion, make money, and to enjoy the freedoms of a successful entrepreneur. Be very specific and clear about what freedom means to you personally. Then work on those things that truly make an impact and help you achieve your goals faster. Read this post about the principle of leverage and how you can use it to grow your business twice as fast by doing half the work.

3. Not testing the market

It’s easy to assume that your product will sell and that everyone is going to love it. All your friends and family are probably telling you how great your idea is. What would they say though, if you asked them to pre-purchase your product and actually hand their cash over? Test it out. If out of 10 people no-one buys it, it’s probably a bad idea.

4. Ignoring the numbers

Chances are, the profit margins for your awesome product are just not high enough. Did you really think if you bought these cool t-shirts for $10 and resell them for $20 you made $10 profit? If you are serious about building a business, here are just a few things to consider: Taxes, accounting & bookkeeping fees, advertising cost, Marketing and promotional budget, rent, utility bills, shipping & returns, plus all the time required to build a profitable business.

5. Lack of focus

It takes focus to get a new business off the ground. Lots of focus. You need to have a plan of what your business is going to look like in a few months, as well as in a few years. Then, break your plan into smaller chunks and focus on staying on track. If you are like most young entrepreneurs you are probably working on the next project, even before you’ve seen any results. Stay focused. Also, instead of focusing on money, focus on adding value to your customers’ lives. If you can add enough value, the sales will come naturally.

 

6. Working on the wrong things

Yeah, no. Your logo and letterhead can wait. Start selling first. If it works you can start worrying about the cosmetics. You don’t need to spend hundreds or thousands on a fancy website either. Keep it simple and prove that your idea works on a small scale before you start going global.

 

 

 

Why do you think your business will be different? Have you experienced other challenges in your business or seen a new business fail? What’s the biggest lesson you have learned thus far? Leave me a comment below!

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1. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics: http://www.abs.gov.au/
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7 Reasons Why Your Business Is Going To Fail Within Your First Year

In Australia, more than 60 per cent of small businesses fail and cease operating within the first three years of starting out.[1]

This fact is too often ignored by enthusiastic entrepreneurs who all believe they have what it takes to build a successful business.

When I started my first business at the age of 21, I had all the right reasons for why I would succeed. Well, guess what? I lost thousands of dollars because I was overly confident and naive.

In other words, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

Looking back, I now know that the main reason I failed was because of a lack of marketing skills at the time. I had a good product that people were actually buying, however, I wasn’t able to reach enough of the right audience to make it profitable.

7 reasons why your business is (probably) going to fail within your first year

In this article, I’m sharing common mistakes in the hope that you can learn from them.

1. You are not testing the market

It’s easy to assume that your product will sell and that everyone is going to love it. All your friends and family are probably telling you how great your idea is. What would they say though, if you asked them to pre-purchase your product and actually hand their cash over? Test it out. If out of 10 people no one buys it, it’s probably a bad idea.

2. Your numbers simply don’t add up

Chances are, the profit margins for your awesome product are just not high enough. Did you really think if you bought these cool t-shirts for $10 and resell them for $20 you made a $10 profit? If you are serious about building a business, here are just a few things to consider: Taxes, accounting & bookkeeping fees, advertising costs, Marketing and promotional budget, rent, utility bills, shipping & returns, plus all the time required to build a profitable business.

3. You give up too early

It’s all exciting when starting out as an entrepreneur. Until you hit a brick wall. There will be many obstacles along the way and sadly most people simply give up as soon as the first challenge arises. It’s all too hard and staying in your job is just too comfortable.

4. You waste your time working on the wrong things

Yeah, no. Your logo and letterhead can wait. Start selling first. If it works you can start worrying about the cosmetics. You don’t need to spend hundreds or thousands on a fancy website either. Keep it simple and prove that your idea works on a small scale before you start going global.

5. You are lacking focus or simply focus on the wrong things

It takes focus to get a new business off the ground. Lots of focus. You need to have a plan of what your business is going to look like in a few months, as well as in a few years from now. Then, break your plan into smaller chunks and focus on staying on track. If you are like most young entrepreneurs you are probably working on the next project, even before you’ve seen any results. Stay focused. Also, instead of focusing on money, focus on adding value to your customers’ lives. If you can add enough value, the sales will come naturally. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was a genius at creating things that people want. The sales were a by-product of Apple’s early success.

6. You don’t have the right toolbox (or no toolbox at all)

If you are a mechanic and want to build a car from scratch, you are going to require some serious tools. You’ll also need to know exactly what tools you require to get the job done. Your toolbox as an entrepreneur might look a little different, but there is no doubt that you will need one. Do your research on what you really need in order to achieve your goals work hard on getting smart.

7. Did someone say goals?

A shiny new product in a pretty box is not a very good goal. After all, you didn’t go into business because you wanted to sell pretty boxes. You went into business to live your passion, make money, and enjoy the freedoms of a successful entrepreneur. Be very specific and clear about what freedom means to you personally. Then work on those things that truly make an impact and help you achieve your goals faster. Read this post about the principle of leverage and how you can use it to grow your business twice as fast by doing half the work.

Why do you think your business will be different? Have you experienced other challenges in your business or seen new businesses fail? What’s the biggest lesson you have learned thus far? Leave me a comment below!

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1. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics: http://www.abs.gov.au/
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