Photo by David M. Goehring

Running your own business is hard work. Much of it is invisible and often thankless. When things are running smoothly, life is good. But then a day comes along that hits you hard emotionally. A customer’s anger can’t be placated. Your employees are second-guessing your direction. How do you cope with these down days?

It starts with a strong support network, that you’ve invested in when life is good. You have a great team of mentors and colleagues who are good at listening to your rants and whose advice you trust. You’ve done the same for them on a regular basis, so you almost automatically call someone, email someone, or convene a “help session”. Afterwards, you still have the same issues, but your attitude about the problem has shifted. You no longer feel like a victim. You have options. You have “aha” moments in your own emotional growth.

But what if you don’t have a support network now?

1. Don’t take the “bad day” personally. Do what you can to rewrite the incident in your mind to be about some business problem or a hidden emotional issue.
2. Give yourself permission to think about something else for awhile. Seldom do things get better by dwelling on them.
3. Learn from the event. Could you have communicated something clearer, earlier, or supported by fact? Would an apology soothe hurt feelings? Would you take the same actions again, knowing what you know now?

It’s vital for your well-being to find ways to get emotional support for your business. It’s not something many people talk about – but for you long-term success – make it a priority today.

Photo by Artotem

We’re all eager to hear about the business that landed the big client, the CEO who just wound up on the cover of the newspaper, the startup that attracted lots of venture capital funding, or the video that’s attracted over 1,000,000 views in the last week. It’s seductive. It’s humbling. And it causes a lot of soul-searching (“What do they have that we don’t?”). Why do some businesses have all the luck?

Step 1: Get Ready For Luck. Even if the most amazing opportunity fell into you lap today, odds are, you’re not ready for it. For example, are all your marketing materials up-to-date? Have you been studying all the new innovations in your field? Have you been studying innovations in other non-related fields? Are you confident in your presentation and knowledge? If not, do your homework now. You never know when you’ll need to shine.

Step 2: Listen for Luck. Opportunities present themselves all the time – a casual conversation, a Facebook discussion, or even while watching a TV show. If you think you have something interesting to add, do so generously. Don’t try to show how smart you are. Do try to help someone else look smarter. Also, insert yourself in new environments that “stretch” your confidence. If you do the same things with the same people in the same ways, you’ll get the same results. Do something new or do something with new groups of people.

Step 3: Jump on Luck. Since luck is only seen in hindsight (“If I only knew then…”), don’t think of the immediate benefit to acting on something. A relationship may take time to blossom. A suggestion may take time to implement. Your luck may come not from the person you’re helping – it may be from someone overhearing what you’re saying or witnessing your passion. In public, you never know who’s paying attention to you.

The truth is that it often takes years of practice to become an “overnight sensation”. To boost your luck – practice, listen, and jump on opportunity.

Photo by Riza Nugraha

While you think you’re selling products or services, your customers aren’t buying for the reasons you’re imagining. People don’t want to buy a new car, a new website, a manicure, a massage, or a new marketing campaign. People ultimately are trying to fulfill their dream.

People’s dreams revolve around the basic core human drives: acquisition (desire to collect), bonding (desire to love & feel valued), emotion (desire to have pleasurable experiences) , learning (desire to satisfy curiosity and mastery), and safety (desire to protect ourselves and those we care about).

To capture people’s attention, you need to tie your offering to one (or more) of these human drives/dreams. Instead of selling a new car, market the feeling of the ride or sell the “sex-appeal” of the car. Instead of selling a website, market the ease of making (or acquiring) new business friends.

Fulfilling a dream is about feeding the senses (I described this in depth in depth in my previous article: Scratch The Surface Of Your Marketing). You want people to be able to “try on” the dream, so involve the senses to invoke emotion. For example, instead of selling a house, you’re selling the dream of living in a beautiful and safe environment for your family. The air smells fresher. At night, you can hear the crickets. The colors of the hills vibrate with life. There’s lots of room to share delicious meals with your friends in your backyard.

When crafting your marketing message, first share the dream, then show how your offerings will get your prospective customers closer to it.

Photo by Cuisine de mère en fille, et des autres

If you’re selling a mouth-watering delicacy or high-tech software, you might be tempted to highlight some special ingredient that only your product has. You may even go so far to explain how rare, how expensive, or how confidential the ingredient is. Even though the special ingredient is your pride and joy, your prospective customer really doesn’t care a whit.

Your customer isn’t looking for a special ingredient, they’re looking for a solution to their needs. Unless your special ingredient is that magical answer, the specialness is simply an “edge”. Your “edge” may be perceived as a negative by the risk-adverse (what’s the downside to your special ingredient?). Most businesses fall into the trap of highlighting their features, before they’ve ascertained if their customers care about them.

So, if you’ve got a special ingredient, don’t lead with it in your marketing. Use the ingredient to propel your solution to the front of your customer’s mind. For example, “Because we use Persinofex 10 in our cleaning solution, you’ll be able to clean your windows in half the time and they’ll stay clean twice as long”. The benefit isn’t the “Persinofex 10” (whatever that is) – it’s saving time with chores. (For other major benefits, see my previous article Marketing 101).

Keep striving to develop unique ingredients to your offerings, but make sure that you always anchor your uniqueness with something your prospective customers are willing to pay (extra) for. Otherwise, your secret will stay a secret forever.

Photo by skidrd

If you’re selling your creative services, one of the most frustrating (and dangerous) phrases your client can tell you is, “I’ll know when it’s right.” That means your mission isn’t simply to creating something amazing, it’s also to read the mind of your client and discern what they think they’re asking for. The end result is a lot of aggravation by everyone – no one quickly got what they needed.

The better way to is to create a tightly written creative brief. The brief describes the client’s problem, needs, resources, assumptions, and measurable goals. Most people don’t write a brief thinking it’ll take too long (or they don’t have the budget for it). Writing a brief is hard work, and does require solid proactive thinking. It may also require a different set of skills than either you or your client have – a marketing strategist. A strategist can tease out the various needs (both short-term and long-term) and get team agreement.

The creative brief allows everyone to judge choices and outcomes using a objective yardstick. Instead of trying to please someone’s inner judge, it becomes much simpler to see what’s the best option. Often, the best solution isn’t immediately obvious (or loved). It may be too radical, too simple, too expensive, too risky. A person who’s risk-averse might not naturally accept the solution, even if it matches all the specifications/needs described in the brief. The thing that most clients pay attention to is “how does it make me feel?” The right thing they should pay attention to is, “how does it make my clients feel?” They’re the ultimate judge of what works (and why).

Photo by Nathan Eal Photography

If you want to increase your miles per gallon while driving, use cruise control. Let the car’s computer adjust the throttle automatically to keep the speed nearly constant. The computer’s algorithm is simple – if the car’s speed is at or over the target speed, leave the throttle as-is. If the car is going slightly slower, increase the throttle slightly. If the car is dramatically slower, increase the throttle a lot. So, what does this have to do with your business marketing?

Pick a target. Do you know what your business goals are? If you don’t know what you’re aiming for, how will will know if you get there? So, make sure you’ve thought through your business target strategy.

Measure you distance from your target. If your target isn’t measurable, then pick a target that is. You need a simple metric to understand how you’re doing. This is why fund-raising campaigns show their progress with a thermometer (or other graphic). People will naturally help out in various stages of need (to get things rolling, to complete the goal, etc.).

Regularly measure your distance. While it may be tempting to measure your distance when things are looking good, you need to regularly assess your progress.

Track your progress. In addition to keeping track of time, keep track of your actions to achieve your goals. This information will be invaluable for your next effort – you’ll better understand the ROI (return of investment) of your activities.

By putting your business marketing on cruise control, you’ll be more focused on your long term goals than your short-term fluctuations, saving your energy for other things.

Photo by Randen Pederson

Have you stopped to think what marketing you stop and pay attention to? Was it a series of words, a color, an image, a testimonial, or a recommendation by someone you know? That’s why there’s a hierarchy of advertising imagery that you should be aware of (and use for the right reason for your target market).

Hierarchy of Marketing Imagery

Words Only. It’s ultimately the offer that’s in your marketing that sells your product or services. But people are unlikely to read something that’s strictly text unless someone else has told them to read it. Newspapers and magazines make sure to break up long text passages with graphics to draw the eye in. Words alone answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”.

Words and Images of Things. If you want to see a widget, it makes sense to show the widget and tell about it. That’s what you’ll see in a catalog listing and it answers the question, “What does it look like?”.

Words and Images of People. Having people use your widget gives your product “social proof”. If these people are enjoying it, then it would seem that you would as well. This type of marketing message answers the question, “How will it make me feel?”.

Words and Images of People Looking at the Reader. Psychologically, when we see groups of people, we think “pack”. If they are attractive, enjoying themselves, or being rewarded – we want to be like them. But we often think of “us” and “them”. “They” are “the cool crowd”. By having people look at the reader, it allows us to be “seen” and gives us a permission to be part of the crowd. This type of marketing message answers the question, “How can I invite myself into this lifestyle?”

When planning your next marketing effort, pick the right marketing message tool to get the business results you desire.

Photo by Phil Brown

One of the biggest habits I’ve been correcting is that I’ll email or call a potential client and get miffed when I don’t hear back from them. I assume they’ve received the message and by not responding, they’re clearly saying “not interested”.

I now have a new system. I go for “no”. A non-answer is simply a non-answer. I don’t know if the person does or doesn’t want my services. All I know is that they didn’t get back to me. Perhaps my email went into their spam folder or my phone call was deleted before they could act on it. I don’t know. I also don’t really care what the story is. My goal is to simply get a “yes” or “no” answer. If they’re truly not interested, I want to hear “no”. If they are not ready to answer, that’s okay – I can re-ask my “yes” or “no” question again after their concerns/needs are better met. Best case scenario – I hear a yes.

Unless you’ve done a lot of door-to-door selling, most of us hate hearing “no”. We take it personally, and a “no” feels bad. So we gingerly ask questions and assume we know the answer.

If you’re sending someone an email that requires an answer, and you don’t get one in a timely matter, call them. If you’ve called someone and they haven’t returned your calls, write them a handwritten letter. If you’ve written them a letter and they haven’t responded, try dropping by (if the answer is truly worth your time). What’s the worst thing that can happen? You’ll hear NO. What’s the best thing that can happen?

Photo by Paul Downey

The Internet has provided us all with a double-edged sword: the ability to purchase directly from a supplier instead of a local store. So, how does this affect your business?

If you’re a “middleman”, you need to provide a compelling message not only to choose you over your competition, but also to do business with you (instead of bypassing you entirely). Odds are, you can’t compete on price (nor do you really want to try this as a long-term business model). So, what’s left to focus on? Service. Quick support. Helping the community (if your company provides a local charity “give-back”, for example). Training. Special customization. A human voice and/or face (instead of a toll-free phone number to an automated system). Value-added services (not just focused on a single-vendor’s product, but being able to fix your customer’s entire “system”).

If you’re a “supplier”, it’s your chance to provide easier access to your products or services. Make it easy for people to read all your literature online (including service manuals, troubleshooting FAQs, parts catalog, and how-to guides). Make it easy to order online (using an e-Commerce system). If you’re worried about being deluged with calls from too many “little guys”, then provide a different access on your website for customers vs. dealers.

If you’re a “customer”, determine the true cost of buying direct. How much of the purchase is a commodity and how much is it hand-holding support? Is your purchase time-sensitive?

By understanding the “Internet Middleman” effect, you’ll ensure that your business will be more efficient in the online era.