In business, when you don't know what to say, you use the word "strategy". Do we have a strategy? What is the strategy? Let's have a strategy workshop. It's an overused word that means: I'm not sure what to do, and desperately need to look confident. Strategy time! But do you really need a marketing strategy, or is it just a fancy word for hot air? Let's answer this by starting at the beginning: In business, you want to make investments, not incur expenses. An "investment" is similar to an "expense" but with a long term benefit to the business. To move from pure expense to investment, you need to think deeply about how you spend your money: where are you spending it, why and what should the results be? I regard this process of thinking as "strategy". Too many businesses don't think through their marketing, meaning it remains a pure expense, with little upside. This is why you need a marketing strategy - to

I was at a function last week when the owner of a small business told me he was struggling to make sales. I hear this often, but what made it different this time was that the business had an existing contract with a big corporate: MTN, the multinational mobile operator. How do you struggle for new business when you already have such a large customer on your side? Like most entrepreneurs, this one also had a lingering feeling that maybe better marketing could be the answer, but precisely what needed to be done? I decided to try and help with some practical advice: My first question: Where do you want to get new business from? (he needed some time to think - like most entrepreneurs faced with this question) Answer: Other telecoms companies. Me: do you have a list of such "other telecoms companies"? Him: no First recommendation: Get someone to prepare such a list. (a good idea, he thought)  Me: once you have your list, do you know what you are goi

I was in a meeting this week with an owner who was clearly frustrated with the marketing results he had seen over the years. He was at wit's end with all the "e-marketers" that has been through his door, none able to help him grow his business. From my experience working with entrepreneurs, many share this frustration. Yet, despite its poor track record, successful marketing remains an ideal that many entrepreneurs are hoping for as they try and grow their companies. They tend to give up on marketers, but not on marketing. Fundamentally, there is an understanding that surely a pure sales based approach cannot be the only way. A sales only approach is inefficient. Hours on the phone trying to secure meetings. More hours on the road driving to meetings, waiting in reception areas, often just to be told to come back later. And once you get into the meeting, there is the inevitable fight over price with margins disappearing quickly. A sales-based approach is

Let's think about your sales situation as a garden. Most businesses have a bone dry garden. There's hardly anything growing, or the little that is, grows too slow. How to improve this situation? Surprisingly, most entrepreneurs will admit they should sprinkle a dose of marketing water over their sales garden to stimulate growth. But there is a problem...instead of piping the water in, many entrepreneurs dump it in, or drip it in. By dumping the proverbial marketing water into your sales garden, the marketing is all over the place with lots of spillage and erosion. No one knows what is going where and why. Today it's Facebook, tomorrow Google Ads; then a few events, followed by nothing for months. On the contrary, dripping the water in results in too little activity happening. You spend a couple of bucks here and there hoping to see a change. With both dumping and dripping, the results are poor. Neither has a measurable effect on sales. You need to pipe the marketing

It is one thing agreeing to do marketing. It is a whole different thing, actually doing it. Most small/medium sized businesses don't do marketing, because - get this - they don't do marketing. That's right; nothing happens, because no-one is doing it. I see this all the time. My client agrees to update their website; then nothing happens; post to social media, nothing happens; write a monthly article to establish opinion leadership....nothing. Marketing requires someone in the business to do something, or someone outside the company must be tasked with doing it. Bottom-line, something needs to happen. "Sales" happen when someone picks up the phone and makes a call to a prospect and goes to visit them. Manufacturing happens when someone flicks a switch to start the machines. Marketing happens when someone writes something, designs it, posts it and promotes it. It doesn't "just happen". If you believe that marketing is an important component of h

We’re all looking to find new business, but how many potential sales sit in your existing network? If you had to send a short email to everyone you have been dealing with over the last five years and told them you’re still around, still focused on solving the same problems, only difference: you’re now better and more experienced - how many of them will re-engage with you? Essentially this is what a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool is all about - extracting value from relationships. The more I am building my own consulting business, the more I realise the importance of going back to reap, where I have already sowed. It is not just about establishing new fields. In your company, do you keep a list of who you have been dealing with and periodically touch base again? Interestingly, I don’t believe it matters whether these contacts had a good or bad experience working with you. There could have been a massive fallout, or a disastrous outcome - the fact is time

I woke up this morning to the surprising news that Anthony Joshua, big talking super fit and chiselled British boxing superstar, got himself beaten by an overweight, unknown Mexican called Andy Ruiz Jr and decided to change the heading of this blog to "roll up your sleeves and fight!" You see, as I work with businesses in various stages of development, I can't help but ask the question: "what is your attack plan over the next few months?". I know it sounds aggressive, but instead of using fancy words like "strategy" we should all instead prepare for battle. It's tough out there, and you need to be on the offensive to survive. Before you say "yes, but we don't want to be that aggressive, we simply want to make a living... there's room for everyone in our market", let me tell you, your customer does not think like this. They ultimately do something horrible - they choose to either buy from you or someone else. This is where al