Warning: Don’t Hire Any Marketing Consultant Until You Read This Letter
Dear friend,
If you are a business owner looking for ways to increase profits in your business, then this may be the most important letter you ever read.
Here’s why:
By the time you finish reading this letter, I am going to debunk many of the myths about marketing and advertising. I’m also going to explain some facts you need to be aware of before hiring any marketing consultant.
No one needs to tell you that running a business is tough work. Meeting a payroll, dealing with employees and adhering to ridiculous government regulations is challenging on the best of days. If that isn’t enough, you also need to worry about bringing in enough customers on a regular basis to keep the doors open.
Fact #1: There Are Only Four Ways To Increase Profits
If you’re reading this letter, I’m going to assume it’s because you want to grow your business and make more money. Before we go any further, let me tell you that there are only four ways that you can increase profits.
Here they are:
- Increase customers
- Sell more to existing customers
- Decrease expenses
- Increase prices
That’s it, plain and simple. Your marketing plan should focus on how to maximize each of the four steps listed above. Of the four steps listed above, increasing your customer base is the most costly.
However, if you can’t capitalize on Step #1, you’ll never optimize Step #2, and your business will be in danger.
Studies show that 80% of all businesses fail within the first five years. The main reason that businesses fail is lack of sufficient funds. Businesses that can’t bring in enough customers are doomed to fail.
Fact #2: It Takes More Than Just Being Good To Bring In Customers
“Never confuse motion with action.” –Ben Franklin
There are plenty of businesses that provide great service and keep their clients happy. If providing great service was all it took to keep new customers walking through your doors, then you wouldn’t have to worry about advertising. Unfortunately it just does not happen that way.
One of my all-time favorite restaurants was located in Dartmouth, MA. My girlfriend and I loved to go there for dinner. It was a small, comfortable, dimly-lit establishment with a fire place that made it very cozy and romantic. The food was excellent and the service was superb.
By all means, the restaurant should have been successful and profitable. Everyone that ever went there agreed it was a fantastic restaurant.
The restaurant was out of business within three years.
The restaurant owners never developed a plan to bring in customers on a consistent basis. The unfortunate fact is that when potential clients aren’t calling you, they’re calling your competition.
If enough of your potential customers are going to the competition, it is only a matter of time before you close your doors for good.
Have you thought about contacting a marketing consultant but are skeptical about what kind of results you will get? Are you confused about who you should hire?
It’s not your fault.
The truth about the restaurant owner described above, is that he was not an advertising and marketing expert. He was an expert on providing a fantastic meal and great service.
It’s the same with most business owners. A dance instructor can show you how to flawlessly execute a complicated dance step, a carpet cleaner can clean the spots off your rug and a shoe salesman can fit you in the perfect shoe. That’s what they know how to do. What many of them never figure out is how to get a constant stream of new customers coming through their doors.
Fact #3: There Are Things That Marketing Firms Don’t Want You To Know
“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising”. -Mark Twain
Advertising and marketing is a very misunderstood profession, and many of the so-called “experts” even get it wrong. Here is a dirty little secret that the ad agencies don’t want you to know. Many agencies are more interested in getting awards and recognition from their peers than increasing the size of your bank account. Because of this, the type of advertising that they offer is glitzy and wasteful.
Go ahead and visit some marketing firms’ websites. They will explain that they create “award winning campaigns.” Let me tell you, ads that get awards don’t make money for the business owner. Think I’m wrong, keep reading and discover that some of the biggest award-winning campaigns cost the business owners a small fortune.
Would you rather have an ad that receives awards and does nothing but cost you money, or would you rather run an ad that puts profits in your bank account?
Here are some examples of big-time ad agencies getting it wrong.
- Do you remember the famous California raisin ads that ran in the late 80’s? The ones with the raisins dancing to the Marvin Gaye classic, “I heard it though the grapevine?” That campaign sold millions of dollars worth of raisin dolls, toys, mugs, posters and secondary products. After four years, the dancing raisin campaign was discontinued. Raisin sales were lower than before the ads started (Forbes, June 17, 1996). They sold plenty of raisin dolls but they didn’t sell many raisins. Guess who paid for the advertising? The raisin farmers.
- More recently, an ad agency hired by Taco Bell came up with a talking Chihuahua, “Yo quiero Taco Bell.” It became a media favorite. Taco Bell’s sales went south and the ad agency was fired.
- Pets.com ran an ad campaign featuring a sock puppet that won many different awards and received compliments from the media and marketing experts alike. The sock puppet was seen everywhere; Macy’s Day Parade, Good Morning America, CNN, Time and People magazine. Pets.com spent millions on their advertising. The result? Within a year, Pets.com went bankrupt.
Now there’s a good chance you’re not a big business like Taco Bell or Pets.com, and that’s even more reason not to try to advertise like them. Your marketing and advertising budget is much smaller, and therefore, has to go a lot further.
So, how do you maximize your limited budget? With guerrilla-type marketing. It works with virtually EVERY type of industry, and the RIO is significantly higher than traditional advertising. You simply don’t have enough money to turn your logo into a nationally recognized symbol. Instead, you need to get your marketing message out to a targeted list of potential customers. Advertising is serious business. When you spend your hard-earned money on marketing and advertising, you want to make sure that you see a positive return on investment.
Is there a secret to success?
Why does one business prosper, while others go bankrupt?
Why does one business dominate a market, while all the other businesses get the leftovers, or simply go out of business?
The Secret Revealed
The answer is simple. Successful businesses all have one thing in common. They know how to acquire customers and keep them coming back. They have develop and implemented a systematic marketing plan that does just that.
At OMC, we help you develop and implement a marketing plan that more than pays for itself. We help you easily find potential customers interested in your products or services, and then keep them coming back!
OMC provides a full range of services including:
- Development of Core Marketing Message - Create a strong unique selling proposition (USP) that will clearly separate your business from the competition in the eyes of prospective customers
- Creation and Distribution of Press Releases - Piggyback on local and national events and create newsworthy press releases to ensure that your stories actually get printed
- Complete Website Analysis, Rework or Development - One small change in your website can potentially bring in thousands of dollars in business each year
- Successful Email Marketing Campaigns - Let your customers know about sales, promotions and events in seconds
- Creation of High ROI Print and Radio Advertising - The difference between one-step and two-step print advertising, develop newspaper ads that will generate a trackable response starting the day they run
- Creation of Customer Newsletters - A simple customer newsletter can keep you at that coveted “Top Of Mind” position
- Complete Online Marketing Campaigns - Article marketing, video marketing, banner advertising, AdWords, social media strategies, blogging - you name it
At OMC, we can work with you and your staff to either teach you how to use these strategies, or we can create and implement a complete plan for you. The decision is yours.
To Your Success,
