“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” – Bruce Lee
Marketing fundamentals are boring and unsexy. So, why bother with the very basics of marketing when there’s a new tool waiting to be discovered around every corner?
Today, everybody seems to be a marketing mogul – better yet, an online marketing wizard. The focus is on the latest buzz. A lot of fuzzy information is shared with great passion and unwavering belief. Hype marketing strategies and techniques are in.
So, if you’re looking for the next wiz thing in marketing, the next shiny object, than you shouldn’t be reading this. But if you’re looking for something for real business owners and that is to build a solid business that is going to be around for the next 20+ years than read the following very carefully:
Stop ignoring the basics of marketing. Stop ignoring the building blocks of your business.
You need to build your business on a STRONG foundation!
In order to do that you’ll need to master the business and marketing fundamentals.
Legendary football player, coach, and executive Vince Lombardi once said, “Excellence is achieved by mastery of the fundamentals.” The same is true in business.
Marketing Fundamentals: How to Master the Basics
Here are two marketing fundamentals to help you succeed in today’s competitive business environment:
1. Know Thy Ideal Customer.
This one should be a no brainer, and yet many brands and companies fail at it.
You pick your customers. If they don’t pay their bills on time, remind yourself that you picked them. If they’re looking to squeeze everything out of you for as little as possible, remind yourself again, that you’re the one who picked them.
The two issues I mentioned above are quite common among small business owners (corporates too, actually). So, if these problems kill the most precious commodity you have on this planet, your TIME, not to mention the stress these issues cause…
…Why on earth aren’t you investing time and resources to really get to know and understand your audience better, so that you can pick your customers more wisely?
- Who do you want to work with?
- Who is your ideal customer?
- What are their problems, frustrations and fears?
- What do they secretly desire most?
Your customers are the lifeblood of your business. Choose them wisely. Don’t be afraid to say “no” to customers if they are not your best fit. No need to over-complicate your life and business with people who are not aligned with your values.
Related: How to Find the Right Prospects and Make Price Irrelevant
Back to marketing fundamentals…
Target marketing is essential to your business success. Be as specific as you can when defining your ideal customer avatar and don’t shy away from adjusting the profile as your marketing evolves and business grows.
2. Capitalize on Your Strengths.
Far too many business owners and companies devote their precious time to correcting their weaknesses.
I get it. Since you’ve been in kindergarten and school, people have directed your attention towards your mistakes. Instead of praising you for your talents, they’ve punished you for your mistakes — Hence the drama AKA brain wiring “Be average, fix your weaknesses”.
What a terrible “foundation” that is.
Let me be blunt and straight forward:
Focus on your strengths because you’re never going to excel at what you do worst.
And this is exactly where the second basic concept of marketing comes to play: Positioning.
Take a closer look at what you and / or your company excel at in business.
- Do you have a unique way of packaging things?
- Do you use a new technology when assembling your products nobody else in your industry uses?
- What makes your services so outstanding that long-term customers refer to it as top-notch and one-of-a-kind?
- What exactly differentiates you from the rest of the pack?
The answers to the above will most certainly not be reflected in your weaknesses. On the contrary, they will help you uncover some of your biggest strengths.
“Every human being I have ever met, irrespective of the business, the job or life situation they are in, possesses at least one and normally multiple instant jackpots that are within their grasp.
All they have to do is recognize them, believe that they are there, and believe that they are entitled to harvest them and the financial and the personal wealth and riches that come along with them.” – Jay Abraham
I challenge and encourage you to supercharge your business based on your strengths.
Wrapping It Up
Establish a solid, proven and systematic framework for your business. Put everything you’ve got into building a strong foundation, so that you can develop powerful marketing systems that will help you dominate your market, be top of mind of your customers and grow your business.
Average business people classify marketing fundamentals as being utterly boring, and that’s why they will always stay at their current level: namely, average.
Successful business people focus on mastering the fundamentals of business, marketing and sales. And this is one of the reasons why they are successful.
Don’t be fooled by the masses. Bet on your strengths to achieve your goals faster.
How often do you revisit your marketing fundamentals? What was your biggest aha-moment in the process?
Image: auntmasako / Pixabay.com
