With the New Year literally right around the corner (tomorrow), I thought I should share some must-not-do's of 2010.
1. Do NOTHING. That's right - do nothing. Do not network. Stay home in your pajama's and sit by the phone and wait for it to ring. After all, the economy is turning around, right? Plus - it is winter, it is cold outside, probably raining too ... maybe consider going out in the spring when it is warmer. Also, do nothing with your marketing either ... skip any public relations too because you do not need it. Everybody knows you.
2. Do not market your business at all. Marketing is expensive and is a waste of money. Seriously. Why would you want to invest in your own company when you can spend that money on a trip to Hawaii or some new clothes? Plus, everybody knows where to find you on the Internet so you do not need to blog, update your website or do a newsletter. Talk about a complete waste of time.
3. Repeat the same business tactics that are not working. If you do something enough times it is eventually going to work, right? Especially when the tactics are expensive, like doing an ad run in the Wall Street Journal. If it is expensive it obviously will work for you and for crying out loud do not consult a marketing professional. You know what you are are doing and talking to a consultant will be a waste of time and money on your part.
Happy New Year! P.S. At M Communications and 3L Publishing we will NOT be doing any of the above. If you want some real, free and funny marketing advice, sign up for the M-Dash at M Communications.
Cheers!
Michele Smith
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Holiday Marketing Mistakes
There are simple mistakes many business owners make come holiday season and all because of a case of "holiday-head". The "holiday-head" syndrome can affect the most intelligent business owners and below are a couple of the syndrome's side effects noticed by 3L Publishing and M Communications.
What plan? Fa. La. La. La. La. Fa. La. Flake Plan". Many business owners fall into the a very sad trap of wandering into the new year without a business plan and even a marketing plan. I have witnessed firsthand what happens when you do not have a marketing plan. You spend money on a whim - here and there; completely going over budget and spending money on what your audience is not reading, etc. Even if you only have 100$ a month to spend on marketing -have a plan. You can change it if something is not working for you but at least you have the foundation and research completed ahead of time. P.S. If you do not have one in the new year we can whip one out in the next couple of weeks so you are still basically on time. And, we will even not make fun of you in the M-Dash; one of our weekly newsletters.
PR + Holidays = Bad. Bad. Bad. Are you liking my equations yet? The worst thing you can do during the holidays is do nothing. You can always plan for your January campaign and for example, complete your press release in December for a January public relations campaign. If you hire the right marketing company - they will tell you what will and what will not get December media pick up. If you have a holiday product, a unique sale, or a unique tie-in like my musician client being hired to play at the airport to calm down passengers - these are all good holiday messages. As always, new year - new ??? is always a good one as well.
Procrastination, Procrastination, Procrastination. We have heard this one a lot too, "I will decide after the holidays." I completely understand if this is a financially based answer, but just to put something off that can be a completed project during or after the holidays is not good for your business. Especially, when it means you have delayed income for yourself for about six weeks because you got "holiday head" around Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, many business owners could have done a red-light, green-light, yes or no answer and have a completed website or whatever just in time for the new year but have procrastinated which pushes their project out even further. The worst side affect of procrastination comes in the form of lost income over the holidays. Who wants to lose money? Not us.
Have a good story? I would love to hear from you. Please send me an email to: michele@mcommunicationsinc.com
Happy Holidays!
Michele Smith
What plan? Fa. La. La. La. La. Fa. La. Flake Plan". Many business owners fall into the a very sad trap of wandering into the new year without a business plan and even a marketing plan. I have witnessed firsthand what happens when you do not have a marketing plan. You spend money on a whim - here and there; completely going over budget and spending money on what your audience is not reading, etc. Even if you only have 100$ a month to spend on marketing -have a plan. You can change it if something is not working for you but at least you have the foundation and research completed ahead of time. P.S. If you do not have one in the new year we can whip one out in the next couple of weeks so you are still basically on time. And, we will even not make fun of you in the M-Dash; one of our weekly newsletters.
PR + Holidays = Bad. Bad. Bad. Are you liking my equations yet? The worst thing you can do during the holidays is do nothing. You can always plan for your January campaign and for example, complete your press release in December for a January public relations campaign. If you hire the right marketing company - they will tell you what will and what will not get December media pick up. If you have a holiday product, a unique sale, or a unique tie-in like my musician client being hired to play at the airport to calm down passengers - these are all good holiday messages. As always, new year - new ??? is always a good one as well.
Procrastination, Procrastination, Procrastination. We have heard this one a lot too, "I will decide after the holidays." I completely understand if this is a financially based answer, but just to put something off that can be a completed project during or after the holidays is not good for your business. Especially, when it means you have delayed income for yourself for about six weeks because you got "holiday head" around Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, many business owners could have done a red-light, green-light, yes or no answer and have a completed website or whatever just in time for the new year but have procrastinated which pushes their project out even further. The worst side affect of procrastination comes in the form of lost income over the holidays. Who wants to lose money? Not us.
Have a good story? I would love to hear from you. Please send me an email to: michele@mcommunicationsinc.com
Happy Holidays!
Michele Smith
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