Merrie Marketing © 2010 -
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Tel : 01453 752538
1. Marketing isn’t advertising
I hear small business owners (all the time) say "I must do some advertising". By this they mean "marketing". Marketing is not advertising.
But...advertising is just one method of executing marketing, along with many, many others. Marketing is about knowing who your customers are, what they want, knowing how to give it to them, and make some money in the process.
How you do this...how you implement your marketing....covers so many aspects from creative and copywriting skills, to research, to your message, your offer, and the way you get your message out there (eg posters, radio, classified ads, the internet, word of mouth, special offers, talks, demonstrations and so on).
Your marketing strategy gives you the general direction you will take to fulfil your business goals. Your marketing plan will give you the actual road map and directions to get there. Things like advertising, door drops, presentations etc are the vehicle that you drive in. Just like cars you will spend more money on some methods than others. And some will get you there faster than others.
2. Marketing is not 'sales' or 'selling'.
Sales and Marketing go hand in hand, and I see them as two sides of the same coin. They are two sets of skills that complement each other, but they are not the same.
"Marketing" brings the people in and qualifies them..."Sales" gets the person to buy, and is an entirely different skill set. (Sales, by the way, can be done in person or through good direct response copywriting).
Sorry, I know that sounds obvious, but so many people lump them together. It's all
very well getting very good at marketing and bringing qualified people in to you...but
it will NOT work if you don't know what to do then. So, although I'm a marketer
and that's what I help people with, you need to go and learn some sales skills for
when your marketing machine starts bringing people in through the door for you. (Likewise,
it's all very well being a fantastic sales person...but it will be pointless if you
have no-
No. 3: Marketing is not glamorous.
Marketing takes time and dedication. It's an ongoing process of running your business.
If you think that I can give you the "magic marketing bullet" that unleashes your
business for you, then you're very much mistaken. You will have to learn, read (not
just me -
Marketing ourselves also involves a large degree of self development along the way.
If you want to make a fast buck then go elsewhere. If you want to grow your business properly, on secure foundations that will support your future, then get some good marketing strategies implemented into your business today.
"Marketing is not an event, but a process....It has a beginning, a middle, but never
an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it.
But you never stop it completely."
Jay Conrad Levinson