Are you sitting comfortably?

Dee Blick September 18, 2011 Uncategorized 4 Comments

'No way am I leaving my comfort zone.'

Something I talk frequently about is the need to push out of our marketing comfort zones.

What do I mean by this?

Well, in the last 20 odd years I have spoken to thousands of small business owners and invariably once we’re in conversation, I like to find out how they market their business; what works for them, what less so. What often comes across loud and clear is that the business owner has fallen into a comfortable but often unproductive regime with their marketing. They enjoy networking for example and so they place all their marketing eggs in the networking basket. When times are tough, they simply step up the networking and when they are awash with work  their enthusiasm to polish up their elevator statement and practice their sparkling rapport building skills diminishes along with their networking attendance.

When I press said business owners further on why they have not tried other marketing activities such as telephone cold calling, PR, direct mail and social networking, you can bet that most of the responses will be along the following lines:

“I don’t like telephone cold calling.”

“I don’t have the time to write press releases and wouldn’t know where to start.”

“Nobody reads letters anymore do they?”

“I am baffled by social networking.”

As opposed to: “I have tried and tested these marketing channels and can tell you conclusively they are ineffective in leading me to my target audiences.” (The right response!)

And here’s the rub.

That comfort zone can start to become distinctly uncomfortable. The likelihood is that there’s an army of potential customers waiting to be engaged with; you’re just not going to reach all of them through the one channel that sits squarely in your marketing comfort zone. By restricting yourself  to engaging with gusto only with those  marketing activities that you like rather than the ones that work and that could really could propel your business to the next stage, you are short changing yourself and your business.

Is it time to break out your marketing comfort zone? Tell me I would love to know.

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Comments

  1. Penelope Young says:
    September 18, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    Hi Dee

    If I was as comfortable as that kitten looks, I wouldn’t want to move either! What a neat photo.

    I’m a networker, (as I know you are) and I use social media, particularly twitter to reach people. I agree we all need to try other marketing strategies. I’m still in the process of writing my book. So my marketing is mainly about raising my profile. Once it’s finished and published, what would you say were the top three marketing strategies that worked for you and your book?

    Reply
    • dee blick says:
      September 19, 2011 at 1:25 pm

      Hi Penelope, I think that you need three lines of activity: networking, public speaking and cultivating media contacts for national coverage. Oh and add in twitter to let your followers know where you are with the book. the position it occupies in the best sellers updates on reviews etc. Good luck!

      Reply
  2. Debbie Hussey says:
    September 19, 2011 at 5:02 am

    Hi Dee, Great to see you again at the Southwater Business Show yesterday and thanks so much for signing my book!!! Great seminar too and yes, what you say re the ‘comfort zone’ definitely rings true for me. I am not an avid fan of this whole ‘sales’ thing over the phone in particular and do tend to stick to the same methods of marketing, be it ads, social media, networking etc. For me, it’s having the confidence. I love and value the products I make and sell and am 100% passionate about my business, but struggle with the confidence side of things and ‘selling’ in general – the fight between my personal beliefs and fear of rejection and needing to make money methinks!! I will, most definitely, be giving this more thought…… Kindest regards, Debbie.

    Reply
    • dee blick says:
      September 19, 2011 at 1:27 pm

      Hi Debbie lovely to see you too and I identify with those fears. Over the years I have had to learn to acknowledge their existence but ignore or diminish them. The more I do it the easier it becomes to take on challenging tasks. Your business sounds fantastic and it was so nice to see you and thank you for making the effort to attend my seminar. On a sunday too!

      Reply