What business are you really in?
Here’s a reality check. Whatever business you think you’re in, you’re not.
Huh?
The truth be told, whether you’re a graphic designer, writer, accountant, builder, etc. your primary business is marketing. Without marketing to warm things up, sales don’t often happen. It’s been said that nothing happens until somebody sells something. Without sales ... well ... you won’t be in business very long.
It’s critical that you see yourself as your own numero uno client. Just like you make time on the schedule for client projects, you need to schedule time for your marketing efforts. Try to see it as another project that needs attention.
New business is the life blood of a professional practice. It can take a long time to turn a prospect into a client. For instance, in the design field it can take months and sometimes a year or more. Add to that the fact that clients come and go. In the design industry, the typical client/designer relationship lasts about three years.
If you’re not actively marketing and promoting your business, you’re already behind. Probably way behind considering the time it takes to turn a prospect into a paying client. This is how the feast or famine syndrome rears its ugly head. You’re up to your eyeballs so you put the marketing stuff off to the side. When the projects finish up, there’s nothing new on the horizon. The rent is due and you’re hoping beyond hope that the postcard you mailed, or whatever, will miraculously bring in a big fish. When this sort of stuff happens, anxiety isn’t far behind and that’s a lousy place to be.
Aside from attending networking events and club meetings, I find it’s best to schedule marketing time during the beginning or end of the day. For me, whether it’s making discussion group posts, working on an article or this blog, poking around the Net for prospects, writing a sales letter, etc., early morning is best for me. At the end of the day, I’ll make a list of what I need to do the next day. I try to do something every day. Some days I’m better at it than others, but the point is to be as active as you can.
When you become your own best client, you’ll go leaps ahead of the competition who aren’t as aggressive. Let them have the feast or famine, the anxiety attacks and hoping the phone’s going to ring. You can do better.
Huh?
The truth be told, whether you’re a graphic designer, writer, accountant, builder, etc. your primary business is marketing. Without marketing to warm things up, sales don’t often happen. It’s been said that nothing happens until somebody sells something. Without sales ... well ... you won’t be in business very long.
It’s critical that you see yourself as your own numero uno client. Just like you make time on the schedule for client projects, you need to schedule time for your marketing efforts. Try to see it as another project that needs attention.
New business is the life blood of a professional practice. It can take a long time to turn a prospect into a client. For instance, in the design field it can take months and sometimes a year or more. Add to that the fact that clients come and go. In the design industry, the typical client/designer relationship lasts about three years.
If you’re not actively marketing and promoting your business, you’re already behind. Probably way behind considering the time it takes to turn a prospect into a paying client. This is how the feast or famine syndrome rears its ugly head. You’re up to your eyeballs so you put the marketing stuff off to the side. When the projects finish up, there’s nothing new on the horizon. The rent is due and you’re hoping beyond hope that the postcard you mailed, or whatever, will miraculously bring in a big fish. When this sort of stuff happens, anxiety isn’t far behind and that’s a lousy place to be.
Aside from attending networking events and club meetings, I find it’s best to schedule marketing time during the beginning or end of the day. For me, whether it’s making discussion group posts, working on an article or this blog, poking around the Net for prospects, writing a sales letter, etc., early morning is best for me. At the end of the day, I’ll make a list of what I need to do the next day. I try to do something every day. Some days I’m better at it than others, but the point is to be as active as you can.
When you become your own best client, you’ll go leaps ahead of the competition who aren’t as aggressive. Let them have the feast or famine, the anxiety attacks and hoping the phone’s going to ring. You can do better.
