subject: Leverage Your Marketing [print this page] When I was speaking with one of my newest clients today (she's a recent addition to our high level executive mentoring program), we had a very interesting conversation because this client is very successful in the non-Internet world, and was concerned about bringing her business online.
She was concerned that she would need to give up what was working offline in order to concentrate fully online.
I told her that there was a better way to think about this. Rather than considering her business offline OR online, why not see how she could do both? This would be an example of maximizing her marketing. She could then extend and continue to use whatever was already working well, and add on new techniques and strategies which might work even better.
Using an integrated marketing approach is the smartest way to leverage your time, efforts, and marketing costs. Examples of integrated marketing would be using direct mail, as well as email to reach out to clients. It might consist of something like sending out press releases, but linking these to your blog, and/or posting the same press items online, but syndicating these to your social networking profiles.
Once you get started, you"ll find that there are multiple places where you can integrate your marketing for better results. You will find examples of this on TV now, when TV advertisements are sending viewers to become fans of a company on Facebook. Or, conversely, if you are a Facebook fan, you might get a coupon for a discounted meal in real life.
It can be a lot to try and manage, at first, but you always want to be looking for ways to extend your business positioning and using as many marketing channels as possible, especially if they are low cost and effective.
This is the reason why, even though I am already quite busy, I regularly set aside time to speak to my local associations and groups, and periodically hold live, face to face events. I have made some of my best business contacts and gained several excellent clients right in my own locality.
When you examine your marketing, look for ways that you can extract more value from the marketing methods you're already using anyway. In many cases, you will locate many points of leverage that allow you to link your offline methods with your online ones, and vice versa.
The strongest businesses are built on multiple marketing channels, and you'll become a more confident and successful entrepreneur when you focus on maximizing your marketing.
