subject: Are You Having A Marketing Slump? [print this page] I'm absolutely certain, that as a business owner you are emotionally invested in your business. Perhaps starting and operating your business was a realization of a lifelong dream. This amazing dream will certainly inspire and motivate you. But, did you realize, if you are not prepared, then that same dream can also set you up for emotional injury that can cripple you and drain the life from your vocation.
There's a good chance that you've already felt the downtrodden lows and the exuberant highs that come with being a business owner but have you polished your ability to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and push forward after you stumble? It's the key to your business success.
I want to share the story of Ken, as a way to illustrate my point:
Ken is highly enthusiastic about his new business. He's dreamt of this since he was a boy, and he's anxious to make his first significant paycheck, doing what he loves.
He rushes into a dynamic marketing campaign, following the leads of some other local businesses that he views as successful. He sinks a boatload of money into it and waits.
But the marketing campaign is largely ineffective. It turns out that his target audience isn't looking where he's advertising. He immediately falls into a plummeting, emotional spiral as he dwells on the thousands of dollars that he's lost. His emotional low lasts for months.
The failed campaign didn't hurt Ken financially (he still had plenty of capital with which to operate), but the taste of failure tainted his daily businesses dealings as he fell lower and lower into the emotional dump.
The campaign didn't have to have the affect Ken assigned to it. Business people everywhere have tried and failed, but the differences among them lie in their attitudes toward those setbacks. Did they allow the setbacks to attack their emotional wells, draining them of motivation? Or did they consider the setbacks to be forms of inverted commercepaid-for experiences in what-not-to-do?
Any failed attempt can be viewed in either of these two ways. The right way, and the emotionally, financially, and successfully lucrative way to view setbacks is with a positive attitude. Know that each one teaches you about something that isn't right for you, or right for the situation in which you used it. In retrospect, you'll find that this kind of knowledge is, in fact, priceless (making the money you may have lost seem insignificant).
So, in summary, keep these points in mind when casting off on a new business adventure:
Study your target audience, their needs, and your offering to make sure your product or service is in line with a definitive need.
If possible, test your theory or idea first. You'll feel better about your effort, even if it fails, if you've prepared well.
Don't invest more money than your business can afford to lose.
When you make your move, keep your expectations high, but don't allow them to be so grandiose that a simple setback can bring your dream crashing down.
Understand that great business people everywhere have tried and failed in the process of elimination. You, too, can be great if you understand that not every attempt will be a stellar success.
If you do experience a setback, get your heart out of it and insert some brainpower: "How can I use this experience to increase my chances for success next time?"
Ken's money wasn't lost. It was simply invested in a learning experience that would come back to him from a different direction. But, unfortunately, because he couldn't view his setback in this light, that money (and the experience) was lost forever.
Remember to set goals for yourself, but never give those goals the responsibility of holding up your entire business (or your emotional state). Know that you will experience setbacks, but with emotional resilience, you'll be able to view them for what they really are: set-ups for success!
