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Small Business
Coaching On How to Be In the 5%
of Small Business Owners Who Succeed
By Allison Babb
You must have the #1 skill -
Marketing
I have been
connected to countless small business owners over the years and the
one thing most entrepreneurs miss in their business is learning how
to market and sell what they have. Sure, many entrepreneurs hear
that they need to learn marketing, but much like me in the early
days, it doesn't quite sink in.
We remain
baffled as to why the business is not coming in and it's because
there's no marketing going out. Part of the challenge is that
no-one is telling small business owners that marketing is an
absolute must-have skill and you must seek out resources to get
really good at it. You must figure out who your target market is,
what your message is to them and what media (ads, direct mail, press
releases etc) you will use to reach them.
Marketing money is required
As you may have
guessed, if you have no money to invest in marketing, you have no
business. It's really that simple. For example, it costs some
amount of money to send out direct mail, purchase ads, get the tools
to produce a regular Ezine like this one to connect with your
clients, establish a web site that speaks directly to your target
market, join groups to further publicize what you do.
If you want
$100K in sales per year, then you would want to invest around 5-10%
of sales into your marketing efforts to see business growth. But
you don't need all the marketing money up front of course. Most
small business owners invest a little in marketing, and as sales
come in, they are able to invest additional amounts.
Isolation will not work
I attribute a
great deal of my success to groups that I have joined and to the
coaches that I have had each step of the way. I'm a strong believer
in always having a coach or mentor in business. And being a part of
a group is essential. The accountability alone makes you achieve far
more than you would on your own. And if you achieve far more, you
have more success. And with more success, you are definitely headed
for that 5% of small businesses that succeed.
ACTION
What's your own "5% plan?" When and how will you master the skill
of marketing? How much money have you set aside for marketing? Who
will be your coach or mentor? What groups will you join? What parts
of your business will you delegate--typically it is what you are not
good at. Oh, and don't delegate the marketing--that's the one part
you do want to keep or manage very closely.
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Copyright © 2010 Allison Babb
International LLC
WANT TO USE THIS
ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as
you include this complete blurb with it: Allison Babb is an
author, speaker and Small Business Coach to solo entrepreneurs.
Allison publishes the "Small Business Success" weekly Ezine on
how to create a steady stream of clients for your small business
at:
www.GreatSmallBusinessAdvice.com
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