Are You Marketing to Your Potential?

Many small business owners struggle to grow their businesses
only to find themselves stuck in a morass of marketing,
management and delivery tasks. As your business becomes more
complex and time consuming, the original vision of the
business usually changes or gets lost, and it can become
increasingly difficult to define and implement a marketing
strategy that helps you achieve your business potential.

As a marketing coach I have many small business clients whose
marketing is going nowhere because they haven`t clearly
identified where they want to take their business/what they
want their business to be/ and what role they want to play in
it.

Whether you want to take your business to the next level or are
just starting out, to be more successful at marketing you need
to regularly clarify what you want your business to be and
what your role in it is or should be. In order to develop a
marketing strategy and plan that works for you, you need to
first clarify: What are your business passions and
strengths How do you want to spend your time What work tasks
you enjoy What type of business you want to create

DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS PASSIONS AND STRENGTHS

The energy, determination and persistence it takes to build a
business only makes sense if you are doing something you love -
or that at least gives you great satisfaction. What do you
enjoy doing the most? What are you happy doing day in and day
out?

What are your Strengths?

Identify your business passion, and then examine your strengths
within that passion. How can you leverage your interest and
knowledge to become a sought after expert in your field?

Say you love skiing and want to make a living in that industry,
which you know well. Are you going to run a ski shop, be a ski
instructor, or become a skiing guru, sought after by
thousands, with your simple and innovate teaching techniques?

Which aspects of your passion suit your expertise and
experience? How can you build a business around them?

SET GOALS FOR HOW YOU WANT TO SPEND YOUR TIME

Personality and interests vary. Some small business owners have
a passion for hands on delivery, others enjoy focusing on
growing their business and coordinating the delivery of
products and services.

Some can`t stand being stuck in an office all day; others would
prefer never to talk to a client or customer. What aspects of
your business are you good at and which do you want to develop
further?

Use the following questions to help you clarify how you want to
spend your week. Do you like being in charge of marketing,
operations or service delivery? Are you an educator, do you
love sharing what you know or do you like inventing new
products people can use without your involvement? Or both? Do
you prefer managing the business and delegating daily tasks to
others? Do you like to travel or prefer to work from an office
or at home? How important is flexibility in scheduling and
work location? Do you want to work less and earn the same? Do
you want to work part time or do you love your work so much
that you could do it seven days a week? Do you want to
structure your work so it is more satisfying?

CLARIFY THE TASKS YOU ENJOY

We all like and dislike specific activities, excel at some and
are better off delegating certain tasks to others. Clarifying
what you like and dislike is essential to then defining the
strategies and structures you need to create a more satisfying
work environment. Do you enjoy coming up with new products? Do
you enjoy selling your services and products? Do you like to
write or prefer public speaking? Or both? Is the phone your
communication tool of preference? Do you prefer to use email
for most of your communication? Do you enjoy public speaking
and sharing your ideas? Do you enjoy following up with
employees to make sure they`ve done agreed on tasks?

SPECIFY THE TYPE OF BUSINESS YOU WANT TO CREATE

What have the answers to the questions above told you about
your business and your role in it? Depending on the services
and products you provide, does your business need additional
staff, facilities, technology, geographic presence, or capital?

Would you prefer to be a successful one person business/sole
proprietor? Would you like to grow your business to include
five to fifty employees? Will profit or passion be the driving
force? Or both? Are your markets local, regional, national or
international?

Answer these questions to define your business goals and your
role in your business` growth. Once you have a clear and
current idea of where you are going, you can define a
marketing strategy to get there, to achieve your business
potential.

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2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

Paul White is a 42 year old former teacher. He now helps people
all around the world to become wealthy online. Whatever you
are selling, visit the popular site: http://www.profitmountain.
com (http://www.profitmountain.com) and if you subscribe to
Profit Mountain`s FREE wealth building newsletter, you will
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