Marketing Mistake #9 - Using pre-historic marketing techniques

There are many many ways you can market your business - pay per click, direct mail, cold calling, door to door, joint ventures, social media, traditional media (tv, radio, newspaper) and so on. However, some marketing methods are tough to make work and some just flat out fail. Let me give you an example.

If you sell say, professional services (consulting, coaching, financial advice etcetera) it's near impossible to

get sales through a flyer, inserts, door hangers, billboards and other 'one shot' marketing methods. Why is this?

Because for one the entire industry has been educated to buy a certain way. Most customers and clients buy from experts

or industry authorities. Wouldn't you? I mean, would you buy from a financial consultant distributing flyers at the robot?

Didn't think so...

So selling professional service through a one shot sales approach puts you in a position of

weakness from the get go.

And also it's difficult to try and convince (aka sell) someone without educating him first. If that weren't enough when you go knocking on doors you get what I call "instant rejection". And from there it's an uphill battle for the sale. I'm not saying knocking on doors, cold calling and using flyers are dead.

It DOES WORK. But here's the catch. It only works for certain types of businesses. Commodity type businesses and so on. The fruit stall sells at the stop street, the hairdresser distributes her flyers and web designers often cold call for business. Nothing wrong with that. Keep doing what works.

However...

The investment guy struggles to keep people on the phone, the lawyer finds it tedious to trample along in a suit door to door and the

consultant's flyers get tossed.

The solution? Two step your marketing! Like this:

Give a cold call > send a free report > follow up with an appointment

Send a letter > follow up with a call > book the appointment

Write an ad > follow up with direct mail > ask for the appointment

Do you see the ingenuity behind it all? By shifting your marketing structure the one shot approach to selling is avoided. In fact, if you sell professional service, avoid 1 hit marketing at all costs. You are in the relationship business! Start building a business relationship by having multiple points of contact.

Okay, I have led you far astray in this post. The bottom line is this - stop using prehistoric marketing techniques (1 shot cold calling, door to door, flyers, billboards etc). It does work. But (and it's a big BUT) - it has no leverage, its hard to 'roll out', it's a scattershot marketing approach, it does not build credibility and it does not build your brand.

In the end, I would rather catch a fish with an island size fishing net than with a spear in the dark.