May I let you in on one of the best kept secrets of business? EVERY business owner and manager is rarely pleased with his or her marketing results. That fact is the reason there are literally “50 ways to spend your money” when you search for that elusive advertising “silver bullet.”

Surely, there must be ONE magic potion out there that will drive hordes of business to your door. Is it this publication? The broadsheet down the street? Specialty publications? Drive-time radio? Talk radio? PBS? Cable TV? Yellow Pages? E-mail? Direct mail? Ads on shopping carts? Larger space or additional spots? Or some
combination of all of these? Yes and no.

Before you even think about spending any money on advertising, you need to get your own marketing house in order by:

1. Clearly identifying (on paper) what is unique and special about your business.

2. Concisely describing (on paper) exactly who your target market is.

3. Crafting a positioning statement (on paper) that clearly identifies why your target market (or anyone) should do business with you.

Once you have these three criteria firmly in place (on paper), you are ready to test the marketplace. Not one moment sooner. Without these three legs under your “business stool,” you have no chance of running any kind of effective marketing program or business for that matter. FUGEDABOUDIT!

Just yesterday, I ran across one of the gazillion “tips” from a so-called “streetwise” marketing guru stating that one way to increase the effectiveness of your advertising is to work your way up the media “chain of command” so that you work directly with the advertising manager. That is unadulterated “bunk!”

If you do not have your own marketing house in order (three points above) and if you have failed to budget real money for consistent advertising, the entire lineup in the Advertising Hall of Fame will not be able to effectively help you. Translation: “YOU da man (or woman).” If it is going to be, it is up to thee!

That said, marketing is and always will be finicky and unpredictable. You run an ad in one publication and see nothing but a drain on your bank account. You run the same ad in another publication three weeks later and folks are standing at your door before you can get your key in the lock to open.

Timing is crucial. Weather can be a factor. There are more variables at play than you can count. Those variables aside, once you know your niche, your target market and your positioning statement, you should advertise (somewhere) on a consistent basis.
Stay the course. Keep your rudder in the water. Aim your message at the right people (your target market). Make those people an offer they cannot refuse ... and that does not have to be just price. “Bundle” your products and services in creative ways that keep you on the cutting edge ... ahead of your competitors.

In order to build long-term recognition, an advertiser should focus on getting consumers to remember one pithy and consistent message. If you expect people to remember a continually changing or drawn-out message, you will always be walking West looking in vain for the sun to rise.

Get your own skit (sp.) together before you plunge into the daily, over-crowded pool of advertising. Review Nos. 1-3 above. Unlike the Nuggets’ Allen Iverson, these three tenets ARE the “answer.” Treat them casually, pretend you “already know all of that,” try to skip over them ... and you will continue to write large checks for small results. Entirely your call.

<i>Bob Schumacher has a wide range of experience gathered in over four decades as an individual entrepreneur, chain retail national sales manager and media marketing director. He is also an author and small business coach. E-mail your questions or comments to Bob at marketingemporium@bresnan.net. He’ll reply to you directly. Visit his Web site http://www.20do80.com for a ton of free and nearly free info on small business marketing.</i>