“Every job needs the right tool to accomplish the desired goal.”
- EmpoweredCreators.com
Today, entrepreneurialism is alive and thriving. You have people all over the place jumping for the latest opportunity. While most of the opportunities look REALLY inviting, you just can’t bring yourself to jump onto the latest bandwagon. I don’t blame you. I’m sure most of the people spouting about how great their opportunity is or how their comp. plan is bigger than yours, never actually meant to come across that way when they got started. I’m sure you look yourself in the mirror everyday saying, “I will not be like them. I will not be like them.”
I know this because I did the same thing. I started off wanting a better life, so when I was presented with my first opportunity, I jumped … all in! I wanted so badly to have a better future for my family. I got all excited and never stopped to think about what it might take. I was recruited into a business, but I knew nothing of business. I was supposed to market my business, but I knew nothing of marketing.
I started with a flurry of activity.
Get a list. Dial for hours. Talk endlessly about a business I didn’t understand. Talk with everyone. Get another list. Dial for hours. Talk endlessly about a business I didn’t understand. Talk with some people. Get another list. Dial for an hour. Talk quickly about a business I still didn’t understand. Get rejected some more. This was how my business started.
I knew what I wanted. I just didn’t understand how to get it. I understood the concept “Find someone who has what you want, and do what they did to get it,” but I wasn’t doing what my sponsor was doing. (Notice how they call it a sponsor but nobody is really sponsoring you?) He owned a lead company and understood how to market to get those leads. He had little time to train me 1-on-1 to funnel all of his knowledge into me, and besides, his knowledge came from years of work and training.
He did what he knew how to do and he actually did sponsor me a bit. I got all of the free leads I could handle. And boy, did I handle them! In one afternoon I would fly through 150 double opt-in leads that were looking for a business. Granted, some were old, but I even managed to mess up the ones that were fresh! I did get some success doing it that way, but I knew I was still getting the short end of the stick, and it was nobody’s fault but my own!
I had a whole game plan overview written in Greek! I was given some of the right tools… just the wrong version. I needed “business for retarded dummies” and “marketing for people who’ve never marketed.” Honestly, I knew nothing! Nada! Zilch! In the business world I was more than just a fish out of water, I was a tadpole on mars! This is the case for so many people out there today trying to stake their claim in the Home Business Boom of the New Millennium! Most of them are drowning due to the same scenario that I went through, and you went through.
I don’t want that happening for anyone any more. With the internet information galore is at our finger tips! (And the evil laughing commences!) But few people are able to harness this information and actually put together their own business plan that fits their needs, their schedule, and their goals. Most marketing plans pushed don’t have your integrity in mind when they were written. They aren’t concerned with your schedule. And they most certainly didn’t develop them around your bills or needs. They were written with The Company’s Needs, Schedule, and Goals in mind.
So what is my answer to this fiasco we are all rushing towards? Education my dear friend, education. So, let’s start this off with an overall idea of how to put YOUR marketing plan together so, you can achieve YOUR goals.
- Budget – You have to know what you can afford to spend and for how long on your business alone. Most businesses operate in the RED (this means below profit) for the first 2 – 3 years. How long can you sustain your business venture? This is the first question to answer. Know your overhead and your investment because every day you don’t make money, is another day your overhead grows your continued investment.
- Understand who your target market is. This means the marketing guys at Target understand the pressures the everyday soccer mom has and what will help perk their spirits. - Bright Colors. Open Spaces. Convenient locations. Friendly, laid back, quiet atmosphere. Don’t believe me, walk into any Target and tell me that isn’t what you see!
- Understand what tools you have or could have with the right budget. E-mail, website, advertising campaign (Not really needed but to use once in awhile), autoresponder with people’s information wanting to know more about your company, social sites, and a support system (could be a mentor, a spouse, or a friend). Everyone that owns a business has to market their business. If they can’t figure it out for themselves then they have to hire someone that can. And if they don’t, then they aren’t going to be in business long.
- Persistence + Determination + Critical Thinking Skills + Self Discipline = Leadership Ability. You cannot leave one part of this equation out. Every entrepreneur needs to have leadership ability, without it is like sailing without a rudder. It just doesn’t work.
I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing more and more hungry entrepreneurs soaring to new heights, leveling playing fields, and proving statistics wrong! People are just being taught in an ineffective way and the people teaching it needs to refer to Benjamin Franklin’s definition of insanity.
“Insanity is doing the same thing again and again while expecting different results.” – Benjamin Franklin
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