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If I was to ask any business in the UK right now what they want – 100% of them would say they want more customers

It’s a no brainer – No customers = no business!

If I was to ask them what they were doing to win over new customers, then most of them wouldn’t be able to tell me – most small businesses do not market enough to make an impact!

Marketing in all its varying forms is communicating the right message to the right person at the right time … and yet for many businesses if they were brutally honest with themselves, marketing is an afterthought – something that would be nice to do

So often when I speak to start up businesses they suggest they don’t have the time or the money for marketing. And yet before they launched they spent months on a business plan to get the finance from the bank, their other half or town centre loan schemes

Here are the 5 Steps to Releasing Your Inner Marketer

What Is Your Why
1. REMEMBER WHY YOU DO WHAT YOU DO

And also remember what the alternative is if you don’t have enough customers to survive

What is the big reason you do what you do? Why did you start up on your own? What are your long term goals?

It doesn’t matter what type of business you run. You could be a home based cupcake business, opened your 1st restaurant or gone from the corporate world to launch own accountancy or legal firm

There is a big WHY you are doing what you do whether it’s a passion or circumstances

Write down now 3 Reasons You Decided To Do What You Do and Then Write 3 Long Terms Goals You’d Like To Achieve Personally Or Professionally

And then look back over the past week, month or 6 months if what you have done on day to day basis is aligned with those hope and dreams

Write Down Your Goals
2. WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS

When you write something down – it becomes real

So type out your goals, print them out and stick them on the wall above your PC (or in a place in your business that you look at every single day)

Above my desk at Altrincham HQ I have 2 framed images of this years goals for my business and personal goals as a constant reminder

Below them I have 3 step by step processes of how I will achieve my goals

You goals may be more simple such as a target of XXX amount of customers each month – but whether it’s detailed or a memory jog – write it down and pin it up!

Do Something Every Day To Market Your Business
3. DO SOMETHING EVERY DAY TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS
Marketing is an ongoing process that happens daily – Great businesses market before they open doors, every day after they launch and even when they’re established and busy

CHOOSE TODAY WHAT YOU WANT

Marketing = Awareness = Customers = Cash

No Marketing = No Awareness = No Customers = No Cash = No Business

AND THEN ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS
Are you the go to business for the service you offer in your town?

If we tweeted do you know an XYZ in #altrincham – would your business be the one that people mention?

REMEMBER: A business that offers the best service will still fail if nobody knows they exist … Don’t let your business fail simply because no-one knows you exist

Be Prepared To Make Sacrifices
4. BE PREPARED TO MAKE SACRIFICES

The difference of Great Marketing VS DIY Marketing can be huge and can mean a massive difference in your margins

We work with businesses that for every £1 they spend on marketing – they generate £6 worth of business

But yes Marketing Services that work cost and in order to be able to afford a Social Media Company, a web designer, a graphic designer or a printer you may have to make sacrifices early on in the business for the long term success of the business

If you’ve invested 5 figure sums in fixtures and fittings or a staff bill – is it not worth making a sacrifice to bring together a small marketing budget, so that there is long term success for your investment

Celebrate Your Success
5. CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS

And here’s the good part – all the hard work you put in pays off

So take time out and celebrate each step of your success

You worked harder * faster * better than the local competing businesses

Crack open the champagne and celebrate with that strong network around you that helped you achieve all your success

WANT TO TAKE ACTION AND MARKET YOUR BUSINESS TODAY
Call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk

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Alex McCann

Author Alex McCann

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