2017 Top 10 Marketing Morsels

10. Everything is Marketing – In business, especially in small business, everything you do is marketing. This is true from how you answer the phone, to how you explain your business, to how you provide customer service. When you lose sight of this your message becomes fuzzy and customers get confused. Check out our post As a Small Business, EVERYTHING You Do is Part of a Marketing Campaign to find tips on having consistency.

9. Sometimes You Just Have to Go with What You Have – In our post Get it Done we talked about how you can’t let yourself get trapped in the cycle of self-doubt and trying to make everything perfect before you launch it. Sometimes you just have to get it done and make changes as needed. Keeping indecision from letting you become trapped.

8. Don’t Limit Yourself – Just as important as getting things done is the ability to think like there is no box. In the posts New Ideas or Curious Combinations and To Coach or Not To Coach I talked about how to grow and truly expand your business you often have to move out of your comfort zone and try new things that will stretch you.

7. The Power of Positivity – I have spent several years working to be a mostly positive person. This is a lifelong process and is worth the effort for the changes it has made in my family and in my business. Read a bit more about my journey and tips for being more positive in 5 Tips for Battling the Brain Chatter and How Being a Positive Person Changed My Business.

6. Networking – One of the most transformative things for my business in 2017 was networking. And I have grown to really love it and all the connections that I make. Networking offers you opportunities to bounce ideas off of others and meet people that can provide you with excellent ways to fill your clients’ needs if they are outside your wheelhouse. In The Power of Networking as a Woman! I talk about how to make networking work for you.

5. Strategy – This seems like such a simple word, but it is often overlooked by entrepreneurs and small business when it comes to marketing. This year we talked a lot about having a strategy and sticking with it throughout the year. Check out What is Your Secret Sauce?, Don’t Hold Back Your Social Media, 7 Key Email Marketing Campaign Elements and Where Does Your Customer Fit in Your Business to revisit some of the ways we worked on strategy in 2017.

4. Using the Right Social Media – In To Tweet, or Not to Tweet? That is the Question we talked about how social media is a powerful marketing tool, but it can’t be used just because everyone else is. You must have a reason and know how you are going to use it. And you need to make sure you are choosing the right platforms to reach “your” clients.

3. Messaging – In 2017 we introduced a concept that you are going to hear a lot more about in 2018, MessageMaps. One of the most important aspects of your marketing is having a clear and compelling message that you can deliver consistently throughout your company. Check out the posts Do you Have a Message Map?, Putting your Message Map to Use, and 5 Tips for a Better Message Map to get started on your own MessageMap.

2. Knowing your Audience – Many business owners think they know their customer but don’t really take the time to understand them and how and why they buy. This doesn’t mean expensive market research, but it does mean taking the time. Our post If You Build It, They Probably Won’t Just Come offer insights into better understanding your target audience. This knowledge should serve as a foundation for everything you do.

1. Charting Your Course – In our very first post, Charting the Course for Your Ultimate Destination we covered the importance of knowing where you are headed and how you plan to get there. This important step will help you overcome “Shiny Object Syndrome” along with many other mistakes that can take you off course.