10 Fatal Flaws in Marketing  

1.   Thinking that being best ensures success

• How this can work against you.
• How this can work for you.

2.   Disregarding the power of the “Three-Foot Rule”

• Spread the word at every opportunity.

 3.   Failing to stake-out your unique position

• Focus your marketing on what your competitors can’t say.
• 4.   Portraying features as benefits

• Convey “what’s in it” for the customer.

5.    Thinking that a lot of brilliance compensates for a lack of reliability

• People aren’t easily dazzled, but need to know they can count on you in a pinch.

6.   Being too “wordy”

• “If you can’t put your idea on the back of a business card, it’s not a clear idea.”     — David Belasco
• The confused mind says “No!”
• Read: Why Business People Speak Like Idiots — Fugere

7.   Choosing style over substance

• Who have you served?
• What have people said about you?
• How long have you done it?
• Success stories
• What can you do for someone like me?

     8.   Ignoring Drucker’s Law   

• “Business has two basic functions: Marketing and innovation.

These produce results. All the rest are costs.”  — Peter Drucker

     9.   Letting prospects and customers/clients forget you

• Maintain visibility.
• Keep selling the “sold.”

10.   Buck Fever

• You’ve got to pull the trigger, to hit the target.

Had he not decided to “go straight,” Will Rogers would have made a good advertising copy writer. He had a way with a phrase, and was a pretty good country philosopher, too. Here are a few examples:

Some of his sage advice:

1.     Never slap a man who’s chewing tobacco.
2.     Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.
3.     There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.
4.     Never miss a good chance to shut up.
5.     Always drink upstream from the herd.
6.     If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
7.     The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back into your pocket.
8.     There are three kinds of men:
• The ones that learn by reading.
• The few who learn by observation.
• The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.
9.     Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
10.     If you’re riding’ ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it’s still there.
11.     Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier’n puttin’ it back.
12.     After eatingan entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring.
• He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him.
• The moral: When you’re full of bull, keep your mouth shut.

ABOUT GROWING OLDER…

First ~ Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
Second ~ The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
Third ~ Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me; I want people to know ‘why’ I look this way. I’ve traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren’t paved.
Fourth ~ When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.
Fifth ~ You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
Sixth ~ I don’t know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.
Seventh ~ One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it’s such a nice change from being young.
Eighth ~ One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.
Ninth ~ Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.
Tenth ~ Long ago, when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft.
Today it’s called golf.
And, finally ~ If you don’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you’re old.

Here are the two key reasons for staying in touch on a regular basis through marketing communication:

If people don’t know you exist, they can’t do business with you.
If they don’t remember you at decision time, they won’t do business
with you.

Is it time to update that contact list and let people know you are still here – and still care?