Hey there, my fabulous listener, welcome to episode 139 of the Small Business Made Simple Podcast.
Thank you for lending me your ears today – I know you have lots of choices, so I sincerely appreciate me being one of them!
If you’re a first time listener, super super welcome, I am so pleased to have you here. I am your host Jenn Donovan, and it’s my job, via this podcast, social media and everywhere else actually, to make your business life simpler.
This episode is brought to you by my 5 Step Marketing Plan which basically deals with the Who, What, Where, How and Why of running a small business and growing it using strategic marketing.
Want to know more? Get in touch and book a discovery call or follow me on social media to find out more in the coming weeks!
Oh, and PS – my 6 week marketing mastermind is open again – for only the second time this year – if you’re keen to get involved – then just head to www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au and click the work with me tab and see my 6 week marketing mastermind there with all the details.
There’s only 8 spots – so be quick!
Today we are myth-busting!
Just saying those words reminds me of the countless hours I sat with my boys watching Myth Busters! They LOVED that show – still do I’m guessing!
Anyway, we are busting 5 much less labour intensive myths but just as important.
So, let’s go:
Myth Number 1
Advertising and Marketing are the same things!
Oh dear, I think my marketing hair just stood up.
No, no is the answer to this.
Marketing and advertising are two very different things.
Like of a cake
Advertising is a slice of cake.
Marketing is the WHOLE cake!
Marketing and Advertising do have the same goal – to get business and get your business in front of more buyers – but they aren’t the same thing!
Advertising is simply a single strategy that falls under the umbrella of marketing.
So, in a nutshell, if you pay to serve an ad to your audience you are advertising. If you’re using a much broader approach to reach your audience, you are marketing.
Remember, MARKETING IS EVERYTHING!
Myth Number 2
You need to have the gift of the gab to be good at sales.
No, you don’t. And frankly, these days, it might help if you don’t!
Sales is so much more about listening – actively listening. Listening with intent.
It’s not about knowing everything there is to know about a certain product or service.
It’s about knowing everything you can about your customer or client and how that product or service can solve their problem, their roadblock, their challenges.
Sales is much more about asking quality questions, building trust, having clarity, tailoring, listening and building relationships.
Just talking at someone because you know everything and you just need to let them know that you know everything will more than likely cause your customer to start walking backwards and out of your world!
It’s like above if you’re you are doing is advertising then you are missing out on sales.
If all you are doing is talking, you are missing out on sales.
Sales is not hard – in fact it should be simple or simpler if you learn to actively listen.
Myth Number 3
Social Media is Free marketing.
Oh dear – it’s not.
Yes, it might feel that way because there’s no money coming out of your bank account to pay Facebook or Instagram or any other platform, but it’s definitely not free.
How much an hour are you worth?
If you gave up your business and went to work for someone else, how much an hour would you require? $30, $50, $200 an hour?
Well, that’s what it is costing your business.
If you spend 15 hours a week doing social media marketing and your hourly rate is $50 per hour – then each week social media is costing you $750.00.
So, from a strategic business point of view, are you getting $750 worth of sales or leads from social media? No? Well then perhaps you need to look at your strategy, your content or possibly outsourcing to someone who’s cheaper or just better at it than you.
Free in business is never free – because time is the only resource we can’t make more of.
Myth number 4
People are always looking for the cheapest price.
Busted. Absolutely not.
Some people – yes perhaps.
The majority of people – no.
People will only compare your price if you concentrate on your price.
If it’s a price war you want, then that’s the exactly buyers you’ll get – the ones who want the cheapest.
This is where Human to Human marketing comes in.
The large majority of people want to get to know, like and trust who they are buying from, want a great experience and want benefits over features over price.
If the large majority of us purchased on price, they’d be no small business and they’d be no BMW type companies as well.
Look at the people who sell what you sell but for more.
What do they offer, more than likely as an experience or expertise, that you don’t yet?
People buy why you do what you do, they don’t buy what you sell.
That’s why people who are passionate about their businesses do so well. People buy their why.
What’s your WHY?
And Myth number 5
The way to make money is to have more things to sell.
More choices = more dollars.
This is so often not the case.
A confused buyer doesn’t buy.
Too many choices makes for a bad customer experience.
Think of the best restaurants in town – they probably have a small menu – maybe a page or 2 – not 7 or 8.
A while back I went to an eatery that had 101 Parmas to choose from (my 3 kids love their parmas) – it was almost impossible to choose. It took me literally ages and I think, from memory, I gave up and just asked my son to order for me – it was his choice to go!
Some of the best cafes in my town have a small menu. A small menu of food they do extremely well. It’s great to go there and when they change the menu, it’s exciting to try new things!
Not to mention it’s a fabulous business decision as far as systems and processes go, I’m sure.
If you make candles, the idea isn’t that you keep making more and more fragrances, but in fact the way to become more profitable is to get those people to come back again and again to buy their favourites and refer their friends.
To become a very profitable business you don’t need more products, you need more repeat customers.
So there you go – 5 marketing myths busted.
To recap:
- Advertising is Marketing
- You need the “gift of the gab” to be good at sales
- Social Media is free marketing
- People always buy the cheapest priced item
- Offering people lots of choices will make more profit.
Which one resonated the most with you?
Let me know in my Like Minded Business Owners group. I’d love to hear, as usual, any shifts in your marketing or business you get from listening in each week.
Oh, and talking about that, have you seen my short quick podcasts the last few weeks.
I’m doing a series of them – so make sure you tune in twice a week for a little while now!
But that’s it for ep 139.
If you’re enjoying this podcast, which if you have listened to here – you hopefully are, don’t forget to subscribe, share this episode with another superstar business owner who’s doing the daily grind and would appreciate someone making their business simpler, and leave a rating or review to show how much you are loving this free weekly content.
Massive love coming your way if you do!
See you next week on the podcast for episode 140. But in the meantime, let’s hang out on social and get social on social – you’ll find me on Instagram, Facebook and my fav LinkedIn.
But whatever you do,
……..remember small business peeps, as my opening song says, there’s no point in dreaming small!
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