Many business owners, especially online, preach about “marketing with integrity” and “marketing authentically” and then immediately do things which, in my opinion, are exactly the opposite of what they preach.
Here’s just a few marketing mistakes I’ve seen in the last week which make me cringe:
1. Auto Sign-up.
I was virtually introduced to someone, we had a nice conversation and two days later I started receiving her newsletter.
Nope, I didn’t sign up for it and nope, she didn’t ask if I wanted to be.
2. “We only have 9, I mean 12, I mean 15 left.”
You know this game: Biz owner states they have only a “few” left and either the number keeps increasing or they’ve sold more than they said they had and it just takes reading their emails to know.
By the way, the same game is played with time: “offer ends Tuesday”, “whoops. . .make that Wednesday”, “did I say Wednesday”, I meant Friday”
3. Twitter Direct Messages.
Need I say more? Direct messages where my “new” friends are trying to sell me anything and everything. Can we say “unfollow” and quickly?
4. Twitterfeed Gone Wild.
Don’t get me wrong. . .I LOVE Twitterfeed, WHEN it’s used as a marketing tool and not the sole means of posting on Twitter using feeds from anything and everything.
5. Last Minute Everything.
You’ve received these messages – everything is last minute and “urgent” and requires your immediate attention.
You’re expected to drop everything to sign up for this “business and life changing” call or purchase this “amazing” product which must be done in “oops, an hour” because someone was too busy to share earlier.
HOGWASH! We’re too busy actually accomplishing things to put up with this BS!
There are times when we legitimately screw up and send things out late, but you know the difference between that and when someone does it consistently. And if you’re seeing it done consistently, you know what to do (unsubscribe!)
6. No Info, All Promo.
Business owners who don’t send out anything f’ree and informative, but rather just send out promotion after promotion or share so little through their ezines that they may as well not bother writing.
Make It Real – My Request To You
Take a good look at your marketing plan and calendar – if you don’t have one, now’s the time to put it together to help you avoid the above.
Are you guilty of any of the above marketing mistakes? If so, fix them. . .sooner’s better.
Are you putting up with any of the above marketing mistakes? If so, ask yourself if what you receive in exchange is worth the rest. If it is, okay; If it’s not, unsubscribe and move on.
Remember, as a business owner, your priority is to get the RIGHT things done in your business and anything which detracts from that needs to go away.
Act as if your business depends on it – because it does!