Are You Building a Business or a Marketing Empire?

castleintheairYou know how it is, we’re told to constantly be marketing.  To stop marketing is to watch your business wither and die.

True?

Like most things, it depends.

If you have a launch-based business in which revenue depends on how well your next launch does, then yes…this is true.  You have to constantly be “out there” reminding people who you are and what you offer – AND you have to keep coming up with offers to hold their attention.

 

Stressful?  To me, yes.  Some people thrive on it.  I prefer a business which I own, rather than one which owns me.

Setting yourself up for small business success means designing your business, from the ground up, as you would a house: starting with a strong foundation and knowing what you want it to look like when finished.
Owning a business designed for success means that you take time off to rejuvenate and revenue continues to come in.

Owning a business designed for success means that you’re not scrambling asking yourself “How will I make money this month?” or “What can I offer that my list will want to buy?”

Owning a business designed for success means that you have a Business, Marketing and Extreme Client Care™ Plan which creates raving fans out of your clients so they, in essence, become marketers for you by talking about their positive experience in working with you.

Take the time now to step back and ask yourself what type of business you want:

  1. A castle-in-the-air, launch-based-revenue-roller-coaster, OMG-I-have-to-grow-my-list, what-will-next-month’s-offer-be, EEK-I’ve-been-on-Facebook-for-3-hours-and-no-clients-yet business or
  2. A well-thought-out set of offers where clients can naturally progress from one program to the next depending on where their business is today combined with a strategic marketing plan which makes each offer a logical progression from your content.

Hmm…seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?  Yet, by not consciously doing #2, most business owners “choose” #1 by default and often spend years, and thousands of dollars, trying to determine what went wrong with their initial vision.

All #1 gets you, aside from a possible ulcer and mounds of debt, is a marketing “empire”.  You’re consistently marketing, marketing, marketing – always focused on the next thing to market.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Request to You:

If you feel like you’re currently creating, or already have, a launch-based marketing “empire”, ask yourself:

  • What do I love about my business, as it is today?
  • What would I love to change about my business, as it is today?
  • What are my goals – short and long-term – for my business?  For my life?

These questions will help you get on the right track in designing a business to support you and, if you’d like support in setting up your business and marketing plan for 2012, email Gina@SandraMartini.com today.

© 2010-2011
Sandra Martini

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SANDY RECOMMENDS:  Great things to check out

CheckThisOutWith the holidays just around the corner, there’s a lot going on. . .here are some special things you may wish to check out:

  • There’s only one person I’d recommend for learning how to host a telesummit: Dr. Ellen Britt of MarketingQi.  Ellen’s currently offering a Telesummit Success Secrets 4-week teleseries and has generously offered to give my community $100 off.  Additionally, if this opportunity is right for you (meaning you want to host a telesummit at any point), I’m also offering my Totally Teleseminars Teleseries as a bonus when you join at www.marketingqi.com/sandra (remember to use the coupon code “blue” to receive $100 off!)
  • If one simple tweak to your message could make you Virtually Magnetic to the world, would you be curious to know what it is? Come and meet me along with 20 other experts as we share with you, what has been the turning point for us and what made a big difference in our success. In this “Fr.ee Gift Giveaway and Teleseminar Series”, you’ll learn from a panel of extraordinary people what simple yet effective changes you could make right now to skyrocket your business. Visit http://santacoachevent.com/
  • Too Much on Her Plate Week is here – and it’s a holiday like no other because the celebration is in honor of you! That’s right. Dr. Melissa McCreery, psychologist and an internationally certified life coach, created Too Much on Her Plate Week to celebrate busy, high-achieving women like you who are ready to take control, make changes, and thrive in life and business.  Melissa has invited respected professionals, including me, to give away success tools to make this the ultimate celebration!  You can access these FREE gifts at http://TooMuchOnHerPlateWeek.com.