Bright Ideas # 70 - Test Your Marketing Muscle!

If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are pretty darn good that you “wear more than one hat” in your business. And as you’ve surely already discovered, some of those “hats” are a better fit than others.

Sometimes it’s okay to keep doing tasks that aren’t your strong suit. Other times, not so much.

Today I want to help you make sure one critical aspect of your business—your marketing—is being handled effectively. Because my guess is, on top of everything else you do, you are also your own Marketing Director. But that may or may not be the best job for you.

Now perhaps you are thinking, “No, I’m not. I have a graphic designer, assistant, manager, Web developer, and/or copywriter who puts my marketing materials together”.

That’s terrific! But unfortunately, those people are rarely experienced marketing professionals.

Strange as it may seem, when you hire a freelance copywriter, graphic designer, Web designer or Web developer, 99% of the time you are not hiring a marketing expert at all.
You are only hiring a copywriter, graphic designer, Web designer or Web developer.

Think of it like remodeling your home…

You wouldn’t expect a carpenter, plumber, or electrician to be able to design your new kitchen. But if you can hand them a blueprint, specs and guidelines, they can create the kitchen of your dreams.

So you need to be the architect of your marketing dreams. Or you need to hire an experienced consultant to come up with the right plans to meet your needs. Because if you don’t plan your marketing properly, the best designers and writers in the world can’t make your marketing and advertising get results.

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How do you know if you have what it takes to be your own Marketing Director?
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As usual, I have a fun and easy way for you to find out. :-)

I have put together a little quiz to let you test your marketing muscle! It’s only 12 questions, but you might find it easier to print it out before you start. The answers are at the bottom (no peeking).

1. What is your USP?
A. Don’t have one
B. Don’t know what USP means
C. Customer Service, Experience or Hours
D. Other

2. Who is your target market?
A. Anyone with money
B. Men, Women, Teens or Businesses
C. Don’t know
D. Other

3. All business to business marketing communications should be written in a:
A. Formal voice
B. Conversational voice

4. All business to consumer marketing communications should be written in a:
A. Formal voice
B. Conversational voice

5. When it comes to creating effective marketing materials, which of these is most important? (Put these in order from most to least)
A. Professional Graphic Design _____
B. Content Layout _____
C. Marketing Strategy _____
D. Copywriting _____

6. Which of the following should be included in all sales letters?
(Choose all that apply)
A. Call to Action E. Subheads
B. Headline F. Contact info
C. Offer G. None of above
D. P.S.

7. When it comes to marketing, what’s more
important:
A. Cost
B. Return On Investment (ROI)
C. Not Sure

8. Do you have a written marketing plan?
A. Yes
B. No

9. When you are writing your marketing
materials, which of these is most important?
A. What you do
B. How you do it
C. The benefits of working with/buying from you
D. Your background, history and/or experience
E. The features of your products or services

10. What is a tagline?
A. A short statement about what you do
B. A short statement about who you are
C. A clever catchphrase
D. A benefits-oriented promise to your customer

11. How important are testimonials in your marketing?
A. Not at all
B. Somewhat
C. Extremely
D. Don’t Know

12. On average, how many times does someone have to see your
ad before they notice it, AND how many times total before
they take action?
A. 2 & 4
B. 7 & 14
C. 7 & 10
D. 2 & 14

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Use the answer key below to add up your score and discover whether your marketing muscle is mighty or wimpy…
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Answer Key: 1) A = 0, B = 0, C = 1, D = 2 2) A = 0, B = 1, C = 0, D = 2 3) A = 0, B = 1 4) A = 0, B = 1 5) C,D,B,A, = 6; Any one correct = 1pt 6) A – F = 1 pt each; G = 0 7) A = 0, B = 1, C = 0 8) A = 2, B = 0 9) A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, D = 0 10) A = 1, B = 1, C = 0, D = 2, E = 1 11) A = 0, B = 1, C = 2, D = 0 12) A = 0, B = 2, C = 0, D = 0

> 26-30 Mighty Muscle - Congratulations! You really know your stuff. Keep up the good work and don’t ever stop learning and improving upon what you do.

> 20-25 Moderate Muscle - Nice work. When it comes to marketing you are clearly smarter than the average bear. But, you are still missing a few of the key concepts that take marketing from ho-hum to “impossible to ignore”.

> 10-20 Weak Muscle - Could be worse, could be better. If you own a business, you are likely having trouble making it grow or suffering from feast or famine.

> 0-9 Wimpy Muscle - Oh dear. If you own a business, chances are you are destined to struggle unless you learn more about marketing and get customers ASAP.

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Now what?
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If your marketing muscles aren’t powerful enough to do the job, don’t despair. If you haven’t read it already, your first exercise is to head over to www.success-stream.com/downloads/7sins.htm and download a copy of my F*REE Report “The Seven Deadliest Small Business Marketing Sins…Are You Guilty?”

Been there, read that?
Ready to really power up your marketing muscle?
Need more help, but can’t afford to hire a consultant?

No worries! Just go to www.success-stream.com/products.htm to get your very own “consultant in a PDF” by grabbing a copy of my new e-workbook “Putting Your Business on the Road to Success: The savvy entrepreneurs down and dirty, step-by-step guide to creating a powerful, 2-page Marketing Success Action Plan™ for attracting customers, making sales and exploding your business”

It’s the next best thing to hiring me personally—at a fraction of the price!

Before you know it, you’ll be pumping marketing iron with the best of them…And watching your business boom.

©2002-2006 Success Stream. All Rights Reserved. www.success-stream.com

Do you have a marketing, advertising or writing question you’d like to have answered? Email me and you might see the answer in a future edition of Bright Ideas.

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