The key to business success, whether large or small, may not be what you think.
Marketing and there’s how many P’s now?
- Product (and/or Service). That’s what you’re making or selling.
- Price. What customers will pay and you’ll take in exchange for your wares and services.
- Place. Where, with a little When on the side. Spoiler: This one too many get “wrong.”
- Promotion. That’s where I come in and it’s everything. Communications FTW.
- People. My HR + PR brain says a yes to that.
- Process, Partners, Physical Evidence and Productivity. Wildcards in many a perfunctory keynote deck. Hey I found a 13 lucky marketing Ps!
Competition, Marketplace and Various X Factors
Study the competition. Review the marketplace. Define Your Brand.
Once you find your niche – what makes your product/service better, smarter, funner – the key to creating a successful business is being findable. And then found.
I can be found, depending on how one searches, but no one’s looking. Not many HR recruiters Googling “wine drinking, cruise taking business communicators who want flexible, telecommute opportunities.” Ahem.
It’s Google’s world. We all work in it.
My favorite ‘not every business needs a website’ example is a local wine and liquor store that’s 1) always busy with 2) zero marketing.
Another local wine merchant – one with better service, branding, culture, online activity but without the high traffic physical location – closed. They were harder to find, and that made all the difference.
Most businesses and brands aren’t as marketing proof as the first liquor store.
The quality of your products and services are critical. The talent and skill of your employees are important. Equally as vital to business success: someone’s ability to find your business as a solution to their problem.
Your website is open 24/7 worldwide, kicking SEO is your high traffic location and Google IS where you do business.
Yes my website is terrible, my SEO sucks and I need to practice what I type. I’m also right.