What's Behind All Great Marketing?

Ask any pro painter what the most important part of the job is and they'll answer with one word: preparation.

Do it right and the job goes smoothly. Do it wrong and you're looking at a disaster.

Which is counter-intuitive, right? After all, when you think of painting, you think of the results -- the color, shine, texture, etc. You don't see the preparation. Yet, it's the foundation of all great painting.

It's the same with your marketing.

When you think of marketing, you think of the results -- leads in your pipeline, emails or calls from hungry prospects, dollars in the bank, etc. You don't see the preparation. Yet, it's the foundation of all great marketing.

So, what makes for great marketing preparation?

Three things, at least. Here they are ...


1) Create a product or service that's better than your competitors' 

This is NOT a sexy idea for most marketers. At. All.

It's way more fun to get "creative" with ideas to find and get new clients than it is to ensure you're offering them an outstanding value for their dollar.

But: If your marketing is brilliant and your product/service is crap, you'll only implode faster as more people find out you're no good. Which is not what you want.

Take heart. You don't have to sell the BEST product or service in the world. Just be better than the other guys. Like the hiker putting on running shoes as a bear approaches him and his buddy, you don't have to outrun the bear -- you only have to outrun the other guy.


2) Choose a clear target

Joe Polish warns against what he calls "blind archery" -- shooting arrows randomly without knowing the target, hoping you will eventually hit something.

But most marketers don't have a clear target of their ideal prospects. As a result, they're a danger to themselves and their bank accounts.

You must choose your target before you fire your marketing arrows. And that entails preparatory thinking.


3) Set up a follow-up system

This is also NOT sexy. But essential.

By follow-up system, I mean what will you do to systematically touch all prospects until they buy or die?

Don't launch any marketing effort that doesn't have follow-up built into it. If you fail to follow up, you leave at least 50% of your cash on the table.

As I explain in the guide I created on Followup Marketing, I have never seen a follow-up system fail to pay for itself since 1996. In fact, I doubled sales -- twice -- for my first business by doing nothing more than using GoldMine to literally mine the gold from inbound emails and phone calls.

Bottom line: Doing the necessary prep work before you launch a marketing promotion is not always fun or exciting. Neither is flossing your teeth or wearing your seat belt. You can skip it. But don't complain about the outcome if you do.

Resource: If you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, the free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your copy here.