Will You Be A Better Marketer in 2007?

Off course you will. And this article will help. BIG time. '3 BIG' times even...

There's a critical 3-tier approach to any successful marketing plan that unfortunately, most people will never know.

Having a clear understanding of 'The BIG 3' will make or break your marketing campaign so pay very close attention.

Here they are:

1. Message

This is what you say about yourself, your products, your services, and/or your company that is designed to be compelling and attractive to the people that you want to reach.

Most home business owners and entrepreneurs have no message at all and if they do it is no more than an expanded business card. It looks like everything else. Just open the yellow pages and you'll see what I mean, same boring old messages.

Most messages are based on what the business owners want and NOT on what the market wants. Read that again.

They tend to be company focused or product focused rather than buyer focused. BIG difference.

The opportunity with a well crafted message is huge. It gives you a "competition less" advantage and allows you to stand out from the crowd. A really good marketing message allows you to attract more customers at a lower cost, virtually eliminating the prospecting process all together.

How would you like to never have to prospect for customers ever again? Sound too good to be true? Not really.

Your message is called your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). If you've never heard of a "USP" before, well now you have and you must have one or frankly, you're not in business. Emphasis is on the word "unique".

What makes you unique? You need to know this.

Here's a great example:

"Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less. Guaranteed."

Sound familiar?

Yep, Dominos Pizza. A struggling company prior to this "unique" message.

It doesn't say it's the best. But it's fresh, hot and quick. Get it? THAT is their message. THAT is their "USP."

And THAT message allowed Dominos Pizza to become a multi, multi-million dollar publicly traded powerhouse. They simply had a message and delivered on it.

2) Market

This is who you deliver your message to and equally important, who you choose NOT to deliver it to.

So what do you do with your message now that you have one?

Target your market.

Target marketing is "Direct Response Marketing," focusing on the who, knowing who it is you want as a customer or prospect, and then setting out to find them and delivering your message directly to them and ONLY to them.

With me? Good.

Many home business owners and entrepreneurs make the mistake of communicating with people who do not fit the profile of their target market or think everyone is their target market. BIG mistake.

If you were managing a baseball team and needed a pitcher you wouldn't run an ad in the local newspaper saying "Baseball Pitcher For Hire." You would seek a pitcher within the game of baseball. You would go to the minor leagues, or other professional baseball teams to locate your pitcher.

So you have two choices:

1) Advertise to lists that are already established within your target market: think Ezines or Newsletter subscribers and Direct Mail.

2) Lead generation: generating your own specific, targeted leads.

If you know your customer or prospect it is much simpler to find them. Right? Right on!

As the famous millionaire-maker Dan Kennedy says:

"Its all about 'message to market match' - specific message to specific market. These are the money skills. This is where the income hierarchy comes in. You move higher and higher up that ladder when you can bring the customer in the door - the money skill."

3) Media

This is when you take your message and get it to your chosen market in the best ways possible; in ways that are efficient, effective and affordable...

Such as: Internet, direct mail, JV's, Ezines, newspapers, radio, tv, etc.

Dan Kennedy also goes on to say:

"There is no inherently good or bad media anymore than a hammer is inherently a good or a bad tool. If you want to drive a nail and hang a picture it is a great tool. If you want to do heart surgery it is a pretty poor tool."

Most home business owners and entrepreneurs use too few media. "Diversity is stability." The more you can use effectively, the less vulnerable you are too changes.

So there you have it:

Message / Market / Media

Do not neglect either of "The BIG 3." Ever.

You are only as strong as you're weakest link. If one leg is weak, they are all weak.


Andrew J. Cass is a Home Business Development Expert and Professional Marketing Consultant. He is in the top 1% of income earners in the Home Business industry. To learn insider secrets and powerful marketing strategies from the pros to help you explode your home business empire, sign up for Andrew's FREE cutting edge Ezine at: http://www.TheHomeBusinessInsider.net