Four Mistakes Entrepreneurs Often Make When Marketing Their Business
One of the many parts of being an entrepreneur is marketing your business, but for many, the marketing aspect may not come naturally or may seem like too big of an expense to take on. Todd Bates, president and owner of Todd Bates Systems, reveals four of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when marketing their business.
- Trying to Brand: Bottom line: Branding works when a business has the budget to make it work. This isn’t to say that your company shouldn’t have a brand, identity, or logo. The mistake that too many entrepreneurs make when approaching branding is spending their precious resources on trying to get their customers to identify with them. Attracting new customers is more about having a strong marketing message that explains why prospective clients should choose your business, and then about branding.
- Being Unwilling to Take a Risk: As Todd explains, “No one buys vanilla,” meaning that sometimes it is necessary to take a leap of faith and stand behind your product or service. The safer you are, the more risky it is to your business since customers will be unable to determine the difference between you and your competition if you aim to look, sound, and act like every other business.
- Spending Too Much on Marketing: The fact is, most entrepreneurs are spending too much on marketing when they are taking out ads, using Internet advertising, or doing any grassroots marketing approach. The golden rule of marketing that Todd suggests is to not spend more than 7% of what a client is worth to you. For example, if you are an insurance agent who makes $500 on an average policy you sell, your rule would be to spend $35. Be militant in your marketing spending!
- Relying on Your Personality: It’s important to not solely rely on your personality and figure that you will market yourself. Ask yourself, “Have you ever started something and not finished it?” Relying on your personality will only lead to poor results.
About Todd Bates
Todd Bates is a leading business consultant, speaker, author, and President and Owner of Todd Bates Systems. A graduate of Colorado State University, Bates immediately made a name for himself as an entrepreneur. Using his talent for business marketing and with years of success behind him, Bates dedicates his career to teaching other businesses and entrepreneurs how to thrive. Over the past 20 years, he has worked with over 25,000 individual business owners and has shared his proven techniques with over 250,000 people at speaking events countrywide. For more information, please visit www.toddbatessystems.com.
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Xiaomeng Li earned her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, with Honors in Mass Communication and Fine Arts at Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA. She is now a Master of Arts candidate for New Arts Journalism program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Born in Wuhan, China, Li came to the United States in 2007. Her passion lies in popular culture, cross-cultural communication, and the relationship between the Chinese government, mass media and the civil society. Li is also an aspiring photographer who likes portraiture and the traditional darkroom experience.