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If you’ve ever had to take a personality test, you may have heard of Myers-Briggs.  One of the dichotomies explored in this test is a person’s lifestyle preference.  If you are a “J” for judging, you like to have matters settled in relation to the outside world.  If you a “P” for perceiving, you tend to like to keep your options open. 

If you are a serious thinker and planner, and like to have matters settled, you may have no problem creating detailed business and marketing plans.  If you lean more toward keeping your options open, however, you may be more challenged when it comes to the business world. 

Anyone can put out a shingle and offer products or services.  Yard sale enthusiasts do it all the time.  However, if you want to have a business that is effective, efficient, and profitable, you have to have a plan.  You can’t get to where you want to go if you’re not sure where that is. 

All the technological tools in the world will not build your business if you don’t have a goal.  Even a GPS system asks you what your destination is!  If you don’t take the time to narrow your focus and plot a course, your efforts will not achieve the desired results.

Perhaps you already have a business plan and the marketing plan scares you.  There are so many options today- TV, radio, newspaper, internet, social media, billboards, mobile phones, magazines, corporate sponsorships… If you don’t plan how to target your products or services to the right people, you could spend thousands and not make a single sale. 

The good news is that you’re not alone.  People in your community and people you know are at varying levels of business experience and success.  Business coaches and marketing firms can help you clarify your goals and create a workable strategy to meet them. 

AMW Marketing is one of those companies that can help- offering customized solutions to meet your marketing needs. 

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What's the Vision for your Business

Do you have a clear picture of your business objectives? How do you want your company to be perceived today and in the future? If your most loyal customer is asked, “How do you feel about Company XYZ?” what would you consider the ideal response? How many business owners do you think ask themselves these questions? From my experience, I can honestly tell you– not enough.

Too many businesses are simply going through the motions and aren’t spending enough time answering important questions like these. Without a clear sense of where you are going, you are not going to get there (at least not very quickly and not without struggle).

When Jim first opened Jim's Dry Cleaning, he wanted to provide reliable, dependable dry cleaning service and he wanted to make a comfortable living. As Jim was doing the marketing and promotions for the business, he realized early that not only did he need to differentiate himself from the competition, he also needed to have a clear vision for what the business stood for.

Jim took the time and clarified his business vision for himself and his customers to include non-tangibles like “treating customers like family" and "having a personal relationship with as many clients as possible.” He also knew that being successful for him meant his employees had to truly enjoy working there and he wanted them to feel like they were part of something bigger. Jim changed is vision from “dependable, reliable dry cleaning service” to running a family-style business where customers and employees appreciate each other and treat one another like close relatives.

Having defined his vision, Jim saw how he could do things differently. Jim now adds weekly employee meetings to his schedule so he can ask his staff what is working and what is not.  He throws employee BBQs at his home whenever he can . He also invites loyal customers to pick up a slice of banana bread when they come in. Jim would have never even had these ideas had he not taken the time to clearly think about his business vision.

Of course, your vision may be quite different than Jim’s but it’s the process that is extremely important. When was the last time you asked yourself “what’s my vision for my business?”

Integrity Marketing

Alan Chapman, owner of Businessballs.com out of Leicester, England, has an interesting theory regarding the foundation of marketing.

According to Chapman, the number one factor that puts a business head and shoulders above the rest is the ethics and integrity of the organization:

“Price is no longer the king, if it ever was. Value no longer rules, if ever it did. Quality of service and product is not the deciding factor. Today what truly matters is ethical and philosophical quality - from the bottom to the top - in every respect - across every dimension of the organisation.”

This seems pretty simplistic. After all, no one ever talks about ethics comparisons or philosophy shopping. However, on an intrinsic level, most people want to deal with businesses they trust, with organizations that share similar values. Your marketing methods can make or break the image of integrity your business or nonprofit holds in the community.

Some businesses have taken integrity marketing to new levels. Domino’s Pizza, for example, came right out and stated, “We know you didn’t like our pizza. We’re going to make it better.” Their newest campaign involves using customer photographs of pizzas rather than using food artists for advertising pictures. So far, sales and traffic are up at the 2nd largest national pizza chain.

However, according to Bob Phibbs of Retaildoc.com, referring to both Domino’s and Toyota: “Lesson to businesses large and small, if you want to become a larger brand, you better pay attention to the most basic brand promises:

• eating our product won’t taste bad or
• our products won’t kill you.”

In other words, it’s a lot easier to use integrity marketing when your business makes quality products or provides quality services at a fair price. It’s even better when the process of business, including hiring practices, selection of materials, and efficiency of procedures, is based more on what is right than what is profitable.

When the business is right, integrity marketing comes as a natural outgrowth. When Orville Redenbacher told us "you can taste the difference" in his popcorn, you believed him. As long as eating the popcorn doesn’t “taste bad or kill you,” people will continue to show loyalty to his popcorn brand.

In a social media world where privacy is at a premium and everyone’s opinion can be blasted to the far corners of the internet, the value of marketing that tells the truth: “Let us solve your problem, meet your need, or make you feel good” is more recognized today than ever before.

In the words of author Douglas Adams, “To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.”