Tell The World!

You can have the best product or service in the world, but if no one knows, then you're just another brand.  How can you market your company effectively?  By understanding some very simple principles.  It takes some time and some research but this article will help you navigate through the maze.

Positioning.

This is a marketing concept that basically is all about putting yourself into the path of your customer.  In order to take full advantage the power of positioning, you must understand exactly who is your target customer.  A simple exercise to make that determination is to review the files of your previous customers.  Looking for common traits among them either by gender, age, occupation, industry, use of your company. 

For example, if you owned a sign company and when reviewing your past customer lists, you noticed that you had realtors come to your office more than any other occupation for signs, you just discovered your niche.

With that clarity you can take it the next step, by planning a campaign that intercepts them.  Ask yourself questions about what other things they do?  Another question you might ask yourself is who else do they shop with?  Knowing the answers to those questions, you can now form alliances that combines your products with the products of other companies.

Positioning is not only action, it is a state of mind.

If you were an expert, and you probably are, what would you do differently?  Would you write a blog?  Would you write a book?  Would you offer classes at the library?  All of these things create an image in the mind of your potential client that you are the best place to go when they need an answer.

Positioning can also be visibility.

Being seen regularly by your potential clients at places and events builds credibility.  It communicates a sense of stability, because you are always there and therefore, you will always be there.  And not just seen, but in what light are you seen?  I tell my clients that "everyday is an audition." So how I dress in public and carry myself are very important. 

Finally, positioning can be as simple as being the "first" one.

Kleenex probably wasn't the very first product for wiping a nose, but it marketed itself so strongly with little competition, that it owns the market.  Owning is the next step beyond just positioning.  It means you dominate it.