Do you know what business you are in? Are you sure? A lot of people think they know but don't.

Are you in the graphics or printing business? That's nice! So let me guess: you bust your guts all day every day to make sure your clients' "stuff" looks great and arrives on time, right? I'm here to tell you that in the year 2000, that's not enough.

The fact is that you're not really in the printing or graphics business. You're in the marketing support business! You help your clients grow their businesses by ensuring that their marketing materials are correctly designed or printed.

It's Not Enough To Be Good And On Time!!!

That's right. If my marketing is all wrong and you do a superb job delivering it to me, how does that help me? If you want to be a "value-added solution provider", as most of us do, you can't just stand by and watch your good clients go under.

So what's the answer? If you can make it part of your job to provide your clients with the best and most easily applicable marketing information around, do you see how that might be an advantage for you? In fact, don't you think it might make you unique and indispensable in their minds?

What if you provided, as part of your everyday service, information about the secrets of increased response to letters, brochures, ads and other promotional pieces. Do you think that might help your clients?

It sure wouldn't hurt.

You're probably thinking that your clients don't look to you for that kind of information. "My clients know their business and they want me to mind my business, do my job and keep my ideas to myself!", you might be thinking, and you might be right-some of the time with some of the people. But let me give you a hint: 90% of your competitors are thinking the exact same thing right now as they read this article. Some of them glanced at the headline, read a paragraph or two and dismissed this whole article and went on to the next ad for a swishy piece of equipment.

Do you see any advantage in thinking differently than your competitors? Is it fulfilling for you to define your worth according to the next great piece of equipment? Or is there something infinitely more important? If you could make your contribution to their success infinitely more valuable by adding services that nobody else offers-do you think that might help you hold on to your customers-and your margins?

Why Is Marketing So Important?

A lack of workable marketing strategies is the Achilles heel of most small and mid-size businesses. (And do you think Eaton's went out of business because they got the colours wrong one season? They lost the ability to get the customer through the door, which is at heart a marketing problem.)

Now that you know you're in the marketing support business, I suggest you make it your business to learn more about marketing. Learn all you can. For one thing it will help you to get and hold on to all the business you can handle. But more importantly it will help you empower your customers to be in business for a long time.

Here are three very powerful, misunderstood, overlooked marketing concepts that, together, can literally explode the response to any promotion:

1) Testing. Too many lazy copywriters and creative directors show a few concepts, allow the client to pick the one they "like", and then implement it without regard for the client's highest good. If, instead, the agency or copywriter (or printer or graphics specialist) urged the client to test several variations of the campaign, the odds are heavily in favour of you finding at least one variation that outpulls the others by 500% to 1000%. Think of the contribution you could make to your client if you could help them to ten times the response of their next promotion. (And did you notice that there's a little more billable work for you in this scenario?)

2) Combinations and Sequences. In the year 2000, a one-shot campaign leaves far too much money on the table. In many targeted campaigns, no profit is realized until the third hit or even later. Some marketers talk about the "rule of 9", which suggests that the prospect is not sold until they've been exposed to a message on nine separate occasions. With this understanding, many clients would not give up so easily. The marketing section of a good business bookstore is full of examples of how to employ this principle.

3) Lifetime Value of a Customer. Not many businesses realize how much they should be willing to invest to get a customer. Think about promotions by Columbia Records. Ever notice their campaigns and wonder about the thinking behind them? For one cent, you get several CDs. All you have to do is agree to buy a few more CDs in the coming year or two at regular club prices.

The secret of course is that they are locking in profit. They know from thousands of customers what their delinquency rate is. How does this apply to your customers? There's a very good likelihood that some of your clients misunderstand the profit dynamics behind their marketing moves. That's why they stop too early. If they knew this secret, they'd promote relentlessly. (Again, do you see how good marketing knowledge can be for you?!)

You'd be surprised how many powerful, overlooked marketing strategies and tactics you can learn in a short time if only you dig a little bit.

Make Marketing Work For You And For Your Clients

A few more practical suggestions: study with the experts. Put together marketing resources for your clients. Hire a reputable marketing speaker to put on a seminar for your clients. Provide marketing consultations as a value-added to all your clients that need help. Do you see the opportunity to distinguish yourself from all your "equipment-dependent" competitors? (Remember, a lot of your competitors are gone on to the next ad, so don't you miss out!).

Get to work learning more about response marketing. That's one of the best ways to make yourself indispensable to your clients. And, above all, never forget what business you are really in.

Tom St. Louis is an author and speaker on direct marketing subjects. For information about Tom's "Double Your Business in 180 Days" Programs, call to hear 24 hour Free Recorded Message: 416-968-2739. You'll also receive a FREE copy of Tom's booklet "The Three Most Powerful Marketing Strategies In History". Out side Toronto, call 1-888-214-8314. Or e-mail: response@zerald.com