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Marketing From The Heart: Issue # 13
http://www.zerald.com
By Tom St. Louis
"The Shortest Distance Between You And Greater
Profits(tm)"
February 12, 2001
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Today's Tip: The Five Greatest Threats To Small
Businesses in 2002

Number One: Thinking of your business as a lifestyle
generator for you, and not as an asset to be nurtured
and built.

Some business owners build to sell. Most business
owners just buy themselves a job.

Author Robert Kiyosaki has defined a real business
as one where the owner can go away for a year and
upon his return, the business is doing better than
when he left.

Number Two: The belief that there's a recession. The
recession, if it is real, does not affect everyone
equally. (The definition of a recession is two
quarters of 'negative growth'. You never know until
much later if it really was a recession.) You may have
found that your sales have been steady or have been
steadily growing. Many businesses have experienced a
nose dive in sales since September. A lot of people
I've talked to, and clients of mine, have experienced
brisk growth in the last two quarters.
Since a recession is, in large measure, a group
hallucination, decide not to participate in it. Even
in the best of times -- the boom times -- there are
many companies going out of business and whole
industries under siege. I don't suggest you bury your
head in the sand, but remember, you have a choice
about how to look at the market.

Number Three: Reactive mindset. If you take a 'wait
and see' attitude, you'll find yourself in trouble so
fast it will make your head spin. One of the first
things I look at when assessing a company is their
"reactive/proactive pulse". No amount of excellent
marketing information can turn around a company if
the key players do not have their heads screwed on
straight.
It may sound corny, but a "can do" attitude is
incredibly important.

Number Four: Competitors with superior positioning.
This is a serious threat. If someone in your market
has preemptively positioned themselves, you are forced
into a defensive position. If you think that's okay,
just imagine that you are Heinz Ketchups' biggest
competitor and repeat the following statement
five times: "It's also not Hunts!"
These days, positioning is so important because we
need shortcuts for everything. Great positioning is
a proxy for me having to think about it. I don't want
to think about it. I don't have time to think about
it. Time is the most precious commodity on the planet
right now and if I have a shortcut I can use to keep
me from having to think about it, I'm going to take
it.
So, if I get the clear impression that your
competitor is the only logical choice in your
category, you are dead in the water. Salesmanship
cannot save you.

Number Five: Lack of systems. This one is also
critical. The only way to take a small company and
turn it into a bigger company is to create consistent
policies and procedures for everything you do. If you
have ever considered a franchise (and the franchisee
survival rate is a multiple of the small business
survival rate), you noticed that they were selling
you a SYSTEM -- a consistent way of doing things.
MacDonald's can hire a fifteen year old, knowing
that he or she will likely last a month or two, and
yet still be able to deliver a consistent product
anywhere in the world. It is THE SYSTEM that's
delivering customer satisfaction and by extension,
profit.

If you do things differently all the time; or, if you
have to think about it every single time, you cannot
grow. Instead of constantly reinventing the wheel,
you need to develop systematic ways to deliver each
part of your product or service. To not do so is to
leave yourself open to all manner of problems.

Conclusion: The biggest threat of all is complacence.
if you are happy to do things as you've always done,
your customers will find someone who is constantly
improving.

Go to Issue # 14

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Attention: GTA Business Owners. I will be speaking at
the bconscious Monthly Networking Forum on Thursday,
Feb 21 at 7 PM at the Grand Hotel. The purpose of
bconscious is to help business owners to "Create
Fulfillment and Material Wealth in Their Business. I
will be speaking about The Metaphysics of Marketing.
Don't miss it!
The last bconscious meeting was so dazzlingly
interesting that two hours after the meeting, all
but one or two of the business owners was still there,
talking to other business owners, exchanging business
cards, bonding.
An additional benefit you will receive for your
participation is between 5 and 10 referrals for your
business. Admission is $10.
Where: The Grand Hotel, located on the South
East Corner of Jarvis and Dundas. To reserve, call
Susan Painter 416-481-0379 susan@bconscious.com
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CLIENT TESTIMONIAL:
" After implementing the new ad, I received over 60
calls in the first month. In the past, I was
receiving about 5 to 10 calls per month. That's a
600% increase. Thank you!" - Marisa Ferrera, Founder,
Spirit Sparks Centre for Joyful Learning
(independent school)
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