Marketing the Possible – And Doing It

There are so many “tips” available from online marketing experts these days that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. When that happens, when there are simply too many choices, most people simply give up and choose to do nothing. For us, the real key to successfully marketing a business online is – knowing what’s possible, doing that, and doing only that.

In other words, as an entrepreneur, you need to know what you're capable of and limit yourself to those things alone. Granted, it’s tempting to try to be all things to all people but, that rarely works. It also leads to stress, exhaustion, and sleepless nights!

The Art of the Possible

This brings to mind the classic quotation that is normally attributed to Abraham Lincoln about whether you can “please all of the people all of the time.” In fact, the Lincoln quote was quite different (and quite a bit more cynical):

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln (emphasis added)

For cynical marketers (and far too many politicians), this is a truism that often has them crying themselves to sleep at night. For the rest of us, the gentler interpretation of poet John Lydgate has more appeal:

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” – John Lydgate (emphasis added)

Perhaps we can simplify that even further with this famous (or infamous) movie line:

“A man’s got to know his limitations.” – Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry

Knowing Your Limitations Has Value

What’s the point of all this quoting and deep thinking? Simply this… When you consider an online marketing strategy, you have to start from this basic premise… YOU know what's possible – and your prospects don't.

This is especially true today, when people’s values, needs, and priorities may have changed dramatically.

Consider for a moment these shifting attitudes from the business and personal worlds, in response to the recent health crisis which has had an impact on all of us.

According to Fortune.com, the top concerns of business leaders will be:

• 48% say their top concerns over returning to business as usual are health and safety

• 38% cited financial management and cash flow

• 27% cited concerns about new laws and regulations

• 25% of business leaders say the biggest challenge to working remotely is productivity and motivation

• 24% said connectivity with coworkers

• 19% home-office setup needs

• 48% of business leaders think technology spending at their company will increase [in our new reality]

Whether your business is focused on products or services, or a combination of the two, these changing behaviors and priorities could have a direct effect on your target audience. This will have a profound effect on you and your design or furnishings business.

Where Can You Be Supportive?

For many, it’s a new world out there. For some, the changes are practical while, for others, they are driven by fear. Understanding which of these you are dealing with will go a long way to determining how you can offer the support and services prospective clients may need. And, since they do not know what may be possible, it’s your responsibility to educate and illuminate the possibilities for them.

That is what online marketing has always been, and always will be, about, the art of knowing and marketing the possible!

If you're still unsure of how to share your expert knowledge of the possible through online marketing, Ted offers business consulting to the trade that can help you figure it out. Simply… Contact TD Fall today.

A Product Launch or New Service Launch Is All About You?

If you perform a Google search for “product launch checklist”, it will take less than one second for the search engine giant to deliver more than 30 million search results… 30 million! Plus, some of those results will be from companies selling “product launch software”, while others offer some sort of product launch template as a guide. A limited number will actually present recommendations for a checklist.

Yeah, sounds like typical Google search results, right?

Of course, even if you discover a reliable site with a decent checklist for your product launch, you still have to act on it. You still have to shoehorn that list into a process that works for you and your product.

• You have to set priorities.

• You have to figure out the timing.

• You have to set deadlines for content creation.

• You have to assign tasks to yourself and your team.

• You have to… have to… have to…

• You have to do all the detail work and, if there are any problems, and

• You have to take all the responsibility for not being prepared! YIKES!

Don’t you just love being the boss?!?

What to do, what to do?

Now, as you sit there contemplating all the things you must do to launch your product or service, you're likely wishing you already had a process in place with tasks, responsibilities, and timing ready to rock and roll.

While your product launch to-do list may seem endless right now, we’d like to offer some guidance on what needs to be done and how to set up your launch schedule.

How to Make Your Launches Easy (Well, easier!)

First, the good news: You can either create a launch template for yourself or you can choose from a variety of them available online. (And, when we say variety, we mean choosing from about 128 million Google search results!)

Below is an example of just one of the possible product launch templates you can choose from. As you’ll see, you can pick from the simplest to the most complex and detailed, as you please.

What really matters is how you format your own or fill out the cells in the template you choose. (Did we mention that a ton of these templates are FREE!)

Images courtesy of Smartsheet.com

And, oh yeah, there is no bad news!

All of a sudden, you have a comprehensive to-do list that includes who, what, and when: i.e., person responsible, type of task, timing, and deadline! This includes critical launch tasks like:

• Content creation – lists of promotional materials, types of videos, blog posts, social media posts, etc., + Due Date for each.

• Subscriber list promotion – email creation, email nurture campaign, newsletter announcement + Due Date for each.

• Affiliate marketing – SWIPE file content needed for your affiliates, promotional content, affiliate agreement, etc., + Due Date for each. (FYI... SWIPE files are a collection of tested and proven advertising and sales letters.)

• Graphic design for Sales Page – headers, images, upsell and down-sell pages, + Due Date for each.

• Shopping cart setup – when to pick one, when to set it up, when to launch + Due Date for each.

Why do we keep adding “+ Due Date for each” to all of these tasks? Because this is where the template helps you out so much – by arranging and scheduling Due Dates for every launch task you and your team need to perform.

More than a simplistic checklist; more even than an overly simple template; these are a blueprint for a successful product launch. AND… So many of them are FREE!

Do you still think you might need help with your product launch or new service launch?

Remember, our hero Ted Fall remains available for business consulting to the luxury furnishings and design trades. Maybe he could help you brainstorm ideas to generate new revenue streams. Couldn’t hurt, right? So, go ahead and…   Contact TD Fall today.