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.

Strategic Marketing Doesn’t Have to Be Your Most Hated Chore! (There’s plenty of other biz stuff you can hate!)

Seems like all anyone can talk about these days is being strategic for anything and everything you want to do, doesn't it? It's always about “thinking strategically” when you do this and making sure you “create a strategy” for that. It’s almost enough to make an entrepreneur loathe planning for anything; be it strategic marketing, list building, lead generation, or client acquisition.

Or, lately, going to the store, eating out, even entertaining guests – not to mention whether you're “allowed” to.

By now, you must be asking yourself what the big deal is about being strategic with your online marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and yes, your brand building.

And you may well ask… “Who said it’s so important, and why?”

The simple answer is, “Everyone”. And yes, when we say everyone, we mean us too. For example, we’ve presented more than a few blog posts about the importance and benefits of strategic marketing in the past. These posts include everything from revising your ideal client profile to post-pandemic strategizing to strategic email marketing, business goal setting, and more.

So yes, you can say that here at TD Fall we are fully committed to being strategic about brand building, business building, lead generation, and all types of marketing. This includes content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and maybe even direct marketing (which could include “snail mail”).

5 Reasons Strategic Marketing Matters (Make that 5 x 2 reasons)

A well-defined marketing strategy helps you:

• Set – and reach – your business goals.

• A realistic marketing strategy keeps you focused and organized, enabling you to track your successes and (gulp!) your failures.

• Stay agile and responsive to the needs of your target market.

• Know when something works so you can do everything possible to keep it on track or make it better.

• Know when something doesn’t work as planned, as well as why, so you can fix it!

If these are not enough reasons to convince you it’s time to develop a strategic marketing plan, here are five more reasons that should:

1. Top marketers are organized – The most organized marketers are 397% more likely to report success.

2. Top marketers set goals – Goal-setting marketers are 376% more likely to report success. 70% of the most organized marketers achieve their goals Most of the Time, while an elite 10% of organized marketers Always achieve them.

3. Top marketers document their strategy – Marketers with a documented strategy are 313% more likely to report success.

4. Top marketers proactively plan projects and campaigns – Marketers who proactively plan projects are 356% more likely to report success.

5. Top marketers use agile project management processes – Marketers using agile project management were 252% more likely to report success.

This data was borrowed from a 2019 marketing survey of B2C and B2B marketing teams by the folks at CoSchedule.com.

Let’s Talk About Your Strategic Marketing Plan

While we’ve made it as clear as possible that we believe every online marketer needs a strategic business plan to succeed, it must also be said that it’s never been more important than it is as we move from 2022 to 2023! Never… More… Important!!!

In fact, after the madness of the past few years, your strategic marketing plan is so important, it comes before Step One! It’s done pre-marketing; that is, the first thing you MUST do before you invest your valuable time, energy, and money in any marketing activities.

Stated simply: Your guide to whom you target, how you talk about your business, and how you differentiate yourself from all other businesses in your industry. It is the strategic foundation of your marketing house.

If you’d to discuss the things we’ve shared about strategic marketing, feel free to… Contact TD Fall today.

Online Marketing is the Art of Knowing What’s 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… That when you consider an online marketing strategy, you have to start from this basic premise… YOU know what's possible – 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 health crisis which all of us desperately hope has peaked.

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 professionals or consumers, these changing behaviors and priorities could have a direct effect on your target audience, which will affect 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 often do not know what they do not know, it’s your responsibility to educate and illuminate what’s possible for them.

That is what online marketing has always been, and always will be about, the art of knowing and sharing what’s 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.

Brand Building: 5 Tips to Help You Get It Done

Even though you’re spending hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on brand building each month, your audience isn’t growing. You’re only followed online by a few clients, some bots, and your mom. (Yeah, not even your dad is paying attention to your online marketing efforts!)

And so, for a change of pace, instead of a lengthy introduction to our subject by explaining how difficult building your brand is and why it’s so important, let’s do this. Let’s assume you already know those things and are frustrated by the time, effort, and expense to do it. That way, we can go straight to how you can get it done.

5-Step Brand Building Strategy

If you're like many entrepreneurs and small business owners, your business refuses to grow despite all the work you’ve done to market yourself. But, despite the poor return on all of your efforts, you feel obligated to continue because you know you need an online presence.

1.      Consistent Messaging is Marketing Gold

Consistent messaging throughout every platform is vital to building your brand. This includes the content you create, the logo and graphics you use, images, and the calls-to-action for your target audience. This last can change according to the type of strategy you're promoting, e.g., list building, engagement, special deals on products or services, etc.

Inconsistent messaging does more than simply confuse your audience, it also creates doubt in your abilities and expertise. For example, if your social media content diverges significantly from the messaging on your website, you create uneasiness and questions in the minds of your audience. When this happens, rather than contacting you for answers, it’s far more likely they’ll simply move on to a competitor whose messaging is clear and (yes!) consistent to them.

Once they leave, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be able to bring them back.

2.      Your Identity is Unique, Make Your Brand Unique Too

Separating yourself from your competition can be extremely challenging. However, being unique in some way(s) is what brand building is all about, i.e., creating an identity that has a singular impact on your target audience.

Focus on who you are. Share your vision and mission, which stem from your purpose. Do all you can to make yourself real in the virtual world where you’re doing business. These are the things that make you more human and will separate you from your competitors, before you even describe your business, your products, or your services.

Video is a great tool for doing this type of brand building. The cool thing about using video to create an identity and reputation online is that they don’t have to be long. In fact, the best videos are quick, laser-focused on solutions, and highly targeted to your audience.

What should you include in your 2-to-3-minute branding videos? One subject. Expert analysis. Solutions. Call-to-Action. That’s all you need to gradually build your brand and online reputation through video marketing.

3.      Poignant Messaging is Powerful Messaging

Emotional appeals are an incredibly powerful part of your messaging. This requires consistent messaging about the benefits of doing business with you. Not features. Not tech. Not changing the world. Benefits to your target audience!

If this somehow sounds selfish, that’s OK. Your goal is to cater to the self-interest of your audience, after all, so don’t get distracted by things that do not reinforce that benefits-based message. Always work to answer their most important question, “What’s in it for me?”

Whether your goal is to make people feel better, their homes look better, be more comfortable or more productive, a positive result is what they are looking for. At this point in your messaging, it is absolutely not about you… It’s all about them!

4.      You Need a Loyal Audience

Creating loyal followers (and eventually paying clients) is only possible if you display your expertise and honestly share the benefits they’ll receive from first engaging, and ultimately working, with you.

Your audience is your most valuable asset and by engaging with them and showing interest in their comments, you can keep them coming back. Once they show interest, by subscribing to your email list for example, you have a valuable opportunity to pique their interest further and engage them on a deeper level.

This is the stuff of dreams for any online marketer because you now have a chance to build a relationship that has a high probability of conversion. How you handle these opportunities will determine the long-term success of your business. And it all comes from implementing a solid brand building strategy.

5.      Always Ask Them to Take Action That Benefits Them

Ultimately, the goal of your online marketing efforts is to compel your audience to take action that benefits you, and them. (Don’t ever forget them!) Whether your short-term goal is to get them to subscribe to your email list or take some other step that will lead to increased engagement, you need to get them to act.

These various types of activities are designed to help you begin building a relationship with them that will, eventually, lead to conversion; that is, making a sale. Your consistent emotional messaging combined with your unique identity and poignant appeals will create the loyalty that will entice them to act and do business with you.

Now, back to the intro we didn’t make you read… Yes, building your brand and a unique identity may be the most challenging part of your marketing strategy. But, just like that marketing plan, a strategic approach will be a huge benefit for enhancing your online reputation and your brand.

Business Branding Help

It goes without saying that we at TD Fall will do all we can to help. And Ted is always available to work with you on an individual basis, consulting on how your business can best respond to the shifting needs of your design and furnishings clients.

With more than 25 years of experience in the luxury furnishings and interior design industries, he has pretty much seen it all. So, if you're ready to work with a professional consultant who can help you with marketing and brand building, feel free to… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

3 Interior Design Tips - Planning for Next Year

As we head into the last quarter of 2017, it’s time to begin planning for next year. Say what? Yeah, the year’s not over yet and it’s time to plan for 2018? Well, only if you want to be successful!

And, that’s one of the tips that we’d like to offer: setting goals and developing strategies to achieve them for next year cannot begin too soon. In a recent HuffPost article, author Ira Kalb offers some great advice on how to create a viable marketing plan for the new year – and successive years.

• Goal setting – The goals you set for your business must be measurable and challenging. Measurable goals give everyone a common target, while challenging goals keep people interested, help to avoid boredom, and motivate your team to reach their potential. While you don’t want to overreach, you also don’t want to lower expectations. Set a realistic goal based on experience, then add a few percentage points so of growth to keep the adrenalin flowing.
• Marketing strategy – From branding to promotion and from pricing to information systems, your marketing strategy encompasses all aspects of your business. Having measurable goals means you must be able to accurately measure them, after all. Keeping your name top-of-mind in the marketplace, while differentiating yourself from the competition enhances your brand. Knowing what the market will bear in pricing will enable you to protect your profits. Stay on top of these things and you’ll have a banner year in 2018.

Color Trends for 2018

With each new year we see changing color trends. At times, these trends can be quite stark, while at other times we see more subtle changes in the color palette. For next year, shades of green and blue lead the way, while black, pink, and metallics are being used to make statements. (Not in the same rooms, hopefully!)

According to Elle Décor, These Are the Colors Everyone Will Be Talking About In 2018.

Black as a “statement color”.

Pink as a “power color”

Metallics as “neutrals”

Design Styles by Age

While we shudder at the thought of being labeled “ageist”, we also must recognize market trends when they speak to us. besides, we’re not claiming that age is a defining factor n interior design trends, ArchitecturalDigest.com is making that claim.

In a recent article titled, “The Top Interior Design Styles Based on Age”, they state that we should “Add decor to the long list of things millennials and baby boomers disagree on.”

And, it actually makes little sense that millennials would seek out “refined rustic” interiors as baby boomers do; or those baby boomers would become fixated on modern, minimal mid-century design, called "mod visionary", as their grandchildren do.

While nothing is ever written in stone about such trends, the article is certainly illuminating.

Looking for more new design trends, marketing tips, and ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.