What Is Your Trail of Bread Crumbs?

A few years ago I was asked to teach a class on marketing strategies for a group of unemployed job seekers. As I thought of how I could best help this group of highly qualified, but very depressed executive level people, I came up with the following strategy that will also help you market your business. The first question I posed to the group was this: "What problems are you VERY good at solving?" This is a tough question and it took the individuals in my class a lot of hard thinking to come up with a thorough answer. What I was trying to get them to do was to look at their job skills in terms of problem solving, rather than experience. Anyone who is skilled at a job has mastered a set of problems he or she is very good at solving. The same thing applies to your company. Really, really put your mind to coming up with a focused list of specific problems your business is VERY good at solving for your customers. I want you to think of some poor manager's list of performance goals his boss has handed him to accomplish, or else. Don't stop thinking until you can define these problems in almost the same kind of wording that will appear on this poor manager's performance evaluation next quarter. This process will force you to look at what your business does from the inside out. Not from the view of an insider looking out at all the possible customers out there, but as an outsider who has a problem and is looking for some outfit that can hand them a solution on a silver platter. Once you have reduced everything you and your team do to a very short list of problems you are very good at solving, then your marketing merely becomes a matter of helping that problem-plagued manager (and others like hime) find you. Yes, I really did say, "merely" and I was totally serious. Here's why. When anyone has a significant problem that causes pain, loss of sleep, stress and all kinds of other unpleasantness, THAT PERSON IS LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION. For example, I am very good at ghost writing articles for the business person who cannot, or is too busy, to write them for herself. Oh, she knows she could really enhance her reputation and marketability if she could write and publish a number of articles related to her fields. But since these this individual cannot write these articles for herself, she is looking for a solution to this problem. I am the solution and she is looking for me. In your business, it is important to understand that there are people out there in your marketplace looking for you right now. They don't know your name or phone number, but they are looking for the solutions you can deliver to them. So all your marketing efforts from now on, must be directed toward helping these people find you. Lay your trail of bread crumbs with every marketing step you take and make sure the trail leads right to your front door. They will find you. COPYRIGHT (C) 2005, Charles Brown