Does that seem right? Does that mean we should be a fourth of the way toward our yearly goals? Does that mean we should have a fourth of our new clients, a fourth of our revenue, and a fourth of our leads?

Well, if you are like us and asking yourself these questions (and quite possibly more), then here is some advice: if you are NOT on track, it’s NOT to late. Here is some practical thoughts that may help you make the turn.

Do what YOU do best

With that, I don’t mean your company, I mean YOU. Do what YOU do best. If you are like most business people I know, you are all trying to be everything to everyone and do everything yourself. But that is exactly how we get off course from our goals. Stop and assess what you should be doing for your company – quite possibly they are things only you can do for the company. Focus on those things and find others to do the rest.

Oh wait, that reminds me about my next point….

Find other resources / partners to help take the load off you

Can’t afford it? I know, we say that here all the time as well. But the fact of the matter is you CAN’T afford not to. If your business model is truly as strong as you believe it is, then you have to let go of some of the things that are holding you back from reaching your goals. You have to let others do the things they can do to help your company succeed and allow you to focus on the things only you can.

Now this doesn’t necessarily mean hiring. It could mean outsourcing some work to a virtual employee or company (I know a good one when it comes to marketing), or it may mean partnering with some companies to trade services or resources. Be creative and make every dollar you spend count toward reaching your goal.

Break the goals up in manageable pieces

We see many companies only make yearly goals and the numbers they stare at each day are so large they become paralyzed. Break them up. What do you want to accomplish by this time next quarter – or maybe next time this month? Keep your eye focused on a goal that is reachable (with a stretch) within a shorter period of time.

I hope these thoughts help trigger your mind to think of other things you need to consider as well. If you have other ideas to share, add them to the post by using the comment box below.

If you are struggling with your goals, your message, or your plan. Give us a call and let’s see what we can do to help you now.

Well, I have news for him and anyone else who thinks this way. You will be quite surprised how far you and your business will be behind when you pull your head out of the sand. Here are some things I hope you can understand and consider about today’s small and medium-sized business landscape.

Your business will never be the same as it was before the economic downturn – period.

Those who think that, once this economic crunch is over, they will go straight back to offering the same business model as before our financial crisis will have a huge wake up call coming. The businesses that are working to reinvent themselves are already leaps and bounds ahead of you. Why is this important? See the next point…

Your customer’s needs (and maybe wants) are different now.

With money being tight for everyone, your product or service is more scrutinized than ever before. Therefore, the value you bring your customer must be like never before. It’s a buyer’s market in most industries, so your product or service must stand out above the rest and solve an important need of your target audience.

There are many things I have noticed businesses doing to make forward strides in spite of the dip in the economy. Here are some of the trends I see that you can implement:

Allow employees to telecommute

Save cost for the employee and the business by allowing employees to work from home several days a week. This can cut down on office costs and offers employees flexibilities in trade for other “perks” you may not be able to afford in today’s market. Work is still getting done but for less cost.

Reduce print marketing / increase internet marketing

Print marketing can be an effective means to communicate to your clients and prospects, but it is also one of the most expensive means to do so. Cut marketing costs by going electronic. Email marketing, website improvements, and social media efforts are typically dollar for dollar better spent money than print anyways.

Hire virtual employees

Companies are starting to recognize that they do not have to invest in employees the same way they used to. The objective is to get the job done right – most efficiently and effectively – as a result businesses are turning to virtual employees. Websites like elance.com and Odesk.com make finding these resources much easier. If you have needs that are consistent and easily replicated you might consider even an international virtual employee through sites like virtualemployee.com and remoteworkmate.com. These sites can help you find cost-effective resources to help through the peaks and keep you from having to hire in-house employees to get the work done.

One of the service offerings we have at Three Hats Marketing is virtual marketing employees. If you have recently downsized your marketing staff or are considering hiring to meet current needs – give us a call. Our approach will definitely save you money and offer you better results.

But as a business owner or executive, you probably are starting to see more and more business opportunities present themselves every month – and being “lean and mean” is hurting you. It’s common in today’s economy that businesses don’t have the resources in-house to respond as quickly and effectively as they need to.

So what are your options? Do you always have to hire extra employees to be ready to respond? How do you know what abilities do you need?

One of the services Three Hats Marketing offers is virtual marketing employees. Simply put, what this can bring your business is the flexibility, resources, and the experience your business needs, when you need them. It alleviates the need to hire full time, in-house personnel and incur the on-going expense. It is the smart answer to the peaks and valleys all our businesses have.

To learn more about how a Three Hats Marketing virtual marketing employee can help your business, give us a call.

Many businesses combine the function of Marketing & Sales. In some cases one team facilitates both needs and in other cases one person oversees both functions. In any case, it usually doesn’t work! Sales and marketing are two completely different business functions – admittedly there should be a close collaboration between the two, but still separate. If you are looking for a short definition, marketing activities feed sales efforts and support the long term vision of the company.

• Marketing is the understanding of how your service/product is unique – who the buying audience is that needs your service/product and how that target audience prefers be to be communicated to.
• Sales is understanding the potential client’s true needs, specific points of pain and how to remove any hurdles that may prevent them from buying your service/product.

To be truly effective, you must assemble your team with the right people & process in each of these business functions. Both groups need to consist of people that understand the value of what your company sells, how that value impacts the consumers you are selling it to, and how the competition stands up to your service/product.

Your marketing team needs to understand how to best communicate your Unique Selling Proposition to the target audience. This may at times require using multiple channels to communicate to multiple audience segments. The people in your marketing department need to understand the effectiveness of each communication tactic and what the expected Return On Investment is. This team needs to be able to create the communication tools which may require copy writing, graphic design, email marketing, direct mail, website development, Internet marketing, search engine optimization, pay per click, video production and much more. Your marketing team needs to know how to measure the effectiveness of implemented tactics and communicate this information to the decision makers.

An effective marketing department requires much more than just creating pretty pictures! We commonly dissect the functions of a marketing department into three categories: strategy, management & execution. Every marketing activity, not matter how big or small needs to these three elements to be effective. To do so requires a lot of experience, resources and knowledge. If you can’t afford to have all these resources, perhaps you should consider an Outsourced Marketing Department – provides all the resources, experience and skill set of an entire Marketing Department, for less than the cost of one marketing employee.

Sales – we’ll, sales sells! Sales removes obstacles and provides trust. Short and simple – I am a marketing guy after all!

You can’t afford to ignore the needs of needs marketing or sales. You can’t afford to have one resource serving both functions. Sales and marketing. Marketing and sales. Each needs the other. Each must reinforce the other.

If you think you can’t afford all the needed resources of a marketing department – use an Outsourced Marketing Department.

Outsourcing is less expensive than an in-house marketing position

When you hire a full-time marketing employee, not only are you committing to pay for their salary, but you are also committing to paying for benefits, operating expenses, training, vacation and personal time. Often times this overall cost can add as much as 50-75% to the overall cost of the employee above their salary. And none of this cost is based on results.
With outsourcing, you are paying for nothing but results – period.

Outsourcing offers the skills and experience of an entire marketing department

Hiring a marketing director gives you strategy, hiring a marketing manager gives you management, and graphic designer or copywriter gives you execution. But outsourcing your marketing gives you the power of an entire marketing department.

Outsourcing offers more flexibility than a full-time marketing employee

Hiring a full-time in-house marketing employee is a 40 hour per week financial commitment. If your marketing needs are less for a period of time, you still are paying for that full-time resource. If your marketing needs grow for a period of time, there is a real limit to what you can get done, unless you are willing to hire another in-house resource.

Outsourcing offers real flexibility. Not only can resources with the needed skill set be used for each task, but the resources can grow as much as needed to fill the busy time, and shrink as much as needed when marketing is not needed. Pay for what you really need, both in skills AND in time needed. That’s real flexibility.