| Success in business isn't about always knowing what | | | | possible. Include basics like direct mail, telemarketing, |
| will work ahead of time. It's about taking action, paying | | | | email, etc., and then continue with more cutting edge |
| attention to what does work, and being flexible enough | | | | approaches.Now, run down the list. Which options are |
| to adapt and change.When it comes to marketing | | | | inexpensive or free? Since they are less risky, you |
| tactics like direct mail, print advertising and | | | | have nothing much to lose by trying them.A few good |
| telemarketing, the harder you try to pick a guaranteed | | | | examples would be telemarketing (cold-calling), sales |
| winner, the longer it will take you to actually get your | | | | letters, speaking, submitting articles to local media, etc. |
| marketing off the ground and where it belongs-out into | | | | These are relatively easy to implement, take little or no |
| the world.Planning is critical, of course, but analysis can | | | | money, and can at least start getting the word out |
| too easily replace action. A sales letter is never quite | | | | while you work on more complex marketing |
| perfect enough, a mailing list never as long and | | | | tactics.Next, group the choices that may be more |
| accurate as it could be. In the search for perfection, for | | | | expensive or time consuming. Of these, which have |
| guaranteed results, nothing happens. You overanalyze | | | | the greatest potential for sales and can be rolled out |
| your options, hoping to choose the one "right" | | | | quickly and in small tests?Your experimental marketing |
| approach. When you finally pick "the sure thing", you | | | | plan will have most or all of the tactics from group A, |
| put all your resources into that one tactic. If you get | | | | and as many from group B as possible, starting with |
| really lucky, it hits. But that approach is closer to | | | | the least expensive to test.The point here is to avoid |
| gambling than it is to running a business.No matter how | | | | blowing your entire budget on 1 or 2 tactics without |
| perfect you try to make your marketing tactics and | | | | having first considered all your options and tested as |
| materials, you'll never know how good they are until | | | | many methods as possible. Of course, the results from |
| they are released into the wild. The point to marketing | | | | some approaches, like writing articles, will be very hard |
| is not a perfect ad, but your response and sales from | | | | to measure in the short term. But, since these tactics |
| that ad. Until you actually test each marketing tactic, | | | | take so little time and money, you can afford to |
| you will have absolutely no idea what will work.Think of | | | | automatically include them as part of a much larger |
| yourself as a marketing scientist. Your job is to | | | | long-term marketing plan. A direct mail test, on the |
| discover a successful marketing mix by trying a lot of | | | | other hand, should generate concrete measurable |
| different approaches, tracking results, and keeping | | | | results almost immediately in order to justify rolling out |
| what works. You start with a hypothesis (target | | | | a larger campaign.By Marcus Schaller, Managing Editor |
| market, target message, offer, etc) and test it using as | | | | of Purple Dot Magazine ( a free online publication |
| many variations as you reasonably can, depending on | | | | covering marketing, sales and public relations for small |
| your budget and schedule.Before you fall in love with | | | | businesses and self-employed professionals. |
| any one approach, list as many tactical options as | | | | |