What EXACTLY are you marketing anyway?

When you’re networking, creating a brochure, writing an article, or doing anything else to market your small business, do you have a clear idea of ​​EXACTLY what you’re marketing?

Sure, you’re marketing your small business, but do you have a clear idea of ​​what you need to…in fact, you absolutely have to…market to potential customers?

What about marketing, what do you do? Sure, that’s an important element to market about your business.

Most small business owners think they know exactly what they’re doing. And they believe they can convey what they do to prospects in a way they’ll understand.

If you’re an accountant, you probably think you do “accounting.” If you’re a business consultant, you probably think of yourself as providing “consulting services” for businesses. But when it comes to marketing, generalizations and labels are not enough. If you don’t have a laser-focused description of EXACTLY what you do, your prospects won’t know. And if nobody knows exactly what you do, how will someone know that they need your services?

So by all means, if you want to be successful with marketing, start by developing a clear description of what you do. But, promoting what you actually do is NOT exactly what you should be promoting about your business…

Ok, so what about marketing to who is your target market?

Of course, a target market is important. I preach and preach to choose a niche and specialize in that niche. Of course, you must choose a niche and indicate that niche in your marketing.

But really, is your niche what you are marketing? Is that what you absolutely should market?

The answer is no.

What you are marketing, what you should be marketing, what will make a big difference in your marketing is…

Marketing EXACTLY what you do for your prospects that solves their 3Ps: pain, problem or situation.

You see, what you do, in the form of accounting or business consulting or dental work or massage therapy or anything else, is really important. It’s also imperative who you work with in terms of moms, corporate CEOs, or IT departments. But the most important thing you’re marketing is solving problems, solving problems, what’s in it for them, alleviating the 3Ps that every prospect has.

And too many small business owners miss out on this.

If you market your services in a way that details EXACTLY how you can solve your prospects’ pains, problems, or difficult situations, they’ll be much more likely to relate and respond to what you’re saying. They will know you are talking to THEM.

When you really stop to think about this… you see that it is absolutely true. The reason people buy from service-based companies is to solve a pain, problem, or difficult situation. That’s basically it. The level of severity varies a lot, but it is about solving the problem, the pain and the situation.

So drop the tags = accountant, business coach, dentist, chiropractor. Stop focusing too much on processes and procedures. Identify your goal, but don’t forget that what you’re really marketing is EXACTLY how you’re going to solve a prospect’s pain, problem, or situation.

When you know EXACTLY what you are marketing, you are much more likely to be successful. Now you know. So go ahead, fix it, solve it, patch it up and take advantage of it.

If you’re having a hard time figuring out how to market your prospect’s 3Ps (pain, problem, or situation), I suggest you get a copy of my book (see below for details) or seriously consider joining the next round. of my Marketing Mentoring Groups program (details coming soon).