Author: admin

Marketing. A key part of our business, or something to wedge into a quiet Friday afternoon?

In my experience of business coaching most people would say the former, but do the latter.

If you can stop reading this right now and print out your marketing plan, then you’re in the top 10% of business owners. (Source: R. Maun, 16 years of experience of asking the same question and getting the same reply of; ‘aha yes, a marketing plan, hmmm, that is something we don’t appear to have right now’).

A marketing plan sets out what our message is and how we are going to get that message out to people who may be interested in our products and services. It’s not about simply placing a couple of adverts and then being mildly disappointed when no sales occur.

Like a happy garden, a marketing plan needs to be tended, updated and regularly reviewed. Weedy phrases and overgrown ambitions need to be pruned back and the bright flowers of our uniqueness need careful watering on a regular basis.

When we think about uniqueness I’ve found that people often struggle to say what makes them, or their busines unique. Odd really, given that no two individuals are exactly the same and we readily accept that as part of life.

A USP is a unique selling point. If we can articulate what that is we can put clear water between us and our competitors and therefore give our potential customers strong grounds to choose us. Or not.

We can’t sell to everyone all the time. Abundance theory suggests that there is enough work for everyone, we just have to find it.

Trying to be all things to all people means we can end up being nothing to nobody. Then people buy on price and that can lead to a race to the bottom.

Standing proud and being confident about what makes us special enables customers to make an informed choice and in doing so, we can help to maintain our prices and market niche.

Our USP can be best described in terms of combinations. I’m the only business coach I know who lectures at Cranfield University, hosts a business radio show and has published 6 books about business and careers.

These nuggets of information tell you something about me and my breadth and depth of experience. They infer qualities and expertise about who I am and the work I do and I’m proud of them.

Being proud of ourselves is important. We all have special skills and bring a uunique flavour to our work and it’s our job to know this and to be happy to share this with others.

If we don’t, then we are just one of the herd. Selling is harder and we may go bust.

This week take a moment to ponder what makes your busines offering unique. Which combinations of skill or experience make you special, different, or interesting?

Next week: Business Mojo

I have a shelf of business books. Some of them have even been read by me. The world of books is odd, in that there are more printed than sold and more sold than read. Many years ago, before the internet, when printed books were the goto form of books, I worked as a planner for a large book printer and binder. The figure banded about was that 60% of all the production was eventually recalled from shop stock and binned. I suggested, jovially, to the production manager one day, that we should put a skip at the end of the binding line and cut out the middle man. He wasn’t impressed.

Business books can be useful, dull, self-serving, or egotistical. The market is crowded and inevitably attracts a lot of ‘how I made my millions’ by people who forget to mention that their pluck, drive and amazing business acumen was given a healthy kick-start by inheriting a business, being part of a wealthy family, or having a well-connected relative who introduced them to the head of lending at a major bank.

Call me cynical, and yet it’s good to be aware that not everything is as it seems.

So then, which business book is being reviewed here?

One of my all time favourites: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by the much missed Douglas Adams.

But hey! I can hear people shouting. That’s not a business book!

Well, what is a business book? For me, it’s one that has valuable lessons which we can apply to business.

H2G2, as it’s known, is full of useful lessons. If you’ve not read it, here is the essence of it:

Arthur Dent is the sole survivor of the destruction of planet earth, thanks to the Vogon constructor fleet clearing the way for a new interstellar bypass. Pitched into the vagaries of an uncaring universe, with Ford Prefect as his guide, he navigates through ambiguity and scare, always craving a decent cup of tea. Which the galaxy steadfastly refuses to supply him with.

The book is witty, pacey and full of creative brio. It’s also the first of a trilogy of five books (Adams loved to poke fun at convention) and followed on from a ground breaking radio show.

In a poignant twist, I decided to write this piece and then noticed that the death was announced today of Stephen Moore, the talented actor who supplied the resonantly dour voice of Marvin, The Paranoid Android, in the radio and tv series. If you don’t know Marvin and his one liners then check him out.

I’m sure Douglas would laugh at H2G2 being referred to as a business book. It isn’t of course. In the way that a trilogy isn’t five books.

However, it is about resilience. We have to be resilient in business and deal with what is thrown at us. Arthur Dent has to make sense of his new world and survive, despite the lack of tea.

The book was written as a continuous stream of narrative, as Adams famously refused to plan it. He would sit and type whatever came into his head, creating a problem for his characters and then solving it. I think that’s an excellent metaphor for business.

We have to continue with our narrative and be creative to find solutions to issues. We can do some planning, never a bad thing, but we have to react and face the reality of our situation.

When the business Earth of our lives is destroyed by the Vogons (unpleasant creatures with a fondness for excruciating poetry) we have to deal with it.

Are there Vogons about, creating mischief? Perhaps there are …the banks are too big to fail (leading to handsome bailouts in the last recession), dotcoms are more powerful than many countries and Brexit is going to reshape the business landscape. Our business narrative flows before us and we can embrace these things and find ways to be resilient.

Any book that we read and enjoy and find inspiration in is a better business book than one sitting on the shelf gathering dust. We can all draw useful lessons, that serve us well, from a wide range of resources.

Which books inspire you in the world of business? Winnie the Pooh, maybe? A classic.

This week, have fun searching for the perfect cup of tea and pondering what resilience means to you and your business. The Vogons may be just around the corner.

Next week: USP Or Bust