 |  |
|
|
| Marketing - Myth, Magic or Just Common Sense? |
|
 |
Jane Kenyon is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, coach and founder of The Well Heeled Divas Ltd.
"In the past 16 years I have been involved in 9 businesses all focused in the business to business sector including consultancy, training, lifestyle management, IT, PR and networking. I have made money and lost it all twice, got myself embroiled in a few partnership deals I should never have touched and experienced some major highs selling businesses and acquiring others. But I have never lost my passion for business."
"In 2007 I founded the Well Heeled Divas, an organisation focused on female empowerment with a pretty big vision - to inspire 1 million women to step up to entrepreneurship, leadership and wealth contribution, who in turn, will inspire 1 million young girls to raise their aspirations, believe in themselves and shine."
Each month Jane shares her views on our business theme. This month Jane look at why NICHE and BRAND are so important in business.
|
|
The Well Heeled Diva Says.....
Having spent 12 years in the corporate sector as a marketing professional and a further 16 years running businesses I feel comfortable putting my neck on the block and saying I am a marketing expert and I get it. But I am simply amazed at how many people seriously don't!
For me marketing is without question the most fundamental requirement for any business. It is the art of getting and keeping customers, profitably. This is surely the premise of any business? No customers, no business! No profit, no business!
Marketing is the heart of the enterprise, it is not a function and is far too important to delegate to a marketing department. It is everyone's responsibility to identify and meet customer needs and successful companies know that being customer centric needs to be embedded in the culture of the organisation from day one.
So, lecture over! I thought I would share 2 areas of marketing I see start ups and small businesses getting seriously wrong time and time again.
Niche and branding.
Niche - Success is what you say NO to……
I am sure we have all experienced the classic networking scenario when you tentatively enquire about each other's business? So what do you do then……. Too often the response is confusing, all encompassing and lacks credibility. Eg. 'Well we develop websites, we also do design and branding, promotional incentives, advertising, room dressing, wedding planning, photography and if you are looking to reduce your phone bills we can do that too.' Ermm?? So how many people do you employ? 'Oh just me!'
It is imperative as a new or small business that you define your niche. What can you be number one at? What is your unique specialism? Where do you deliver this in terms of geography? And for who? All markets are fiercely competitive these days and your skill in defining this will position you clearly and make it easier for customers to make a buying decision.
Here's another example I see all the time… I am a life coach. 'Interesting, so who do you work with'? response ' anyone, anywhere on any issue - relationships, career, business, identity, weight issues, phobias, addictions, blah blah' How does this response make you feel? Confident in their ability or a little uncomfortable? If they could clearly identify their niche in terms of typical client profile, location, area of specialism would you feel better? Would they have more credibility?
We are living in an emotion economy. People want to feel good and want to help each other but if you are trying to be all things, to all people and frightened of saying NO to anything this can backfire and be detrimental to your professional credibility. Be brave and set out your stall. As you grow the business you can add more products to your niche and once you have a brand the world of diversification is a real opportunity which leads me to my second learning….
Branding - Creativity Counts
Most new and small business continually underestimate how important branding is. In a noisy market, quite often it is THE ONLY thing that differentiates you from the crowd. But here's what many new starts do - they put all their time, effort and money into developing the business and then come up with a name in less than 5 minutes! 'Oh I know, let's take my initials and my husbands, combine it with the name of our cat and see if we can get the latin equivalent'!! What does this mean? How will customers connect with it and how does it position the business?
I run a company called Well Heeled Divas. We inspire and empower women to step up to their greatness and shine. Do you think the business would have grown as fast and furious if I had branded it JK & Associates?
It is worth investing in this area of your business, it helps define the business's personality, values and purpose. It helps customers find you, recommend you and love you.
But it is not simply about getting the name and image right. Your brand needs to behave! It must deliver, it must be consistent ad above all it must be authentic.
I have seen so many businesses that have a great brand and position themselves as market leaders then fail at the point of delivery. I am sure you can name several too.
So, to conclude the key marketing lessons for entrepreneurs,
define your niche, become number one in it,
create some momentum then allow yourself to be pulled by the niche into new markets.
We started off as a Manchester based company, we came, we delivered, we conquered and our niche naturally expanded to other areas of the country and March will see us arrive in Scotland with our partners 3rdi.
And secondly invest in your brand. It will be a friend for life if you do and a far more saleable asset when the time comes or the villa in Tuscany calls! (or is that just me!)
|
|
| IF YOU HAVEN'T SUBSCRIBED YET ......... YOU'VE MISSED THESE GREAT ARTICLES FROM JANE |
 |
JANUARY - GOALS DON'T COUNT
I have to say I do tend to get a little exasperated with the amount of New Year messages I receive from well meaning personal development driven organisations telling me that if I just do this or that I can avoid all the obvious mistakes I made this year and miraculously my life will be so much better! Oh really??
|
|
|
DECEMBER - KNOW YOUR FLOW
Whenever I pose the question 'so what is an entrepreneur then?' top of the list is always a creator/ideas person/opportunist but you know, some of the richest and most successful entrepreneurs in the world did not create a thing nor did they come up with an idea or unique product.
|
|
|
NOVEMBER - CHANGE IS GOOD
I was in conversation with a women the other day who was just about to launch her first business at age 42 and she referred to this time in her life as her second life!
She is one of a growing number of people finding the courage to step up and change their lives
|
|
|
OCTOBER - WOMEN & WEALTH - A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
Women and the pursuit of wealth are strange bedfellows. Every time I pose the question 'Who wants to be wealthy'? to a group of women a few hands are tentatively raised not without a look of sheer guilt at the audacity of such an admission.
|
|
 |
SEPTEMBER - QUALIFICATIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH
Personally, I am an advocate for university education but have always maintained it is a life experience, rather than a job guarantee.
That said, I think our education system is failing to address the core life skills our young people need to make it in our dynamic, global and fast moving economy. |
|
 |
AUGUST - JANE KENYON: PROFILE
Jane Kenyon is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, coach and founder of The Well Heeled Divas Ltd. She is recognised by her peers as an inspiring individual who has the ability and talent to expect nothing less than outstanding and although she has experienced hardships in both her personal and business life, she never quits. |
|
| BUT DONT'T PANIC! YOU CAN STILL READ THESE ARTICLES .......... BY SUBSCRIBING NOW! |
  |
|
|
|
