Learn From The Pros!

Made a big mistake? Screwed up? Lost money on your marketing? Welcome to my world. This is what it’s like to run a small business.

We don’t have the time or the resources to carefully think through everything. So we do a lot of things by our gut. Sometimes things turn out OK. Sometimes, well -- it's not so good, especially when it comes to marketing.

But don’t worry. You’re not alone. I hand-picked four of the many winners of a recent marketing contest called the Spark Business Member Casting Call that was sponsored by Capital One Bank (a client of my company, but I am not being compensated to write this) and asked them about a big marketing mistake each made.

1. Don't let failure stop you.
Lisa McKenzie is the founder and CEO of Ooh La Bra, a company that bears the motto “we lift you up.” I’m going to let you figure out that out. McKenzie learned that, in marketing, failure can lead to success.

“My company was one of 15 companies who got the opportunity to be in front of hundreds of people for an entrepreneur week competition with the chance of winning $50,000,” she says. “I had heard that there was a bet that our company would be one of the top three finalists. But when the votes were cast, I think we ended up in last place.”

You’d think that a disappointment like that would have gotten her down, and it did. But then Lisa picked herself back up.

“From that moment on, a fire was lit so deep within me that my resolve was completely altered," she says. "That moment of disparagement turned out to be the catalyst that resulted in a new program Ooh La Bra created to empower breast cancer survivors.”

The lesson from McKenzie is this: When marketing, failure can lead to success. Time heals all wounds, and you never know what is around the corner. Stay true to your resolve and keep trying.

2. Stick to what you know, and outsource what you don't.
Scott M. Burke, the president of Loop Linen Service, Incorporated, a linen supply and uniform-service company that serves parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, learned that finding the right marketing partner is crucial in today’s specialized world.

For years, the company had succeeded with print advertising, but needed to adapt to the Internet. It tried several local web-development and search-engine-optimization services and, according to Burke, “wasted money on ideas from salespeople whose number-one priority was their commission check.”

But then, by luck, Burke was introduced to a company that specialized in online marketing, particularly in his company's industry.

3. Social media may be the key.
Other than a few online ads, Michelle Kozlak of Arts on the Horizon found that she was not using the Internet enough for her marketing efforts. As the producing artistic director and founder of this small, nonprofit theatre company geared towards kids, Kozlak was printing out flyers and distributing them to area preschools each time it offered a class or camp.

4. A past success does not guarantee future results.
In marketing, the past definitely does not equal the future. That’s what Sierra Georgia, who runs a food truck business in Washington D.C. called Dolci Gelati Truck, found out.

She had a great marketing experience doing a food-truck event and loved the organizers. But the next time? Not so good, she tells me.

“The first event went so well, the organizers charged more for the next event. They changed the venue, tripled the number of trucks and did not provide any places for people to sit down and eat," Georgia says. "I didn’t do proper research on the venue’s new location and layout given the new changes and I just assumed the investment would be worth it because of the first event’s success. I invested more money and was so disappointed! We didn’t even break even!

Source: entrepreneur

About LaraNet: We are a web design firm focused to help you to grow your business and communicate with your customers and prospects using two simple but powerful tools: 1) Interactive Website and 2) Internet Marketing Strategy on social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc …
Whether you want to work with just a web page, or launch or improve your presence on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn or communicate with your customers through newsletters, or improve the location of your business in the search engines through Search Engine Optimization, or start marketing your products or services online, in LaraNet we can help you.

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