By Matthew McClifford
 In the world of business, there are many things that can trip you up. Capital required to get started, product/service development, legislation, employee recruitment, etc. You can get all this set up perfectly, and have the best product/service in the galaxy, but without proper marketing, your work may be destined for the outhouse. Don't make that trip...it really stinks.
Marketing Giant Gives Us Clues
To illustrate how important marketing is, lets look at a marketing giant, McDonald's.
McDonald's is everywhere! In fact, this heat map shows all the locations of McDonald's across the United States. Someone has done a decent job of this franchise...
Now, this wasn't because McDonald's has the best tasting, or most nutritious food (cough) in North America. In fact, McDonald's doesn't make the best hamburger...but it sells the most because it has marketing techniques that attract and converts people into paying customers.
This is a glaring reminder to people starting or engaged in business. The start up and work to get the business ready to serve is one
thing, but without the proper marketing you've put in a lot of time and effort for something that will likely end in a flop.
This can be seen easily for those in network marketing.
When you share the exact same products, and compensation plan as thousands of other distributors, why is it that some do exceptionally well, but others do so poorly?
Quite simply, those who are successful have been able to market themselves properly, and their products. You are the variable in a network marketing company, everything else is relatively static.
The primary reason people fail in business, who are providing a product with any kind of demand, is that their marketing efforts did not position themselves to convert their target market into becoming paying customers or business partners.
So how do we fix it?
Follow the Leaders
If you want a pure source of knowledge to marketing, you need to find those who are having success, then read what they've read, and do what they do.
There are more ways to market than there are ways to travel the world. So what do you choose?
The first principle you need to understand is that people buy things out of emotion. Quite often they will say its out of logic, but really its out of emotion justified by logic. Once you understand that, you are more mentally prepared on how to offer your products/services.
Once of the best resources I found in this realm, with respect to copy, is The Ultimate Sales Letter. It breaks down the reasons why people buy things and how you can word your sales pitch in a way that leaves them emotionally wanting more of what you have to offer.
Realize that this is not something people can just over ride...even I have known this process has been used on me and I still bought the product because I couldn't help myself!
The second principle you want to grasp is that people buy from those they know, like, and trust. In today's world, thats an incredible feat with all the distrust that people are feeling as a result of actions from the worlds "leaders" such as politicians, bankers, wall street, and the like.
As a result, you need to present value to people and be as transparent as possible. Be genuine, and care about their needs, and not your own.
Once you have these two concepts in place, you are ready to really start marketing...yourself, your company, and your products/services.
For this you will require personal development so that you can attract people like a Packer's fan to a tailgate party. Once you have mastered this, you need to take it to a bigger scale.
Nowhere is there a bigger scale than online. The ability to use it properly is the difference between marketing to a handful of people, to an entire country. There really is no comparison.
Some of the best tools for online entrepreneurs and network marketers are right in front of you, and some you are already using on a daily basis, but not for your business.
Facebook is a typical example of that. Where else can you network, and market your message, to so many people without ever leaving your house? The only challenge is people are not set up to use it effectively, but those who are, are having the times of their lives!
If you have been ignoring online, thats okay. There are plenty of traditional offline methods to do business, but keep in mind that your are taking the sharpest knife in the drawer out of your kitchen, and its going to take a lot more sawing to get the desired results.
Just remember, without the right marketing, NOTHING else matters. Put the utmost priority on it, and work your methods consistently. It will produce more results than any other factor.
And if that doesn't convince you, just remember that McDonald's now markets coffee...and does extremely well. I'm sure some of the local gourmet coffee shops have something to say about that...but their marketing is keeping a lid on it.
Thats why marketing is king.
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To learn more about how you can market a business effectively, visit http://thesilverlining.ca/.
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