These are just 21.

1.    Ignore the lessons of the past.
Why do people assume AdMen didn’t know so much 100 years ago? Education was certainly more demanding and so was taking the time out to research. Research lights up the path to success.

2.    Thinking you can pick up ‘Tips’ as you go along.
Marketing is infested with amateurs. Rarely anyone studies enough. Tips are for deluded lunatics and they never amount to noteable results.

3.    Trying to be “cReAtIvE”.
It is almost certainly fatal to assume that what you think is wonderful will sell.  You are not your customer. Have a pro find out who they are and what they want.

4.    Have ‘Brainstorming‘ meetings.
They are often a complete waste of time, there for idle people to fill up their time. Real research garners results that are certain and measured like math.

5.    Not being a customer yourself.
Many corporations have their heads facing their CEO and their asses facing the customers. Listen to a customer’s inner wants and desires—they rarely, if ever, will tell you outright or directly what they want. Find out their emotional and subconscious wants.

6.    Hire a Marketing Firm or Director without looking at their past history.
So many are duds. Are you taking the time to find out what they did, who they did it for or how much they sold? You should.

7.    Fall for the latest fad.
Marketers are suckers for the Social Media silver bullet. Silver bullets don’t  exist in reality. They often think some new thing will replace the tried and tested. These types are of the Late Majority and Laggards —definitely not the Innovators.

8.    Believing human nature is altered by media or changing times. Human nature has not changed much since the hunter/gatherer days. Emotional and rational responses are ALWAYS subject to the same chemical neuropeptides. These chemical laws guide all human behavior and decisions.

9.    Assuming that good purchasing  decisions are made logically.
They’re not. People are ruled by their emotions in every area of their life and business. That, and their subconscious.

10.    Not implementing your Brand Identity and Guidelines.
This is especially true for smaller businesses. They are often undisciplined, willy-nilly, rarely focused and resilient enough to wait for results. They had something that worked for a while and then forgot to consistently use it.

11.    Talk and walk like a marketing person.
You will bore and confuse everybody, including yourself. Target Marketing starts with a psychological profile of your customer. “Everybody” is not a target market and neither are demographics.

 

12.    Trying to make it perfect.
Do it as well as you can in the time available, then let go. We are all a work in progress. No one will fault you for improvement. Perfection, if it exists, takes forever.

13.    They believe in those who tell you they can make you rich.
They are almost all liars – especially the ones on the internet.

14.    Assume your prospect is highly intelligent.
Very few are; and they are actually not thinking when exposed to marketing messages.

15.    Assume your prospect is a stupid idiot.
They may not be brilliant, but they are not halfwits either, and resent being patronised. Convincing someone to part with their hard earned money is tough business—don’t underestimate it.

16.    Read about nothing but marketing.
It is a very boring, narrow subject and will limit your personality and efforts. Left in the hands of a proficient marketer, with experience, success is only 50% more likely.

17.    Fail to test.
Perhaps the biggest and most common mistake around. Nobody has any real idea what will work. Why guess when you can know. Research then Test in the market.

18.    Imagining or hoping everything will be OK.
Assume something will go wrong and it usually does. Then, look to fail fast and start it again improving the next attempt.

 

19.    Spend more energy on imagination and money on prospects than existing customers.
This is Madness. Your best source of profit is a current customer you have, not the new one you are fishing for. Most of all, know when the time comes to re-up sales.

20.    Assume anything is either ‘always’, or ‘never’ the case.
There are exceptions to all rules; circumstances alter cases, as the legal maxim goes.

21.    Fail to invest in your staff.
They are the only ones who can make it happen for you. Train them. Be nice to them. The will love you for it and likely to produce better results.

Hey, I don’t have all the answers, right
now, to your business BUT we do know
how and where to find them.

Start by telling the truth to yourself and we can start from there.

Have a great day,
Breuk

BinkNyc@gmail.com

These ^ are just 21 Ways but there are more… give us a call to avoid amateur mis-takes.