I’ve been working with coaches, consultants and trainers for more than 20 years and in that time, the really successful clients, the ones who have earned most and had a queue of great clients wanting to work with them, have done it by building a marketing expertise – by becoming Marketing Experts. They have learned that marketing is not rocket science.

So that your business can succeed this year I’ll be writing about marketing expertise in my newsletter and blogs this year, so that you can do that too. You’ll read about putting strategy first, and I’ll share lots of ideas to keep your marketing momentum going. Step one in this journey is all about getting clear on where you are now – your starting point. Read on to find out why this is so important.

Marketing Mistakes

The main mistake I see coaches, consultants and trainers make is jumping into tactics, dabbling and trying this marketing activity, and then that one. If you want to dabble, then this blog is not for you.

Don’t want to waste any more of your time and money? Then let’s look at step one.

Where Are You Now?

The first step to creating and using a marketing strategy is getting clear on where you are now. Imagine you get into your car and turn on the sat nav. You can tell it where you want to go, but unless the software knows where you are now, it can’t work out the best route for getting you there. It’s just the same for your business. You might have some great goals of where you want to take your business (and we’ll talk about them more in the April issue of Scribbles this year.) But until you know where you’re starting from, you’ll end up dabbling with different marketing activities that will cost you time, effort and money, without necessarily getting you the results you want.

So where are you now and what do you need to think about first? Here are three areas you need to focus on:

1. What makes you really different to the thousands of other coaches, consultants and trainers out there?
2. What are you actually selling? Your time, expertise and experience or something that’s the same as everyone else?
3. Which competitors do you want to pick a fight with?

Before you jump into any marketing tactics this year, please spend as much time as you can considering your answers to these questions. Brainstorm them with yourself and with other people who know you and your business. Challenge yourself over your answers and allow other people to challenge them. Don’t settle for the same answers you’ve given to these questions before. Dig deeper and go further than you’ve been before. Don’t settle until you’re 100% sure about your answers to those questions. Only then will you have the very best starting point from which to develop a truly successful business. You’ll have taken the first step to becoming a Marketing Expert and giving your business the best chance of survival this year.

If you dare, send me your answers to these three questions and I’ll give you some clear and actionable feedback. Click here to email them to me or call me on 07773 252 744.