Are you Sabotaging your Business?
When we start a new business, we tend to focus on how amazing our idea is and why everyone needs it. We get caught up in the numbers and potential profits. We dream of storefronts, publications, and “making it big”. We jump from the initial idea straight to success and the future before we’ve even laid the foundation.
It’s like booking a caterer and inviting people to parties before your house is built.
The biggest concept I’ve learned as an entrepreneur is how to lay a strong brand foundation FIRST before getting too far ahead with sales and goals. This doesn’t mean branding is more important than anything else, but it is a necessary thing to establish first so that you can adequately build on the other elements of your marketing strategy.
There are 4 main elements for building your marketing strategy:
Branding – The core values, character, motherboard and purpose of your business.
Marketing – The way in which you reflect your brand and attract a particular audience.
Sales – Means in which you nurture your leads gained through marketing to make a sale.
Goals – The milestones you set and adjust periodically to grow and scale.
Sabotaging
Building
Most businesses work this backwards, starting with goals to build their sales, sales to build their marketing, then marketing to build their brand.
The problem with building it this way is the fact that goals change. And if you build your strategy based on something that is always changing, it’s no wonder why we’re constantly spinning our tires with sales and marketing tactics and risking the reputation of our brand.
When we build our branding first, we lag in and secure the cornerstones and pillars of our business structure. Building a strong brand foundation guides our marketing efforts which drives our sales which gives us the momentum to achieve our goals. And while our goals will change and adjust, we can stand firm on our branding while allowing flexibility in marketing and sales to reach those goals. Plus, it will allow us to be more efficient and not waste time and money on resources that do not align with our brand or target audience.
Bonus tip: When you establish a strong brand foundation and hone in on your target audience, you’ll spend less money on marketing and drive more sales because you’ll gain a loyal community of brand advocates that rave about your business for you… leveraging the traditional and legendary method of “word of mouth”.
Hit me up for questions or if you’re interested in how I can help you build your strong brand foundation!
Missy Burns
Owner of Missy Burns Creative
Missy Burns Creative is a marketing agency focused on helping small businesses and start-ups elevate their visibility and reach higher peaks of success through full service marketing management, creative growth strategy, and empowering education.
This article is proudly sponsored by Cody Calendar advertisers
