7 marketing jolts to shock you in to action.

You know, one of my favourite quotes is:

If you think what you’ve always thought,
you’ll do what you’ve always done.
And if you do what you’ve always done,
you’ll get what you’ve always got.

It’s a stark reminder that as small business owners we need to keep challenging the status quo.

To keep on pushing ourselves.

To never get complacent.

Unfortunately, I still see far too many business owners stuck in a marketing rut. Rolling out the same old campaigns, trying the same old channels to market, and as a result, getting frustrated and annoyed with the whole marketing thing.

Instead, they lose faith in marketing and go back to being stuck working in their business, instead of on it.

Is this sounding familiar?

If it is, then here’s seven marketing jolts to shake you into action:

#1  Update your website by adding some new pages, and making changes to some existing ones.Write a new introductory headline and copy, deleting a section that gets no traffic, or update those five year old photos.

#2  Grab your smartphone and video yourself answering a frequently asked question. Then upload it to YouTube. Don’t judge it. Just upload it and share the link on Facebook and Twitter. You’re on Facebook and Twitter, right?!

#3  Speaking of social media, start an advertising campaign on Facebook. Either promote your page or boost a post. It’s easier than you think … just follow the drop down menus on your Business page. Haven’t got a Business page? Maybe it’s time to get one.

#4  Get out of your comfort zone. Head over to MeetUp.com and find an event that’s sounds interesting. It doesn’t need to be with a bunch of folk from your industry – sometimes the best ideas come from outside our own four walls.

#5  Ring every past client you’ve not spoken to in the past 12-months. The cheapest form of business is repeat-business, and I bet one of them will say something like “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ring you for ages, I’ve just been flat out. Can I order some more?”

#6  Get out there and seek some free publicity. The media has a lot of space to fill, day in, day out. Find an angle that you think would be of interest and call a journo. Email a podcaster or blogger. Or head over to a site like SourceBottle.com.au where journalists and bloggers are always seeking expert opinions for their articles.

#7  Put on a free information evening to educate your prospects and clients. No hard sell. Just share your best knowledge with a view to helping them make a more informed decision.  Promote it via email, social media, in your store, maybe even run an ad in a relevant publication.

Remember team, marketing is the oxygen of successful businesses. So drop what’s not working, schedule some time to drop some new ideas into your marketing mix and never stand still.

Because if you, you’ll get what you’ve always got.

Which jolt are you going to action and why?