Six Deadly Small Business Marketing Mistakes

My friend Garry McNeilly of Kojac Consulting tipped me this morning to the work of David Frey, a marketing guru at http://www.marketingbestpractices.com. Garry, a computer and networking expert, says he finds a lot of value in Frey’s e-newsletter.

Poking around Frey’s site, I found his free e-book, “Six Deadly Small Business Marketing Mistakes.” The list itself is fairly banal and probably self-serving, but the free e-book contains lots of detailed commentary and ideas you should find valuable. It's way ahead of most of the useless "e-freebies" populating the Web.

What are the 6 Deadly Marketing Mistakes?

1. Not Having a Marketing Plan (Frey includes a pretty good template if you don't know what to put in your plan).
2. Not Differentiating Your Business from the Competition
3. Not Having a Systematic Referral Program (A wealth of detail here, including some good points on the “seven moments of truth” in business that can help you create a customer for life).
4. Neglecting to Communicate and Market to Your Current Customers (Frey says 68% of customers who stop doing business with a firm slip away because of an attitude of indifference toward them by the owner, manager or some employee).
5. Make Money with Other People’s Customers (good info on forming joint-venture networks) (good stuff, even though Frey sloppily drops his “mistakes” theme in this title);
6. Not Realizing that You are in the Business of Marketing your Product or Service. (You're not in business to make stuff, but to sell it!)

While there’s not a lot that’s brand new in this book, it’s got lots of great advice that will remind you of the things you should be doing, but probably aren’t.
You can read or download it here.