Efficient Marketing is not always effective
Previous Posts:
Not efficient, but still making money
Productivity First Steps
Second Step – Being Productive
I’ll be upfront: Today’s lesson on being productive and efficient marketing comes from a science field.
Electrical heaters like baseboards and space heaters are expensive electricity wise. Consumers consider them not an efficient solution. This is actually a misnomer. Electric heaters like that are actually 100% efficient in turning electricity to heat (wiki reference). They are not however very effective heaters, in my opinion.
Likewise, even if you are 100% efficient, you might not be 100% effective.
You might have huge parts of your business automated and setup to be efficient, but is it really effective? Is it cost effective? In our previous post we noted that being productive is producing. Is each step of your marketing effective?
Is there something that is less efficient but more productive that can improve your bottom line?
I know a lot of this seems counter-intuitive, but it comes back to the idea of evaluating what you are doing and assessing, is it really worth it?
Practical steps:
1. Write out every step…
in your marketing process and evaluate it. This can be your blog writing process, Facebook ads, print media, everything. Make your marketing efficient and effective. Come up with two ways to make it better, and then do them!
2. Find one way to reduce your costs…
We all want to reduce our costs, but we don’t always have time for it. It might not be efficient but we’re still making money. So instead of trying to get more revenue, try and lower at least two expenses. Whether that is lowering your cell phone bill (which I just did with the same carrier), changing insurance agencies (which I just did too), changing your web hosting plan, changing your email newsletter service, negotiating better prices on your print media, or your coffee roaster contract. This is primarily geared towards building efficient marketing in your business, but can be applied to anything.
3. Get more sleep and drink less coffee…
This is a simple analogy that can be applied to other things. A friend of mine worked at Starbucks and he knew people by what they drank every day. He noted that there were some business owners who would come in daily at least, who always complained about being too tired and having to work late. Some would come in 3-4 times per day.
If a basic latte with syrup costs $4.25 after tax, in a six day work week is $25.50. If they came in 3x a day for a six day work week, that is $76.50. In a month that is $306 and $3,672 in a year! This does not even count the time and gas it takes to get to Starbucks.
So what in your business is driving you to have late nights, lack of sleep and pushing other bad habits? Lack of sleep and coffee are symptoms of a deeper problem in your business practice. Find that root and crush it. If that root costs $2,000 a year, then its actually paying for itself in coffee savings and sleep is pretty invaluable.
As always, if you want to talk more about this and or schedule a consulting meeting, feel free to:
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