Last week I shared a series of “Marketing Tips I Learned by Playing Scrabble.” Check out Marketing Tip #1 and Marketing Tip #2.
This weekend I played in the SpellLit fundraiser for the Union County Literacy Council. I learned some interesting things about literacy in North Carolina and picked up a few more marketing tips:
Tip #3: Position Yourself Strategically
In Scrabble, certain spaces on the board are money. The Triple Word Score is the Big Kahuna, but a high value tile (X, Q, Z) on a Triple Letter Score can be just as powerful.
When you sit down to review your brochures, advertisements, and other marketing materials, keep your positioning in mind. Have you defined your niche? Can you describe your most lucrative customer? Are you positioning your products and services with that customer in mind? Or have you fallen into the trap of trying to be everything to everyone?
Tip #4: Always Do What You’ve Always Done and You’ll Never Improve
Many small businesses start with a mish-mash of low-cost marketing tools – homemade flyers, word of mouth, a Web site designed by someone’s cousin.
When I quit playing Scrabble on my computer and started playing real people in tournaments, it was like jumping from the JV to Varsity team. It felt unnatural at first, but I got my feet under me eventually.
Are you ready to take your business to the Varsity level? A professional marketing team is a good first step. And like my Scrabble experience, it may feel uncomfortable at first, but you’ll be better in the end.
Tip #5: Don’t Be Afraid to Scrap Something that Doesn’t Work
If your Web site was built by your neighbor, your cousin, your sister’s hairstylist – anyone who could do it cheap – ask yourself this: Does your on-the-cheap Web site work for your business or against it?
For many potential clients, your Web site forms their first opinions of your business. Intentionally or not, poor writing and sloppy design make a statement about your products and the quality of your service.
When the Scrabble gods give me a rack of I-I-A-E-E-E-U, my best move is to forfeit a turn and draw new tiles. Sure, I hate to lose a turn, but keeping those tiles can cripple me for three or four turns or more.
It may hurt your cousin’s feelings when you ditch the Web site he built and hire a professional to create one, but won’t it hurt your business more if you don’t?