A Dose of Wisdom via Seth Godin

How do you market yourself? What does your brand say about you? Are you telling the right story?

These are just a few of the questions I've asked myself over the past year. Fortunately I have the internet to turn too, that's filled with a plethora of advice and wisdom directed to small business owners such as myself. Since I have a much smaller marketing budget than that of a large corporation, I am very conscious of the way I spend my marketing dollars. As a small business owner I am constantly aware of the need and importance to market myself to my target clientele or my "niche" as some may refer to.

Here are some helpful marketing tips I found from a post entitled "What Every Good Marketer Knows", via Seth Godin's blog.

- Your best customers are worth far more than your average customers. {SO true, never settle for less. As creative forces behind our own businesses we should be able to hand pick our client's and choose the people we want to work with. Your best clients are the ones who value you and your work.}

- People don't buy what they need. They buy what they want. {Remember this when developing a marketing plan; let your product or service speak quality not quantity.}

- Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build your brand. {Good news spreads like wildfire, so when you have a great product or service people will know as others will be talking about it. Remember to not take on more than you can handle as it will affect your brand in the long run.}

- Obviously, knowing what to do is very, very different than actually doing it.

- What people want is the extra, the emotional bonus they get when they buy something they love. {This couldn't be more true. Consumers like to make a personal connection with the brands they invest in. Being authentic is key.}

- Choose your customers. Fire the ones that hurt your ability to deliver the right story to the others. {Easier said than done, right? Wrong, it's as simple as sticking to your guns and keeping the client's that allow you to be you and letting go of the ones that affect your ability to be creative. Trust is the key in any successful relationship. If your client's don't trust you or believe in the story you have to tell, then let them go, simple as that.}

- Blogging makes you a better marketer because it teaches you humility in your writing.

- Living and breathing an authentic story is the best way to survive in an conversation-rich world. {What you see is what you get...that's my motto. I can't sell something I am not because eventually people will see that I am a fraud. Being authentic will not only deliver you client's that respect and admire the product or services you provide, but that value them as well.}