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[Warning] Following The Crowd Can Cripple Your Biz


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In a fast paced world where everyone is trying to get ahead and hit their stride on the road to success, it’s easy to get derailed by the new “hotness” that is popping up every day!

One of my toughest jobs as a marketing coach for women entrepreneurs is keeping them on track!

There is hardly a day that goes by that one of my clients is not asking my opinion about a brand new idea they have, usually based on what they see someone else doing.

Remember when we were in high school and we wanted to keep up with the latest fashions and trends and would beg our parents to indulge our every whims? Like the Jordache or Sasson jeans we just HAD to have? (am I dating myself?)

Well high school is OVER!  As a business person you have to stay consistent with the basics in your business that are driving your REVENUE.  I find that entrepreneurs have a hard enough time staying focused on writing their blogs and newsletters, keeping their advertising relevant, converting their prospects and leads and creating products and services… all of the things that have been PROVEN to build and grow a successful and profitable business.

Instead they are looking around at what their colleagues and competitors and doing and wanting to hop on board that train.

However modeling what you see from the outside without knowing for a FACT that it is successful and profitable has left many business owners frustrated and in the red.

Just because someone posts pictures on Facebook and Twitter showing off their latest event or business venture does not mean it was profitable, in fact there are more people losing money than actually making it.

For example, one of the BIGGEST things everyone is doing now is “going on tour.”  This is where you see women entrepreneurs packing up their show and taking it on the road.  Multi-city tours are not new, people have been doing them for years, but recently EVERYONE has joined in.

Are tours a good idea for your business? Well yes, but they only work for a few people and here is why…

To rent a hotel or meeting space in every city is an expense.  To advertise your tour and attract the RIGHT people who will take the time out of their busy schedules to come and see you is an expense. Your message has to be great and compelling and time must be spent nailing it. Not to mention, it’s a LOT of work.

Now if you do not yet have a big enough name to leave your home town and come to another city, are enough people even going to come out? The people who are making tours work for them have spent years building their brands nationally and have loyal followers all over the place.  When is the last time you came out to see someone whose name didn’t ring a bell with you?  It’s not impossible but it sure is a challenge and a big risk.

Or another option is to partner with someone in each city that DOES have a recognizable brand to help you bring out the masses. But even in that case, their following MUST be relevant to what you do and attract YOUR specific target market or the room will be filled with all the wrong people which is never profitable.

And finally ask yourself what is the purpose of going on tour? Whenever you put on an event you have to have an end goal and desired result in mind.  If you are going on tour to make quick money from it, that is not a good enough reason or very doable, as most people break even or go in the red on the front end.  Tours are usually used to give people a chance to experience you in THEIR hometown with the BIGGER goal of selling them into something high end later which is where you will actually profit.

There is much more to it, but you get my point.

If you have to postpone your tour to work on your marketing or building up your name more, then by ALL means do it!  As entrepreneurs everything we do does not work, but we can’t be afraid to try and we must be smart enough to know when to scrap an idea and revamp it!

Besides tours there are MANY trends you will see in business popping up, this is just one example I thought you could relate to.

You NEVER want to hop on board what you see just because it looks fun, or you see everyone doing it.  Make sure you do your homework to ensure it is profitable and beneficial to YOUR business.

And trust me, I get it! The basics aren’t a boatload of fun or sexy, but having a well-padded bank account as a result of your discipline, consistency and ability to do what is profitable SURELY is!

Cheers to Business Beauty & Balance,

Vicki

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