Coach Mike’s weekly Where’s The Focus call #6 – “7 Tips to creating an Effective Marketing Strategy” If you’re marketing is not a strategic marketing plan you’re setting yourself up to lose. Play to win think strategically. Each week Coach Mike shares tips on creating focus in your life and business on his weekly Where’s The Focus call.
Strategic Marketing Wins Tactical Marketing Loses
Strategic Marketing Wins Tactical Marketing Loses!
Why is marketing so important to the success of your business?
Well, if you don’t have clients or customers you don’t have a business. It’s that simple. The single biggest reason businesses fail is from a lack marketing. The “build it and they will come” philosophy makes a great Hollywood story but in the real world of business it doesn’t work.
It’s been reported that most businesses fail because of a lack of capital. But I’ve seen plenty of businesses launch with sufficient startup capital only to fail because of a poor marketing strategy.
Many business people believe or act as if marketing is a luxury. Marketing is one of the key fundamental component’s to building a successful business. You could be the smartest person in the world, be the best in your field but if people don’t know who you are, the value you deliver, how great your products or services are, or even where to find you, you don’t have a business.
See, marketing is much more than just doing a promotion or advertisement, a postcard or coupon. Marketing is about strategy. It’s about creating an effective campaign that educates your prospects and clients on the value you deliver. It’s about building the know, like and trust factor that has the prospect wanting to do business with you and generates more referral business.
For many entrepreneurs and sales professionals their marketing consists of a business card and networking events. That’s not a strategy it’s one of many marketing or relationship building tactics.
I like to use the analogy of a football game because football involves strategy. Every football game begins with a kickoff and then followed up with a series of plays to move the ball closer toward the end zone for an attempt to score a touchdown. How many games would a football team win if they just went out on the field and kicked the ball and didn’t follow it up with series of plays? Not many! Your business is really no different. To begin the game of business you engage the prospect with a kickoff activity by sending an email promotion, mailer, or attend a networking event. If this is never followed up with a series of strategic plays you’ve done nothing to build the relationship or demonstrate the value you deliver; and failed to move the prospect down the field into the end zone and score. It would be like going out on the football field and just kicking off each time.
Download the free End Zone Marketing planner End Zone Marketing planner
If you want more business think strategically not tactically. What sales and marketing plays do you need to execute to move your prospects down the field to score? You can put together an effective marketing strategy campaign on any budget. When you have a marketing strategy you’ll attract more of the right business and more referral business because you’ve demonstrated value and built the know, like and trust factor.
Stay Focused, Be Unstoppable & Win The Future!
Coach Mike
The Focus Coach
What are you cheating yourself of by not being focused?
Coach Mike’s weekly Where’s The Focus call #5 – “What are you cheating yourself of by not being focused?” Coach Mike talks about why focus is important and not being focused you are literally cheating yourself of opportunities and success. Each week Coach Mike shares tips on creating focus in your life and business on his weekly Where’s The Focus call.
Are you focused? Are you really?
Are you focused? Are you really? Focus is much more than just managing your daily task. Focus is about gaining clarity, creating alignment and giving high level attention to the important things in your life or business that will produce you greater results. We’re all unique and have different dreams and desires. I don’t know what’s important to you but consider the following:
- Are you focused on the right things?
- Are you focused on the right marketing activities?
- Are you focused on the right clients?
- Are you focused on the right goals?
- Are you focused on the right people that support you toward achieving your goals?
- Are focused on the right attitude?
- Are you focused on being thankful for what you have instead feeling disappointed about what you don’t have?
- Are you focused increasing your personal value for yourself and others?
- Are you focused on the right business or career?
- Are you focused on really living with intent or are you just existing?
If you find it difficult to answer these questions with clarity and confidence then you’re lacking focusing on the important things and cheating yourself the opportunity to experience your full potential.
Give these questions serious thought and ask yourself; “what am I cheating myself out of by not being focused on the right things?”
Stay Focused, Be Unstoppable and Win The Future!
Coach Mike
The Focus Coach
The dangerous trap of the WTF Vortex
Coach Mike’s weekly Where’s The Focus call #4 – “The dangerous trap of being caught up in the WTF Vortex” Mike talks about the dangers of being caught up in the WTF Vortex. If you’re caught up in the Vortex you’re not living each day with intent and deliberate action. Each week Coach Mike shares tips on creating focus in your life and business on his weekly Where’s The Focus call.
Transform your WTF Moment into a positive
What is a WTF Moment?
I was on a coaching call one day with a new client who was extremely frustrated with the lack of results he was getting from his efforts. He asked, “Mike, I’m doing all I can to grow my business. I get up early in the morning, I make sales calls daily, I attend networking events, I blog regularly. On top of trying to get more business, I have clients to service. What’s going on? What more can I do?”
This wasn’t the first client that had come to me with similar feelings of frustration, experiencing what I refer to as a “WTF Moment.” This is a very real moment that we experience in life and how we respond to this moment will determine our level of success.
The type of WTF Moment I’m referring to happens in business and in life when you are doing everything you possibly can to succeed, yet things are just not clicking. You feel major frustration, you become discouraged, and you lose confidence and faith in yourself and your abilities. It’s something that has you so frustrated that it distorts your perception of the situation; your emotions and adrenalin are at a peak and cause you to literally think, WTF? It’s at this moment that you feel like you’re stuck, your wheels are spinning and you can’t seem to move forward. You lack focus and energy because your mind is occupied with all these other feelings that are uncomfortable and negative. Your confidence, positive attitude and willingness to win have been stripped away. You feel like you don’t have any other options, so it’s natural, when you see “WTF,” to perceive it as a negative, because that’s exactly how it feels. You throw up your hands because you’ve done everything you possibly can, and you’re just not getting the results you expect. You think to yourself, “What is going on? What more can I do? I’m doing everything that I can. I just don’t know what else to do.” What can you do at this moment? How do you respond? How do you shift from this WTF Moment into a different mode that will produce positive feelings of happiness and joy, and give you an abundance of energy and confidence that moves you forward?
The very WTF moment that you’re experiencing and perceiving as a negative is the very moment that is a catalyst for change when you look at it from a different perspective. A negative feeling is just an emotion. We perceive it as a negative, because it feels uncomfortable and we don’t see a way out because frustration and doubt have overwhelmed you. Who made it a negative? Who says it has to be a negative?
As humans, we’re the ones that take it as a negative. Now, think about this. That same feeling is a catalyst for change. If life never challenged you, what would cause you to grow? You wouldn’t. When you’re comfortable, there’s nothing to motivate you to change. A WTF Moment is a positive; it’s life’s way, or God’s way, of motivating you to change. When you make a WTF Moment a positive, you open your mind up to new ideas and possibilities. When you judge your feelings and accept them as negative, you close your mind, which creates stress and worry. You were born to succeed and life wants you to succeed. Life and God are on your side and nothing is more gratifying than you living a successful life with joy, love and happiness.
When your view changes, your mind will see that there are other definitions for those three letters: WTF.
Where’s The Focus?
When you can focus on the right things that will produce the right results, you’ll transform your WTF Moments into positives and become unstoppable.
Are you focused on the things that will bring good into your life or are you focused on the wrong things that will bring the bad?
Are you focused on the right actions that will get the right results?
Are you focused on the right clients?
Are you focused on what fires you up and gives you real internal energy?
Are you focused on your strengths?
Are you focused on a positive attitude?
As you read this book, I invite you to look at your WTF Moments as positives rather than negatives. Do you know what’s causing those frustrating moments? The methodology covered in this book will help you transform what appears negative into a positive for success. You’ll learn how to change your perspective and focus to get positive results and get what you want out of life and business. Great things are happening in your life, and change is good. When you’re changing, you’re learning and growing.
What’s your time worth?
Coach Mike’s weekly Where’s The Focus call #3 – “What is your time worth?” Mike talks about valuing your time and what your time is worth. If you’re time isn’t valuable to you then you’ll find yourself spending you time on unimportant activities and not getting results. Each week Coach Mike shares tips on creating focus in your life and business on his weekly Where’s The Focus call.
Multitasking is Multifailure
Multitasking is Multifailure
Are you a multitasker? Do you pride yourself on saying “I am a master at multitasking”?
Are you a computer? The word multitasking originally came about in 1966 with the early computers. The official definition of multitasking refers to a single CPU executing two or more functions concurrently. A computer is designed to multitask. You are not. Your brain works different than a computer. For humans multitasking is distractive and not productive.
The myth that multitasking is productive is a complete fallacy! There’s no other way to say it other than that. If you believe you are going to achieve the greatest results from multitasking then you are fooling yourself.
Here’s the deal! Anything worth achieving requires your full attention and focus to achieve the greatest results.
I’m willing to bet, when you’re multitasking, much of your work is meaningless and you’re not focused on the important or the right things that will get you the right results. As humans we get a natural high by checking off a list and being busy. It gives us a false since of being productive. We want to feel good about ourselves so we can say at the end of the day – I was busy, I got a lot done.
In life and business, there is greater work to be done than can be accomplished in a day. It may take weeks or months or years. When we’re not clear on what our goals are it’s difficult to see the big picture and the necessary steps involved to complete the more meaningful projects and objectives. So we turn to less meaningful activities to get the short term high and feel good about what we’re doing; hoping that if we do enough of the unimportant little things we will achieve the important big things.
This behavior is one of the tricks our emotions and mind play on us when we’re not pursuing life with intent. We jump into the day and begin do anything and everything we possibly can, shifting gears from one activity to the next and then back again. And we do this day in, and day out, and say to ourselves “I’m so busy that I don’t have time for anything else”. You feel stressed, overwhelmed, and say to yourself “I have so much work to do that I’m going to have to work the weekend or late at night to get caught up”. All because you were so busy multitasking that you never got to the important things.
When you’re in this mode you have put yourself in the WTF Moment Vortex spinning your wheels and creating your own frustration, fears and failures. Welcome to the Vortex!
So how do you break out of this cycle? Here’s how.
First – drop the word busy from your vocabulary. Busy does not equate to being productive. If you are busy that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re productive. To get results, to achieve success, means that you need to be productive and focused on the important things.
Second – don’t pride yourself on being a multitasker. Pride yourself on the results you get which will create real confidence, happiness and balance. I invite you to replace your meaning of multitasking to being productive with multifailure.
Third – ask yourself each day “what is the most important thing I can achieve today that will move me closer to my goals”.
With all this said there is a time when I multitask. When exercising on my elliptical I enjoy reading. That’s about the extent of my multitasking. The point is, to achieve great results requires your full attention and focus. If you are always multitasking then you’re never engaged in meaningful work that will get you the greatest results.
Stay focused, be unstoppable and Win The Future!
Coach Mike
The Focus Coach
Mike Brenhaug is the founder and CEO of BlueRock Coaching & Consulting and Group author of the bestseller WTF Transform what appears negative into a positive to become unstoppable!