Imagine yourself looking at your sales reports for the month. On its own, your sales figures look fine. But when you compare it with your sales and marketing expenses, it’s a little below where you expect it to be. You begin to wonder what you are not doing right.

What could be the reasons why your revenues don’t seem cooperative with your marketing efforts? Do you know who your customers are? Chances are you have already identified who they are and more so, you know them very well such that you have just the right products to satisfy their specific needs. How come, then, are you having such a difficult time pulling your sales up?

As promised, this post is going to be about positioning.

Knowing your customers is not enough. You have to decide how you want to position yourself in your chosen niche or market segment. This is what positioning is all about – it refers to “how organizations want their consumers to see their product.” You have to decide how you want your market to perceive your product or service. For example, Head and Shoulders position itself as the No. 1 anti-dandruff shampoo. Another example is Avis which positions itself as No. 2 in the rent-a-car services and appropriately carries the tagline, “We try harder.” This tagline turned out to be a very effective one for them.

When you formulate your positioning strategy, it is very important to remember that how the market will perceive your product or service will largely depend on how your competitors position themselves, too.

So what positioning strategies are available?

One strategy would be a “me-too” strategy. This happens when you position your business close to your rivals. One advantage this strategy brings is that it allows your consumers to easily compare your product with those of your competitors when they buy.

Another strategy would be to position your business “away-from-competitors.” This strategy may involve presenting a benefit or feature that is more superior in certain aspects. This move would certainly have to consider the other elements of the business’ marketing strategy – pricing, promotion, and distribution. All of these elements must echo the superiority of the benefit or feature.

According to marketing gurus, “Ultimately positioning is about how you want consumers to perceive your products and services and what strategies you would adopt to reach this perceptual goal.”

Indeed, there are so many business strategies that can help you so you can grow your business. But how would you know if you have chosen the right one for your business?

Some of Malaysia’s noteworthy entrepreneurs will come together to reveal the X-factor that boosted their business success in the first ever Thinking. Doing. Growing. Business and Marketing Conference on the 5th of May 2012 at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. This is the time you can compare notes from those who are sure to be doing it right and learn how to apply their strategies to your own enterprise.

Hurry! There are only very limited seats available to date. Reserve yours now!

Brilliant. Entrepreneurial. Successful.

No, absolutely not a chronologically advanced business hot shot. But yes, he is undoubtedly a bigger-than-life business hot shot.

He is no other than Wai Hong Fong, co-founder and CEO of OZHut, a multi – niche online retail business in Australia. Embarking on a 300-word or so piece about Wai Hong seems such a colossal task considering his accomplishments. Let me try to share with you a morsel albeit, very significant snapshots of him in this post.

After finishing a degree in BA with a major in Media and Communications from Melbourne University, he started building OZHut instead of a corporate career, deviating from the mainstream career path expected of young individuals fresh from college. His uncle’s shed became his headquarters. Initially selling telescopes, OZHut eventually grew as kitchenware and jewellery were added to its product line. OZHut’s humble beginnings jumpstarted an amazing and jaw-dropping multi-million dollar online retailing business it has become today.

The most amazing thing is: He is only 25 years old!

In a very short time, Wai Hong and OZHut have achieved so many feats. This Malaysian young lad led OZHut to be hailed as a finalist in the Online Retailer Industry Awards – Emerging Star Category. OZHut was also chosen as the Best eCommerce Store in the Smart Company’s Web Awards and Best eBusiness in Price, Waterhouse, and Cooper’s My Business Award within 2 years since its founding. Wai Hong’s achievement streak seems unstoppable as he was named as among the Hot 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs in 2010 and as he made The Age‘s Melbourne Magazine‘s list of the Top 100 Most Influential, Inspirational, Provocative and Creative People for 2011.

Behind this remarkable rise to business success despite his age and experience is an astonishing business acumen that is largely anchored on the “drive” rather than the “dream” which is quite weird but is wonderfully working for him. In an interview with Meld magazine in Australia, Wai Hong shares, “I’ve never dreamt of building a big business or achieving success in the business world, I just set out to do it.” He further admitted that, “I’m not really a ‘reach for the stars, big dreams’ kind of person. I’m more of a ‘next-step, faithful with what you’ve got’ guy.”

There has got to be some formula he’s using that we are missing yet!

Now, here’s the clincher.

Wai Hong Fong is a guest speaker in the Thinking, Doing. Growing Business and Marketing Conference!

He will let us in on how he did it – succeeding in growing his business in such an unbelievably short span of time.

Let me tell you now, there are only a few seats left as we are down to the last three days to the conference on the 5th of May, 2012 at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. Hurry! Reserve a seat now!

It’s so easy to fall prey into the trap of delighting customers in any way you can or retaliating to your competitors’ actions as much as you can. When this happens, we tend to lose touch with the element that gives substance to our marketing efforts – our company.

While being customer – oriented or competition – oriented is good, it is not sufficient. We must ensure that all the things we are doing for the customers or competitors shall be favorable to the company.

What do we mean by favorable?

It means earning profit at reasonable levels with honor. You see, if we don’t operate profitably, marketing cannot exist or happen anymore. Just think of this: Anyone can sell anything at very low prices, much lower than the market standard. When this continuously happens, disaster is inevitable.

The point is: the company is equally important as the customers and competition.

So what must we pay close attention to when it comes to The Business?

It is very important that the entrepreneur identifies what its core competencies are. These core competencies become the linking pin when devising strategies and tactical plans.

Let me tell you more about core competence. This is the ability of a business to do certain operational functions better and at a lesser cost than competitors. This is when competitive advantage comes in and the goal is for it to be sustainable.

How can a business achieve sustainable competitive advantage?

It can be achieved if the business hones and invests more on its core competence while ensuring that its weaknesses are identified and reduced.

On the other hand, the business must make sure that customer – orientation must not only be the concern and responsibility of the marketing department. Rather, it should be the concern of everyone in the t has been said that competitive advantage.

At this point, we have already completed the strategic marketing triad.

This framework is just a simple springboard for a many decisions to make, issues to address, and goals to achieve. Each element presents challenges by itself. But what remains as a tougher challenge is how to balance the customers, competition, and company.

The market has become more dynamic that it pays to learn from other businesses and practitioners as much as possible. Don’t worry. More exciting insights are coming up in the succeeding posts.

Right now, I would like to suggest you join the Thinking. Doing. Growing. (TDG) Business Conference on May 5, 2012 at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia’s most successful entrepreneurs will show you how they were able to beat the fast-paced changes in the market in a way that you can directly apply to your own enterprise. The seats are running out fast so you better reserve yours now.

Ready. Aim. Fire!

The market is one big battle field. Seldom can you find yourself alone enjoying the monopoly of an industry or product category. It’s the era of trade liberalization, globalization and – yes, you’re absolutely right – competition!

In my last post, I mentioned about the first C in the strategic marketing triad – the customer and how it is not really just all about them. You have to worry and be concerned about competition, too!

Being customer – oriented is great but it is not enough. We must also consider the competition and try to outperform them at all times.

What happens if we don’t?

The war in pursuit for the customer’s limited buying power brings pretty much the same outcomes as in other battles. The winner gets your share of the market; claims the revenues and profits from your share of the market; and leaves you far behind their trail which is just putting it mildly. Your winning competitor can bring you your ultimate demise! Surely, you don’t want that to happen, do you?

So how do you deal with competition?

First of all, you should identify who among your competitors are major players in the industry and who among them are just trivial ones. As an entrepreneur, you have so many things to do so it is very important that you know which actions of your competitors you must address straight away and those that can be dealt with at a later time. If necessary, you may preempt the actions of your “significant” competitors.

How will you distinguish the urgent competitors’ actions from the non-urgent ones?

Here’s the scoop. The ultimate discriminating factor is in how the action of your competitor will affect your business or your brand. Will the effects be immediate or not? Does it have any strategic effects?

Wait! There’s more!

If you shall truly be watchful of your competition, you must not only pay attention to your direct and indirect competitors as well as your major and trivial competitors. A lot of times, a business is threatened not by its existing rivals but more from likely and probable competitors.

Here’s one way of analyzing your competitors and at the same time evaluating your business’s expansion strategy.

Let me explain the product-customer matrix above. An airline ticket agency may want to expand its product line to include travel and tour packages for the family. On the other hand, it may seek new customers and serve the needs of business or corporate buyers for their employees’ official travels. Because of the prospects available in the business market, the agency may introduce group tours such as those for educational purposes consequently gaining a new market.

Furthermore, you must also familiarize the ways of your competitors. What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? What are their current strategies? By answering these questions you will have a better understanding of your competition.

Do you know why your competitors are acting the way they do?

Here’s a tip. Your rivals’ actions can be explained by two influences. First is their set of assumptions about themselves and their industry and second is their bunch of strategic corporate objectives. Some sleuthing skills certainly would be helpful in this area.

There you go – 2 Cs down and one more to go to complete the strategic marketing triad. In my next post, I will share with you the third C and that is the Company.

Why can’t we just focus on the customers and competition? These alone bring us more than a handful of concerns and issues already! Let’s answer this very soon.

For the meantime, let me invite you to the Thinking. Doing. Growing. (TDG) Business Conference on May 5, 2012 at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. With the extremely crowded market place, you can’t afford to pass up on this conference graced by no less than a powerhouse of Malaysia’s crème de la crème young entrepreneurs who will share with your their “how to” secrets that made them winners in their respective industries. The seats are running out fast so you better reserve yours now.

Every marketing book never fell short emphasizing that when in business, the customer is King. If this is the case then, we might as well give our products away – for free!

So what’s this hint of sarcasm all about? The customer is not King?

Let me explain this to you one piece at a time.

You see, marketing actually has three central elements which without one would render your marketing efforts – in case we could still call it that – futile and useless. These elements are customers, competition and company – the strategic 3 Cs of marketing!

Let me begin with customers.

Marketing as defined by many practitioners and academicians revolves around the customer such that the emphasis is on determining and satisfying what they need and want. On top of this, we also ascertain their expectations so that it shall be among our guides in the manner by which we satisfy their needs and wants. Efforts must be directed towards providing customers a “good reason” to buy. This aim can compel businesses to know their customers very well so that the product or service they offer to the market is the perfect solution to their problems – it can sell on its own.

Most often, not all businesses can handle all the problems there are available in the market. It’s either the business only has limited capacity or it does not have enough capital to cater to the biggest market segment.

So what does the business do?

The idea is really not over the top. You simply have to start segmenting the market. This means you try to identify the different groups in the market who share some common characteristics – or problems. You could group them according to some demographic parameters, buying behavior or lifestyle. Once you have done this, you can now choose which segment you feel you can best serve given your resources and competence.

Do not expect, however, that you are the only one serving that segment or niche even it was you who identified it. Chances are some businesses have already been ahead of you – maybe just a little ahead of you.

So what must you do?

This is the time to decide on your positioning strategy. “What in the world is positioning other than finding a place or corner where you can settle on a pose or position?” you may ask. As a “sneak – peak”, let me tell you now that positioning is creating an image or identity in the minds of our target customers. In a way, the idea is the same as your stock knowledge on positioning – it’s just that the “place” is in the minds of your potential clients. I promise I will tell you more about positioning in my succeeding posts.

Now what are the other 2 Cs?

I will tell you about them in my next post. So just hang in there.
Believe me, what I have shared so far is just the tip of the marketing iceberg. There’s really so much more to know and learn so you can point your arrow of business performance to no other direction but up.

At this point, let me invite you to the Thinking. Doing. Growing. (TDG) Business Conference on May 5, 2012 at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. With the extremely crowded market place, you can’t afford to pass up on this conference graced by no less than a powerhouse of successful Malaysian entrepreneurs who will reveal the secrets of their business success. The seats are running out fast so you better reserve yours now.

Credit: maximumpc.com

Internet rage has come to a totally new level thanks to social media. Comments that are full of obscene language, derogatory terms and all the foul speech you can think of.  If you are a company using social media to get clients and get those sales up, is internet rage good for your company? Here are some things to think about:

It’s more of a protest. When people express their disgust on something posted on your wall, it’s not like they’re just being bad. Usually, they do have valid reasons behind these comments. Social media has therefore become a place people can protest about anything they want without worrying about facing any consequences.  Is this good for your company then? Well, since many people who share the sentiments will ‘like’ or comment in the same manner, you’ll be able to determine if there is need to address their complaints.

It moves to action. Think of it-without social media, how would you know what your customers really feel about your product? How would you know if you have to change  your strategies or something?  You wouldn’t. You’d be in the dark just hoping your doing the right thing and chances are by the time you realize your unpopularity, you would  have had a lot of losses made.  With internet rage though, you get to change course before it’s too late.

What should y0u do about it? Blocking or banning people who tend to post ‘negative’ comments on  your wall really won’t get you anywhere. If you block them on your page, they simply might start a new page focused on ‘bringing you down’! Yep, a thousand ‘angry’ comments is far better and easier to deal with than a thousand ‘pages’. The truth is, internet rage can be used to  your benefit. You can address serious concerns as they come and change  your company’s direction with these comments.

Read more here.

Credit:oracledigital.com

Everyone who’s been using social media for marketing their company surely know that this alone cannot guarantee your success. Not only will you have a hard time balancing your efforts on all those social media sites.  There are a few tools and platforms that can be a huge help to get those sites organized.

1. Verticalresponse.com- This sites imports your ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ on  your favorite sites to your email. This helps you keep all your updates in your mail.
2. Livego.com- This is another ‘all in one’ site that can keep all your social media accounts in one place. You can log into all your sites and update them on a single site. This is definitely far more convenient than having to log into all your sites one by one.
3. yamlabs.com- ‘Yet Another Meeting’ is a nice place where you can organize your stuff. You can keep your agendas, notes and all in this single site.
4. Mywebcareer.com-this site is able to analyze data from LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.The strengh of your networks is used as a basis. It also gives advice for improvement.

If you get all the right tools and use the right platforms for your social media marketing, you’ll be able to get the best results.

Read more here.

Credit:divessi-indo.com

Let’s face it-KEEPING customers loyal to you is much harder than FINDING them. You may simply have been the people they came in contact with when they needed your services but it doesn’t really mean that they will close their doors on using your competitors as well. How can you get your customers to be loyal to you and only you?

Social media can be a huge help in this area. You can use your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and all to make sure that  your customers stick to you.  Here’s why this will work.

1. If you have a brand on these sites and connect with your customers, they will likely share this with friends. In short, simply showing some appreciation and getting them to be connected will be all you need to get even more customers! It’ll be as good as ‘using’ them to market for you.
2. People will more likely choose their word over yours. Being a company, you will only sound like you are after more customers but from somebody who has tried your services, they are more likely to believe.

There you have it. With social media around, keeping your customers loyal to you doesn’t have to be  difficult. Simply create a page, get connected to keep them interested and even get them to share you with friends.

Read more here.

Have you ever wondered just what makes people ‘like’ or ‘share’ stuff? It’s definitely not random so just why do people decide to ‘like’ one thing and not the other? The answer is really interesting.

In a nutshell, this is what was discovered in a recent research done on the matter:

If something results in higher physiological “arousal” because of action or emotional stimulus, then you’re much more likely to share it—it’s actually built into our nervous system, working unconsciously.

This takes social media marketing to a totally different level! The way you word whatever you are trying to sell or promote matters to the nth degree. So how exactly can you get people ‘aroused’ so that they ‘like’ or ‘tweet’ what you share?

You have to get them EMOTIONALLY involved somehow. It may be by making them laugh, getting them angry(in a good way), or some other ‘positive’ emotion. Do this and they’ll ‘retweet’ and ‘share’ automatically even without really liking your product.

The thing to avoid here is those ‘negative’ emotions. You get them sad, depressed or neutral and you won’t have such good results.  It really does make sense when you think about it:

What sites, links or pictures are you likely to tell your friends about? Yes, those that made you laugh out loud, or were somehow ‘contraversial’ in nature.

You don’t ‘feel’ anything, you don’t share it-it’s as simple as that. So start thinking how to get people engaged on an emotional level now!

Read more here.

I’m a fitness fanatic these days. I live an existence of protein shakes and insane workouts. In fact, I just did the Spartacus Workout 2.0 that nearly wiped the floor with my carcass.

Another equally gut-busting workout is the phenomenon known as P90X.

I personally don’t use P90X but my wife does and so does some of my other freaks.

For those who don’t know, P90X is a killer fitness product that’s taken the world by storm, mainly because the founder Tony Horton is an insane info-marketer (that’s for another post!) and they crush it with their info-mercials.

Anyway… In a recent interview with Men’s Health, Tony revealed four P90X fitness principles. I found the 3rd one relevant to not just health but life and business as well…

Find (and Flirt) with the Line

The Line is your discomfort threshold. It’s the one pushup beyond what you think you can do. It’s that extra agonizing rep after you’ve finished a set. But it’s not just the effort that’s important; it’s the desire to want to go there again and again. That’s the secret to becoming fit.

And it’s the reason Horton scoffs at walking, riding an exercise bike while reading, or doing any mild form of cardio as a sole means of fitness. “Walking is just a waste of time for most people,” he says. “We’re primates and we walk—that’s what we do. And even though it’s better than doing nothing, it’s not enough. You have to find that Line in whatever you’re doing and continually push it out.”

P90X at your place Use Horton’s discomfort scale to gauge where you are during your workout.

10 = so brutal, so awful, you’re miserable.
9 = just short of the above.
7 or 8 = really hard, but you’re maintaining form and hanging in there.
6 = it’s not a 7 or 8, but you’re working as hard as you can today.
5 = you can do more…but you’re not.
1 to 4 = unless it’s a recovery day, you’re wasting your time.
The Line is at 6, 7, or 8 on the scale.

The main reason why our business isn’t experiencing quantum growth is because we neither find nor flirt with the line. We are comfortable with what works and stick with that, ignoring the dynamic nature of the changing rules of the marketplace.

I remembered when I just refused to outsource. Even though me and my wife were stretched to the brim from doing all the work ourselves, we were making 5 figures so why allow some random hire to screw up a good thing.

It’s only out of the threat of burn out we started outsourcing. Was it uncomfortable? You bet. Were we endlessly frustrated from our rookie mistakes? Hell yeah. Did we feel like running away from the line and doing what feels good? Yup.

Yet its when we push through that true breakthrough happens. We now have 10 people working under us and our business has grown geometrically. We deal with some of the biggest portals in our region. All because we flirted with the line and build our team.

The line can look different to you. It can be paid traffic. It can be SEO. It can be creating your very first product. Heck, it could be just getting off your bum and doing something, anything.

Find your line, and flirt with it over and over again. In the physical realm, your muscles will grow. In the self-development realm, your character will grow. In the business realm, your wallet will grow.

What is your line? And how do you plan to flirt with it?