Photo by aye_shamus

Successful companies big and small have a story behind them.  In fact a big part of what makes a lot of those companies successful is their story.

One great example is Patagonia – the company’s founder Yvon Chouinard originally started the company because he couldn’t find the climbing gear he needed so he started making his own.  When he discovered that the pitons he was making were causing a lot negative  environmental impact, he stopped making them, even though they were the primary product the company made.  That was the first step of many for a company that is defined by environmentalism and the story of a founder that loves to be out doors.

Not every story has to be as elaborate as Patagonia’s, but if you’re not telling your story, or not telling it well, then you are likely not connecting with potential clients.

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Late last week I came down with something – food poison, stomach flu…whatever it was, the feeling was a lot like what I imagine getting run over by a train would feel like.

Luckily my schedule for Friday was fairly light and flexible, so I was able to cancel everything and just take a day to relax – that included the opportunity to curl up on the couch at about 3:00 in the afternoon and settle in for a nap.

A nap!  Quiet in the house – just me and the dogs…an honest to goodness nap!

By my estimation, I haven’t taken a nap in probably 5 years or more and although I kind of felt like a kid playing hooky…I have to tell you it felt really good!

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         photo by frumbert 

Everybody wants to grow their business and although there are lots of ways to grow the bottom line through cost savings, operational efficiencies and stuff like that, most of the focus is on getting more potential customers – which puts us into Marketing!

Here’s the definition of marketing that I use:  Marketing is everything you do to get a person or a group of people to contact you with the intention of possibly trading money for a product or service you provide.

It’s clear, concise, doesn’t get confused with sales or customer service and it leaves a lot of room for creative possibilities – which is where the opportunities are.  10 years ago, your marketing direction would have solely included things like Direct Mail, Ads (newspaper, magazine, etc.) and some kind of networking or cold calling.  All of those can still be viable strategies but there are lots of other ways to look at marketing these days.

How many of the following ideas have you considered as you built your 2009 marketing plan?

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