It’s a well-known business principal that 20 percent of you efforts produce 80 percent of the results. Professionally known as the Pareto principal, following this can help even the smallest business reap larger rewards. Of course this doesn’t happen by accident. In order to grow your home business you will need to keep track of everything that’s going right…and wrong…and concentrate your efforts accordingly.
Another principal, although not limited to the business world, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” also comes into play as many business owners and managers manage by exception. By that I mean that if part of your business is functioning correctly you can shift your attention to the parts of the business that need help. This allows you more time to make all areas of your business be the best it can be.
One of the biggest mistakes a new business owner makes is in their marketing plan. Advertising needs to be targeted to the right audience to be effective. For example, if your business caters to other business owners advertising money spent on messages for the general public will have little or no positive return. Further, if you cater to a specific segment of business owners your money is better spent on a focus to that segment.
While some businesses, such as keyword article writing or search engine optimization may be attractive to a wide range of businesses, advertising money spent on information on these areas to the general public will fall on deaf ears.
Back to the Pareto Principal. Tracking your advertising and marketing message involves more than just where the message is presented. The message itself must be tracked to find out if the right message is being sent to potential customers or clients. In business is may be true that timing is everything, but the message is equally important. Two specific incidents in my career as a public relations writer come immediately to mind.
Several years back, a window manufacturer was trying to improve its sales to the residential market. Since their business was aimed to companies that sold their windows to the home remodeling industry, we wanted to send a message that the consumers would better understand. When hurricane Hugo traveled up the east coast one thing stood out in the aftermath of destruction. Several pictures in newspapers showed houses with heavy damage, but window made by this company remained standing in place.
We were able to place an article in a trade publication about the strength and durability of the windows and included a few pictures of the standing windows. It caught the attention of window installation companies, which used the article in their sales pitch to consumers increasing their sales.
Another company manufactured steel products, including everything from I-beams to nails. They were on the verge of opening a new plant and wanted something to garner attention. During my discussions with company leaders it was learned that a pair of truck drivers, that just happened to be a father and son, had topped the million mile mark in driving without an accident. It was also learned that the Vice President of the United States was planning to attend the opening of the new plant.
With that in mind, I contacted the Federal Department of Transportation and arranged for it to award these two drivers with a safe driving certificate. It was presented to them at the new plant’s opening by a high ranking official from the DOT. This story was the placed in a trucking industry trade publication and the awards ceremony was covered by local and national news outlets.
With the company’s name and its new plant opening receiving a ton of published marketing, the sales to contractors of their steel products increased and their sales to residential customers went through the roof. Yes, it took some planning to pull it all together, but the money the company spent went a long way to increasing sales as well as demonstrating their commitment to safety and quality.
I use these examples to show that having the right message placed in the right forum at the right time can make a positive impact on your business. Thoroughly know your business and put your message in a language that can be understood by your customers. Otherwise you may as well be speaking a foreign language. Talk the language of your customers and target your message in publications, print or on the Internet, where your customers will see it and remember, all publications have a lead time and if your message is not timely, it will be missed.
