Small Businesses Marketing advice from John Follis.

1) They don't fully understand it.

Perception: Marketing is advertising.
Reality: Marketing may not even include advertising.
Perception: Marketing is an expense.
Reality: Marketing is an investment.

2) They rely almost exclusively on Word-of-Mouth.

Even if you have great word-of-mouth you can't afford to sit back and wait for customers. You must be proactive.

3) They think they can't afford it.

This ties in with the perception/reality issue where people hear marketing and think traditional advertising that's expensive and often ineffective. Effective marketing involves a smorgasbord of very cost-effective, non-traditional, creative options and executions.

4) Their product needs improvement.

Obviously, the better the product, the better the marketing can be. It's hard to get people excited about a product that's esoteric, irrelevant or inferior.

5) They expect results too quickly.

Unless you're running some kind of sale, marketing takes time. Like building a house or getting in shape it takes planning, discipline and patience.

6) Arrogance or naivete'.

Maybe you think you can do it all yourself or simply don't know where to turn. The problem is, if it's not truly your expertise chances are you'll be wasting both time and money. Think about it. If you're building a house, it helps to have a great architect, right? If you have legal issues, it helps to have a great lawyer. Successful business owners know the same applies to their marketing.

7) They don't really know what they're selling.

It's not just the product or service; it's also the emotional and psychological benefit. You need to determine what that is.

8) They don't really know who they're selling to.

Many a marketing effort has failed because the prospects they've been targeting for the past few years are not the ones they need to be targeting looking ahead.

9) They don't have the necessary objectivity.

As a business owner, not only don't you have the marketing expertise, but you're also way too emotionally enmeshed to see things clearly.

10) They don't embrace the new technology.

Things are constantly evolving and your marketing must employ every relevant technological advantage to stay competitive.

11) They get help, but the wrong help.

Friends and associates are fine if they're qualified. Too often, they aren't. When it comes to getting the best marketing help one simple test is seeing how well the "expert" does it for themselves. Visit their web site. Spend a few minutes. See what they've done and what their clients say. And then decide.