Facebook... a success story for all young entrepreneur and I am sure every young mind out here does challenge itself "If Mark could do it, I can do it too" and then moving on a little further, we are positive that to climb the steps of success, we will use the same tool Mark used to become so successful. We are positive that we do not need to keep any huge budget to market our offerings to the masses, why? The answer just pops up - " I am on Facebook and I have 800 friends on line and I can reach out to another 3 times of that, why do I need to spend on any kind of marketing."
Very nice... sounds good to read about it or even hear it but trust me when I say, WAKE UP FRIENDS.... IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY... I mean it.
Look at the picture above, what do you see? It is my official Facebook group page of Exotic Explorers, through which we try to promote exotic holiday destinations across the world. In the past 5 months, we have added around 400 and more members and we keep putting up various events and offers exclusively for the group members. Result or conversions - Zilch - Zero... On line friends do help, I would be wrong to say that they do not, but you cannot depend on Facebook as any kind of marketing for your offerings. You would get many likes, one odd comments here and there and a lot of "May Be" for your events but even "Will Attend" will also not make it. So, let Mark's success story be just an inspiration of being at the right place at the right time and create our own success stories. What ever the size of the success be.
Business has only 2 factors to be taken care to be successful - Innovations & Marketing. Innovations are your products and / or services and Marketing is the backbone to keep any business intact. It is very important that you need to sell your products, your services and yourself. Create a brand for yourself, no matter which industry you are in. Names sell... Names are trusted... people connect each service / product with its promoter (individual) and the connect is created with your customers. Let us play a small game out here... I shall mention the product and leave it to you to tell me what comes to your head first.
IPod - ......................
Nano - .....................
Big Bazaar - ....................
Microsoft - .....................
Indian Independence - ..................
I hope I am right, when I say this but for me, the first thing which came to my mind were the names behind those products / services. There would be people who would think of companies but I believe that the individual behind the product / services matters a lot. I have been working in creating that with my clients, my guests who travel through Exotic Explorers. I would not have reached very far but I know I am on that road, when I get calls from my clients and travelers asking exclusively for me, even if I am away.
How do you know that you are a good marketer? It took me some time to realize that myself but today, I know that I am a true Marketer and that realization is something I see as my first step towards success.
I have realized from the past 2 decades that marketing can be really easy with just one tool with you. Your tone of speech. It is very important that you have a clear tone and loud enough to be heard clearly. Your communications play a vital role in you being a successful marketer. I would come face to face with a sales person of a product which I desperately needed but if he/she is whispering and it takes a lot of effort from my side to understand that sales person, I do not think twice before letting that product go. It is that simple.
Believing in what you sell. You would have heard and read this many times by now but I would like to share an experience with you. My father was an inventor and he would invent new gadgets and machines, sometime in the industrial side or sometimes in the automobile segment but I, the Managing Director of the company was to sell the products or its patents, when it is on the drawing board itself because by doing so, we get the funding support for the development which usually runs in Crores. If I am not able to sell those products, the fundings needs to be provided by my marketing company into the R&D company which is developing the product. So, with a sword on my neck, I would get the marketing plans in place, my team and its training and get firing and I can very confidently write today that what ever the potential of the end product be in the market, I always failed to bring in a investor or funder for those products, which I had doubts on. I am not a technical person, nor do I have anything to do with Engineering but if there was any doubt in my head that what ever the inventor or engineers team are predicting (even with all calculations and formulas working out) will not work out, then, with every effort and with all the initiatives, I have never been able to bring about a tie-up but on the other hand, there was this product which my father was working on. A fuel stabilizer, for the efficient use of Petrol for Internal Combustion Engines, I believed it from the moment I saw the first Lab type of the product and trust me when I write this, that in a matter of 3 months, I had two investor lined up, one from Singapore and one from Chennai. So, the moral of the story... believe it the product / services you have to sell... and watch the fun...
Bottom line... Marketing is a very interesting and fun filled profession to take up but are you the fun loving person is the question only you can answer....
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