A word of warning this week:

don’t fall into the trap that the year’s done already.

It’s been a tough year, and it’s great to be getting everything ready for Christmas, but come 1^st January 2021, the world still carries on with all the challenges we’re facing right now.

We have to look at the real situation of where we are, and we cannot afford to put everything on hold for the sake of a few weeks.

My challenge to you is to make December your BEST December ever.

We all talk about how we’ve been in slightly different boats this year, but we’re all in the same ocean.  And the trouble is, in the world of sales and marketing, the ocean is your market. So as the market goes up, your boat or your business will rise, but as the market goes down, your boat or your business will fall. And the challenge with that is, you are always susceptible to a downturn in the market.

It’s now time to STOP being the boat, and start being the tide, the ocean – the market itself.

And the way you do that is you, instead of waiting for between 3-5% of the market to coming to you, you go and find your market.

Let me give you an example.  Say I’m an Accountant and in my area there’s four of us, and we’re all on Google Ads, and I think I’m the best one out there. I’ve got at least a 25% chance of getting the business because there’s four of us, the same as my other three counterparts. If I’m slightly (or a lot) better than them, I might get 30%. But that’s all I’m ever going to get, because some people will look at Google Ads and they’ll see some reviews and test all four, looking at pricing, because these people are ready to buy.

So, I’m just in the mix with everybody else.  We’re all in it, and all fighting, and the ocean is red because it’s cutthroat.

But if you create your own ocean, and you go out to these people with your own proposition, when they’re not technically looking, but then you convert them from someone who is interested.

Imagine their conversations going from,

“This could be of value to us…”

to,

“Actually, this is of value to us. And I trust what you’ve put out to me.”

Whether it’s Facebook Ads, lumpy mail, phone calls, they are more susceptible, and know, like, and trust you to buy.

You can’t freeze in this market and see what’s going to happen because everyone will pass you. You can’t flight, go the opposite direction, because you’ll pass everybody coming. You must fight.

So, once you decide you’re going to fight, then don’t fight by just trying to be reactive to everything, go out there and find your market. Find something about what you do that solves a problem for someone else, whether it’s business or consumer.

I recently ran a Facebook Live explaining this in more detail with some great examples to relate to. Ping me an email to jacki@myadvocatementor.com if you’d like a copy of this.

Finally, there’s a really good book you should read (or re-read) called, Blue Ocean Strategy by Chan Kim.

Let me know how your December goes, and how your January is looking.

BW,

Martin

Martin Norbury

Investor | Business Mentor at Advocate | Author of I don’t work Fridays

Image by My pictures are CC0. When doing composings: from Pixabay