What is your prime business focus?

Are you sure that is what it is?

To me the prime focus in business is what you concentrate the majority of your time on. So if you spend the majority of your time looking at Facebook or being on Twitter, then that is the prime focus. Tell me, how much have you earned on Facebook or Twitter? If you are saying that your company pays you anyway – think again. If they see you slacking off, some one else can surely improve on your results, couldn’t they?

Can I make a suggestion? Why don’t you keep track of the time you spend doing all your activities for one week? This way you can really see your focus.

Then you can make the decision to improve your life.

Will you start this today?

Should your company move into a new business segment?

Is it possible to change from what you are doing now?

Let me give you an example of a story I read recently. The Cintas Corporation who is primarily known for renting uniforms since its founding in 1968 has made some impressive changes to it’s business structure over the past number of years.

They are still delivering freshly pressed garments to their customers, but that constitutes less than half of their business. It has now expanded into restroom products, first aid and safety products as well as document shredding services.

While this has worked well for them so far, I am not sure how diversified a business should be before it begins to lose its way. I only mention that as a precautionary measure. It is my opinion that no matter what type of business you are in, you need to follow your Mission Statement and have a laser-like focus.

Is you business focused on its primary objective?

Did you hear the one about an old man, a boy and a donkey who were going to town?

The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. 

As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." They then decided they both would walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey. 

Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned. 

The moral of the story is; in marketing, if you try to please everyone, you might as well... kiss your ass good-bye.

Is your positioning statement doing anything for your business?

You may ask; what is a positioning statement?

A positioning statement provides focus for a business or organization. It is done so that those who work in your business know what is important and all of their decisions are made easier and there are fewer mistakes. It can be developed by following these steps;

• Itemize or write down what your business is.
• Describe what business you are in.
• Itemize who you ‘ideal client’ is.
• Describe what these ideal clients want from want from you, and how it will benefit them.
• Review the above with your staff on a regular basis so they know and understand your position or where you stand when it comes to business.

Doesn’t it make sense to have a positioning statement in your business?

Can you see the clarity it would give your business?

What does the new movie ‘Contagion’ have to do with marketing?

It is my understanding that this upcoming action film is based on a threat posed by a deadly disease.

It is my belief that there is a deadly disease that is permeating many business owners’ minds. I call this ‘thought contagion’. Thought contagion is the unproven view that because something is popular it’s true or at least justified.

Let me give you a real-life example. There are companies right now that have bought into marketing what they do by having a web-site. Yes, this is popular, but I believe it is very ineffective. At least by the way many appear to be designed and worded.

Why do I say that? It is because all of the sites look alike. The have their company name at the top of the front page and then they speak eloquently about how long the business has been in existence or how good they are. They are so focused on themselves that they have forgotten about the potential customer. This is due to their effort to appear special or unique.

Is your focus on your business instead of the potential customer in any of your marketing?