Marketing Tips video: Gain an Unfair Advantage from Your Marketing

Test your marketing with this question. Is your marketing giving you an unfair advantage over the competition? If the answer is no, your marketing isn't helping you.

Hear the brutal truth about marketing from George Torok in this Marketing Report from the Big City streets.

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Year End and New Year Marketing

The Past Year

This is the time to review your past year of marketing.

What worked well and why? Can you do that again?

How can you connect with your market one last time this year to remind them of the good times?


The New Year

Plan your calendar of promotions for this new year.

What ideas from the past year will you use again?

What missed opportunities will you pursue this year?

Write your marketing plan now because time will fly again.


George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Power Marketing

New Store Launch from Somebody??

Somebody is launching a new retail outlet in Burlington, Ontario at Walkers Line and Upper Middle Road.

Somebody has been building this new location for over three months. I run past this location three times a week.

Somebody is spending lots of money to acquire and construct this new building at a major intersection.

Somebody is probably hoping for a good return on their investment. That's what any business investor wants.

Somebody is keeping this new location a secret. There are no signs indicating who is "coming soon". Keeping secrets are not a good marketing strategy unless you make a big deal about your secret receipe like KFC. There is nothing to indicate who is opening in this new location and I find that strange.

My questions are "Who?" and more importantly "Why?"



Both questions are sparked by my curiosity. If I'm curious than perhaps hundreds or thousands of people who pass this location every day might also be curious. Curiousity is a good lead in to marketing. And at some point you must answer the curiosity to make the connection with your prospect.



Curiousity unaddressed is simply frustrating.

It has a drive through so I'm guessing that it is either a bank or a franchise restaurant. Banks are more arrogant so that's my bet. I can't believe that a restuarant could be so stupid to miss the opportunity to promote during contruction.

Why would any business miss such an easy marketing opportunity to promote it's new location? Uncertanty? Arrogance? Insensitivity? Poor planning?

What do you think?

PS: I'll let you know what shows up.

George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Power Marketing on Facebook

MarketingZoo on Twitter

What is Strategic Positioning

And how does it impact the rest of the business?

• Do you see business making this conscious decision?
• What benefits come from this?
• What is the cost or loss?
• Examples welcomed.

While researching the topic of Strategic Positioning I surveyed people in my Linkedin Network. I found it helpful to learn how other experts perceived this topic. My thanks to all of them for their thoughtful replies. Here are a few of those replies.

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Robert "Alan" Black
NSA, CSP Prof Member, speaker/consultant/trainer/author
Athens, Georgia Area

When I taught Fundamentals of Marketing courses for the American Management Association around the US at various AMA centers from 1984 to 1986 the book POSITIONING by Al Ries and Jack Trout had already been a best seller and Strategic Planning was also a popular selling topic; first to business and industry and then to governments and agencies.

You are asking about STRATEGIC POSITIONING in the era of BRANDING.

hmmmm?!

Strategic thinking....chosen thinking, deliberately chosen planning

Positioning....getting the mindset you want into the minds of your customers/clients/patients that you want them to have.

One of the problems of becoming too STRATEGIC and too specific about a POSITION is what do you do when the situation changes such as the past couple years with the international global financial disasters.

Do you change your strategy(ies)?

Do you change your position?

One of the lessons, I believe, I got from Ries & Trout is often POSITIONS or POSITIONING happens in the mind/s of customers/clients/patients even when you are trying to establish or create other Positions.

Then the question becomes HOW TO UN-POSITION OR RE-POSITION you, your products, your company or FINDING NEW CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS/PATIENTS OR NEW MARKETS.

hmmm?!

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Paul Weber
CEO Entrepreneur Advertising Group
Kansas City, Missouri Area


There is no better case study than Southwest Airlines. Both in strategic positioning and in brand positioning, they have been the only airline in 25 years that created a recognizable differentiation based on consumer preferences. Fast, friendly, fun, low fares....

These are always the words that describe consumers' experience with the airline. No other airline has ever had a recognizable position that was identifiable to the general public.

I am speaking from more of a marketing and brand perspective but I'm sure that their operational strategies ran similar. Southwest, without a doubt, one of the better examples of positive positioning against the competition.


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Arun Prakash Maruthavanan
Principal Consultant at GETCXO
Chennai Area, India

Strategic positioning is the way you position your company, business model and offerings by analyzing your marketplace, rapidly changing environment, futuristic trends, competition, consumers and leveraging it to your advantage.

The strategic position of a business is its perceptual location relative to others. Awesome benefits like competitive edge,overall efficiency, early entry advantage, huge sales,brand loyalty and positioning; shall be reaped resulting in excellent growth of the business.

Unfortunately the majority of business are not making this conscious decision due to the lack of leadership, vision, market intelligence, professional support and their inability to accept, implement "Change".

The cost is directly proportional to the size of the business and the domain/marketplace in which it operates. A loss shall happen if this type of positioning is implemented in a wrong way resulting in a disaster.

I believe that the decision making capabilities of the business leadership plays a crucial role in the outcome of Strategic positioning.
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George Torok

Marketing Expert & Speaker

Executive Briefing for your Management Team

Strategic Positioning: What is it?

My new presentation on Strategic Positioning went very well. It was a workshop format for about 20 owners of medium sized businesses.


This was less about me speaking and teaching then it was about asking probing and disturbing questions. That type of presentation is always a little scary for me because I don't have the answers - only the questions.


The business owners realized that they must find the answers. That was an "ah-ha" moment.

Some of the issues and questions that we explored:

How to recognize the difference between acute and chronic problems and the connection to changing strategy or tactics.

Where are you now in terms of current strategy whether on purpose or by circumstance?

Five competitive forces that play with your strategy.

Identify your resources and how to leverage them.

How can you quickly generate a lot of creative ideas on demand?

What can you do in each of the four quadrants to develop new markets and products?

Some marketing strategies and tactics to consider.

This was a serious group of business owners yet we still had some laughs. I was impressed at the depth of discussion and exploration that we accomplished in this session. Of course no one-day workshop fixes anything, especially on the topic of Strategic Positioning - so everyone left with plenty of take-aways and homework for their business.

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Comments from the business owners about this program on Strategic Positioning

"George takes complex business challenges and provides simple actionable tips to tackle them."

Kevin Hiebert, President, Cell-A-Net Printer Services

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"Invaluable perspective on leveraging business through effective marketing."

Bob Alsip, President, Convenience Group Inc.

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"Clear route map to establish a realistic strategy."

Paul Herman, President, Firwin

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"I enjoyed the presentation because it forced me to think of my business from a 10,000 foot view. I will use this opportunity to build a stronger company."

Chris Giles, President, Dyamic Connections

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George Torok

Strategic Positioning

Executive Briefing for Business Owners

Five Rules to Building Your Successful Marketing System

As a marketing expert I am often asked, “What is the most important element in a successful marketing program?”My answer is, “Follow a good marketing system.”

My research and experience includes interviews with over 450 business leaders, my consulting work, travel through 35 countries, market research and my experience from building my own business.

I have noticed that following a system is critical to success in life and any field of business – especially marketing.Too many people fail when they try to run their life, their business or their marketing by the seat of their pants. They make the mistake of believing that luck, talent and flitting about will pull them through.

What a mistake and what a shame. They fail quickly - especially in an unpredictable environment. Sometimes you get lucky but luck can and does change quickly. Counting on luck is a disastrous marketing strategy.

Follow good systems in every area of your business – especially your marketing.
When you are ready to witness the power of systems first hand – visit Las Vegas. It is a city that is built on systems. The hotels and casinos follow systems with a robotic obedience. First they designed powerful systems and then they follow them. Walk through the casinos and watch how they do things. They follow terrific systems. And they make money.

If you want to make money like the Las Vegas casinos apply these five rules in your marketing systems.

The fundamentals for a good system are the same in any field.Rules to a Successful (Marketing) System

1. A system is a process. It is the means to the end. It is not the goal. Be clear on the purpose of your system. That will keep you focused and motivated. When the system is not working – change it.

2. A system is built on a key principle or set of principles. These are fundamental truths that are transferrable across industries. The principle answers the question “Why?”

3. A system is a set of habits and routines. Almost like a series of logic statements; if this condition exists then do that. A system is not dependant on how you feel. That’s why you get consistency.

4. A system must be persistent and consistent. This is closely related to the previous point. Don’t expect 100% success. The system works because of the numbers. You win some and you lose some. The better that you apply your system the more you will win.

5. Measure your results. Systems are created imperfect. Record your results, analyze them and adjust your system to produce better results. That’s the way pilots fly planes. They set a course, see how they are doing and adjust the controls to stay on course.

Where do you want to improve your business? Create and follow a system to achieve your goals.
Follow these five rules and you will build good systems.
Build your marketing systems by indentifying important marketing principles. Then create and follow a process based on that principle. If the principle is sound then build the process and follow it religiously.

Remember that following an imperfect system is better than having no system. Building your business and marketing systems will lead you to more success.


© George Torok wrote the book on marketing systems – Secrets of Power Marketing. It is the first guide to personal marketing for the non-marketer. Get your free copy of “50 Power Marketing Ideas” at http://www.PowerMarketing.ca Arrange for a keynote speech, marketing briefing or media interview by calling 905-335-1997 or visiting
http://www.Torok.com


Five Rules to Building Your Successfull Marketing System

What is strategic positioning?

I'm researching this topic so I welcome your insights.

What is strategic positioning?

How can it drive the business?

How does it make other business decisions easier?

How can it help your marketing and selling?

Offer an example.

Top 10 Ways to Make Money in 2010

The new year is always a good time to review your marketing and business. Improve your business and you will make more money. Don't fool yourself by looking for big things. Improving little details can make you alot of money.

Author and lead generation marketing specialist Craig Garber from kingofcopy.com has just released his annual "Top 10 Ways Entrepreneurs Will (And Won't) Be Making Money In2010" list. Garber is the author of "How To Make MaximumMoney With Minimum Customers: 21 Proven Direct-MarketingStrategies Anyone Can Use" and he has some compelling picksthis year.

These tips are so powerful that I will be posting them one at a time over the next two weeks.


1. Tighten up your marketing message - "The way to be different and get noticed," Garber says, "Is by addressing the most specific and passionate needs of your customers. The more you match your marketing messages to your customers, the more money you will make, simple as that. Create goods and services that cater to individuals, not to the generic 'everyman.' So for instance, if you're selling services, create programs that address the needs of busy executives, women, people who want to get in shape, and the elderly. When you cater to your customer's specific needs, you will sell much more, and you'll be able to charge top-dollar as well. This works for everything from healthcare to cupcakes."


George Torok
Marketing Expert & Author
Business Speaker

Barketing warning signs

Warning Signs of Barketing


As good as brand x
Clients speak of you in terms of being “as good as brand x”. That suggests that they see no noticeable difference between you. It’s a danger sign when your staff confides this to clients. Of course the death knoll is when you say it.


You choose to advertise where you competition is
The ad rep taunts you with the words, “Your competition will be there”. Your blood boils - you immediately take the bait and sign up.


Your marketing appears to be an echo of the competition
Do you design your ads while looking at the competition? Change a colour and the contact information? Might a prospect look or listen to your promotions and not distinguish between you – if not for the name?


Twins - people get you confused
Clients call you by the name of your competition. A colleague introduces you incorrectly by citing your competition’s product line. You receive prospect calls for the competition and find yourself saying “No, that’s not our program.”


Your brand is indistinguishable from the competition
Is your differentiation summarized in terms of colour? You’re the blue. They’re the gray. Do your slogans and tag lines sound similar to the competition?


You get locked in one-upmanship with your competition
They announce a 15% price reduction and you respond with an 18% reduction (and hold your breath). You hold a donut and coffee day and they volley back with a pancake breakfast. They give away an Ipod and you consider giving an Iphone.


The market is growing but not for you
New competitors are growing but in a different space of the market. They are avoiding your overcrowded customer space and harvesting more profitable specialized niches. You are so focused on your established but perhaps fuzzy target market that you ignore the newer opportunities and miss the rising threats. If you don’t watch out you might be blindsided.
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The above is an excerpt from the next marketing article for Enterprise Magazine. Read the full article by subscribing to Enterprise magazine. George Torok has been contributing a marketing column to this magazine for over a decade.
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George Torok
Marketing Myths
Marketing Speaker

What a Difference a Decade makes to Marketing

What a Difference a Decade makes to Marketing


Imagine that you could continue to market successfully the same way for ten years. Do you like that thought? Well delete that daydream because it just isn't so. Welcome to marketing 2008. It's more threatening, more promising and more exciting. Buckle your seatbelt, take your motion sickness pill and be prepared to be amazing. Because that is what you need to compete today.


Still the Same

Of course some things remained the same. Let's establish our foundation before we venture into the swirl of the Time Tunnel.


The fundamentals are the same. That's what makes them fundamentals. Marketing is still closely intertwined with selling and the purpose of marketing is to help you sell more. Marketing and selling are both strategies to help you make a profit. In fact marketing was and is a fundamental responsibility running through every function of your business.

Read the rest of What a Difference a Decade Makes to Marketing


PS: This article was originally published in the January 2008 10th anniversary issue of Enterprise Magazine.

George Torok
Power Marketing

How much should you spend on your marketing?

How much should you spend on your marketing?

If you are setting your marketing budget you might be asking that question. The answer is "It depends". There is no magic number.

It depends on a few things – the competitiveness of your market, your position within the market and your place on your growth curve.

And it’s the wrong question. The better question is “How effective should your marketing be?” For example if you are getting a 5 to 1 return on your marketing then spending $1,000 would generate $5,000 of business. At that return, why not invest $10,000 to get $50,000 of business?

The reason we ask “How much should I spend on marketing?” is because it is easier to measure that number. Most of use don’t measure the effectiveness or return on marketing because it is more difficult. So we do what’s easy and not what’s best.

So to answer the question, “How much should you spend on marketing?” my response is, “How much did you spend last year?” and “How effective was it?” If you were happy with that return then do the same, (unless the market has changed). If you want more then either increase your spending or improve the effectiveness of your marketing – or both.

So if you want an easy answer – just pick a number, any number. It’s just like playing craps. Pick a number and pray for lady luck.

If you want to improve the profitability of your business – measure what’s important –your marketing effectiveness.


George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Personal Marketing

Happy New Marketing Year

Happy New Marketing Year

Marketing Questions for the New Year.

2008 is a new year! How will you improve your marketing this year?

What marketing worked well last year? Should you continue with it?

What marketing bombed last year? Should you adjust it or drop it?

What marketing challenges will you face this year? How will you prepare for it?

What marketing opportunities are you neglecting? How will you discover them and exploit them?

2008 is a new year for marketing.

Happy new marketing year!


George Torok

Marketing Expert

Headline Writer

Networking Guide

Start your New Year with Good Questions

Here are some questions to kick you into the New Year.

What were the smartest decisions you made last year?

What were the dumbest decisions you made last year?

Examine up to three of each.

Then ask yourself, “Why?”

Why did you make those smart decisions?

Why did you make those dumb decisions?

While it is important that you make smart decisions – it is even more important that you know the difference and why.


“Why” is the learning point for you. If you know why you made good decisions or bad decisions – then you will learn how to fix the bad and replicate the good.

“Why?” is the most important question you can ask yourself while reviewing last year’s performance.

George Torok
Marketing Specialist
Marketing Coach

New Years Resolutions

New Years Resolutions are the dumbest things to say.

Why?

Because most do not commit to them. So why make a "promise" that you do not believe in? Because someone asks, "What is your New Year's Resolution?" And you feel obligated to respond. And you reply with some weak "do good" thing to gain acceptance.

Stop making stupid New Year's resolutions now. It is dumb.

Instead set realistic goals for yourself - with realistic plans to reach those goals.

Be clear on why you want that goal - that is the motivation.

Then write how you will get there. That is your plan. Which could be a 30-day, 91-day or five year plan. Be real. 91-day plans are most realistic - not too close - not too far.

Set clear goals and plans. Stop talking about New Year's resolutions.

George Torok
Torok.com