Climbing the Marketing Ladder

Grace Durfee, www.balancewithgrace.com

Grace Durfee is a personal coach who uses the Get Clients Now! system as one of her tools to help clients succeed. According to Durfee, “Success Ingredients in marketing are like the ladders in the classic children’s game Chutes and Ladders.” She explains,

Your good efforts catapult you from one level of play to another, putting you closer to your goal. But it’s not a lucky spin of the wheel that lands you on a ladder space and helps you get ahead. In marketing, intention, planning, and consistent action are what propel you forward. Careful selection of Success Ingredients is an important part of your marketing plan. You want to choose projects that have lasting impact—that get you out of a stuck place in your marketing, once and for all.

How do you determine what the best Success Ingredients are for you at this time? A key question to ask is, “What would make the biggest difference?” If you’re not sure, your excuses provide clues that will point you in the right direction. Examine the excuses you make over and over again. For instance, if you say, “I’m not good at networking because I get tongue-tied when people ask what I do,” then working on a 10-second introduction would be a wise choice for a Success Ingredient. “I couldn’t follow up with that prospect because I lost his business card,” could mean that it’s time to transfer your fish bowl full of business cards into a contact management system. Perhaps you say, “I’m uncomfortable putting myself out there as a professional, because I don’t have yet.” Fill in the blank here with your missing link, whether it’s a business card, marketing materials, or a website. You’ve just found your Success Ingredient project.

Completing a Success Ingredient will give you a burst of energy, confidence, and ideas for the next project. No chutes for you; you’re finding the next ladder!