Every small business has some initiatives in place to garner new business. The smart ones are constantly on the look out for new business. One of the reasons many small businesses fumble in their marketing is simply because they are watching the small picture. They approach each initiative as an isolated instance, whereas they should try to coordinate the entire effort.

Here are a few fumbles you might recognize and a suggestion for recovery:

FUMBLE ONE: Developing marketing materials without a clear direction of intent.
RECOVERY: Before you design your brochures, postcards or ads, determine how to measure their success. What are you expecting from them? Are you hoping, at the end of the day to gain a few dozen leads? Are they mostly for awareness? Knowing what you are trying to accomplish, helps the designers to better develop a message that targets the intended goal. Your brochures or ads now have direction.

FUMBLE TWO: When developing your marketing materials you focus too much on you.
RECOVERY: Do you really think the prospect cares that much about how big your building is? Stop selling real estate and answer his question – “what’s in it for me?” Address his pain and deliver solutions that resonates with them.

FUMBLE THREE: Your brand image doesn’t reflect the size and stature of your company.
RECOVERY: Take a good hard look at your brand image – does it look like a serious player in your category? Look at your biggest competitors – do they look more successful than you?
Chances are they take their image very seriously and didn’t just get the cheapest designer to develop it. You can cheap out on carpeting and other hardware, but your brand image is paramount to your success – invest in it wisely.

FUMBLE FOUR: Your website is essentially a print brochure in digital form. You notice in your visitor stats that visit lengths are incredibly short.
RECOVERY: Make a large effort to increase the content available on your site. Be sure that this information is of a quality nature. The more information you provide, the more they will visit to take advantage of it. Another good vehicle for increasing content is a business blog.

FUMBLE FIVE: Your business is not known in your category as a leading expert.
RECOVERY: Get your sales team or marketing manager involved in public speaking. This is a great way to quickly build your expert profile. Blogging is also great here.

FUMBLE SIX: Every time you promote your small business the color scheme reflects the immediate message – no consistency in brand image.
RECOVERY: Develop a brand palette that is used consistently in everything the company does visually. Base the palette on your corporate logo. Over time, your brand palette becomes a recognizable icon in your prospect’s mind.

FUMBLE SEVEN: Your sales team has no after sales strategy in place. Out of sight – out of mind.
RECOVERY: Develop a newsletter that goes out to customers AND prospects regularly. Use eMail marketing to put your name and message in front of their noses. This shows that you care about their success and will remind them of whom to talk to.

FUMBLE EIGHT: Your business does not participate in events or trade shows.
RECOVERY: Events and trade shows are perfect opportunities to network. Nurture contacts and find them business. In return, they will actively refer you. You must give first. Everybody loves referrals, so developing your own networking mastermind group can help promote you with a message of your choosing.

FUMBLE NINE: You’ve tried advertising and it doesn’t work. Chances are you, probably ran one or two ads and didn’t get the results you anticipated. Advertising left a bad taste in your mouth.
RECOVERY: The fact is – if you are going to run just one or two ads, you are best to just keep your money in your pocket, because advertising mostly works with consistent repetition. An old rule of thumb is: just when you are starting to get sick of your ads, your customers are JUST beginning to notice them. This kind of patience also takes a serious marketing budget. Before you commit, be prepared to go the distance, other wise spend your promotional dollars where the results are realized sooner.

FUMBLE TEN: The economy is dragging you down and as a result you and the entire marketing team are frightened by customers who are holding the line on spending.
RECOVERY: Your entire team has taken their collective eyes off the ball. Staying focused on the positive keeps you all alert and looking for opportunities that are out there. Negativity just attracts more fear and the distractions snowball into continuing failure. Train yourself to benefit from slow times by using the time to positively affect your success.  Implementing the previous nine recovery strategies will keep your team in focus and heading straight for your goals.