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We are all so familiar with the saying 'We are only human; everyone makes their own mistakes.' That's true. I could not initiate further debate on that. But in business, I have to firmly say that mistakes are unacceptable. I am not closing doors to the fact that mistakes are always there to happen. However, I think that if there is room for mistakes in business, it is harder to rise up and start again. In business, where success is primarily dependent on the kind of marketing moves, you have to stay in a win-win situation. If not, then your business only has one way to go: down.

The best way to deal with mistakes is to take precautions, as per the old saying: 'prevention is the best cure'. By learning the common mistakes of most entrepreneurs, you'll have a higher percentage of doing your business smoothly.

Read. Listen. Learn.

Me, Myself, and I

As selfish as this one sounds, yes, this 'attitude' comes up a lot. Most companies are focused on the improvement and development of their own company. Take a good look at yourselves. Remember that your company is here for people you aim to give service to. Within this category are the following tendencies:

' Placing the emphasis on your company, not your customer

' Selling features, not customer benefits

' Starting your marketing with a focus on your credentials, products and services instead of on client problems

' Not finding out your customer's needs

' Wasting time on pushing information about yourself out to prospects instead of pulling them in with ideas they are interested in.

' Using a label to describe what you do instead of a 'meme' or value positioning statement that tells prospects which problems you solve in a sentence or less.

Be Bold and Take Risks

Businessmen take risks. Yes, true. However, taking risks without thinking does not help at all. Do not be so literal as to just gamble. Were you thinking of committing financial suicide?

The common mistake that falls in this category is breaking the common rules of marketing. Not all rules should be broken, as in fact many of the existing rules aim to help make your way to success much easier.

Stick to the Present

No one is to be blamed when a business is only focused at the present. With the many things to deal with, there is no time at all to do many other things. But remember that good marketing is looking back at the things that were done, and also looking forward to the next step. You'll be surprised that once this has become a habit, marketing becomes much easier. Common mistakes for this category are:

' Not testing headlines, price points, packages, pitches to determine what's selling and what isn't

' Overlooking testing and research

' Forgetting to regularly follow up with prospects

Think BIG

Sometimes thinking big in business can be overwhelming. Businessmen realize that the tasks are too large for them to handle. Common mistakes that bring this confusion about are:

' Tackling many types of prospects on a limited budget

' Focusing on getting as many customers as possible and leaving older customers behind

Establishing a Tight Budget

Budgeting is good, however a company's budget could sometimes be strangling. That sometimes becomes a major hindrance in strategic marketing plan. Here are some mistakes of this kind:

' Underspending in marketing, which is insufficient for meeting the annual sales objective

' Limiting the budget for everything---advertising, PR, etc. This ends up in a tiny outcome.

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