I remember sitting in the middle of my bed as a single Mom, wondering where I was going to get extra money for my oldest son’s college tuition. I decided in that moment to start a business. I wasn’t sure what type of business so I started researching.
Once I decided on an industry, I took some much needed vacation time and used that time off to gather info and research and contact vendors, etc… Within a relatively short period of time, I was in business! One that I was very proud of, having built it from scratch! I built a website, secured a merchant account, developed relationships with vendors, created a catalog and threw in-home hosted parties.
My offerings were products – high end goods. My method of marketing was mostly word of mouth from my hostesses to their friends. But I realized very quickly that word of mouth marketing only goes but so far. I didn’t truly understand or fully appreciate the power of solid marketing and within another relatively short period of time, my business ended, almost as quickly as it began.
The lesson? You can have the BEST products, goods and services, but you MUST be able to get the word out that you exist. Marketing, strategically done, lets the world know that you and your business are here to stay.
