More step-up than start-up
There are lots of books about starting a business. There aren’t so many about staying in business. And, even fewer that support you as you seriously step things up.
To get the most from this book, you’re most likely an established SME, or an entrepreneurial division in a more corporate setting. The point is that you’re not a start-up. You’ll be pretty clear about what you’re selling and to whom. Now, you want to scale to reach, and systemise to sustain, a healthy business. You want to get better rewards for your effort. Perhaps you’re at that stage where you need to start ‘doing things properly’ in order to grow, get beyond a plateau you’ve reached, or simply be the best you can be.
With marketing, this means you’re not coming to this book with a blank sheet of paper. Many of our most dedicated followers are marketing experts. Even with decades of experience under their belt, they’re using this as their roadmap and common language to lead the journey of marketing transformation within their organisations. Others come with very little formal marketing knowledge, and use this as the language they need to have productive conversations (leading to confident decisions) with the marketing experts they work with.
Used as a living toolkit, Watertight Marketing will equip everyone in your business with a common framework to make effective marketing decisions. It brings clarity, confidence, and often a real sense of calm.
Ditch Marketing FOMO
This book is your shield against the ever-growing sense of marketing FOMO (fear of missing out). It is designed to protect you against fruitlessly spending vast sums on activities that won’t net a bean in revenue. It equips you to out-think, rather than out-spend, your competition and to calmly put a powerful marketing operation in place that really delivers. That is, marketing that delivers real and repeatable sales results.
It is often in the marketing or sales guru’s interest to convince you that they are the practitioner of some sort of dark art, and that you need to spend a fortune. Indeed, a quick Internet search on “lead generation” will return a list of potential suppliers suggesting that a business should invest in: telesales ‘guaranteed to secure appointments’; direct mail so targeted that people are practically waiting to give you their money; ‘one time only’ advertising deals; search engine optimisation to secure your position at the top of Google’s listings; social media that can seemingly replace your whole marketing team; online word of mouth that does your selling for you… the list goes on, and on. Most businesses do not need yet more marketing ideas, but a way to confidently filter and focus on the few that truly deserve their energy.
Given the flood of advice, it’s no surprise that many businesses, large and small, suffer from Tactic Burn; that is, jumping from one ‘essential’ sales and marketing activity to another, never getting the consistent results that the business so badly needs. Many businesses are stuck on the yo-yo diet of the marketing world, pursued in the hope that one day they will discover that magical no-effort fitness plan. What you need to know is that there isn’t one.
There is a proven thinking toolkit, designed and refined over two decades and across 2,000+ organisations. You have the key to it in your hands. It’s called Watertight Marketing.
Is this you?
There are definitely key personalities that find themselves drawn to the Watertight Marketing methodology. They fall into two groups; those without any formal marketing training, and those for whom marketing is core. Within that, here’s a rundown of those who get the most from reading this book, and why.
People without a marketing background:
- The CEO or MD of an established seven to eight figure business, still categorised as a Small to Medium Enterprise (SME), that now wants to systemise and scale. This is precisely who I had in mind whilst writing this book.
- The owner-manager of a smaller, but fast-growing business, with a core team and big ambition.
- A senior leader within a larger business, or corporate, looking to align disparate disciplines, and get the whole team contributing effectively to the marketing effort.
- Solo and micro businesses (particularly those who sell their expertise looking to promote themselves more effectively within the time they have available) have also found the materials useful.
People with marketing as a core or expected part of their job:
- The marketing person within the organisations described above. For example, the marketing director, head of marketing or marketing manager – and those in their team.
- A marketing consultant or business growth coach working alongside any of these people.
- A student working on a marketing or business degree, or professional qualification.
If you fit one of these descriptions, this book is very much for you.
