The Rosewood Blog

When it comes to assistance with your marketing, what kind of expertise should you hire? And after you engage with another company or outside professional, how can you ensure a successful ongoing relationship? To help with this challenge, we’ve put together a complete guide to working with anyone who offers marketing and advertising services.

February. The month of Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day...and failed New Year’s resolutions. But your marketing resolutions for 2019 don’t need to suffer the same fate. If you read our article “I Don’t Need a Marketing Plan” a few months ago, you learned that you do need a marketing plan. Maybe you have even created one! If so, congratulations! You are already a step ahead of many other businesses.

There is a lot of uncertainty in business. We don’t know if our new product will succeed. We don’t know if an investment in new equipment will pay off. We don’t know if that important deal will go through. We don’t know what government regulation or industry disruption will hit us next. We don’t even know if our business will exist in five years!

Do you remember sitting in your school desk, desperately trying to understand something your teacher was explaining? Perhaps your teacher turned to the chalkboard and drew a sketch or a diagram, or worked out the solution step by step, and it clicked. What a relief!

Rachel saw an ad for a natural health product. It piqued her interest, so she called the toll-free number and asked for a free catalog. She gave the customer service rep her name and address, and in so doing, Rachel became a lead. She can expect to receive more brochures and coupons from this company in the future.

How do you suppose the latest issue of your favorite business news magazine came into existence so you could be reading it right now? Do you think several people randomly decided, “Hey, I’m going to write an article and send it to the magazine today”? Do you think lots of business owners randomly decided, “Hey, I think I’ll put together an advertisement to send to the business magazine today”?

Think of the popular brand marks for John Deere, McDonald’s and Apple. Do you know what products each company produces? What impressions come to your mind? The Dictionary of Brand defines “brand” as a person’s perception of a product, service, experience, or organization. In other words, your business has a reputation, like a person does. Branding is the effort to define and build that reputation while also building people’s trust in it.

Are you in one of the following situations? Wrestling with a struggling product line. Thinking about starting a new business. Planning to launch a new product or service. On the road to success in these areas, you will notice well-beaten trails branching off to the side. If you take one of these side trails, you will find yourself lost in the woods.

Whether a street-side lemonade stand or a seven-figure enterprise, every business operates with the same basic systems. If these systems are not understood, engaged, or running properly, the business will suffer and may even fail. The functions of a business can be categorized into four core systems...

Preston wasn’t sure he had what it took to be a business owner, but when he had the opportunity to get into the printing business, he took it. Preston settled on a slogan that perfectly expressed his vision for Preston’s Printing: “Exceptional quality, speed, and price–no project too large, too small, or too uncommon.” Preston’s Printing got off to a great start. Preston was elated—maybe this whole thing of running a small business wasn’t so hard after all.