Are You Selling or Marketing (or both)?

As we think about how to improve our marketing it helps to define our activities so we use the right tool for the right job.

With a lot of local businesses, the line between selling and marketing is blurry (if it's there at all). But, I've always found it helpful to look at it this way:

1. Marketing involves anything you do that gets you in front of someone who is interested in what your business can do for them.

2. Selling involves personal communication between you and your potential customer that helps you both decide if doing business together would be a good thing.

Anything you do that creates awareness of your business is marketing. When you talk with someone directly who has expresses interest in your business, you are selling.

NOTE: when I talk about "selling" I do NOT mean an arm-twisting type of selling that focuses on closing and commissions. Rather I mean a professional type of selling that focuses on an exchange of information so both people can clearly see if it makes sense to work together.

So, as you plan your activities, think about these differences. They have different outcomes and therefore require different tools.

(We'll discuss this more in future posts.)