By profession, I am a graphic designer. Several years ago, I was asked by a former employer to take on the marketing responsibilities in addition to my design responsibilities. My employer was convinced that I was the right person at the company to handle these duties, only by default. I was the only person there with any marketing experience or training. The company was in the process of downsizing and I feared that if I didn't accept this challenge, I would find myself among the ranks of the unemployed. A bit daunted by the request, I rolled up my sleeves and started researching. My past marketing training had centered around marketing products with emphasis on the retail industry. Information regarding product marketing models was plentiful for this model as there were many books, articles, and "gurus" touting theories and programs.

Not so for companies whose business centered on offering services. I quickly became frustrated by the lack of "real world" marketing models specifically geared for service-based businesses. The existing marketing archetypes offered no bona fide practical value in marketing services. It was 1997 and fortunately for me, Harry Beckwith released his book, Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing. Inspired by the guide and using some good old fashioned gumption, I put together a program.

Today, with eight out of ten Americans working in a service-based business, marketing information is certainly easier to find than it was almost ten years ago. Actually, the abundance of information has become quite a swamp through which business owners must wade when searching for answers. There are so many "experts" with trendy solutions, thoughts and ideas. If you look closely, though, many of these "gurus" are still primarily using the product marketing model as a base for marketing service-based businesses. That doesn't work well with service-based businesses.

What I advise makes sense and is easy for any service-based business to understand. To implement this process, though, you need to be willing to dedicate some of your time investing in your own business. You need to take time to treat your business like a client taking interest in its success just as you would take interest in a client's success.

How do I know this process works? I do not have a corner office in an ivory tower with windows. I don't earn my living by speaking about the latest marketing trend and peppering my articles with buzz words. I don't even call myself a "guru."  Like many of you, I work in the trenches. My office is a cube. I get paid to help make my employer grow. My trials have been by fire, and have been extinguished by good old fashioned blood, sweat and tears. Remember that commercial where two consultants told a corporate executive what he needed to do to expand? The corporate executive agreed and said to get started. The two consultants then looked at each other in confusion, then back at the executive and said, "We don't actually do that."  Well, I do. I truly practice what I preach.

~~~~~~~~

Yours,

Lisa