Search Engine Marketing - PPC Management Services

Marketing Strategies to Put Yourself Out of Business

Want to learn how to lose a billion dollars?

Just follow the marketing strategies used by GM, Ford and Daimler Chrysler. Yes, some of the largest corporations in the world are missing some basic tenants of marketing and it's worth taking a look at what they're doing wrong so you don't make the same mistakes. You don't want the following headline written about your company.

"GM Hits Billion Dollar pot hole" - Miami Herald "GM shares fell to a 12 year low." - New York Times

What are some of the most glaring mistakes a handful of car companies are making?

1. Discount Pricing

GM and Ford offer free loans and rebates worth thousands of dollars to prompt people to buy their vehicles. Good idea?

When you need to resort to bribing people to buy your products or services, it's a sign that something is terribly wrong. The idea is to provide value, help your prospects understand the perceived value and charge enough to make a reasonable profit. When you start discounting your product as a means to get people to buy it you've entered an endless downward cycle.

The next time a prospect buys, they'll want an even larger discount and there will always be somebody who will undercut you on price. Eventually you'll end up like GM, losing lots, maybe not billions, but enough to threaten the life of your business.

2. Making Products People Don't Want

According to the New York Times, "General Motors and Ford have swerved off course for a far more basic reason: not enough people like their cars." Whoops!

The objective is to market a product or service people want.

3. Not Paying Attention to What People Want

If you want to make money you'd pay attention to what your prospects want? Right?

In the case of Daimler Chrysler you'd be wrong. At the Detroit Auto Show crowds loved the two-seat 8 foot long "Smart Car". So logically Daimler Chrysler decided not to sell it in the United States despite booming sales in Europe for years. Zap, a Santa Rosa CA firm, saw an opportunity especially with rising gas prices and went direct to the European Daimler dealers to buy the cars. Surprise! Ten thousand U.S. buyers put themselves on a list to order over $55 million worth of cars in just a few months.

Avoid discount pricing, provide products and services your prospects want and you can avoid losing a billion or instead make 55 million. I don't know about you but if I lose ten thousand dollars I get upset and when I make a million in a year I'm pretty happy.

Charlie Cook2005 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals, small business owners and marketing professionals attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the Free Marketing Plan eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business' at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com

MORE ARTICLES:

Seo Expert: Jumpstart Your Online Business
Thanks to the recent developments in the field of Internet (and electronic commerce), millions of people all over the world are making huge profits doing online jobs. Internet marketing has come a long way since its invention a few decades ago. Search engine optimization services, undoubtedly, can generate a lot of business for your web site. Even if you want to build a new web site, you must hire a good "seo expert".

IdeasParaPymes.com: A New Web Portal to Motivate the Inception of Competitive Companies in Mexico
Small and medium sized business (SME) now have a new option to know all the details of the SME universe: IdeasParaPymes.com.

Manhunt In New York Area Stretches Nationwide Women Now Included In Search
People who made history happen being sought by publishing firm for original source material.

Mad Scientist Marketing Formula: How Small Businesses Can Use Surveys to Get More Customers at a Lower Cost, Sell More to Them, and Virtually Elimina
As a child, Dr. Livingston's parents said he'd probably become a mad scientist because he spent so much time alone in his room. Now a psychologist and marketing consultant to dozens of Fortune 100 companies, Dr. Livingston has revealed 8 unconventional survey techniques for small businesses on a do-it-yourself budget. These 8 powerful techniques were developed during his time as a corporate consultant and then combined to form a total marketing system which Dr. Livingston used to grow his publishing company from $0 to $31,237 a month in passive income in just 21 months. (A comprehensive overview of this survey-based marketing system is available via a set of free marketing audios at the site below, where any business owner can ...

Learn How To Identify Profitable Web Niches For Your Business!
Most get it wrong when they start an e-business! They start building a business on the web by picking the wrong market.Many start by giving advice on how to start a home business or by marketing Internet marketing information.

7 Risks Involved In Renting Cheap Limousine Services
Cheap limousine services are always attractive. And although you'll benefit from the low price, you may experience several disadvantages in renting these cheap services. So as much as you want to save on the rental service, you might want to think twice about the kind of services they can provide you.

Affordable Custom Website Design Solution Company
Making the right choice when it comes to the web design company that you will use can be very difficult. Thanks to the cheaper and more user friendly software programs that are now available just about anyone in the world can create a web site and have it live in a matter of days or perhaps even hours. That is not to say that this will be a good or even pretty good web site. Most likely this will be the most basic and low quality of all web sites and nothing that would attract and impress the visitors that you have. Sadly this is so common place anymore that people will take what they can get, hence the reason why so many new web sites are running around the web today. If you are looking for an affordable custom website design solution comp...

Osmose Utilities Services Opens Expanded Syracuse Office
On December 6, 2005 Buffalo-based Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. will make official the opening of its new, larger East Syracuse office.

Deronyan Announces an Open Invitation to Linux and FOSS Businesses and Organizations, to Join its New Linux and Business Community Web Site, "The Lin
The Linux Business Direcotry is an effort to help further the adoption of Linux and Free Source / Open Source software by addressing issues that exist at the organizational and logistical level. By bringing together both sides of the Linux business equation - suppliers and customers - we hope to provide a valuable community resource to enable decision-makers, managers, and IT staff alike to better understand "the big picture" when implementing Linux and FOSS software.

Marketing Mistakes for Entrepreneurs to Avoid
One way to achieve entrepreneurial success is to NOT make the following marketing mistakes:

Are You Failing With Your Affiliate Marketing Opportunity?
Affiliate marketing is one of the true opportunities for entrepreneurs to pursue. There are thousands of programs to consider and a great possibility to make a lot of money with this opportunity. But are you finding yourself failing with your affiliate marketing opportunity?

Goji Berries Company Launches Dried Goji in Bulk For Extra Savings
Gojiberries.us announced today that it now offers dried Goji berries in bulk quantities for extra savings for large families and resellers.

The Pro's & Con's Of Affiliate Marketing Programs
There are virtually unlimited amounts of affiliate marketing programs on the internet that are just begging for motivated individuals to promote them. Some of these programs are independant and work by themselves, while others may be part of an affiliate marketing network along with dozens or even hundreds of other companies. There are advantages and disadvantages of working with both types of companies. Let's take a look at some pro's and con's of both.

Enaxis Consulting Recognized as the 8th Fastest Growing Company in Houston by HBJ
This past Friday, the Houston Business Journal unveiled the rankings of the top 100 fastest growing companies in Houston. Enaxis Consulting was awarded the number 8 position for achieving revenue growth of 408 percent while increasing their employee count from 12 to 36 over a two-year period (2006 - 2007). Enaxis is a premier provider of management consulting, outsourcing advisory, and technology advisory services in the Houston area and counts many Fortune 100 and 500 companies among their clients.

How To Search The ClickBank Marketplace
ClickBank. Does that word conjure up feelings of anger or pleasure? Whichever the case denying that ClickBank owns a good share of the online literature market would be kin to denying that the sun rises and sets each day.