The Key to Small Business Marketing Success – Practice What You Preach
I want to talk about an aspect of marketing your small business that is often overlooked, but oh so huge in determining the overall success of your small business.The aspect — practicing what you preach.So, what exactly do I mean by this? Well, too often I see small business owners who don’t practice what they preach in their services, their beliefs about their business, what they do for their own small business, what they’re willing to spend for a service and on and on.Not practicing what you preach leads to in-congruency — whether conscious or subconscious — and that in-congruency will hinder the success of your small business.You’ve no doubt run into small business owners who don’t practice what they preach, right? I know I sure have. In fact, here are just a few examples that I’ve run into…An orthodontist who’s marketing like crazy to get new patients for braces, yet their teeth are horrible. They expect their clients to spend thousand and thousands of dollars getting that perfect smile all the while they look like snaggle-tooth.A divorce therapist who counsels clients on what it takes to have a long and fruitful relationship, while she has been married and divorced three times.A life or business coach who emphasizes that working with a coach will help get your affairs in order and on the right track to enjoy much success, while his life is in complete disarray and isn’t working with a coach of his own.The real estate agent who rents an apartment.The personal trainer who’s 30 pounds overweight.The interior designer who has furniture that’s 2 decades old.The financial planner who’s in massive credit card debt.What do you think when you see a small business owner who doesn’t practice what they preach? Do you trust them? Do you want to do business with them? Do you think they’re worth the price they charge? Probably not.So, my dear small business friends, the question is…are YOU practicing what YOU preach??If you answered “yes” — great! You get a gold star for the day. Keep doing what you’re doing.If you answered “no” or “not really” or “umm, yeah, well, uh sort-of, gosh, I don’t know. Jeanna quit asking me these pointed questions.” Then we’ve got some work to do. There are two main areas where you need to be absolutely sure that you are, in fact, practicing what you preach.Area #1Practice What You Preach in Your ServicesMake sure that you are taking advantage and utilizing the same services that you offer and sell to your clients.What do I mean by this?Well if you’re an acupuncturist, you’d better make darned sure that you go see an acupuncturist yourself. If you’re a business coach, you’d better be working with another business coach for your own business. If you’re an estate planning attorney, you better have a will and an estate plan of your own.Do you buy and utilize the same services that you are offering your clients? If not, then you are not practicing what you preach. If you expect others to buy the service that you offer, you’d better be willing to buy that service yourself.Area #2Practice What You Preach in What Your Willing to SpendMake sure that whatever you charge your clients for your services that you would be willing to spend the same amount if you were going to hire someone like you.So, if you’re a re-modeler and charge your clients $35,000 to remodel a guest bathroom, you’d better be willing to spend $35K to remodel your own bathroom or at the very least value your services enough to know your worth that amount. I don’t want you to miss this aspect, because it is HUGE.If you’re not willing to spend the same amount of money on the service that you charge your clients…there’s a problem. If you don’t feel that your services are really worth the amount that you’re charging…there’s even a bigger problem.Practicing what you preach is a key element in running and a successful small business! Practicing what you preach will help you market your services better and it will help you attract clients faster.Final ThoughtThe best way to build trust and integrity in your business is to practice what you preach. If a few things are off in your business, the time to change them is now. After all you are the best “evangelist” for your services, so make sure you walk your talk.
The Best Job In The World?
1999 was probably the worst year of my professional life. Unsatisfying office jobs followed by long periods of unemployment and claiming benefits. I’d also missed out on an opportunity to train as a Microsoft certified programmer because I was unable to find a placement. The dream of making my way into the world of employment had turned into an absolute nightmare, at times I felt like a total failure.
Towards the end of 1999 an opportunity arose for me to work in a casino. I’d always loved card games after seeing the glitz and glamour of casinos in James Bond movies. Dissatisfied with life in Northern Ireland, at the age of just 20, I packed a couple of suitcases and ended up going to the Isle of Man to train as a croupier (casino dealer) in January 2000. 18 months later I was working on my first cruise ship, and 18 months after that I was boarding the QE2 (the most famous ship of them all) to do a world cruise.
For a young man from a housing estate in Antrim, Northern Ireland this was beyond even my wildest dreams. On a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool in 1997, I’d once seen a pontoon table and croupier and dreamt what it may be to work as a casino dealer on the high seas.
Everything aboard the QE2 was as you would expect, starting with Captain Ron Warwick, who looked exactly what the captain of the QE2 should look like (Google the name if you don’t believe me). Passenger facing crew were immaculate in their appearance. I could probably have shaved with the crease on my pressed tuxedo shirts, and on a number of occassions when I had been sunburnt in port, I could feel the creases cutting into my tender skin as I dealt the cards that evening in the casino.
The great thing for croupiers on cruise ships is that they only work when the ship is in international waters, in port, the casino must close, and casino staff are free to do pretty much whatever they want. Casino staff have a cabin steward who cleans their cabin and takes away their dirty laundry and brings it back fresh each day. We did a 103 day world cruise which included stops in places like Hong Kong, Sydney, Cape Town, Hawaii, Mauritius, Nagasaki, Tahiti and Singapore to name a few. I managed to do some amazing excursions like diving in the great barrier reef, quad biking in the Namibian desert, and dining in all sorts of fine restaurants, trying delicacies like Springbok, Kangaroo, Crocodile and Kobe beef. We made stops in 5 continents, crossed the equator and even experienced living a Tuesday in consequetive days when we crossed the world timeline. Imagine that, you go to bed on Tuesday night, wake up the following morning and its Tuesday again, but this was far from groundhog day.
The role in the casino was not about taking passengers’ money like in a land-based casino, it was about providing them with fun and entertainment. The passengers were friendly and pleasant, many of them being extremely successful people (I understand the lowest cabin cost for a world cruise on the QE2 was about $50,000 in 2003). A lot of the passengers had never played in a casino and were fascinated to learn and experience the one onboard. Just getting to know some of these people was an experience in itself, and a large part of the role in the casino was simply to entertain them whilst they were in the casino.
There were also celebrity passengers. We would finish work and go to the crew/members bar where we would have guest entertainers like the late Des O’Connor and the magician, the late Paul Daniels down to have a drink. God bless them both.
Was my job the best job in the world? Maybe not for everyone, but it was beyond even my wildest dreams and the 6 month experience, as well as the amazing people I met will be something I treasure forever. I was very lucky to have lived this experience and will always be incredibly grateful for it.
Many years have passed since then and I’ve always missed the buzz of casinos which is how Fun 21 Casino Hire was created in 2021. My celebrities now are anyone who hires the No Money Fun Casino that I provide for parties and celebrations, and I aim to give the same experience that you would expect onboard the QE2.