Working with, and meeting lots of small business owners, it’s always interesting to observe the way that they go about marketing their business.  

I’ve noticed that many people take the ‘butterfly’ approach to marketing where they flit from one activity to the next, never staying very long and easily persuaded to float to a new attraction.  Part of the reason for this I’ve recently discovered, is that many people think marketing their business effectively is an insurmountable mountain, it’s just too big, too scary and too much to take in in one leap. 

Because of this they are constantly drawn to different ideas or activities that may seem like small easy tasks, baby steps if you like, and when they don’t give the promised instant results then they will likely become distracted and float off to a new attraction.  

There's a guy I've know for about 6 or 7 years in my social network who could be described as a social butterfly, never staying in one conversation for very long and always looking around to see where he can float to next. Nothing wrong with that you may think, except that no one really knows him very well, very few people have had an in-depth conversation with him and some can take his very short attention span personally!

Building a great business brand requires consistency and tenacity as well as good planning and research and the results of a butterfly approach to marketing can be frustrating for the marketer and confusing for your target market too!

The problem is that without any clear cohesive plan – a well defined and researched target market, a consistent set of marketing activities and a way of measuring results – spending small amounts of time on single unplanned or poorly planned activities just doesn’t reap the rewards of a creative strategy and well-thought-out plan. 

Planning doesn't have to be complex or laborious and when it's done, marketing your business really does become simpler and more effective. 

Although I admit to being something of a butterfly in some areas of my work, I’m also inherently a foxy strategist and I love nothing better than to brainstorm business strategy with my clients and set them on a path that’s well-defined and also flexible, open and creative. The key of course is too start with the big picture of what you want to achieve and then break it down into achievable bite size chunks, a bit like climbing that seemingly insurmountable mountain – start with the preparation and then step by step, challenge by challenge and of course a great support team!  

In my How to turn your website into a Client Magnet workshop you will create an effective strategy and plan for all your online marketing needs and you’ll become a foxy marketing strategist attracting all your ideal clients to you easily and consistently.