It’s interesting how often I have a meeting with a client who is interested in purchasing one marketing package or another, yet discusses the improbability of success through marketing.  Websites, adwords, direct mail…these things all seem to the client like a scam cooked up to trick the business owners into spending money unnecessarily.

I promise each and every client a straightforward process free of smoke and mirrors.  However, even with marketing reports and statistics, there is hesitation. Particularly among professionals who offer a professional service, there is a notion that advertising is base and not really effectual.  The comments I hear are, “who would really choose a lawyer based on the internet?” or “nobody really goes to a doctor because they get a postcard in the mail.”

Here are some answers…

Marketing has been around since the beginning of time. There is a super thin line between any kind of persuasion and marketing.  Any time one persuades another to buy into a process or to do something, it’s marketing.  If marketing didn’t’ work, there’d be no advertising anywhere.  Businesses only market when it positively affects their bottom line.

Websites and online marketing?  It seems intangible, but if you track your leads or sales it’s not.  Asking “How did you hear about our company?” goes a long way to proving what works and what doesn’t.