RUSHING into marketing without planning will not work.

If you want something to work, then you have to plan and prepare; this in itself takes time.

Planning and preparation prevents poor performance, and this is so true when marketing a business.

It’s understandable that you want quick results. But the only way to see the right results is to market yourself to the right person, in the right way.

‘Throw enough mud and some of it will stick’ is not a great plan for the successful marketing of your business. There are some common mistakes I see businesses make, which often take time to rectify.

Do you want to employ a PR person or marketing consultant to cover up the brand damage you may have caused? Here are some ways you may be doing it wrong: 1. Sending a press release to editors just using a sales pitch and having nothing of interest to say – no hook.

2. Sending newsletters to a database that hasn’t asked to hear from you. Even worse, sending a newsletter to a bought database.

3. Investing thousands in a website, only to have it as the best kept secret on the web (SEO could be a goldmine for you).

4. Creating your own website to save money, and have it illegible and impossible to navigate.

5. Advertising in the local paper, with no call to action or way of measuring a response.

6. Embracing social media, and spamming people with sales pitches.

7. Marketing to everyone and not knowing who your ideal customer is.

8. Expecting word of mouth marketing when you are dull as dishwater.

9. Selling to people before you have earned their trust.

10. Bad copywriting on your marketing material – if you can’t spell hire a copywriter.

11. Yellow Pages ads.

They are a waste of money, especially if you get upsold.

Keep the money and invest in SEO.

12. Direct mail without a great sales letter.

13. Thinking social media is a numbers game. It’s not - it’s about quality and interaction.

14. Attracting the wrong clients; do you want to offer big discounts and get cash poor clients?

15. Thinking you can get away with winging it, without proper guidance and advice. It has taken 20 years for me to gain my marketing experience.

Reading a book on marketing will not mean you are a marketer.

Are you doing any of the above? If so, you are probably not growing your business, or marketing correctly. How can I be sure? Because marketing success comes from doing things the right way, not the fast way.