How many times have you heard the saying, “when you put things into perspective…”? The Fitness Marketing law of perspective implies marketing strategies have both short term and long term effects. These strategies are put into perspective by the prospect’s needs, which ultimately affect your success!
As entrepreneurs in the fitness industry, we tell our clients alcohol is an enemy in fitness but it’s a great example in the law of perspective. Do you think alcohol is a stimulant or depressant? It actually appears to be both. Chemically, it’s a depressant, but if you go to a club where everyone is drinking you would believe it’s a stimulant. People are drinking, laughing, dancing, and having a great time; however, observe the same people at 3:00AM and you will believe alcohol to be a depressant. Marketing strategies possess the same occurrences in that long term effects are sometimes opposite the short-term effects.
Just like it’s important to be the first in the prospect’s mind, it’s also important to understand how your product or service is perceived by the prospect. Your marketing strategies put things into perspective reasoning in the mind of the prospect. For example, what is the benefit of having a sale? Does it produce long term profits for your company? Typically it doesn’t. It may draw customers to your business and increase sales in the short term, but it also educates consumers to not purchase at the regular pricing. A sale implies that your regular prices are too high so the consumer waits until you have a sale. The same applies to coupons. Once you begin using coupons, customers become accustomed to them and will not purchase without one.
Couponing is not a bad strategy if done correctly. Groupon is a new phenomenon that brings in a lot of new customers. This is a positive short term effect. The key for you as an entrepreneur is having a plan to retain these new clients. If you provide a long term benefit to the prospects they will continue to produce sales for you. Look at the big chains like Wal-Mart and Costco. They offer everyday low prices which provide a long term value to the customer keeping them loyal to the business. If you’re not smart with marketing strategies and don’t focus on both short term and long term effects, you could end up in serious trouble.
Donald Trump is a great example. He is the epitome of entrepreneur. He began as a very successful businessman and then branched out to anything and everything he could put his name on, borrowing lots of money from the bank. He had short term positive effects that turned into long term negative effects when in 1991 he filed business bankruptcy due to $3.5 billion of debt and in 2004 filed for bankruptcy protection. His third encounter with bankruptcy was in 2009 when he filed a Chapter 11. However, being the entrepreneur king he is, he turned that negativity into a whole lot of money. When one thinks of Trump Enterprises they think of hotels, casinos, numerous real estate properties, airlines, shopping centers, golf courses and now a reality TV show, The Apprentice, which is in its tenth season. As of March, 2011, Trump’s worth is $2.7 billion.
Being a successful entrepreneur is not easy. It requires a lot of work, dedication, continuing education, and perseverance. You have to put your product into perspective and know the marketing strategies to achieve short and long term financial success.
Hope you enjoyed Fitness Marketing Law #11. Stay Tuned For Fitness Marketing Law #12 “The Law Of Line Extension”.