Define Expensive?

Define Expensive? well according to the Oxford dictionary it is this?

adjective. Costing a lot of money. 'keeping a horse is expensive'

I'm sure keeping a horse is expensive, but not as expensive as making a very, very bad, decision based on previous experience that went wrong and you still don't know what went wrong, and you only know the cost of loss? So you can't learn for that decision. So! It becomes expensive. I wonder if the Oxford Dictionary would redefine my definition? Probably not..

Today someone said to me that they thought I was expensive. How does anyone know that, with out knowing the end result? Over the years I have marketed not only my companies, but my customers companies also. Luckily for me. I actually know what expensive is?

Expensive to me is: To know what something has cost, not the outlay of the actual spend.

Maybe above was a better definition? I'II explain. My wife decides one day she had enough of working for other people. That was a god decision to make. Because, Debbie on that day, got made redundant after 30 years. She would start her own business. We came to this decision. Actually, I came to this decision. Because, quiet frankly, Debbie was going to work with me, but we could not work together in the business that I had originally started. Because in true marital bliss, quiet truthfully she kept telling me to "PISS OFF" So.. I manage to convince Debbie it was her decision to start her own business that I had found, because if it went wrong or she didn't like it, I would not be to blame?

For those reading this, if you are single? This maybe hard to understand? But for long term marriage, convincing someone it is there idea is essential. This is similar, I suspect to Corporate Banking. Because no one wants to take any responsibility when things go wrong. At least in Corporate Banking you can shrug your shoulders and just walk away blaming someone else, who has now left the company? But in longer term marriage you can't! Because there is no large banking bonus to collect at the end of the year, and... at the end of the year if you were a banker and it all went wrong. You could still walk back into your marital home.

Now! luckily for her, her husband, being me. (I'm still married 23/7/2017) I have a good idea or two of how to attract customers to a business. This has been proven to be a good business decision for Debbie. Allow me to just get on with it. Design an advert that we expect to work. Then choose the appropriate media for her. Also, just tacking my advice! I do this with much enthusiasm, as I don't get told I'm wrong. Anyway...

Debbie now has a consistent stream of enquiries coming in daily. Debbie has said to me on occasions, " I can't understand why people just don't take your advice! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have a business. I just listen to you" Interesting that statement? It was only 18 months ago, I was told to "Piss off"?

Understand that I knew nothing about Debbies business and neither did Debbie for that matter? This new out of the box business venture, at ground base zero.

All I know, is how to compel customers, to pick up the phone, to make an enquiry, about the advert they have just read....

So I have this knowledge. Lucky me.. But more importantly I have the knowledge of how much Debbie's marketing campaign has cost, by marketing pillar, by customer acquisition cost, by net customer profit.

The Essentials on Marketing Debbies business.

1. We have to spend money on marketing to get customers
2. We have to spend money on marketing to free up time so Debbie can talk to and visit her new customers.
3. We can't market Debbie's company cheaply because that would take up time. Time isn't cheap.
4. Time will invariably cost money. So it's better to spend time on a good compelling idea or advert that gets the phones ringing. To get a customer to make profit.
5. She has quickly understood that not all enquiries will become customers and its best to pass them onto someone else, because it's not going to be profitable. But still help the customer.

We have come to understand the following

1. Which marketing pillar to keep spending her money on.
2. What her average customer acquisition cost is.
3. What is the lifetime value of a customer.
4. Some marketing pillars are not as profitable as others. It doesn't mean we should stop using them.
5. Don't just hit areas where there are expensive houses. People can be assets rich and cash poor.
6. Cast our marketing net wide.
7. Understand what your customers look and sound like and appeal to their needs/wants. Overcome any customer fears in your marketing. Create a great offer. Even a guarantee.
8. Understand the type of media that works best. Find similar media and scale up.
9. If we get calls and don't turn them into customers, its our fault, not the media we are using. Debbie does not say "I didn't get anything from that" She did! She got phone calls. That goes into the category as something has happened.
10. Don't try and make a customer fit
11. If we get an enquiry, its Debbie job to turn them into a customer, if she wants them not the media we used. Media attracts enquiries. Its people who generate sales.
12. If we do nothing, nothing happens. If we do something, something happens.
13. Because 12 just sums it all up.