Watertight Marketing

A no-nonsense approach to making marketing pay

Did I tell you that I'm writing a book? Yes? A year or more ago?

Well - shock horror - it really is happening.

Clear Thought exists to help ambitious businesses to out-think rather than out-spend their competition. Having a structured approach to marketing, centred on solid sales funneling, can really set your business apart. There is nothing that gives me more professional satisfaction than seeing the lightbulb moments when small business owners I work with really get it. I've long wanted to get all this down on paper and out there as a book, so that anyone can put into practice what I know really works.

It has been a crazy few years for me since setting up Clear Thought in 2008, in which the book has always slipped to the bottom on the list. 2010 was a bit of two steps forward one step back on this one. It's now top of the list for 2011.

So, here goes!

So, what's the book about?

'Watertight Marketing' (working title) is the entrepreneur's shield against the never-ending onslaught of good ideas and 'unmissable' marketing opportunities.

Every business owner knows that they need to put a bit of effort in to get the sales to happen in their business. But, there is a lot of confusion and misinformation out there as to the best way of doing this. It's often in the marketing consultant's interest to convince you that they are the practitioner of some sort of dark art, and that you need to spend a fortune (with them) to do things properly. Indeed, a quick internet search on lead generation will suggest that a business owner invests with experts in telesales, direct mail, advertising, search engine optimisation, social media, networking, content marketing, thought leadership... the list goes on.

It's no surprise that many business owners suffer from 'tactic burn'; jumping from one sales and marketing activity to another, never getting the consistent results they're after. So often a business owner will invest in direct mail, switch to PR when it doesn't work, employ a sharp-shooting sales person, or dabble with social media, in the hope that they will one day find the silver bullet.

There isn't one.

There are three!

Generating and keeping profitable business is only possible when you have three things working seamlessly together. First you need a bucket - that's your products, your people, your brand, etc. And you need some taps running - sales people, advertising, public relations, etc. But that's not all, taps can be running on the other side of the room from your bucket, so you will need a funnel to make this all work. Sales and marketing fail when one of these things is missing, mis-matched, or damaged. This book shows you how to avoid the wastage of running expensive marketing taps into leaking sales buckets.

With real-life case studies, memorable analogies and simple visuals, 'Buckets, Funnels & Taps' will:

Show you how sales and marketing fit together.
Show you how to expose the gaps in your process that waste money and burn leads.
Show you which tactics to use when for predictable results.
Give you a clear structure to manage and measure your sales and marketing effectiveness.
Give you a yard-stick by which to assess any new technique, idea, campaign that comes your way.

Using the processes and principles outlined in this book, whatever the next big thing in marketing, the next good idea, or the next advertising sales call - you will be equipped to assess, understand and slot the right techniques into your business.

Outline contents

Chapter 1: Introduction: making marketing pay

PART ONE: What is marketing?
Chapter 2: Buckets: Creating a watertight offer
Chapter 3: Taps: Generating demand for your business
Chapter 4: Funnels: Channeling people through the buying decision

PART TWO: What, when, who, how?
Chapter 5: Tone: What to say
Chapter 6: Time: When to say it
Chapter 7: Teams: Who to talk to
Chapter 8: Tools: How to say it

PART THREE: Measurement & Money
Chapter 9: Measurement: What works
Chapter 10: Money: What to spend

PART FOUR: Putting it into action
Chapter 11: 90 Day Checklist
Chapter 12: Tips
Chapter 13: Tools & Resources

You can learn more about the 'Watertight Marketing' approach, and a flavour of the book content, in these Clear Thought resources:

Watertight Marketing

A no-nonsense approach to making marketing pay

So, what's the book about?

Outline contents

Social Media Marketing

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