Can you have a successful business without marketing skills?

[Mada_]

Can you create a successful business, but have minimal knowledge of marketing? 

Purely hypothetical question to help me clarify a decision, I do not plan on deflecting any topic or potentially necessary skills. 

[electroBeam]

No way, speaking from experience. 

And my business is half based in Au

[universe]

You don't need to know about it, you can just hire someone to do it for you.

Also depending on the kind of your business and how much your customers love it, marketing might not be so important.

[Hello from Russia]

No. If you don't know how to do marketing - you're the working class, not a businessman. And I wouldn't advise outsourcing it, especially the branding stuff, because you want to control the image of your brand and the way you communicate with your customers and to the public. If you just hire some stage orange person he will pervert all your high consciousness stuff you'll be trying to achieve

 

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Hello from Russia

[Michael569]

Depends on the type of business but I'd say mostly not. 

You probably don't have to spend thousands of dollars on SEO and add words or tracking your traffic but you have to find a way to attract clients. If you are not going to be on google, people have to come across your services/products in some way unless you are doing charity work or have the ability to piggyback on a supply chain of somebody else who has already created the framework and is happy for you to use it. An example of this is a company called Innocent Drinks in UK got acquired by Coca Cola. CC allowed them to use their gigantic marketing & supply chain and Innocent's revenues skyrocketed however they had to sacrifice some of their values by supporting a global polluter and market monopoliser so there was a tradeoff. 

Other than that, you can be active on forums, or social network but that in itself is a marketing. Or maybe you can offer free services to people you know and if they are happy they can recommend you to other people they know which would be more of a word-of-mouth marketing but that takes the most time to bounce back to you. 

Regularly posting on social media is very cheap but time-consuming way as well. It is however quite soul-draining and frustrating especially if you pour a lot of energy and get zero interaction. 

[mandyjw]

If you're wildly skilled and original in what you do, minimal marketing is all you need, sometimes. If you story is interesting enough, or what you do is unique enough it will catch people's attention on its own. You might really like Seth Godin's books and talks on youtube. He really delves into this sort of thing. 

[Mada_]

@mandyjw  Thanks for your reply. 

I've been a lot about my career recently. I could commit to finding my passion, whilst during this process become a freelance marketer. This way when I find my passion, I would have developed a skill that I can directly apply to it e.g. Say i decide I want to be a life coach, I would have the knowledge and skills to market myself as a coach. 

But perhaps I'm just being lazy and need to forget about money until I find my deepest passion. 

 

[Leo Gura]

In practice, biz IS marketing.

The two are inseperable if you care about success.

If you don't have a marketing plan you don't have a business plan. Marketing cannot be left to the random whims of the market. You must take control of it with expertise and intelligence.

And outsourcing it is too irresponsible. That would be like outsourcing the chewing of your food.

[John Iverson]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

marketing plan

What is marketing plan?? How do we market? Is this one on a booklist?

for example I don't see you market your video on youtube,.. but when i watch it, it has value on its own... i know the idea about the purple cow, by having my own voice and style is that a market plan?? 

Or the video is not the business? 

Make me understand this 

Edited August 19, 2020 by John Iverson

[Mada_]

@John Iverson

Marketing: Getting eyeballs to see your project

Plan: Procedure, strategy to do so.

 

[How to be wise]

6 hours ago, John Iverson said:

What is marketing plan?? How do we market? Is this one on a booklist?

for example I don't see you market your video on youtube,.. but when i watch it, it has value on its own... i know the idea about the purple cow, by having my own voice and style is that a market plan?? 

Or the video is not the business? 

Make me understand this 

Sell it to one person. If they like it, they will tell someone else. And so on until you have a sizeable audience.

[John Iverson]

16 hours ago, Mada_ said:

@John Iverson

Marketing: Getting eyeballs to see your project

Plan: Procedure, strategy to do so.

 

Ah i remember Steve Jobs.. so you think is this a sample of Marketing Plan?

 

i understand what you told me as so in the video he invited people to make them see the new product alot of them is a fan and supporter or potential buyer and the plan is getting them to join that day? 

Am i right on this one? 

[John Iverson]

11 hours ago, How to be wise said:

Sell it to one person. If they like it, they will tell someone else. And so on until you have a sizeable audience.

? okaaay noted

[AnnaWWWilson]

Yes, if you have a strong team and money. For example, this company https://bridgeteams.com/how-it-works/ can help you open a remote office in a country where it would be cheaper. They will also manage it with you and find your dream team. 

If you want your business to be in the US, there are also a lot of marketing consultants, couches (but please be very careful when choosing them).

One more option is taking marketing classes. You don't have to study marketing for years. One year online/offline course will be enough. 

[Tuan]

@Mada_ Don't worry, you can learn marketing. Just like any other skill, you can learn it. I love helping people to find clarity in business and marketing. Concepts that could help you see different perspectives that could be useful for you to get results that matter for you.

Just to give you some action steps, try to look at how successful businesses in selling info products, look at how they structure the words in their sales copy. If you have more questions let me know. Try to be specific in questions so that it is more valuable for you.

[Mada_]

@Tuan thankyou for your awesome reply. 

What is a sales copy? 

[jerrypua]

Your business is marketing and the product is just the thing that you sell to generate revenue.. So your niche or product is not your business