Snow Go

I don't understand what it is with you humans... it takes ages to get out the door to do anything!

I mean, all that tedious mucking about with:

1. Two layers of tights
2. Jeans
3. Three jumpers
4. Coat
5. Scarf
6. Hat
7. Gloves (which then have to be taken off because you haven't put your shoes on yet)
8. Wellington boots

The list goes on and on... or is that just Renee, my particular human?

Whatever it is, it seems to take helluva time to get out of the door; time which could be better used mucking around in the snow, (don't eat the yellow stuff) and generally having fun.

I must admit it's easier for a dog: stand at door and look longingly at it as though you can already imaging the wide open vistas of winter wonderland stretching out before you and some sucker (sorry, human) begins pulling on the interminable layers of clothing you lot need to keep you warm.

But that clothing (surprise, surprise) is bit like marketing...

It's worth spending a bit of time preparing to market your business... it takes some thinking about.  And the best place to start is by asking yourself some questions; things like:

• Who are my customers and who buys most from me?
• What do they do, read and see?
• What is it that makes me special/different?
• How much money have I got to spend on marketing?
• How will I know my marketing has worked?

And so on...

If you don't spend this time it's a bit like getting ready to go out for a long walk without having a look out of the window first.  You might end up with two layers of tights, jeans, three jumpers, etc., etc., and it turns out to be 90 degrees outside.  Worse still, you might end up in a blizzard with nothing more than a bikini to hide your embarrassment!

But there's a danger, too.  Sometimes the 'thinking' gets in the way of 'doing'.  It's very easy to over analyse and think in great depth about what you could be doing without actually doing anything at all.  Marketing a business, particularly at the local level, is all about doing.

So, yes, do some thinking, make sure you know who you are marketing to do, how much you have available to spend on it and what success looks like.  But don't let your thinking get in the way of a good walk!

After all, you can always come back in and change again.

Christmas is a very important time for us dogs... at least as important as it is for you humans.  Thank you very much for reading these blogs.  They're a bit of fun and I really hope they make you smile every once in a while.

I promise to write even more about my insights into business in 2011... so, until then, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.