Excellence comes at a price, usually in time and money, but mediocrity comes at a greater price.
Our company has devoted thousands of research hours looking at businesses both online and offline.
It seems that a majority of businesses don't see the value of investing into being excellent, or they've missed opportunities to separate themselves from their competition.
In every industry, there are a majority of businesses that can be grouped together solely in terms of what they offer.
Sometimes reaching a particular demographic is the only reason one company gets a job instead of another.
Then there are those businesses we all aspire to be - the ones that not only achieve excellence in their brand recognition, but who purposely excel in everything that they do.
These businesses rise to the top in credibility, visibility and brand loyalty.
Their effectiveness is evident in the content of their websites and other marketing collateral, their ability to communicate clearly what they do, and the positioning of their target niche with such precision that they are instantly recognized as offering a leading product or service in their industry.
This doesn't happen by chance.
A lot of time, effort and money go into not only the branding and marketing strategies that propel these businesses, but in being efficient in every aspect of their work.
These companies may feel the effects of a down economy, but they have built such a strong base of customer loyalty that they are able to make it -- while others simply drift out of existence.
No successful business opens their door each morning with the hope of being mediocre.
Yet there are many businesses that do a great job of "doing what they do," but are unable to effectively communicate that same excellence in their marketing collateral.
Part of this disconnect could be that these businesses are too busy to worry about their corporate identity or the public's perception of them.
Businesses can get so "busy" with work that they are unable (or unwilling) to think about the long term.
It only takes a few minutes to see the effects of this philosophy in the number of failing corporations and small businesses throughout Rhode Island, the United States and around the world.
Getting caught up in the hamster wheel of day-to-day activities that just pay the bills can be the biggest obstacle we face in accomplishing those things that are necessary to not only increase revenue, but to help us work smarter -- rather than just working harder.
Finances also play a role in businesses failing to maximize their impact in their industry.
Because companies are scaling back on where they're spending money, advertising is often the first thing to go.
As a multimedia and marketing company, we realize this is a direct consequence of ineffective marketing and advertising - not of marketing that works.
You wouldn't lay off your best salesperson.
Nor would you cut your most profitable money-maker.
But ineffective marketing should always be cut to make way for effective marketing solutions that get real -- and tangible -- results.
Traditional marketing just doesn't work like it used to.
With TiVo and DVR, most consumers now simply fast forward to avoid TV commercials.
There are commercial-free radio options.
With inexpensive downloads of music, many listeners choose to avoid radio altogether and plug their iPods into their car audio systems.
Newspapers and magazines, which have always been funded by their print advertisers, are losing more and more readers as we become a nation of "skimmers" looking for as much information in as little time as possible.
There is one market that is expanding at a record pace - Internet marketing, also known as Web marketing.
But this industry can be the most annoying of them all for consumers.
Banner ads and pop-ups are often ignored and avoided, so they aren't as effective as they could be.
Email marketing also has its challenges, thanks to spammers who flood our inboxes with "make this larger" and "make this smaller" messages.
Consumers can either avoid having to deal with email marketing using spam blockers, or spend precious time each day hitting "delete" over and over.
But there is one form of marketing that works every time.
There are no gimmicks and no shortcuts.
It takes time and effort, but it can be had for less cost than most traditional marketing options.
What is this full-proof marketing secret? Mark Hughes, author of "Buzz Marketing - Getting People To Talk About Your Stuff" defines it in two ways: 1.
Capturing attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking about your brand becomes entertaining, fascinating, and newsworthy.
2.
Starting Conversations.
In upcoming blogs, we'll be talking much more about how New England Multimedia can help businesses in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, throughout New England and across the country create the buzz that gets people talking.
Stay tuned! Mutual Buzzing - The Key To Buzz Marketing is the corporate blog of New England Multimedia.