So let's look at them now:

1. Not testing ads ? you want to develop maximum performance from every single advertising and marketing effort. But it's shocking to see so few businesses every test their marketing. Often, they have no way of measuring their efforts, and when they do, it's usually some silly and arbitrary way. This is a problem, because as a business owner, you don't have the power to predetermine what your market wants. You have to put everything to the test and let your market tell you what the best price will be, the best approach and the best offer. If you take a chance by guessing, you're leaving serious money behind on the table, because it's up to your market to give you their money.

2. Running institutional ads instead of direct response ads ? Most of the ads in print, radio, TV or newspaper are institutional type of ads. They go on and on about how great the company is that's sponsoring the ad, how long they've been in business, or some other boring stuff that nobody cares about. This stuff doesn't give any compelling reason for the prospect to buy from you. It doesn't make a case for your products or services. Most of the claims made by institutional advertising say ?buy from me instead of my competitor for no other reason except my selfish vanity.? When's the last time you bought something because the business thought it was better than all the rest without giving you any proof? Direct response advertising states a claim, backs it up with proof and that has a call to action, telling the prospect exactly what to do next. It produces results you can track, analyze and compute.

3. Not having a USP ? USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition. Your USP sets you apart from all of your competitors. It is the philosophical foundation of your business, and the essence of it should bleed over into everything you do. How do you formulate your USP? It depends on your market niche. For example, you could have a USP that sells only the highest quality beef, or you could have a USP where you only sell the lowest prices in the industry. Your USP could be that you have no out of stock, no back orders and no waiting. Your USP could be that you've got 24 hour customer service for your customer.

There are far more points to be made, but these are just a few that can help give you an idea of how to improve upon your already existing business. Regardless of whether you're an entrepreneur or head of a corporate company, you simply can't do it all by yourself. You're in business for the products and services you sell, and not in business to be a marketer. If you're working in a corporation, your job title no doubt doesn't include having to figure it all out on your own. It's just like getting heart surgery, if your business is dying, you have a doctor to help fix you up ? in this case you'd hire a marketing consultant to help fix things.