Awareness, Business And Criticism...The ABC's.

Awareness In Your Marketplace, Where Do You Fit?

When someone speaks without opening their mouth and you understand what they are saying, you probably know that person very well.  Furthermore, when you 'felt' that person thinking you both became aware of each others thoughts and the communication reaches a superb level.  Awareness is at a peak level when things like that happen.  I am confident many of you know what I mean.  Each of us has experienced this kind of awareness.

If you own a business does your business experience this kind of market awareness?  The above photo reflects the captive logos of the current top ten branded businesses.  In many polls these branded business models are some of the most recognized in the world.  Is your market place aware of your business model?

What risks has your business survived to become known in your specific marketplace?  What duties and contributions has your business model offered to its marketplace?  What pleasures does your business model offer its consumer base?  How important is it to your customer that they select you to trade with instead of your competitors?  How healthy is your business model?  Why do these business models survive the criticisms in the marketplace, so well?

What fears have these business models overcome to deal with the same criticisms we all face in business?  Everyone reading this material can look to each one of these names above and describe something critically wrong about something they have done, something they represent, failures they have stepped around, messages they have been known to damage or product errors they have had to endure at one time or another.  These leaders are far from perfect models.  How did they get to the top?  What consistencies did they perform?

Awareness, business and criticism are simple components of interest to these leaders of choice.  They choose to become involved deeply with the successful management of these three things...awareness, business and criticism.

Awareness....
If you own a business, does your business have market awareness?

Do the people who reside in your market region know who you are, what you offer, and why they should choose you over anyone else in the same categories of presentation?  Are you their favorite choice?  Are they aware of the reasons they should choose you over anyone else?  Have you attempted to make these kinds of things evident in your marketing efforts?  Trust me, the top ten shown above have spent a great deal of energy making sure these kinds of questions are asked of their business leaders and associates.  These perspectives are top billing in their efforts.  These top business models make it a serious point to work on these types of marketing awareness efforts.

Become Very Alert About Your Market Awareness!

Awareness is a fleeting discipline.  I can promise you that these companies do not allow a moment to go by without keeping their eyes on this discipline much like stoking up some burning hot coals.  They will never cool down the awareness work they find critical to their business success.  How much time and energy do you spend on your business awareness?  Do permit your awareness factors to develop all by themselves?  What was the last specific thing you did to make sure your market knew who you are, what you do and why.  What was the last marketing effort you shared to your marketplace consumers about what you actually provide for them to enjoy?  Are you just trying to sell stuff or are you carving out your place as the leader who does what you do?  When it comes to awareness, you need to know these things.  You may need to become more aware of what you are not doing instead of trying to see what others are doing.

I suspect the top ten above have developed the involuntary habit of paying attention to the surroundings of their marketplace at all times.  It has become a seriously managed discipline for them.  Practicing a heightened awareness of this nature is not accomplished by accident.  They did not get really lucky.  Tell your own mind to stay alert and pay attention.  Teach your leaders, yourself and your marketplace how to mind your disciplines of market awareness.  Eventually you will arrive to the place where the marketplace will mind you, much like these leaders have shown above.  They have achieved this level of respect in the marketplace they preside.  Remember, it has nothing to do with luck.

We mind these companies with a good deal of attention.  This type of awareness is a great place to be for any business model.  Make this kind of work something that you constantly work on to achieve.  Eventually you will one day notice how your efforts to reach this level of marketing have become as simple to do as breathing.  It will become involuntary and performed without any reminders.  It will be just like walking.  It will become your being.

Your ability to stay alert on this effort is closely linked to your ability to stay alert on it.  I believe these leaders shown above make it 'job one' to stay alert on market awareness.  I think they are obsessively alert on it.  Think about it.

Business....            
If you own a business, does your business do the best things in business?

Doing ordinary things in an uncommon way will eventually attract the attention of others around you.  You know what kinds of disciplines your business needs to pay close attention to and you know why.  This is not a lesson to highlight those truths.  If you have weaknesses to correct in this portion of your business work, get them corrected.  Get help if you need to get help.  Help is not always expensive, unless you struggle with your personal ego.  Overcoming that kind of expense is very high.

Complete Your Business Basics.

Placing a “Please Drive Slowly” sign in a busy neighborhood where children are always at play is a good idea.  But towing a wrecked car from the junkyard and placing it at the entrance of your neighborhood next to a flashing red light will get their attention better.

As you spread your attention around, being extra aware of your surroundings, remember what greatness lurks in the ability to decide what is important and when to focus your attention on it.  Keep the rest of the other noise in the back of your complicated mind.  Get noisy about working on right levels of high awareness.

And finally, if you are a student in life and the lesson has begun, listen closely.  A pupil who does not pay attention is as good as a student who is absent from the class.  If this is the case, that student is wasting precious time pretending to be aware.  Go home.  Do something else.  The lesson is worthless when the awareness is gone.  Your business does not need an inattentive leader.  Do your business right.  Learn new things.


Criticism....            
If you own a business, do you worry about what others will say if you fail at your business?

Everyone is a critic.  Even myself, even you.  That was a criticism all by itself.  Your return thought to that statement was likely, critical of the statement.  We are all critics.

You cannot go to your bank and deposit today's level of criticism you received.  It has no value.  The bank recognizes this truth.  Criticism has no value.  The only time it brings value to the table is when we believe what we heard and take action according to how we felt about what we heard.  If we felt negative about hearing some criticism, we react according to how we feel about it.  If we move to correct the criticism we move with some type of corrective action.  If we move to counter the criticism we also move with some kind of action.  The only person who can place value upon the criticism is the receiver of it.  Learn how to manage the art of placing value on criticism.  Keep in mind, it likely carries zero value.  Just write it in on a line item of your deposit slip and give it a dollar amount, say $100, and see what the bank clerk does with it when you try to deposit it.

Remember this, when you are building your model of business to become more successful; when you begin the process to make your market more aware of who you are and what you do, shooting the lights out does not help them glow.  Kill the criticism that is crippling your efforts.  Build it anyway.

Until next time...