The series of blogposts which I write genuinely reflects the activities I’ve been doing to build my own business. I hope that if I can build a strong business for myself in the long run, by following my own advice, I will represent the proof to my potential clients that my approach really works. So, last week I was abroad on our family holiday. How does this apply to my business? Or yours?
I have been lucky to be gazing into the clear blue sky in Portugal, and have literally been making the most of my opportunity for some blue sky thinking. Blue sky thinking means that you have some physical or mental distance from your business and you can consider it with fresh eyes. In particular, you must set aside the usual practical limitations which restrict you. Just like a blue sky is an ideal scenario, you can imagine what you would like to do with your business in an ideal world. One important marketing lesson to take from this process is that if you set aside your own imperatives, such as the requirement for turning a profit, you can truly consider your business from the perspective of a potential customer, and consider what might they want from you.
Distance can allow you the perspective to honestly assess what’s working well for your business. The ideal world mindset can permit you the freedom to imagine where you would like to take things next, to meet your customers’ needs.
I have been able to reflect that my format of holding Marketing Clinics has worked well, and it’s time for some development. I have decided to introduce a product extension: Marketing Clinic Online. Occasionally, the sun is obscured when a cloud is blown in front of it. Likewise, the distance which is afforded by blue sky thinking allows you to consider the possible threats which your business might face. For myself, I am aware that I’ve made a strong start using my current network of contacts and that it might be time for me to approach a new territory now that I’m feeling more established. This realisation has coincided with a plan which I had already developed to begin to hold clinics at a new venue, The Daily Bread Cafe in Rusthall High Street, starting on the 15th of August. The new location will give me the opportunity to approach potential customers in a new area of Tunbridge Wells. It’s an area in which I have previously forged strong links, thanks to my voluntary involvement in the Rusthall Arts Festival 2016. The time is now right for me to offer my new business services to the vibrant community of Rusthall.
I have been imagining how I would like to develop an online version of the marketing clinic, which will offer greater accessibility to me for potential customers to ask questions and receive guidance. I have found that the two key components of blue sky thinking, distance and the freedom to imagine, have both been very beneficial in helping me to develop plans for my business in the near future. So with the rest of this summer ahead, I recommend that everyone should take a break and make the most of the space in a blue sky to take your business forward to its next stage.
If you would like some original thinking to help you to anticipate, identify, and satisfy customer needs, please email me: lisa@lisabeaumontmarketing,co.uk. Or book a slot at the next Marketing clinic on 26th July in Trinity café to book visit: w.lisabeaumontmarketing.co.uk/marketing-clinic-form