How To Think Outside The Box In Marketing Your Business

By: Dale W. Hutchings

In a constantly changing business world, where the old ways of marketing a business are quickly becoming obsolete, it is more important than ever for any size company to think out of the box in promoting its products or services. For many businesses this is easier said than done, especially when a culture has developed in the workplace where the main focus has been on production and hardly ever on marketing. This often leads to a mindset where new ideas are discouraged, doing things the way they have always been done is the norm, and taking the safe approach to doing business is expected and encouraged.

1. 1.Look At Your Business From A Fresh Perspective. Put yourself “in the shoes” of a customer or potential customer. Ask yourself questions like: “Is this business doing a good job of letting me know about their products or services?” “Why should I do business with them instead of somebody else?” “What makes their products (or services) unique?” The answers to these questions will be a good first step to generating for you out of the box thinking.

2. Encourage Creative Thinking. Are you always open to new ideas for marketing your business? If so, what have you done to encourage creative thinking in your workplace? In recent years, what new, out of the box marketing ideas have you introduced into your company that has changed the way your business presents itself? I could cite numerous examples of businesses that have failed (or are currently failing) for having this “in the box thinking” mentality. But rather than waste space pointing fingers at such companies, let’s address what you can do to create or enhance out of the box marketing thinking within your work environment to give you an edge over the competition.

Here are several easy steps to become an out-ofthe- box marketing thinker: If you are having a tough time coming up with answers, sorry, but you are not supporting the concept of creative thinking in your company. If you have employees, set-up a program that rewards them for coming up with great business marketing ideas. If you have a storefront or office that gets a lot of traffic, have a suggestion box where customers can offer their recommendations on what you might do to enhance business. If you are a single proprietor, seek out the advice of others. Organize your own brainstorming group with other business owners to help one another. Remember: no matter how big or small you are there is always a way to augment creative thinking in any business.

3. Listen! Listen! Listen! Have an open ear. Listen to what employees have to say. Listen to what your customers are telling you. Listen to what your business colleagues suggest. Listen to experts in your industry in regards to business marketing trends. Seek out the advice of a professional marketing consultant and listen to what he or she has to say. As Writer/Poet Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.”

4. Think About How To Market Differently Than Your Competition. Take a serious look at how your competition markets and then ask yourself and/or your staff: “How can we market ourselves different from the competition?” “What can we do differently to set us apart?” “What kinds of business marketing tools or measures can we use that our competition isn’t?”
   
5. Create A Physical Work Environment That Stimulates Creative Thinking. One of the best, easiest and most effective ways to achieve this is to hire a professional organizer. Individuals in this field are well versed on how to effectively organize. This includes knowing how to create an office or workplace environment to enhance creativity depending on a person’s habits and thinking process for stimulating thought. At no time in history has there been more advertising messages thrown at us on a daily basis than today. Therefore, to get people’s attention out of the box marketing is not merely important in doing business, but imperative. So don’t wait another minute, hour or day. Get to work now using these steps to begin beating out your competition with truly creative thinking, when it comes to marketing. The clock is ticking.