50 marketing mistakes / Mistake #18
Mistake #18 of 50Don’t market once and declare that it didn’t work.
One email isn’t a campaign. One postcard isn’t direct mail. Repetition matters.
What it costs you
Once is not a campaign.
You sent one email. Nobody called.
You mailed one postcard. Crickets.
So you decide email doesn’t work. Postcards don’t work. Marketing doesn’t work.
One email isn’t a campaign. One postcard isn’t direct mail.
Your customer didn’t say no. They were busy the one day you showed up.
A real example
A card every month
Joe Girard sold cars at a Chevrolet dealership outside Detroit. Not a luxury brand. Everyday cars for everyday people.
The Guinness Book of World Records named him the world’s greatest salesman.
One of his secrets was simple. He sent every customer a card. Every month.
Not just at the holidays. Every month, all year long, to thousands of people.
The cards didn’t try to sell anything. They said something like “I like you,” signed by Joe.
So when any of those people needed a car, or knew someone who did, there was only one name they thought of.
He didn’t outsell everybody with a better pitch. He outsold them with a stamp.
Same card. Same stamp. The difference was that he kept sending them.
Why it happens
Why people quit after one try
The business that keeps showing up is the one they call.
Do this instead
Keep showing up.
Pick a rhythm you can actually keep, and put it on your calendar like an appointment. Small and steady beats big and once.
| How often | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Every day | Hand something useful to every customer on the way out. |
| Every week | Five handwritten notes. That’s 250 people a year who opened your envelope first. |
| Every month | A short, useful email or card. Something worth opening. |
| Every season | An offer that fits the season, with a deadline. |
| Every year | Their anniversary with you, on the calendar. |
| Every 90 days | Look at what brought people in. Do more of that. |
Before you decide something didn’t work, ask one honest question: did we do it once, or did we really do it? Give it a real try before you call it dead.
Do this today
- 1
Write down the last piece of marketing you gave up on.
- 2
Count how many times you actually sent it.
- 3
Put the next three sends on your calendar, a few weeks apart.
- 4
Make each one bring something new, and end with one easy way to call you.
Once is a guess. Every month is a campaign. Keep sending, and keep asking for the call.
From the book
Chapter 15: Put It in an Envelope
Starts on page 135. The whole chapter, plus 250+ ways to market your business, in the free book.
Download the free bookIdeas that fix it
Things that keep showing up.
Idea 160 · book page 341Calendars$6–$15 eachOn the wall all year long.
Idea 120 · book page 321Notepads & Sticky Notes$2–$6 eachEvery page shows your name again.
Idea 66 · book page 294Promotional Pens$0.30–$1.50 eachUseful, cheap, and passed from person to person.
Idea 176 · book page 349Long-Sleeve T-Shirts$9–$20 eachBigger print area, longer season.$0Idea 48 · book page 285Send a Seasonal Check-In TextFreePerfect timing turns a reminder into a booking.Want a plan that keeps you in front of them every month?
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