What types of businesses do well as Profit Farmers?
Quite frankly, any business that has customers who pay for products or services with money does very well as Profit Farmers. With more and more businesses becoming commoditized, it’s less about how ‘special’ your business category is and more about how you effectively stand out in that category.
As we covered in the previous section, getting your business to the next level is not about doing things as others in your industry do them. It’s not about keeping up or copying. It’s about differentiating to be the clear choice over all the other choices your prospects have and then owning that position in their minds.
Some would tell you that this is the essence of image-building and branding. What they won’t tell you is that without holding image-building and branding accountable for producing measurable results, image-building and branding is just another huge waste of money.
With all the trillions of advertising and marketing dollars spent in this area, if image-building and branding were so effective, there would be a lot more successful businesses still around to brag about it. This might also explain why so many of the awards for these campaigns are given by those who create them. It’s perfect camouflage for a marketing money pit.
Your true success is in being more effective in how your business communicates through its marketing messages. Sorry, but your prospects are not as interested in your company as you are. Their livelihood doesn’t depend on it – at least not yet (learning to be a Profit Farmer can change that).
Profit Farming concentrates on getting responses from your prospects and focuses on compelling them to take the actions you want them to. Businesses who want that and need that is right for Profit Farming.
The companies that do well as Profit Farmers are those who not only think outside the box – they live outside the box. They take pride in making their competition squirm and feel uncomfortable, and they do it all while remaining professional and respectable, and ethical. In fact, if your competition ever calls you to complain about your marketing, chances are your bank account could be getting stuffed soon.
If what you’re doing is a real threat, they won’t want to you to continue doing it. But if you are shooting yourself in the foot, they’ll probably wait for you to put yourself out of business, that is if they don’t blindly follow whatever you’re doing to match your marketing.
Shaking up your competition by profit farming is not being silly or entertaining or self-gratifying. Profit Farming NEVER compromises your integrity but instead increases it.
As a Profit Farmer, you constantly measure what you do against what the rest of your industry or profession does, but not to mirror their activities. You’ll develop a way of seeing what they don’t – what they can’t – what they won’t allow themselves to see. You’ll understand why it’s so effective to do things differently – because doing them the same way they’ve always been done only blends you into all the other choices your prospects have.
Following the crowd makes you invisible.
Virtually any business can be a Profit Farmer, as long as they don’t fall into the trap of limiting what is possible. You can see by the partial list below that all types of companies benefit from thinking and acting as Profit Farmers. Let’s now take a look at what services are available in the Profit Farming system of business development.
| Accountants/CPAs Advertising Specialties Air Conditioning Aircraft Parts Distributors Aircraft Sales Airlines Antique Dealers Apartment Complexes Architects Associations Auto Leasing Companies Auto Repair Shops Auto Dealers Banks/Financial Institutions Barter Groups Bicycle Shops Bookkeepers Book Stores Boutiques Bridal Wear Business Brokers Business Startups Business Telephone Systems Cabinet Manufacturers Cardiologists Carpet Cleaners Carpet Stores Caterers Cellular Phone Stores Chimney Sweeps Chiropractors Collection Agencies Commercial Printers Communications Companies Computer Hardware Sales Computer Training Conference Centers Construction Contractors Consultants Conventions & Exhibitions Credit Services Dental Labs Dentists Distributors Dry Cleaners Drywall Installers Electrical Distributor Employee Leasing Companies Engineering Companies Equipment Distributors Event Management Financial Planners Flooring Sales Florists Freight Hauling Companies Furniture Manufacturers Furniture Stores/Retail Garage Door Companies Gift Importers Glass Companies Golf Shops Graphic Designers Hardware Stores Hair Dressers/Beauty Shops Health Clubs/Gyms Health Food Stores Health-Related Products Heating/Furnace Companies Heavy Equipment Sales & Leasing High-Tech Companies Home Builders Hospitals Hotels |
Industrial (various) Insurance Agents/Brokers Internet Providers Investment Companies Interior Designers Janitorial Companies Janitorial Supplies Jewelry Stores Laboratories Law/Legal Firms Landscapers Lawn Care Lighting Stores Lighting Wholesalers Limousine Services Lingerie Stores List Brokers Magazine Advertising Sales Magazine Publishers Mail Order Companies Management Companies Management Consultants Manufacturing Manufacturer’s Reps Movie Theatres Non-Profit Organizations Furniture Stores Office Supplies Opticians Paint Stores Pest Control Pet Supplies Photographers Physicians Piano Stores Pizza Places Plant Nurseries Plumbers Printing Companies Public Speakers & Trainers Publishers Real Estate Agents/Brokers Recruiters/Executive Search Remodeling Companies Roofing Companies Resorts Restaurants Risk Management Companies Rubber Stamp Suppliers Security Services Seminar/Workshop Companies Sign Companies Software Suppliers/Developers Stock Brokers Store Fixture Suppliers Supermarkets Swimming Pool Builders Swimming Pool Services Swimming Pool Supplies Temporary Help Agencies Temporary Housing Title Companies Touring Companies Travel Agencies Tutoring Services Veterinarians Veterinary Supplies Video Production Services Video Duplication Services Video Rental Stores Web Developers Wholesalers Women’s Clothing Stores |