1. How many techniques do I consistently employ in my total marketing mix? ___ 
   
   Do not count the techniques you use once in while but not consistently, e.g., a quarterly newsletter produced only once or twice a year because they are more damaging than helpful.
   
   The answer should be three or more. However, how many different techniques you use does not matter as much as what the array is, how well they fit together for your audience and whether you hitting the audience you are targeting in the best way you can. A rule to remember is Market > Messages > Media. You may create a wonderful message, but if it does not suit the audience now or you do not deliver it by a means they appreciate, your efforts will disappoint.
   
   
2. What percentage of my gross revenue is assigned to marketing? ___%
   
   Some say 10-15% should be the norm. That's okay if you are measuring the right things. What I look for is some number assigned clearly to marketing efforts, whether it is a percentage of gross income or a flat amount. Marketing—largely what you do strategically to retain clients and attract new business—is a strategic effort that helps guide you in your intended direction and navigate the shoals, winds and water between here and there. 
   
   
3. Can I/we sustain this marketing mix indefinitely? Yes___ No___
   
   Is there budget allocated, staff or outsourcing assigned, a procedure in place for accountability?
   
   Your marketing mix should fit within your time, work load and budget constraints so that you are comfortable continuing to market even when times are tough. Cutting marketing when you most need to sustain it is like a life insurance company cutting training budgets in tough times to save a few dollars—penny wise and pound foolish.
   
   
4. Do I/we nurture a specific brand in our marketplace? Yes___ No___
   
   Do you confuse reputation with brand?
   
   Brand is not reputation. That is a common misconception. Brands attract, bias and convince people that what they don’t see yet is what they will actually receive…with quality reasonably assured. People don’t think about a brand as much as they feel what it means to them.
   
   That feeling—the result of experience, thinking and emoting—forms a convincing logic that leads them to emphatically accept what the brand represents. Nurture your unique brand to attract prospects and win clients. Not doing this is a major failure among professional practices and the basis for most effective differentiation of those who do.
   
   
5. Do I/we rely on one specific marketing technique clearly more than the others to make our image credible and compelling?

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