This edition of The Business Spotlight has host Patrick Dougher speaking with Guru Dave Swift about the 8 Deadly Sins of Marketing.

Most businesses look at marketing as an expense, something they can cut back on when money is tight. In reality, marketing is the first thing you should spend your money on – at least good marketing. The problem is that not all marketing is good, or effective, and cost you more than you get back in return. On the other hand, good marketing can bring in many times more returns than you invested.

Dave Swift discusses the 8 Deadly Sins of Marketing, and what people are doing wrong that can hurt them in the long run.

The 8 Deadly Sins of Marketing:

1. Do No Harm – “It’s better to avoid mistakes, and sometimes the best thing to do is nothing,” says Swift. People who can be very savy on the operational side are not so savy on the marketing end. Making mistakes can be costly.

2. Stop Doing Spaghetti Marketing – throwing all different types of marketing strategies out there at once and hope something sticks. Odds are you don’t know what is working, so you can’t measure the results to see which one is worth continuing with and which one should be dropped.

3. Analysis Paralysis – over analyzing and taking too much time to make a decision, so that you miss opportunities.

4. Decisions By Committee – not having one person have the final say in what strategy you are using, and measuring the results.

5. Trying to be a Do-It-Yourselfer – trying to cut corners by doing the marketing yourself, or cheaply. Poor quality marketing can be damaging, and cost you customers.

6. Failure To Track Results – Measuring how each tactic is working for you so you can adjust your plan to the ones that are most beneficial. If it doesn’t work it is costing you money.

7. Hiring The Wrong Marketing Talent – Some people hire someone because they say they are marketing experts, but it turns out they are not, or are experts in Business to Business or Business to Client when you need just the opposite. The wrong marketer can use the wrong technique, and do you no good.

8. Being Results oriented vs Awards oriented. There are a lot of awards you can get for being creative, but that does not mean this creativity get results. Be more concerned about results than recognition.

To learn more, watch the video. If you want to know how to connect with Dave, go to his website http://MarketinGuru.us and speak to Dave about his knowledge base and how it can help you get where you want to go.