The Right Way to Market

I'm a little amazed at the lack of focus in the marketplace.  The focus tends to be on an event that will suddenly change a business (ie. "if I send these inserts to 30k people then my business will turn around" or "if I can hire a good sales rep then everything will be ok").  That's a belief that can and does bring a business down.  If you're looking for the "magic elixir", then you're going down a disappointing road.

No matter what size your business, you need to focus a good amount of time on marketing it consistently, predictably and over the life of your business.  When planning, you need to develop not only a business plan but a marketing plan.  And you need a marketing budget.  You either need to set aside time for it yourself, or have a resource that can manage and implement everything that needs to be done.

The public notices if you're a one-shot deal.  They don't respond to that.  It takes some time for them to regard you as a stable, serious provider of services (whatever you do), and there needs to be a consistent dialogue with them through a number of means.

Just like with anything, effective marketing takes commitment and focus.  I know I have in the past, but have you fallen victim to the "marketing is an event" syndrome?  What is your experience?