Smart Marketing

Small Business Marketing Lessons: Learning something from Gas Prices

OK, we're all a little bit steamed about rising gas prices. But from a marketer's perspective, I've found a new reason to get steamed. It's the "immediate price increase" capability that gas stations now have. Just as recently as a year or two ago, most gas stations made price changes using a long pole with a suction cup at one end.

But now, a price advance is just a mouse click away. In fact, on more than one occasion I've driven past the same gas station an hour later and seen the price go up. This causes the subconscious to become a little frantic, I think.

I mean what if your grocery store placed a digital price sign above milk? And the price fluctuated constantly? Wouldn't you be just a bit skittish as you headed over to the dairy aisle every time you shopped there?

Two things to remember:
1) Use an analytical approach when raising your prices. Study what effect it will have on tiers of your customers.

2) Communicate a LOT about why your prices have to increase. Explain to buyers why prices are going up. They'll understand.

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Small business marketing mistakes - Self-servicing service

Unfortunately this is going to turn into a small business marketing rant, but what happened yesterday gets to the core of what's wrong with many small business' marketing efforts.

I'm coming up on the end of my car lease and so scheduled a lease inspection with an independent firm hired by Honda, my car make. I was told that I could schedule an on-site inspection at my home...great. Then I was asked to choose "8 to noon" or "1 to 5". Most of us have been that route before with the cable companies.

After pressing them to see if there wasn't a more accomodating schedule I was told no. Fine. So I scheduled an appointment for 8 to noon.

Yesterday, I waited and waited and waited to get a phone call, an email, or some form of communication telling me when I could expect to see my inspector. Nothing. Finally at 11:45, after I canceled a lunch appointment, my guy showed up.

Sure, I object to the 8-noon and 1-5 approach because it's at THEIR convenience not mine. But even more so, I object to not receiving any sort of communication from them about the progress the inspector was making.

Let this be a lesson for your small business marketing efforts. Every form of interaction should at least attempt to be seen as being made at your customer's convenience, not yours. Anything less than that is self-serving service.

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Small Business Marketing Tip - How to use R&D to Boost your Marketing

Most small business marketing folks see R&D (research and development) as a time intensive, costly process. I don't. That's because this small business marketing person uses R&D as as an abbreviation for "rip off and duplicate".

We small business marketing types have limited budgets and all-too-limited time, so we can't start all our marketing efforts from scratch. That's why when I first heard R&D refer to rip-off and duplicate, I was hooked.

Rip off and duplicate simply means to keep your eyes open in the market. Then, when you see some marketing program that grabs your attention, adapt it to your business. You'll save time and energy and be faster to market with a new marketing initiative.

R&D really works for small businesses, but only when it stands for rip-off and duplicate.

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Does Branding really work for your Consulting Firm?

Consulting firm marketers are always touting the value of establishing a brand…and now they have the data to back it up. RainToday.com found that consulting firms, that are well-known in their target markets, receive higher fees, see their revenue grow, and earn higher profits than their lesser-known counterparts.

Last month, RainToday published its Fees and Pricing Benchmark Report: Consulting Industry 2008 research, in which we surveyed 645 consultants to find out what challenges firms face when setting fee levels. They revealed hourly rates, profitability, discounting norms – a bunch of great stuff.

Check it out...

Small Business Marketing; Consider using a Style Guide to Boost your Brand

Most small business marketing departments start developing a hodge podge of marketing materials and before they know it, the small business' brand and marketing efforts look haphazard.

To address this small business marketing issue of haphazard marketing, consider using a style guide. A style guide is a set of standards for the design and creation of marketing materials.

A solid style guide will help you maximize the impact of your small business brand by standardizing the use of such marketing elements as:
* Brand personality
* Brand name conventions
* Logos—construction, usage, use with other logos
* Taglines & supplemental signatures
* Color, typography, backgrounds
* The use of white space
* Contact info (websites, phone numbers)
* Company identity materials
* Collateral materials

If your small business marketing efforts produce more than 3 pieces of marketing material a year, you should consider developing a style guide.

I'll talk more in depth about style guides, and the incredible impact they can have on your small business' growth, in future issues of my newsletter Marketing Tips & Tools.

Debunking the 24 hour small business marketing plan

There’s a popular trend in small business marketing today to tell people it will take a ridiculously short amount of time to complete something. For example, if I say you can have rippling abs in 24 hours, now I’ve got your attention, right?

Well, the sad fact is claims like these are false and misleading. I know this approach appeals to our time-starved society’s lifestyle, but when it comes to small business marketing plans, it’s all wrong.

Look, I’ve consulted directly with hundreds of small businesses and worked with thousands more solo entrepreneurs, and I’m here to tell you that developing a realistic and practical small business marketing plan WILL take more than 24 hours. The myth of the 24 hour marketing plan is spreading like wildfire, but what it really deserves is a thorough dousing. Remember that nothing in this world that is worth having, ends up taking only 24 hours.

If you want to reach conclusions about 1) who you should market to 2) what you should say to them and 3) where you should say it, then you’re going to require time to reflect.

If this makes sense to you, you might want to check out my brand new e-book How to Write a Marketing Plan that Wins New Clients and Grows your Business.

How to decide on the right marketing tools for your small business marketing plan

In my brand new e-book, How to Write a Marketing Plan that Wins New Clients and Grows Your Business I define a successful marketing plan tool as one that satisfies 3 criteria:
* Comfort
* Effectiveness
* Sustainability

Let me explain....

After working with hundreds of small business leaders to develop marketing plans, I've learned that a successful marketing tool for that business is one that the leader 1) enjoys doing 2) generates a favorable response and 3) is consistently pursued. Hence, one that is 1) comfortable 2) effective and 3) sustainable.

If you struggle with finding marketing tools that you enjoy and are effective, then you owe it to yourself to check out How to Write a Marketing Plan that Wins New Clients and Grows Your Business.

I guarantee it will help you identify the marketing tools that will gorw your business and gain new clients...or your money back.

Small Business Internet Marketing: Key Website Navigation Sections Needed

Every small business that has a website should try to standardize portions of that small business website. I know this flies in the face of the marketing principle to be different whenever you can, but with the web maturing a bit, and standard conventions in small business websites becoming more pronounced, I think there are several navigation sections that website visitors come to expect when they land on your site.

They are:
About Us - Visitors who are new to your site, and don't know much about your company, want to start with the basics. An About Us section not only answers many of a visitor's basic questions about the small business, but it also helps them understand how the company positions itself. Note: the search engine savvy marketer makes the tab read "About (your company name)" instead of About Us so the search engines digest another mention of your company name.

Products (or services) - Another standard tab that people hunt for. Not only does the first time visitor want to understand the broad company view (About Us), but they also want to know what do you offer me that I might be interested in?

FAQ - FAQ pages are becoming the de facto standard these days. Not only is a FAQ a great way for visitors to answer their own questions, but it's also a great way to allow visitors to prequalify themselves. For example, if your FAQ page has the following question "What is a profile of your firm's best prospect?", the reader may start to see themselves in the answer.

I'll cover even more of these standard navigation sections of a small business website in future issues of my newsletter Marketing Tips & Tools.

Brand New Small Business Marketing Plan Tool

Does your small business lack a marketing plan? Are you frustrated that your small business marketing efforts aren't generating enough new clients?

The small business world is divided into two distinct camps: the "haves" and the "have nots". I've found after working with hundreds of small businesses over the last 20 years that small business owners who have all the clients they need, also have a marketing plan.

But the have nots…well they haven't a clue about their marketing. They are frustrated every single day because their small business isn't growing, yet they don't know why. And the biggest reason is because they don't have a marketing plan.

I've just spent the last 6 months writing, polishing and perfecting a new e-book called How to Write a Marketing Plan that Wins New Clients and Grows Your Business and if you're struggling right now in your small business marketing efforts, give this a try.

It's only $49.95 and once you purchase How to Write a Marketing Plan that Wins New Clients and Grows Your Business you get 3 bonus reports absolutely free: "10 Things you can Do Right Now to Improve your Marketing", "The 10 Commandments of Successful Marketing" and my "PowerPack of Marketing Tips & Tools".

If you're interested in growing your small business this year, in fact right now, then check out my new e-book How to Write a Marketing Plan that Wins New Clients and Grows Your Business.

Small Business Marketing Tip: Networking Rule #1

Whenever a small business marketing person meets with another to network, I advise that small business marketing person to ALWAYS come prepared with a leave behind. A leave behind is a relevant marketing tool that's given to another to help them understand better what the small business person's company does.

I should hasten to add that a proper leave-behind is in addition to a business card. A business card is simply a printed form of an introduction ("Hi, I'm Jay Lipe with Emerge Marketing and here's my card").

A leave behind is any information or marketing tool that builds upon the conversation taking place. Some of the most common leave behinds I see used by my small business marketing clients are:
* Brochures
* White papers
* Articles of interest
* Case studies
* Article reprints
* DVD's or CD's containing information about your company

There are probably hundreds of others, but the point remains: As a matter of course always provide a leave-behind at the close of any networking meeting. It helps deepen your guest's understanding of your business, provides them something to store in their files and provides them with an opportunity to pass along something about your company to others. Not to mention it's a nice gesture to leave someone with a "gift".

Like what you read here? I cover a host of practical small business marketing tips like this in my newsletter Marketing Tips & Tools.