Smart Marketing

Best blog to make you stay in small business

If you haven't checked out the Big Picture, Small Office blog...do. This blog is written by a corporate mucky-muck about the daily goings on at a big company.

Why am I suggesting this as a SMALL business blog? Because it will scare you into refusing to join (or in my case, rejoin) the corporate world.

Check it out.

Marketing tip: Stay visible

My 15-year old daughter babysits to support her shopping habit. A while ago we put together a flyer for her to pass out and from this effort, she got a babysitting gig. But then things quieted down. Months went by without a call for a babysitting job.

Last weekend, she ambled outside into the sunshine and 70 degree temperatures and visited with some of the smaller kids in the neighborhood. Nothing serious, just talking and playing some games. Within 2 hours, two mothers had approached her about babysitting for their kids. Phone numbers were exchanged.

This all goes to show that even the most simple of small businesses benefit from visibility. Small business owners like you and me have to maintain a physical presence in our markets, even if it seems like a chore. Sometimes just being visible pays huge dividends. People are reminded of you and your service...or they are introduced to it for the first time.

How about you? Are you getting out and interacting with your market? Has it made a difference for your business?

Blogs will change your business

Check out this great article in the latest Business Week. It clearly paints a bright picture for blogs in the future of business.

Among the highlights:

• "Sure, most blogs are painfully primitive. That's not the point. They represent power. Look at it this way: In the age of mass media, publications like ours print the news. Sources try to get quoted, but the decision is ours. Ditto with letters to the editor. Now instead of just speaking through us, they can blog. And if they master the ins and outs of this new art -- like how to get other bloggers to link to them -- they reach a huge audience."
  
  
• "There's little to stop companies from quietly buying bloggers' support, or even starting unbranded blogs of their own to promote their products -- or to tar the competition. This raises all kinds of questions about the ever-shrinking wall between advertising and editorial."
  
  
• "...the Web we've come to know is mostly a collection of documents. A library. These documents don't change much. Try Googling Donald Trump, and you're more likely to find his Web page than a discussion of his appearance last night on The Apprentice.  Blogs are different. They evolve with every posting, each one tied to a moment. So if a company can track millions of blogs simultaneously, it gets a heat map of what a growing part of the world is thinking about, minute by minute. E-mail has carried on billions of conversations over the past decade. But those exchanges were private. Most blogs are open to the world. As the bloggers read each other, comment, and link from one page to the next, they create a global conversation."

Like this blog? Please nominate it

Marketing Sherpa is once again accepting nominations for Best Marketing, PR and Advertising Blog Awards. If you like this blog, could I ask a favor? Would you consider nominating it for Best Small Business blog?

All you have to do is
1)  click here
2) cut and paste this URL:    http://jaylipe.typepad.com/smart_marketing/     into the "URL of Blog" field and
3) click on  "Best Blog on Small Business Marketing" , then submit.

I know I'm up against stiff competition, but that's never stopped me from trying before...

How to get leads while networking

Yesterday I was asked by the Twin West Chamber of Commerce (where I'm a member) to give a tip on how to best network within this organization for leads. My answer was to cast a "deep net" vs. a "wide net".

By that I mean people who attend every single networking event and have hundreds of 10 minute conversations sometimes have false expectations this will generate leads. In my opinion, this approach creates a lot of awareness, but generates few leads.  This is an example of casting a "wide net".

I instead recommend casting a "deep net".  Here you join a committee (or task force, etc) and get actively involved, volunteering duties. Using this approach, you work alongside other, very talented people. More importantly, your ongoing presence on this committee helps you develop relationships with others.

Committee members can also see, firsthand,  how you work. If you show up on time and honor your commitments, you will be remembered for it. This will come in handy when it comes time for that person to refer someone in your line of work.

What do you think? Is there a better way to get leads from a Chamber or Commerce?

Retail marketing tip; Reciprocity

During a recent family vacation to Maui, we all visited Hilo Hatties and they did something that really stood out in my mind. As we entered the store, one of the employees draped a free seashell necklace over each of our heads.

To say the least, this created quite an impression on me. Why? Because the longer I wore this free necklace around their store, the more I felt slightly obligated to buy more stuff. I mean, after all, they had the kindness to give ME a FREE necklace, why don't I just buy this CD by Iz?

Retailers, if you want people to shop, and I mean really shop, in your location, try giving them something for free. As an example, here is Harry Joiner's post on how giving free popcorn to customers has boosted one retailer's business. Enjoy.

Search engines continue to grow

Double Click has just issued an interesting white paper called "The Decade in Online Advertising; 1994-2004". In it, Search Engine Marketing is given its due.

According to the report, the search engine market accounts for fully 40% of online advertising. It also states that roughly 50% of all people examined in the study who made an online purchase, first conducted a search for that product sometime in the 12 weeks prior.

Not only does this show how pervasive the search engine market is, but also how it drives qualified buyers to your website. If you are not investing in search engine marketing, you stand to lose out in the long run.

Avoid this direct mail mistake

If you go to the expense of sending out a direct mail piece including an envelope, do yourself a favor and include a cover letter. I just received a direct mail piece (from a prestigious event center here in Mineapolis) with only one insert - a brochure. And if memory serves me correctly, the last several direct mail pieces I've received from other organizations also lacked cover letters.  There's seems to be a trend here.

Maybe the trend is "hey, I'm too busy". Maybe it's "we save money by not including a cover letter", but the effort falls short in my book.

A cover letter carries with it an air of informality; a flair for personality. And both these help establish a personal connection between the reader and the sender. Remember that the letter is signed by a person within the company, and so is viewed as person-to-person communication. But without a cover letter, your direct mail piece will be lumped together with blast emails or broadcast faxes as the bane of all marketing.

It's my opinion that any envelope delivered direct mail piece should be accompanied by a cover letter. But maybe I'm off base. What do you think?

3 Great Ways to Implement Marketing Projects

Planning out marketing projects is easy. The hard part is effectively implementing them. Here are 3 ways to more effectively implement your marketing projects.

1. Break larger tasks down into smaller ones - I'm working with a bricks and mortar company that is putting up an internet retail site. Right now the owners face the  daunting task of writing product descriptions for over 90 different products. Their faces brightened when I suggested we just concentrate on finishing 1 category to start.
2. Establish the same time & day pattern - I've found that those marketers who set aside the same day and time every week to accomplish tasks are most successful. Their behavior gets conditioned to think about writing brochure copy (or generating new product ideas or developing pricing strategies) every Friday at 3pm (or Monday morning at 7am).
3. For difficult tasks (or ones you procrastinate on) work in short bursts - For those tasks we abhor, try using an egg timer. Set it for 20 minutes and get cracking. My guess is after the timer rings, you'll be interested enough to continue. Then, just set the timer for another 20 minutes. This keeps you in control of time, not the task.

I'm sure I've overlooked some other tips  for successful marketing implementation. What are some you can think of?

A key marketing question

What one marketing question should you ask every new prospect? This marketing question is so important, yet I find very few companies, sales reps or marketers asking it.

The question is;
How did you hear about us?

When a new lead calls in to your company, you (or your employees) should ask this question out of habit. The answer to the question becomes a window into the workings of your marketing machine.  If a potential buyer says "I saw your ad in XYZ Magazine" then you know that vehicle has generated a lead.

Even better is the answer "Geez, I see you all over the place. There was the ad in XYZ Magazine, I saw your booth at the ABC Trade Show and I read your blog", well now you know you have an integrated marketing campaign, hitting on all cylinders.

Start asking this question and I'd venture to say that a whole new world of information will open up for you.

PS I'll be out of town until Apr 11. No blog entries until then. Need to refresh and recharge.

PSS If you hunger (!) for more marketing advice, check out the 20+ articles I've posted on my website.