Smart Marketing

New reviews for Stand Out from the Crowd

My second marketing book, Stand Out from the Crowd; Secrets to Crafting a Winning Company Identity, was just reviewed by the prestigious Midwest Book Review.

Here's an excerpt:

"Offering a plethora of tips, tricks, and techniques to build a reputation and make a long-lasting impression upon clientele, Stand Out From the Crowd covers how to properly craft a mission statement, create an intense focus on one's target markets, deliver world-class service, determine a properly balanced fee for services rendered, write copy that motivates people to buy, use taglines, logos, and colors to maximum effect, and much more. Enthusiastically recommended especially for anyone involved in establishing a company's brand and identity."

I'm honored that any book of mine would garner praise like this from the Midwest Book Review.

Make a champions list

As some of you know from reading my book The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses, I regard targeting as one of the most important tasks in a small business marketing plan. That's because you can have the world's most innovative product,  craft the most brilliant marketing messages, and deliver them using the most ingenious marketing tools. But if all these efforts are directed at the wrong people (those who lack interest in your product, or those who lack money) you'll see little marketing success.

That's why I recommend that every small business owner compile a Champions List. This is a list of the Top 25 people who take an active interest in promoting your business. They could be board members, consultants, vendors, or dozens of other types of people. But they're your Champions because they ACTIVELY promote your small business through referrals and word-of-mouth.

OK, once you compile this Champions List (use Excel for a simple list or ACT for a more detailed one) adopt my friend Mark LeBlanc's 30-day rule and never let them get 30 days away. How do you do this? A myriad of ways including:

• Phone them for check-in calls
• Add them to your sequential autoresponder series
• Email them with a brief update on your company
• Send them an article of interest
• Invite them out to lunch

The important thing is this: Know who the Top 25 Champions are for your business, and never let them get 30 days away. I think you'll find that more abundant word-of-mouth and referrals will follow this strategy...