Small Business Marketing Tips and Ideas

With the holiday season upon us, you might be thinking it's time to just stop marketing and wait to get a fresh start in the New Year.

Don't Do It!

Take advantage of all the marketing opportunities the season has to offer - especially holiday networking. If you're like most, you'll see more people in the next two or three weeks than you do all year.

Be prepared to take advantage of holiday networking.

The holidays are a great time to network. Gatherings are abundant and all of them represent potential opportunities to make great connections. Here are just a few thoughts and ideas to keep in mind for the holiday networking season.

Don't waste opportunities when you meet someone new because you think it's a holiday party and people aren't there to do business. The most asked question you'll get is still likely to be, "What do you do?" Be prepared with your attention getting message - your 10-second WOW! You just never know who you might be meeting.

Always remember all of your networking etiquette, skills and know-how. Go prepared to ask good questions, listen actively, share valuable information, and know what kinds of connections could be useful to you and your business.

You don't have to be all business all the time. Go ahead and ask people if they have any favorite holiday traditions or what they think the best movie or book was this past year. It's ok to ask people how their business is going as long as you're willing to talk about other things if they don't want to go there.

Be a connector of people. Holiday gatherings are often a time when multiple groups of people end up in the same place at the same time. Introduce clients to each other. Introduce referral sources to each other. Introduce family and friend to these groups of people as well. The connections you help make will be appreciated and remembered.

Think through your follow-up and stay in-touch plan. It would be a shame to make a great connection and then not see that person again until you both attend the same party or open house next year. Be prepared to share resources of value that help you turn initial attention into building up of interest, credibility and trust.

December 5, 2005 09:51 - More Holiday Networking - The Art of Small Talk

I just read an article in the newspaper this morning about the ability to small talk. How appropriate to the topic of holiday networking - the subject of my Friday morning post.

If you're going to get the most from networking, you have to accept that small talk is part of the game.

Some people seem to come by it naturally. Others just figure it's not in their genes - they just don't have the gift of gab. If the second description defines you, don't discourage because you can get better.

Understanding and appreciating the value of small talk will help. Small talk is really just a way of breaking the ice to find things in common. Whether it's a casual conversation or the beginning of a lifelong friendship or business relationship, most conversations start with small talk.

Brad Hirni, a friend of mine who speaks professionally on networking contends that there are two primary reasons most never master the art of professional networking. One reason is not disciplining yourself to think proactively about what you want and need. The other reason is not having the courage and desire to establish new connections. Translation - find a way to get really good at small talk.

Not sure what to talk about? The holiday networking season might be the easiest for generating small talk because of the multitude of topics you could choose from.

Here's a list of topics. Be prepared to start or participate in small talk on any of the following:

Holiday Topics:

• Have any travel plans for the upcoming holidays?

• Does your family have any holiday traditions?

• Do you have big plans for the holidays?

• Are you a winter person or more of a summer person?

End of Year Topics (Each could be started with "Boy, the year is almost over..."):

• Did you see any really great movies this past year?

• Did you read any really good books this past year?

• What do you think the experts will say was the most significant event of this past year?

Ready to talk business a little bit? Try these starters:

• How did you get started in your business?

• So, any great success stories from this past year?

• What are your big plans for next year?

I'm sure you could brainstorm lots of other potential topics. You don't have to try and change your personality to become super outgoing, but with some preparation you can get better at small talk.

Have the confidence to walk up to someone you don't know to introduce yourself and strike up a conversation. The personal and business rewards can be enormous.

December 9, 2005 09:02 - An Easier Way To Send Your Holiday Greetings

The best marketers show their appreciation often.

In fact, saying Thank You and showing appreciation is probably the simplest, but most powerful way to build word-of-mouth for your business.

Now I'm not suggesting that you just start throwing around Thanks in a thinly veiled attempt to manipulate people into creating word-of-mouth about you. I'm suggesting that you express Thank You often because as my mother would say, "It's the right thing to do." Just be prepared to start reaping the marketing benefits.

This time of year, appreciation for clients and other important business contacts is often expressed with Holiday Greeting cards. It's a way to tell them thank you for the relationship this past year and to let them know you're still thinking about them during this busy, hustle and bustle time of the year. However, for some this becomes a large, dreaded, and time-consuming task.

I understand if you don't necessarily look forward to writing, stuffing, sealing, addressing, stamping, and mailing 50 to 100 Holiday Greeting cards. For most of us, that kind of time is simply too valuable.

What if you could send out all of your Holiday Greeting cards, and personalize each one of them, in just a few minutes? Wouldn't that be awesome?

Here's how you can. This past year I was introduced to a system called SendOutCards.com. With this system I can log in to a web site, select a card, personalize it and have it sent in less than a minute for just over $1.00. I can even personalize a message in my own handwriting and include my signature, but my hands never leave the keyboard and computer mouse.

If I upload my mailing list, with just a few clicks and a little bit of typing, I can send out a couple of hundred personalized Holiday Greeting cards in just a few minutes.

For a mere $25 extra, you could select a greeting card you like and have your logo added. I'm working to put together some web pages (maybe even a whole site) to show you how to leverage the power of the SendOutCards.com system as part of your overall marketing throughout the year.

For now, head on over to SendOutCards.com and see how easy it would be to send all of your Holiday Greeting cards in just a few minutes.

Please contact me if you're interested in signing up or need some more information.

Happy Holidays!

December 12, 2005 09:41 - Year-End Marketing To-Do's

The end of another year is fast approaching. The holidays are so close it's hard not to get caught up in some of the hustle and bustle.

Many small business owners will say that things really slow down these last few weeks of the year. For some that makes it a good time to back things down a bit and take some time off.

Why not use some of the holiday downtime to set your business up for even greater success next year? Here are a few year-end marketing to-do's. You don't have to do all of them. Even doing just one can help you propel your business forward in the coming New Year.

1. Do some planning for next year.

Don't wait until the beginning of the year to plan for next year. Review you business purpose, vision and goals. List out 10 significant outcomes you'd like to have achieved by the end of 2006.

2. Do some serious analysis of this past year.

How and where did all of your clients come from this past year? What worked well and not so well in terms of your lead generation and sales conversion systems? Determine where the opportunities for continuously improving your results might be. Perhaps you could tighten the definition of your target market, more clearly articulate your differentiation, create more attention getting headlines for your sales letters and direct mail pieces, or improve your referral marketing systems.

3. Learn how to generate more lead and clients with a new system.

Make a commitment to add a new component to your marketing and sales system for next year. One thing that seems to hold a lot of small business owners back is not implementing enough lead generation and client attraction activities. Make 2006 the year that you put a referral marketing system in place; launch an ezine; add a blog to drive even more traffic to your web site; learn how to create powerful, money-making sales letters. There are resources available. Find one and follow it step-by-step!

4. Take back your space.

Cluttered and disorganized space is one of the biggest time wasters for business owners. Clean out your email inbox and any other personal folders once and for all. Clean your desk, filing cabinets and bookshelves even if it means going through it one piece of paper at a time. Everything needs to find a place. There's a good chance that lots of the things cluttering your office need to find their place in the trash. Don't forget your computer. Now is a perfect time to take it to someone for routine maintenance and required upgrades. Go through the same organization and de-cluttering exercise as you did on your desk.

5. Let your clients know how much you appreciate them.

The holidays are a perfect time to stay in touch and let your clients know you're thinking about them. Holiday cards and year-end thank you notes are good practice. Go ahead and let them know what you'd like to get accomplished next year to serve them even better. You can appreciate them and create some accountability for yourself all in one thoughtful step.

Don't forget to take some time to actually enjoy the holidays. Be giving of your time and talents to those less fortunate. Give yourself a break and be ready to make 2006 your best year ever!

December 16, 2005 07:57 - Clarify Your Purpose and Vision

2006 is fast approaching. You are no doubt planning for how to make next year your best year yet. You are doing some planning aren't you?

I'd like to recommend you take some time to really clarify your Purpose and Vision.

Clear purpose and vision are the keys to giving you a focus and direction that is all too often lacking from small businesses. What you need to do is quite simple, but may challenge you if you've never taken the step before.

Here's a few ideas to help make 2006 your best year yet.

* Three questions to ponder as you seek to re-ignite the purpose in your business:

• What do you really want out of life?
  
• What do you really not want in your life?
  
• What would you be willing to give up in order to live the life you want?

Answer these questions honestly and build your business around the life you want to live. Talk about a purpose that would set you on fire.

* Here's an idea for creating your vision. Think of the absolute greatest outcome that you can possible imagine that your best clients would really want from your service. Build your vision around being "the resource" that works to deliver that.

* Examine your values and principles and then determine what you want your business to be in the future. Find your favorite way to relax quietly and let your mind open to dwell in what's possible.

* Imagine yourself in a private movie theater watching a movie of your future self in 10 years. As the movie ends you notice you've been joined by the star of the show. Ask them any question you want about how they got to that place of great success in the movie. This may seem silly to you at first, but if you open your mind up to accept that the visioning process will work, you'll be amazed at the answers that will emerge.

With purpose and vision all of your business activities can begin to line up and point in the same direction. The focus of your marketing efforts will especially become clearer. Then almost automatically it will let you begin attracting more of the clients and opportunities you need to realize your purpose and vision.

December 19, 2005 10:11 - Small Business Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Next Year (Part 1 of 3)

How was your year in 2005? Did you achieve the goals and objectives you set out for yourself? Would you like to get better results from your marketing and really start taking your business to the next level? Sure you would. I hope you're all planning to make next year your best year ever.

One of the things that I've found is that most small businesses can do much better if they just start avoiding some common marketing blunders. Unfortunately, the list of common small business marketing mistakes is long enough that I'll have to share over a couple of blog post.

The good news is that if you're willing to critically evaluate whether you make each of these mistakes, you can find immediate room for improvement.

Here are some marketing mistakes to look for and avoid next year and beyond:

1. Not clarifying your purpose and vision (see blog post on Friday, 12/16)

2. Not having a marketing and sales system. You have a system for most of your major business functions - billing, accounting, human resources, etc. The one function that usually goes without a system is marketing and sales.

Without a marketing and sales system you'll never grow your business to its full potential. A marketing system will help you break your marketing down into a series of connected small steps to generate more leads consistently and convert them into clients.

3. Never really determining your customers' and prospects' needs. So many small business owners are stubbornly offering their clients and prospect what they want to do.

If you never ask your clients what they value, want and need from a business like yours then you're making a huge mistake. Use customer surveys, focus groups, and stay up on industry news all you can.

4. Not clarifying and articulating your uniqueness throughout all your marketing. How do you stand out and make your message memorable in a crowded marketplace of "me too" alternatives to your business?

Most small businesses never communicate their uniqueness. It's not that you don't have a uniqueness that's significant for your clients, it's just that most don't ever draw it out of their business and articulate it in their marketing. Spend some time to determine how and why your business is different and special. More importantly, clarify how and why that difference benefits your clients.

Be brutally honest with yourself when assessing if you've been making any of these mistakes you just read about. Just by acting on these first 4 mistakes you'll be way ahead of the majority of small businesses out there.

Part 2 of this special three-part post - Small Business Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Next Year will come out by this Friday. Talk to you then.

December 23, 2005 14:01 - Small Business Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Next Year (Part 2 of 3)

Here are some more of the most common small business marketing mistakes you need to avoid.

How did you do with the first four mistakes listed in my last post? Remember you have to be as honest as possible with yourself. Making the mistake might not be helping your business, but denying it will keep you from ever reaching the levels of success you desire.

I'm not saying you're making each of these mistakes. But, those that are willing to critically evaluate each for their own business will be on their way to a better next year.

OK, let's get to some more of those mistakes:

5. Launching into marketing without preparing. This might seem like a somewhat obvious summary point after the first four mistakes I listed in my last post. Have you spent the time to clarify and define your target niche, your core marketing message, your uniqueness, your packaging, your results and benefits, your risk reversal, your irresistible offers, etc?

Too often I see people that get into business and feel like they have to just start marketing without any preparation. They throw together a brochure, get some business cards, buy some yellow pages advertising, and then rush out to start networking everywhere they can. These are all fine tools. But, without any planning or preparation they often produce poor results.

6. Not using enough marketing lead generation tools. If all you've done is buy a Yellow Pages ad and put up a web site, you're practicing marketing invisibility. Many times I see small business owners implement one idea and then wait to see what kind of results it's going to produce before they try anything else.

Imagine what you could do if you used 5, 10, 15, or more marketing lead generation tools together to grow your business? What effect could this have if each tool was producing some results for you? You sure wouldn't be practicing marketing invisibility.

7. Not having any tools for introduction or follow-up from your business. Unless you're selling a very small ticket product or service, chances are good most prospects won't hire you when they first learn about you. Most people still buy from those they know, like, and trust. Without introduction and follow-up tools to show a little bit of who you are and what you're capable of, establishing those levels of know, like, and trust often never happens.

You need to develop some low-cost, low-risk tools to introduce people to your business and use throughout your follow-up cycles until they are ready to buy. Articles, special reports, tip sheets, newsletters, tele-seminars, invitations to networking events, and free trial periods are all examples of low-risk and low-costs (sometimes even free) ways to accomplish this task.

8. Never giving clients and prospects reasons why. You need to give your prospects and clients reasons why you're doing the things you do. This fits right along with the previous point, but also with other elements of your marketing such as why you're running a special promotion or why you're offering special pricing, etc.

When you offer reasons your prospects and clients will appreciate what you're doing at a higher level. They'll be more likely to believe in you and trust you. Above all, they'll be much more likely to take action.

Again, I'd ask you to really challenge yourself and be honest about whether or not you make these mistakes. If you acknowledge them, then you can avoid them and immediately begin improving your results.

Part 3 of the Small Business Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Next year is just a few days away in my next post.

December 26, 2005 10:37 - Small Business Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Next Year (Part 3 of 3)

We're just a few days away from the New Year. Are you ready to make it your best year yet? Have you been thinking about the marketing mistakes you may have been making and how to avoid them in the future?

Same as in my last two posts, I'm continuing a list of small business marketing mistakes for you to avoid next year.

9. Not creating marketing and advertising that is direct-response-oriented. So many small business owners are creating marketing or advertising campaigns to "get there name out there." But, the problem is there's no call to action to generate immediate response.

You need to create marketing and advertising that gets people to act as soon as they see it. Simply listing the name of your company, a few bullets on services you provide and a phone number to call won't get it done.

10. Not testing and tracking. Once you put your marketing out there, how do you know if it's doing the job of attracting prospects and clients? How do you know if you could be getting 20, 30, or 70% greater results? Too many small businesses simply don't test and track their efforts.

Testing and tracking may not be as hard as you think. For example, when sending a direct sales letter you could split your list in half and test a different headline, offer, or price with each half of the list. You could send the same letter to two different lists to see which list is more responsive. Tracking could be as easy as putting a code on each and asking the prospect for the code whenever an inquiry comes in.

11. Not sticking with marketing tools that are still working. This is often a direct result of mistake number 10, but also happens because people think they need to keep things fresh. Sometimes business owners think something has been running for too long or they're simply tired of the same old thing.

If something is working, then you need to stay with it. The key here is to be always tracking your results. Chances are good you'll get tired of a certain marketing activity long before it stops working for you. Resist the temptation to change something up just because you're bored with it.

12. Stop marketing once you get the client. Too many small business owners focus all of their marketing energy on acquiring a new client. This is a big mistake even though most say they recognize it takes seven to eight times as much to get a new client as it does to sell to an existing client.

Two things you don't want to hear from a client are ... "I didn't know you guys did that..." and "I wish we would of thought of you when we just bought that last week." Marketing shouldn't stop once you get the client.

Put clients and prospects on your stay-in-touch marketing list. Keep them informed and continue to share information of value with them. Share success stories. Ask them for feedback. Ask them how else you can help them. Ask them who else they know that you can help.

13. No plan or system for generating referrals. Almost every small business owner I meet tells me most of their business comes from referrals or word-of-mouth. But, when I ask them what they're doing to guarantee a consistent flow of referral business, they just don't have an answer.

It feels great when a happy client tells someone else about you and that new prospect becomes a client. But, if you're just passively sitting around waiting for others to refer you, then you're not maximizing your growth potential. You need a systematic approach to generate a constant flow of referrals. Take a look at John Jantsch's Referral Flood.

I'm sure there are more small business marketing mistakes, but these are costing small business owners plenty. Do your best to avoid each of these mistakes from the last few blog posts. With some commitment and effort, you can't help but end up with more effective marketing.

And if you need some help, check out the resources on this web site and on my www.abcdgrowth.com web site.