Small Business Marketing Tips and Ideas

Marketing is an ongoing journey for your business.

That might seem like an obvious statement, but the actions of many small business owners might indicate otherwise. For many you build a web site, or create a brochure, or go to a few networking events and then you wait for results to happen. Effective marketing rarely works like that.

It takes regular and consistent effort to keep your pipeline full of good high-quality leads that you can work on converting into paying clients. It doesn't have to be an all-consuming effort, but it does take consistent effort.

Here are four ideas for continuously moving your marketing forward:

• Study up on marketing. There is no shortage of resources out there including books, audio programs, tele-classes, courses, etc. Refer to the Resource Links on our Proven Small Business Marketing Solutions web site. Look for the ones that offer proven, hands-on strategies and tactics, not get-rich-quick schemes.

• Form or join a "think tank" or "mastermind group." Find a group of people who will care just as much about your success as you do (and that you'll care about their success). This isn't just a group of friends who will tell you what you want to hear, but a group that will hold you accountable and support you.
  

• Attend talks and workshops regularly. If you go an participate fully, you'll often get just a much from the other participants as you will from the talk itself. Brainstorm with those you meet and find out what's working for them in their business.

• Get hands-on assistance. Working with a marketing coach or consultant who can help you focus, set goals, prioritize, create action plans, and help hold you accountable could be one of the best investments you make in your business.

Support from outside resources like these can help you shift your mindset and make marketing the ongoing journey it needs to be.

October 5, 2006 07:29 - How Are You Building Your Community?

There is an amazing phenomenon unfolding in the world of small business.

To achieve the higher levels of small business success, many small businesses have begun investing significant time and energy into building a strong community network. I'm using this term "community network" a little bit differently than what you might be thinking if you're participating in LinkeIn or MySpace. In a post back in April, my friend and mentor John Jantsch rants that such Online Social Networking is Neither Social or Networking.

I'm not going to comment on John's rant here. I know several folks who are using these types of online community networks for their own variety of reasons. The small business phenomenon I'm talking about is really bigger than all this.

I suppose some elements of this have been going on for years. But, I'm watching it unfold in my own backyard to a whole new level.

Small businesses are investing heavily in building true relationships and exploring lots of different ways to collaborate. They are getting together to build a community network because they understand that the sum of parts hold greater growth possibilities than their individual businesses.

It goes beyond small businesses getting together to help each other grow through referral networking. Organizations such as Leads Club and BNI (along with hundreds of copycats) have been around for at least thirty years. These are professional and business networking organizations that allow only one person per professional category to join a chapter. Their objective is to build a referral network for each other so they can get together on a regular basis to swap leads back and forth.

The concept is sound, but small businesses are looking for and finding ways to take it to a whole new level by building these community networks. They are more willing to look beyond category exclusiveness because the possibilities to provide even greater outcomes for each other and potential clients exist. It leads to small businesses that are less protective of their own client relationships because they more focused on helping them make connections that could benefit them. Even if it doesn't directly lead to more money in their pocket immediately.

I've been priviledge to be working with an organization called the American Club Association to build this kind of community network. We're calling it the Club Business Network. We are providing a structure and forum for small businesses to continuosly expand their circles of quality contacts and influence. The focus is on building true relationships that go way beyond just referrals. Club Business Network is about providing avenues to help others make connections, find resources, share and learn from each other.

Communities are rich and complex networks of social relationships. It's part business, part personal. It's part business, part educational, part social, part entertainment. I'm thrilled to be part of this phenomenon because I think it will move the influence of small business to a whole new level.

We'll be rolling the Club Business Network out all across America starting later this year or early next year. If you'd like to know more about it or are interested, then please contact me.

October 22, 2006 12:49 - What Does Your Online Profile Say About You?

A colleague of mine recently asked the question, "What happens when I Google your name?"

What was his point in asking? He said before a potential client meets with or hires a consultant or coach like us, they will often Google to search for your name. So his question was what comes back in the top organic Google search results. (In other words, ignore any of the pay-per-click or sponsored results - just focus on organic results.)

Go ahead and try it now to see what kind of results you get -Google

Do the results that you see present an online profile that you would want to present? Do the results read like a good advertisment or promotion for you and what you want people to know you do? Would the results you read compell anyone to want to know more?

Another colleague of mine sent a message the other day regarding a post on the Marketing Profs Blog about Self-Googling. The post is called Self-Googling Quiz: Are You Digitally Distinct...or Disasterous? - it's worth your read.

This all brought up some things I've been paying attention to the last year myself.

• What happens when someone searches for you online?

• What kind of results do they get back?
  

• Can they even find you?
  

• If they do find you, do the results contain any text compelling enough to make them actually click through the results?

It all started when a friend I had worked with in Dallas eight or nine years ago called me out of the blue. It was great to hear from him, but because I had changed jobs a couple of times over the years I was curious how he tracked me down. Here is a paraphrasing of the response I got back from him...

"I Googled you man. I can't believe how many results I found. You're all over the Internet. I read some of your articles, went to your web site. And, that's how I found your phone number. So you started a marketing consulting business - what made you decide to do that?"

I was amazed at how much he knew about what I had been up to. As soon as I could get myself back in front of a computer I Googled my name to see what he had found.

But, I didn't stop there. I wanted to know what or how the results varied on different ways I could be found. I searched for "Kevin P. Dervin" versus just "Kevin Dervin." But I still didn't stop there. I wanted to see what happens if someone searches for "KPD Marketing" or for "ABCD Growth Marketing." I became accutely aware that if someone is searching for me or my company, that I want them to see enough to want to know more.

This all speaks to the growing importance of the online world. If someone becomes aware of you through whatever means, it's very likely they'll Google you to see what they can find out.

So what does your online profile say about you? Are you happy with what you see when the search results come back? Go read that Marketing Profs Blog post I referred to above and get to work on enhancing your online profile.