How to Explode Your Small Business Marketing and Fatten Your Wallet!

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:32:32 +0000

Todd Jirecek asked:

Small businesses are popping up everywhere. However, one of the biggest problems they face is small business marketing. To understand this lets first take a look at why.

Today more than ever, people are jumping on the small business band wagon like the traffic that arrives at a 60% off sales at a major clothing store.

There are all kinds of people starting their own plumbing business, contracting business and whatever else you can think of.

Part of the reason for this is there is no job security anymore and unions seem to be a thing of the past. The days are long gone where people stayed at the same job for 25 years or more.

Corporations have downsized more than ever in today’s changing world. People seem to be laid off for just about any reason you can think of anymore. One thing is for sure, the economy has changed.

Many people think we are doomed as a society but, are they failing to realize that things have just only changed.

It’s kind of like the auto worker who was laid off because he was replaced by the mechanical robot arm that now makes cars. However that worker took notice and went back to school and learned to repair those robots.

His future is now bright again because he was able to see the change he needed to make.

In marketing, the same change takes place all the time. Marketing is a never ending battle to get the word about your products or services.

If one thing doesn’t work you should try something else until you land upon a winning combination. And then create a small business marketing plan.

Don’t get caught up in the mindset of you tried something once and it didn’t work for you so therefore it doesn’t work at all.

Marketing takes many years of skill and practice to be able to perform it like a red belt karate master.

But let’s look at that karate master just a little closer for a second. In some forms of martial arts, a black belt has to learn only 5 to 10 moves to become a black belt.

So they practice those moves over and over until they know them like a pup knows its own mother.

The point here is many people are looking for the quick fix all the time. They continue to search out many sources of marketing information without taking any action at all.

Learning is a very positive thing and should be performed all the time.

However, one of the greatest tricks of marketing is finding that one thing that you know you can do and works very well for you.

And then repeat it over and over until you know it like the karate master.

Then and only then can you move on to other things in the marketing mix to help make your business more money.

Again, do not get caught up in thinking you have to learn and do everything at one. Your business marketing will take time to learn.

Make it a process and enjoy it. Continue to read books and other marketing strategies materials that help you learn more.

If you find yourself in a bind and already own a business that needs help with marketing. Here are five small steps to help you until you learn the bigger picture.

1. Hire an expert. Many marketing experts do consult for thousands of dollars at a time. However, maybe you have a friend that owns a business. Jump up off the couch and see what they do for their marketing.

2. Get the word out. Listen you are going to make mistakes. But, doing nothing is a total loss. Get out there and do something today to make it happen. You could try to make a flayer and hand it out to people.

3. Tell your friends and family. Friend and family are there to help when you need it. So don’t be shy. Ask them for help. You could ask them if they might know anyone interested in your business or if they know anyone who could help you.

4. Start a company web site. A website is a great way to get the word out about your business. The trick here is learning about web marketing. One way could be a logo on your car.

5. Joint partnerships with other businesses. Whatever business you own there are similar businesses that you could pair up with. You could recommend each others products or services to the others customers. Just make sure they are in line with your target market.

These are small ways to leverage your business over your competition.

Just remember to learn all you can and if you do nothing else take action to make it happen.

You will stumble along the way, that is a given. But, if you do nothing you have no business.

Would You Use Meat Loaf in Your Targeted Small Business Marketing

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:15 +0000

Paul Flood asked:

Entrepreneurs know the importance of a targeted small business marketing strategy. Many make the mistake of doing what big advertisers do. Rock icon Meat Loaf is in a great commercial but the product and company selling it are easily forgotten. Learn a lesson on how not to advertise

Remember Meat Loaf (born Michael Lee Aday)? His album Bat Out of Hell, released in 1977, has sold nearly 40,000,000 copies and was on the charts for over 9 years. He is also featured in a new commercial that is running pretty frequently on TV.

The ad features Meat Loaf as a dad whose son is begging him to get him a cell phone. He’s singing about how he won’t run up the minutes. Personally, I am a fan of Meat Loaf and I like the commercial. He includes some lyrics and riffs from Paradise by the Dashboard Light, which I’ve always thought was a cool tune.

The other afternoon, I heard the commercial and started singing the tune in my head and realized I had seen the commercial several times and could not think of the company or brand of the phone! Now, I’m thinking this was a fairly expensive production because in addition to Meat Loaf, Tiffany is in the commercial and they are probably fairly expensive talent to hire.

After all of this expense, I couldn’t relate a brand or a product to the commercial! I kept an eye out for the next airing and saw it was for the AT&T GoPhone. Think of all the money spent on the ad. They did a lot of things right like using celebrity endorsements, a good tune and an entertaining spot. But it really made me wonder, why couldn’t I think of the company or the product?

What could you do differently if were considering a similar TV ad as one of your primary small business marketing tools ? For one thing, a bit more focus on the product instead of the production. You could easily think of special offers that would give prospects a reason to buy soon. I’ll bet a contest to have dinner with Meat Loaf or win a free “Bat Out of Hell” concert DVD would attract buyers. You would have a tracking mechanism to see how many inquiries and sales were generated. What if they had a toll free number, 1-800-MeatLoaf, to call and get a special offer and find out how to download the song to iTunes or even a ring-tone? The marketing folks could track response and the ROI on the ad. What if there were a contest to be in a commercial with Meat Loaf?

But instead, the focus was all on creativity and entertainment. I’ll bet the ad will even win an award but I still think ads should be written to sell the product now, not build a brand or win awards. My guess is that you can’t afford Meat Loaf in your ads but remember, when you do advertise, it’s about making money, not building your brand. Brands don’t put food on the table, sales do. When you spend money on marketing, either do it yourself of find a professional whose goal is to increase your profits and is willing to guarantee results, not just earn a commission.

The commercial may not be on TV too long but you can catch it on www.youtube.com. Search for Meat Loaf AT&T. This version is a 90 second commercial that does a better job of naming the product than the spot on TV but it still could have soooo much more potential as a source of REVENUE instead of a brand. When you think about branding as a strategy, ask yourself if you want to get your name out there or sell as much of you product or service as possible and build a strong and loyal customer list as quickly as possible.

For the small business marketing tools to add to your toolbox, go ahead and think about branding. However, your brand needs to be strong and you should strengthen it with incredible products and service or with your Unique Selling Proposition. Build your brand using marketing that creates prospects and leads. It is just as expensive to get your name out there with a compelling offer and reason for a client to buy from you now as it is to just get your name out there. The difference is the ROI. The Meat Loaf commercial offers no way to measure the ROI and small businesses can’t afford to throw scarce marketing dollars up against the wall and guess at the ROI.

Here is a powerful small business marketing tip when it comes to a brand-building strategy: If your financial planner came to you with an idea to spend $10,000 on marketing as an investment, you’d think, “What will my return be?because she is a trusted advisor. Use the same standards with your marketing, advertising and media reps. Ask the question: “What is my projected return and how does it compare to other marketing investments?When the rep tells you the value of impressions, ask for some statistics from other advertisers regarding the ROI of the ads and spots they are running?

After you watch the YouTube video, see if you can help me out. Why is Tiffany holding a leg of lamb when she enters the commercial set? Maybe there is some reference I don’t remember from Meat Loaf’s earlier days. He was quite a theatrical talent!

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How to Explode Your Small Business Marketing and Fatten Your Wallet!

Would You Use Meat Loaf in Your Targeted Small Business Marketing