In business today, as in life, it’s awfully hard to stop long enough to gather information before proceeding.  We tend to jump out in the street, trusting that our instincts will protect us, or that the oncoming traffic will avoid collision. This is especially true in small business marketing.  With the rapid proliferation of marketing tools and tactics, the temptation is strong to keep moving, looking and listening while we go, hoping to select the proper marketing tactics along the way.  We often expect that since we haven’t been in a “bad” accident yet, surely we’ll get better every time we cross the street.

Here’s the reality.  Every time we cross the street, without first looking and listening, we are increasing the statistical likelihood that we’ll get hit by an unsuspecting motorist.  Are you stopping along the way to look and listen for information to guide your marketing?  Or, are you running headlong into traffic?

On April 2, I’ll be hosting an interactive WORKshop to help small business owners stop, look, and listen.  Learn more at “Marketing Intervention – Stop the waste. Regain control!”

Keep chargin’

While I still struggle every day to heed this sage advice, I’ll never forget it. Take five minutes to see what Snuffy taught me. I hope it helps you move ahead in all your endeavors.

From a small business marketing point of view, knowing you audience has a lot to do with knowing their pains. What problems do they have in their life? Problems create needs. Needs your customers might not know they have. And when you know a person’s pains or needs and you can speak to that hurt by offering a solution to the pain. People will pay good money to have you solve their problems.

An easy exercise to gain some perspective on your audience is to create profiles of your customers. For example, if you’re in lawn care, your ideal customer is a homeowner who lives in a neighborhood where a high lawn standard has been set. But this is a person who does not enjoy yard work and also has the income level to pay a lawn service to do the work for them. Through a little forethought and research this type of customer profiling can be very effective in defining and knowing your audience.

Ask a lot of questions of those who are buying from you. Your current customers are an amazing source of information and knowledge into you audience. Ask them about why they use your product or service. Offer discounts for filling out surveys. Large corporations do this constantly. That is why your receipt is so long when you go to a large box store. Consider rewarding those who take time to provide feedback.

Last, be sure to test your knowledge. I am sure many of you think you know your audience and how to communicate to them. Have you tested that? No matter what form of communication you are using, always ask for feedback from someone who is in your ideal audience. Have them look at an ad and verbalize what the ad is saying to them. The same can be done with websites, brochures, and sales pitches.

It is key to put as much time, if not more, learning about your audience as you put into learning about your product or service.

Keep Chargin’ -PS

Certainly, it’s not revolutionary to discuss computer backup systems. We all know the tremendous value of our data. We all know the significant time it would take to recreate lost documents if our files disappeared. Yet, many of us continue to postpone computer backup implementation. It’s not revolutionary to DISCUSS backup systems. What still seems revolutionary is for business owners and managers to actually HAVE a complete, reliable, remote backup system.

My friend and business associate, Del Hunter, president of CM/IT, a computer services company, regularly shares horror stories of his clients’ loss to hard drive crashes, lightning strikes, and other computer damage. He reminds his audiences that such losses could be avoided with simple backup systems. While his business recovers a lot of data from failed systems, I’m sure he’d rather spend more time helping business owners grow their technology capacity.

There are so many high-quality and dependable backup systems available today. There is no excuse for not having a remote back up system that virtually eliminates dependency on human management. The latest backup system services are cost-effective, redundant, remote, and nearly idiot proof. I happen to use

For $50 a year, all my data is stored remotely and is accessible 24/7. I’ve referred others to Carbonite and recently received a thank you note from someone whose system crashed not long after signing with Carbonite.

Whether you set up your own backup using Carbonite, call an expert like CM/IT, or use another system – the sooner you get your backup system in place, the better you’ll sleep at night! Everyday you delay implementing this critical business operation is a day that could literally change the direction of your business. Imagine that today, all your data was gone. Where would you start the process of rebuilding? How much would the data recovery/recreation process cost – directly and indirectly? Stop putting it off. Get it done. Sleep well.

Just to be clear, this is not a slam on local media. It’s a reality check. The truth is local media is not your marketing firm. Their primary interest is not your business success – it’s the success of their business. In other words, if your press release does not “work” for them, they have no compelling reason to share your news. Therefore, all press releases should be compelling to the editor. They must have a hook – a connection with current news, issues, celebrity, or controversy. In other words, your press release must be newsworthy. A press release about your new ice cream flavor is not compelling. A press release about your new ice cream flavor that saves gas or influences global warming – now that’s compelling.

Traditional media is giving way to on-line publications and news sites. Many of these sites provide opportunity for users to submit content, even to the extent of writing the headlines and the stories. Check your local weekly or daily newspaper as well as popular radio stations. Many are offering ways for you to make the news in a new way.

One such on-line venue that I am very familiar with (I’m the publisher) is YourNews.com – Northern Colorado. At this site you may post your story, opinion, event announcement, or classified. All FREE and with pictures or video! In addition, your posting includes a web link back to your site, so readers can learn more about you and your organization or business. Here’s your opportunity to share your news AND direct visitors to your website. FREE.

Play this recording for a bit of hype about the new site.

It’s your turn to write the headlines – and the story!

Keep Chargin’

It sounded cool – just post my profile, invite others to link to me, and before long I’d be connected to a huge network of business people. Then what? That’s what I learned last Friday, when I met Mike O’Neil, one of the top Linkedin members and a trainer on how to get the most from a Linkedin account.

The Linkedin system offers such potential it’s hard to explain. Let’s just say, Linkedin has become an employee recruting tool, a powerful sales and marketing aide, a global social organization, an information gathering gold mine, and on, and on – limited only by the imagination of its users.

It’s free. It’s growing. It’s the standard for on-line business networking. It’s time. Join at www.Linkedin.com.

If you are in Northern Colorado, I highly recommend several upcoming classes being conducted by Viveka von Rosen, General Manager at The Executive Center. She’s got this stuff down cold and teaches others how to make the most of Linkedin. Check out Viveka’s Linkedin profile today.

P.S. After you join, invite me to your network. I’d like to share my network with you!

“Free” talks can be a powerful source of business and referrals. Is there a better way to directly and personally connect with your customers, prospects, and referral sources?

Don’t underestimate the value of the information you posess as a result of your years of experience and training. There is a huge market for well-packaged and professionally delivered information. You should regularly seek out opportunities to share your knowledge. Sometimes it will pay directly, other times indirectly. It will always expand your identity and influence like nothing else can.

Do you have information that would be valuable to small business owners and managers? Is there a topic that you need to know more about? Post your offer or request here, in the comments box. We’ll work to either provide opportunities for you to share your expertise or to learn from others.

What do you say?

It’s been said, “You can’t solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.”  When we learn to bury our pride, reorganize our limits, and pursue the knowledge and support of others, we are on our way to a new level of thinking.  Matched with our own knowledge, skills and passion, a new level of potential is eminent.

I too drew upon the knowledge of others this week.  The sessions I conducted filled me with the knowledge of others.  As they posed questions, challenged my positions, and encouraged my delivery, their insights expanded my ability meet the challenge of my next audience.   In addition, I was treated to a presentation by Alecia Huck of Maverick and Company.  She reminded me that in marketing “everybody equals nobody” and “If people can’t remember where they parked their car, why do we expect them to remember details about us?”  While her presentation held much more content, these two points jumped out at me.  So much so, that I used them within 24 hours to support the content of my own presentations – with proper credit to Alecia.

Let others elevate your thinking.  And, do the same for them.  Speaking of other’s knowledge, we recently began our Small Biz Tele Series.  In these weekly calls, participants will learn from others about a variety of small business topics.  Check out our Listen Live link to hear “Merchant Services – Clearning up the credit card confusion.”

Five words from my brief conversation with Kathy have not left my mind in the days since our meeting. In describing her trepidation about starting this business, she spoke the words regarding the marketing and
management of her new company. She was confident in the quality and production of the products she plans
to bring to market. But as for marketing and managing her new venture, she said, “I don’t have a clue.”

Almost daily, I meet small business owners and managers who proclaim that in certain areas of their business, “I don’t have a clue.” While that can be a daunting admission for a business person to express, it presents a powerful opportunity. In Kathy’s case, her admission that she was clueless on marketing brought her to meet with my friend and eventually with me. I suspect her clueless nature on business management will lead her to find help in that area as well.

Unfortunately, too many small business owners and managers I meet do not demonstrate Kathy’s willingness to recognize their strengths and call for help with their weaknesses. Instead, while knowing they are clueless in certain areas of their business; their approach is to continue muddling through. Often, the
result muddles their progress by dragging down their entire operation. One of the most powerful steps a small business owner or manager can take is to evaluate their strengths, to determine whether they tend to be entrepreneurial, managerial, or technical. A successful small business must contain all three elements, yet most small business owners are strong in only one area, leaving the others to suffer.

Michael E. Gerber’s book, The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It is an insightful guide book for small business people. It is designed to help business owners identify their strengths, while laying out a process for building a successful small business that eliminates
weaknesses. I recommend this book several times each week. I recommended it to Kathy. I recommend it to you.

I love the saying, “The person you will be five years from now will be most influenced by the books you read and the people you associate with.” I believe the same holds true for your business.

Fuel your business this week. Read and hang with some business people whose success you hope to emulate.

–
PS