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’

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

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.”

This group was like many, with its relatively small membership trying to figure out how to grow participation. Its format was fairly typical. After the standard around-the-table introductions and elevator pitches, we moved to the featured member’s 20-minute presentation. On this day, a financial advisor delivered a routine overview of company history, prowess, features, and benefits. She handed out a nice brochure, along with a list of her company’s services. She was professional in her delivery, appeared qualified in her knowledge base, and was pleasant in her demeanor.

The rest of us followed along through her handouts as she spoke. We nodded in agreement at her talking points. When she finished and invited questions, there were none. Well, except for mine. As I watched her presentation, I hoped for something to motivate me and other group members to either consider her services or to be motivated to tell others about her. Instead, I found myself thinking, “I’ve seen this presentation at least a dozen times before, just from others.”

I knew the presenter from earlier meetings at social events.  Our conversations told me that she genuinely cared about her customers and was passionate about her work.  So, hoping to provide an opportunity for her to tell the group what makes her and her company different from other financial advisors, I spoke up. “There are many others in your profession, what do you think sets you apart?” Her response, “When you work with my company, you get me and my personal commitment to your financial success.” I knew she would say that and most of you reading this post knew she would say that. Unfortunately, SAYING that to the group was not nearly as powerful as SHOWING that she really was interested in their success, especially since she just completed a 20-minute pitch of her company features and benefits.

She happened to be a financial services provider, but she could have easily been a mortgage banker, realtor, insurance broker, or any number of professional service providers, especially those faced with significant numbers of “competitors” in their market. She could have been most of us, who know that WE determine our product or service value.  Yet, we often present features and benefits when addressing a group, rather than delivering a message that reinforces our personal value.  People buy YOU.  Then they justify their action with your features and benefits.

The question I really wanted to ask the financial advisor…”If YOU are what sets your company apart, why did you spend your time selling your company’s features and benefits? Why not use the time to connect with me, to demonstrate your expertise, to give me immediate value, to lock in your message of commitment to my success?”

The Featured Business Presenter opportunity is often viewed as a stand up brochure or an expanded elevator speech. In truth, it offers a powerful opportunity to build relationship with networking group members. It should used to connect with their needs, deliver value, and drive leads. Approaching such an opportunity with objectives and a plan can mean the difference in just getting it over with and getting ahead.

I’ll be presenting a short seminar on this topic in the next couple weeks. If you want to learn more, visit www.presentingwithpurpose.com

Have you been there? I have, as recent as last week. At a Chamber of Commerce event hosted by the local county club, I found myself feeling like a non-Big Shot. While I was meeting new people and making good contacts, I felt less than great about myself that evening. I was a bit beat up by the day’s business challenges and was attending the event out of obligation, not desire. Toward the end of the evening, a particular Big Shot caught my eye. Like the others, he was getting a lot of attention. I’ve known him for some time. He’s a successful publisher, who has taken time to give me advice and encouragement in the growth of my business. I glanced his way several times, observing his interaction with several people. My final glance was greeted with him waving wildly to get my attention. He had seen me across the room and was waving and smiling. His effort said so much more than, “Hi Phil.” It said, “Hi Phil. I see you all the way across the room and I’m making the extra effort to interrupt my conversation and acknowledge you in front of a lot of people, because you are someone I value.” The person I was standing near at that moment saw his antics and said something like, “That guy over there really thinks a lot of you.” Suddenly, I felt like a Big Shot. Not because I actually was, but because someone I respected paid attention to me.

The next day, I received an email from a past client. He had attended the same event the evening before. He contacted me about doing business together again, but his opening comments really struck me. He wrote, “I saw you at the Chamber event last night. I wanted to say ‘Hello’ but you were really networking.” Did he think I was a Big Shot that night?

Looking back, that series of events reminded me of what I already knew, but needed to be reminded. We all want to feel like a Big Shot. Yet, we can’t make that of ourselves. Big Shots are made by the attention of others. More importantly, Big Shots receive the attention of others, because they GIVE attention to others. That’s why others want to pay attention to them. The most important reminder: As soon as you think you are a Big Shot, you are not.

So, do you want to be a Big Shot? Then, go make Big Shots. Find people who need attention. Give it to them. Your time will come.

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