Do Something Outrageous to Draw Attention to Your Business

Big, Big Balloons, Banners, Sign Spinners, Celebrity Visits, Block Parties, Tent Sales

Sorry, this post will not apply easily to those who have an office on the third floor in an office building, or those who work out of their home.  But if that's you, you might just have to be a bit more creative.

I have a car dealership near my home that takes up an entire corner on a very busy intersection.  Once a year, they have a tent sale across the street in the parking lot of a regional mall.  This tent sale is directly across the street.  What could they be thinking.  The tents and balloons and activity on the other side of the street creates a new and different draw.  No matter how big or impressive your business, eventually your facility fades into the background and might as well be invisible.

Another car dealer nearby was on a not so busy street, but the building was visible from the 405 freeway in Los Angeles.  You may know that this is one of the busiest freeways in the country.  No one passing buy would have paid any attention to his dealership had he not put giant gorilla balloons on the top of the building.

Over tax day this past April, you had no choice but to learn that there was a new tax preparer in Los Angeles, competing with H&R Block.  Weirdly costumed characters were found all over the city, and you had no choice but to look.

Many of my clients call and ask if they should spend $1000 on this print adv or $600 a month for some internet opportunity.  I have no doubt in my mind that these Liberty characters cost less than $1000 per location and were worth every penny.

So, you are in that office on the 2nd Floor.  You dental business needs a boost.  If you can't get the landlord to let you put a balloon on the roof, can you put a banner out the on the side of the building.  If that's out, too, how about checking with businesses right around you.  Can you put a sign on their roof.  They'll get some bang from the looks their way.

Or how about a truck wrap.  Most truck wraps or signs end up on vehicles that have some kind of utility other than as a sign:  Construction, home services, and delivery trucks. Why only them?  Why can't you have a moving billboard or even more than one.  Park them around on different streets at different times.  Drive them during rush hour up and down your street. 

Most wraps are around $1700. Then you have the cost of the vehicle.  Buy something cheap, but clean. 

So, I turn it over to your brainstorming department.  How can you get a huge bunch of eyeballs pointed at your building, sign, truck, or tent? 

Do Something Wild and Crazy - Price - Giveaway - Hours - Delivery

Shake up the Market - Buy Right and Sell at A Crazy Price

Sometimes You Just Have to Shake Up the Market to Boost Up You Sales

A barber was having a hard time paying the rent.  His normal hours started at 10:00.  I suggested that working men can't come in between 10:00 and 5:00.  Why not open at 7:00 and see what happens.  He did and the results were instantaneous.

A bike shop was in a very competitive neighborhood, and he was tired of trying to compete on price.  He decided to try staying open until midnight.  He gathered a crowd that became very loyal.

A restaurant opened their doors and was underwhelmed with the response.  So they blanketed the neighborhood with a flier that offered a free meal to anyone from Friday at 5:00 pm until Sunday at 7:00 pm.  There was a line around the block practically the entire weekend.  According to the owners, they never had to advertise again.

Another restaurant story.  One of the most successful restaurants/diner in Los Angeles has a weekend once each year where they roll back prices to their opening week in the '50.  It is a huge draw.

It is a marketing legend.  We all took the taste test in the mall.  Who would turn down free cookies.  Mrs. Fields is still going strong decades later based on offering a small sample free.

Then there's the story of Two Buck Chuck.  The Trader Joe's chain of local grocery stores did what they had done hundreds of times before.  They carefully researched a single product, found one that was of excellent quality, but much lower than expected cost, and bought a bunch of it.  The product became legendary.

What could you do that would be wild and crazy?  Could you take a commodity product and offer it as a loss leader even for a day?  Could you offer special hours to gain fans who otherwise find it hard to do business with you? 

Remember Thrifty Drug Stores.  An ice cream cone used to be 5¢.  When?  1950?  No, at least into the '70s.  Later it went to 10¢.  Kind of hard to not go in on a hot day and get that nickle cone.

What about service.  Here was an inexpensive service touch that changed an industry.  Who would have ever thought that urban housewives would be buying bulk pet food and kitty litter.  They key to getting mom to stop buying 5 pounds of kitty litter or 3 cans of dog food at the grocery store?  Have the staff at the pet shop carry the 25 pound bags and cases of food out to the car.

A Few Rules About Doing Something Wild and Crazy

The restaurant who had the free weekend.  It had to be great food.  $2 Chuck had to be good enough wine for the uppity West Los Angeles clients that formed the base of the Trader Joe empire.  Staying open late or opening early.  You will need a massive sign and other publicity.  Call the paper.

And if your crazy price isn't crazy enough, the opportunity is lost.  50% off isn't going to get it unless it is 50% off the lowest price of a regularly discounted product.  I can remember buying a years supply of Pepsi when it went on sale for 16¢ a can.   Normally at that time it was around 35¢.

Let's walk through that one for a minute.  Let's say that you can buy Pepsi wholesale for 20¢, and that normal retail is 30¢.  You offer it for 15¢ in order to cause a stir and get traffic in the store.  You sell 5000 cans and lose 5¢ on each can for a $250 total loss.  Or maybe you sell 50,000 cans for a $2500 loss.  How many folks will be walking through your store to get to those cans in order to move 50,000 cans.  And yes, please make sure those cans or at the back of the store.

Keep in mind - Wild and Crazy.  Your competitors have to say:  "What?  Is he crazy?  

Tutorial - How to Put On a Big Event and Become More Visible

Chapter 41/101 - Marketing Is Largely About Visibility - Events Are a Great Way to Become Visible

If this is your first time here, I want to thank you for stopping by and let you know that this is chapter 41 out of an eventual 101 Marketing Secrets that I am compiling on this blog, and that I will eventually release as a book.  You can get chapter titles and links to the other 40 chapters here.

In this next section we are going to look at various ways small businesses can reach out to the larger community around their business and get VISIBLE.  It is easy to get super lazy and sit behind the desk or the counter waiting for the phone to ring or the door to swing.  But it rarely works out well if that method is followed for very long.

Add the concept of VISIBILITY to your list of important things to think about.  Much of marketing is about visibility, but many who do marketing for all or part of their living, sometimes fail to think of the marketing in those terms.  The next 10 chapters will discuss 10 great ways to become visible.

Major Events Can Create More Visibility in One Weekend Than You Would Normally Get in Three Years

Location is still a very big deal for any retailer.  But no matter whether you have only been in your location for six months or are an absolute fixture in the neighborhood, a huge percentage of your potential clients don't even know you are there.  Want proof?  How many times a week do you hear, "I drive by here all the time, and i didn't even know you were here."  And those comments come from those who "drive by here all the time."  The ones who never drive anywhere near you are even less aware of your presence.

If you are in an office complex or work from home, getting visibility is even tougher.  You have no street visibility at all, which is generally the number two source of new traffic for those who do have a "main street" location.

Major event managers will tell you that a single event can generate up to three years worth of neighborhood visibility.  In other words, in a three year period, X number of potential customers will become aware of you through various methods.  A well run event will get you that same number of awareness results in a single day or weekend.

Assuming that such results would be an exciting proposition for you, the next question might be:  How much time and sweat is it going to cost me to get that result?  I did a recent event for a client that cost just about $5000 out of pocket and probably about 30 hours of his time, which resulted in 700 people showing up for his anniversary party. 

$5000 is probably the minimum you can spend and expect great results.  You could also spend $50,000 and 150 hours of your time and not equal those results due to inadequate planning.  Here is the outline for a plan that will work every time.  Don't leave anything out.

A.  90 day advance planning minimum.  120 days is better.
B.  Assemble a team of at least 4 people who will brainstorm and handle tasks
C.  Plan a first meeting for the team
D.  Set the date, the theme, the details of the activities for the event, and the budget. 
E.  Find a large local non profit, service club, or charity to share the work and help get participation.

In my experience this last part is as important as anything else you will do.  Your event will become a fund raiser for them, and done correctly might raise $5000, $10,000 or even a lot more.  In return you get a huge list of benefits, not the least of which is that the charitable organization will want your event to succeed. 

Within their organization will generally be local folks who are well connected.  They may be able to help with publicity, star power for the day of the event, attendees for the event, and even members who will help with some of the work. 

The fund raising will generally be some kind of raffle.  You can turn to your suppliers for many of the items to be raffled, and you may want to donate a some high end products also.  In some cases, members of the non profit will buy items from you to add to the list of prizes.  If you are in a service business, you can work with retailers and restaurants in the area to assemble a great prize list.

Print up 10,000 raffle tickets with both your company name and the non profits name.  List at least a few of the top prizes, the date and details of the event, and any rules.  Maybe you want the person entering to have to be present to win.  The sales force for the raffle will be the members of the group you partnered with.  Sure, you'll sell tickets at your business, and you and they will sell a lot the day of the raffle.  You and the partner organization can also sell them online if one of you has an online store. 

Please note that various states have rules for raffles.  Check online to see what rules you may need to follow.

The Bigger and Better the Prize List, the Better All Results of the Event Will Be

Whoever on your staff works the most closely with suppliers should start dialing for prizes and swag.  Distributors and manufacturers will gladly help you with T-shirts, hats, and all kinds of other items that can be given away.  But you may need to exert a bit of pressure to get items worth over $100 that will make the best items for the raffle.  If you have room and believe it will make the event more interesting, suppliers may also send reps with pop-ups, demonstration booths, and/or contract athletes, entertainers, or speakers to add star power.

Hopefully someone on your staff, a member of the non profit, or a local PR person can help spread the word with online PR, print, radio, and TV.  Even in a major market you should be able to get top newspaper and TV people to show up for your event.  Pre-event publicity in these types of media are critical to success. 

You may want to advertise in some of the places where PR is going to matter.  And you may be able to advertise in some media that will be useful to increase interest.  However, don't use this event to experiment with advertising.  You should only use those media and approaches that have worked for you in the past.

Weekly Planning Meetings Are A Must to Keep Everything on Track

Hold weekly meetings with the top players.  Set tasks each week that can be completed by the next week and that will culminate in reaching all necessary goals in a timely way.  If a team member is consistently late on tasks, replace them early.  

Social media is huge to spread the word.  You will clearly want to get the event on your website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and YouTube Channel.  In addition, send emails every other week until the last 30 days, and then weekly, to your entire list.  If the partner organization has a list, they should also send out information to their list.  During the last week, send out emails every day.

A new way to spread the word that may be the most effective and efficient yet is Google+ Events.  You can learn all about this by going to http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/events/  You can also use the event system in Constant Contact.  This is especially useful if you already have a large email following. 

And while on the subject of emails, your most likely participant in the event will be your most recent visitors to the store.  Hopefully you and your staff have been compiling a huge list of emails from those who have made any kind of purchase.  You might also be generating emails from your website email capture forms or on Facebook.  In any case, you will want to email something about your even at least twice per month up until a few weeks before the event, and then even more frequently. 

One of the major benefits of the event is the accumulation of even more emails that you can use to reach customers through regular mailings in the future.  Make sure the raffle ticket asks for an email, and have prizes or other incentives at the event to gather emails from those in attendance.

A big draw for events in most cities today are the food trucks.  You will need to call these folks month in advance as they are very much in demand.  Each one will have certain policies and requirements, and some may even require a minimum gross for the time they are at your shop.

An Event Should Be Exciting and Fun - A Boring Event Is A Huge Waste of Time and Treasure

On the days of the event you will want to keep the party going.  There is nothing worse than big lulls and lags between the festivities.  One way to help is to have a local music combo come and play.  This might be a group from the local high school, and their personal popularity will bring more youth to the party.  You can commonly get such a group for free.  Be certain to get a preview of their style and ability before bringing them to your event.  And make it clear what kind of music you are hoping to have them play.

You will need an MC for the raffle and give away portion of the day.  Make sure that the MC has a personality that can keep the crowd engaged.  You will want to thank any company that has given the various prizes and other items that are given away.  Tossing items to the crowd has become a standard approach for generating a fun atmosphere. 

Make sure you have a clear schedule of events.  This might include clinics, demos, sign ups for clubs, charity sign ups, carnival booths (dunk tanks and similar), product demonstrations, samples, super interesting seminars by local or national speakers.  Have your team brainstorm on what will please your crowd enough to stay all day, or even come back the next day.

To have a sale or not to have a sale.  Sometimes the event will be all about selling things.  Sometimes you will be more interested in creating visibility and good will.  Other times you may want to do both.  Only you and your staff can determine what the day will be designed to accomplish in your overall marketing strategy.   If you are going to have a big sale, try to concentrate the time of that sale into one or two windows to create a "frenzy."  If the sale goes on all day or over several days you won't get that kind of atmosphere. 

To draw that neighborhood crowd, consider search lights the night before any day of the event.  You might also want to rent a huge rooftop balloon for the week leading up to your big day.  Banners are great.  If you are partnering with a local service club, school, or other group, you may even get the city to allow banners on the major street in the area.

Invite local dignitaries such as the mayor, president of the chamber, and others to come.  This will help your post event PR. 

Be sure to take lots of pictures.  You may even want to hire an event photographer or videographer.  These pictures and videos can then be used for emails, youtube videos, blog posts, content on Facebook, etc.

Holding an after event party is commonly a great idea.  Invite all staff, their dates or spouses, volunteers who helped, the leadership of the partnering non-profit, press, and local dignitaries.  This dinner might cost you a pretty penny, but it will be worth it to create good will with everyone concerned. 


What other things have you done to insure the success of an event.  Add your thoughts in the comments below.

Does Your Business Cultivate Customers, Clients, or Fans? Chapter 40/101 Marketing Secrets

In Business Customers Are Necessary, Clients Are Profitable, and Fans Rock the House

For nine chapters we've been spelling out the importance of word of mouth to increasing sales and profits in your business.   If you are just joining us now, you might want to go back and see what all the fuss is about starting in chapter 31.  In fact, you might even want to go back to chapter 1.

We made the case that 70% of all new business for almost all companies comes from referrals.  Therefore as much as we might spend money, fuss about, and concern ourselves with other important marketing strategies, word of mouth is the big kahuna.

If you've been reading along, you know that a recurring theme has been customer service.  Great customer service can take a customer who sees you as just a shop, a place, a method for filling a need or want, into a client.  A client is someone who sees your business as an ongoing resource for products and services, sure.  But also the go to for information, ideas, encouragement, engagement, insight, and possibly even a part of their social circle.

Clients don't shop around.  Clients are more likely to refer you.  Clients want to receive your email blasts, and sometimes even open them.  You can call a client and ask a favor or just to chat about something new in your business that would be of interest to him.  And a client is more likely to do an online review for you, and one that you will be happy about.

The word Fan is of the same root as the word Fanatic.  These folks are a different breed.  And they are worth cultivating.  They not only don't shop around, they actually want you to be successful.  They are less likely to quibble about the price, but expect you to be appreciative in figuring their cost.  They are excited to see an email from you.  Snail mail, too.  And if you run an add in the paper, they feel an attachment.

If you need almost any kind of reasonable favor, the fan is ready to help.  They consider you a friend and hope you feel likewise.  They've already done reviews of your business, but are ready and happy to do more.  They may or may not be influencers in the communities you care about in any traditional sense of the word.  However, they will tell anyone who listens that they should do business with you. 

Image via CrunchBase

How Do You Get More Fans?

When I say fan, what comes to mind?  Stars in sports, TV, music, and movies.  What is it about those folks that turns us into fans?  We might also be fans of certain products or brands.  Apple, Corvette, or Cheesecake Factory.  Why?

I think if I had to sum it up, the word that comes to mind is excellence.  You could say top-of-class or best-in-category.  Costco, In 'N Out, Mercedes.

We know in our knower what it takes to be the best.  Hard work.  Laser like focus.  Uncompromising attitude.  Risk taking.  Discipline.  Attention to detail.  Working the fundamentals.  Unflagging perseverance.

The good news is that all of this is graded on a curve.  You don't have to be Bret Favre to have fans if you are quarterback the Cleveland Browns or playing in High School.  You have to be the best in YOUR community.  That still means going for A's in all the subjects outlined above. 

If you build it, they will come.  If you build the kind of fan base that appreciates what you do enough, your chances for success has leapfrogged by a hefty multiple.

So we come to the end of the WOM section, and head into the "Going Big" section.  By going big, I don't necessarily mean even opening a second location or hiring more salespeople.  Going big means creating a marketing shot heard round the world . . . or at least your world. 

7 Ways to Thank Those Who Send You Business to Build WOM

Marketing Secret 39 Out of 101 - Thank, Reward, Cheer, Publicly Appreciate Influencers

Marriage Tip #1 - Don't ever take your spouse for granted!  Wonder how many marriages would still be in tact if that advice had been followed.  "But how many times do I have to tell you that your beautiful?"  Correct answer:  It is never enough.   "But how many times do I have to tell you how amazing you are at running your business?"  Same answer.

Business Tip #39 - Don't ever take your influencers for granted!  Wonder how many customers not only stopped spreading the word about you, but even stopped coming in because they didn't feel the love.  And just because it is tip #39, does not mean it isn't important.  After all, there are another 62 that follow this one, and I'm sure others could add another 101 to my 101.

Do you know who is currently singing your praises and bringing in new business?  Think about it.  Make a list.  Ask your staff for names.  Then start a proactive campaign to get more.  These can be from existing customers, friends, and associates, or starting with the next customer.   (See Chapter 38 - Find the Influencers in Your Community to Spread Word of Mouth).

How can you keep them working for your business?  Here are 7 ways to thank them.

1.  Keep them Informed - Those who like to influence others are generally information sponges.  They can only be an influencer if they are providing useful, timely information about a wide range of subjects.  Their motive may be many and varied, but generally they feel helpful, useful, or even powerful as a result of the role they take.

Help them out.  Give them the latest scoop.  Call, send emails (personal), and take them aside when they are at your business.  Provide them with inside information about new products or services.  Let them borrow samples of items to try.  Are you aware of trends or deals that you can share?

2.  Make them special - Personalize your own business relationship the Nordstrom's way.  You may or may not know that Nordstrom's sales people keep a book on many of their clients.  When new clothes arrive, they go through their client list to see who would be likely candidates for the latest greatest offerings.  Then they set up appointments for them to come and try on the new items.  When I ran a factory, the commercial lines insurance broker would call me every quarter to set a time to meet.  He would bring me up to date on changes in the commercial insurance markets. I have recommended him over and over.

3.  Praise in public - Publicly praise or thank your influencers.  When they come in the store, introduce them to any new employees, giving high praise for their importance to the store.  The client should see that they will have influence with anyone on your staff.  If there are seminars or dinners or clinics that your influencers participate in, find a reason to applaud them in that situation.

4.  Update them on the referral - If you get a specific client or contract or opportunity as a result of a recommendation from an influencer, make sure that you let them know the status of that opportunity.  Did you call?  Did you connect?  What is the current status?  Did you land the deal?  This is important on so many levels.  From the point of view of the influencer:

• I'm not going to give you more referrals if you don't take advantage of the ones I bring you.
• I can get extra feel goods by knowing the outcome
• I can call my friend and get the benefit of having been part of the effort
• I may be able to help push the deal forward, and broker any missteps  

5.  Send a gift - Obvious right?  Do you do it?  Cash is the least appreciated.  Discounts on future purchases seems like what they should get anyway.  A free item or service?  That's better.

Like any gift, the best gift will be something that shows you know them and care about them.  Tickets to their favorite sports or entertainment event.  Dinner out on you.  A really, really nice wine.  If the new client turns out to be worth a lot to you, you may even want to send another thank you later.

6.  Return the favor - Is there some way for you to refer business, ideas, or suppliers to the influencer?  This won't cost you out of pocket, but it will take a serious effort in time to think about where you can be of help.  

7.  Create a VIP club - This club never has to meet, but I'd suggest that it does meet at least once a year for a tribute dinner.  It can be made up of best customers, influencers, suppliers, etc.  They are the folks who are making the biggest contribution to your success.  They should certainly have some kind of platinum card that gives them specific benefits.  There should potentially be a special email several times a year.  There can be special hours when they can shop or visit that are not available to the rest of your customers.

So by now your word of mouth should be making you tons of friends and money.  We cap off the word of mouth section of this book with chapter 40:  "Do you Cultivate Customers, Clients, or Fans?"

Have you read the other 38 chapters that proceeded this one?  They are all on this blog.  At least for now.  If you subscribe, you will be alerted as I keep adding to the list.  Why don't you let your friends online and offline know about this blog.  After all, you could be my influencer.

Creating Effective Word of Mouth (WOM) About Your Customer Service Edge 32/101

Customer Service Help Word of Mouth

Forget About SEO if You Have Lousy Customer Service.  Word of Mouth Still Rules

 

How Do You Project Customer Service?

 

Ask yourself this very simple question:  How would your best customer describe your customer service to a friend?  Would they say something vague like they have great customer service or would there be something concrete they could point to?


    ✓    WalMart had their greeter and still have their always-in-stock reputation
    ✓    In 'N Out Burgers has employee smiles and super clean facilities
    ✓    Constant Contact has amazing warm and helpful humans on the phone
    ✓    And then there are the Apple stores and the genius bar
    ✓    Costco gets you through the check out line like no other store

No matter how small your company is, you can do the same thing.  Evaluate the thing or things you believe your clients would appreciate in the realm of customer service.  Can you train your troops to deliver that level of service on a consistent basis?  Or you could come at the issue from the opposite direction.  What aspect of customer care can you be 100% positive that you can deliver on each and every day?

Where can you start looking for possibilities.  How about the list above.  Could you have a staff where everyone is optimistic, smiling, and pleasant every single day no matter what they are faced with?  Could you have a policy of warmly greeting people within 30 seconds of entering the door?  Could those who answer the phone be trained to be engaging, happy to help, well trained to get answers quickly and courteously?  Could you offer faster results than others … every time?

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Don't Wait for Your Customers to Tell Others About Your Customer Service Edge.  Project It

Once you have a customer service edge in place, don't count on your customer to create their own headline about it.  Help them with a memorable name for your "difference."  Publicize it everywhere, even on your business cards.  Obviously you need to train it and retrain it.  Everyone needs to be on board with the idea.  Use motivational tools to reward those who most exemplify the new idea. 

Now generate testimonials that use your key phrase.  These reviews could show up on Yelp and Google Places, but also on your own website, blog, and on signage in the store.  Make the difference and the testimonials part of mailers, print ads, and even include them in your YouTube videos. 

Great customer service should be an end in itself, and it will generate good WOM if you are consistent, but you can multiply the effect by calling attention to your customer service difference so that your extended sales force has your pitch on the tip of their tongue.

Go back and review  Customer Service fundamentals

If you need a part-time VP of marketing that can help you with everything you see on this blog and more, give me a call.  Our customer service edge:  I answer the phone 310-910-1848  

Business Strategies vs Goals. Why You Need Both!

Most Companies Don't Set Goals - Almost None Create Strategies 

Strategy Defined

What is a strategy?  How does it compare with or relate to a Goal?  Which comes first, a goal or a strategy?  Can you run a business without a strategy?  Without Goals?  Is this post about an academic issue that only applies to Apple and Boeing?

In my last post I laid out the basics of goal setting.  It is a pretty big deal to really sit down and figure out what matters to you personally, and what your major goals are for your business.  Some folks are afraid to do this.  Some just can't seem to find the time.  Some seem to feel that goal setting is not important.  I make the claim that goal setting is the most important thing you will ever do in the marketing success of your enterprise. 

In case you have set your goals, what next.  I know that for me, there is a tendency to immediately go into action.  But going off half-cocked will undermine much of the benefit of having set goals in the first place.  Do I mean by this, that if you set goals, but don't follow through with strategy and tactics, then don't bother to set the goals in the first place?  Not even close!  Goals are the most important, then strategy, then tactics. 

Back to the original question:  What is a strategy?  A strategy is the meat on the bones of the goals.  It is the how of the what.  Each goal should be taken individually from the top priority to the least.  How can the company most effectively use the resources available to it to accomplish the goals.  If the goal is to achieve an increase of 20% in sales, how will the company do that.  Possibilities could include a larger territory, new products, increased prices, more sales units or dollars per invoice, more dollars per client per year, more expensive products, more sales people, etc. 

An evaluation of the choices should result in realistic approaches.  If there isn't much money to spend, then it might be better to increase prices or work to increase the average ticket, neither of which requires any expense.  However, it is important to also measure the likelihood of success of each strategy as you determine which to follow.

At this point you might have a sheet of paper or a spreadsheet with a set of goals, and each of those goals has a list of strategies under it.  You might also include a dollar amount that can be invested in each. 

Hopefully you can see that this process is anything but academic.  If you think it is, tell me in the comments.

Read next:  What is a business tactic?  After the Goals and Strategies, You Need the Tactics

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Amazing Products and Services Create WOM? Grade Yours! Marketing Secret 34/101

Come up with a product or service that folks will talk about

I know that the questions in the past few posts have been a little hard on the heart.  We all want to think that our business has customer service that others will recognize and talk about, and we hope our clients will find the experience of dealing with us to be memorable.  But, if most of us are honest, we probably only get a C or at best a B grade on both of those. 

Well then, surely our core products and services are going to create a crescendo of mouths wagging out there, enthusiastic about something we sell.  Maybe not.  Maybe we have fine products, but they are available three other places within three miles or even closer.  Maybe we have no differentiation in price or delivery.  Maybe our services are just like everyone else's.  Then we wonder why we don't experience much WOM, don't get glowing or any reviews on Yelp and Google Places, and rarely get an unsolicited letter of appreciation. 

To make matters more complicated, should I ask you where most of your new business comes from, you will almost certainly tell me "word of mouth."  The reality is that even average customer service, experience, products, and prices will produce some WOM.  Some folks will just like you or one of your employees or your product line or feel very good about your service.  The issue isn't that you aren't doing a fine job.  The issue is whether you could be doing an amazing job with more thought and planning to create buzz, promote the buzz you create, and give people reasons to spread your buzz. 

How big does the product or service difference need to be?  Not that big.  I had a barber friend who was going out of business due to the recession.  I suggested he open at 7:00 a.m.  He picked up a huge number of new clients for whom that was a much better time to come. I knew another retailer who was open until midnight. How about same day service if no one else even has same week service.  Guarantees can create a completely new product.  How about a bicycle that is guaranteed not to go flat?  Free inner tube replacements for life if there is a puncture flat. 

This will take more work. Go direct to an overseas supplier and buy a huge supply of some standard item.  Add your own personal package.  Add value through color, size, shape, quantity.  Then sell it at a price that will knock peoples eyeballs out.  If successful, do the same with a second item.

You don't have to buy a huge amount of canned soda to get the best price. Bring in a container once a month and park it in your parking lot. Undersell the Costco or WalMart by half. Break even on the entire effort. Make it a regular thing. There are many products like this that you can sell out in one day. Find one that will attract your customer base.

Can you give away something like a service? Free kittens or vaccinations at a vet come to mind. What could you do like that?

Wear a funny hat? Have all the employees wear a "uniform" that speaks to your special services. If you have a great product and a decent radius of territory, make sure you promote that product in signage, both indoors and outside. Give it a top and center treatment on your website. Wear uniforms that promote that brand.

No great brands or unique services. Get one. Make that a priority!

I could go on. Pull together a brainstorming group and come up with something.

Experiential Marketing and Its Impact on Word of Mouth Marketing. Marketing Secret 33/101

AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!! At Your Place?

Restaurants thought they were the beginning of experience based marketing in the '60's, but the idea has been around for a very long time. Retail started talking about the "experience" a few decades ago.  Apple has now created at least one template for what that might look like when there is an unlimited budget to test a new concept.  There is now an entire division of marketing that describes itself as experiential marketing.  For those of us with only a few or a few dozen employees, what can we take away from this trend?

Sit back, close your eyes, and visualize what your client's experience looks like.  How do they experience you online, as they drive by, when the walk in the door, when they call, and when they interact with your people?  Is the experience amazing, great, good, not so good, forgettable?  Is the experience random or have you created a experientially based environment designed to be remembered?

In our last post we talked about customer service and how the goal would be to provide a clear cut customer service message that a consumer could repeat the next day to a friend.  Some folks won't remember the great headline you've tried to burn into their brain, but they might remember a sight, a sound, a smell, or a fun time.  And if you can create a very specific and intentional experience, you have a better chance of some of your clients talking about their interaction with your company on Facebook or at the office. 

We have a local Italian restaurant that has an outdoor dining area.  Once an hour, they have a rousing rendition of That's Amore.  The words are on the table and everyone joins in.  That is memorable.  They also have garlic bread rolls that are so amazing that everyone in town talks about them.  Two experiences.  When anyone asks me for a restaurant recommendation, they always come to mind immediately.  Cost of those two experiences.  Free.

Action Steps for Day 33:

1. Get your top staff or staff together for a brainstorming session
2. Ask the group if they think there is an amazing experience at your business
3. If not, throw the subject out to the group for ideas
4. The goal is to come up with some unique, memorable, positive experience that customers will remember and repeat to others. Remember that in brainstorming their are no bad ideas.  Can you imagine the meeting at Walmart where someone suggested putting senior citizens in the front of the store to welcome customers?
5. When you have an idea, create an entire program around it, which may include advertising, PR, in store signs, etc.
6. This is not a replacement for outstanding customer service

If you are reading this blog, you obviously take this stuff seriously.  Link up with me on LinkedIn, and join me at Google+.  These are the places where I'm active.  Love to see you there.

30 Foundational Elements to Small Business Marketing - Secrets from a Serial Entrepreneur

Fundamentals - Secrets of Marketing for SMB

Get the Fundamentals Right - 30 Secrets of Marketing for Small Business

If you are a small business owner, and you are looking for the secrets of successful marketing in order to get your business started, keep it growing, improve its profits, grow its product lines, or expand into new territories, then like any other skill you want to study the fundamentals.  I have just completed the 30 Foundational Elements to Small Business Marketing.  While each of these posts or chapters are merely short forays into material, not an in depth study, you will gain an immediate insight from each. 

Some of these thirty might be things you already know and you do a great job on execution.  Others you may know and you already know you could do better.  Some will be really new and will expand your thinking.  Taken together I hope you will agree that they cover all the basic secrets to marketing a small business. 

I am wide open to hearing from you about items left off the list.  I would love to hear that I've really missed the boat on some one or more of these.  Use the comment sections liberally to tell me where I've gotten it wrong. 

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A Serial Entrepreneur and Biz Author Gives His Top 30 Marketing Secrets in Detail - Pre publication sneak.

If you think it all makes a lot of sense, give me a +1 or a like or tweet about it.  Go ahead and use excerpts for your own blog or Google+.  Would you like to see more?  Then subscribe.  There are going to be at least another 71 posts giving the details.  Moreover, you can head to http://www.GooglePlacesHelp.blogspot.com where I have completely different content being created on every aspect of Google Places, Google+ and all subject that relate to Google and social media.  Subscribe there as well.  

The thirty foundational posts describing the most critical underlying secrets to Marketing from the point of view of this serial entrepreneur are all contained in this blog starting about 45 days ago.  Enjoy.  Email me if you like at RandyKirk77@gmail.com, or even call me at 310-910-1848.

 Here are Ten of the posts with links.   

I also found a great list of quotations that might help inspire your business success. 

Empty Wagon or Museum? - Inventory Control is Marketing Secret 29/101

"You can't sell from an empty wagon" might be one old saying that is very, very close to 100% correct.  But it must be contrasted with "every business with inventory is only a few bad decisions away from being a museum."  Ok, the second one I made up with help from a friend who said this about his bicycle accessory wholesale business.  But those two thoughts together form the end points of the inventory control aspect of logistics.

Walmart destroyed its competition through inventory control.  They have by far the best supply system ever created.  Their strategically placed warehouses, real time sales analysis, and supplier partnerships give them amazing turns at retail and wholesale, and the ability to restock shelves daily with resulting customer satisfaction.  Everything they created 30 or more years ago is available to the smallest retailer today.  But it is very easy to ignore computer solutions and supplier initiatives and turn back to our gut for inventory control.

Why does it matter so much?

    ✓    Cost - Buying right effects your landed cost, therefore margins.
    ✓    Expense - There is a cost to carry inventory including space, cost of money, obsolescence
    ✓    Lost opportunity - You don't have unlimited showrooms, warehouse, cataloging 
    ✓    Lost sales - Wrong inventory and/or out of stock mean lost sales and lost customers

What do you need to know to properly control inventory?  The list isn't that long.
 
    1.    Current inventory
    2.    Product on the way/projected arrival date
    3.    Product ordered by not shipped/projected arrival date
    4.    Sales by day or month or both
    5.    Normal time from purchase to arrival
    6.    Pack sizes
    7.    Discounts apply at pack, case?
    8.    Back up supply available
    9.    On time/in stock rating for supplier
    10.    Significance of being out of stock ranking

In 1972, I walked into the warehouse of my first, and only, employer. I couldn't believe how much money he had wrapped up in inventory that was very, very dusty. I used the 10 pieces of information in that list to create a hand system (no computers yet) to order by. He had been getting about 1.5 inventory turns per year. Using that system, we were able to increase the turns to 7 per year. 

With today's computer capabilities, the issue is only whether someone cares enough to put the tools into place and maintain correct data.

Over and over again, I start a relationship with a new client, only to find out that they are sitting on huge amounts of dead inventory. In one case I helped a client to sell of $150,000 in old inventory within 10 weeks. Be honest about your inventory. Is there $10,000, $50,000, or more that you could sell off and use to reduce debt, buy better inventory, or use for a vacation to Hawaii?

Human Time and Energy as Logistically Limiting Factor is Markting Secret 26/101

Your time and your employee time is Marketing Issue

1440, 168, 365.  We all get exactly the same amount:  Minutes in a day, hours in a week, days in a year.  How we allocate those hours and the human energy that we are able to expend effectively during those hours are a huge determinant of success. 

Many owners are far more aware of the human time and energy component of the business when applying it to their employees.  It can be frustrating to see your staffers working inefficiently, at a slow pace, without enthusiasm, or even wasting time on personal calls or Facebook.  And these few are just the tip of the iceberg that might include time clock abuse, overstaying breaks, or even sleeping on the job. 

Maximizing the productivity of line and staff employees is both art and science and can be a make or break factor in the bottom line results.  Dialing in the expectations of hourly output that will produce a profitable results while maintaining quality may require 100's of hours of study and tweaking to manage.  And while you are working on those two components, you have to take into consideration the raw talent and limitations of different personalities to various kinds of pressures. 

Now turn and apply all those very same criteria to your own work day.  Hard to admit, but you have limitations on your skills and talents.  You, too, are prone to waste time with online games, meaningless tasks, or jobs that you should be delegating.  You are like anyone else in the building, in that your personality has an effect on motivation, endurance, and raw output.

Let's dial all this into the real world.  You have a great product or service.  Your pricing provides industry standard margins or better.  Your visibility is good enough and enough business is coming in the door.  But you keep running out of money before you run out of  month.  Or in simple accounting terms, you're losing your shirt.  In that case, the first shirt you want to examine is your own.  Are there any sweat stains from your maximizing of your own personal potential.  Are you training yourself in new skills, training others to do jobs you should not be doing, and efficiently producing the highest level work product that you possibly can in the fewest hours?  And are you getting needed rest so you can do it all again the next day.

Once you have re engineered your day in such a way that your manager, if you had one, would give you extremely high marks, you have earned the right to expect the same from others.  You will definitely set the tone on this dimension.  If you are lax in your own habits, you empower everyone else to take the same lax approach.  If you are full of energy and bouncing off the walls, but perceived to be all energy and no production, your people will follow you right off the cliff.

Is this a common problem among owners of small businesses? Absolutely. Is there also a major issue of setting expectations of staff based on realistic output? Yes. In almost every business.

At this stop on the cruise ship marketing, we can only touch on the subject of productivity as it effects business results.  But hopefully you can use this stop on the tour to take a hard look at your own habits and those of your crew to determine if there might be ways to dramatically increase output per hour and dollar.

Action steps for day 26:

1. How much of your low sales and profit numbers are due to your own behavior?
2. Are you making your expectations for productivity clear to your employees?
3. Are you creating incentives for yourself and others to hit goals? 
4. Are your goals too harsh or too easy? How did you reach your standards?
5. Decide what productivity issues are important to your sales and profits
6. Run testing to see what a reasonable standard is
7. Meet with your management team or even the entire staff to discuss realistic goals and to plan methods for reaching or exceeding those goals, including incentives

Time as Relentless Marketing Friend or Foe! Marketing Secret 25/101 from the Serial Entrepreneur

No other logistical aspect of marketing is totally relentless.  Only this one. 
No other aspect of business is less under our control than time.
You can't pay to increase the supply of time. To speed it up or slow it down.
Too much or two little time by itself can't put you out of business, but it is a component of every other logistical issue, any one of which can dramatically effect your future. 
You are probably more aware of time than any other logistical element other than possibly money.

However, just like every other aspect of running a small business, time is commonly something reacted to rather than carefully planned into our marketing efforts.

For instance, my business partner of 26 years used to joke that he wished the trade show producers wouldn't wait until just weeks before the show to set the date of the annual show.  This while we scurried around making last minute preparations that would have been better and cheaper had we taken the time earlier to plan and execute.

In the advertising specialty business (promotional products), successful suppliers all have standard turn around times of three days with one day capabilities at an extra charge.  How is it possible that so many intelligent owners of businesses are so disorganized that there is a need for three day turns on imprinted magnets. Or that three days may not be enough and you have to pay substantially extra for next day and overnight delivery.

I have walked into business after business that fails to understand that a DAILY sales and profit analysis or break even number is the most important number in their business.  We have literally turned around failing businesses, just by establishing that number and making hitting that amount the highest priority. 

Dollars per day, units per minute, monthly payroll cost, cash burn per quarter, yield per hour, leads per trade show day, calls per hour, closes per day per sales person, website visitors per day,  and on and on the list goes.  And I know it is a duh, but it doesn't make it any less important to say:  you can't get the minute, hour, day, month, year back.  Playing catch up gets to be harder and harder as periods pass that are short of goals set. 

During my career i have tended to appreciate those employees who had an appropriate sense of urgency, and be less inclined to promote those who didn't understand the relationship between time and marketing success.  But it is also up to the manager or owner to establish expectations, and to make these expectations realistic. 

Do you feel that this post is just way to obvious or derived from common sense?  Or was there a wake up call for you regarding your business?  In working with over 400 small businesses in the last 7 years, my experience would suggest that you are likely kidding yourself if you think you've got this subject covered.

Action steps for day 25:

1. Determine those things in your business that should be time sensitive.  
2. Set up a calendar with deadlines for the incremental elements that need to be completed.  
3. Create goals that and analytics that allow you to track results in a timely way
4. Instill a sense of urgency in your staff without turning it into an obsession - it is a fine line
5. Have backup plans for when time runs out
6. Incentivize timeliness that doesn't sacrifice quality standards

Money As #1 Logistical Issue. Marketing Secret 21/101 Where's the Money?

My Best Idea Ever Failed for Lack of $$

The Most Critical Issue in Logistics is King Cash

If I had a dollar for every amazing idea I've seen in my life that failed for lack of funding, I'd have enough of a cash pile to fund one of those great ideas.  Another way to look at the issue of the impact of too little cash regarding a small business, is that most companies that fail do so because of inadequate cash. 

Cash as the driver of success is not merely true of start ups.  Money is often the bane of mature businesses as well.  I have worked with one company who has almost unlimited capability in their chosen field.  They already make a wide range of products, many of them successful in the niche that has been exploited.  Almost all of these products have proven superiority over other similar offerings in the same categories.  In most cases, there is even a likely cost advantage due to low overhead and superior sourcing of raw materials. 

In order to take one of these products to the next level of sales the company might need to spend $50,000 or more in risk capital for each product.  There is an excellent chance of success.  The ROI is very acceptable.  But the owner is risk averse, and unwilling to devote the necessary seed money. 

You could have the same situation with a risk perverse owner who simply doesn't have the cash flow to risk.  Or you could have a third situation where the cash is available, the ownership is willing to go forward, but the competing opportunities or other strategic issues get in the way, such as the plant capacity being maxed, or the distribution channel is pushing back on the idea for some reason.

The startup certainly needs to count the cost.  My books almost always contain an entire chapter on startup cost analysis. This startup cost analysis should also be done for any major expansion, new product introduction, move to larger quarters, or opening of a second location or division. Anyone planning to open a new enterprise should have carefully budgeted the opening expenses, inventory needs, initial marketing costs, and expected cash burn per week or month in a worst case scenario.  Banks may commonly recommend that you have enough savings or borrowing power to sustain the enterprise for a year or two of worse than expected profits.  If everyone did that, we'd have a lot fewer new businesses opening, if you get my drift.

You can start a company with no money in savings as long as you have no overhead or personal need for income.  But that is a rare company.  Most often we do have rent, utilities, and personal needs that require at least some cash in the beginning.  The larger the initial risk needed to open the door, the more cash reserves you should have to protect your investment.  If I open with no expense in a home based business, and have only my phone and computer as overhead, I can get by with no savings at all to fall back on.  If I open a retail business with $200,000 in opening costs and a $10,000 a month overhead budget, I would certainly want to have another $100,000 backing my play.

What about the mature business?  I have certainly seen many such companies fail in the last eight years after the housing bust.  But others survived.  Asset preservation is key when sales drop off a cliff.  Reducing overhead quickly, minimizing outlays, collecting receivables, reducing inventory, bolstering cash reserves are strategies that are likely to have been in play for those who made it. 

Some certainly didn't do these things, but were able to keep going through use of personal asset sales, borrowing on personal lines, and putting off creditors.  When forced to operate under these conditions, there is generally a dramatic reduction in the effectiveness of the CEO due to stress, and critical personal resources being diverted to managing the disaster instead of the store.

Wrapping it up:  Cash is king of logistics.  Many of your other logistical decisions are directly dependent on cash.  Budgeting is not fun, but properly budgeting may save your company one day.

Action steps for day 21:

1. Make a budget for the next three years
2. Do a cash flow analysis for the next three years
3. Now make a worst case budget and cash flow for the next year
4. Review every expense carefully. Do you have to have this expense. Is there a way to cut it.
5. Make sure that you are getting a profit and loss statement within days of the end of each month
6. Plug the p & l back into your budget and review 
7. Take a close look at cost of goods and selling prices to see if margins are acceptable

SMB Marketing Secrets 21-30/101 - Counting the Costs; Inventory of Your Resources

Luke 14:28 "But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?"

The very best companies in the world are very commonly those with the best logistics, the best command of their assets, a solid understanding of their capabilities and how each of these impact their potential.

Most small business owners spend some time on resource analysis.  But any honest analysis of a product or business failure can almost always be tracked back to inadequate resources.  The most obvious might be cash, but it is just as likely to be facilities, staff, or dare-I-say, marketing depth.

To use an old analogy commonly applied to any plan, consider what you do when you plan a trip with your family.  You have goals, you have strategies, and you have tactics.  Every stop is generally well planned, including the maps, reservations, museums, parks, and family members to see along the way.  But you also figure out the amount of money you will need, the clothes to take based on anticipate whether conditions, and what you will do with the dog and the empty house while you are gone.

On the other hand, folks start a business without adequate cash, without being clear on the products they will carry, and potentially without even fully checking out the details of insurance requirements, sign laws, or an evaluation of the competition.

The next 10 days will be dedicated to exploring 10 resource elements that should be evaluated prior to launch of any business or product, and at least once a year.  Another time for such an evaluation would be when any major change happens, especially if it effects one of these categories.

If you would like to suggest categories in advance, please do so in the comments.

10 Marketing Secrets: How Do You Establish An Image For Your Small Business?

Let's all be honest.  We did not sit down when we started our small business and plan all the details of our image.  I have started 33 businesses, and I have not followed my own advice on this subject more than a few times.  You may have become very successful without paying attention to any, some, or all of the items on this list.  But I daresay that if you even scan over this list, you will agree that analyzing these items and proactively making decisions about the image issues listed will have a positive effect on your potential.

It is never too late.  You can start tomorrow.  Each of these items is linked to a blog post that gives the details for the headline. 

•     The Niche Your Company Occupies
•     The Branding of Your Company
•     The Territory Your Company Seeks to Read
•     The Demographic of Your Client Base
•     The Expression of Your Personality as Project onto Your Company
•     Your Logo, Colors, and Slogan and the Impression They Make
•     The Street View of Your Business
•     The Brands you Carry Effect Your Company Brand
•     Online Personality Commonly Doesn't Reflect Your Business
•     The Way You Answer the Phone Is Part of Marketing

Please let me know if you think I've missed any big ones, or if any of these shouldn't be in the list.

If you would like a marketing professional to help you work through the list and create the strategy and tactics needed to implement your decisions, call me, Randy Kirk, at 310-910-1848.  Then let me know how you think I did on answer the phone.  :  )

Small Business Marketing Secrets #16 - Logos, Colors, Slogans

 

Pretty much everything is wrong. Do you see the errors?

How Much Does your Logo Matter?

Contrarian Warning!  I don't think the success of Nike is related very much to the Swoosh. 1%, 2% of sales. And that is for an international brand who spends massive amounts of money to promote the logo. The Apple with a bite out of it?  It helps, but not as much as one memorable Superbowl commercial.  The golden arches are impressive, but I think the benefit is more in the street visibility, and the original idea of fast, clean, and meet expectations, than in the logo value. 

For me, and I'm not an expert in this area, just a marketing guy with 40+ years of experience creating brands, I placed this marketing basic near the personality basic for a very good reason.  I think the logo, company colors, and slogan should fit like a great Hawaiian shirt on a 55 year old man.  If you love it and it projects your vision, humor, strategy, and personality, it will probably work just fine. 

On the other hand …….  There are some things you just don't do.  The fantastic font should be something the consumer can read.  At a distance.  Quickly.  The colors should take into consideration the customer.  Yellows and pinks for the ladies.  Blue and blacks for the guys. Reds for everyone. And while not as critical as 20 years ago, the logo should still look good in black for certain print considerations.

Should you use the "in" colors for this year?  Only if you plan to change them when they are outdated.  If you stick with basics, they will always be modern. Same applies to fonts.  Is it okay to change your logo often to refresh.  Sure, but if it matters at all, and you don't have a huge budget to reintroduce your new logo and change it everywhere, then you want to keep changes to a minimum and the changes them self, minimal.

The slogan.  You don't even need one, to be fair.  But, don't bother if it's blather.  Give the consumer something to think about or forget it.  Make it a statement about your niche or a strong statement of your unique selling proposition. 

I have been in a position to create many dozen slogans over the years.  I have one that we created for our bicycle accessory manufacturing business, and that we were particularly proud of, "Enhancing the Bicycling Experience." Pithy, established a standard for the employees, and every product had to meet the criterion.  

Do you need some type of artistic piece as part of the logo?  Once again, only if it is going to move the ball forward.  Don't grab some stock item off a website just so you have a artsy looking logo.  Symbols do matter, and if you can use the type style or an artistic element to make it clear you are fast, reliable, homey, smell good, taste better, etc., then by all means pay a few hundred dollars to get a serious piece of art. 

Where have I gone wrong here?  I suspect that the first 15 were pretty safe.  But are there any of you who believe that your logo has changed your business? 

Identify Your Ideal Customer is 14/101 Marketing Secrets

Describe Your Customer

Who Is Your Customer?

When I visit with a new client for our marketing consulting business, one of the first things I ask is for the business owner to describe the customer they would most like to see walk through the door right now.  Every demographic they can give me helps to know how to plan the marketing.  Age, sex, income, job, etc.  Then I ask the same details on the second favorite customer they would prefer to see. 

Most of the time that I ask this question, the owner is surprised by the question.  With a few moments of thought, they can generally come up with a description.  But they have obviously never considered the issue in planning their advertising, promotion, store layout, pricing, branding, or everything else that would be determined by the demo.  In fact, as often as not, the demo that is coming in the door is nothing like the preferred client. 

After the demographic, the next question would be the customer style.  There are plenty of customers who are not profitable for the company.  And there are customers that create more stress than they're worth.  There are also customers whose demands are outside the skill sets or talent of the company. 

Unfortunately when revenues are not strong, we are tempted to take on customers that are outside of the ideal.  The result can be so disrupting to the business that the loss goes far beyond the difference between costs and income from that specific client. 

We did silk screen printing on bottles at the factory I used to own.  We were the best in the world at the type of printing we did.  However, there were still limits of the kind of art that we could do, or at least do well.  But, then some huge order would come our way with art that was stretching our capabilities.  It was always difficult to turn away that kind of business.  However, the potential pitfall was to lose money on the difficult printing job, cost us the customer forever, and/or cause us to fall behind on other jobs. 

Contractors often accept jobs from consumers who they can see are difficult personalities and/or seriously anal.  Then early into the job, they see more of the same.  The time to get out is before the job is underway.  Your gut will almost always be right.  That same personality, after you have done above and beyond, will generally be the hardest to get final payment from, and they will still be upset over something. 

So, do yourself a favor.  Write out a description of the customer you are seeking and even the one you hope never darkens your door.  Once you have this description completed, it will help you to know how to market in a way that will bring that person to your business.  What do they read?  Where do they live?  What keywords are they likely to be looking for?  What brands do they prefer?
What kind of service and pricing do they expect?

In many businesses, the ideal customer is relatively easy to identify. A bankruptcy lawyer, wedding photographer, hardware distributor, and many other businesses can easily obtain lists of those needing their services or advertise very . Even in those cases, it is often wise to qualify the customer, rather than try to land every person or business who comes your way.

As a corollary, don't be afraid to fire customers who are unprofitable.  You may be surprised to find out that they had no idea they were not profitable for you, and be willing to change their relationship in order to keep the relationship.  Sometimes your clients need you more than you think.

Some who might be more trouble than they are worth or those who consistently beat you down in price or ask for expensive special treatment for free, those who consistently pay late, and those who have excessive returns. Some clients even do all three. I've fired clients who were inappropriate in their treatment of my employees. We even fired a major national chain for too many charge backs.

Be aware that your reputation includes the company you keep The word will get out if you are soft on price, credit, etc. If you have good products, service, and customer service...oh, and marketing...you should be able to be picky in client selection.

How to Determine Your Territory - 13/100 Marketing Secrets

Have You Considered the Boundaries of Your Strategic Territory?

It is a fundamental theory of war that you should never fight beyond what your supply lines can support.  And one might think this means a business should limit the territory it tries to serve.  In many cases that is the right decision.  On the other hand, each business type needs a certain amount of population or spendable income or other similar metric in order to survive. 

My experience with local businesses is that they commonly feel concerned that they don't have enough population to get the sales they need.  Only rarely do I find companies who evaluate the full range of metrics that will effect their ability to hit their sales goals. 

Let's look at a couple of examples.  Consider the retailer or service provider like a lawyer or dentist.  Most marketing folks suggest that the natural reach for such a business is a radius of five miles.  That reach is determined by understanding how far a typical person is willing to travel to get the best service, price, or a particular product or brand. 

That natural reach is also a product of the visibility of the client base.  Customers within that five mile range are more likely to have gone past a brick and mortar location or heard by word of mouth about the business.  The further away, the less likely that these "free" advertising methods will bring in traffic.  Therefore, the larger the target radius, the more expense it takes to reach the clients. 

This means that it isn't automatically wise to attempt to increase the footprint of the service area.  On the other hand, it may be necessary to risk the advertising expense if there just isn't enough of a customer base to make a living.  However, even if that's the case, it isn't the only solution.  Adding other product lines or services might be a better, less risky, less expensive way to increase sales. 

You can extrapolate the above example of a small business to any manufacturer, distributor, chain, or large service provider.  As a manufacturer serving the entire US and Canada, I felt the need to reach out to the export market.  It was great for trips to exotic lands that were a write off.  But the cost of marketing, maintaining relationships, freight, foreign language packaging, local taxes and regulations, not to mention learning curves, made it very hard to make a profit on that business. 

Get the demographic information for your territory and determine whether you can hit your goals within your natural territory.  This will then help you make a lot of decisions about the rest of your marketing strategy.  Start by estimating your natural reach. You may be able to get this by looking at sales information and finding where your clients live. Maybe just start asking folks for a few days.  You can go online and get demographic information for any city in the US.

If you are dealing nationally or internationally, what are the realities in your market? Every industry has statistics about the number of customers or sales of items or services that may give you an idea of some realistic sales goals.

Selecting Your Market Niche is Marketing Secret 11/101 for Small Business

Definition of a Marketing Niche and How to Proactively Use Your Business Niche to Grow Sales and Prosper.

The concept of business niche is so critical that I've placed it at number 11 of of my 101 Marketing Secrets.  Let's start with a definition of the term in general from Dictionary.com:  the role of a plant or animal within its community and habitat, which determines its activities, relationships with other organisms, etc. As to a business, it offers:  2.  a place or position suitable or appropriate for a person or thing: to find one's niche in the business world.  3.  a distinct segment of a market.

In each case, whether an animal, an individual, or a business, niche (from nest) building has to do with finding a great unique location for the nest that provides a nurturing environment for the young (product or service), safe from predators (the competition), close to food (profits), and that is not overpopulated by others (competition).

If you are in business, you are already occupying a niche.  You may have never thought of it that way.  But you have decided, for instance, to either sell your products or services at below market, at market, or above market prices.  That is a niche.  You have decided to offer certain brands or services and not others.  You are open certain days and hours. All of these are niche decisions. 

The question for today is whether you have set out to establish a niche, or whether you have evolved into a niche? And in the process, are you in the best possible niche?  My own business might provide a fairly interesting example.

Most marketing consultant are hoping to have four or five clients paying them $3000 or so per month.  The client base would be a $2m to $5m business who can't quite afford to pay $120,000 or so for a full-time marketing VP.  That niche has many ex-marketing VP's and business owners vying for the available food supply (clients).  I chose to seek out much smaller clients who could never afford $3000 per month, but who could and should afford under $1000 a month for a full range of marketing services. 

I could have, and have dabbled with, offering a more limited range of only internet marketing services for around $500 a month.  However, once again, the market is crowded with folks who offer SEO and websites for that monthly fee. 

Once having determined that I would work in that niche, the obvious issues were:
    1.  How do I tell that story to potential clients?
    2.  Can I afford to offer for under $1000 what other consultants charge $3000 for?
    3.  Can I meet my personal goals and objectives for income and life satisfaction in this niche?

This is the marketing approach to niche building.  No matter how long you have been in your current niche, it is always possible to move and change the details.  For instance, maybe you have always opened at 10:00 like every other shop of your type.  What if you started opening at 7:00 a.m?  Would there be a large group of potential clients who might like to take advantage of that time slot.


Maybe you have a narrow offering of products or services.  Should you broaden it?  Maybe you are trying to offer such a wide range of products that nobody knows who you are.  Should you narrow the product line, and thereby reduce inventory, and probably increase turns?

Location is an obvious niche. Pay more for a great location and more traffic. Pay less to avoid high overhead, but need to spend more on advertising. Pay nothing and work from home.

The customer experience has become a major niche, both online and in store. Are you providing a customer experience that coincides with their expectations and your pricing. The more you charge the better the experience needs to be.

Action steps for Day 11:

1. Make a list of the characteristics of your niche
2. Are you losing customers or sales due to any changes in your niche
3. Are there opportunities to change any of those to your advantage

As with most of my 101 Marketing Secrets, an entire book could be devoted to this one.  But the goal here is to give you a cruise through the various islands of marketing concepts.  Some of the islands might really speak to you and cause you to want to learn more.  Did this one give you new insight?