Build Local First

November 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment


One of the most important things for a small business to understand (especially a technically savvy one) is that the most important client base these days is still the ones you can sit across of and look at them eye-to-eye.

In John Jantsch’s book Duct Tape Marketing (Affiliate Link), he says, “Creating customers offline will, in my opinion, always (okay, for the next few years, anyway) be the most profitable way for a small business to build long-term, high-profit revenue.” But, because John understands the value of technology he also adds, “But those revenues will never appear if you don’t master the online information space first.” (p. 7, Duct Tape Marketing, Revised and Updated)

So, what a new business must need to do is to use the technology available to them but not necessarily to build their client base. Instead the use of this technology is best used to provide their local clients with the educational content that allows them to stand apart in the competitive crowd.

As a new business adds new customers/clients through personal, face-to-face efforts of its owners and employees and then provides those new customers with a continued flow of new and valuable content via technology, success is inevitable!

Technology is great and every business that is going to be successful in this current economic climate will need to master it, but start-ups and small businesses need to build local first!

How are you using technology, the internet, and social media to build a local client base?

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Making “Local” Stand Out Online

November 13, 2012 by 1 Comment

More than ten years ago, I was sitting across the table of a Village Inn in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was in a meeting with a businessman who was trying to convince me of the need to invest in a start-up company that was working to create local search engines for the new technology that was the internet. He and his company had noticed that there was really no place online to narrow a search for a product/service down to a local area. They had set out to find a way of making “local” stand out online.

Fast forward to today. Local search is one of the fastest categories of growth online with approximately 33% of all searches today being local in nature. My friend from ten years ago may have been too far ahead of the curve for the times, but he was right on as to the direction a growth of internet searches.

So, in this age of growing local searches, what is necessary in making “local” stand out online? I think that there are three basic things that are absolutely essential:

1. Get online! Now I know that this seems obvious, but really very few locally owned businesses have any kind of real online presence. Some may have a website, but most do not know what to do with it, or how it can bring in revenue for their businesses. Even fewer local businesses understand Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, or any other method of extending thier business outside their brick and mortar walls.

2. Get found! Now that you have an online presence, you have to know how to get found. This includes things like “online” specials, local search engine optimization, and offline introductions to your online presence. Get people looking for you, tell people about your “online” locations, and do things for your “online” followers that are exclusive to them.

3. Get consistent! Too many times local businesses will have a spark of inspiration to get online. They will get started and get found, but after a couple months, they will get too busy to keep things up and current. Once this happens, they will quickly fall back to their previous default position and their online presence will at least suffer if not just come to an end. To have long term online success you must make your online presence as important to your business as unlocking the door everyday to welcome your current and new customers.

If you will take these simple steps to making your “local” stand out online, more people will find you, more people will refer you, and you will grow in ways you could only before dream of.

What steps are you taking to get your local business seen online? What suggestions do you have for other local businesses?

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Organic Business Growth

October 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment

One of the most dangerous things for a local, brick and mortar, business to think and that is building an online presence is some magical event that will bring new customers with little or no effort. While a good blog along with an active presence on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn will bring exposure to your business,lasting business results are still and always organic.

What I mean by organic is business that is grown through personal contact. You hear terms like relational and connecting all the time online, but you rarely find real relationship building or genuine connecting being done. The reason for this is that real relationships and genuine connecting occurs when a local business gets face to face with its customers.

The online aspect of local business marketing may get people into the store, but from there it becomes the work of the local business to use all of their online and offline marketing tools to get them back. As often as customers return to a local business, the business can build relationships and connect with them on a personal level.

Online marketing has its place in the process. I use it all the time. However, once your marketing efforts bring people through the door, your business will grow as you build relationships and connect face to face.

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Social Media and Local Business

October 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Many times owners of local offline companies have a difficult time trying to decide if it is worth the time, energy, or money to get involved with social networking. Yet more and more they are trying to get something going online.

The biggest problem that they are running into is not knowing exactly what to do and/or how to do it. This concern is compounded by all of the “noise” that exists surrounding social networking these days. “Gurus” are running around the country with conflicting information that has many business owners just throwing up their hands and staying with “what has always worked.”

I would suggest three things to anyone considering making social networking a part of their marketing plan:

1. Don’t leap before you look! Take some time to understand what social networking is and what it can do for you, your business, and more importantly your clients/customers.

2. Not everything that you read or hear about social networking is true or will work for your business. When something is as potentially as powerful a social networking plan, make sure that you are getting good advice.

3. As you understand more and more about social networking, you need to begin to establish a marketing strategy based on what you know. Jumping into the whole social networking world without a strategy is like jumping in the deep end of a pool to learn how to swim. You could survive, or you could drown.

Only after you have put together this strategy and can test it and measure its results, are you ready to make this great opportunity a part of your long-term marketing plan.

Talk more later …..

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Strategy and Tactics

September 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

In reading the classic marketing book, Duct Tape Marketing, I learned from John Jantsch that every successful business needs to have two key ingredients: Strategy and Tactics. John also insists (and I firmly agree with him) that strategy must precede tactics.

John quotes Sun Tzu’s, The Art of War where it reads, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

You see, what both Mr. Jantsch and Mr. Tzu understand (or understood) is that knowing how you are going to get from point A to point B is really more important than any of your business tactics/objectives.

John makes it clear that a business strategy must include three keys:

  1. Decide Who Matters. Who does your business seek to reach? This part of your strategy will produce a set of tactics that will get you in front of the right people rather than just shouting into the wind!
  2. Be Different. Everyone in your industry will argue that their product/service is better than the competition. What you must do is to develop a strategy that really makes you stand out from the crowd.
  3. Connect the Dots. You have got to devise a strategy that allows you to connect the dots through all the stages of your business model. No one should be left out and no customer interaction with your company should be left to chance. Time must be taken on this step or your tactics will fall short and your objectives will fail to be met!

So, what have you done with your business? Have you followed the advice of Mr. Jantsch and/or Mr. Tzu? Or, have you sought to make the most noise before your ultimate defeat? Strategies and Tactics, both important, but only if they are accomplished in the right order!!

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The Red Velvet Rope Policy

July 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Cover of "Book Yourself Solid: The Fastes...

Cover via Amazon

 

I read (and have re-read) a book by Michael Port over the past couple years titled “Book Yourself Solid” (affiliate link). One of the truths that he speaks to in this book is the need for every business to establish what he calls the Red Velvet Rope Policy. You know, that red velvet rope that lets only certain people into a venue while keeping most everyone out.

The point he makes is that most businesses think that everyone who breaths needs to be their customer and by doing so finds themselves in the unenviable position of trying to be all things to all people (even when it drains you being around some of those people). His thought is that if you let anyone into your business life, especially those you find it difficult to work with, your efforts with everyone suffers and your reputation is damaged. His blunt recommendation is to “Dump the Duds.”

Michael says that there are six reasons to establish such a policy in your business:

  1. You’ll have clean energy to do your best work.
  2. You’ll feel invigorated and inspired.
  3. You’ll connect with clients on a deeper level.
  4. You’ll feel successful and confident.
  5. You’ll know your work matters and is changing lives.
  6. The magic of you will come to life.

I have had the experience lately of “turning down” paying jobs and, while I did feel some anxious moments about turning down a paycheck, in the end I felt better about the things I was doing and the clients I was working with at the time. Thanks Michael!!

Now, its back to work!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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100% Referral Business

July 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment

What would your business be like if, instead of spending time and resources trying to chase down and secure new clients, you walked into the office everyday to find a new set of potential clients waiting to talk with you? Would it change the way you do business? Would your attitude toward life/business be different? How would it make you feel?

Many business people begin their businesses by making the choice to build what they hope will become a 100% referral business, but as time goes on that dream seems to give way to the harsh realities of making ends meet month after month. In the end, an occasional referral is great to get, but how to build an entire business eludes most business owners.

If your plan from the beginning was to build a 100% referral business and you have not yet given up on that dream, here are a few suggestions that might well move you forward in the fulfillment of your success plan:

  1. Learn to do such an excellent job for your current clients that referring you is easy for them to do. If your business practices bring any frustration to your current clients, it will be very difficult for them to refer you with confidence. Make sure that you take care of them and that you deliver on all that you promise.
  2. Learn to handle the occasional frustrations that occur in business immediately and to the advantage of the customer whenever possible. My daughter was recently frustrated with how she was treated by a company and mentioned that frustration to her friends on Twitter. The company, who monitors their company name on Twitter (hint), saw the tweet and immediately responded to her frustration, made things right, and won back a customer. That is the way referral businesses are built!
  3. Learn to ask confidently for referrals. If you are providing excellence to your current clients and handling any frustrations that might come along to their satisfaction, then why would you not ask if you could do the same for others they know who could use your product/service as well. If you just wait to see who will refer you, you just might starve (or at least go out of business)!

While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, or even a particularly brilliant one, I would like to remind you of the old adage, “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!” Most business owners will agree with these simple points, but most will not take the time to put them to practice. If you do you will stand out from the competition and could be the one to build a 100% referral business!

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Some Thoughts On Branding

July 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I was reading some of my favorite blogs yesterday and came across a great article on the subject of branding from my good friend Dallon Christensen at White Board Business Partners. He was discussing the subject of branding and business success. In the article he discusses his transition from a technician to a business owner and the lessons on branding he learned along the way.

Here is his list for building a great brand:

  1. Be willing to start at the bottom – We all want to accelerate the brand-building process. Unfortunately, building a great brand requires starting at the bottom and doing the right things consistently. Building a brand is truly a marathon. You must be willing to invest the time and avoid shortcuts.
  2. When in doubt, narrow your target market – Southwest Airlines has the most recognized brand in the airline industry. Southwest started its business flying between three Texas cities. Southwest’s focus allowed it to do business on its terms and create top of mind awareness for its unique service and on-time arrivals.
  3. Communicate the value you provide – The Whiteboard Business Blueprint requires you to determine how you deliver value before building your brand. If your brand is inconsistent with your value, customers will never buy from you. Imagine if Apple communicated low cost computers as its brand while building value through its great design and ease of use. Customers would not trust the brand.
  4. Be careful about growing your brand too quickly – Dell provides a cautionary tale for this step. Dell was once known for building customized computers quickly. When Dell expanded into other electronics lines, they lost significant credibility with customers. It is tempting to grow quickly, but your brand can quickly dilute and impact your business.

To me these are all incredibly important thoughts but my “most important” is #2. When in doubt, narrow your target market!! By narrowing your target market you can become more of a valued expert to those you are working with. You can make your knowledge base more target centered and leave the rest to someone else. It is always easier to capture the attention of a smaller market than a larger one. If your product/service has real value in that smaller market, you can enjoy greater success than you will trying to be all things to all people!!

You can read Dallon’s entire article here.

 

 

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