Tag: Business

How Great Is Your Company? Answer These 4 Questions.

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

happyworkGreatness is determined on many levels.  Seldom is it one thing that defines a great company.  This year’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work for include: Google, SAS, CHG Healthcare Services, Boston Consulting Group, and Wegmans Food Markets rounding out the top five.  What makes these select few stand out among the millions of companies doing business every day?  Is it the free lunch that Google offers or the casual dress code at SAS, or the leadership development programs offered at Boston Consulting Group that make the difference?  More than likely it’s those things plus other less tangible things that have elevated these companies to becoming employers many people aspire to work for.  If you’re considering a move, or simply trying to decide if you should stay or go, look at the following 4 areas and answer the questions I’ve posed.  This may provide you with the insight you’re looking for to make your decision.

  1. Employee morale.  Some companies conduct regular surveys of their employees to measure morale and job satisfaction.  Poor morale can lead to many negative side-effects for a company and its employees.  Here are some signs you may have a morale problem:  increase in sick time, customer service levels dropping, longer than scheduled employee breaks, increase in personal phone calls, visible avoidance of senior management.  Typically low employee morale is the result of uncontrolled stress or strain in the workplace.  However, in companies with strong employee morale you see higher engagement, lower usage of sick-time, and perhaps most importantly a culture of innovation that leads to strong customer satisfaction levels.  Engaged employees offer new ideas, suggestions, and solutions for how to improve things across the business.  The key driver to making this happen?…managements ability and desire to listen and act in collaboration with their employees.  How is your company’s morale?
  2.  Creativity.  Positive energy generates positive thoughts.  Positive thoughts produce creative ideas and solutions.  When a company’s culture is negative or numb, it loses its ability to create new ideas, concepts, products, or services.  Creativity is a required ingredient for innovation and invention.  Without it, you will successfully secure your spot in the purgatory of status quo.  Companies that thrive in a highly creative and innovative world have mastered the power of creative thinking.  They have accomplished this by instituting a level of controlled, creative tension.  Management expects employees to generate new ideas and employees expect to be heard.  This dynamic of a two-way-street creates a steady stream of creative traffic that produces ongoing positive results for both the company and its employees.  Is your company a culture of creativity, what example can you give?
  3. Turnover.  Life is all about relationships and the workplace is no different.  According to a recent Dale Carnegie Training study, the #1 reason people leave their job is because “their boss sucks”.  People don’t leave companies…they leave to get away from other people.  Companies with high turnover, which I would define as more than 10% annually should take a deep look into what is driving their turnover.  Often times exit interviews and surveys are the relied upon methods for gathering feedback from a departing employee.  However, these tactics come after the fact…when nothing can be done to salvage a high-value employee who has decided to leave.  High turnover can also suggest a disconnect between the management team, the company vision, and employee goals or quotas.  What’s the turnover rate at your company?
  4. Transparency.  It’s either there or it isn’t.  You know as an employee how your work impacts the top and bottom line…or you don’t.  Management communicates a clear vision that includes the company’s goals, the timeframe for achieving them, and regular updates on the health and progress of the business relative to these goals.  Creating a culture of transparency requires time, commitment and most importantly trust.  Management must trust the employees with information, and employees must trust their management to provide this information with accuracy and honesty and hold it in confidence.  A breakdown on either side of this relationship ultimately leads to the elimination of transparency further leading to many of the above symptoms taking hold:  poor morale, turnover, and lost productivity/creativity.  How much do you know about your company’s goals and objectives?

The 7 Question Marketing Effectiveness Quiz

On By Joe DeRosaIn MarketingLeave a comment

Marketing

Whether a start-up or mature, large or small, restaurant or manufacturer, Marketing plays a vital role in the success of every business.  And while specific tactics may look different depending on your product or service, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the return on your marketing investment.  Setting up a Marketing dashboard is critical to providing you with this insight.  To get started you will need to have a thorough understanding of your business, your customers, competition, overall marketplace economics and trends.  Getting started requires time, focus, commitment and most importantly a complete acceptance of reality.   Take the 7 Question Marketing Effectiveness Quiz below to see how informed and prepared you are to lead your team to victory.

  1. Do you have a written definition of what a lead is?  Many companies have no clear definition of a lead.  In many cases a name alone represents a lead.  Marketing may generate a name and provide it to the Sales organization to contact leading to a false sense of demand creation.  A name is NOT a lead.  However, YOU need to decide what a lead is for your company and obtain the agreement to that definition from others on the executive team most importantly the leader of the Sales team.
  2. How many channels are you working to generate leads?  Is it just a sales team?  Do you use your website?  What about strategic partnerships?  A multi-channel marketing strategy provides greater possibilities to expanding your company’s reach and distribution.  Additionally you will find that certain channels present higher close ratios or stronger average sales prices.  While managing multiple channels requires resources, and subject matter expertise, you will find this approach yields better results as opposed to a single channel approach.
  3. What is your ROL by channel?  Do you know what your return-on-leads are by channel?  For example, you have a direct sales force, a website, and a strong accountant referral channel.  Each day, week, month, you generate leads through all 3 of these channels.  What are the close ratios per channel?  What is the average selling price of your product by channel?  What channel coverts the highest rate of leads to presentations, and how many of those presentations result in a sale?  Having insight into your ROL will help you focus on making the improvements necessary to grow your business.
  4. Does your website have lead-conversion capabilities?  Is your website static or dynamic?  Is it set up using responsive web design (RWD)? Do you have a mechanism in place to track the incoming visitors to your site and follow-up with the appropriate messaging and content?
  5. How much content do you have on your site and how fresh is it?  Do you have a content management strategy?  Do you provide free content to those that visit your site?  How do you decide what content to produce?  Who writes it?  How often is it refreshed?  What do you do with the feedback you get from prospects or customers that download your content?
  6. Do you have a blog?  Many businesses feel they don’t need to blog because their product or service is in a class of its own and doesn’t require blogging.  That’s simply not true.  Every company can and should blog.  There are always topics relevant to your potential buyers for you to be blogging about.  Whether you sell party supplies, automotive repair, or chimney cleaning, your target market is looking for content.  Blogs are a great way to increase your internet search results and get you found faster.
  7. Who is responsible for Marketing?  If you can’t answer this questions with a name, find one quickly…even if it’s you.  Think of it this way…if you pay the bills for your business and keep your own books, you may not have the title of CFO but you know who’s responsible for the finances of your business.  Likewise, if you’re the one doing the marketing, you’re the one responsible for the growth of your business too.  Someone has to be accountable for Marketing otherwise it simply will not get done.

Your answers to these questions provide the insight necessary to begin to develop your marketing dashboard.  Let me know if this was helpful.

3 Quick Ways To Understand Your Buyer

On By Joe DeRosaIn MarketingLeave a comment

stopwatch

What’s better, simple or easy?  If you buy a product that is easy to use is it better than if it were simple to use?  Is there a difference?  Or does simple sound insulting.  We had to make it simple because we didn’t think you could figure it out on your own.  And so the dilemma arises for marketers around which word to use.  Select the right one and buyers respond, chose the wrong word and you can find yourself on a path to nowhere.

Understanding your buyer is the first step to learning what words or phrases will resonate the best.  Once you have the words down you can design and develop content, or campaigns, that speak the words that buyers find most engaging.  Here a few quick tips for identifying the best words or messages that will drive a positive (lead generating) response from your prospects:

  1. Survey.  Do a quick survey of your existing clients using e-mail, SurveyMonkey, or phone.  Ask them to provide you with words, or a description, of what comes to mind when they think of your company.  Leave it general.  The more parameters you place around the survey the more constrained their responses will be.  Allow them to think freely and simply react to your question.  Remember playing word association when you were a kid?  I say blue, you say sky.
  2. Key Word Test.  If you have a company blog, focus on testing key words in your titles and then throughout the blog piece.  You’ll find that the view and/or response rates will provide good insight into the words, topics, phrases that are most engaging to your audience.  Of course you should keep records to track responses when using certain words as this data will allow you to adjust future topics, titles, etc.
  3. Councils.  Both b-to-b and b-to-c companies use councils.  Customer Advisory Councils are mechanisms or tools you can use to gain quick and direct insight into your buyer.  Depending on the size of your company and the type of offering you are selling I would recommend no more than 11 Council members, always having an odd number.  Why?  The most effective and productive Councils I have been a part of, involve their members.  Council members are engaged under an NDA and have access and input into new ideas, strategies, and tactics the company is considering.  Often times a vote is involved, hence the odd number requirement.

Once you have deployed some or all of these ideas you must document and record your findings.  The data set you will create is your road map for developing your messaging.  If your customers refer to you as “easy”, you now know that there’s a good chance easy will resonate.  Likewise if the feedback you receive suggests “you are the simplest X,Y, Z to work with”, then your message should revolve around simple.

The fact is it’s up to you to find out what the right and wrong words, or phrases, are when marketing your product or service.  And the only one that truly knows what will work and what won’t is your customer…so ask them…involve them.    Once you do you will be on the road to creating a value proposition with supporting messaging that will engage the audience and generate lead response.

P-cubed = Profit

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

Profit

For-profit companies operate with a simple goal – make a profit.  Profits are the essence of life and growth for all businesses.  Investments in talent, innovation, and new markets are all dependent upon a company’s ability to generate profits with which they can invest back into its business.  In the absence of profits, some businesses start on a path to leverage…borrowing today on a bet that tomorrow will be better.  Many times this approach leads to disaster.

There are three (3) critical factors in driving profits for any business.  And while there may be thousands of criteria that enter into a profit equation, just about all of them can be bucketed into these three categories.

  1. People.  The first ingredient required to drive profit.  People generate the ideas, relationships, and creative thinking that’s required to grow a company.  Great leaders know how to identify the right people to introduce to their specific work culture.  Many companies make the mistake of seeking only the “top performers” from their competitors.  Unfortunately this approach often leads to failure and disappointment.  Why?  Because leaders often lose sight of the fact that beyond the person, they also need two other factors to succeed…a plan and process, and herein lies the problem.  No two companies operate the same, have the same plan, or the same process/infrastructure to execute with.  Therefore what makes someone successful in one environment does not equate to success in a different environment.
  2. Plan.  As the saying goes, “failing to plan, is planning to fail”.  Successful companies have a plan including a 12 month, 3 year and 5 year plan.  They know that the further they look into the future, the more uncertainty the plan takes on – but that doesn’t stop them from the exercise of planning.  The biggest benefit of having a plan is not always the plan itself but what was learned and gained from the act of planning.  Deeper insights, critical understandings, and lessons learned, are all positive outputs from a detailed planning process.  Once the plan is made it MUST be communicated or cascaded throughout the organization.  Without clear line of sight, employees are left with an empty feeling that results in a numbing effect taking ahold of the business.  This leads to morale issues, turnover, and a general decrease in quality of products produced or service delivered.
  3. Process.  The process factor is one of the most overlooked factors in generating profits.  Existing companies feel that they know what they do, and start-ups feel like they’ll figure it out along the way.  Both are wrong.  Processes must be documented, monitored, measured and improved.  The Toyota Production System, otherwise known as TPS, pioneered the Kaizen – a philosophy that embraces continued improvement.  All processes can be improved or enhanced.  To drive improvements requires a deep understanding of your people (internal and external) and your plans.  A great book that illustrates this philosophy is The Toyota Way by Jeffrey Liker.

Focus on these three factors and they will help you build a better road map to achieving stronger profits.  But remember this…it all starts with having the right people.  As Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 U.S. Men’s Hockey team said when putting his team together, “I’m not looking for the best players, I’m looking for the right players.”  This quote validates the importance of knowing your culture, how it operates, what its strengths and weaknesses are, and what type of individual would thrive within it.  It all comes down to people…and it starts with you.

Buyer Personas. The Key To Sustained Growth.

On By Joe DeRosaIn Business, Marketing, SalesLeave a comment

Who

In my prior blog, 3 Philosophies of a Great Company, I wrote about the importance of knowing your customer.  We’ve all heard this expression before but many companies still struggle with the essence and simplicity of its meaning.  Knowing your customer involves having a thirst for knowledge, the ability to confront reality, and dedicated resources including time and dollars.  Those that embrace this strategic component are those that excel and succeed.

Using a buyer persona process is a great way to get to know your customer.   Companies like Sirius Decisions and HubSpot have invested countless resources in the development of creating a buyer persona process that drives new customer growth while improving the retention rate of existing customers.  When used effectively, buyer personas can become a powerful P&L management tool.  How?  Buyer Personas help to:

  1. Improve target marketing by aligning your product or service to the right audience.  If your product is geared toward SMB (Small-Medium-Business) or enterprise-size companies, your buyer personas will provide critical insights into the buyer behaviors of these specific segments.  Having a deep confidence in knowing your customer helps to avoid wasting precious time, and money, spent marketing to the wrong prospect group.
  2. Provide granular detail around how your prospective buyer thinks and gathers information.  How do they make their buying decision?  This information helps improve your ROI on marketing investments by knowing what to say, where to say it, how often to communicate your message, etc.  Keep in mind that each business could have more than one buyer persona.  A CEO, CFO, Office Manager, General Manager, all make decisions differently.  Why?  Because each have their own perspective from which they process information.  This becomes extremely important when determining where each of these individuals go to find information.  Sirius Decisions concept of “watering holes” illustrates the importance of knowing where to place your message – where your customers and prospects spend their time.
  3. Convert your value proposition into a high-impact message.  The strength of your value proposition is dependent upon how well your message aligns to the needs of your customer or prospective buyer.  You cannot succeed if your value proposition is disconnected from the buyers needs.  Therefore, having a completed buyer persona allows you to take your value proposition and craft it into a specific message that addresses the needs or pain points of that buyer.  Being able to demonstrate to the buyer your understanding of their needs, builds their confidence and, ultimately leads to their conviction to select you as their provider of service.

Think about the companies that really seem to know what the customer wants.  Companies like Apple, Toyota, Cadillac, Samsung, Proctor & Gamble, and Victoria’s Secret are all companies that have taken a buyer persona approach to growing their market share.  They invest heavily in knowing their customer.  They understand that what worked yesterday may not work today given internal or external influences to their market.  The key is change.  Seek it, drive it, embrace it, demand it.  Change is what drives innovation and innovation, if done correctly, drives growth.

3 Steps To Begin Your Innovation Journey

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

innovation

Regardless of how long you’ve been in business selling what you sell, STOP! Step back. Look at the market. I mean really look at the market. If you want to do more than survive you need to innovate. Innovation requires you to think differently. To be open-minded, honest, and critical of your current operation. I am not suggesting to be negative, but rather to be realistic and honest about what has changed around you. Take these 3 steps to begin your journey of innovation.

1. Complete a SWOT analysis. This is a detailed look at your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.  A SWOT can help provide much needed insight into your next steps. This exercise will force an outside-in view of the market.
2. Create a customer advisory board. Always an odd number of members, a small advisory board of between 5 and 7 customers can provide clear and honest feedback relative to your current products or services, as well as a great testing ground for new ideas. Make sure each member signs an NDA binding them to confidentiality of the information the board discusses.
3. Get a mentor. In an earlier blog titled Great Mentors – The Difference Maker, I talked about the purpose and importance of having a mentor. To be truly innovative requires a different level of thinking. Innovation tests previously held beliefs. In doing so, you will need someone to guide your thinking and keep you honest. Human nature is such that we tend to develop explanations for things we don’t understand or agree with…simply to make us feel better. A great mentor will make sure you face the truth even if it hurts.

Remember, to remain static is to lose ground. You’ve got to have the courage to try, and fail. Push your limits, test your boundaries. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure…than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy or suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

The Marketing Mix Has Changed

On By Joe DeRosaIn Business, Marketing2 Comments

Marketing

For those of us that have studied Marketing on our own or in college, we learned of the 4 P’s, either in a book, or in our first marketing class.  The idea of the 4 P’s was founded in 1960 by E. Jerome McCarthy, a marketing professor at Michigan State University. Professor McCarthy created what became known as the “marketing mix” which contained four specific elements including: Product, Price, Place, Promotion.

Every business has to decide what Product it will sell.  Features, benefits, and functionality must be defined. Once complete, the business moves to the next P which is the Price of the product (or service). Most times, the price is dictated by how much the business owner wishes to make…profit.   After pricing is complete the owner decides where he/she will sell their product – the Place. Traditional approaches assume that the bigger the city the better the opportunity. And so businesses take their product, and their price and head toward the cities with the largest populations assuming success. Finally, the owner makes the decision on how to best Promote, advertise or communicate their product to the marketplace.

Many business schools and books still tout the 4P’s of the marketing mix with little change. Unfortunately Marketing students end up with a very elementary view of the subject, not fully comprehending the seismic shift in the role and importance of this crucial business function. So what’s changed?

Perhaps the biggest change in the marketing mix is the arrival of 2 new P’s;  Person and Proof.

For years products and services were developed based upon an inside-out view…what the business felt was needed in the market. Little concern was given to what the market was lacking, needing, desiring. Build it and they will come, was the general sentiment.  However, companies like Apple, Samsung, Wegmans, Southwest, and Google came along and turned this belief on it’s head by focusing heavily on the Person. They looked at the market to determine what was there and what was missing. They listened closely to consumers to understand what they wanted. Instead of slamming a square peg in a round hole they changed the shape of the hole and in many cases created a custom fit, which has lead to an era of innovation.

Complimenting the Person was the arrival of Proof…or data.  Marketing automation systems, metrics, and dashboards have all contributed to marketing’s evolution as a profit center versus a cost center.  Data drives proof or disproof of the effectiveness of actions or activities.  Blending these two new P’s with the traditional P’s in the marketing mix allows marketing practitioners to create strategies and tactics that yield predictable and consistent results.

Two resources that offer great insights into the importance of these new P’s include:  What The Customer Wants You To Know by Ram Charan and Hubspots 120 Awesome Marketing Stats, Charts and Graphs.

Your Leadership Style + Your Company Culture – Is There a Disconnect?

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

perception

Carrot and stick.  And so goes the age-old debate of how to achieve great business results.  Do you shower your employees with accolades and pats on the back?  Or do you focus on the consequences for under performance?  Is your tone one of optimism and assumed-success?  Or is your temperament such that you lead with a, “if we fail” mentality?

There are as many different leadership styles as there are leaders.  Our styles are born from our life experiences from childhood, up to and including, the role we currently occupy.  How you were raised is as important as how you were managed in the first several years of your career.  Most experts agree that the “formative years” for a child occur in their first 12 years of life.  Likewise, the formative years of someones career is their first 5 years in the workforce.

Human beings are natural-born observers.  We watch.  We absorb.  We learn.  We take what we learn and begin to construct potential outcomes for the scenarios we encounter later in life.  Like, cause-and-effect, we begin to build a mental inventory of outcomes based upon actions and reactions.  We learn how to alter outcomes by changing our actions or behaviors.  Yet we all learn in different ways.  Two people can experience the exact same event and have completely different views or perceptions of that event.  And herein lies the formula for how our leadership styles evolve.

Are you a positive motivator or negative?  How do you know?  Ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do you work in your office all day with the door closed?
  2. When was the last time you sent a communication to recognize a team member?
  3. How often do you walk around the office making eye contact, saying hello, and simply engaging people?
  4. How many people on your team do you rate as a top performer, and if so, when was the last time you told them how much you appreciated them?
  5. Are you losing more than 20% of your employees each year?
  6. Do you hold regular team meetings or even informal get-togethers?
  7. Do you consistently meet, or miss, your numbers?

How you answered these questions may be an indication of your style of leadership.  On the other hand it may also be a reflection of the culture within your workplace.  Either way it’s worth your time to evaluate.  Why?  Because there are several reasons to have a true understanding of your personal style and that of the culture in which you work.  If you genuinely want to build lasting value – for your company or your client – the first step has to be the development of relationships.  In the absence of trusting relationships a company will not be able to experience sustained growth, and nor will you.

According to an article published earlier this year by Forbes, the number one reason people left their job was for stability reasons.  People leave when they don’t feel secure.  Insecurity is often the result of a bad manager.  In fact a subsequent article in the Huffington Post Small Business, it cites the number one reason employees quit is “Their boss sucks”.  Micromanagers and poor communicators topped the list of horrible bosses.  The negativity that flowed from these bosses infected the workplace so much so that people run for the doors.

According to the American Institute of Stress, the top 2 causes of stress in the workplace are work overload and people.  The AIS estimates that stress causes American businesses more than $300 billion each year in lost productivity with a major contributor being a negative workplace.  So how can you change it?  First change your behaviors.  Try doing these three things each day:

  1. Walk around the office at least twice a day and say hello to folks.
  2. Work with your door open (if you have an office) when you can.
  3. Look for the good things that are happening and recognize them.

These are all within your control.  If you’re working for a company that has a negative-tone culture you may need to reevaluate what’s most important to you.  Remember, jobs come and go, but your reputation stays with you no matter where you are employed.  Don’t let the dynamics of an organization define who you are and how you act.  If your belief system is in direct conflict with the office culture, you may need to make a change.  Great teams are built by great leaders, and to be a great leader you’ve got to recognize and acknowledge that your people are in fact your biggest asset.   Only by growing your workplace relationships, developing trust, and displaying respect will you be able to develop a high performing team.

No Promotion, Now What? Ask Yourself These 4 Questions.

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

no-self-promotion

It’s been a grind for months.  You’ve been working 12 – 13 hour days and weekends to prove you can do it and do it well.  All eyes are on you.  The project you’re in charge of is critical to your company’s future success.  It’s a big deal.  You complete the project and sit back ready to be showered with accolades and compliments by your boss and your peers.  Deep down you know this will be your defining moment…your own personal Mozart Concerto.  You wait…wait a bit longer…still longer…and nothing.

Wow!  What happened.  Your finished work was unbelievable.  You peers and other industry partners even commented on your end result.  Your boss seemed pleased along the way but hasn’t shown any real celebratory emotion.  Of course after all, aren’t you expected to deliver high-quality, near-perfect work?  This scenario is not atypical, but in actuality very common.

So what do you do when you hit this wall?  What actions should you take when the work you thought would seal a promotion turns out to do little more than generate a brief passing smile in a hallway at the office?  Do you quit?  Leave?  Complain?  Ask these 4 questions to help you determine your next course of action.

  1. Why did I expect to be promoted in the first place?  Perhaps you assumed that by delivering an amazing performance you’d somehow get that big title or bigger paycheck.  You may have even believed that your boss would just create a brand new position for you with the big title.  Maybe in a prior conversation your boss alluded to “big things” for those who step up and deliver a solid performance.  If the reason you expected your work to result in a promotion doesn’t contain a “this for that” in your explanation then you yourself have set yourself up for disappointment.  Learning:  If you take on a project, job, initiative that you expect will lead to advancement, be clear with your boss up front about this and get their reaction and their commitment before starting.
  2. What can I do to improve my performance?  This is a tough question to ask.  Most of us believe we’re already doing all the right things.  We sometimes confuse hard work with smart work.  High performers are constantly learning, constantly seeking knowledge, new ideas, perspectives, etc.  Focus always, on improving yourself first.  Personal development should never be weighed against a promotion.  Learning:  Adopt the attitude that you will be the best at your craft regardless of what happens in your work environment.  Even if you don’t get that promotion you can still have confidence in your ability to produce great results. And ultimately those results will be recognized even if by another employer.
  3. Is my boss my advocate?  Does your boss share success or does he take all the glory?  What happens when things go bad?  Are you hung out to dry or is your boss there to absorb a “team loss”?  Does she create situations that allow you to shine and be recognized?  Has he taken the time to introduce you to his boss to create an opportunity for interaction?  Learning:  A boss that lacks confidence or self-esteem will always be a barrier to your progress.  If you find yourself working for a boss that fits this profile…and progression is important to you…you may need to move on.
  4. What do my peers think of me?  This is perhaps the most overlooked area when dealing with promotions or lack of.  Many organizations have implemented performance programs that gather feedback from your peers to include in your annual performance review.  The ever-popular “360” became all the rage in the early 2000’s and still exists today with some variations.  A poor relationship, rapport, or perception of you with your co-workers can kill your career aspirations as quickly as those of a bad boss.  Learning:  Put yourself out there.  Build relationships with your peers as well as those above and below in the organization.  Most companies today place great value on workers who are proficient in influencing, bridge building and negotiating.

Especially in times when the outcome did not match your expectations, self-reflection is critical.  Taking an honest look inside will always help bring perspective to each and every experience you encounter.  Thomas Paine said, “The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.”  Basically know…it’s okay to talk to yourself.

3 simple steps to get started with Small Business Marketing

On By Joe DeRosaIn Marketing1 Comment

Small business owners often ask “Do I really need Marketing?”  The answer of course is absolutely yes!  In fact, as a small business owner you need to market yourself more than the bigger brands that have already established awareness and familiarity with their products and services.  But how do you do this on a tight budget?  When do you find the time to market your business when you’re doing inventory, payroll, selling and servicing?  Take a breath and relax.  It’s not complicated and it won’t break the bank either.  You will need to spend some time getting started, but once you do you’ll find the positive results to be energizing and encouraging.  And when you begin to see favorable results based on your early efforts, this momentum will make adding an additional Marketing tactic here or there so much easier.  So what can you do to get started Marketing your business?

Here are 3 simple steps to introduce some basic Marketing tactics for your business.

  1. Set up a LinkedIn profile for yourself.  Set aside 30 minutes to get started.  You’ll need to write a short summary of what you do and what makes you special.  It’s important to highlight your “specialty”.  If you deliver outstanding service before, during, and after the sale explain how you do it in a brief statement or two.  Be bold but don’t mislead.  Be clear, concise and to the point.  Say what you mean and mean what you say.  Make sure to also include your photo on your LinkedIn profile.  This is an absolute MUST regardless of how much you dislike pictures of yourself.  Get over it.  It’s been proven that people are more likely to read, click, or pursue an interest when there is a personal picture accompanying the profile.
  2. Recognize customer milestones.  Most small businesses really know their customers.  Use that knowledge to your advantage.  Recognize birthdays, anniversary’s and key milestones.  Word of mouth is the best advertising you’ve got and paying that extra bit of attention to your customers will help create strong advocates for your business.  People spend an average of 3.2 hours per day on social media, and with 1.1 billion Facebook users it’s likely you’re getting talked about already.  Make sure you’re included in that conversation.  Satisfied customers will talk, and the power of social media will only expedite your message getting out to new prospective customers.
  3. Networking.  Most people associate networking with Sales but it’s really a Marketing function.  What’s the difference?  Think of Marketing as all the activities required to create the opportunity to sell.  It’s all the front end work.  Studying your market, knowing your competition, pricing correctly, creating a strong and compelling value proposition.  Sales is just that…taking that lead that’s been created from your Marketing efforts and turning it into a revenue generating customer.  So think of networking as an outbound Marketing effort.  You need to identify which functions to attend, who to talk to, what to say, how to follow up.  Networking is critical for small business owners.

These are 3 simple steps to get started Marketing your business.  I will dive deeper into each of these steps in future blogs.  In the mean time, check out the Small Business Administration website for some additional Marketing tactics.