Category: Small Business Marketing

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Big Marketing Mistake

Have you heard about the supermarket chain that decided to sell peeled bananas. The decision was made based on the concept that people are busy and don’t want to work in order to eat.
Just one “tiny” detail was forgotten: they didn’t ask if peeled bananas sounded like a good idea to the consumer, they didn’t ask the consumer at all and never considered that bananas already come in the best possible package and are very easy to eat. They never asked if this move would bring any benefits to the consumer.

This decision lead to a storm of bad PR and a lot of bad talk in social media environments.

Businesses need to bring new things every now and then and make changes, but it is always a good idea to ask the consumer what he/she really wants and see if with that innovation, you are also bringing some benefits to the market and solving a problem. Peeled bananas do not solve a problem.

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Let’s spend the day together

I’d like to spend a day with you.
Let me explain.

Business is a funny thing. Takes a lot of effort and money to launch a business and new services, then there is the phase where you do a lot of marketing to get in front of people, to be known for what you do and then you sell.

Not a bad process and one that you can rinse and repeat forever as long as things stay the same. But things do change, like the economy and people change too, they even change the way they buy and what they like. Have you noticed how connected and mobile the consumer is today and the amount of information we all have access to? How loyalty to a brand seems like something from the past?

These things do affect our business, but there are other things that affect even more. The way people see your business and how familiar with the business. Believe me, familiarity can kill your business. I bet you never thought of that, did you?

It reminds me of that TV commercial from Wendy’s where the girl go to the salad fridge and talk to the salads and then tells a woman beside her that she visited the same pre-packaged salads last week.

The fact is that today we can’t, as businesses and service providers, afford to be the same salad for very long. We need to innovate what we do and many times we need to re-position our business in the market. Be very visible and yet not that familiar.

Isn’t that tricky when marketers tell you to be connecting and engaging all the time?

It is and when you try to do it alone and you are emotionally involved in the business that can take a long time and take you nowhere.

This is why we’d like to spend a day with you. We are the pair of fresh eyes (in this case, 2 pairs), emotionally free and with a lot of experience in business to show you how your business can be top of mind, how it can be connecting with prospects and clients 24/7 without creating that sense of “old salad” and show you how to create a business choreography that attracts clients and keep them with you.

We can accomplish a lot in one day. We brainstorm, we create strategies, a positioning map, a marketing map and the business choreography gets laid out. Besides, we have real experience in different industries, unlike many marketers that have a one fits all strategy.

If you are local, you can come to our offices, if you are not, we’ll use Google hangouts, which is a 2 way video conference.

A full day working on your business with experts in client attraction and retention and super duper online marketers. Now, that is exciting!

Again, I’ll make an irresistible offer if you act in the next 48 hours. Your investment will be only $1,500 for the full day. That is half of the usual investment. In fact, very seldom we even offer the full day option. Yes, we can split that in 2 as long as we meet after November.

All you need to do is call 801-330-90-10 or write to buzz@buzzbooster.com

Just think on how things can be different in 2013 if you align everything in your business and have maps to guide you during your journey. No fluffy, no magic, directions that work only.

Of course, you can keep doing what you are doing and not invest in becoming irresistible to your market, or you can buy some cool product online that is cheap, promises a lot and delivers nothing. (this is the drug of choice of many business owners nowadays), but can you feel that funny smell coming our of your fridge?

48 hours: Your investment will be only $1,500 for the full day. That is half of the usual investment. Yes, we can split that in 2 payments as long as we meet in November or later.

All you need to do is call 801-330-90-10 or write to buzz@buzzbooster.com

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I got an e-mail

I got an e-mail this morning.
Subject line: Resume,
body of e-mail: attached resume.
Nothing else.
The resume is from a guy looking to be hired as a social media project manager. Now, about the social word in social media, doesn’t it mean some communication skills?

What an e-mail like this tells about a person? That he is willing to do the minimum necessary to accomplish things. There is a sense of entitlement, he deserves the job, doesn’t need to do much other than attach his resume to get it. Shows he thinks he is the only one sending a resume to our company and that we should hire him just because he exists.

It also tells that despite his probable knowledge in a technical side of social media, he is not worried in communicating with others, not very social, I would say. It also says that when in communication with clients he would follow the same style and not give them more than a line. Hey a line is a lot, we got less than that and he wants the job.

For a customer-centric company as all companies should be, this spells disaster. He is a big no for us even though the resume itself was quite good.

Now, what does this have to do with your business? Everything stars with good positioning, because positioning tells a story about you and your company. You may not be aware of what it is really telling to your market. Like this guy, he probably thinks he is doing the right thing in an efficient way. The reality is quite contrary.

Every single touch point with customers and prospects should be well thought of before taking action. Even a simple thing like sending an e-mail. Even if you have a super duper company with super duper services or products. Nothing will matter if when you get in touch with people you fail.

Simple but not common, which is sad.

You are telling a story very time, make sure you are telling the right story, the one that brings customers to you.

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ATTRACT OODLES OF AVID CLIENTS!

I bet at some point every now and then you think about what you could do to attract more clients, and I bet that every time someone mentions a new tool like Pinterest, you pay attention.

The fact is that I could talk to you about scalpels and drill bits all day long and this would not really help you be a good brain surgeon. You need to understand the architecture of the process first. It may be fun to experiment with tools but it will not bring good results, and it might bring a lot of sorrow to the prospect patient.

Now when you understand the architecture of the process, tools are invaluable. I know that deep inside you are aware of that but why then you spend a lot more time testing tools then in the strategy?

First let’s think about the clients. There are clients and clients. Good clients, bad clients and if you attract bad clients, it is your own fault. Let’s leave this part to another time.

What you really need to attract are avid clients, clients that you think have some type of OCD because they just cannot stop buying from you. The question is: how do you attract them?

There are two main points you need to focus on: 1: You need to become irresistible to your prospects and clients by crafting the right message, story and positioning. This is where everyone should start and without it, your marketing goals will be very difficult and expensive to achieve. This is not about a clever tagline but about how you touch the prospect or customer on an emotional level all the time.

2: Work on your Business Choreography™. Every single detail where you are in touch with your clients: phone, negotiation, packages etc. Here is where you incorporate some rituals in every process. The right Business Choreography™ can put you in a place without any competition or as some entrepreneurs refer to: In business heaven.

After this is in place, you can go and have fun with social media. This is the difference about having a strategy and the right package versus random acts and disjointed pieces.

Developing a message that resonates with your market on an emotional level and a business choreography™ creates interest, attention, loyalty and referrals. It involves some thinking and working, it is not magic, but will bring results for a long, long time.

Playing with tools without knowing what you’re doing is fun but puts you back at kindergarten level, not on top of the market.

Sometimes creating all this is not easy and besides you should bring a pair of fresh eyes into the creation of this process. An experienced marketing advisor like us. We are a call or e-mail away. In case you forgot our info: buzz@buzzbooster.com / 801-842-9765.

We are good at magic too. We can show you a multitude of online tools for your entertainment. The difference is our open architecture thinking and the ability to show you how to create a business choreography™ and then choose the social tools that will provide more results for your efforts.

This is the best way to attract clients that stay.

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A business thought

You cannot become irresistible to your market if you don’t focus on the way you deliver your services.

Every touch point with customers and prospects, every detail before, during and after the sale.

Pay attention to these details and you will see more results

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Utah’s biggest Entrepreneur Competition

Have you heard about Utah’s largest entrepreneur competition?

The Grow America Springboard™ Competition rewards passionate entrepreneurs with the money and services they need to grow their businesses. It’s all about creating jobs and lifting local economies. That’s why winners walk away with no-strings-attached cash awards. Enter. Win. Grow.

Remember, this is your last chance to qualify for the Grow America Springboard Championship! It will pay a total of $500,000 in cash and awards to winning entrepreneurs. It is scheduled to take place in early 2013.

Registration ends in 5 days, so hurry!

http://www.growam.com/springboard/

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Entrepreneurs and the fur business

Here is an interview we did with Johnna from Intercal, a company that sells fur for teddy bears and furry friends.
She shows us her selection as well as her business in a very niche market.
She’s been in this business for a long time and is very successful.

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Are Retail Stores Putting Themselves Out of Business?

I like to shop local. I like the buy local movement but I’m about to just give up on this idea.

I strongly suggest these types of organizations to focus not only on motivating people to buy local but also in training a bit business owners and staff before they put themselves out of business. There is a huge tragedy waiting to happen.

It is easy to look outside to blame poor results. Blame the economy, online shopping, etc. but it is not so easy to look inside and see what is keeping clients from coming back.

I could give you a very long list of examples of what is going on out there with retail but I’ll refrain from that and I’ll give you just the latest example.

I needed to buy Lego blocks. Yes, like in toys. I use them to make mold boxes. Lego blocks are as popular as Barbies so you would assume any toy store would have them. I went to a Toys R Us store.(I know, not exactly a local store but people working there are local, plus it brings tax revenue to the city).

They had a Lego isle there. Beautiful logo and everything, but I could only see boxes of themed Legos and not just the Lego blocks. Since I usually do avoid human interaction, I looked over and over again and had Nash helping me. No luck. So we went all the way to the front of the store to try to find someone to help me.

Found a guy and asked. He replied: “Oh yes, we  carry that. There is a pink and a blue bucket just with Lego blocks. It is not in the Lego isle but in a nearby one in the back. You can look there”.

So we went back. Looked in all the isles you could think was “close” to the Lego one and no luck.

So we looked for the guy again and didn’t find him and then we looked for someone else. This was supposed to be a very fast in-and-out purchase because we had to travel. So far it had been more than 20 minutes just trying to find the product to buy.

Found someone, asked the same question and got an answer: “I don’t know where it would be, they changed things around here and I was out for 2 months, you can get that online.”

Now I was already a little grumpy and said: “I know I can, but then what would be the need for this store or for your job if I did?”

He kept quiet.

I had something else in my cart so I went to pay. Cashier asked the expected question: “Did you find everything ok?”

We both replied: “no”

Pause, pause, pause, pause, finally the question “what were you looking for?”

I thought, here we go again!

Told her and got the answer: “You can order online”.

For heaven’s sake I know that, I buy online, in fact, I’m an Amazon Prime member, I could have a giant bag of Legos in 24 hrs, in fact I could have stayed home with central air, instead of coming out when it is 98 degrees outside, I could have saved time and use it in better things, I could have saved gas, money in local taxes and my good mood, but I chose to come here to spend the money here, and all I get is a stupid suggestion.

I didn’t give her this long answer, just the same I gave the other guy. What can I say, I’m nice.

Now, let’s just think how this could have been different:

First guy, do some exercise and take me to where you think the boxes are. You are not part of the store’s decor. I’m not an interruption in your day, I’m someone willing to spend money where you work so you can keep your job. You don’t even have to go an extra mile, just some steps.

Second guy, I don’t care that you were on vacation and they moved the toys. You need to know or need to be able and willing to find about the things you don’t know about and do it fast. You deserve to be fired.

Cashier. Be proactive, show that you care at least a little bit and  make useful suggestions.

Store manager and in many, many cases, store owner: You should be fired too. The least you could do is train your staff to help sales. First blame yourself, then blame things you have no control over like the economy. Check where you have weak points and fix them.

How simple would it be to instead of telling me to get out of there and go buy online (which does not mean I’m going to your store site to do that anyway,) for the employee to say something like: “I can get it for you and it will be here tomorrow, or I can check with the other stores and have it delivered here in no time, or I can see if we have the product online, I can order for you right now, so you know you get it and you can pick it up tomorrow or for a very small fee it can be shipped to your home”.

They said nothing even close to that. So, so sad!

By the way, knowing when and what to say to your customers is marketing too. Guess what? It costs less time and money than you using social media without any strategy and it is social too.

I just don’t get it! Why send someone with their hands in their wallet willing to give you money right now someplace else?

Since I’m at this, I want to make two more points. Tell your staff that when they are making a sale, if the phone rings, the phone waits and not the opposite. Same reason as above.

Second, how stupid it is to put a sign at the door saying Visit us on Facebook.

Don’t you think people ask inside their minds: Why? Why should I visit you on Facebook?

Much better, the cashier could say at the end of a transaction: Don’t forget to like us on Facebook. We have exclusive deals and coupons there, so next time you will save a bunch.

Simple training could avoid a tragedy. This is what we call incorporating business rituals. You get better outcomes and have more control over sales processes.

By the way, did I tell you about the business owner that after we worked on these rituals came back and told us his employees didn’t want to do what they were told and there was nothing he could do?

I’ll tell you later but guess what? We fired him.

End of story? I found that Lego costs a lot less on Amazon.

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In person interactions are the best marketing tool

Small businesses are far more likely to single out in-person interactions as their most effective marketing activity than any other tool available to them, according to [pdf] an August 2012 report by Constant Contact. Of the items they find effective, 46% of small businesses ranked in-person interactions as their most effective marketing activity, with B2B companies more likely than B2C companies to have this attitude (59% vs. 40%).

To put this into perspective, B2B small businesses were roughly three times more likely to say that in-person interactions were their most effective marketing activity as to say the same about second-place websites (59% vs. 20%).

In the Constant Contact survey, small business respondents (B2B and B2C) were more likely to say that in-person interactions were their most effective activity than to say the same about email marketing (20%), traditional advertising (17%), online advertising (17%), events (11%), and social media marketing (11%).