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Archive for marketing fundamentals

5 Ways to Get Your Business Noticed Without Spending Money

January 18th, 2012 by bstoller

Getting your business noticed can be easy.

Getting Your Business Noticed

You don't have to be this crazy to get your business noticed

Just do something outrageous and you are sure to get attention!   OK – hold on, don’t go overboard – you want a “positive” outrageous not obnoxious!

Here’s some things you can try to get some positive attention to YOUR business:

1.    Build a Website that Promotes Your Business.

50% of all small businesses have a website.   You want to make sure that your website features what your business is better at than your competitors.    There must also be a clear “call to action”.   The call to action can simply be a phone number to call, an e-mail capture form in exchange for a free report or other information that your customers would enjoy, or some other action such as a free coupon to download.   You always want to do your best to capture their information and build up your potential customer list so you can market to them in the future.

2.   Develop a Social Media Strategy

Social Media is the best thing to happen to small business ever!   You, as a small business owner or manager, now have the opportunity to actually have better advertising than that of the larger chains!    There is definitely a right way and a wrong way to do this, but if done correctly this can build a substantial following of loyal customers for very little money.    Many business owners believe that getting a Facebook business page is all it takes.   If you don’t know how, try to find a social media consultant who can work with you to get your program up and running.   A good consultant will do as much or as little as you need.   Don’t forget Twitter and Linked In – each social media platform has it’s own style and fits to different people.    We could go on and on, but we’ll stop here for now.

3.   Claim Your Business Listings From Google and Others

This may take a little time, but it doesn’t cost anything but your time.   Google Places (www.google.com/places) is an extremely important part of your overall internet business strategy.    Most businesses have not claimed their free business listings.   Google, Yahoo, and Bing are the big players and you must first claim your business listing than fill in each one with the same information.   This will help your business get noticed by those searching for your products or services.   Again, there is a right way and a wrong way to do this, but basically make sure you fill out all the information exactly the same way in all.

4.   List Your Company in Directory Listings

Probably the best way to find out which directories to list your business in is to do a search on Google for the keyword phrases that people would more than likely search for to find you.    Look and see what directories are showing up.   Make sure you list your business in those directories immediately.    Most local business consultants will take this much farther and submit your business to literally hundreds of directories.   You may not show up in all the listings, but you will receive numerous backlinks and mentions that will help bring your business listing higher up in the Google Places rankings (and other search engines).

5.   Get Involved With Your Community

Join networking groups, your local chamber of commerce, and other community activities.   Word of mouth is the best form of advertising and involvement with your community is a great way to not only feel better about yourself, but to also get referrals from people who know you.   And, of course, there is minimal costs for this form of “getting noticed”.

Summary:

All in all, getting your business noticed isn’t always about doing crazy things.    “Publicity” and “Promotion” is a necessary thing for all small businesses if they are going to want to stay in business for the long term.

Call us at Discovering Profits if you find you need a little help with getting your business noticed.   We are passionate about helping small businesses succeed!

Categories : marketing fundamentals
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Your Business Has a Competitive Advantage… Doesn’t It?

December 30th, 2011 by bstoller

Marketing Revolves Around The Message Your Business Needs

Many business owners are very confused about how to market.   Let’s face it, as a business owner or manager, you have so many “things” that you have to do every day just to keep the doors open that the last thing that you have time for is marketing.

Here’s a news flash….

90% of all Small Business Fail Within 5 Years!

That’s an alarming statistic, but the numbers are the numbers.competitive advantage for small business

So does that mean that you only have a 10% chance of success over 5 years?    The answer is actually , “No”.    Let me explain.

If you do what the majority of business owners do, you have more like a 100% chance to fail!!!    If you do what the successful businesses do, you are all but guaranteed to succeed!    What is the common denominator for successful businesses?    They understand that they need a steady inflow of customers if they are going to remain in business.   They also understand that they need to take care of their current customers, as it is much cheaper to have repeat business than to constantly attract new customers and lose them.

I could go on and on with this subject (and probably will at a later time), but I want to focus on a habit that successful business owners do (whether they realize it or not).    They find their competitive advantage and market it.

Successful business owners have found their competitive advantage and they proceed to market that advantage.

I recently came across a definition of “Competitive Advantage” that really makes a lot of sense.

Your competitive advantage is an advantage that your company has relative to your competitors. The source of the advantage is something your business does that is distinctive and difficult to replicate.

You must first understand what it is that your competition is doing.   With the internet age, you can gain a lot of information from the internet.  If you don’t at least take the time to review your competitor’s websites, you may as well consider yourself as being part of the group of business owners that probably won’t be around in 5 years.    See what it is that they excel in.   See what it is that you think they are weak at.   Once you analyze your competition, makes some notes and hold on to that info for a few days.

The next step is to figure out what YOUR strengths and weaknesses are.   What does your business excel at?   What is your business weak at?   Take a day or so to do some business soul searching.   Not sure???    Ask some of your customers – they will be more than happy to tell you!!

Once you understand your business’s strengths and weaknesses you can than find areas of weakness with your competitors.    When you match your strengths to the weaknesses of your competition, you have the makings of a very long and prosperous business!!

The last step is to formulate a marketing strategy that focuses on your new found competitive advantage.    You can now focus your business in an area that you are strong – you will realize that much of what you always did really didn’t focus on your strengths and you should probably drop a few services and build upon those that you can outperform all your competition.   That is how small businesses grow – they become known as the specialists who can take care of their problems – the first time!

If you are not a believer in this idea of focusing on your competitive advantage and your strengths, think of this illustration.    If you develop a cough and runny nose, you’ll probably go to your family doctor.    However, if you find out that you or a loved one develops a form of a rare cancer, you probably are going to do everything that you can to see a top specialist, or oncologist.   Why?   Because the oncologist has focused on his competitive advantage over the family doctor.   Guess which one normally makes more money!!

I hope that this helps you to understand that finding then focusing on your competitive advantage is the way to keep your business growing and thriving for many years.    Getting the message out, or marketing, is a big part of this strategy as well.


Categories : marketing fundamentals
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Marketing Fundamentals for Small Businesses – Your Competitive Advantage

January 10th, 2011 by bstoller

Marketing fundamentals for a small business is no different than a fortune 500 company

One of the most critical parts of any marketing plan is to determine your company’s competitive advantage.   Many small business owners simply take the approach of running an ad in the newspaper, radio, or television that merely tells of an upcoming sale or what they have to offer.   This is one of the main reasons that most marketing campaigns simply are a waste of your money with very little results.

If you are going to advertise you really need to know where you stand in relation to your competitors.   If one of your competitors is selling cars much cheaper than you are, you are not going to be very successful advertising that you are the cheapest in town!    Your customers will discover that you are not the cheapest and will probably become more loyal to your competition.

On the other hand, if your competitor sells the same product (cars) cheaper, but makes people “special order” to get the car they want, you now have a competitive advantage.    Your dealership has a much larger selection and you carry the various colors that someone can actually drive one home that day without having to wait a week to get the car in.   Your people are much better trained and are much more professional than the other guy.

So the real question is, “Why would you advertise price when your competitive advantages revolve around the knowledgeable staff and your wide variety of inventory?”

The business should be advertising their strengths in relation to their competitor.    Consumers are not dumb.   In fact, consumers are now using much more information to make purchasing decisions than ever before.   They may know more about the car that they want than the salesperson!

Another reason to advertise what you are good at is that consumers today are making reviews on everything.   For example, if your dealership advertises that they are the lowest price anywhere but your competitor is always $50/month cheaper on the same vehicles, you are probably going to have some reviews that state customers’ dissatisfaction with your promise to them.    On the other hand, if you advertise that you have the most professional, knowledgeable helpers with the best selection of vehicles (and it’s true), you will probably receive some good reviews from satisfied customers.

With the explosion of Facebook, more and more people are making comments on everything.    You simply must know where you stand in the marketplace and advertise your strengths.   If you advertise your competitive advantage, you may actually start getting some help from all the Facebook users who will be telling their friends how happy they are!

So to summarize – do some digging.   Ask some people what comes to mind when they think of your business.   Ask some current customers and also ask your employees.   You may be surprised what you find out.   Once you find your competitive advantage, make sure you key your advertising/marketing message around it – you will certainly be more successful!

If you want a free guide to help you with this process, simply click here.

Categories : marketing fundamentals
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Internet Advertising for Small Business is Changing

December 22nd, 2010 by bstoller

Internet advertising for small business is changing rapidly.   How can a business owner, who is already busy trying to keep customers happy, be expected to keep up with the trends??

He or she can’t!

Of course, checking in with the Discovering Profits website is a good start!   (Sorry, had to get that plug in there!)   There are a few trends going on out there that every business owner needs to be aware of.

1.   Local Search Marketing Taking the Place of Traditional Advertising

Local Search Lets You Dominate Your Niche

I think most people are starting to catch on to this, but most businesses are still very slow to catch on.   Those that are are reaping low cost benefits.    This form requires someone who knows the ins/outs of this, but once you are set up with Google Places and a campaign for articles, press releases, videos, etc., this program is like having a billboard on the internet.   Once you build it, it continues to get traffic for a very long time with little maintenance involved (once the campaign is performed.

2.  Mobile Marketing

This form of advertising is extremely new but is growing VERY fast.   There are many forms, but this basically involves sending texts to your customers to announce certain activities or specials that your business has to offer.  This is great for any business that has a high volume of traffic (or would LIKE to have a high volume of traffic!).   Texts have been proven to have a 90-95% open rate within 15 minutes!    Compared to e-mail that has an average open rate of around 17-22% and can take days to get this rate.

3.  Social Media

Facebook Like Button

Click to see Facebook Business Page

Social media is still very much misunderstood by most business owners.   Every hears that they should participate, but very few actually understand what it takes to bring customers in the door.   Here’s a hint – DON’T ASK FOR AN ORDER!  Social media is to build relationships.   If you have a new friend on your Facebook business page, that friend isn’t going to buy anything from you until he/she gets to know you a little bit and can feel that he/she can trust you.  Usually it takes from 5-7 points of contact before you should ever approach them about a sale.  There are many right ways and wrong ways to do Facebook, Twitter, and other social media avenues.

The Important Thing To Remember is to Have a Plan

While advertising and marketing of small business is changing rapidly, don’t fall in the trap of doing something just because you hear it is the thing to do.   EVERY marketing or advertising dollar needs to be part of a plan based upon your business’s strengths, weaknesses, and the business’s competitive advantage.   While we have worked with many businesses, we’ve found that most do not have this plan and most are purely reactive.   Call Discovering Profits to set up a marketing consultation to get you thinking – it’s free and it could change your business forever!


Categories : marketing fundamentals
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Local Internet Marketing For Your Small Business

June 27th, 2010 by bstoller

Local internet marketing for your small business can be a challenge. There are so many different methods today versus just a couple of years ago. Whether you are using radio, television, billboards, newspaper, internet, etc., you still need to abide by marketing fundamentals.local internet marketing for your small business

Business owners often hear that they should be “unique” in their marketing. It’s pretty good advice – you need to be able to “stand out” in an often crowded marketplace if you are to grab attention. Being unique can help you craft a marketing message that will gain the notice of more potential customers.

No one questions this theory – I think everyone understands the principle of “being different”. This differentiation between you and your competitors is a marketing fundamental. But how different should you really be???

While being different is good, sometimes business owners will attempt to be a little “too bold” when it comes to differentiation. If you decide to forge a completely different trail, you may be attempting an experiment that your competitors may have already tried and have failed. There must be a balance of “differentiation” rather than just plain taking risks. Your differentiation must be something that can be communicated to your potential customers. If you can’t explain how the differentiation can be of a benefit to your targeted market group, it is probably destined to fail.

For example – let’s say your business has a “unique process” for helping people lose weight. Your potential customers are probably interested in hearing how it works. If it is so unique that it sounds “fishy”, you probably lose them forever. Your differentiation must make sense and it must be able to be communicated easily so that people can understand. If they can picture themselves being helped by your solution vs. your competitors, you have successfully differentiated and will probably gain that customer.
Being noticeably different from the competition can help you attract customers and close sales. But claiming that you have no competition is naive. Comparisons to a known quantity can help prospective customers understand where your product or service fits in the range of solutions they are considering. If they can’t compare it to anything, it’s doubtful that they will be able to see how your offering could work.
Creating the perception that your product or service is one of a kind can help you capture people’s attention and make them remember you. But you have to be able to identify the people you want to reach and communicate how you can be of service in words they can understand.

Categories : marketing fundamentals
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