1.  Make a list of the different groups of people you have in your database.  For example: new customers, returning customers, referral partners, and lost customers.

2.  Make a list of . . . → Read More: Creating a Marketing Plan for 2011]]> If you haven’t already created a marketing plan for 2011, it’s not too late.  Here are a few quick tips for getting started:

1.  Make a list of the different groups of people you have in your database.  For example: new customers, returning customers, referral partners, and lost customers.

2.  Make a list of all the ways you would like to market to EACH group.  This could be holiday or special occasion cards or postcards, e-newsletters, print newsletters, direct mail letters, lumpy mail, text message blasts, and more.  The list really goes on and on.  Write down everything that comes to mind no matter whether it seems realistic or not.

3. Now go through and cross off those items that may not make sense at this point and time.

4. Create a budget for each item.

5. Create a frequency for each item.  For example: monthly e-newsletter, weekly e-zine, quarterly holiday card.

Finally, put your plan into action!

I was looking for a new hair salon and found Suz through Itex, a local barter network.  I showed up for my first appointment with her expecting a ho-hum experience, just . . . → Read More: Client Rules]]> I recently had an interesting experience at a new salon.  Now, I don’t mean interesting bad, but rather interesting good.  Let me explain.

I was looking for a new hair salon and found Suz through Itex, a local barter network.  I showed up for my first appointment with her expecting a ho-hum experience, just like every other time I have been to a salon in my life.  But Suz isn’t like all of the other hair stylists out there.

First of all, Suz actually has a background in biochemical engineering.  When was the last time you expected to talk about chemistry with your hair stylist?  Yeah, me neither.

But that wasn’t what was so interesting about the experience.  The part that was interesting was when Suz began laying down the laws of how to be her client.  (Now let me tell you, this is something I teach to my clients, but rarerly–rarely do I see it in practice otherwise).

Suz said that first of all, I am not considered a client until after the third appointment.  After all, I am still getting to know her and trying to decide if I like her style.  And she is still trying to decide whether I fit into the culture of the salon.

Then she laid out the rules.

Rule #1- If I have to cancel an appointment I have to give 24 hours notice otherwise I will still be charged the cost of the appointment.  (Incidentally, Suz says the same goes for vice versa.  If she were to ever cancel on me less than 24 hours in advance than she would expect me to charge her my going hourly rate).

Rule #2- Never cut my own hair.  (This one is easy as I haven’t laid scissors to my hair since that horrible experience in 1st grade where my brother and I decided that I needed bangs).

Rule #3- Never color my own hair.

Rule #4- Don’t use crap products on my hair.

The kicker here is that Suz stated that she has fired clients before for not following the rules.  Is that counter intuitive to tell a new client that on their first appointment?  Absolutely not.  What Suz has done is set the boundaries of the relationship and positioned herself as an expert in her field that commands respect.  Because of that she has won me as a client.

Note: Incidentally, I liked the hair cut she gave me.  But then again I also liked the way my old hair stylist cut my hair and I eventually left that place after she went on maternity leave.  She didn’t do anything wrong.  I just didn’t feel that connected to her and started wandering if there was someone better out there.  That goes to that shows, at least for me, that while a hair style that looks good is important in a hair stylist, the connection and positioning is just as, if not more important.

It does no good to know that your target is a male executive in his 40s that enjoys playing golf, eating expensive steak dinners, and traveling if you are spending all of your time and energy putting . . . → Read More: Target Locked & Acquired]]> Do you know who your target market is?  If so, what are you doing to acquire them?

It does no good to know that your target is a male executive in his 40s that enjoys playing golf, eating expensive steak dinners, and traveling if you are spending all of your time and energy putting ads in the local Val-Pak.  That’s not to say that Val-Pak can’t be a valuable marketing tool…but not for the specific target we mentioned above.

Why?  Most male executives in their 40s are not perusing Val-Pak for coupons on their steak dinners.

So what would be a better alternative?  Well, honestly it depends on your product or service.  If it is business related then perhaps a good medium to use would be publications that target c-level executives such as CFO magazine.  If is it not business related then perhaps a more upscale mailing that targets the top 1000 homes in a zip code.  Or perhaps you should rent your own list (infousa.com or referenceusa.com) of those who subscribe to both CFO magazine and Golf Digest and mail a postcard or letter to them.

The key here, as always, is creating a match between your message, your market, and your media.  All 3 hinge on each other and if one is off, you will not land your sale.  As my brilliant husband likes to say, “It doesn’t matter how good your message and your media are, you can’t sell a BMW to a 3 year old!”

Happy Marketing!

Sarah

We have some friends who have recently decided to leave their jobs to start their own business.  They are a couple . . . → Read More: All In A Day’s Work…]]> To be honest, it can be very difficult to stay on track when running one’s own business.  Matt and I were discussing this just the other day during one of our infamous walks.

We have some friends who have recently decided to leave their jobs to start their own business.  They are a couple of months into this new business venture and have just recently shared with us how hard it is to get anything strategic done on the business between taking the kids to soccer practice, remodeling the bathroom, and getting the car worked on–not to mention the day to day business needs such as servicing clients and paying bills.

So what is it that takes a highly productive employee to a struggling entrepreneur?  Where is the disconnect in productivity levels?

It could be that in a job there is normally a much defined job description with a clear outline of what is expected.  In addition, when working in a job, an employee is not usually responsible for both strategy and day to day customer maintenance.  Also, there is the accountability of knowing that your boss or manager will be asking for results.

However, when working for oneself it is easy to get just enough done to get by…thus ignoring the strategy or business building pieces.  It is also a lot easier to let things slip as you have no one holding you accountable.  This is especially true if you have a home office as it is very easy to allow household tasks to consume your work day.

Here are a few tips to help keep you on track.

-It is vitally important to find other entrepreneurs with similar goals to help hold you accountable.  Some call this a power circle.  But regardless of what you call it, you need to have someone who understands what you are working towards to hold you accountable to reaching your goals.

-If working from a home office, set a schedule and stick to it.  Force yourself to get up at the same time each morning.  Take a shower and get dressed rather than just walking down the hall to your office in your Sunday sweats.  This may not seem important, but if you want to motivate yourself to work you must dress the part.  Believe it or not, your attitude is affected by what you wear.  (If you don’t believe me, think about how you feel when you wear your favorite outfit…I rest my case.)  Sunday sweats may be incredibly comfortable, but your mind associates relaxation with them, not productivity.

-Write out a job description for every job you find yourself doing in your business.  Include the tasks that you are responsible for when acting in that job title.  Then, allot time slots for when you fulfill that job.  For example, if 9am is always your Marketing Director job time, then line up a slew of marketing projects for that time and work through them.  If 11am is Customer Service Manager time then take off your Marketing Director hat and switch gears to handle any customer situations.  Compartmentalizing your day will help you give attention to each area of your business and not ignore vital areas.

-Examine your work environment.  How conducive is it to productive and efficient work?  Is it cluttered, thus causing you to spend more time looking for items than actually working?  Is it uncomfortable, causing you to want to spend more time on the couch than in your actual office?  Or maybe it is too comfortable and you find yourself falling asleep.  Are there a lot of distractions like a television, traffic noise, or constant interruptions from employees, children, or pets?  If you said yes to any of these questions, consider revamping your office space to make it easier to be productive.

Implementing just one of these tips will increase your productivity, but implementing all of them will cause a dramatic change in the way you work.  Be careful, productivity can be addicting!

Till next time,

Sarah

Some believe it is a status in business to achieve.  . . . → Read More: By Referral Only]]> A popular theme these days in the business world is saying that you are a “by referral only” business or that you concentrate on “word of mouth” marketing.  Now what does by referral only actually mean?  There are a few different schools of thought.

Some believe it is a status in business to achieve.  It provides a feeling of exclusivity and doing any sort of  marketing would be seen as tainting this “club” of sorts.  Members of this club focus most of their attention on going to networking meetings with the goal of building  a power circle that will refer to them on a regular basis.  In order to make a strategy like this successful, one must constantly be in front of those with the power to refer.  Referrals in this strategy can ebb and flow depending upon the whims of whichever networking groups the business professional belongs to.

There are others that believe the only way to achieve a by referral only business is to have a strategic marketing plan.  These business professionals build relationships with past clients and referral partners through various marketing methods such as newsletters, e-zines, cards, letters, small gifts, and more.  Through systematic means, they are able to obtain predictable and track able referral results.

Now, what about word of mouth marketing?  It can be a great tool, but I caution you that on its own it is very dangerous.  Why?  Because of the telephone factor.  What is the telephone factor?  The telephone factor is the result of every game of telephone we ever played as a children.

You remember how someone would start with one phrase and by the time it made its way around the circle it came out completely different? Well, when one depends upon word of mouth advertising as their only marketing tool they are in a sense tempting the fates of the telephone game.  Someone is bound to completely wreck your message.  It is the nature of humanity.

But is word of mouth advertising completely useless?  No, but it should be the by-product of your marketing and should be delivered in a carefully crafted message time after time so that the person trying to help you out knows exactly what to say about you.  Otherwise it can do a great deal more harm than aid.

Those who believe word of mouth advertising and being by referral only are a realistic alternative to a well thought out marketing plan that is strategically implemented are losing out on a great deal of potential profits.  Much like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand does not make it invisible, saying that you are by referral only does not make it so if you do not have a strategy to build those referrals.