Don’t Shoot the Messenger
Yah right! In a society where the average person sees over 3,000 messages per day, it’s no wonder people are tuning out the crap and focusing on the relevant information. Marketers are wasting millions on mass messaging this way. So, how to avoid this pitfall on only a small business budget? Speak to your customers personally. You must win individual customer share, not total market share.
To do this, you must understand your customer’s value: who generates the most revenues and profits? Why do these customers purchase from you? Are they loyal to you and only you? Gaining a better understanding of their attitudes, preferences and motivation that drives them to BUY BUY BUY can help you improve your relationships and, ultimately keep them as customers for the long run.
You need to find out as much as possible about your customers in terms of the following:
– Purchase patterns
– Product and service preferences
– Response History
– Overall trends
Once you tally up this data, you will then be able to segment, profile, and model your customers. Result: a database of rich information that will allow you to customize your marketing strategies.
Believe me, regardless of your industry, personalized marketing programs work. Now you need to figure out what works for you so that your customers aren’t shooting the messenger…YOU!
Here’s a nifty marketing blog to follow: Marketing Plan Queen.
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RIP Michael Jackson
Although this is not small business related I just wanted to express my sincere grief for the loss of one of the worlds most influential and iconic music stars of all time; Michael Jackson. He will always be remembered for his many songs, acts, ground breaking fashion, and love for all things worldly.
Thank you MJ! You will be missed.
Customers: Your weight in gold.
The power of customer engagement is priceless. Word of mouth and referral base marketing work, just bare in mind that it requires a strategic approach. Research, plan, set goals, plan again, and harness the power of your most valued customers, as they are the ultimate marketing weapon. They are your business weight in Gold.
The Headaches of Contract Work
This post won’t change your life.
I am simply trying to tell a story. One that is often told with great anger and frustration. I will not offer any tricks into being a better consultant, freelancer, or contractor. But I will provide you insight into MY headaches and unfortunate series of events that have most recently occurred. In the end, you will hopefully have a better idea of what not to do and what TO do if you are faced with a similar problem. (Names have been changed to protect personal and corporate identifications.)
The old saying goes “Once burned, twice shy.” That easily goes hand in hand with my recent experience as a consultant. I took on a job to write a business plan for a digital advertising start-up, similar to a plan I wrote for an incubator about 2 years ago. When the offer first came to my table, I had a sense of unease. My gut instinct said DON’T take this job as The man (what I will call him from this point on) looked sneaky. So I put out an offer priced well beyond what I thought The man could afford, and to my dismay, he said yes. Well FRIG! I didn’t want to take the job, but I couldn’t say no.
So we started. Initial meetings were great. We were all enthusiastic. Morale was high and people honestly believed that the plan would be completed within 2 weeks…as per the contract. (See picture below)
Although payment was delayed by a couple days, we were still getting paid. So it kept the team confident. Then the meetings started getting more frequent, longer, and less productive. We were getting further from the end the more we met with the The man; Who I might ad was very unorganized, had an extremely short attention span, made rude comments, and openly said to me “You will get nowhere in your current position at company XYZ.” (My current fulltime job) — —> to the young folk, this should be the absolute LAST string and I would highly recommend terminating the contract then. But I stayed on.
Why? Because I had hired two college students to help me out and their reputation’s and money were at stake. I had a commitment to The man and these two students. So I bit my tongue and continued….
Names have been changed to secure the identity of people and corporations involved.
To be continued…
The Return of Mom and Pop shops
It has to be said; big box stores are still at large. They dominate urban landscapes, offer competitive pricing, great deals, low to high quality products and services, but they still cannot and will not replace the mom and pop shops. Home cooked food, detailed hand made products, service with a real smile, all the things that your friendly neighbourhood and locally owned Bob and Martha stores provide.
History repeats itself. Before the Walmart’s of today, business was social. Owners interacted and knew their customers by name. The butcher knew what cuts of meats their customers liked, the dry cleaners knew whether or not certain customers wanted their clothes folded or on hangers, and if there wasn’t something a store carried, it would surely appear on the next visit. Shop owners were once your next door neighbour, your ‘buddy’, your weekly friendly face.
It was once all about knowing your customers needs and creating a personal experience. We are slowly and surely heading back that way. Looking at the statistics, big companies are still laying off thousands of people each month. On a brighter side, more people are seeing the value in starting their own businesses. Most recently, the biggest employment rate and job creation has been through entrepreneurship and small business ownership. It could be said that it is easier to start a business now then it was 10 years ago. Perhaps this has influenced and helped people make that leap to entrepreneurship.
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Want to learn more? Thinking of starting or growing your business? Let BizLaunch help you guide the way. Visit www.BizLaunch.ca for free tools, seminars, webinars and low cost programs to help you get your business up and running or growing to the next level.Talking Like Obama: 5 Ways to Capture Your Audience
1. Talk about the Audience’s concerns
2. Use the KISS Principal (Keep it Simple Stupid)
3. Anticipate what your audience is thinking
4. Learn to pause (John Maxwell also does this VERY well)
5. Master body Language
To see the rest of the article click here: Five Ways to Talk Like Obama. BNET news put this out today
I thought it was very insightful and helpful.
Social Media Thoughts and Barriers to Entry. Part 1
It is not easy finding your space in the social media sphere. With the likes of people like Ashton Kutcher and The Real Shaq, it is hard to determine whether or not using platforms like Twitter for your small business has any worthwhile importance. (For more information on Ashton Kutcher and the First Tweeter to get 1 Million followers, click here).
For Twitter:
It really all depends on your goal in using social media. If you are out there to get as many people to follow you as possible, then you would be ill-advised to use social media for your business. However, this does have some benefits. I sometimes ask open questions on Twitter and get decent replies. People will direct me to other blogs, websites, and Tweeters for my answer. It all helps. But WHO follows you often has a huge impact on what sort of replies and ‘advice’ you’ll get. Who YOU chose to follow also shapes your Twitter success. I suggest you use Tweetdeck to organize your columns into strategic groups. This way you can keep track of what is happening in all your communities of interest. You can organize your groups anyway you chose.
Barrier to Entry:
It is not tough to get in, but it is tough to build a decent community and gain credibility. The biggest barrier: INVESTMENT OF TIME. In order to stay on top, in the know, and on-the-scene, your social media campaign(s) must be updated everyday! Yes….E V E R Y D A Y. (I am a hypocrite as it has been 9 days since I made my last blog post. Don’t do what I do). However, when it comes to Twitter and Facebook, you only need 20 minutes a day to start. 10 minutes to check out what is happening in the Twittersphere and 10 minutes to update your status and RSVP to events on Facebook. Easy as pie.
Part 2…coming soon.
Until Then:
If you want more information on how to develop a simple Social Media Startegy for your business, contact me at renee@reneewarren.com
Sweet Flour’s Customer of the Day
Is me! You can see my cookie story here.
This is a fantastic small business with a great idea: Custom make your own cookies.
If you havent already checked out the new custom bake shop Sweet Flour on Bloor Street in Toronto, it’s time you do. All I can say is Mmmmmmm.
Happy Cookie Making.
Speaking Events
I will be speaking to the Post-Graduate Humber College Marketing Management and International Marketing class on Social Media and Small Business on Monday April 13th at 9am. The Humber Et Cetera will be covering the event.
Renée Warren's Blog 