The Millionaire Mind Support Network™

Make a Stand for Your Brand

The following passage is from Jon Gordon’s Weekly Newsletter that provides positive strategies to fuel your life and career.

Stand for Your Brand

What do you stand for? I was asked this question last week and several words came to mind: service, faith, family, action and positive energy. As I drove in my car I continued to think about what I stand for and what it means to stand for something. I thought of people like Nelson Mandela and Bono and what they stand for and what this says about them. I thought of the company Chick-Fil-A and how closing on Sunday’s speaks volumes about what they stand for. I thought about Starbucks and how providing health insurance to employees reflects what founder and CEO Howard Schultz stands for.

I thought of Honest Tea, a bottled tea that incorporates Honesty into everything they do. Honest Tea is not just a name. It’s a brand that is backed by words, purpose, energy and action. They use organic tea. They use all natural ingredients. They have a company policy against saying anything negative about their competition. They are part of the fair trade campaign. Their CEO, Seth Goldman, is a genuine, humble, nice and honest guy. Honest Tea stands for honesty. I like that.

It occurred to me that each person, organization and team has their own brand and what we stand for reflects and reinforces this brand. More importantly when we take action that is in alignment with what we stand for we strengthen and reinforce our brand and solidify what we stand for. When you stand for something you don’t just talk, you act. You don’t just have whimsical thoughts or weak beliefs about it, you have conviction. You don’t just go through the motions; you get engaged with purpose and passion. The energy of your brand is being projected every moment by what you think, say and do. This energy is then received by your customers, employees, and the world.

One of the most important exercises any person, organization and team can do is to ask the following questions:

1. What Do I Stand For? What Do We Stand For? Make a list of what you truly believe you stand for.

2. Do My/Our Actions Reflect What I/We Stand For? For example if you say you stand for great customer service but you don’t call your customer back in a timely manner or go above and beyond to address their concerns then you really don’t stand for great customer service. Evaluate your actions.

3. Make a Stand for Your Brand. Take action on the things you stand for. Right now, write down 3 actions that you can take that will reinforce what you stand for then take action on them.

4. Re-Evaluate Often. This will help you be aware of whether your actions are in alignment with your beliefs. There will always be discrepancies. No one is perfect. We all fall short. The key is to be aware and have a desire to improve. Tools like this newsletter are meant to help with the process.

Jon Gordon is a speaker, consultant and author of several books including the recently released The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to deal with Negativity at Work and the international best seller The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy which has captured the hearts of readers world-wide. If you’d like to sign up for Jon’s Newsletter, order his books or review his teaching schedule go to http://www.jongordon.com/.

Millionaire Minds can always EARN more,
because we always look for opportunities to LEARN more

Jon Gordon is a speaker, consultant and author of several books including the recently released The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to deal with Negativity at Work and the international best seller The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy which has captured the hearts of readers world-wide.

…and Looking for Opportunities to Expand Existing Businesses

The message most Millionaire Mind Intensive graduates took away from our three-day experience was: if you don’t have a business, start one — if you have one, expand your business to produce both residual and passive income streams.

The Millionaire Mind Support Network™ site is designed to be a self-help resource for action-focused information we all need to master the inner and outer game of businesses and personal development. With that purpose in mind, I have gathered some resources to help our members make sound business decisions as we navigate through this invigorating and complex time.

Millionaire Minds ask questions, listen carefully to the answers, and develop a profitable plan forward.

POWER PRINCIPLE

You can always be more, have more and do more because you can always learn more.

Small Business Administration: where to find the answers for your most frequently asked questions.

Office of Advocacy Resources

Office of Advocacy Resources

The Small Business Economy: A Report to the President

Quarterly Indicators: The Economy and Small Business

Small Firm Lending Studies

State and Territory Small Business Economic Profiles

Regulatory Research

Research on Owner Demographics (women, minorities, veterans, etc.

Advocacy Working Paper Series

Advocacy Conference Proceedings

Small Business Journals

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

International Small Business Journal

Venture Capital: An International Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance

Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship

Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance and Business Ventures

Journal of Business Venturing

Journal of Small Business Management

Small Business Economics

Web-Based Resources

Center for Women’s Business Research

Kauffman Entrepreneurial Research

Kauffman-RAND Center for Study of Small Business and Regulation

National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series

National Women’s Business Council

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, SMEs and Entrepreneurship Dep’t

Research Papers in Economics

Social Science Research Network

The World Bank’s Doing Business Project

Data Sources

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 1997 Economic Census

2002 Economic Census (Survey of Business Owners

American FactFinder

Nonemployer Statistics

Center for Economic Studies (CES) Data and Working Papers
CES Data is available at Research Data Centers for approved research proposals.

Statistics of U.S. Businesses — partially funded by Advocacy

County Business Patterns

Survey of Income and Program Participation

Business Employment Dynamics

Current Population Survey

Federal Reserve Board

Survey of Small Business Finances

Survey of Consumer Finances

Senior Loan Officer Survey on Bank Lending Practices

Internal Revenue Service/Statistics of Income Division

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation/Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity

National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Economic Trends

Small Business Polls

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor

Panel Study on Entrepreneurial Dynamic

Live Well and Prosper

I recently discovered a great website that offers FREE PR information as well as a very reasonably priced PR service for small businesses. The site is called PR Toolkit

In addition to the many helpful articles the site offers a newsletter subscription to their PR 101 newsletter.

From the PR Toolkit for Small Business home page:

At PR Newswire we understand the challenges small businesses and entrepreneurs face.  You’re wearing multiple hats throughout the day and after you’re done wearing the president, bookkeeper and webmaster hats it can be difficult to find the time to promote your small business.  The reality is, by finding the time to issue a simple news release you can help your small business grow faster.

News releases? You mean those exclusive notices that major corporations send out to newspapers, radio and television in hopes of getting their name in print? Sure, you may be thinking, that’s fine for Microsoft and General Motors but who’s interested in me and my small business? The answer: thousands of media, investors and potential customers.

PR Newswire sends thousands of news releases out every year—many for small businesses and entrepreneurs just like you.  These companies benefit because their releases get read by media across the country and, very often, result in a written article.  Additionally, if you’re interested in a Web audience you can distribute your news releases to more than 4,000 Web sites, databases and online services like Yahoo!, MSN.com, and AOL.com– giving your release a potential audience of millions. This is great news for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

The PR Toolkit is designed to help you understand the basics of public relations and how PR Newswire can help you cost-effectively create visibility for your small business, products or services.  Please enjoy the valuable small business resources (tips and educational articles) contained in this site, and if at any time you would like to speak to a PR Newswire representative, please select Request Information.

Priced for small and emerging businesses

The cost of distributing your news release is determined by the newsline you select and the length of your news release. Each newsline covers a specific geographical area ranging from local, regional, national and international. Prices start at $180 for a city/metro or statewide distribution. A national distribution starts at $680.

Small Business Advice and Tips

Below you will find small business advice and resources, which have been created with small business owners and entrepreneurs in mind. The advice and tips section includes writing tips, photo tips, guidelines for formatting your release and common pitfalls to avoid. Visit the small business advice and tips page regularly for updates and new content.

The Fearless Trade Show Warrior
And the the Enchanted Perfect Sales Letter

“The Industry trade show was really worth the expense, the customer response was great; but I can’t follow up on these leads yet because my sales letter isn’t ready.”

OK this statement rates a double “WHAT??”

I sometimes refer to this as “Spanky and the Gang” marketing. “Hey kids, lets do a show.” Enough people have famously pulled this off this gambit, to make it an almost irresistible lure. Entrepreneurs see an annual Industry Show as the perfect way to show case the marvelous WIZBANG-2007.

Sometimes the gamble is worth it, IF you follow up.

In April of 1977, Jobs and Wozniak did not have the perfect sales letter to follow up the debut of the first personal computer at West Coast Computer Faire. But they followed up every sales lead that trade show floor generated, by phone and in person…an started an industry or two.

The Enchanted Perfect Sales Letter

The quest for the enchanted perfect sales letter often finishes the mighty entrepreneurial enterprise before it really starts. The lack of this fabled marketing tool stops many of us from reaching out to prospective clients.

IS there such a thing as the Enchanted Perfect Sales Letter –the one that results in eager clients clamoring for your product; filling your email, voice mail and inbox with orders as soon as they receive it? That would be a no.

Forget marketing’s holy grail — the Enchanted Perfect Sales Letter. Just contact your leads before they grow stale. Time is never on the side of small business. When Joe Vitale says money loves speed, he is not using a metaphor. He is being perfectly serious. The faster small business owners move, the more money they make.

So instead of focusing so much on the content of your sales letters, put your emphasis on repeat contacts using multiple channels over time. Place a call, then send a note, call again, and then send an e-mail. You could make contact with a prospect four times over a two-week span in less time than it takes you to write and rewrite one “perfect” letter. A series of action steps like this will have much more likelihood of resulting in a live conversation than almost any letter you could write.

Our SBDC small business marketing case studies continues Aug 31st with, “I can’t start marketing; my website isn’t done yet.”

I’m a very capable marketing technician. I’ve been trained to know what to do, and why, to what probable result. Over the years I’ve had lots of practice and plenty of lessons learned. Joe Vitale, however is a “Guru status, marketing maven. He knows all of the above and executes with panache. Any marketing book by Joe is a good business investment.

As a retired SBDC counselor, I know where to find business-related information — both online and IRL. In this case my marketing source Is years and years as a business counselor and mentor. For individual business support with any aspect of your business contact the nearest SBA-sponsored Small Business Development Center.

Millionaire Minds Love to Market!

Copyright © Millionaire Minds, LLC 2007
All writings here are copyrighted. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts. And remember, You Have a Millionaire Mind!

“Marketing 101 —Review of the Basics…continued”

Establishing a Web Presence

When we started this marketing journey at the beginning of the month, we were discussing action steps — the need to take steps every day, even ‘baby steps’ to reach our business goals. For many of us, the need for the “perfect something” meant that “Nothing” went out the door.

It is critical to those of us who aspire to create wealth through our business, understand that ‘good enough and out’, to be improved upon next time, is better than ‘not at all.’

I cautioned new business ventures not to hold up on marketing their products and services just because their website wasn’t ready. Unless your business model is completely internet-based — an internet marketing business that has a publishing or training product that can ONLY be sold on a website — you do not need a website to START marketing. That does not mean your website isn’t a critical aspect of your business marketing plan, every business needs a URL-home in the Wild, Wild Net.

Lets visit the need for PERFECT again. Your first website does not have to the website of your dreams, immediately. Your site can continually evolve and improve as time and budget allow. Even if you choose not to sell your goods or services online, a business web site can be a virtual marketing brochure that you can update on demand with little or no cost. Your presence on the Internet can be a useful marketing tool by providing richer pre-sale information or post-sale support and service. This might temporarily differentiate your product or service from your competitors’. E-marketing has lessened the disadvantage that small businesses have faced for years when competing with larger businesses.

eCommerce has redefined the marketplace, altered business strategies, and allowed global competition between local businesses. The term “electronic commerce” has evolved from meaning simply electronic shopping to representing all aspects of business and market processes enabled by the Internet and other digital technologies. Today’s business emphasis is on ecommerce - rapid electronic interactions enabled by the Internet and other connected computer and telephone networks. Rapid business transactions and unparalleled access to information is changing consumer behavior and expectations.

Many small businesses assume that the Internet has little value to them because they feel that their product or service cannot be easily sold online, but inexpensive information processing and electronic media can help most small businesses provide better, faster customer service and communication.

Many of you have expressed an interest in how Internet Marketing can be used to expand passive income opportunities for your current business venture. There is a great deal of information to share about Internet Marketing so ’ll pursue it as a separate blog string. Thanks for the feed back.

Do you have any marketing tips and trips that have worked for your business. Please share them on our blog or forum.

I’m a very capable marketing technician. I’ve been trained to know what to do, and why, to what probable result. Over the years I’ve had lots of practice and plenty of lessons learned. Joe Vitale, however is a “Guru status, marketing maven. He knows all of the above and executes with panache. Any marketing book by Joe is a good business investment.

As a retired SBDC counselor, I know where to find business-related information — both online and IRL. In this case some of my marketing source is a SBA publication (National Women’s Business Center, Washington, D.C., 4/97). The balance is just years of experience. For individual business support with any aspect of your business contact the nearest SBA-sponsored Small Business Development Center.

Millionaire Minds Love to Market!

Copyright © Millionaire Minds, LLC 2007
All writings here are copyrighted. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts. And remember, You Have a Millionaire Mind!

Marketing 101 — Brief Overview of Opt-in eMarketing

E-mail marketing is one of the most effective ways to keep in touch with customers.

It is generally cost-effective, and if done properly, can help build brand awareness and loyalty. At a typical cost of only a few cents per message, it’s a bargain compared to traditional direct mail at $1 or more per piece. In addition, response rates on e-mail marketing are strong, ranging from 5 to 35% depending on the industry and format. Response rates for traditional mail averages in the 1 to 3% range.

One of the benefits of e-mail marketing is the demographic information that customers provide when signing up for your e-mail newsletter. Discovering who your customers really are - age, gender, income, and special interests, for example - can help you target your products and services to their needs.

Points to consider when creating your e-mail newsletter:

• HTML vs. Plain Text: Response rates for HTML newsletters are generally far higher than plain text, and graphics and colors tend to make the publications look far more professional. The downside is that HTML e-mail is slower to download, and some e-mail providers may screen out HTML email.
• Provide incentive to subscribe: To get customers to sign up for your newsletter, advertise the benefits of receiving your newsletter, such as helpful tips, informative content, or early notification of special offers or campaigns.
• Don’t just sell: Many studies suggest that e-mail newsletters are read far more carefully when they offer information that is useful to the customers’ lives rather than merely selling products and services. Helpful tips, engaging content, and humor are often expected to accompany e-mail newsletters.
• Limit questions: As each demographic question you ask may reduce the number of customers signing up, it’s best to limit the amount of information you solicit or give customers the option of skipping the questionnaire.

Do you have any marketing tips and trips that have worked for your business. Please share them on our blog or forum.

I’m a very capable marketing technician. I’ve been trained to know what to do, and why, to what probable result. Over the years I’ve had lots of practice and plenty of lessons learned. Joe Vitale however is a “Guru status, marketing maven. He knows all of the above and executes with panache. Any marketing book by Joe is a good business investment.

As a retired SBDC counselor, I know where to find business-related information — both online and IRL. In this case some of my marketing source is a SBA publication (National Women’s Business Center, Washington, D.C., 4/97). The balance is just years of experience. For individual business support with any aspect of your business contact the nearest SBA-sponsored Small Business Development Center.

Millionaire Minds Love to Market!

Copyright © Millionaire Minds, LLC 2007
All writings here are copyrighted. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts. And remember, You Have a Millionaire Mind!

“Marketing 101 —Review of the Basics…continued”

Special Events and Outreach

• Get a booth at a fair/trade show attended by your target market.
• Sponsor or host a special event or open house at your business location in cooperation with a local non-profit organization, such as a women’s business center. Describe how the organization helped you.
• Give a speech or volunteer for a career day at a high school.
• Teach a class or seminar at a local college or adult education center.
• Sponsor an Adopt-a-Road area in your community to keep roads litter-free. People that pass by the area will see your name on the sign announcing your sponsorship.
• Volunteer your time to a charity or non-profit organization.
• Donate your product or service to a charity auction.
• Appear on a panel at a professional seminar.
• Write a How To pamphlet or article for publishing.
• Produce and distribute an educational CD-ROM or audio/video tape.
• Publish a book.
• Publish an e-book and offer as free download on your company website

Sales Ideas

• Start every day with two cold calls.
• Read newspapers, business journals, and trade publications for new business openings, personnel appointments, and promotion announcements made by companies. Send your business literature to appropriate individuals and firms.
• Give your sales literature to your lawyer, accountant, printer, banker, temp agency, office supply salesperson, advertising agency, etc. (Expand your sales force for free!)
• Put your fax number on order forms for easy submission.
• Set up a fax-on-demand or e-mail system to easily distribute responses to company or product inquiries. DO NOT BECOME A SPAMER — Send emails and Faxes ONLY to those contacts who have specifically “Opted IN” to your marketing/Information programs.
• Follow up on your Opt-In direct mailings, email messages, and broadcast faxes with a friendly telephone call.
• Try using the (Opt-In) broadcast fax or email delivery methods instead of direct mail. (Broadcast fax and email allows you to send the same message to many locations at once.)
• Use broadcast faxes or email messages to notify your (OPT-IN) customers of product service updates.
• Extend your hours of operation.
• Reduce response/turnaround time. Make reordering easy - use reminders. Provide preaddressed envelopes.
• Display product and service samples at your office.
• Remind clients of the products and services you provide that they aren’t currently buying.
• Call and/or send mail to former clients to try and reactivate them.
• Take sales orders over the Internet. Upgrade your website to secured e-commerce site so clients can place orders at their convenience.

We will continue “Marketing 101 —Review of the Basics” in the August 22nd Blog

I’m a very capable marketing technician. I’ve been trained to know what to do, and why, to what probable result. Over the years I’ve had lots of practice and plenty of lessons learned. Joe Vitale however is a “Guru status, marketing maven. He knows all of the above and executes with panache. Any marketing book by Joe is a good business investment.

As a retired SBDC counselor, I know where to find business-related information — both online and IRL. In this case some of my marketing source is a SBA publication (National Women’s Business Center, Washington, D.C., 4/97). The balance is just years of experience. For individual business support with any aspect of your business contact the nearest SBA-sponsored Small Business Development Center.

Millionaire Minds Love to Market!

Copyright © Millionaire Minds, LLC 2007
All writings here are copyrighted. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts. And remember, You Have a Millionaire Mind!

“Marketing 101 —Review of the Basics…continued”

Customer Service and Customer Relations

• Ask your clients to come back again.
• Return phone calls promptly.
• Set up a fax-on-demand or email system to easily respond to customer inquiries.
• Use an answering machine or voice mail system to catch after-hours phone calls. Include basic information in your outgoing messages such a business hours, location, etc.
• Record a memorable message or tip of the day on your outgoing answering machine or voice mail message.
• Ask clients what you can do the help them.
• Take clients out to a ball game, show, or another special event - just send them two tickets with a note.
• Hold a seminar at your office for clients and prospects.
• Send handwritten thank you notes.
• Send birthday cards and appropriate seasonal greetings.
• Photocopy interesting articles and send them to clients and prospects with a hand-written FYI note and your business card.
• Send a book of interest or other appropriate business gift to a client with a handwritten note.
• Create an area on your Web site specifically for your customers.
• Redecorate your office or location where you meet with your clients.

Networking and Word of Mouth

• Join a Chamber of Commerce or other organization.
• Join or organize a breakfast club with other professionals (not in your field) to discuss business and network referrals.
• Mail a brochure to members of organizations to which you belong.
• Serve on a city board or commission.
• Host a holiday party.
• Hold an open house.
• Send letters to attendees after you attend a conference.
• Join a community list-serve (e-mail list) on the Internet.

Advertising

• Advertise during peak seasons for your business.
• Get a memorable phone number, such as 1-800-WIDGETS.
• Obtain a memorable URL and email address and include them on all marketing materials.
• Provide Rolodex® cards or phone stickers preprinted with your business contact information.
• Promote your business jointly with other professionals via cooperative direct mail.
• Advertise in a specialty directory or in the Yellow Pages.
• Hire a professional bilingual writer who and develop an ad in another language to reach the non-English-speaking market. Place the ad in a publication that market reads, such as a Hispanic newspaper.
• Distribute advertising specialty products such as pens, mouse pads, or mugs.
• Mail bumps - photos, samples, and other innovative items to your prospect list. (A bump is simply anything that makes the mailing envelope bulge and makes the recipient curious about what’s in the envelope!)
• Create a direct mail list of hot prospects.
• Consider non-traditional tactics such as bus backs, billboards, and popular Web sites.
• Project a message on the sidewalk in front of your place of business using a light directed through words etched in a glass window.
• Consider placing ads in your newspaper’s classified section.
• Consider a vanity automobile tag with your company name.
• Create a friendly bumper sticker for your car.
• Code your ads and keep records of results.
• Improve your building signage and directional signs inside and out.
• Invest in a neon sign to make your office or storefront window visible at night.
• Create a new or improved company logo or recolor the traditional logo.
• Sponsor and promote a contest or sweepstakes.
• Sponsor a local sports team

We will continue “Marketing 101 —Review of the Basics” in the August 20th Blog

As a retired SBDC counselor, I know where to find business-related information — both online and IRL. In this case some of my marketing source is a SBA publication (National Women’s Business Center, Washington, D.C., 4/97). The balance is just years of experience. For individual business support with any aspect of your business contact the nearest SBA-sponsored Small Business Development Center.

Millionaire Minds Love to Market!

Copyright © Millionaire Minds, LLC 2007
All writings here are copyrighted. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts. And remember, You Have a Millionaire Mind!

Marketing 101 — Reviewing the Basics

Pricing and Payment

• Analyze your fee structure; look for areas requiring modifications or adjustments. Establish a credit card payment option for clients.
• Give regular clients a discount.
• Learn to barter; offer discounts to members of certain clubs/professional groups/organizations in exchange for promotions in their publications.
• Give quick pay or cash discounts.
• Offer financing or installment plans.

Marketing Communications

• * Publish a newsletter for customers and prospects (it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive). Develop a brochure of services.
• Include a postage-paid survey card with your brochures and other company literature. Include check-off boxes or other items that will involve the reader and provide valuable feedback to you.
• Remember, business cards aren’t working for you if they’re in the box. Pass them out! Give prospects two business cards and brochures - one to keep and one to pass along.
• Produce separate business cards/sales literature for each of your target market segments (e.g. government and commercial and/or business and consumer).
• Create a poster or calendar to give away to customers and prospects.
• Print a slogan and/or one-sentence description of your business on letterhead; fax cover sheets, and invoices. Develop a website.
• Create a signature file to be used for all your e-mail messages. It should contain contact details, including your Web site address and key information about your company that will make the reader want to contact you.
• Include testimonials from customers in your literature.
• Test a new mailing list. If it produces results, add it to your current direct mail lists or consider replacing a list that’s not performing up to expectations.
• Rather than sending direct mail in plain white envelopes, use colored or oversized envelopes to pique recipients’ curiosity.
• Announce free or special offers in your direct response pieces. (Direct responses may be direct mail, broadcast faxes, or e-mail messages.) Include the offer in the beginning of the message as well as on the outside of the envelope for direct mail.

Media Relations

• Update your media list often so that press releases are sent to the right media outlet and person.
• Write a column for the local newspaper, local business journal, or trade publication.
• Publish an article and circulate reprints.
• Send timely and newsworthy press releases as often as needed.
• Publicize your 500th client of the year (or other notable milestone).
• Create an annual award and publicize it.
• Get public relations and media training or read up on it.
• Appear on a local or Internet radio or TV talk show.
• Create your own Video program on your industry or your specialty. Post to UTUBE. Post to your company website. Market the show to your local cable station or public broadcasting station as a regular program, or see if you can air your show on an open access cable channel.
• Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper or trade magazine.
• Take an editor to lunch.
• Get a publicity photo taken and enclose with press releases.
• Consistently review newspapers and magazines for possible PR opportunities.
• Submit tip articles to newsletters and newspapers.
• Conduct industry research and develop a press release or article to announce an important discovery in your field
• Create a press kit and keep its contents current.

We will continue “Marketing 101 —Review of the Basics” in the August 17th Blog

As a retired SBDC counselor, I know where to find business-related information — both online and IRL. In this case some of my marketing source is a SBA publication (National Women’s Business Center, Washington, D.C., 4/97). The balance is just years of experience. For individual business support with any aspect of your business contact the nearest SBA-sponsored Small Business Development Center.

Millionaire Minds love to Market!

Copyright © Millionaire Minds, LLC 2007
All writings here are copyrighted. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts. And remember, You Have a Millionaire Mind!

Marketing is all about satisfying customer needs

The following represents a comprehensive list of marketing ideas;
use it to help better understand customer needs and ways to satisfy those needs.

General Thoughts Concerning Small Business Marketing Plans

• Never let a day pass without engaging in at least one marketing activity.
• Determine a percentage of gross income to spend annually on marketing.
• Set specific marketing goals every year; review and adjust quarterly.
• Maintain a tickler file of ideas for later use.
• Carry business cards with you —all day, every day. (Keep extra cards in your car.)
• Create a personal name tag or pin with your company name and logo on it and wear it at high visibility meetings. (These can be ordered from any office supply store)

Target Market Research

We’ve discussed Target Marketing in previous blogs.
Here are a few more small business marketing research suggestions.

• Stay alert to trends that might impact your target market, product, or promotion strategy.
• Read market research studies about your profession, industry, product, and target market groups, etc.
• Collect competitors’ ads and literature; study them for information about strategy, product features, benefits, etc.
• Ask clients why they hired you and solicit suggestions for improvement.
• Ask former clients why they left you.
• Identify a new market.
• Join a list-serve (e-mail list) related to your profession.
• Subscribe to an Internet newsgroup or a list-serve that serves your target market.

Product Development

Product or new services development should be driven by your market research. Customer-centric product development is the holy grail of marketing. (A good rich and successful model is Steve Jobs and Apple product development – IPOD(s)/ ITUNES/IPHONE)

• Create a new service, technique, or product.
• Offer a simpler/cheaper/smaller version of your (or existing) product or service.
• Offer a fancier/more expensive/faster/bigger version of your (or existing) product or service.
• Update your services.

Education, Resources, and Information

• Establish a marketing and public relations advisory and referral team composed of your colleagues and/or neighboring business owners (Mastermind); share ideas and referrals and discuss community issues. Meet quarterly for breakfast.
• Create a suggestion box for employees. (If you are a company of one, you still need a suggestion box. Once a week change hats, and read what insights ‘employee-you’ has to offer ‘employer-you’
• Attend marketing seminars.
• Read marketing books.
• Subscribe to marketing newsletters or other publications.
• Subscribe to a marketing list-serve on the Internet.
• Subscribe to marketing Usenet newsgroup on the Internet.
• Train your staff, clients, and colleagues to promote referrals.
• Hold a monthly marketing meeting with employees or associates to discuss strategy and status and solicit marketing ideas.
• Join an association or organization related to your profession.
• Get a marketing intern to take you on as a client; it will give the intern experience and you some free marketing help.
• Maintain a consultant card file (database) for finding designers, writers, and other marketing professionals.
• As soon as budgets available hire a marketing consultant (mentor) to brainstorm with.
  During vacations or business trips take some time for a creative journey around the city or county to observe and learn from marketing techniques used there.

We will continue “Marketing 101 —Review of the Basics” in the August 15th Blog

As a retired SBDC counselor, I know where to find business-related information — both online and IRL. In this case some of my marketing source is a SBA publication (National Women’s Business Center, Washington, D.C., 4/97). The balance is just years of experience. For individual business support with any aspect of your business contact the nearest SBA-sponsored Small Business Development Center.

Millionaire Minds Love to Market!

Copyright © Millionaire Minds, LLC 2007
All writings here are copyrighted. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts. And remember, You Have a Millionaire Mind!