I have two real passions in my life, marketing my businesses and grilling steaks on the patio.
You might be wondering how these two passions intersect. Actually there are a lot of similarities between the two.
To grill great steaks, there are three basic things you need: Good meat, a good fire and patience. If you have these three basic ingredients down pat, you can be known as the grill-meister on your block.
I have two sources for the steaks I grill. There’s a meat market in town that has superior meat to what the local Walmart offers. I often purchase my steaks at this little hole-in-the-wall meat market.
The second source is once a year, I purchase a half beef from an area rancher. He raises his own beef and takes great pride in feeding them just the right amount so when butchered, the meat is tender and tasty. If you don’t have good meat to start with, the fire and patience won’t improve your medicore meat.
In my humble opinion, most amateurs cook their steaks over too hot a fire. We like our steak meduim to rare and they’re cooked over a low fire. For those of us who like our meat pink, a hot fire increases the risk of over-cooking the steak. Once over-cooked, you can’t go back.
The last ingredient in great steaks is patience. Don’t rush the meat, let it cook slow and it’ll turn out right. Using this system almost guarantees great steak 100% of the time.
Likewise, marketing your business successfully consists of basic ingredients: a marketing plan, marketing tools and patience.
Like good meat, you have to start with a marketing plan. Hint: a marketing plan is not two paragraphs in your business plan! You need a marketing strategy and how you’re going to execute it. That’s a practical explanation what a marketing plan is.
Your marketing plan defines what marketing tools you’re going to use, when you’re going to use them and how you’re going to implement them to your greatest advantage. Now let me ask you, do you have a working marketing plan?
Secondly, your marketing tools are just like the fire you grill your steaks over, not too hot, not too cool, but just right.
Jay Conrad Levinson’s book, Guerrilla Marketing listed over 100 potential marketing tools. Some tools work for just about any kind of business, others don’t. Others are seasonal, unusual, traditional or even quirky. But it’s up to you to pick what marketing tools will work for your kind of business and put them to use.
My dad used to tell me when I was a kid that a hammer hanging on the shelf in the tool shed wouldn’t build a barn.
Patience is a virtue. Is that in the Good Book? It seems like everything in life that’s worthwhile requires patience. Just like when I’m grilling steaks, I don’t get in a rush or impatient. I know if I have great meat and the right fire, in the process of time, I’m going to have some great steaks.
It’s the same with marketing your business. You need patience. Marketing works and usually it takes a little while for it to show results. Be patient, don’t quit too soon, your efforts will soon pay dividends.
Free enterprise is a benefit of freedom. I’m thankful for the freedoms we have in the USA, although they are shrinking. It’s not so much of the liberal Dems or Obama, it’s more about the time we live in.
Some Iranians are sacrificing their lives in the name of freedom, not to mention the thousands that have been harrassed and injured. We live in perilous times, love and embrace freedom.
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants; nine were farmers and large plantation owners.
They signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more and than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
The idea of offering a simple, short and straight forward approach to starting and managing a small business is greatly needed. The more I travel about and research business communities, the more evident that is. Here are 4 issues I see repeatidly lacking in small business owners and their operations:
1. They try and do everything but lack in areas that bog them down because they do not know how to do them. One example is your marketing piece.
2. They lack the encouragement to stay our of depression because they tend to focus on the negative and often get mired in the mud of disappointment.
3. They lack self management and/or time management. The easy way out for the moment is the safest slope to slide on. Not being able to establish priorities and attack them one at a time results in more and more confusion. It’s like adding dirty clothes to a closet till the stack is so high you can’t get in the closet to for its main function, which is storing your clean clothes for easy access.
4. They lack initiative to try something because they just don’t know where to start and how to proceed. They need mentors.
Sounds like a recipe for a mentor or coach, right? Well that is exactly what I see your blog being, just lke KBJ. Small business owners could definitely use a coach/mentor and financial advisor.So besides these subject matters that I believe are of interst to your readership the last thing I suggest is this:
Ken, my boss, once taught me a great concept for teaching sales. He said “take one person and design a sales training program aound that one person. Make a plan, and follow it through a step at a time from start to finish. If it’s teaching how to fact find, like one of your articles was about, teach it thourougly. What is it, how do you do it, give examples, role play it then go do it.
Same with marketing….whats the objective, what are some ideas to consider, explore the pros and cons, where do you go to get materials, how do you distribute your message, fit it in the budget, give it a go, etc…you get the point?
Rich Forster is an businessman, entrepreneur and founder of Kingdom Business Journal. Rich and his wife, Vanna, and their two sons reside in the Springfield, MO area.
Not long ago I sat next to this guy on an airplane to New York. We had started our conversation before the plane took off and it quickly turned to business.
Have you noticed that guys, even strangers, like to talk about what interests them? I’m going to write about that soon. Back to the story, though.
He told me he was a rep for a major manufacturing firm. I quietly listened to him answer the questions I was asking. In answer to my question about the stock market, he said,
“There are many undervalued stocks out there. I’m picking some of them up right now and in the next 10 years, I’ll make a killing.”
I’ve really thought about the term “undervalued’ he used and how it applies to the business card. Because I believe it is the most undervalued marketing tool available to us.
Think about this for a moment. How much time did you give to the design and message of your business card? If you’re like most, you didn’t.
It’s even possible you had a graphics artist or the print shop design your card. Here’s something I’ve learned over the years: most graphic people, as good as they are, know little about marketing.
Here is the silver bullet information that’ll make your business card killer. It needs only these three things:
who you are…
what you do…
how to contact you…
And just as important, it should be designed in such a way when a person looks at your card, they can read and understand your 3 point message in 7 seconds or less.
Here’s why your business card is undervalued. From my personal and informal surveys, the majority of people hold on to business cards that are given to them. A SBA survey I read years ago also backs up my findings.
Once your cards are given out, the majority of them stay in circulation for a long time. Maybe they do lie in a desk drawer, but the day comes when the holder pulls it out and looks at it.
I think the secret is to have as many cards you can out there, just waiting for the right time to be remembered or used to refer someone else to you.
Every business needs a website, I don’t care how small or menial your business is. I’m even talking about the shade tree mechanic down the street, who repairs cars under the tree in his back yard. Here are 7 darn good reasons I think you business must have a website.
1. Available 24/7. This is obvious but extremely beneficial. Studies have found that a majority of people search the internet for information to help make their purchasing decisions, even if they’re going to use a brick and mortar business. This makes your business available after closing hours and information that couldn’t be delivered over your answering machine.
2. Accessible locally as well as global. Many times when small businesses are thinking about their websites, their intent is to increase their sales territory via the web. This was true for me in the mid 90’s when I put my first web site up for my travel agency. But don’t forget about the local business. Customers in your area are searching for products and services, too. The search engines try to deliver search results based on the IP address of the searcher when they can. This means that local businesses will be displayed first in the results.
3. Flexibility with speed. A website is much easier and less expensive to change and modify specials, products and services your business offers as compared to printed brochures and catalogs. And, it can be done almost instantly. Try changing a newspaper ad or listing in a phone book once its been printed, its impossible.
4. Improved image. Come on, this is the 21st century, the internet is here to stay and you don’t have a website? Your small business website lets everyone know you’re present and accounted for in the 21st century business community.
5. Increase sales and services. An online catalogue for niche products are simple and inexpensive to set up. You can even use a drop shipper and not carry any extra inventory!
6. Instant gratification. Unfortunately, our society has digressed to this base level. Ever hear that commercial on TV by JG Edwards? “It’s my money and I want it now!” People who are looking for information are that way, too. They’re searching and they want it now. Your website can offer information about the products and services you offer when your customers are looking for it. Not when you get an extra minute or after they’ve been on hold for 15 minutes.
7. Levels the playing field. A website helps your small business compete with the Big Boys. Sure, they’ve got a big, fancy and expensive website but that’s not what people are looking for. They want your website to be functional, easy to navigate and with the information they’re looking for. And that’s not hard or expensive to do.
A website isn’t the silver bullet answer for all your marketing needs but it is a powerful tool you can use that will help grow your business.
The lowly business card is probably one of the most undervalued marketing tools every business has. In a lot of cases, your business card is usually the first contact your customers have with your business.
Why is your business card so valuable?
First, it’s so cost effective. Five hundred cards can cost between $15-$50. That’s not much when you consider how many potential customers a card can reach. Many times, a business card will be passed several times before its lost or destroyed.
Second, your card is a powerful opportunity to make remarkable first impression on customers. Especially if you use quality card stock and good design/color combination.
Third, it has incredible staying power. Many people rarely throw away business cards that have been given to them. Me for one. I have nearly every business card given to me in the last 10 years! And I go through them periodically, too.
Do’s and Don’ts
Don’t skimp on the quality of your card. I know there places you can get free cards or extremely low cost. Free cards are cheesy and have the manufacturer’s name and logo on them. Anyone who gets your card will know you’re cheap.
Do design your card to stand out from the rest. You can do this with color, layout and message. Face it, your card is going to just another one in hundreds or thousands. Make it stand out, unique or somehow impressionable.
Don’t go anywhere without a good supply of cards. Its not unusual to go to some business event and there’ll be some guy who’s ill prepared and without his business cards. “Oops, I forgot them” he says. Being anywhere you might meet a potential client, connect with a referral or network with another business person and having no cards is like leaving for the office without any pants on.
Coming soon
Stay tuned, in the near future, I’ll be posting more how to use your business card more effectively.
I’ve been in business for myself for almost 18 years. I had a thought come to me tonight that jarred my thinking.
There’s something that most business owners forget. Know what it is? We forget to think like a customer.
Especially if our business has a website or blog. Typically, we put all this information online about ourselves, how long we’ve been in business, how educated we are, how popular we are, etc, etc. It all sounds great, but for the most part, its useless.
Suppose you own a retail clothing store and a customer walks in. Do they give a hoot how smart you are or where you were educated? No. They’re looking for a new sweater to wear to the dinner party tomorrow night.
Get the picture? Customer is only concerned about their need. It’s not about you, it’s all about what your customer’s need.
Our websites need to be customer friendly. If you sell widgets, they need to be prominently displayed on your website. Customers shouldn’t have to make 3 clicks and endure your favorite background music to get to your widget.
This goes for your marketing and promotional material. If you feel it’s that important to include information about yourself, you might limit it to these three items: who you are, where you’re located (especially for websites) and how to reach you (email & phone).
I started selling my own ebook online 7 years ago and earning Adsense income for the last 5 years. Does this make me a guru? No, or would I want to have that title tacked on behind my name.
But during the space of that time, I’ve gained a lot of experience that has, hopefully, made me wiser.
Here is a bit of wisdom I’ve accumulated over the years.
Over the space of the last 10 years (thats how long I’ve been ’studying’ internet marketing) I’ve subscribed to hundreds of marketing newsletters. I’m currently reading only one.
Why is that?
Because after a very short period of time, they are full of nothing. Of course there are a few exceptions, but they’re few and far between.
Almost all the newsletters I’ve subscribed to digress to simply a venue to market their latest product or the cross promotion of an affiliate product.
Just enough information (spelled h-y-p-e) is given to entice you to click the ‘buy now’ button. I’m tired of that crap.
However, once in a great while you come across a newsletter that’s worthy of the title. I’ve been reading Jim Connolly’s newsletter for 6 months now, marketing specialist Jim Connolly, and he’s still delivering good, fresh content.
From reading my first issue by Jim and perusing his blog, I knew I had subscribed to something worthwhile. I’ve purposely waited 6 months to write this post, just to be sure he had some ’staying power’. He does.
Connolly has been involved in the marketing business since the mid 90’s and has a reputation of helping people achieve results. It’s no wonder.
By the way, this is an unsolicited endorsement and I’m NOT an affiliate of Jim Connolly.
“Social networking is not about making money, it’s about making friends…”
My friend, Perry Belcher, has made a 10 minute video that is absolute dynamite! Perry explains in simple, easy-to-understand language how social media can have a positive impact on your business.
From what I’ve seen, many people get in to big a rush with social media. You need to slow down and be consistant in your mission: to make friends.
Someone said social media is like a first date: go slow, make friends, hold hands.
As you’re starting your business, you should have a marketing plan to follow. Oftentimes, more attention is given to the business plan, or worse yet, no attention is given to your marketing plan.
Many business owners consider marketing as purchasing a newspaper ad and getting their business name in a yellow page directory.
Marketing is much, much, more than that. It is the lifeblood of your business. As an owner, you can excel in administration, accounting and sales but if you’re weak in marketing, your business is going to suffer and maybe even fail.
Conversely, if you’re average in the above mentioned departments but excellent in the marketing department, your business will most likely flourish.
I often say to owners of new business owners, “You can have the best product or service, even be the most competitive in price, but if no one knows your business is out there, you’re dead in the water.
Marketing is the single most important daily activity of your business, in my opinion. Without marketing, your phones will not ring and new and repeat customers will not be entering your doors.
Working your marketing plan on a daily basis will keep a steady stream of customers opening their wallets in front of your cash register.
Let me offer you these tips for your marketing plan that will maximize your marketing dollars.
Make marketing a daily activity
Don’t just look for new customers, think repeat and referral customers, too
Befriend your customers, build a relationship with them
Look beyond the normal marketing practices, market with distinction
Following these simple steps is how I make my marketing dollars go farther and my marketing more effective.
I have two real passions in my life, marketing my businesses and grilling steaks on the patio.
