Small Business Marketing Mavericks

We've MOVED!

2007-05-14T18:51:00.000-05:00

We're Moving (Our Blog, That is)

2007-05-14T18:49:00.000-05:00

Hi there,

After much deliberation I've decided to take the plunge and move my blog over to WordPress. Lots of great features and the ability to edit more readily are the main reasons I'm switching - please follow my blog over to this address:

Small Business Marketing Mavericks

See you there!
Caroline

Online Newspaper Sites are Great for Local Small Businesses

2007-05-11T08:44:00.001-05:00

One of the things that has been tough in the past couple of years for small business owners is the fact that print newspapers are declining in popularity and readership and have become less effective in driving new customers to your location or service business.

People haven't stopped reading the news - they are just getting their news in a different format - which is evident in the growing percentages of people reading online newspapers.

I love online newspapers as a vehicle for small businesses to use to promote their products and services. Why? Because it combines my 2 favorite advertising ingredients - you are able to target your message and you are able to track your results and measure your success - two key factors of any advertising campaign a small business embarks upon.

Check out this info posted by Kristina Knight in yesterday's Biz Report for more stats on the popularity of online news sites.

clipped from www.bizreport.com

Online marketers looking for a new demographic don't need to travel far and wide. They simply need to visit - and advertise with - a newspaper website. Why? Because newspaper readers are more likely to shop, research and interact online. And because the audience for newspaper websites is growing at nearly twice the rate of the general Internet audience.

According to figures from the Newspaper Association of America, more than 59 million users or 39% of the general Internet population visited newspaper websites during each month of the first quarter. That is a 5% increase over newspaper web traffic during Q1, 2006. During the same time period, the general online audience grew only about 2%.

With their proclivity to shop, research and read online, newspaper website visitors are clearly a good group for advertisers to target.

Small Business Survey Results Released

2007-05-07T15:33:00.001-05:00

According to the OPEN Ages Survey from OPEN from American Express, Boomers have more energy than members of "Generation Y" - check out the small business survey here for more surprising findings as well!

clipped from biz.yahoo.com

First Major Survey on Gen Y and Boomer Entrepreneurs Shows Business Confidence and Different Appetites for Risk

Gen Y More Passionate but Baby Boomers More Energetic

In a Head-to-Head Match-Up Generations Agree Experience Gives
Boomers the Advantage;

"Small businesses are responsible for 60 to 80 percent of the net
new U.S. jobs created annually over the past decade," said Susan
Sobbott, president, OPEN from American Express. "It is good news for
the economy when both the established generation and the generation
representing the future of small business are optimistic about
economic growth and their own success."

5 Make-or-Break Tactics to Help the Search Engines Find Your Small Business

2007-05-02T14:42:00.000-05:00

Choosing effective small business keywords can be an intimidating task. Everyone knows that going to search for anything on a major search engine like Google can often return thousands of results. But does that mean defeat for your local small business? No!

There are a lot of things that can be done to get your local Web site noticed by your local customer base. Five of those techniques are invaluable in guiding you to success.

1. Use Phrases
Phrases can make a world of a difference in what can be found through search engines. Type in any single word and you’re bound to find literally thousands of results. Type in specific phrases and the results not only drastically decrease, but they become much more relevant.

For instance, a search on Google for “renovation” can bring back over 32 million listings. However, a listing for “bathroom renovation” can return less than 200,000. A search for “software” can return more than a billion results. A search for “custom accounting software” gets barely twenty-five thousand.

Many times people know what it is they’re looking for and can get fairly specific with their searches. However, if your local small business site isn’t geared to take advantage of that, it will either be lost in millions of listings or excluded from your customer’s more specific searches altogether.

2. Include Location References
Because you’re aiming to reach your local audience, including location references when choosing your small business keywords can also work well. This can mean including your specific city, metro area, well-known landmarks or even surrounding cities that you commonly provide services to.

By doing this, you accomplish two very different tasks. For one, you make your site known to the people who matter most to you. You can be found by your customers looking for you in their own location. But there’s an additional advantage to this.

When you include locations in your keywords, you eliminate a lot of unnecessary communication. With the abundance of people searching for products you may be offering, there’s no limit to how many customers you can’t help that may contact you for information. By including location, they know who you’re working for and can move on to companies that are less focused.

3. Communicate with Your Customers
As with all business choices, communication is absolutely important. If you come up with keywords that make sense to your industry as a whole, but aren’t words your common customers would use, you have failed.

Customers aren’t always in tune with the proper terminology of your industry. You would do well to interact often with your customers and find out how they refer to the products and services you offer in your own personal business.

This can be done when they’re in your store. It can also be done through surveys. Contacting your customers, explaining that you’re simply trying to better serve them by learning how they view your products and getting them to respond in their own terminology can give you a strong advantage in keyword advertising – with the added bonus of letting your customers know you really value their input!

While other companies may be reaching out to them just as vehemently as you are, you can sprint ahead of the competition by making your local small business easier to find according to your customer’s standards.

4. Use Honesty
A huge mistake many companies make when choosing their small business keywords, is to draw people in dishonestly. Often, they’ll find out keywords that are very popular and try to jump through hoops to tie those words to their own products. This is not good business!

Instead, offer what you have according to honest keywords. You don’t just want to draw anyone and everyone that uses the Internet. You want to draw customers that really are looking for your services.

It is said by some that people who are dissatisfied with a company spread their feelings 10 times more than those who are content. If you begin to draw anyone and everyone you can pointlessly to your site, you will eventually have a large amount of people who have a simple distaste for you before they even know anything about your company.

5. Continually Reevaluate
Finally, you must recognize that language is organic. It is continually changing for a multitude of reasons. Keywords, key focuses, key everything changes based on fads, slang, trends, needs, and so on. You must continually check on how your keywords are performing.

Once you’ve found a set of keywords that work well for you, it would be good practice to reevaluate them about once a month. Check to see the popularity of those words and phrases. See if they’re no longer being used or if they’re typically being applied to something irrelevant to your company.

Your local small business is absolutely important to you. In today’s information age, your Web site can be equally important to your customers. If they cannot find it, you’re inevitably going to miss out on business you otherwise would have had.

There are other tips for choosing keywords, but they’re negligible compared to those mentioned here. If you want to be seen, you must remember to use phrases and location references. If you want to be seen by the most relevant customers, you’ll need to communicate with them and be honest. And finally, you must always remember that language changes – as do preferences - and you have to be able to change with it.

Caroline

Branding or Marketing - Which Should You Choose for Your Small Business?

2007-05-01T08:35:00.000-05:00

Marketing vs. Branding - Which Should You Choose?

A lot of marketers make a lot of noise about the importance of branding to your small business. In fact, many small business owners have focused their marketing budgets so exclusively on branding by following this advice, they've failed to see results to their bottom line.

One of my small business clients was coached by their former agency to develop an elaborate branding campaign, including custom photography for their materials. At a cost of over $8,000, they had some very beautiful looking materials that did absolutely nothing to drive new customers to their location or to increase their sales.

According to marketing consultant Russell Kern, "as brand content increases, response rates decline."

In his study, his findings showed that "when offer copy in direct response promotions shifts to lower than 90% (with 10% brand messaging), decreased response rates cause the cost per sale to increase, on average, tenfold or more."

The small business bottom line: Focus your marketing dollars on activities that truly provide solid ROI for your business. Keep the 90/10 Rule in mind when it comes to marketing (your offer for your products and services) vs. branding.

Source: Target Marketing, April, 2007, page 19.

Why Small Businesses Need to Embrace Social Media

2007-04-27T09:10:00.001-05:00

Caught this todayfrom Alain Thys's post on Marketing Profs regarding the importance of Web 2.0 - a.k.a. social media - on marketing relating to "brands" - it only serves to highlight the importance of a web presence for every small business looking to succeed.

When anyone can post anything about anybody - anywhere and any time, you as the marketer of your business are no longer in control of the conversation. If you have no web presence, you have no voice to influence the conversation about your business that may be going on online.

Embrace social media and embrace the future!

Caroline

clipped from www.mpdailyfix.com

Social Media Participation is Not Optional for Brands

For traditional marketers this is worse than a nightmare. In the old days, you could still control a conversation by throwing enough money at it or outsmarting the media. I remember tactically forgetting to appear on the evening news in the middle of a PR crisis. Then, 24 hours later the media had moved on, and so did the water-cooler conversations.

Faced with the same crisis on the Web today, I'd need to blog, write and influence my heart out to contain the message. And even if I was especially fast, truthful and professional about it, I would probably fail because Google footprints cannot be erased.

That is why - in my opinion - anyone involved in sales or marketing has no other option but to accept the social media reality and manage every contact as if they were the editor-in-chief of the WSJ himself.

Google Alerts for Your Small Business

2007-04-25T17:40:00.000-05:00

One of the neatest ways to keep track of what's being said about you and your small business online is to use Google Alerts. You simply put in terms that you want Google to alert you about - and then determine how often you'd like to be alerted.

I use Google Alerts to track where my company name is being mentioned online, as well as my website and my own personal name. This allows me not only to find out where my marketing is being most effective (press release and article sites that Google crawls frequently) - it would also alert me if someone where saying something "not so nice" about me too, and give me the chance to do something about it.

You can set Google to alert you "as it happens" or on a once-a-day basis. You'll receive an e-mail with all of the mentions of your specified terms online.

One thing I noticed recently was that my Google Alerts had seemed to stop coming. I knew this was odd because I know my company has been mentioned (positively!) in many places online - but also because even if Google weren't picking up links to my site it should be picking up links for the generic terms I have alerts set for such as "internet marketing" for example.

I went in to my Google Alerts account and deleted - then re-scheduled - all of my alerts, and that seems to have done the trick.

Check out Google Alerts and keep track of your small business name online!

Caroline

Search, Locate and Buy - Business is Done Locally!

2007-04-21T20:31:00.000-05:00

New services such as NearbyNow and Slifter allow you to search online for what you want - either from your computer or your mobile phone - they will show you the store location nearest you with the product you want in stock.

I tried a search for "Wild Fire" - a book by one of my favorite authors, Nelson Demille - and was promptly presented with inventory and pricing at my local home town bookstore just minutes from my house.

The gap between online and bricks and mortar retail is getting more narrow every day. Check out this article (albeit a bit dated) about the impact of local search on local brick and mortar small businesses.

StartupJournal | E-Commerce

Caroline

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-04-21T19:13:00.001-05:00

This looks like the height of vanity or ego here, but I really just wanted to show you what Slide can do with any photo you want to upload. For small business owners who sell products and tangible goods, this would be a neat, free way to add interest to product photography on your website or blog.

You can click on the link below the photo to go check it out and get your own "Slide" show!

Caroline

Tracking and Measuring Your Small Business Online Success

2007-04-21T17:03:00.000-05:00

I was delighted today to see Luke Newton's post over at Skatterbox on the 10 Best Analytic Blogs - one of the greatest things about online marketing is the fact that so many marketing techniques are measurable and quantifiable - yet, measurement is often where those of us who run our own small business tend to fall short. I can certainly measure the basics, but I'm no analytics expert.

Luke's list is the best resource I've seen for pulling all the great info on analytics in the blogosphere together - check it out on his blog at www.Skatterbox.com today!

Caroline

A Handy New Blogging and Researching Tool

2007-04-20T13:18:00.000-05:00

My new friend and fellow blogger, Janet Green (of the Marketing Idea Blog) clued me in recently to a handy tool. It's called Clip Marks and it's great for when you want to save something you are reading on a website to your blog, or e-mail it to someone else. You can check it out at: www.ClipMarks.com.

Thanks for the tip, Janet!
You can check out Jane'ts Marketing Idea Blog by clicking the link in the Blogroll to the right.

Caroline

7 Things You Can Do Today to Make Google Fall in Love with Your Small Business Website

2007-04-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

Creating your own small business website can be a scary thing to do. It requires some planning to get it right and make Google sit up and take notice of your site at first glance. Small business website search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the keys, but all too often, astute business people leave the creation of their websites up to a family member or a friend who happens to know something about it. This is strange, for they wouldn't dream of letting the same people build their bricks and mortar store or office.

Of course, getting an expert who fully understands small business SEO to build your website is not likely to come cheap, but it may be the best solution if you are starting out from scratch. However, this article is aimed at those small businesses who already have a website, but are disappointed at how poorly it performs. If you’re frustrated because your website appears on page 42 of the Google search results, and no one is visiting your website, here are 7 things you can do to quickly improve your results.

1. Create an Effective Website Title Tag, Description Meta Tag,
and Keywords Meta Tag

The most important part of any website page (in the eyes of the search engines) is the title tag. The title is enclosed between the opening title tag and the closing title tag. It is located in the head section of an HTML document, or web page. You should use your page's main keyword in your title. Try to use your main keyword near the beginning of your title, and perhaps again near the end. But always strive to make your title readable, and not obviously keyword stuffed.

Your description tag plays an important role in SEO for your local small business. This tag is used by most of the search engines in their listings, so you need to spend some time getting this right.

Something brief such as, "Acme Incorporated, Makers of Blue Widgets," gets the message across, but you could do much better. Try to list benefits rather than features, and use your main keyword in your description as well. Keep your description reasonably brief, but not too short. Something like, “Acme, Inc., Makers of the Strongest, Most Powerful and Affordable Widgets on the Planet” is better.

Like a headline for an ad or sales flyer, your description may take time to develop. Start with a list of all of the benefits your product or service offers and then try to write 20 different descriptions for your site based on those benefits. Test your descriptions by reading them to your customers, employees or others familiar with your business. You’ll find out which description resonates most strongly with your potential prospects - and that’s good for the search engines and for your sales.

The keywords tag, again found in the head section of your web pages. The keywords you choose for your page are important, because they tell the search engines what should be found on the page. Google and all the other search engines present search results based on relevancy – how relevant your web pages are to the keywords and phrases your prospects are searching for.

Keep your keyword phrases to less than seven and don't repeat the same words. For example, if you have two keyword phrases, which are, "blue widgets" and "bright blue widgets," you should only include unique words after including the first "blue widgets" keyword.

Curious to know what your Title, Description, Meta and Keyword tags currently look like? Here’s a simple tip – just go to any page of your website, then click on “View Source” or “View Page Source” from the “View” menu. There you’ll be able to see exactly what your tags are telling Google when they crawl your site.

2. Optimize Your Website Copy

Your website copy consists of the words on every page of your site. Try to make it interesting and informative. One simple way to arrange your articles, or informative pages, is to use a simple three-step format. Begin with an introductory paragraph that tells your visitor what you are going to tell them. Then in the next two or three paragraphs, tell them. Finally, wind up the article by telling them what you just told them.

This may seem overly simple, but it works. Speak to your website audience as you would to a seven-year-old child. Don't patronize them, but lay it out clearly in simple steps using straightforward language that anyone can understand.

When writing your copy for each of your pages, make sure to focus on one or two keywords per page. If you are selling widgets in all colors and you also sell thingamajigs, then widgets should be on one page and thingamajigs on another. Keep it simple for your customers and the search engines by focusing on one idea per page and your customers will thank you for it, and Google will thank you too.

3. Establish an Acceptable Keyword Density for Your Website Copy

While optimizing your website copy you also need to establish a keyword density that is acceptable to the search engines. Opinions differ, but somewhere between 2% and 5% is probably about right. This means that for effective small business SEO, your main keyword phrase should appear around three times for every 100 words.
Where your keyword appears is important too. Try to use your main keyword or phrase twice in the first paragraph, once in the second paragraph, once around the middle of the article, and once again near the end of the article. Try to start and end the first paragraph with your main keyword if possible, but don't force it. Always aim for copy that is readable before copy that has perfect keyword density.

4. Create Quality Back Links to Your Website

Increasingly, the search engines are giving added weight to the number of quality back links your website has. It used to be that reciprocal linking was quite acceptable, and it still is, but now Google and the other search engines give higher credibility to one-way back links as far as your search engine rankings are concerned.

And it's not just any back links either. You need to have quality back links, or back links from sites that are similar to yours. It's not much good getting a back link from a site about butterflies if your site focuses on racing cars. With Google, it’s all about relevance. You should also strive to get back links from so-called authority sites. These are sites that the search engines deem to be an authority on their chosen subject. They tend to be quite big and to have been around for some time.

5. Use Local Directories Effectively

If you are marketing to a local market, then make use of local directories. How do you find them? If, for example, you are located in New York, then go to Google and search for, "directory" + "new york". This will return a list of all the local directories in that city. You could even try searching for, "blue widgets directory" + "new york", if you are marketing blue widgets.

Once you find a suitable directory, submit your website to it. People do search on local directories, so even if your product has worldwide appeal, there's a greater chance that you will get the sale if someone finds you in a local directory over someone else located in another continent who can deliver just as cost effectively or as quickly.

6. Create a Proper Site Map and Google Site Map

Every website should have a site map. This is merely a directory of all your site's pages with links to every one. You should have a link from every page of your site back to your site map, and your site map must be updated whenever a new page is added.

A Google Site Map is also a site map, but one that is in a special format that Google can easily spider. It has the great advantage of allowing Google to instantly "see" your site and evaluate it. It can be a very useful tool in getting Google to index your site more quickly than otherwise. For more information on creating a Google Site Map, go to: http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/.

7. Add Fresh Original Content to Your Website at an Acceptably Measured Pace

Your website should never be considered finished. It should always be a work in progress that is constantly expanding with fresh and original content. The easiest way to do this is to add new articles on specific subjects on a regular basis. One article a week is the least you should aim for, but don't add content too quickly either. Dumping 100 articles a day into your site will ultimately work against you, because the search engines look for organic growth – in other words, growth that seems natural. Since it’s not likely that you were able to write 100 articles in one day, Google and the other search engines will see this as unnatural and will count it against you in your page ranking.

Another great way to add content to your website quickly, easily and at an acceptably measured pace is to start your own blog – stay tuned for next week’s article where I’ll tell you how amazing a blog can be for your small or medium sized business and why you need to have one!

SEO for your local small business is easier than you might think. Getting Google to fall head over heels in love with your small business website is not rocket science. You only need to implement a few simple things on a regular basis, and over time Google will notice and your page rank – and your placement with the search engines – will start climbing.

Caroline

New Podcast - The Biggest Challenge Facing Small Business Marketing

2007-04-17T16:31:00.000-05:00

Just when you thought your job as a small business owner couldn't get any tougher, along comes the giant elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about - and while you probably don't know it yet, it will have a dramatic impact on YOUR small business. Listen to today's podcast to find out how...

The Biggest Challenge Facing Small Business Marketing

Enjoy!
Steve Melberg

Small Businesses Shouldn't Discount Direct Mail as a Viable Sales Tool

2007-04-13T17:06:00.000-05:00

As a small business owner, it's easy to get caught up with online marketing and to forget "the basics" of traditional direct mail. There are a lot of reasons for that - cost being one of the largest! The ease with which you can reach people online, coupled with the reduction in cost (compared to traditional mail), makes online marketing very attractive.

But according to a survey by Vertis Communications recently:

- 72% of adults surveyed said they have replied to direct mail with a 'buy one, get one free' offer in 2006
- An additional 63% said they have responded to direct mail that offered a percentage discount, up from 54% in 2005.

What this proves is that you can't depend on solely one or the other - online or traditional marketing. A good solid marketing plan includes a variety of approaches to appeal to different types of your potential customers. Don't forget "the basics" of traditional direct mail when you are putting your marketing plans together, along with all the great online campaigns you are planning!

Caroline

Your Small Business Online Marketing Funnel

2007-04-12T09:46:00.000-05:00

Marketing your business online is all about showing that you have something to offer your visitors that your competitors do not have. It means reaching out to your current customers as well as prospective customers and setting yourself apart.

Successful small business Internet marketing is all about establishing relationships. Just as customers in your brick and mortar store have a chance to come in and get to know you, online customers need to be given the chance to learn more about what you do and to decide that they want to do business with you.

This is where the concept of your small biz online marketing funnel comes in. Your small biz online marketing funnel is a means by which you can - over time - find new customers and increase your small business sales.

Your small biz online marketing funnel is not unlike the local small business marketing that you undertook when you first opened your business in its physical location. First you needed to choose a location and to get that location ready. You ordered the supplies you needed. Then you started advertising. On opening day, it's likely that you had a product giveaway - a keychain, a coffee mug or maybe even a t-shirt - as well as a coupon giveaway, something that would entice your customer to come back.

Your small biz online marketing funnel works in much the same way: you choose a domain name and build your website, or have your website built for you. You'll get everything that you need in order - including a free or low-cost giveaway. And then you will begin marketing your small business online.

It is important to remember that your website is your virtual business. All of the Internet ads that you place will bring traffic to your page, so be sure to use the page wisely.

Use your homepage to tell prospective customers about your business - share your mission statement, share customer compliments. Use a page of your website to let your current and prospective customers know more about who you are and what you believe in. Focus both on your business and on establishing a relationship with your customer.

Drawing prospective customers in to your website brings them into the widest part of your small biz online marketing funnel; allowing them the opportunity to get to know you begins to draw them down into the funnel.

However, you do not want them to make it to the second level of the funnel and stay there, just as you do not want customers at your physical location to walk in and walk back out again. This is why you should plan - as part of your small business Internet marketing campaign - to draw them into the next smallest area of your small biz online marketing funnel.

You do not need to offer a physical giveaway. Instead, continue to build relationships with your site visitors by offering them something of value. Offer them free articles about products and services that your small business offers. Set up a newsletter that will allow you to communicate valuable information (as well as special offers) to them at specified intervals.

Doing so allows you to take an important step towards increasing sales: it allows you to establish a relationship. By consistently providing your subscribers with information or coupons that are valuable to them, they will begin to recognize you and your company as a company that they want to do business with, and they will look forward to hearing from you.

You will be able to encourage them to do business with you by promoting low-cost front-end products. Now, rather than a free article that gives your prospective customers a little bit of information, turn them into your new customers by offering low-cost products. Low-cost front end products such as e-books that provide useful information about important topics within your industry - and further establish your credibility and the customers' trust - will help to draw those customers down to the smallest level of your small biz online marketing funnel.

For instance, let’s say you own and operate a local floral shop. A perfect low-cost front-end information product that you could offer to your customers to draw them further into your sales funnel would be an e-book with planting tips for growing flowers in your local area. Customers who purchase your low-cost e-book will find value in the information, increasing the likelihood that they will purchase additional, higher priced products from you as well.

The last level of your small biz online marketing funnel is the place that you want your new customers to be: it's the stage where your free and low-cost front end items, along with your newsletters and other marketing, will increase sales of your high cost, back-end products and services.

This is the goal of your small business Internet marketing: to find prospective customers, establish a relationship and increase sales. To recap, your small biz online marketing funnel works like this:

• Build and Market Your Website to Draw in Prospective Customers

• Engage the Prospective Customer

• Establish Trust with a Giveaway

• Establish a relationship using a newsletter and special offers

• Encourage small, low-cost front-end sales

• Make the big-ticket sales of your products and services

Through this process, and by continuing to market your site to new prospective customers, you will find that your small biz online marketing funnel is a technique that allows you to consistently and reliably get new customers and increase sales for your small business.

Caroline

Small Businesses See Sales Surge in Wake of Corporate Crisis

2007-04-09T09:50:00.001-05:00

As a dog owner and lover, I've been saddened by the recent "Pet Food Crisis" which has resulted in the illness or death of potentially thousands of pets in this country.

From a marketing standpoint, the crisis has revealed to consumers that a majority of "high end" brands including Iams and Eukanuba (the largest customers of Menu Foods, the Canadian manufacturer of pet food containing tainted wheat gluten from China), are made by one company - quite a shock to consumers who thought they were purchasing a high quality, exclusive brand of food for their pets!

What's really been interesting, though, is to watch smaller players in the pet food business grow their sales by some smart positioning in the wake of this crisis.

Blue Buffalo Company, a maker of pet food that is gluten-free, began a PPC campaign shortly after the crisis broke in the news, and according to the head of the company, Bill Bishop (one of the founders of SoBe beverages), sales are "through the roof and traffic to the brand's websites are up '50- or 60-fold' since the crisis began. The ad campaign that was planned for later this year called "Feed them Like Family" was moved up in the schedule to start shortly after the crisis emerged (see the photo below).

According to AdAge, "Vladimir Fernandez, a Miami field distributor of Life's Abundance pet food, which also bought Google search ads last week, said sales are up 300% since the crisis. Waggintails.com, an online retailer of specialty pet products, has upped its PPC budget and has seen sales climb more than 30%."

This all serves to drive home a point I've been making for awhile - The Web has changed the game for all businesses - the opportunity that small business owners have to compete has never been greater.

Even though Proctor & Gamble's Iams and Eukanuba brands bought search ads against their own brand names when the crisis broke (selecting negative keywords for searches on their brand, so that a search online for "Iams" would not produce results for "pet food recall" for instance), they were quickly overwhelmed by smaller players entering the market with their own PPC campaigns.

Smart small business owners know that using the web to get the word out about their products and services is powerful, and it's never been easier to level the playing field with larger competitors than it is today, when the proper use of web strategies are put in place.

clipped from adage.com

A natural-and-organic petfood segment made up largely of small-time entrepreneurs has seen a sharp spike in sales. Click to see organic petfood ad

Smart Small Business Owners Eyeing "The Third Screen"

2007-04-07T11:41:00.001-05:00

First there was television, then came the computer. The "Third Screen" in marketing circles is the mobile phone, and I predict it's going to be an incredible opportunity for small business owners who want to get their message in front of local customers who are looking to buy right now. Mobile search is immediate, and allows you to put your products and services in front of prospects who are not only looking for what you sell, but who are most likely out driving around trying to find it. This clip from AdAge shows that already "49% of all mobile phone users are using their mobile phones" or more than voice calls. That is onlly going to increase as new devices are released (like Apple's cool iPhone) that make it easier to surf the web from your mobile phone.

Mobile search is a trend that small business owners can't afford to NOT pay attention to.

clipped from adage.com

One in 16

Some 49% of all mobile phone users are using their mobile phones for text messages, music and other uses besides simple voice calls, but, at the moment, only one in 16 mobile-phone subscribers are using the devices for audio features. Of those, almost two-thirds have transferred either music or other audio content from another device, such as a PC or MP3 player.

The study found that most mobile-audio users are in those sought-after, hard-to-reach males aged 25 to 44, with a larger proportion of them African American, Asians and Hispanics. Surprisingly, the study found 31% listened to music on their mobile devices -- not at on the go, but at home, where the phone served as a "personal third screen entertainment platform."

Are You Making These 5 Common PPC Mistakes?

2007-04-04T12:03:00.000-05:00

Because of the ability to specifically target your unique prospects based on interest as well as geography, the ability to tightly control your ad spend and to precisely measure results, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is probably the greatest breakthrough to come along in advertising since the launch of television. And, because of those same benefits, it’s much more affordable for the small to mid-size business owner to leverage for their business (as compared with television and many other advertising alternatives).

That being said, PPC is not as easy as it seems at first glance. Business owners looking to launch their first campaign will quickly discover how easily they can spend hundreds – and even thousands – of dollars in wasted efforts while they learn to navigate the PPC waters.

While entire books have been written on the ins-and-outs of pay-per-click advertising, there are 5 common mistakes that I see business owners making when I’m asked to evaluate their pay-per-click campaign strategies. These mistakes are easy to fix, and doing so will dramatically increase the effectiveness of your pay-per-click campaign!

The 5 most common PPC mistakes are:

1. Using your home page as the landing page. No matter which search engine you use for your campaign – Google, Yahoo!, MSN or any other – you can decide where to direct your new customers when they click on your ad. The most common mistake I see business owners make when they launch their PPC campaign is directing those clicks to their home page. The thinking seems to be that their home page is equivalent to the front door of their business, and they want their new customers to walk through – but that’s where they go wrong. With PPC advertising, your prospect is searching for something highly specific – that’s the “keyword” they’ve entered into the search engine. Having them land at your home page is the equivalent of having them ask you for a specific item in your store, and you telling them – “it’s in here somewhere, it’s up to you to find it.” Obviously you wouldn’t do that in person with your customers – and you don’t want to do it online, either. By designing what’s known as a “landing page” – the place where visitors “land” when they click on your ad - you can present your customer with exactly what they are looking for when they come to your site. Your landing page should be tightly focused to the keywords you are using for your PPC ad, with no other links or distractions to confuse your prospect. This dramatically increases their satisfaction with your site, as well as the likelihood that they will make a purchase from you.

2. Not customizing your landing page to your prospects’ keyword searches. The way an ideal PPC campaign works is something like this: a prospect enters a search term – for my business it might be “e-mail marketing.” They are presented with my PPC ad with “e-mail marketing” in the headline AND the ad copy. My prospect clicks on my ad and is taken to my landing page that is all about e-mail marketing. (I will have bid on both “e-mail marketing” and “email marketing” to capture searchers entering it both ways). The likelihood that my prospect will become a customer is high, because there is no confusion about what the page is about – no wondering if he’s in the right place or if we offer what he is looking for. A common mistake I see business owners making with their PPC campaigns is to try to combine several products or services into one landing page. This leads to frustration when your searcher clicks on your ad and lands on a page that they aren’t sure offers what they are specifically looking for. Make sure your landing pages are customized to the keyword your prospect is searching for – and quickly turn prospects into customers.

3. Using generic ad copy in your PPC ads. The tricky thing with PPC ads is you don’t have much real estate to work with. Google allows just 70 characters; Yahoo allows 190 characters (with spaces) in a text ad. When every single word counts, you can’t afford to use meaningless words like “high quality service,” or “established in 1903.” While these statements may be true about your business, they don’t target the specific searches your prospects are entering to find the products and services they are looking for. A mistake I see clients make in their PPC ads is to include these type of generic statements that don’t set their business apart. When you are writing your ad, you’ll want to include specific keywords that your prospects will likely enter to find what you have to offer. Your headline must be captivating and should include your main keyword. The next line of your ad should contain the single biggest benefit you offer to your customers. What sets your company apart from your competitors? That’s what goes in your PPC ad. The 3rd line of your ad should contain a feature of your product or service or an offer – special discounted pricing or something free work well here. By making your ad specific to the keywords that your prospects will likely enter, you’ll be well on your way not only to increasing clicks, but to turning clicks into cash as well.

4. Not securing high enough placement with your bids. All of the search engines use a slightly different method for determining the position for your ad. Google and Yahoo use a combination of ad relevancy (how relevant your ad is to the keywords you’ve bid on and the landing page you present to your visitors) and bid price. A big mistake I notice my clients making is not targeting their keywords tightly enough and specific enough to their product or service to allow them to bid high enough on those keywords to secure top placement on the search engines. It’s estimated that 85% of all PPC clicks occur on ads that appear in one of the top 3 positions on the page. That means, if you aren’t working hard to find keywords that are specific enough to your niche and not bidding high enough to secure a top spot, you are missing out on a good portion of the clicks that could be yours. Use a keyword tool such as Wordtracker to research keyword possibilities that you may not have considered. Look for a Keyword Effectiveness of 10 or greater – meaning that the keyword has sufficient search queries with the engines to result in significant traffic, without a lot of competitors bidding on the same keyword. When you place your campaign, use these keywords and bid high enough to secure a top spot, ensuring that the people searching for what you have to offer find your website – instead of your competitors.

5. Not testing your ads to determine their effectiveness. While there is a “formula” for crafting an effective PPC ad, slight changes – even changing one word – can have a dramatic impact on your click-through-rate (the percentage of people who click on your ad as compared with the number who see it). A mistake I see business owners making with their campaigns is to choose their keywords and then write only one PPC ad to display. All of the major search engines offer the capability of creating ad variations so that you can test different ad copy to determine what works best. This is known as “split testing” or “A/B” testing, as you are comparing the results of two different ads for the same keywords. Google will alternate the ads for you, and you’ll easily be able to see which ad performs better by looking at your click-through-rate. When you find an ad that outperforms another, that ad becomes your “control” – or the ad to beat. Put the under-performing ad on “hold” and create another version, changing one or two words or possibly just the headline. Then test that ad against your control. This is a continual process – you are always trying to beat your control to improve your number of clicks. Not surprisingly, advertisers who test their ads in this method are more successful with PPC, as they tend to know their customers better and are able to target their prospects with captivating ads that turn into an increasing number of clicks – and customers – for them.

Pay-per-click advertising has enormous benefits for the small to mid-size business owner. Avoiding these 5 common mistakes will help you save money and quickly turn clicks into customers – and increased profits – when you launch your next PPC campaign.

Caroline

Great New Site for Local Small Businesses

2007-04-04T10:46:00.000-05:00

More proof that LOCAL is where it's at! In an effort to help local content (read: information about your business) become searchable (read: findable by your local customers), useful and plentiful online, a new site has emerged. Outside.in aggregates content from across the web based upon Zip code - so when you enter a specific Zip code, you get localized content including blogs, news, information and other user-submitted info - all in one place.

As a small business owner, why should you care? This is a great opportunity for you to post press releases, stories about your business or anything that is related to your local area that can serve as a link back to your business website. The site is just getting started, and does not have an advertising model as of yet - but they expect to launch one next quarter.

Steven Berlin Johnson, one of the founders of the site, envisions "an ad system for big adevertisers who want to target handfuls of fat-net-worth neighborhoods, but also something 'designed so that the local pizza place can target their ZIP code and the one next to them and spend $100 a month."

Mr. Johnson also says that "70% of new visitors are coming direct from search," meaning that their content is ranking high in the search engines - also a great bonus to help people find your site when you register with Outside.in.

Registering is easy and free, and if the site continues to grow as I anticipate it will, it's going to be a great way to reach new local customers for just about any small business.

Go to: http://www.outside.in and check it out for yourself today!

Caroline

Small Talk Tips for Networking Your Small Biz

2007-04-02T18:03:00.001-05:00

Have you ever been invited to a business networking meeting or luncheon, or thought about going to your chamber of commerce’s networking events, but decided not to because you never know what to say to get the conversation started?

I’ve been there – and here’s the simple trick I learned to help me feel comfortable with the cocktail party small talk. Most people who know me wouldn’t think of me as “shy” – and I’m not – most of the time. When it comes to “networking” though, I used to struggle with making small talk.

That is, until I learned the F.O.R.M. trick.

F.O.R.M. works great because it works as a memory tool for when you are in social situations and you want to get to know the person you are talking with, and you want that person to remember you – and your business. Instead of talking about the weather, use FORM to make your conversation count.

F.O.R.M. stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation and Message – four areas you can use as conversation helpers in just about any social situation.

Family – asking whether they live around the area, if they are originally from the area or have moved there recently, if they have a family – all of these are great conversation starters. This gets the person talking about themselves and gives you a chance to learn about them.

Occupation – what do you do for a living? When they tell you what they do, you have a great opportunity to ask them about their job – if it’s in an industry you are familiar with you can comment about how competitive it is, or how challenging. If you are unfamiliar with their industry, here’s your chance to learn about it.

When they ask what you do, have your “30 second elevator speech” ready. This is a description of your business that you can say in just a couple of sentences that articulates what it is that you do.

For instance, for my business I would say that “I help small to medium sized business owners market their brick-and-mortar businesses on the Internet, finding new local customers, increasing their sales and growing their businesses.”

Recreation – this one’s easy! What do you do for fun? If they participate in a sport or hobby that you enjoy as well, you can swap stories and really build a memorable relationship with the person.

For instance, if I meet someone and they tell me that they love to travel – then I can talk to them for hours, learning about the places they’ve visited. I can also share with them my passion for photography and how my camera has gotten me into some interesting adventures while we’ve been on the road.

Message – when you feel the conversation winding down, or you want to move on to meet other people in the group, have your “message” that you want this person to remember about you ready to go. It’s something like your elevator speech, but much more personal to the individual you are talking to.

For me, my message is simple. “It was great to meet you, Bob. If you ever need help marketing your business online – or you run into someone who does – you know who to call.”

If your business is selling plumbing supplies, just change it up a bit: “It was great to meet you, Bob. If you ever need a new faucet, I’m your guy!”

Of course, it’s implied that when they give you their card, you will refer business to them as well – and you definitely should. Rising tides raise all ships, and the more referrals you can send to others, the more they are likely to send to you as well.

You can skip some of the first 3 steps, or cover them in a different order – but your message is key. First and foremost, you want to build a relationship with the person you are talking with, and you start to do that with the first 3 questions. Your message that you give them as you get ready to leave helps them remember who you are and what you do – which is an incredibly powerful way to use networking to grow your referrals and your customer base.

Give F.O.R.M. a try the next time you are stuck for a conversation starter, and watch your network – and your customer base – grow as a result.

Small Business Web Tip of the Week: How to Spy on Your Competitors

2007-03-21T11:07:00.000-05:00

If you're like me, you love to find out what your competitors are up to whenever you have the chance. If you own a small business, then you need this info for more than just idle curiosity.

Here's a great tool that I've found that will offer information about your competitors on the web - things like how long they've been on the web, what they spend for pay-per-click advertising, what keywords they are ranked for with the search engines, and who their major online competitors are.

Great stuff - check it out at Spyfu.com today!

Caroline

Small Business Printing Made Super Simple

2007-03-19T11:26:00.000-05:00

I know that I'm probably a bit old-fashioned, but I also know I'm not alone in liking to have actual paper to read things from - as opposed to reading on screen all the time. That being said, I love the ease and convenience of documents delivered electronically in PDF form.

Over this past weekend I needed to print out a PDF document that was over 200 pages long - something I could have done on my office laser printer, but I wanted to try out Fed-ex Kinkos online printing service to see if it would be a viable alternative. I have to say, I'm impressed so far. A really big benefit is that you can order your prints double-sided, so you use a lot less paper. Combined with the savings in toner and the wear and tear on my printer, I think their service is a great deal for small businesses any time you need to print something of sufficient length. I wasn't in a rush to receive my printed document, so I asked for ground shipping service - if all goes according to plan, I'll have my printed document as promised, printed and delivered to my door - a pretty slick system that I'm impressed with!

To check it out, go to Fed-ex Kinkos Printing, register for an account and order your prints.

As I always remark when I come across a service that makes my life easier and more convenient, it's a great time to be alive!

Caroline

Small Business Web Tip of the Week: New Squidoo Lens

2007-03-16T19:15:00.001-05:00

I just had to try Squidoo - most likely the easiest online publishing tool yet. Squidoo lets you create your own page filled with information about any topic you choose. For small business owners, it's the perfect way for you to help establish yourself as the expert in your industry ...

Check out my new Squidoo lens at:
Small Business Internet Marketing Advice Lens

Then head on over to Squidoo and make YOUR own lens today!
Caroline

What is the Most Confusing Part of Online Marketing for You?

2007-03-15T16:56:00.001-05:00

Take our quick poll, and find out what others think too!

New Podcast: 10 Things You Must Do To Drive Traffic to Your Site

2007-03-15T11:13:00.000-05:00

In our consulting practice, the thing our clients ask us most often about marketing online is, "how do I get people to find my website?"

Generating traffic for your website is simple - but it's NOT easy. Listen to our latest podcast to learn what I mean.

Listen at: Small Business Mavericks Podcast

Up Next: The Biggest Challenge Facing Small Business Marketing (Is YOUR Business Ready?)

2007-03-14T16:49:00.000-05:00

Just when you thought your job as a small business owner couldn’t get any more challenging, along comes the giant elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about – and while you probably don’t know it yet, it has dramatic implications for YOUR small business.

In fact, you’ve probably already participated in this seismic marketing shift – or you know someone who has – without even realizing it.

What am I talking about? To use the correct term, “user generated Internet content.”

You’d be in the majority if your reaction was more “what’s that, you say?” than “ah – yes, I’ve been thinking about that.”

Because if you’re like most small business owners I talk with, you’re aware of blogs, bulletin boards and forums, and you’ve heard all the buzz about YouTube and MySpace and FaceBook – but you haven’t thought about the implications these radically different technologies have on your business.

Now, I know you’re probably thinking that since you don’t have a blog or your own MySpace page, this phenomenon I’m talking about can’t possibly affect your business – right?

Nothing could be more wrong.

You see, even if you don’t have your own blog for your small business, even if you have never watched a video on YouTube or checked out a MySpace page, these tools will affect your business – either positively or negatively. Your knowledge of these types of sites – often collectively referred to as “Web 2.0 Sites” – and the actions you take regarding them will help determine the effect they have on the success of your company.

What’s Web 2.0?
In the old days of the Internet (back around 1998 or so), the web was all about gathering information (if you could find it). You could read information companies had posted online, but you really couldn’t interact with it except to maybe send an e-mail to the editor or company spokesperson. What most people heard about a company was distributed by the company – or it’s ad agency – who controlled the message that they wanted you to hear.

Fast forward to today, and the web is all about participation – the tools I mentioned above – blogs, YouTube, MySpace – are all about collaboration and the ability for the users – your customers – to put their two cents in. The company is no longer in control – the customers are. And Web 2.0 is exploding with new tools and ways to use the technology every single day.

What happens when those users – your customers – start to put their two cents in about YOUR business?

Ask Taco Bell. On the morning of February 23rd, a video was released of several rats scampering around one Taco Bell restaurant in Greenwich Village. By that afternoon, the story had raced around the Internet – across the globe, creating a company-wide crisis. According to Ad Age, “a Technorati search showed the story or video had appeared on over 1,000 blogs, while a Google News search for ‘rats and Taco Bell’ yielded some 600 stories posted on websites of publications from Wyoming to the U.K.”

By March 13th, a search on Google for “Taco Bell rats” brings up 726,000 results! Steven Fink, president of crisis-management firm Lexicon Communications said, “The biggest problem with the internet is not that it is widespread but that [a story] is out there forever. This story will live on the internet for all time.”

Are you thinking, “It can’t happen to me”? As a small business owner you take great pride in your company. If you own a restaurant, you probably don’t have rats running around your kitchen (and if you do, lose my number). But what if one of your customers has a bad experience at your store? What if there is a misunderstanding with one of your employees and your customer leaves unhappy?

It used to be that one unhappy customer would tell 10 friends. What if that unhappy customer is also an active blogger, with a local readership on his blog of several hundred – or several thousand – other potential customers of yours?

Today the impact of just one unhappy customer is dramatically magnified by Web 2.0 tools that have democratized the publishing and distribution of information into the hands of every person with access to a computer and an internet connection.

Think about how you use the web today. If you are going to meet with a new company, or evaluate their products and services for your business – don’t you check them out online first, to see what they are all about? “Google” them, just to see what the web has to say about this company?

Well, whether you do or not – the vast majority of your customers aged 60 and below DO. If all they find when they search for your company are links to unfavorable postings placed by one unhappy customer, how likely is it that they’ll want to do business with you? (Never mind whether the information is true or not – it’s on the internet, so it must be true!)

So what can you do to make sure that you put the power of the internet on your side, should a crisis arise?

In response to the Taco Bell incident, Steven Fink says, “What marketers are dangerously failing to take into account is that discussion online is fueling the discussion happening offline. This is a perfect example of how you need to have a very fast web-based response to a crisis so you are providing information – not spin or distorting the facts for people, but providing information that helps neutralize it.”

There are many steps you can take n order to make sure you are getting YOUR message out about your company online, including:

Before a crisis occurs
• Proactively become knowledgeable about Web 2.0 and the power of user-generated content. Understand how blogs and sites like YouTube and MySpace work.
• Develop an organic search strategy that places your business high in the natural search engine rankings for keywords related to your business or industry.
• Publish content related to your business or industry in multiple places online across the internet. Place articles on article directories and post press releases whenever something newsworthy happens in your business. This helps ensure that the messages online about your company are what you want your customers to see.
• Have someone – either yourself or one of your employees, consistently search online for mentions of your company, or register for an online “Alert” service such as Google Alerts that will notify you when a mention of your company occurs online.

When a crisis occurs
• Create a positive, truthful response to the situation and post it on your website, preferably linkable from your home page.
• Post your side of the story to your blog, if you have one.
• Allow customers to subscribe via RSS to updated posts from you about how you are fixing the situation.
• Make sure all of your employees are up-to-date on the situation and understand how to explain the solution to your customers – both in person and on the telephone.
• Buy Pay-per-Click keywords related to your company that will direct customers to your website – and your side of the story.
• Buy negative Pay-per-Click keywords related to the issue and your company so that your sponsored results listings do not reinforce a negative image. (For instance, Taco Bell should have purchased the negative keyword “-rats” in the example illustrated above).

Of course the best thing to do is to continue to always strive for excellence to ensure that a crisis does not occur.

Following my advice for being prepared – even if a crisis never happens – will happily result in your business ranking higher in the search engines, and more customers finding your business as a result. If you do experience a crisis, following my advice will help you weather the storm with much less negative publicity, allowing you to use the situation to improve your reputation as a business who can be counted on within your community for years to come.

Small Business Web Tip of the Week

2007-03-10T09:11:00.000-06:00

Want to see how your website compares with your competitors? A new tool called Alexaholic lets you do it easily - and free!

Just go to www.Alexaholic.com and enter your website address, along with the addresses of your competitors. Based on the information from the Alexa toolbar (hence the name, Alexa-holic), you'll see how your site compares to any other sites you enter.

Nifty tool!

Do You Want to be an Entrepreneur? - New Podcast

2007-02-28T13:35:00.000-06:00

Come check out our new Podcast, perfect for small business owners, where we show you how to discover YOUR strengths, find your niche and make money running your own business, doing what you love! In this episode, we talk about what it takes to be an entrepreneur - to start and maintain your own business successfully over time. We also identify our 12 traits common to all successful entrepreneurs.

Go here to listen: Small Business Mavericks Podcast

How to Prevent Accusations of Spam from Destroying Your E-Mail Campaign

2007-02-28T11:21:00.000-06:00

There are many things computer users fear.

Viruses, unexpected shutdowns, loss of saved files – this list goes on.

There is one thing that all computer users hate: spam. Formerly known as cheap meat inside of a can (from my home state, I’m not-so-proud to admit), spam is now a larger than life term that can clog email inboxes and slow down reading and sending of messages.

You probably receive spam messages every day dedicated to everything from helping you earn one million dollars to quick medicinal fixes for problems you don't even have.

While spam emails are an unavoidable aspect of using the Internet, you must ensure that your small business does not end up listed as a spammer. Being listed as a source of spam and unwanted email can doom your messages from reaching their intended sources. With the ultimate power that an accurate and good email subscription list possesses, your business needs to maintain an online impression as a sender of worthwhile and trusted information.

Every small business owner must pay attention to the prevention of accusations of spam. Even though your business may never mean to send an unsolicited email, you still run the risk of identification as a spammer. Email programs and Internet software have evolved into more advanced forms, and one of their primary goals is to eliminate spam from cyberspace. However, these programs use a variety of filters that are not entirely accurate. They may mark messages from friends and trusted sources as immediate junk, or even worse, they may never even deliver the notes.

As a small business owner, you recognize the importance of reaching your customers with special offers and new information via email. Because of this, you should make sure that your email list remains updated.

Include an “unsubscribe” option in each newsletter or email you send to your recipients in case readers no longer want to be a part of your list.

While a long list of readers is a good tool, there is nothing worse than an angry customer who is tired of receiving updates.

As soon as anyone gives you the news that he or she wants to be removed from the list, make sure this is done.

Never add an email address without a request from the recipient.

Leave a sign-up form on your website and use addresses that are personally offered.

Keep a list of who enrolls in case you are ever confronted with spam listings from individual subscribers. This serves as a good defense of your innocence.

Another note you should pay attention to when crafting consumer emails is subject lines. There are a number of programs that screen emails, and the most important part of the message is the subject. Ask your Internet service provider for a comprehensive list of terms or symbols that are sorted out as cases of spam so you can avoid using them in any of your customer messages. The service that I use to send my e-Zine, Constant Contact, has a spam checker built right in. I highly recommend using a service of this type and putting their spam checker to work before you send your e-mail campaign.

Accusations of spam can have serious consequences for your small business, and it is crucial to keep your web address free from suspicion of bad activity. Remain aware of what leads to spam listings, avoid the hassle of having to remove your business from "suspected spam" lists and blacklists and ensure your e-mail campaigns are reaching your customers, not getting stuck in their spam filters.

By taking these simple steps - before you start your e-mail campaign - you'll raise the amount of e-mails that are delivered to your customers, and your response rates - and your sales - will increase as a result. To learn more about how you can prevent accusations of spam from taking down your e-mail campaigns - and how you can find new customers in your local area and increase your sales with e-mail, visit my website at http://www.SmallBusinessMavericks.com today!

Shoppers Prefer Online to Offline!

2007-02-23T13:39:00.000-06:00

The first time I became really aware of my preference for online shopping vs. offline was the day our popcorn popper died about 4 years ago. Thinking that this was a simple item to replace, I stopped in at my local Target store to pick one up. We're probably old-fashioned around here, but we like our popcorn popped with heat and oil (olive oil, that is). None of this air popping stuff for us!

When Target didn't have what we were looking for, I headed over to Walmart to see if they had a popcorn popper that would work for us. No such luck!

My last stop, K-mart, didn't yield any better results.

So now, frustrated at having to drive around, visit stores I hate to go into (Walmart and K-mart) and wasting a bunch of time trying to get something super simple, I realized that I could probably have just ordered it online. When I got home, I checked - and sure enough - Amazon.com had just what I was looking for.

This scenario has repeated itself a few times in our lives, when we've thought that stopping at the local store might be faster and easier than ordering online, only to find the store sold out of what we want - or not stocking it in the first place.

That's why I wasn't surprised when I read the results of the latest American Consumer Satisfaction Index that was released today. It shows that American shoppers gave online retailing a score of 80 out of 100, compared with 74.4 for offline retailers.

Because of the ability to offer vast selection - far more so than any physical store can - selling your products online helps you meet the needs of today's shoppers. Brick-and-mortar businesses who don't get with the trend and add an online component to their business - soon - are going to be in for a surprise. That's why I'm telling all my clients - "get on the Web now!"

What Headline Will Get Your Reader to Open Your E-Mail?

2007-02-20T17:41:00.000-06:00

Return Path just recently released their "Third Annual E-mail Consumer Survey," which they conducted in December of 2006. The survey comprises responses from 2,413 people ages 18 to 54 and living in the United States and Canada. Here's what they found regarding the current state of E-mail marketing:

Why Consumers Choose to Open and Read E-Mails:

55.9% - Know and Trust the Sender
51.2% - Previously Opened from Sender and Thought Valuable
41.4% - Subject Line
32.2% - I Only Open the E-Mails I Normally Read
21.8% - Preview Window Caught my Attention
20.0% - Discount
17.5% - Free Shipping Offer
9.4% - Company Doesn't Send me Much E-Mail
8.8% - Looked Like the Catalog I Received at Home

One of the questions they asked was new for 2006:

Given all the e-mail you received this holiday season, how do you feel about signing up for new email offers in the future?

50.9% - No Different
28.5% - Slightly different, I am a bit more wary of signing up
21.5% - A lot different, I am very wary of signing up
1.9% - A lot better, I love e-mail and sign up for everything

What this tells me is that while e-mail is a tremendously powerful tool for small business owners to use in their marketing strategy, it's imperative that you do each stage of the process exactly right - customers have been bombarded by spammers trying to make a quick buck at the expense of their reputation ... you don't want to be linked to those types of con artists! By strategically planning your e-mail marketing campaigns, you can successfully avoid scaring off customers who are wary of being spammed, and use e-mail to stay in touch with current customers, find new customers and grow your sales too.

Another question that was new for 2006:

What Kinds of Subject Lines Most Attract Your Attention:

55.2% - Clearly State the Offer
49.6% - Discount or Free Shipping
48.8% - Brand Name of the Sender
33.8% - Curious
30.3% - Promise Immediate Answers (download or survey)
18.7% - Short
15.2% - Promise to Solve a Specific Problem
14.1% - Funny
11.0% - Has My Name In It

Now, this was a surprise! I can't tell you how many "internet gurus" out there will tell you that having your customer's name in the subject line is a "sure fire" way to get your customer to open it. It makes a lot of sense if you think about it from your customer's point of view, though. The winning headlines are those that state the benefit to the customer - which is, after all, just pure Marketing 101. Keep your customer in mind when marketing - whether via e-mail or anywhere else - and you'll come out on top every time.

To find out how YOU can use E-Mail marketing to find new local customers and increase your sales, visit our website at www.SmallBusinessMavericks.com/products.htm today!

Ten Ways to Get Free Publicity for Your Local Small Business

2007-02-14T15:25:00.000-06:00

Everybody is looking for a way to get free publicity for their small business. With the Internet, it is much simpler than most would suspect to generate free publicity. The old tried and true method for free publicity is the press release.

However, there are other great methods available for free publicity that you’ll want to take advantage of, as publicity is like free advertising for your business!

#1 - The first of the methods is very simple indeed and used by thousands of people. Write an article on the subject matter of your small business. If you are a carpet and flooring store maybe you would write an article on stains and stain removal. Nothing overly complex or in-depth, just something that defines your website. Once you are finished writing this article, place it on-line submitting it to the article directories. In the footer place the contact information for your business. It is free and will attract people that will be interested in your business.

#2 - Second on the list is information. Start up a blog on your company site and write about your company and it's products. Simply adding a WordPress blog will generate search engine crawls and will also increase the find rate that people looking for you have for your website and company on the web.

#3 - Third, start posting in forums and place links back to your website in the footer. Forums are a great place to build relationships with customers and to help people find your website. You just need to place the link to your website and not break the forum rules.

#4 - Fourth, contact bloggers about upcoming company events and specials. Find bloggers that are relevant to your company and send them an e-mail. Some will mention your site or your location in their blogs. This is just another form of free publicity.

#5 - Fifth, write a how-to article for a local newspaper or print media outlet. In the printed version make sure that your company is referenced and a link to your website can be found.

#6 - Sixth, contact your local reporters and let them know that you are willing to be contacted for background and expert commentary. Many times a reporter will go to a trusted source, anytime your company is subsequently mentioned you will be racking up free publicity.

#7 - Seventh, offer to speak at local events and functions. Many times churches and civic groups need to fill out their meeting agendas and a local speaker stepping forward is a welcome relief for the event organizer.

#8 - Eighth, offer free classes or webinars on how to teach a certain skill related to your business. The large home improvement stores have capitalized on this with Saturday lessons on putting in bathrooms, floors, and a various sundry of other items. So jump in and capitalize on it also with your own teaching and instructional items.

#9 - Ninth, simply ask your customers for a mailing list of friends if they are satisfied with your services. The mailing list can be physical or even electronic. With the electronic list contact each individual separately and with a personal e-mail. Never mass mail these people, as this would be considered spam and most likely wind up in the trash bin of the potential client.

#10 - The tenth and final suggestion for free small business publicity is to submit information to airline magazines. Specifically talk about local events happening that pertain to areas where airlines in your area fly regularly. If you sponsor a festival or have some other small event in your region perform a write-up and submit it to the airline editor. The airline magazines reach very influential individuals and potential clients.

In short there is not a shortage of ways to get your small business free publicity without having to send out a press release. In general being helpful will get you further with your marketing efforts than just sending press releases on their own – and can result in some great free advertising opportunities for your small business!

Fun With Google

2007-02-02T17:28:00.000-06:00

Everyone knows Google as a search engine - you can type in your search query and find out just about anything you could ever want to know.

There are some clever ways to use Google search that you might not be aware of, however. Here are some ways you can maximize YOUR Google queries:

1. Need to find out when that package is going to arrive? Simply type in a tracking number from UPS, Fed-Ex or any major shipper and you'll get your answer.

2. Wondering if your co-worker's flight will be on time? Type in an airline name followed by the flight number to check on the flight status.

3. Need to know what the new Apple iPhone will cost in Euros? Simply type in "$500 USD in euros" and Google's currency converter will hook you up.

4. Math challenged (like me)? Just type in any math problem and Google will give you the answer. (Where was this tool when I struggled through high school algebra?)

5. Not sure what the word "Kerfuffle" means? Type in define: kerfuffle and you'll have your answer.

These are just some of the creative ways you can use Google to become even more dependent upon that clever little search tool. What would we do without it?

Are Super Bowl Ads All They're Cracked Up To Be?

2007-01-30T12:13:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again. The biggest day in football - and television advertising - is approaching.

Anheuser-Busch will be there - they've purchased 10 spots for the big game. Career Builder will be there - but without the chimps this year (too bad). Coke has 3 spots, Garmin - just one spot called "mapasaurus" - for their navigation product. Go Daddy will have 3 spots. Toyota, General Motors and Pepsi will all be there. Conspicuously absent will be P&G - they've opted out this year. CBS is charging $2.6 million for a 30 second spot this year.

For the first time in many years, the game could actually be worth watching (it's always fun to watch the Bears win!) - I'm not sure that the ads will be equally as entertaining, but I am positive about one thing - the brands who advertise during Sunday's big game are spending a lot of cash for advertising that is difficult - if not impossible - to measure effectiveness on.

A fun game next Monday will be to ask your friends if they saw "that really funny commercial during the game" - then ask them to tell you what brand was being advertised. Most often - particularly with the "over the top" humor driven ads - no one can remember the product being advertised - or if they do remember the product (for instance, a beer ad), they can't remember the brand!

But the really sad thing is, even among those who remember the brand, when asked they will tell you that "the commercial was funny, but it didn't make me want to buy the product." Personally, I love the Budweiser Clydesdale commercials - I watch them every single time they come on, and I have a great opinion of the company - but those ads don't make me thirsty for beer.

Check it out on Monday - put my theory to the test - ask people at work about the commercials they liked the best, then ask them to tell you what was advertised - without sneaking a look at the re-plays on the Internet, they won't be able to do it!

New Podcast!

2007-01-24T15:05:00.000-06:00

The Long Tail is all about small business. Small businesses are in a unique position to capitalize on the Long Tail, because they can so easily “nichefy” themselves - that is, they’re nimble enough to fill the specialized desires of the vast amount of niche seekers now in the marketplace.

Go here to listen:
Small Business Mavericks Podcast

What is Search Engine Optimization?

2007-01-18T10:27:00.000-06:00

One of the questions I get from my small business clients quite frequently is, "What is Search Engine Optimization?"

Say you want to buy a printer cartridge online. The chances are that you will enter the words 'Epson' (or another manufacturer), 'printer' and 'cartridges' in your favorite search engine.

For those three words above on Google, you get about 1,980,000 results but only the first 10 or so will be displayed on the first page of results. The chances are that, if you do order, you will do so from one of the sites on the first two pages that came up.

Yet these sites may not offer the very best overall value, the best service or product guarantees and may even be abroad. Most people cannot be bothered to look past the first few pages - “because it is an okay deal”.

You do have a life away from online shopping, right?

Was it just luck that the company you chose to give your hard-earned money to came up in the first two pages of results while the remaining 1,979,990 suppliers came later? No way. These top sites are up there because they are optimized, by careful planning and rank boosting, to be easily found for these particular search words.

Search engine optimization is primarily the tweaking of various parts of a website to make it easier to find by search engines for specific keywords. Full optimization also means examining and improving many other elements of ancillary parts of the site as well as building links and also proactively marketing the unique value of what is on offer.

Most traffic on the internet is driven by the large search engines. Google may be the largest and best-known of these but Yahoo! and MSN are also big players. If your site is not found by these and other search engines, your message will not be seen by those you want to reach.

If you fail to optimize your small business website, you may miss out on many potential customers who are looking to pay someone for just what you have to offer. That failure may be costing you money right now.

Now we know the importance of search queries - the words and phrases that your potential customers type into the search boxes to find what they want. The results they get may make or break the success of your business. So it is important.

A good site also has to be easy-to-use for your visitors. Clear, consistent design without garish colors, no code errors, well-organized content with easy navigation, fully accessible with all the main and less-popular browsers, and high quality and accurate content with descriptive headlines.

Your site's content has to be good - among the best in its sector if it is to become a valued resource for others and thereby become well-ranked by the search engines.

Now you know what it's about, should you tackle such a massively important project as SEO in-house or should you outsource to professionals? The answer is not straightforward as it depends on whether you and your staff have the time and the expertise to do it properly. If not, can you train them? This is not a job for an inexperienced employee, just because their working week is not fully utilized.

It also needs to be planned and the project must have the proper resources allocated to it. Otherwise, it will be a waste of time.

If you have any doubts over that commitment, you should call in a professional. You should also do your homework, get recommendations and examine the results of their previous work before you part with a cent.

With proper care and planning, you can optimize your small business website to achieve higher ranking with the search engines, and ensure more traffic – and sales – from your site!

Our New e-Book is Almost Ready!

2006-12-21T17:24:00.000-06:00

It's a very exciting time over here at Small Business Mavericks - our new e-Book, "Local Small Business Internet Marketing Secrets" is almost ready - here's a sneak peak at the cover of our book - pop on over to our website and pre-order your copy today!

podcast

2006-12-14T11:53:00.000-06:00

Check out our new podcast @ Small Business Mavericks Podcast

Global Warming Cause Discovered!

2006-12-11T17:38:00.000-06:00

This just in from Porter Stansberry of the Stansberry & Associates Investment Newsletter:

"A new United Nations report identifies cattle as the greatest threat to the world’s climate – ahead of cars. According to the 400-page “Livestock’s Long Shadow” report, the world’s 1.5 billion cattle and the methane they… uh… emit… are responsible for global warming, dead zones in the ocean, acid rain, etc. Cow flatulence generates 18% of all greenhouse gases – more than cars, planes, and all forms of transportation put together. Maybe Al Gore will make a new movie… A Very, Very Inconvenient Truth."

Great New Article Site for you to Post to!

2006-12-10T09:28:00.000-06:00

Hi there - I just came across a great new site where small business owners can publish their articles and start getting exposure. It's called Associated Content. You can check out my current postings there by visiting the link to your right with the heading "AC - The People's Content".

Check it out - then go post your own articles!

Shocking News About Military Spending as a % of GDP

2006-12-07T14:23:00.000-06:00

The media loves to make a big deal out of how much we are spending on one of the key principles of government (as determined by the constitution) - that being our military and the defense of our borders

Today I received an e-mail from Taipan Financial News which shows exactly the percentage of our Gross Domestic Product is currently being spent on our military. Being that this is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, I thought this information was timely and very interesting.

Our GDP is almost $12 Trillion annually, which means our current level of military spending ($600 Billion) is just 5%. Put this address in your browser to see the chart: http://www.taipanfinancialnews.com/images/charts/TFNchart12-07-06.gif

I'll bet you would have guessed that it was much higher, based upon the talking TV heads and the media hysteria surrounding the whole topic.

Always interesting when you see the facts!

China to Overtake US in Ad Spending

2006-12-05T16:55:00.000-06:00

According to Ad Age today, China's ad spending will top the United States for the first time by the end of this year - predictions are that China will spend $4.2 Billion to the United State's $4 Billion for 2006.

Any way you cut it, that's a lot of ad spending.

Google Earth - Political Force?

2006-11-28T17:10:00.000-06:00

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love Google Earth. Today in the Gartman letter I came across a really cool use for the technology that I had never even imagined. As I always say, it's a great time to be alive!

“In Bahrain… ‘Google Earth’ has played a huge role in deciding how the election plays out. Knowing, almost intuitively, that the Sunni royal family’s fortunes were enormous and that the Royals lived a life quite egregiously beyond the most wild dreams of the Shi’ia general populace, with the introduction of Google Earth on the net, the public finally could see just how utterly fantastic were the Royals’ lives. They ‘googled’ the royal compounds hidden beyond huge walls, and were stunned by what they saw.

“The Khalifa family then tried to outlaw ‘Google Earth’ only to find that the uproar was so severe, and the political ramifications equally as severe, that they had no choice but to rescind that decision. The end result is resounding defeat for the parties loyal to the Khalifa royal family and victory for the radical Shi’ia Islamist parties.”

The End of The Glass Ceiling?

2006-11-24T11:27:00.000-06:00

I realize I'm a bit behind in my discovery having just read the November 20th Wall Street Journal Report, 50 Women to Watch 2006 - but what is amazing is not the quantity of women heading major corporations (it's barely changed since last year) - what has changed is that women aren't just heading "girly" companies any more. Andrea Jung's achievements are tremendous, but everyone expects Avon to have a woman at the helm. Archer-Daniels-Midland, though? Cadillac? Dupont?

What struck me as I read the list of the 50 Women to Watch 2006 were the varied companies that these gals are heading spanning all indudstries. In case you missed the Report, here's a sampling of the various companies represented in the report: Archer-Daniels-Midland, Avon, Bank of America, BET, BP, Burberry Group, Cadillac, Coca-Cola, Disney ABC TV, Dupont, Ebay, European Union Commission, Genentech, General Electric, Gucci, Hewlett-Packard, J&J, Kraft Foods, Lenovo Group, Lucent Technologies, McDonald's Morgan Stanley, Nielsen Media Research, NTT DoCoMo, Pepsico, P&G, Rite Aid, SEC, Unilever, Verizon Communications, Wal-Mart, Western Union, Xerox, Yahoo ... that's not the whole list, but it gives you an idea of the variety of industries represented on the report.

As the Report concludes, these women are "breaking sterotypes about what women can and can't do well, and opening up new opportunities for women who will follow them."

Is this the end of the Glass Ceiling for women? Weigh-in and tell me what you think!

A Marketing Lesson From The Godfather

2006-11-24T11:04:00.000-06:00

Maybe it was the commercials for the recent release of the video game based on the movie based on one of my all-time favorite novels that got me to thinking about how great marketers are just like Don Corleone, the infamous Godfather.

We all need to “make ‘em an offer they can’t refuse.”

Now, I’m not suggesting that we all need to start sending dead fish wrapped in newspaper to anyone who doesn’t buy from us, or start putting hits out on our competitors – we’ll leave those particular tactics to the Corleone family.

What I am suggesting is that, like Don Corleone, we tell our prospects all the reasons why it would be beneficial to them to do business with us. Highlight those benefits, and make it so obvious to them that they can’t live (happily) without your product or service that they are dying to buy from you!

You see – people don’t really care about you – or your company – or even your product or service all that much. What they care about is how you and your product or service will benefit THEM. You’ve heard of WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get)? Well, here’s a new one that your customer repeats every time he reads anyone’s marketing copy: WIIFM (What’s In It For Me)?

So you tell him! Don’t talk about boring features (the drill is black and weighs 2 lbs. 3 oz.) – tell them about the benefits your drill has to offer – (our drill is so light weight, you won’t feel like your arm is going to fall off – even after 30 minutes of continuous use!)

Your customers don’t want your drill – they want the hole.

Show them how your drill will solve all of their problems, save them time, make their life easier, save them money and make them look like a virtual genius to their friends and family for having chosen such a perfect drill.

By highlighting the specific benefits of your product or service, you will appeal to your prospects on an emotional level – and you’ll have “made ‘em an offer they can’t refuse!”

IMPROVE YOUR SALES LETTERS INSTANTLY!

2006-11-22T16:40:00.000-06:00

IMPROVE YOUR SALES LETTERS INSTANTLY WITH THESE 4 SIMPLE STEPS

Frequently clients will ask me, “How can you write effective sales letters so FAST?”

One of my clients even shared with me how much time he was spending, hunched over his keyboard, trying to create the “perfect” winning sales letter.

A long time ago, my personal mentor and good trusted friend told me a secret that I have used ever since to write sales letters and any other type of business (or personal) letter. I shared this tip with my client and he's spending much less time agonizing over his sales letters now.

The “secret” is a little copywriting trick known by the acronym: AIDA. No, I'm not talking about some Italian opera - AIDA stands for: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action, the 4 components every good letter must have.

Here's how it works:

Attention
Think about the person you are writing to. What will benefit THEM? Why should they care about what you have to say? If you keep your writing focused on how what you have to say will benefit them, you'll capture their attention and compel them to keep reading.

Interest
Once you've captured their attention with your benefits, it's time to back those benefits up and hold your reader's interest with a few facts. Keep it short and sweet, but give 'em the facts - this stuff just isn't that interesting and won't keep your reader riveted to your letter for long.

If you told your reader at the start of your letter that your product would help him lose 30 lbs. by next week - you better be ready to back that up with some facts about the ingredients in your product that will do just that. (And if you DO have a product guaranteed to cause that kind of weight loss, call me!)

Desire
Now that your reader is interested in what you have to say, you need to help them understand why they should buy from you … most people buy on emotion, and then look for logical reasons to back up their decision. Don't make them have to work too hard to rationalize their decision! Tell them about the advantages of buying from you, provide an iron-clad guarantee, offer a great deal and back it all up with testimonials from satisfied customers. (If we were fishing, this is where I'd tell you to “set the hook”!)

Action
Here's where you reel 'em in! Make sure you close with a strong call-to-action that gets them to click the “order now” button or pick up the phone immediately. Something like:

HURRY! Limited Time Offer - Act Now - Don't Miss Out! Call Now to Place Your Order or visit us as www.lose30lbsnow.com (hey, if you DO have that product, that domain is available - I just checked as I made it up)..

Make sure you provide order details or instructions on what you want the reader to do - what kind of action should they take? Call for more information? Place an order immediately? State it very clearly and make it super-easy to do and you will be surprised at how successful this simple little formula will make your next sales letter writing project!

Beer, Pop-Tarts and Hurricanes!

2006-11-17T18:14:00.000-06:00

BEER, POP-TARTS and HURRICANES!

What do Beer, Pop-Tarts and Hurricanes have to do with your business?

Everything! Let me explain.

Wouldn't it be great if you could know NOW with almost complete certainty the events that were going to happen next week or next month or next year that would impact your customers or your business?

If you did, you could take action to benefit from the opportunity, or prevent the potential loss of a customer, for instance.

Well that's exactly what companies are now doing using a tool called Predictive Analytics. They analyze data about their business, combined with information about their customers and prospects in a way that allows them to predict what is going to happen, and take advantage of a competitive edge
other companies don't have.

This is where Beer and Pop-Tarts come in. Wal-Mart put Predictive Analytics on the map in 2004 when dealt the double-whammy in Florida of Hurricanes Charlie and Frances.

When the hurricane warnings for Charlie were issued, Wal-Mart tracked everything - the weather service hurricane data, customer information and spending patterns. Three weeks later when the warnings for Frances were issued, Wal-Mart used the information it had gathered when Charlie hit to
predict the likely sales of ALL of their items. (It turns out, Floridians really go for beer and Pop-Tarts when a hurricane is coming - go figure!)

Wal-Mart used the information they gathered to ensure that their Florida stores were adequately stocked with the merchandise their customers would want, turning a potential business disruption into an opportunity.

And it's not only Wal-Mart. Wireless phone companies know that if a customer calls their Customer Care Department with the same complaint 3 times within a short period of time, that customer is likely to switch to another carrier (or "churn" to use wireless jargon). There is a predictable correlation between the event and it's outcome that allows a company using Predictive Analytics to turn a potential negative into a positive.

Another way companies are using Predictive Analytics is in deciding where to expand retail operations and locate new stores. When presented with multiple choices of available lease space, how to choose the best option is often a challenge.

Using Predictive Analytics, companies evaluate their existing customer base and store data, then combine that with information about household income, age and other lifestyle and demographic data to select the right location for their business.

As you can see, Predictive Analytics can help ANY type of company or organization gain a strong competitive advantage. And while it sounds like it takes an immense IT department and a big budget to utilize this technology, that's not the case.

The best way to launch a Predictive Solution is to partner with a company that can help you get your feet wet, by doing a test with one area of your business. A successful Predictive Analytical Solution starts with a customer focus, so keeping that in mind - work with your partner company to
find ways that you can keep existing customers, attract new members or customers to your business or capitalize on a business opportunity your competitors aren't aware of.

Once you experience success in one area of your business with Predictive Analytics, you'll be amazed at how quickly you start to see other uses for this valuable tool throughout other areas of your organization.

If you'd like to know how Predictive Analytics could help you take advantage of unforeseen opportunities, gain new customers and get a competitive edge, give me a call!

RSS for The Rest of Us

2006-11-14T13:15:00.000-06:00

Did you know that you can easily post an RSS feed from your favorite bloggers to your "My Yahoo" or "My Google" (or "My AOL") Page just like you can add other news sources like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times?

You can! And it's easy, as long as your favorite blogger is offering RSS Syndication on their blog.

All you need to do is to visit your favorite blog, and click on their RSS feed icon. Sometimes referred to as "chicklets" these may say "add to myYahoo", etc. - in which case it is very simple: all you have to do is click on the chicklet appropriate for your page and you will have that blog feed streaming to the page just like all your other news sites.

If all you see on your favorite blog is a small orange (or other color) button with some lines that look like transmission signals, then click on that, and you'll be given the address of that blog's RSS feed.

Copy this address, and then go into your "myYahoo" page (or whichever service you prefer), choose the option to add content, and then select "add URL for RSS feed." Paste the RSS feed address that you copied from the blog link, and you have now added streaming content from that blog to your favorite page.

Try it - it's really convenient to have your favorite blogs appear right on your favorite page, along with all your other valued news sources.

How to Run With the Big Dogs

2006-11-13T14:35:00.000-06:00

HOW TO RUN WITH THE BIG DOGS...
EVEN WITH AN “UNDERDOG” MARKETING BUDGET!

"How do I gain an advantage in my market when it seems like all of my competitors can outspend me by at least double or more?"

This is one of the main questions I hear from our customers and it's something that businesses everywhere struggle with - not just small businesses, but any company that is not the leader in their category. (Think Pepsi or Burger King - both have large marketing and advertising budgets, but they are not the category leader, and they are routinely outspent by
their larger rivals).

In order to compete effectively, your marketing needs to be DIFFERENT and BETTER than your competition. By "better" I don't mean that you need to spend a fortune on your advertising. You do need to reach your audience BETTER than your competition, and you can do that - even on a relatively small marketing budget.

Start by THINKING DIFFERENTLY - what ways can you market to your target customers or gain publicity that are DIFFERENT than other companies in your industry?

A locally-owned ice cream shop in Bloomington created a stir when they opened their location by sending a press release to just about every celebrity they could think of, announcing the opening of their new business. "Scoops" was overwhelmed by the responses they got from close to 400
"personalities" with autographed pictures inscribed with "good luck on your new venture" messages. The walls in their shop are adorned with these framed celebrity photos providing a great "buzz-factor" for a new, privately owned business.

A small lingerie company in New York didn't have the budget to compete with their big-spending rival, Victoria's Secret. They realized they needed to THINK DIFFERENTLY so they came up with a crafty marketing campaign. They
couldn't afford New York's high media prices, so they stenciled their message (with environmentally-safe, washable paints) on sidewalks outside the convention center and other high-traffic areas:

"From here, it looks like you could use some new underwear."

Risky? Yes. Edgy? You bet. Did it work? Absolutely! Not only did consumers see it, but the press noticed it and hundreds of articles were written all over the world about Bamboo Lingerie. You just can't buy publicity like that!

It's not enough to just "be different" though - you need to reach your customers BETTER than your competition too.

A small bank was looking for ways to attract new customers. They realized the impact that the fear of identity theft was having, with lots of stories in the media, bills before congress, newspaper articles and television commercials all talking about "identity theft."

They capitalized on this ongoing discussion by hosting a "shredding event" at their local branch banks. Customers were invited to bring in all of their old bank, credit card and utility statements and have them shredded while they watched, protecting their identity while learning about the bank and it's services.

They partnered with a local office supply company to bring in shredding machines, and a local restaurant to cater the event. They issued press releases to the newspapers and handed out flyers to their existing customers. Once word got out about the event, the local newspaper ran a story about the event and the local news station did a spot on it as well.

For the cost of a few hundred flyers and a press release, the bank earned tremendous goodwill with the community, got great coverage in the newspaper and television and increased their new customer sign-ups that month by over 50%!

Start thinking today of ways that YOU can market DIFFERENTLY and BETTER than your competition, and run with the big dogs...even without a huge marketing budget!

The 13 Most Powerful Words in Marketing

2006-11-09T17:15:00.000-06:00

THE 13 MOST POWERFUL WORDS IN MARKETING

Everyone knows that words have power (well, maybe not everyone - but Maverick Marketers certainly do!) Consider the word, "nice." Nice doesn't pack any power. It just sits there, doesn’t it?

"We had a nice dinner." That doesn't tell you much. How about, "We had a delicious dinner." While "nice" tells you nothing, "delicious" describes the meal.

How about this sentence: "I went for a walk on the beach. It was nice, sunny and quiet." Compare that to, "I went for a leisurely stroll on the beach. It was rejuvenating and the sun was shining brilliantly across the water."

See what I mean about words having power?

The same holds true for words you use in any marketing campaign you launch. A famous study done by Yale University once pegged the “12 Most Powerful Words in English-language Advertising” as:

You
Money
Save
New
Results
Easy
Health
Safety
Love
Discovery
Proven
Guaranteed

I would add the word, “Free” as well – when used cautiously. (Too many Internet scams have abused the word). Used in context, however, “free” can be powerful.

While these words definitely have power – they are no magic bullet. Trying to use powerful words to make up for weak copy overall is like trying to use a band-aid to fix a broken leg. Powerful words, combined with powerful, well written, benefit-packed copy is the best formula for guaranteeing powerful results from your marketing campaign.

Small Business Mavericks Are in Control!

2006-11-06T17:31:00.000-06:00

Be a Maverick. Take Control. Grow Your Sales!

2006-11-06T16:58:00.000-06:00

Announcing the Small Business Mavericks Blog!

Small business owners are plagued by marketing firms, advertising salespeople and consultants who provide advice that is expensive, self-serving and worst of all - doesn't help them increase their sales or grow their customer base.

At Small Business Mavericks, we believe that the small business owner knows his or her business best, but they feel out of control because they lack the tools to help them successfully market their business and grow their sales.

We've been in your shoes! With over 20 years of marketing experience, we've battled agencies, consultants and "marketing experts" of all types who were hell-bent on selling us ineffective, over-priced advertising or marketing materials . We know what small business owners need, and we've built our company on delivering it.

Small Business Mavericks
Be a Maverick. Take Control. Grow Your Sales!

www.SmallBusinessMavericks.com