Getting StartedGetting StartedGetting StartedGetting Started

Describe your business in a phrase

What aspect of marketing worries you most?

Your questions are welcome – ask as they occur

Now that you have a business or an idea for a business…

what about marketing?

Now that you have a business or an idea for a business…

what about marketing?

What is marketing, anyway?

Marketing is everything you do (or don’t do) to

promote your business.

Marketing is everything you do (or don’t do) to

promote your business.

Marketing 4Ps or 6Ps?1- Product (quality)2 & 3- Price & Place

4- PromotionPositioning

People

Marketing 4Ps or 6Ps?1- Product (quality)2 & 3- Price & Place

4- PromotionPositioning

People

Textbook Textbook MarketingMarketing

In practice, there are details like naming…

What’s In a Name?What’s In a Name?Maybe the Success or Failure of Your Maybe the Success or Failure of Your

Business.Business.

A Business Name Should Be…

•Unique (Saelig)•Topical (Travelocity)•Short (Apple)•Easy to spell (Not SzczepanskiIndustries)•Available as a Web domain•Keyword in the name (Findlaw)•Brand worthy & appealing (Wayfair)•Web worthy (unique & available)

In practice, marketing includes a devilish number of bedeviling details.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes.

• Phone answering/messaging• Facility/location/access• Attitude• Website/URL/design/content• Business/product name

Don’t Push. Pull.

What most marketers do:

Sell the product/serviceSell the features & benefits

What you should do

Rosser Reeves 1910-1984 USP Concept Developer

USP Deployment

• Unique product (Saelig)• Redefine & Disrupt (Orabrush)• Guarantee (Ledco)• Functionality/Support (Apple)• Very specific niche

(RawPower)

Why should you consider a very targeted niche?

• You can’t please everyone – and trying to do so is the most common mistake startups make

• People like a very specific solution• No direct competition• Targeted solutions generate brand

advocates• And…

Warren Wegert - Portland, OR 500 Locations - $2.5 million

each

Differentiate & Break TheRules Of Marketing

No Marketing?• No advertising

• No sale pricing

• No website

• No Facebook page

• Poor location

• Rundown facilities

• Limited parking

• Very limited days/hours

• Very limited menu

• (Almost) always waiting

Crowd Marketing!• Sensational food

• WOM advertising

• Impressive Web content

• Social media content

• Live social interaction

• Rave online reviews

There is a very small difference between…

• Failing and scraping by• Scraping by and being profitable• Being profitable and securing your

retirement

Depending on your business, it could be one

sale per…

Entrepreneurs…

Build a team!• Get some help – most people can’t

do this alone• Brainstorm – record all ideas

without discussion• Lay ground rules for discussion• Take a break of a day or two• Record more ideas• Discuss and select – or repeat

process till you have selected the “best ideas”

Knowing and using your promotion resources

•Delighted customers •Brand Advocates – Rob Fuggetta•Friends and family•People who share your causes•Vendors, complimentary

businesses•People in your network

Marketing Base

• Vision for your Brand (Positioning)• USP – Differentiation• Knowing and using your resources• WEBSITE!• (Without these things, you’re

cutting your chances for success)

Who is this Guy?

How social media has flipped the landscape of marketing – Guy Kawasaki

explains:

In the past - - • A small number of

gurus, influencers, experts, reporters, A-listers, reviewers, editors, analysts, engineers, advisors, oracles, etc have the monopoly on insight and influence. You must get their attention.

Today - • The pyramid is now

inverted. We may reach out to the “A-listers” (or not) but today’s real influencers are bloggers, tweeters, fans, volunteer brand ambassadors, and other “nobodies.” When they recognize your product, the A-listers have to react.

How Do You Spell Opportunity?

The Web is why you need to be in continuous learning mode to keep up.

As Jim Rohm said, “A formal education will earn you a living...”

Small Business Marketing Resources

SmartBrief Newsletters http://www.smartbrief.com/signup

Ad Age e-newsletters http://www.adage.com/register

ClickZ Newsletters http://www.clickz.com/newsletters

Online Media (many titles) http://e-newsletters.internet.com

Chief Marketer http://subscribe.chiefmarketer.com/subscribe.cfm

MarketingProfs  https://www.marketingprofs.com/login/join.asp

Media Post https://www.mediapost.com/publications

Search Engine Watch http://searchenginewatch.com

Social Media Examiner http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com

Duct Tape Marketing http://www.ducttapemarketing.com

JM Internet Group http://www.jm-seo.org/free/

The E-Myth Newsletter http://www.e-myth.com

Jeffrey Gitomer’s Newsletter http://www.gitomer.com

Mashable http://www.mashable.com

YouTube http://www.youtube.com

Facebook http://www.facebook.com

Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts

Google Places http://places.google.com

Google+ https://plus.google.com

Google Adwords http://www.google/com/adwords

Google Analytics http://www.google.com/analytics

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com

Twitter http://www.twitter.com http://search.twitter.com

Yelp http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=&ns=1&find_loc=14450

Pinterest http://pinterest.com

For everything else you need to know… Google it!

What can I do with social / new media?

• Put your info in more places online• LINK those pages to your WEBSITE• Build your Google ranking (better SEO)• Get and give expert advice• Inform and engage customers• Innovate with your own promotions

Before the Web, Newspapers, Magazines & Broadcast Media

Companies Owned All The Megaphones

The Web and social media have given anyone and everyone the power to be a broadcaster.

Social Media Has Put Media Companies, Merchants &

Consumers Around The Same Table

Social Media Has Put Media Companies, Merchants &

Consumers Around The Same Table

What did it cost What did it cost United Airlines?United Airlines?What did it cost What did it cost United Airlines?United Airlines?

• $180 million lost equity value for shareholders

• Hundreds of thousands of frequent flyers who have avoided flying United since the 2009 incident

Business As Usual Is Not As Usual Anymore

Customers want engagement. That doesn’t mean marriage. Just being responsive is all it

takes.

• Reply to a question, comment or request

• Information about company, product or price

• Solution to a problem• Prompt quote• Product technical help• Listen to a suggestion• Simply being personable and responsive

Social & Online Channels offer engagement

• Facebook• YouTube• Linkedin• Google+/Places/Adwords/Analytics• Twitter• Pinterest• Daily Deals (Groupon, Living Social)

• 1.15 Billion users (>1/2 all US adults)• Near 1 Trillion minutes/month on

Facebook • Far more time on FB than Google• Business/professional demographic ↑• Start a Facebook business page:• http://bit.ly/9ZgTZg

• >3 Billion videos viewed each day• Free to post your videos• Make your own YouTube channel• Link to your website• Post links in social media• Leverage user-generated videos• Use videos from your suppliers• Reference the YouTube Creator Playbook• http://www.youtube.com/creators/

playbook.html• YouTube will help tell your business story• http://www.youtube.com/mybusinessstory

• 238 MM users, 95 MM in the US• 65 million monthly unique US

visitors• Passive & active B2B customer

access• Powerful search capabilities• Cross-link with your other sites• Great for opportunity hunters

• Teenagers & bored housewives• Celebrity gossip & location check-

ins• Tweets, peeps, RTs & #hashtags• Breaking news ahead of the

networks• World-wide 24/7 networking event• SMBs are beginning to “get” it

Twitter 101• Quite often, people’s gut reaction to Twitter is, “No one

needs to know what I’m doing” or “I don’t care what other people are doing.” 

• While this may be the surface view, Twitter is also a great way to expand your network. In the words of Chris Brogan, Twitter is a useful communication tool that allows you to interact with people around the world in three ways:

1) Send a short message to a bunch of people publicly2) Send a short message to a specific person publicly3) Send a short message to a specific person privately 

From “How to Use Twitter for Business”  www.hubspot.com

What is Twitter?

Twitter Power!• 200 million peeps, >50 million in the

US• 200 million tweets per day• An older, upscale demographic• Share useful links: http://bit.ly/fJeVTp• Build your brand • Give customers a reason to follow• Add value, useful info, specials• Consult with experts worldwide

• A baby just over 2 years old• Built-for-business• 340 million active users• 600 million users• Social Extensions critical mass is

just <200 followers for a business profile

Typical Startup Problems

• Consumers don’t know you exist• Or if they do, they are not engaged• Minimal or no traffic to your

website, office or store• You need customers NOW

Solution?

Target Facebook (or LinkedIn) Ads By:

• Location• Industry• Company• Job title• Interests (FB) - Group (LI)• Gender • Age

Facebook ads can be highly targeted!

75

Groupon: The 50% Solution

Use Wisely

• Know your costs• Estimate how many people will return• Consider the value of a new customer• Make the offer in your “sidecar”• Instead of Groupon, make a Youpon• LivingSocial, Get My Perks, Eversave,

and dozens more

Some Social Media Success Stories

• http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/9-small-business-social-media-success-stories/

• http://mashable.com/2010/06/02/small-business-social-media-success-stories/

--- Julie Canning, president and CEO of Banff Lake Louise Tourism

–late summer 2009

• "Two years ago, we launched an integrated social media program including the weekly Real Banff video report, a blog, Facebook page and Twitter profile," said "When the "Crasher Squirrel" literally popped out of nowhere, our social media team was ready and able to quickly take advantage of the opportunity."

VIRAL !• National Geographic,The Web,

Photoshop, Banff website, blog, video, smartphone app,Facebook & Twitter

• 80 million impressions in Sept 2009• >200 million impressions since

My Tweet…

• Folks in Banff really "get" social media, but 82 million impressions for a squirrel? http://tinyurl.com/n8oyc3 

- For photos: http://tinyurl.com/pnj6ce

- Five minutes later BanffSquirrel was following me

There is so much to love about a small business success story when it includes

marketing genius plus generosity: http://bit.ly/53HPF

• Operation “Hi Mom”• Mom Goes On the Road• Traditional and new media galore• Non-profit donations w/link

additions• Icons for Facebook fans• “Canvas Crazy” evangelists

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-small-business-facebook-pages-2012-winners/

Regardless of the evidence…

• Many small business do not use social media at all

• Of the others, most are only taking advantage of a fraction of the potential

• Crash Davis speaks: “You know what• the difference is between hitting .250

and hitting .300? • I got it figured out. Twenty-five hits a

year in 500 at bats is 50 points. Okay? • There's six months in a season, that's

about 25 weeks -- you get one extra flare a week -- just one -- a gork, a ground ball with eyes, a dying quail -- just one more dying quail a week and you're in Yankee Stadium!”

Summary• Easy to focus on your fastball• And forget that you need other skills• You will be facing Big League competition• Continuous learning essential for success• It’s a small margin between success &

failure• You need to build a team to grow• Integrate the new tools into your business• Or you’ll be sent packing

E-mail: devansroc@gmail.com

Twitter: danrevans

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