5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Giving up on Marketing
July 25, 2010
Here’s a conversation I have all the time:
Business Owner: “Almost all of my business comes from referrals. So I don’t need to do any other marketing.” Me: “Great, then you have all the business you need!” Business Owner: “Well, no. I’m pretty slow right now. ”
100% of Zero is Zero!
Does anyone else see how illogical this argument is? So, let’s pretend for a minute that this business owner did other forms of (effective) marketing and instead of getting one new customer/job/sale a week, she got 3? All of a sudden only 30% of her customers are coming from referrals and 70% from other marketing. Referral marketing doesn’t look quite as omnipotent in that light, does it?
I’ve said it before – 100% of not enough is still not enough. Why put all your eggs in one basket? Why?
I know lots of business owners who do their due diligence; going to their weekly networking groups, asking customers for referrals, and working hard to be referable but what about the rest of the time? What are you doing to attract customers when you aren’t actively networking? That all takes a lot of time; what is the real cost of those referrals?
I’m not discounting referral marketing – it is the best marketing there is; when you have a system in place to harness its power. The problem is, most small businesses don’t have a system – they just show up and hope…
Marketing Doesn’t Work for My Business
My point is this- if you aren’t getting all the business you need then how can you say you don’t need any other form of marketing? “Well, marketing doesn’t work for my business.” – Another excuse I hear all the time. Is that your experience too? If so then here are 5 questions you need to ask yourself before declaring that your business is immune to the practice of Marketing.
- Was I doing the right type of marketing? Did you attempt to communicate with your customers and potential customers on their terms – or on yours? How do they prefer to be contacted? Direct Mail, telephone, email? It’s your job to find out and communicate with them accordingly.
- Did I stay with it long enough? Sending out one postcard, email or letter does not a marketing effort make. The key to effective marketing is repetition.
- Did I target the right people? If you can’t list at least 5 attributes of who you wanted to reach in your last campaign then you missed the mark. Your business serves a section of the population better than any other. It’s your job to learn what that section is and go and find them! Mass marketing to anyone and everyone is a waste of time and money.
- Did I follow up? Follow up an email or post card with a phone call or a phone call with an email or postcard…. The more we can “touch” our prospective customers the better our chances of converting them!
- What was my goal? What were you trying to achieve with your marketing campaign? Were you trying to build your email list? Make the phones ring? Get foot traffic? Without knowing what you were trying to achieve (and measuring it) how can you know if it worked or not?
Usually this is where I start to uncover the ugly truth: it’s not that “marketing” doesn’t work it’s that most small business owners don’t have the tools and the experience to market their companies effectively. If you want to get more customers, grow your business and not just “get by”, an effective marketing plan is the only way to get there.
I’d love to read your thoughts….
Perfection is the Best Marketing
July 18, 2010
How One Local Business Does it Right….
Walking through the dusty gravel parking lot lugging my 2 heavy canvas bags chock full of fresh cucumbers, green leaf lettuce, Napa cabbage, string beans, nectarines, apricots and lots of other summer garden delights I pondered how Larry’s Produce, my favorite local summer institution, has built a business breaking one of the biggest rules of Marketing: making it easy to do business with you. 
About a year ago I wrote a blog about choosing Starbucks over Peet’s- not because of the coffee (I prefer Peet’s coffee) but because of internet access and the ease getting what I want from the experience. The point of the blog was making it really easy to do business with you so as not to give would-be customers a reason not to do business with you. During this visit to Larry’s I realized, not every business has to eliminate every single obstacle. And then I wondered why.
Larry’s is a small, somewhat out-of-the-way shack-like open structure produce stand that draws what seems like every single person within a 30 mile radius 6 months a year.
Easy Parking…. ? Not!
Larry’s doesn’t have easy parking – in fact on weekends you have to park quite a ways down the road because the small gravel parking lot is too small to handle the magnitude of cars. Larry’s doesn’t furnish fancy shopping carts – just old wheelbarrows or maybe a dirty white pail; you’re better off bringing your own canvas bags to tote your stuff around in. No they don’t take credit or debit cards – it’s cash or check only. And the summer-job high school students who ring you up aren’t trained to be overly-peppy and ask (and pretend to care) what you’re making for dinner (ala Raley’s), they just politely ring you up and wish you a nice day… most of the time.
Lots of Advertising and Promotions… ? Not!
I’ve never seen Larry’s advertise. I’ve never seen their name on the local little league park fence or on an “adopt a highway” sign. And yet, year after year, I’ve watched the crowds get larger and larger, the parking lot overflow, cars spilling out onto the sides of the country road and neighboring homes’ driveways (some have even had to barricade the driveways to keep Larry’s customers out).
Breaking the Rules…? Maybe, Maybe Not.
So what is it about Larry’s that allows them to break the rules of Marketing and still be such a huge success? It’s simple really. Larry’s does one thing and they do it perfectly: they provide a huge variety of the freshest, most delicious, mostly local, summer and fall produce at amazing prices. There are other produce shops around that try to compete, but there is just no comparison. Larry’s has never – in 10 years – failed to deliver exactly what I go there for; fresh and delicious local produce, great prices, great variety and a very local and off-the-beaten-path experience .
Worth the Extra Steps… ? Always!
So is Larry’s totally easy to do business with? Not really. I have to remember to grab some cash or my checkbook before heading out there – and I never carry either, so it’s an extra trip to the ATM. I have to remember to grab my canvas bags so I have something to carry my goods in as I shop. And I have to fight crowds and long lines in 90+ degree heat; and yet for more than 10 years, I’ve shopped there religiously, at least once per week every month they’re open. I’m sad to see them close and anxious for them to open again in spring. Every year, around late May I start making the extra trip out there to see if they’ve put out their sign telling us – their anxious and eager public – when they’re opening for the season.
So, this little farm produce stand on a 2 lane country road has built a booming business by very simply understanding their niche and by being the very best at what they do. They have created an institution, and an insanely loyal following based on a product and an exprience that is true and 100% Larry’s. They are a testimonial to the core of marketing and business success: offering a superior product or service at a great value can be a differentiator – if you do it perfectly.
What is the one thing you do absolutely flawlessly that keeps customers coming back? Will your customers go out of their way to do business with you? How can we all get the kind of loyalty and following that Larry’s has gotten? I’d love to read your thoughts….
A Quick Self-Assessment Tool to Grow Your Business!
July 11, 2010
I read a great article on Biznik this week by Kaya Singer, a Business Coach in Eugene, Oregon. It’s about one of my favorite marketing topics – Target Market – and it’s entitled, “Now that you have a niche, how do you grow your business from this place?” 
In the article she offers a niche-assessment tool that is extremely helpful for growing any business.
Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes with me knows I’m a fanatic about identifying a target market for your business. I probably told you, “You simply can’t be all things to all people- or at least you can’t do all things for all people well. You need a target market!!!” In my blog, “Anyone Who is NOT a Target Market” I wrote about how much this concept scares most small business owners. When I say, “target market” they hear, “There are a zillion potential customers out there she’s telling me to ignore… this woman is crazy!” The fact is whether you know it or not, and whether you choose to believe it or not, your business serves a niche, one tiny little segment of the market, better than any other. And you, your business and your customers will be better served if you recognize and focus on it.
I love Kaya’s article because she clearly understands the challenge of trying to help small business owners understand the importance of defining a target market. I felt an immediate kinship; I know her ears have ached from the same fearful cries of the “my- target-market-is-Anyone-Who-“small business owner. I immediately recognized a sister, comrade and fellow marketing crusader, on the same journey to save the planet one small business at a time.
But alas- my fellow marketing crusader and compatriot has a solution! (A brilliant one by the way, and I’m quite PO’d I think of it myself!).
So check this out, Kaya developed a really quick 3 minute “niche assessment” that you can take to determine whether you’ve whittled down your target market enough or need t go back to the drawing board and do some more whittling. I encourage you to check out her article, take the assessment and use it to make sure you really do have a target market.
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+Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company
- Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company specializes in helping small to medium sized businesses get the customers they need to sell more, increase profits and achieve all of their business and personal goals. We do this by implementing and managing marketing systems based on data and strategy - there is no guess work. For more information visit us at: FortuneMarketingCompany.com. We'd be glad to help!
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