My brother owns his own business. He is a roofer and is very good at it — but he is not especially tech savvy. He’s a little old-fashioned. Quality work for a fair price … the kind of thing you hope for in a business owner. His best advertising is satisfied customers and word of mouth.

He and I recently had a conversation about marketing. He said he doesn’t see much of a need for “marketers.” (Like I said, he’s a little old-fashioned.) He said he is constantly approached by someone wanting to do his marketing. They promise him x-number of hits a month on his web page or that his company will show up on the top of the search engine. That’s great, if they can deliver, but there’s one catch. He doesn’t really care how many hits he gets on his web page every month. He cares about how many bids he writes and jobs that he gets. After all, you can’t make payroll with web page hits.

And he’s right, to a point. In his case, anyone looking at his web page outside of a hundred mile radius really isn’t a potential customer. He’s based in southeast Idaho, so hits from Oklahoma don’t help him. But there’s so much more he could be doing with his marketing … things that will actually work for him.

For example, he finally got a Facebook page (which was a big step) and he’s running a contest on it. The rules are someone is going to get a free roof on July 4, 2013. In order to enter the drawing you have to have a current bid from him and the total cost of the job must be less than $10,000. This way he is actually meeting people who need a new roof. He’s giving them a bid and they’re seeing his work ethic and his pricing table.

Really, he’s still doing roofs one shingle at a time, but he’s gotten smarter about spreading the word. Facebook will generate good leads for him. When you choose a roofer, you want someone like my brother. When you choose a marketing company you want the same things. You want someone that will listen to your needs and help you build your client base. Good marketing is much more than being on the top of the search engine, it’s about quality work for a fair price. It’s about “new-fashioned” service.

I was picking up Chinese takeout. Behind the counter a handwritten sign read, “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.” While I was paying I asked the hostess if they ever actually did that. I mean, how can you run a business if you refuse clients, right? She said that sometimes, when someone is exceptionally rude, the management will ask them to leave. That surprised me. I would have thought that $50 from a rude person would deposit in the bank just as easily as $50 from a more polite patron. I guess that sometimes it’s just not worth the hassle.

So I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve come to this conclusion: Just like a woman should not feel obligated to accept every date she’s offered, businesses shouldn’t necessarily work with every client. Some prospects are just bad news. Some people create more problems than value. And some customers (or partnerships) don’t actually advance your company.

You can probably identify toxic people without any help from us. You probably already have someone in mind that is a lot of work to deal with. But how do you know if a customer, or partnership, is right for you?

Some customers actually cost you money because they don’t (or can’t) pay, are difficult to work with, or otherwise create a burden on your staff and resources. Some clients, although they’re pleasant enough to work with, are more talk than action.

Having a clearly defined business plan (see our blog, ”Customers You Didn’t Even Know You Had“) helps you make strategic decisions in where your company is headed and how to get there. If you are in a position to pick and choose who you associate with, choose the ones that provide energy, not the ones that suck it from you.

A strong marketing plan will attract the right customers. It also helps you identify with you’re hanging out with the wrong crowd.

To quote our friend Mr. Shakespeare, “To thine own self be true.” Although less quoted, he also said, “Nothing can come of nothing.” Both are good pieces of advice.

Lessons learned:

#1 Don’t wire money to people you don’t know.
#2 People will take advantage of you when they can.
#3 Take every opportunity to build your good reputation.

You’ve probably heard about the 49ers fan that bought four Super Bowl tickets from a Ravens fan on Craigslist. She paid almost six grand (yes, $5,900) for a note (with the word “go” mispelled) that mocked her team. No tickets; just the note. Ouch!

It’s a news story. The Mercury News reported on Sharon Osgood’s misfortune and the wire services picked it up. It went national. Regardless of whom you cheered for in Sunday’s game, you have to feel some empathy for the fan that got taken.

Sharon Osgood, left, celebrates with boyfriend Dan Briggs, his daughter Amber Briggs and friend Andrea Gezelle, after Ticketmaster CEO Nathan C. Hubbard gifted Osgood four free Super Bowl XLVII tickets Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, at the NFL Ticket Exchange headquarters at the Sheraton New Oreleans Hotel in New Orleans, La. (Photo Credit: Jane Tyska/MercuryNews.com)

Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard heard about the story and made a generous, and savvy move. He gave the woman tickets to the game and arranged breakfast with a former NFL player.

It was a smart move.

The story — that’s getting national attention — not only pulls at your heartstrings for the poor woman’s naïvete, but, and more importantly for Ticketmaster, it puts Ticketmaster in a good light. The reader automatically thinks, “Man, you gotta be careful. The next time I need tickets to something I’m going to go to Ticketmaster — definitely not Craigslist.”

Ticketmaster’s generosity created public perception that 1) they are good citizens and 2) they are a reputable business. For just under six grand, that’s an excellent marketing bargain.

A little boy sat on the sidewalk selling pencils. “Hey mister, want to buy a pencil? They’re one thousand dollars each.”

The passerby was surprised by the price tag. “Are they special pencils?”

The boy said, no, they were just regular pencils.

“Well, that’s a little expensive for regular pencils,” the man said. “I don’t think you’re going to sell very many.”

The boy admitted the price was high, “But” he said, “I only need to sell one.”

To have a successful business you need to build a loyal customer base — people that will come back to you every time they need a pencil.
Old-school thinking tells you that you need to keep your customers returning, which still is true, but it’s a little more complex than that now. You also need to build loyalty with potential customers.

One of the biggest pools of potential customers comes from acquaintances of current customers. If your customer has a bad experience at your shop, that message (from a one-sided, disgruntled customer’s point of view) can be tweeted, blogged and reposted before he even hits your front door.

The same is true for good news. If you’re having a great sale or your employees provide outstanding customer service, that message travels just as fast — when you know how to use social media to your advantage.

Think of your customers as mini-ambassadors for your business. Whether it’s word of mouth (or Facebook or Twitter), your clients promote (or diss) your business.

I belong to a Facebook group of women in the Tri-Cities that has almost 500 members and I bet I only know a handful of them. Still, when one woman’s furnace went out, she posted to the group to ask for a trusted repairman … same for getting the carpets cleaned or a mechanic or an orthodontist. Every time, the recommendations come flying in. So now I’m reading recommendations from people I don’t know for a problem I don’t have … and it sways my future purchasing decisions.

Of course, you can’t always control (although you can greatly influence) what other people are going to say about your business, so you also need a solid marketing plan of your own that gets your name out there … in a way you can control. You need to send a message that reinforces the positive messages your customers’ send and call into question any negative messages.
A strong marketing campaign gives your mini-ambassadors something good to say.

This might be confusing to someone whose business is running a business. So here’s the deal, you run your business, let us run your marketing strategies.

Do you remember any jingles from when you were a kid? Depending on how long ago that was, you will immediately know that when you hear the word “Pokemon” that you “gotta catch ‘em all” or that the ingredients for a Big Mac are “two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.”

Effective marketing is much more than buying a couple of ads. To grow your business, you need a comprehensive branding campaign. You have to identify your target audience and reach them BEFORE they are ready to buy. That way when they need your product, they will come to you first. After that, your winning customer service will keep them coming back.

Branding means creating an easily recognizable image. It might include your business name, logo and catch phrase. In my hometown there was an ad on the radio that started with the sound of breaking glass. Then a woman’s voice sang, “When you hear the crash …. think of Jones’ Paint and Glass.” To this day when I hear glass break, I still think of Jones’ Paint and Glass.

(Or course, sometimes a company will miss its target audience. That’s when market analysis become vital, you can read more on Bronies our last post.)

When you brand your company, you don’t want to be known as “a” whatever you want to be known as, rather, you should strive to be “the” whatever. The first choice in whatevers … the only choice. You want to be so closely identified with your service that you are obviously the place to call.

Your message must be clear, focused and repeated in several different platforms. When you present yourself in social media, print and broadcast, each message reinforces each other. You build a cumulative effect that is greater than the sum of the parts. It sounds trite, but it’s true.

If your message is fractured and inconsistent potential customers might see you as two competing businesses rather than the clear leader in your field.

Let us help you make sure the message you’re sending says the right things and is being heard in the right places.

My Little Pony is an animated TV series aimed at six-year-old girls and they like it. However, it has been unexpectedly popular with the 18 to 35-year-old males. Hence the name “bronies” (a mashup of “bro” and “ponies”) This works out well for Hasbro, the parent company, because a lot of 18 to 35-year-old males are employed and can spend money on fandom apparel such as $35 tee-shirts and $60 hoodies.

It’s an interesting phenomenon and one that a savvy business can learn from and capitalize on.

When you plan your marketing strategy, it’s important to identify a target audience. But you can’t just aim and fire. Once your campaign is up and running you need recheck your sites before you pull the trigger again. If you’re not hitting the target audience, ask yourself how can I adjust my approach? Or, in the case of Hasbro, if you’re reaching someone you didn’t plan on reaching, ask what can I do to retain that audience? All good topics for another day.

The starting point here is “market analysis.” You want to know who sees your advertising and who responds to it. You can do this by word of mouth or by following around each person you consider your target audience (relax, just kidding). But unfortunately people don’t always share the correct information. Their computers, on the other hand, do. When you get on Facebook, for example, certain ads are displayed on the right side of the page. Those ads will be different for every user. This is because Facebook uses software that collects information from users based off of their likes and interests. Last week I wanted to buy a dreidel. So I did a quick search and made my purchase online. It should be noted this is the first time I’ve ever owned a dreidyl or shopped for one or even thought about dreidels. Now, guess what’s showing up on my Facebook page? Yep, dreidels and all things associated with Judaica.

For more information about how to reach your target market visit our website @ www.beansproutmarketingpr.com

#psychographics #demographics #in-depth marketing analysis #branding #identity #mylittlepony #Bronies

What is the one thing that virtually every business has in common? The answer would undoubtedly have to be customer service. Customer service is usually the most significant component of any business. You can always lower your prices; you can always advertise all over the world and promote your business until you’re blue in the face, but that doesn’t guarantee that your business is going to retain its customers and attract new ones.

Rarely are you going to be able to have the best price in town or have the biggest marketing budget to out-do your competitors, especially if you’re a small business owner. So how do you make up for that discrepancy between you and your competition? You do it by providing outstanding customer service! You do it by making it impossible for a customer to refuse your businesses products or services!

Shake things up by offering something that no other business can match; give your customers an experience they can never forget. Disney has always done a great job of this. They determined who their target market was and crafted a customer experience that would always leave their consumers feeling like their happiness was the main focus of the company. This in turn leads to customers coming back for more and spreading the word about your company. Word of mouth is huge for growing any company, and what better way to increase that than by giving your customers something worth talking about.

Nordstrom similarly has had a lot of success as one of the leaders in providing customers with great service.
They always make they’re customers feel like they are noticed and that their needs are taken care of. More specifically, their return policy is phenomenal! Customers have literally brought in items that they purchased four years ago and still returned it! On Nordstrom’s website, all they have to say about their return policy is: “Don’t love it? Don’t worry—returns and exchanges are easy. Simply send your item back or bring it to a store near you.” Nordstrom’s has done an excellent job in giving their customers an experience that they wouldn’t be able to find almost anywhere else.

A good way to grow your business is to get people to be advocates for you. You need people to spread the word about who your business is and what they do better than everyone else. The best things about word of mouth are that it is free and highly effective; therefore it should take precedence over other things in your marketing budget. It’s easy to say that you can help grow your business by giving customers a memorable experience, but the hard part is figuring out how to do it. How are you going to develop a better customer experience in order to generate that word of mouth and high retention rate? Knowing what to do is easy, determining how you’re going to do it is the hard part. I’d suggest we all get to work and starts brainstorming.

Austyn Smith
Marketing Specialist
BeanSprout Marketing & PR

When people are asked to design a marketing campaign, most people try to cram as much information, graphics, and smooth talking points into it as they can. It seems there is a philosophy out there that teaches people more always means more; the more content you throw out there, the more success you’ll have. However, thinking counter intuitively is sometimes a much better route – why not have the philosophy that less is more; that more could actually mean less?

The problem is that people generally don’t think like this. People go with their gut instinct, or they go with what has been successful in the past. At first, this ideology is all well and good, but after a while, after you get yourself established, doing what has always worked before doesn’t really get you noticed. Sometimes to get ahead, you need to shake things up a bit, to flip the marketing world on its head and prove that more doesn’t always mean more. Take Google for example, when they first designed their search engine, they could have taken an approach like Yahoo!, AOL, or Ask.com, but instead they decided to subvert the marketing paradigm; they decided to prove that less could mean more. Instead of building a search engine website that featured all the latest headlines, sports, weather, and who knows what else, they decided to design something that was simpler than anyone could have expected – a website with just one input box and two search buttons! That’s it! Based on that ultra-simple design, they became the #1 search engine on the web.

Apple had a similar way of thinking. When they first introduced the iPod in 2001, they used a marketing campaign that showed how powerful simplicity can be. By taking a less is more approach, they designed their campaign featuring black silhouettes of people using a white iPod and headphones against a brightly colored background. The style was so unique, yet so simple. Using only three colors at any given time for a commercial, combined with cool dance moves and some upbeat music was a recipe for success. Apple was able to dominate the marketplace with their new, innovative portable media player and revolutionize the industry!

Simplicity, innovation, and bluntness; three characteristics that were adopted by the marketing campaigns that Google and Apple used. By using a counter intuitive philosophy, Google and Apple were able to transcend the marketing capabilities of their competitors. They were able to become leaders of their industry just by having a less is more mentality. Just because you have a huge billboard that you can advertise on doesn’t mean that you should fill all the space with as much information as you can. Sometimes a few simple words might suffice. People sometimes throw too much into their marketing campaigns and the true message that they’re trying to share gets lost in all the extra fluff. Having more doesn’t mean you’re going to be more successful, it might just mean more distractions and more headaches.

In the marketing world, sometimes less is better; sometimes “less” might get you promoted!

Austyn Smith
Marketing Specialist
BeanSprout Marketing & PR

There is a question I would like to pose to you; why is creativity so important in business? How do we develop our creativity to the extent that it can change people’s perception of a product or a brand?

First let’s start off with the, “why is creativity so important in business,” question. When the word creativity is mentioned, the thought that comes to mind for most people is either art, music, or something else of that nature. However, creativity goes much deeper than that. Creativity is what you use to solve everyday problems more efficiently, to find new ways to generate more income, to create a new product, or even turn problems into opportunities. Creativity is needed in so many more areas that just painting and drawing.

Without creativity, how are we supposed to figure out how to run our businesses more effectively? How do we generate ideas for new creative pursuits? If we didn’t have creativity, our businesses would cease to be innovative, we would never have any fresh, new ideas, and we certainly would not be able to grow and succeed.

So now that you know how important creativity is, you’re probably asking yourself how you can get more of it right? Well, developing your creativity isn’t something that will come instantaneously; it will take time, effort, and energy. Here are four steps you can take to develop your creative skills:

1.       Gather information on your subject matter
2.       Digest the information and apply creativity techniques
3.       Take time for cultivation
4.       Refine the idea and make it real

By following these four steps, you can increase your own personal creativity. To take it even a step further, I recommend these helpful hints:

1. Meditate. Great Thinkers like Dalai Lama and Albert Einstein would always find time to meditate and clear their minds. Meditation has been shown to improve concentration, focus, and reduce anxiety, all of which are essential in creative execution and performance.
2. Read the book “Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius” by Michael Michalko. This book includes insights into the minds of hundreds of history’s greatest thinkers – from Leonardo Da Vinci to Pablo Picasso.
3. Listen to baroque music. Pachelbel’s “Canon” and Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” have been shown to synchronize brain waves at about 60 cycles per second, a frequency associated with increased alpha waves. In turn, alpha is a frequency of mind associated with enhanced creativity.
4. Move! Steve Jobs constantly took walks when he felt like he couldn’t think, and Einstein would walk for miles if he ever felt perplexed by the universe.

Like I said before, you can’t develop your creativity instantaneously, but over time your efforts will make an impact. Then you can start being more innovative and you can start making a bigger impact in your industry. The businesses that exhibit the highest levels of creativity are the ones that become most successful.

Imagine if people had the mentality that once they failed for the first time, they would just give up and move on. What would the world be like if Thomas Edison quit after one light bulb, or the Wright Brothers quit after one test flight? Now imagine what your business would be like if you just gave up if you weren’t immediately successful. If people never persevered, the world would be stagnant; we would never get anywhere!

The key to success is failing. Now some of you reading this are probably thinking to yourself “well that doesn’t make any sense, how can you win if you fail”? Have you ever realized that things in life never seem to go as planned? When you work on your car, there always seems to be some weird tool that you need but you don’t have, or the GPS directions to your friend’s house somehow take you to the middle of nowhere. So when things like that happen are you just supposed to leave your car half-torn apart and not fix it? Are you just going to sit there and stay lost and not find your way to your friend’s house? Or are you going to keep trying until you figure it out? In order for people to succeed, giving up is not an option! We learn from our mistakes, it’s how we grow and develop our ideas on how to do things better.

There is no rulebook in life that says you have to do everything right on your first try. You shouldn’t punish yourself by giving up and quitting. People who fail deserve to win because they had the courage to risk failing in the first place!

You need to have the courage to fail. Sounds pretty easy right? But having this kind of courage is one of the hardest things for people to do. In addition, what people need to realize is that no one is going to give them the initiative to get out there and be courageous… They have to take it!

The same is true for your business. Creating a successful business takes effort and courage. You have to persevere and keep pushing forward; even if in the beginning you fall flat on your face. Most marketing companies don’t solve every problem immediately, but they have the determination to figure out a solution to any problem. Businesses are not successful because their founders got lucky and got everything right on their first try; they’re successful because their founders had the courage to keep moving forward. You need to take the same approach; you need to be courageous, and fail until you win.

Austyn Smith
Marketing Specialist
BeanSprout Marketing & PR