The SMALL Picture A Visual Guide to Marketing and Management Ideas for Small Business
Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
© 2008 by Mark Smiciklas Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution 2.5 Canada. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ca/ Special thanks to: David Armano for use of his image on page 4. Read David’s great Logic+Emotion Blog at http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/ Robin Eldred at Apis Design Inc. for use of the iceberg concept on page 8. Check out their website at www.apis.ca David Ian Gray for encouraging me to start blogging and to develop a “thought leadership” position. This e-book is a culmination of my blogging efforts year to date...now I just need to work on the thought leadership part :) Check out Dave’s retail consulting website at www.DIG360.ca
Please feel free to share this e-book and/or post it to your website or blog. Thank you.
Mark Smiciklas
The SMALL Picture - A Visual Guide to Marketing & Management Ideas for Small Business
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Where to find an idea... Steps to Brand Greatness
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Brand Differentiation
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eDNA
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Marketing Touch Points
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Website Components
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Word of Mouth
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Effective Website Content
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Right People on the Bus
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Online Marketing Basics
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Staff Retention Ideas
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Small Business Coaching
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Is Anybody Home?
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Email Marketing
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Using FREE To Build Your Brand
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About the Author
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Steps to Brand Greatness...or Purgatory Positive Interactions - Your brand story begins with the interactions your small business has with customers. Positive interactions that take place across all touchpoints accumulate to form positive customer experiences. Consistency - Engaging in positive interactions at every opportunity, across all touchpoints, is the next step to brand greatness. Repeated positive interactions add up to an experience and form the basis for developing loyalty for your small business brand. Credibility - cred-i-bil-i-ty: 1. the quality or power of inspiring belief; 2 : capacity for belief (Source: Merriam Webster Online). Seeing/ experiencing is believing - An ongoing series of consistent and positive interactions will "inspire belief" in your small business brand. Authenticity - The ongoing engagement of consistent, positive interactions with your stakeholders begins to formulate your brand culture an honest representation of your small business beliefs and values. Trust - As your small business brand develops, it instills a level of expectation from your stakeholders (brand promises). Your brand "keeps its promise" by consistently exceeding the expectations of your customers, employees and vendors - the foundation of building trust. Loyalty - Trust leads to loyalty - the pinnacle of any brand. Brand loyalty is demonstrated in some of the following ways: • Customers become dedicated to purchasing your product/service • Customers express a desire to promote your brand though word of mouth • Brand forgiveness - customers choose not to dwell on the occasional service gap and continue supporting the brand. (Note: Be careful not to take advantage of the loyalty customers have bestowed upon your brand. Although it takes a long time to build, brand equity can erode very quickly if you begin breaking brand promises) • Customers will likely pay higher prices for your products/services Image © David Armano - http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
The Fear of Differentiation Building a unique small business brand requires some courage. Why are unique brands so scarce while middle of the road products, services, retail stores, etc dominate the business landscape? My theory is that it has something to do with an innate fear (we all have) of being different. In a branding context, this poses a problem because differentiation is one of the key elements in the development of a great brand. The Opportunity Cost of Being The Same - One way to challenge the fear of being different is to try to understand the consequences of "being the same". One differentiating decision a small business has the opportunity to make involves product/service mix - the common fear being specialization (and missing out on potential sales). As a small business owner or manager, you should challenge the fear of differentiating your product mix by assessing the risk of blending into the landscape and becoming "invisible" to your target market. Subtle Differentiation - Small business owners might believe that differentiation needs to be extreme in order to be effective - fearing brand alienation as a result of trying to act/behave way outside the norm. Understanding that subtle differentiation can be a successful way to separate your brand will help your small business face this fear. Don't be afraid to have a small business that is different Following/chasing the masses is not always the best strategy. Seth Godin puts this into perspective with a great analogy in a post about Danny Devito and George Clooney..."Because everyone in Hollywood is trying to be George, there are a lot more opportunities for the few Dannys willing to show up. Invest in Danny. The edges usually pay off."
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
eDNA Have you ever written anything online that might cause someone to question the integrity of your company or brand? Think about all the imprints you've left online over the last few years - emails, blog posts, forum comments, articles, etc., essentially an eDNA trail that leads back to your small business. As I recount the following story, consider what kind of impression your eDNA might have on your brand - will it be positive or negative...
chat rooms
A few months later , they received an inquiry from a gentleman expressing interest in re-selling their products in South America. Can you guess who it was? Bingo, the same person that tried to sabotage them a few months prior!
blogs
wikis
A client was alerted to a forum post about one of their products. A prospect was asking for feedback on a popular forum - someone responded with a series of negative comments about the product and proceeded to suggest a competitor (that it appeared they represented) as a better alternative. My client responded accordingly with some actual facts and a few client testimonials and left it at that.
forums
social networking sites
articles
websites
Take the ethical high road in all of your online communication and remember that your words are a reflection of your brand. The next time you post something online remember that your eDNA stays out there - use the opportunity to give people a positive insight into your brand as opposed to a reason to stay away.
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Marketing Touch Points
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Touch points are all of the communication, human and physical interactions your customers experience during their relationship lifecycle with your organization. Whether an ad, Web site, sales person, store or office, touch points are important because customers form their perceptions of your organization and brand based on their cumulative touch point experiences. - Hank Brigman -
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Components of a Successful Website
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Image and Content
Many companies are neglecting the important back-end issues that can make their websites search-engine friendly. When we surf the web, we see a lot of the same functionality. But the problem with the average website is that it’s not optimized to gain top rankings on the major search engines.
Visible Invisible
Sound Programming Well Planned Framework
While all appears to be smooth on the front end, potential problems lurk on the back end. There are a plethora of backend technical connections going on behind the scenes, and if you’re lulled into complacency, your site could be missing the road to top rankings that increase your conversions.
Goal Driven Design Effective Maintenance Search Engine Optimization Quality Assurance Tested Web Marketing Strategy Usability Accessibility
Paul Bruemmer, Search Engine Guide
ISP Services Concept Source: Apis Communication, www.apis.ca.
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Why is Word of Mouth So Powerful?
Trust - The foundation of any great relationship is trust. One of the reasons that people talk about your product, service or company is because they trust your brand. As a small business owner, it's important to earn the trust of your stakeholders with every interaction. The best way to build trust is to deliver on your brand promises. For example, if your small business guarantees a certain level of service, make sure you meet or exceed the expectation level you've created with your customers - meeting brand promises will result in the kind of communication you want...positive Word of Mouth (WOM). Increasing Viral Capacity - As online social networks become common place, the viral capacity of WOM continues to increase. The ability for WOM to spread (at a rapid pace) beyond face to face communication or via other traditional means i.e. telephone creates both opportunities and pitfalls for small business owners. It’s important to understand the power of social networks and how quickly they can impact your small business. Individual stakeholders have a voice - if you meet/exceed expectations, consumer empowerment fuelled by technology will have a positive effect on your small business. Enigmatic - WOM is complex and difficult to control - help position successful WOM by: 1. having a great product/service 2.building trust with your stakeholders 3.delivering on your brand promise 4.exceeding expectations. WOM can be so intangible that sometimes it's easy to lose sight of how it can affect your small business. A good way to keep WOM top of mind is to be empathic across all touch points - If you were in your stakeholders shoes, how would you feel about the execution of your brand promise on your website, in your store, on the phone...and who would you tell about it?
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5 Ways to Create Effective Website Content 1. "Clean" Information Layout • Descriptive headings - Let the reader know exactly what's on the web page by using headings that provide accurate descriptions of the content • Short paragraphs - present one topic or idea per paragraph to make it easier to scan through a web page • Bullet points - if your web pages present multiple facts within a single section, lay out the content in point form to make it easier for your visitors to "digest" the information • Bold text - bold or capitalize to draw attention to important words/phrases
2. Concise Copy - Avoid the urge to present every detail about your product or service. Approach your content from the perspective of your visitor and (briefly) describe how you can help provide a solution to a problem they might have. When it comes to editing, a good rule of thumb is to take what you've written and cut the word count by 50%! 3. Simple Language - One of the biggest problems with many websites is the amount of jargon that is used. Try to avoid the use of technical language, industry specific lingo and acronyms.
FREE eBOOK
5. Good Content - It's important to understand the meaning of good content it's not content you think is good, it's content your visitors will find valuable. • Write an article that solves a client's problem • Write an e-book that helps visitors learn something new • Start a blog to share your ideas - and invite people to comment • Publish a white-paper on a topic or trend that is important to your visitors
4. Keywords - research the keywords that are applicable to your product/ service before writing or editing your website content. Keywords are the words or phrases web users type into search engines to find information on the internet. Having the right keywords will increase the likelihood of getting found online. Google offers a great tool that will help you come up with keywords and provide you with search statistics.
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Right People on the Bus The first step your small business should take is to hire the right people, even before establishing a strategic direction. The idea: getting the right people working together will help your organization manage change. For example, if your small business attracts people because of your products, service offering or strategy, you might have issues if you have to change the direction of your business. On the other hand, if people join your organization because of reasons such as values, working with like minded people, etc. you will likely be able to "change the direction of the bus" without too much difficulty.
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Having the "the right people on the bus" is one of the business concepts discussed by Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't. Collins researched over 1400 companies and discovered a set of ideas that, when embraced and implemented, differentiated great companies from their "good" counterparts.
The right people eliminate the need for your small business to focus on the motivation and management of your team. The right people are driven, selfmotivated and responsible.
Your small business will never maximize its potential with the right strategic direction but the wrong people.
Great vision without great people is irrelevant. - Jim Collins -
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Online Marketing Basics
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Staff Retention Ideas In a competitive labour market where employees have a lot of choice, your small business needs to excel in the "culture" department. As demographics change and the baby boomers exit the job market, Gen X'ers and the new Facebook Generation are demanding more from their work environments. If your small business embraces work/life balance as part of your culture, you will have a better chance of attracting and retaining great employees.
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Benefits of Small Business Coaching Big picture thinking. Owning a small business can be all consuming – so much time is spent on managing the day to day tasks that little thought Ever goes into strategic planning.
Ongoing one on One attention that promotes thought and stimulates the generation Of ideas, strategies and tactics to help solve problems
The opportunity to get challenged, become accountable for your personal development and to receive candid, constructive feedback
Access to a confidential “business partner” that is focused on the success of your small business and can help test ideas and explore possibilities
Increase the level of self awareness including strengths, weaknesses and “blind spots”
The SMALL Picture - A Visual Guide to Marketing & Management Ideas for Small Business
Business coaching is a relatively new discipline. As a result, many small business owners are probably not aware of the coaching process and why they might consider coaching as a resource to fuel their business growth and personal leadership development. One might assume that the primary benefit of having a business coach would be an ample supply business advice. Not really - the benefits of a good coach extend beyond management consulting.
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Many people start a business without understanding their real motivation and a good business coach can do much more than just work the business process - a good consultant could do that. We ask different kinds of questions and have a different quality of conversation. A coaching relationship is based on skilfully guiding a client through a process of increasing self awareness backed up by solid business acumen. This has the added value of increasing confidence and establishing a better process for making decisions in the long term. - Anne Wilkinson, Executive Playground Ltd -
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Is Anybody Home?
Info@YourCompany.com
How many companies simply ignore inquiries that arrive via the info@companyname.com" inbox? In an era of technology and connectivity, there should be no excuse for your small business to miss the opportunity to serve a customer. Think about mapping "info@yourcompany.com" to a specific email address and having that email account linked to a BlackBerry. This will give you the ability to engage in a conversation with a customer instantly. I think you will be surprised by the positive reaction you will get from your customers - many companies don't deliver on the service promise...set yourself apart by responding to those emails and providing responsive service that will create buzz and word of mouth about your small business.
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Email Marketing Consistency - be sure to select an email marketing frequency that you can comfortably attain i.e. every two weeks, monthly, etc. and then be sure to stick to the schedule.
Permission Marketing — only send emails to prospects, customers, etc. that have requested information and have given you permission to communicate with them.
Build your list - have a newsletter sign up box on your website; register email addresses at tradeshows; ask for permission to send information when networking, etc.
Timing - send emails Tuesday to Thursday during business hours. Avoid sending emails in the evening or on weekends.
Content — only send content that recipients have requested and don’t use permission to bait and switch email content. For example, if a customer has registered for an information type newsletter (articles, tips, advice, etc.) don’t send them emails pushing products or services.
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Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them...It realizes that treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention. Real permission is different from presumed or legalistic permission. Just because you somehow get my email address doesn't mean you have permission. Just because I don't complain doesn't mean you have permission. Just because it's in the fine print of your privacy policy doesn't mean it's permission either.”
— Seth Godin —
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Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
Using “FREE” to Build Your Brand Write an E-Book - provide prospects & customers with useful information; assist in solving your clients problems; help your target market learn something new about their business
Documents - Become a resource provider to your target market. Create tools that will attract an audience to your website, expose your brand and create word of mouth.
Articles - Create an articles section on your website that provides useful information for your target audience and adds value to a visitor's experience on your website. • • •
With gated content, people that do register may not actually be interested in future communication from your small business - they simply want to access your content to see if it of value to them. Any email you send after they are forced to register will likely annoy them and be treated as spam.
Free - Users should not have to provide personal information or have to register in order to be able to access your free content. Gated - Users should have to perform some call to action in order to access free content i.e. provide contact information such as an email address.
FREE Content
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Access to Content
"Free" content is becoming more prevalent and is being embraced as a way to share your ideas, assume a thought leadership position, build your brand and generate sales leads.
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Benefits
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Website Visitors
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Creates brand awareness Builds word of mouth marketing Engagement - facilitates a connection with your audience and helps build relationships Helps develop trust with your target audience visitors accessing your content without having to register won't need to worry about whether they will start receiving spam from your small business Creates a great opportunity to expose your ideas Removes any barrier to your content and results in more downloads. Viral - free content is more likely to spread online through linking on other websites, mentions on blogs and forums, etc than gated content. Free content helps generate sales leads. As your content gains exposure it helps build brand awareness - if your target audience likes what they see, it will lead to relationship building and new business opportunities. Search Engine Optimization - the more pages you have on your site, the better the chance that your small business website will be found by potential customers. More free content helps build search engine rankings. Becomes a business card/brochure for your small business and provides your target market with an insight into who you are. Mark Smiciklas - Intersection Consulting
About the Author
Mark Smiciklas is a Vancouver Marketing Consultant, Entrepreneur and Blogger. Mark uses a casual, no-nonsense approach to help de-mystify the marketing process for small businesses. To schedule a meeting or call to discuss your small business marketing or management challenges (no cost or obligation, of course), please contact him through the Intersection Consulting website at www.intersectionconsulting.com Check out Mark’s Blog at www.intersectionconsulting.com/blog View Mark’s LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksmiciklas This is Mark’s first e-book. Thanks for checking it out!
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