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Reach for the Stars…

December 3rd, 2009 No Comments

I read an article called “Secrets of Success in Daily Practice” on a friend of mine’s blog, www.tamiross.com that got me to thinking about my goals and dreams. I think everyone had dreams when they were kids. Some of us wanted to be a firefighters, others doctors or maybe a sports celebrity. During my teens, I really didn’t have a career in mind, but instead I focused on life goals. I set these goals young and they have been the driving focus in my life today, even though I might have lost a little focus on the overall dream for my life. My goals were simple:

Education – I wanted to have my undergrad before I was 26, my graduate degree before I was 40 and my PhD before I am 50.
Travel the world
Marry my dream girl
Have 2-3 children
Be successful enough to live comfortable.

Out of all of my goals, I have achieved all but one. I checked them off as I went through each one.

I finished my undergrad at 30, my MBA at 41 and I have planned on starting my PhD before I am 45. So I feel my education goals are on track or close to completion. Check.
I traveled the world thanks to the Army. I met that goal even though my military career delayed my education, it was still worth it. Check.
I married my dream girl Sheri and I have 2 wonderful children with her. Check. Check.
I have a very good career and business. Plus I can’t complain about our life style. Check.

So, I have achieved all but one of my goals, I’m done, right? No, it isn’t that easy nor should it be. What I have realized is that while I pursued by goals, I lost sight of my dreams. Your dreams may or may not come true, but they are your driving force to get you to the next hurdle. When I was in college, I had big dreams. You could go in my office at my house and see pictures of cars, homes, vacations, and a host of other “lofty” dreams or dream items hanging on my wall and bulletin board. I always kept those dreams in front of me because I knew that if I believed it, I would achieve it. Everything I did in my life was working toward achieving my dreams. I listened to motivational tapes, read books, attended seminars and met with people who I looked up to and aspired to be like. I did all this because I had dreams. You could walk in my house and see what I dreamed of.

Each step of my life from the time I as a teenager was outlined in the goals that I hoped helped me achieve my dreams. Now truthfully, my dreams changed many times as I grew older, but my goals never changed. I adjusted goals on occasion to make them more achievable but I never changed them drastically because I used them as my life’s map. Until yesterday though, I had truly forgotten about my “dreams”. Sure my goals are there and I have achieved all but one, but for some reason I lost sight of the dream. When I lost sight of the dream, I stopped setting goals. For all intents, I was done.

Today, I woke up with this thought on my mind. What are my dreams? What do I really want to do with my life? Where do I want to be in 5 years? All of sudden, I am starting to dream again! As I started to consider my dreams, I began thinking about my goals. I need new steps to guide me toward the dream. At 43, my dreams are a little different from when I was 23, but they all have the same premise and focus.

My plans have changed, but my life’s decisions or dreams really haven’t. My dreams now include my family and our lives together. What I want for them is part of my new and improved dream. Life today is too hard to just go through it on cruise control. Your dreams give you power and hope for a better life or at least a different life than what you have now. Your dreams should be achievable but should be just far enough out of reach to make you stretch and achieve the next goal.

What are you dreams? Write them down, cut out pictures, and then put them in your office or your special book. Look at them often. Ponder or “dream” about them. Now, set your goals. What do you need to do in order to achieve your dreams? Take a good look at your life. Have you lost sight of where you want to be and what you want out of your life? Give this some thought. Sleep on it tonight and tomorrow, write it down. I think it can change your life or at least give you greater purpose than you have today.

Whatever you do, don’t stop dreaming. Where would we be today if people didn’t dream or stretch themselves to go beyond their current situation and reality? Don’t stop dreaming. Reach for the stars and you won’t be disappointed if you only get the moon.

David Beckham
MarketProMBA

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Guerrilla Marketing Tools – Business Cards

November 20th, 2009 2 Comments

David Beckham, MarketProMBA Consultant

My first and most important tool for our business, THE original basket boutique, is the business card. The business card, while it sounds so common and conventional is actually a very powerful guerrilla marketing tool when it is employed properly. Your business card can be unconventional or conventional. It depends on your business. Ours is unique in that it is a smaller size with rounded corners and has a hole in the center of our “O” in the logo. You can make your card unique by adding full color pictures or logos. Have it printed on glossy, heavy paper as apposed to regular business card stock. Sure it costs a little more, but it’s not so much that it cost prohibitive.

You might also consider a folded card that has traditional information on the outside, but on the inside and back, it might have product information or details about your services. Perhaps you can even put a small map on the fold out so people can find your business. Think outside the box a little with your business cards. Perhaps a magnetic business card would work better for your business. People love magnets and you will find your card on someone’s filing cabinet or refrigerator more often than not.

You could make your business card a design such as your company truck or if you are a painter, have your card created in the shape of a paint can. The only thing I caution you with unconventional size cards are they might not fit in people’s rolodex or through some card scanners. Still, unique shapes are certainly an attention getter and will usually spark a conversation about what you do. I can’t tell you how many conversations I have been in with people about anything other than business and when I flip out one of my business cards, I always get the same reaction, they hold the card up to look through the hole and they say, “Wow, neat card.” Then, inevitably we break into a conversation about what THE original basket boutique does.

Now that you have the “perfect” business card, what are the best ways to use it? I like to think of my business cards as bait. I know that sounds funny, but let me explain. Your business card is your mini-billboard. It gives your business name, contact information and other information, but most importantly it builds your brand. You might think that you don’t have a brand but even if your business is just called “David Beckham, Consultant”; your brand is your name. So my card is my bait and I am a fisherman. Does a fisherman catch a fish every time he casts out his bait? Not likely. If you fish like I do, you drown a lot of worms before you catch something. Using your business card works the same way.

When I am out and about in town, I leave a trail of business cards everywhere I go. Remember, you have to cast a lot of bait to catch a good mess of fish. It’s the same with our business cards. I have left my cards in Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Publics and even Wal-Mart. These places seem like an unlikely place for anyone looking to buy gift baskets, but remember you are fishing. Almost everyone at one point frequents a hardware store or a grocery store. Perhaps the person visiting the store isn’t our “perfect” client, but what if their wife or husband with them is? See where I am going? What’s the best way to catch fish? You fish where the fish are.

If you are at your doctors, perhaps you leave a card in the waiting room. When you are at a restaurant, leave a card with your tip. Write a little note on your card to thank them for their service. You can bet that card won’t be tossed. You can leave your card just about anywhere that people frequent. Your business card does not cost as much as a billboard, so leave them everywhere.

Be creative and think out of the box. Remember, this is guerrilla marketing! You are building your brand, even if people don’t use your service they are still being exposed to your brand so hopefully, one day when they do need your service, they will remember your business brand. Your business card is the first tool in your tackle box. Use it and catch some fish, or I should say customers!

What are some creative ways you have used your business card? Leave us a comment and give us a few of your guerrilla ideas! Happy Fishing!

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Gaining Market Share in a Down Economy

November 20th, 2009 2 Comments

In our last segment, Marketing in a Tough Economy – Revisited, we talked about an important business success factor, Customer Retention. As a recap, we know your current customers are one of your most valuable assets. Small business owners need to focus energies and resources on keeping these customers happy. Over time, not only do these customers support your business, but inevitably, the hope is they help you gain more customers through their referrals and testimonials. So, besides your current customers referring business to you, how else do you get your name out to the world? How are you going to get new customers and build your brand?

Many businesses think that getting new customers is a costly venture. When times get tough, businesses will too many times cut their marketing budget when in fact they should be expanding it or at least refining where their marketing money is going. During tough economic times, your competitors are doing one of three things:

They are closing their doors
They are scaling back operations or standing still
They are increasing their marketing budget & growing market share

There is no doubt that t the economy is going to drive some of your competitors out of business. In my town, I can drive down the road and I see one out of every three businesses that have closed their doors. It may be more or less where you live, but the reality is they were there one day and gone the next. Yet, there are some businesses that are holding their own. I have talked to some of these owners and they give me all kinds of stories about how they are cutting budgets, laying off people or taking loans (if they can get them) to stay afloat. Still, there are other businesses that seem to be growing and thriving no matter what the economy looks like. Are they harboring some sort of a secret about marketing that other businesses don’t know about?

The truth is the businesses that are thriving in a downturned economy do know a secret. The secret is simple. Don’t cut your marketing budget. During downturns, some of your competitors could go out of business. Who is going to pick up their market share? If the economy is affecting your business, then isn’t it most likely affecting consumers as well? Current, new and your competitor’s customers could be price shopping or looking for alternatives to your product or service. How are you attracting these switching customers? It is easy to see why cutting your marketing budget or standing still could hurt your business. You could be limiting your opportunity to gain new market share.

So, what can a small business owner do to increase their market share during a down economy? Marketing your business doesn’t have to expensive or cost prohibitive. You can actually market your business on less money than you think. When most people think of marketing, they assume we are talking about advertising. Well, you are partially right. Advertising is part of marketing but it isn’t the only thing. I am a firm believer in low budget / no budget marketing for small businesses. You have probably heard it referred to as Grass Roots marketing or the most familiar term made popular by marketer Jay Conrad Levinson, Guerrilla Marketing.

The definition of guerrilla marketing is loosely defined as; “unconventional methods of marketing that require a relatively low budget or no money at all”. There are hundreds of ideas you can use to market your business and when we are dealing with a downturned economy and budgets are cut, guerrilla marketing may be your saving grace!

Over the next several weeks, we are going to dive into some guerrilla marketing tactics and ideas. As you are reading some of these ideas, jot down your own thoughts and share them with the readers. Who knows, you may be harboring the next great marketing secret and you didn’t even know it! By no means will I be able to teach you all there is to know about guerrilla marketing. As a matter of fact, I highly recommend getting your hands on some of Levinson’s books or do further research on the internet. There are so many great ideas that it will seem a little overwhelming at first, but in time you will find the right marketing tools that work for your business. So let’s look at some tools and get started marketing your business!

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Keeping Customers in a Tough Economy

October 30th, 2009 No Comments

David Beckham, MarketProMBA Consultant

Let’s face it; your current customers are your business life’s blood. They are generally your primary source of revenue you should be spending a good percentage of your marketing budget focusing on them. A good rule of thumb is that 60% of your marketing budget should be spent on your current customers or marketing directly to them. Remember, it costs far more to gain a new customer more often that it does to keep a current one.

Take the time to get to know your current customer’s better. Phone calls, visits or emails that just check on them and get to know them better will do wonders for your relationship. Do you have a newsletter for your company? Let your customer’s know what is going on with you as well. Of course, you want to get permission from your customer’s to be put on your email list, but most of them will do this without issue.

Newsletters can also be used to let customers know about upcoming promotions and specials within your company. Online eNewsletter programs like Constant Contact, Mail Chimp or iContact are excellent marketing tools because they give you important measurements like open rates and click-through patterns. During tough times, marketing efforts have to be scrutinized to ensure they are returning results. The analytics from eNewsletter programs helps you justify your marketing expense and gives you data to help you change and adapt your message to ensure maximum impact and sales. If you aren’t using one, you need to seriously consider doing so.

Recognize special events with your customers. Send them a gift basket on their business anniversary date and just say “thanks for being a customer!” Is there a significant date in your customer’s life or an event that is important to them? If you are getting to know your customers you will learn this information, then you can simply send a card or a small gift to congratulate or let them know you are thinking about them.

Holidays are always a great time to recognize your clients. Be careful though about what you send. Don’t just get something off a shelf and think it will make an impact. Remember, other businesses might have them as clients too and how embarrassing would it be to give them the same gift basket from a “big box store” that some other business gave them. Your gift needs to be unique, original and stand out from others to get you noticed. This will help keep your business top of mind with your customers. Also, brand your gift with your colors and logo whenever possible. This also keeps your business top of mind and extends your brand. Remember, your gift could be seen by other potential clients that may be in your client’s office so make sure you are always branding anything you send. (For more information on gifts that stand out, see THE original basket boutique)

Hold a special event or meeting for your current customers. An open house for your customers will give you a chance to know your customers better and offer an opportunity for them to introduce you to more potential clients. Get with your local chamber of commerce and offer to hold their monthly business afterhours meeting. If you are not a member of your local chamber or commerce, then you should certainly rethink that decision. Local chambers are normally very good opportunities for networking and typically have low annual costs. Larger metropolitan areas might have several chambers. Don’t feel like you need to join all of them. Find out which ones are the most active by asking around and talking directly to the chambers. Then you can make a decision that will give you maximum return for your investment.

Referral business is critical to your clients businesses and yours. Initiate a referral program for your clients. When you refer a client, make sure your client knows you sent them a customer. If one of our customers sends you a new client, reward them with some kind of a thank you. This will help reinforce their actions and let them know how much you appreciate the new business.

These were just a few ideas on customer loyalty. There are many more that you might come up with. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. How do they think? If you were your own customer, how would you want to be treated? Sounds easy enough but you would be surprised at how many small business owners lose track of this. As small business owners, we tend to get wrapped up in the management of our day-to-day activities that we sometimes overlook the simple things that help build our business and keep our customers engaged with us.

In our next segment, we will talk more about marketing ideas that are not going to break your budget and help you generate more sales and build brand awareness.

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Marketing in a Tough Economy – Revisited

October 30th, 2009 No Comments

Marketing in Tough Economy Revisited

In light of all that is happening in our economy right now, it only seems appropriate that we should talk more about keeping your business afloat and prospering until our economy makes the swing back up. In my field, I am seeing first hand what is happening to small businesses in our area. There are far too many businesses closing their doors right now. This is not uncommon because hard economic times will weed out the weaker businesses.

When times are good, businesses don’t have to be perfect to do ok, but as soon as a downturn comes along, these businesses don’t usually have the ability to stay profitable. This is where we separate the business people from the people in business. A good businessperson knows what to do and will usually come out on top while those that are just in business will just dissolve away.

So what’s a small business supposed to do? Here are some ideas that could help you stay afloat until the next wave comes along. Over the next several weeks, we will explore these ideas one at a time so you can truly grasp the concepts. Your comments and ideas will also help others, so let us know some of your thoughts on these subjects.

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MarketProMBA

Small Business Development by a Small Business Expert

Reach for the Stars…

Guerrilla Marketing Tools – Business Cards

Gaining Market Share in a Down Economy

Keeping Customers in a Tough Economy

Marketing in a Tough Economy – Revisited

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Small Business Development by a Small Business Expert

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Guerrilla Marketing Tools – Business Cards

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Keeping Customers in a Tough Economy

Marketing in a Tough Economy – Revisited

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