Why Speaking is Important. If you want people to know about your business, you have to talk to them.  I don’t mean one-on-one, although that’s important too.  I’m talking about sharing your business story with a group of people in your community or with a larger group of business people.  Speaking is the most effective way to promote your business.  It’s also the cheapest, because you don’t have to spend money except for a lunch or travel. What a deal!

Speak to Get New Customers. Your ability to talk about your business will get you more first-time customers than just about any other promotional strategy I can think of.  Most community groups are looking for speakers (free, of course), and if you contact them they would be happy to put you on the agenda.  State groups connected with your business field can also be good places to speak.  For example, if you are selling home-made salsa, find a restaurant association meeting and give a presentation on Mexican foods.

Promote Your Expertise. The best type of speech is one that promotes you as an expert, rather than a specific pitch for your business.  For example, if you are a dentist, talk about the various ways people can whiten their teeth.  If you are the salsa-maker, talk about the health benefits of Mexican foods or how to make a great Mexican meal.  Indirect pitches are better than direct “buy my stuff” promotions.

How to Learn Public Speaking. If you are terrified of public speaking, the best way to learn is to join Toastmasters.  The Toastmasters meetings are designed to help you learn how to speak in a non-threatening environment.   Find a local Toastmasters group (almost every city everywhere in the world has least one) and see how the meetings work.

Toastmasters as Networking.  An added benefit of Toastmasters is its value as a networking vehicle.  When I moved last winter, I found a new Toastmasters group and gave a short speech about the benefits of starting your own business.  I got a phone call from someone who turned out to be a great client from that speech.  Other business people recognize the importance of Toastmasters and you can meet some interesting business contacts there.

As you start a business or want your business to grow, get out there and talk abouit it.  Tomorrow I will give you some tips on public speaking for business growth.

Image: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Grow Your Business with Public Speaking

Many people love holidays and smart business owners take advantage of this fact by providing reasons to celebrate – buying something special from their business, that is.

As you can see by the BizFact, a fair percentage of people will recognize the holiday with a special dinner or by going to a restaurant or bar.  But there are lots of other possibilities for your business to link to a holiday.

A local quilt shop, for example, is offering green fabric at special prices.  And book sellers all over are offering Irish-related books and other related products.  No matter what you sell, I’m betting you can find a link between your business and the holiday.  Be creative.  Here are some suggestions:

A special “holiday package” or special pricing- How about putting together related products and offering them at a special low price?  Or giving a discount for anyone who is Irish – or says they are (wink wink), or anyone wearing green?

Links with holiday terms: “Green” for St. Patrick’s Day, for example could tie in to environmentally friendly products as well as money.

It’s too late for St. Patrick’s Day, of course, but think about other holidays coming up and take advantage of the special feelings people have about them.  Nothing is too corny for people to get into the spirit of a holiday.  And the goodwill you create will help you turn casual customers into regulars.

Image source: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Does Your Business Celebrate Holidays?

Case in point: I love Z-Coil shoes.  I I have arthritis in my knees, and these shoes have helped me be able to walk comfortably; in fact,  they keep me from having surgery.  Over the past couple of years, I have purchased almost every kind of Z-Coil they make.  But that’s the problem. They don’t have anything new.

I recently received their e-mail newsletter, which worked hard at getting me excited about Z-Coils.  But the cool logo, the interview with the president of the company, the testimonial from Helen Bonham Carter, did nothing for me.  I wasn’t tempted to buy more Z-Coils, because they don’t have any new ones.

Missing the mark.  Z-Coil’s newsletter missed the mark.  If it was trying to attract new customers to try Z-Coils, it might have been effective, but for existing customers, it wasn’t.  There was nothing new for me to buy.  There was nothing to excite me or tempt me or get me to say, “Wow!  I have to have that!”

So, what is your small business doing that’s new? Are you coming up with new products? New ways to deliver your services?  New specials? New prices?

New products, new ads. Product retailers find new ways to package their services. They create new products that tie in to current events, like Ben & Jerry’s new ice cream flavor, Yes, Pecan, a play on President Obama’s “Yes, we can” campaign slogan.  Companies  come up with new ads that get people thinking about them in new ways.  McDonald’s and Pepsi and Coke are the masters at this.  The products aren’t new, but the ads are, and they are designed to attract new people or to get people excited about buying again.  If you can’t think of a new product, change something slightly and offer it as a new model, like the automakers do.  Like Amazon did with the Kindle 2, a new version of Kindle.

New services, new packages. Service providers find new ways to package or “re-brand” their services, like Visa’s attempt to get people to use their debit cards rather than credit cards. If you have several services, package them together, or create a new level of service that might tempt people who are getting bored, or people who might buy the next highest level of your service.

Nothing stays the same, and your customers and potential customers get bored if you don’t continually come up with something new.  I wasn’t kidding about re-inventing yourself every six months. If you want to increase sales from current customers, try thinking about “What’s new.”  Six months from now, I’ll be telling you the same thing.

(By the way, those aren’t Z-Coil’s Helen Bonham Carter is wearing.)

Image source: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Be New or Be Boring

As a work-from-home mom, my marketing challenges are often related to finding my clients and assessing their needs. Unlike a brick-and-mortar business, clients don’t come to me – - I have to go to them. And couple that with a service industry like the one I provide (church marketing and professional speaking), the challenges broaden and become a bit harder to define.

Knowing what your customers want can be simple and not so simple. Sure you can ask questions and perform market research analyses, but will that give you a true picture of their needs? Perhaps so, perhaps not. The one sure way to properly assess your clients needs is to perform your own litmus test. According to the type of product or service that you provide, the only way to effectively gauge customer’s needs is simple: ask questions.

Often business women feel so passionate about their businesses that they fail to see if everyone else feels the same way too. While it’s perfectly ok to love what you do, it’s also important to see if your idea is viable and if there is a great need for it. Without it, all you have is a passionate great idea and no customers to buy into it.

Take for instance my friend Shannon who owns a ‘meals on wheels’ type of business where she and her staff cook, package and (optional) deliver hot meals to busy families. The concept is genius and the need is there. She did her homework by surveying families here in our area who are busy at the ball field with sports activities and school functions and need a helping hand at dinner time. Needless to say, Shannon’s idea is a hit with the locals here in Alabaster and she’s even talking of opening another location. Shannon very successfully found out what her customer’s wanted (help with mealtime) and provided a solution to their problem.

What type of business are you in or do you own where you can use a little help in assessing your customer’s needs? Do you know of three areas right away where there is a need you can fill but don’t know how? Drop me a line and let me know what your challenges are. Let’s see if we can help.

Bridget

Post from: EveryJoe

Business Marketing Monday: Know What Your Customers Want

Today I am featuring a guest poster whom I have had the pleasure of working with for only a short while. She is one of my fellow bloggers here at b5media and is also a peer blogger of mine over at Know More Media. A very detailed and thorough writer, Susan Gunelius brings a fresh, innovative voice to the world of branding and marketing and keeps readers’ attention by weaving her own insights and opinions into the principles of marketing. Although Susan is a very busy blogger, author, writer and mom (to triplets!), she took time out of her very busy and hectic schedule to provide information on branding principles to us. I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do. Look forward to hearing more from her as we feature her here on Biz Chicks Rule. Enjoy!

Every business has a brand image attached to it. The role of the business owner is to determine what you want your brand image to be, and then define a strategy to make the brand image a reality. Following are five steps to help you get started with a plan to build a brand for your business.

1. Research the market: Before you can begin thinking about your own brand, you need to understand the state of the market in which your business operates. Until you understand the existing market, you can’t fully define where you want your brand to be positioned within that market. Take the time to investigate the market, your competition, threats and opportunities. Then sit down and evaluate where your business fits in the existing market and where you want it to fit going forward. That’s your business’ position in the market. Once you know your position, you can define a branding strategy to accurately reflect that position.
2. Define your branding strategy: Ask yourself how you want your business to be perceived by customers. The answer to that question determines the goal of your branding strategy. Next, you need to map out the steps to get to that goal. How do you need to present your business through marketing communications, employee communications, customer service, etc. to gain the reputation that will lead you to reaching your branding goal? Outline the tactics you need to take to build that reputation, and your brand image will develop organically in the minds of consumers.
3. Consider long term objectives up front: A dangerous error that is commonly made in the early stages of defining a branding strategy relates to being too short-sighted in outlining your goals. Take into account not just short term goals but also long-term, stretch goals as you develop your brand strategy. For example, don’t choose a brand name for your business or product that doesn’t allow for future growth to various target audiences. While a new company may only cater to female employees in the beginning, that strategy could change dramatically as the business grows. The Women’s Business might not be the right name for a company ten years down the road.
4. Be consistent: Strive to be consistent in all of your communications and business touch points. An inconsistent message from one day to the next or one department to another can destroy all the work you’ve done to develop your brand image. From the representation of your logo and the colors used in your printed materials, to the way employees speak with customers, each part of your business needs to accurately communicate your brand strategy.
5. Don’t give up: Creating a brand takes time. You need to be relentless in building your brand image and presence in the market. That means you have to be persistent in communicating your brand at every opportunity.

You can read more about building a brand in these posts on Brandcurve.com: Five Rules for Effective Branding, 3 Steps to Develop Your Brand Position Organically.

Susan Gunelius has over a decade of experience managing and executing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Currently, she works as a published author, freelance writer and professional blogger. She writes three business-related blogs, Brandcurve, MarketingBlurb, and WomenOnBusiness. She is also the Guide to Web Logs for About.com (a New York Times company). Susan’s personal website is located at SusanGunelius.com.

Post from: EveryJoe

5 Steps to Branding Your Business

Who doesn’t like free lunches? Everyone does! Call one of your clients up and tell them you’d like to treat them to lunch. They’ll love it! You decide the winning factors, i.e.,

The Best Client
The Worst Client (that should get some orders!)
The Client Who Hasn’t Ordered In A While
The Fairly New Client

You get the idea. The point is to get your name and your business in front of them. The client will think they’re just getting a “free lunch” but what you’re doing is actually setting the stage for future business. Trust me…I’ve tried this and it does work.

Oh, one other thing – have lunch selection places for the client to choose from. That makes it easier and less awkward for you and your budget.

Bridget

Post from: EveryJoe

Business Marketing Monday: Free Lunch For A Client

This works great if you have a professional service to offer such as personal services (massage, hair stylist, makeup artist, etc.), consulting, accounting, web design or tax services. This is how it works: For every hour (or whatever block of time you choose) the client purchases services from you, they get one hour free of charge. Don’t worry about it sounding or being perceived as cheesey. The client will be more attuned to your fine level of professionalism than your marketing strategies. Use this strategy perhaps on a client who hasn’t used your services in a while or is still trying to decide who to go to.

Works every time. That’s how I found my webmaster and we’ve been happy ever since.

Bridget

Post from: EveryJoe

Business Marketing Monday: Donate A BOGO (Buy One Get One Free)

Today’s marketing tip is a revisit on something we all know about but have gotten away from:

Letter Writing. Or, more specifically, note writing.

When you visit a client or make a sales call, always follow-up the visit with a handwritten note. Not typed. Not emailed. Handwritten. The personal touch is nice and it shows the client that you care.

Invest in a writing pad of nice, linen paper with matching envelopes and keep them in your briefcase or car for quick notewriting before you leave the parking lot. Also, keep a roll of stamps with you as well. All of this may seem old-fashioned or out-dated but is sure to go a LONG way with your client.

Bridget

Post from: EveryJoe

Business Marketing Monday: Handwritten Notes for Clients

Most of the marketing tips that I will bring you will come from my own experience, but I welcome any and all tips from any of you readers that you feel will benefit us all. As part of this campaign, I am going to be asking for tips and suggestions from my peers here at b5media as well so there will be lots of information to share.

Hope you enjoy!

Post from: EveryJoe

Business Marketing Monday Coming Your Way!