How to Thrive During a Recession
by David G. Johnson | Filed In: Small Business Marketing November 12th, 2008We discussed previously that the last thing you want to trim out of your budget during a recession is your marketing.
Here’s some actual data (Hat tip: Rod Alan Richardson via Twitter @rodalan) on previous recessions that reveals some very interesting facts:
- maintaining your marketing budget helps not only during a recession, but afterward
- your ROI may not be as high during a recession, but your actual profits in other years may not be as high as you think
- market share is as important right now as profitability (more so, if you ask me)
- the idea that you can cut back “because everyone else is” is foolhardy
There’s quite a bit more data out there, but you can read the article to get it.
My point is this: cut anything… heck, cut everything, but don’t cut your marketing budget.
The Big Key
That being said: spend it more effectively. Gain the know-how to utilize and leverage 21st-Century technologies to get better results. Here are some tips:
- Fix your website. Look at 2 things: is it showing up when your actual prospects are searching Google and those other search engines (I’m sure there must be others). And secondly: is it starting and furthering relationships? (Hint: measure!)
- Drop your print yellow pages ad. With certain very specific exceptions (highly-niched specialty books that have actual users), you don’t need this. Keep a listing, yes. Don’t waste your money on display ads.
- Buy internet yellow pages listings. And other online local business search listings. Here’s how to not screw up: be sure you can track everything. Know which listing is getting you what results. Do not do this if you haven’t done #1 above.
- Email. If you don’t yet have a database, start one. Today. Put a strategy in place to deliver value to your prospects and customers (hint: don’t be boring) on a consistent basis. Then execute that strategy. Divert internal resources as necessary to accomplish this.
- Manage your time with a hatchet. Figure out where your energies are being wasted and cut the stuff out of your schedule. Do it now. You can’t be effective if you’re floundering around.
Want more? Let me know.
By the way… if you couldn’t make it to our recent “Results Now Marketing” seminar, the DVDs are coming soon. They’re worth their weight in gold. Sign up to be notified over here.
World Internet Challenge - Wealth International Networking Group
by David G. Johnson | Filed In: Small Business Marketing October 1st, 2008Today it was absolutely my honor and delight to participate in an amazing fundraiser for a great cause: the Make A Wish Foundation.
The fundraiser was put together by some of the world’s top internet marketers in connection with the recent World Internet Summit in London. Debra Thompson Roedl and the team from Wealth International Networking Group assembled a “dream team” of top marketers to provide “secret recipes” to great results on a masterminding session. By last count, the event had raised over $10,000.00 for the Make A Wish Foundation, which is significant given that a substantial majority of contributions were $10.
We shared some “secret recipe” ingredients from our recent Results Now Marketing event, and were honored to participate alongside top marketers from — quite literally — all over the world.
Thanks to Debra Thompson Roedl, Robin Thompson, Randy Roedl, Matt Bacak, Tom Hua, Brett McFall, Patrick Spielmann, Jenni Snook, Carol Akright, Armand Morin, and Ray Edwards for making this such a memorable event!
By the way, to gain access to some great materials and be notified about the recording from the mastermind session, head on over to the Wealth International Networking Group site and make a contribution. You’ll do something good and benefit your business at the same time!
Results Now Marketing - New Bonuses!
by David G. Johnson | Filed In: Marketing Training Event September 25th, 2008Don’t miss the info on all 3 bonuses in this video… plus, I show you exactly where we’re going to meet this Saturday at the end… and you’ll also hear 2 quick stories about businesses getting results now!
Bonus #1 (valued at $297) was added a couple of days ago — it’s the 2.5-hour downloadable video training on the subject of e-mail. It includes step-by-step instructions for how to manage your e-mail database as well as how to avoid blacklisting and SPAM accusations. You’ll come back to this training session again and again!
Bonuses 2 & 3 have just been added today! In fact, the Results Now Marketing website doesn’t even mention any of these bonuses…
Bonus #2: Advanced Keyword Training (valued at $297). This is another downloadable video that teaches you in detail (including step-by-step instructions) how to discover the exact nuances of keywords that your future customers are using to search Google and other search engines. Many businesses that obtain just one new client would already have earned enough to more than pay for this video at its full retail price. But… it’s not available for sale anywhere! Only our members have access to it, and you’ll receive 60-day download access to it absolutely FREE when you register for Results Now Marketing.
Bonus #3: Our Resources List (priceless!) You know, if I were to tell you that I had a piece of paper that was worth thousands upon thousands of dollars, you might be interested to find out why. Am I right?
You see, it’s not the paper itself… it’s what’s written on the paper that makes it valuable. And… what’s written on the paper isn’t just a collection of words. This list of resources has taken years to put together… years of trial and error. Investment of thousands upon thousands of dollars in both cash and in my time. I have never before offered this list to anyone. You will receive it absolutely FREE as part of your training in the Results Now Marketing seminar this Saturday.
These bonuses are worth $594 at a very minimum… and thousands (or even tens of thousands) at most.
As I’ve already mentioned… those of you who have already paid for your registration for this weekend’s event are receiving these bonuses too! This is just our surprise way of over-delivering. But if you haven’t yet registered, then these bonuses add significant value to the investment you’re about to make.
Results Now Marketing - Do Search Engines Matter?
by David G. Johnson | Filed In: Small Business Marketing September 18th, 2008One marketing question that I get asked about small businesses is:
Do search engines really matter where local businesses are concerned?
The answer may surprise you. According to a 2007 study by comScore Networks, even when looking for local business information, 3 out of 5 people will search online. When you consider that only 1 in 3 check the yellow pages, this represents an enormous shift.
It’s a no-brainer that we look online today when locating solutions that are less localized, but I wouldn’t have guessed that the trend had shifted that far yet where local business is concerned. And, given that the study is a little over a year old, it’s likely that the actual numbers for today are even higher.
What does this mean? Well… it means that if your company’s website isn’t ranking well on the right search terms, then you could actually be missing 60% of your best customers. After all, when people are actively looking for your product or service, they’re probably a sooner buyer than the person who is passively shown an advertisement you placed.
The search engine game is one that is constantly evolving and changing. Unless you’ve managed to hire a marketer instead of a web designer (or participated in small business marketing training), chances are good that your site won’t show up when it really needs to.
Check out this video clip for some additional insight:
Consider this my personal invitation for you to participate in our Results Now Marketing seminar in Sarasota on September 27th. When it’s over, you’ll know exactly how to get to the top!
Cutting Through the Noise
by David G. Johnson | Filed In: Marketing Training Event September 11th, 2008Have you wondered why your tried and true historic methods of gaining new customers have been less and less fruitful in recent years?
Consider this: according to author David Shenk in his 1999 book, Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut, the average American was exposed to 560 marketing messages per day… in 1971.
By the 1990s, that estimate had reached 3,000 per day.
With the explosion of the number of channels on cable and satellite TV, the number of display ads being served on websites, the advent of Google, YouTube, FaceBook and other new media outlets, the number of marketing messages your customers are being exposed to every single day has exponentially increased!
Understanding what this means and how it affects your efforts to drive new prospects into your business can absolutely make or break your business in today’s world.
Getting results in the 21st Century is a different ball game. That’s why I’m thrilled to announce that we’re bringing our revolutionary training to Sarasota, FL on September 27th. Until now, this training has only been available through our 12-week online program. We’ve condensed it down to a half-day event, and it’s sure to change the results of local business people.
Find out more about this event at Results Now Marketing. Hopefully, we’ll get to meet you there!
It’s the Economy, Stupid!
by David G. Johnson | Filed In: Small Business Marketing August 23rd, 2008(With apologies for the insulting quote in the title of today’s post… and also for bringing up memories of an election year gone by…)
What do we do in a down economy?
It happens. Sometimes your business is affected by an economic downturn. Whether you’ve got a local business like the ones that serve our local Sarasota community — an economy that has previously been unfortunately based upon housing and construction — or one that exports products or services outside of your region, sometimes business slumps and it has nothing to do with what you did “right” or “wrong.”
So… inevitably the belt-tightening begins. Trim here, cut there. Perhaps we are forced to reduce staffing levels, perhaps we improvise and begin to try to creatively respond to new market conditions.
But… whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of killing your marketing.
I’ve seen this again and again. Advertising budgets are sometimes the first to go. And… while I’m the first person to agree that much of the advertising going on in the small business world should be replaced with much more effective marketing efforts, the underlying philosophy here is deadly.
If you’re not marketing, it’s only a matter of time before the inevitable occurs.
Changing Your Investment Strategy
In the 21st Century, there’s no excuse for not getting results. Even if your advertising budget is non-existent, there are myriad tools that are free or low in cost that leverage technology to facilitate connecting your future customers with your business. This is where we need to invest — most significantly, time and energy. But certainly financial resources must be committed to these high-ROI methods.
Watch this space for some tips you can implement right away.
Perpetual Marketing: What Message Are You Sending?
by David G. Johnson | Filed In: Small Business Marketing May 12th, 2008Did you ever stop to think about the fact that “marketing” is happening all the time in your business — whether you want it to be or not? Here’s an example to illustrate what I mean…
Picture yourself walking into a restaurant for dinner with your spouse. It’s a reasonably nice restaurant with an energetic atmosphere. There’s plenty of activity… you might even say it’s “alive” with excitement. You’re looking forward to a nice meal. After a friendly greeting and a brief wait, you are shown to your table where you sit down to look over the menus. “At any moment,” you think to yourself, “someone will come by to take our drink order and tell us about the specials.” But you wait…
You chat with your spouse and even comment on how unusual it is for you to wait this long. 10 minutes go by. A large group at a nearby table is served their piping hot meals. Everything smells good. People are talking and laughing and having a good time. Your stomach growls. You and your spouse exchange small talk and odd looks as you wonder aloud about the service. You consider going to find someone to ask about your server, but you don’t want to ruin the evening for your spouse…
Ever had this happen to you? Isn’t it frustrating? At that moment when you’ve waited for 15 minutes and even tried to get someone’s attention, what message has that restaurant sent to you?
“You’re not important.”
“We don’t care.”
The business owners reading this are probably getting antsy. Despite our best efforts, sometimes we inadvertently treat customers poorly and send them the wrong message. We don’t intend to do it, but it happens sometimes.
This is one example of how we are always marketing in business. In hundreds, perhaps even thousands of small (and big) ways, our business is constantly sending a message — to our customers, future customers, referral sources, and even partners. My point — and one that my clients and students will tell you is one that I harp on — is that if you don’t intentionally design this message and execute a strategy for communicating it, then your chances of sending an undesirable one go way, way up.
What message is your business sending?
How To Drive Off Your Customers
by David G. Johnson | Filed In: Small Business Marketing May 8th, 2008Too busy at work? More than enough revenue? Here are some ways you can keep those pesky customers and prospects away…
#1: Make Sure Your Marketing is All About You
After all… people who want to spend money with you want to understand how your products & services benefit them, so if you focus on you, your company’s history, your features, etc., you’ll be sure to keep people from bugging you. Whatever you do, don’t use pictures of the people most likely to actually buy from you, and avoid connecting their needs and wants to aspects of your business most likely to appeal to them. Instead, just subtly communicate the notion that you’re in business for your own benefit and that you really aren’t interested in customers. They’ll smell this a mile away and bug someone else instead.
#2: Ignore the Web
If your website hasn’t changed since the Clinton Administration, you’re on the right track here. Even better: no web presence at all! If you must have a website, make sure it doesn’t show up in any search engines… and whatever you do: don’t add fresh new content on a regular basis! You should convey to visitors that you might already be out of business just by the aged look of your site. To support this notion, hire a neighbor’s kid to build it — especially if he/she has no design experience whatsoever. Websites that have that “we don’t care” feel do wonders at keeping people away. If you’re still having response from your site, just bury the information that your customers want to find and add some contact forms to your site that do nothing and go nowhere. If you can get them to generate an error message, it’s even more fun!
#3: Keep Your Marketing Efforts Unfocused
If people have a clear idea of who you are and what you’re all about, they’re much more likely to pester you. So, make sure that there’s no unifying theme to your marketing. Buy ads at random, and always let whoever who sold you the ad design it for you. This way, all of your ads will come out looking different from each other. Make sure that your marketing doesn’t target any one type of customer, and stick with the “shotgun” approach. Otherwise, your marketing might actually connect with someone, and then they’ll show up or call, expecting service from you.
Easy Listening
by David G. Johnson | Filed In: Get Strategic February 29th, 2008Yesterday, we talked about focusing on your customers. I’ll be the first to admit that without intentional effort, it’s easy to begin to drift away from listening closely to them. But in business, this can be a costly mistake - even when times are good and business is strong. In those times, missing out on subtle cues from your customers can cause you to miss the opportunities to serve them that you’re leaving on the table.
In the 21st century, however, we have some amazing new tools for listening to what customers want. If you have a website, for example, you should be able to monitor a variety of statistical information that lends remarkable insight into what your customer base is looking for and, in fact, how close to the mark you’re getting.
Visits
For example, which pages on your website are getting visited? Where is the traffic coming from. If your website is strategically set up (in other words, it doesn’t just “look” good), you’ll have different “pages” of content that focus on various product or service offerings. Websites that are set up according to the methods that I use are getting large percentages of their traffic from search engines. This means that traffic coming in to the site is arriving because our content is attracting them to the particular pages they are visiting. By evaluating traffic data to your site, you can see which offerings are doing all that attracting.
Search Terms
Your website statistical information should also tell you exactly someone typed into Google (for example) to cause them to arrive at your site. This helps you in a couple of important ways. First, it tells you if you’re attracting the folks you want to attract. If your website talks about auto repair in Indianapolis, and you’re getting traffic for the Indy 500, then you need to re-evaluate your content (or if better yet: sell ads!). If the search terms line up with what you have to offer, then the second thing those terms are telling you - very specifically - is what your customers are asking for. If you evaluate this data over a meaningful period of time, you can check your product and/or service offerings and see if you should consider doing some repackaging or some new promotions.
What I’m describing in today’s content is really the tip of the iceberg. But, this is the type of strategic information that most companies who have invested in the web have not been trained how to use. I hope you find it useful to you.
Who Are You Focused On?
by David G. Johnson | Filed In: Get Strategic February 28th, 2008Yesterday, we talked about listening to your customers to pay attention to the “why” behind their purchases. Today, we’re focusing more on the “who.” It probably goes without saying that another critical component in getting to know your customers and clients is that you gather as much demographic and psychographic information about them as possible.
If you’re a larger company or if you serve multiple market segments, then you need to compile this data for each of your major product or service offerings. Look at factors such as whether they are businesses or individuals, single or multiple decision-makers, one-time or recurring purchasers, their age, gender, location, background, likes and dislikes, etc. My clients and students use a 16-point questionnaire as a starting point to build a profile of their typical buyer.
The main goal for this is that when you’re working to craft a message that will impact your customers (or future customers) meaningfully, you must be intentional about who you’re “talking” to in your marketing. Your customers will ignore (read: not take action on) your messages that they don’t connect with personally. This seems obvious, but for some reason we tend to get temporarily stupid when we get to this point. Many a potentially great marketing effort has been stymied when the intended audience is left out of the equation. We end up with efforts that are focused on us and not on them - in more ways than one.
I say it often: you are not your customer. I frequently have my clients and students find a photograph that represents their ideal customer, and hang it on the wall. Then we have them craft everything as if it were intended for that one person.
Take some time to look back at your previous marketing efforts. Be honest with yourself and ask yourself how narrowly focused you’ve been on your ideal customer. Notice any trends?
Tomorrow: why it’s so easy to focus on your customer in the 21st century. Don’t miss it!
Subscribe to our RSS feeds!
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- David G. Johnson on How to Thrive During a Recession
- Chris Dorman on How to Thrive During a Recession
- How to Thrive During a Recession — Strategic Marketing on It’s the Economy, Stupid!
- Paul Rose, Jr. on World Internet Challenge - Wealth International Networking Group
- Randy on World Internet Challenge - Wealth International Networking Group