Routinely I have conversations with others in my industry about the status and impact the economy is having on their businesses. We’ve decided that the success or failure of a business stems from several factors. Where there’s visual evidence that others in an industry you belong to are working, you can reasonably assume there’s enough work for you.

A quick way to determine if your business is competitive within your industry is to see what your competition is doing. A quick stop at the local supply distributor(s) is an easy way to find out. If your competition is in regularly purchasing materials necessary for their job sites, then you can assume they are working.

If you don’t see anyone from the competition and the salesman climbs over the counter to greet you, then you can also assume no one has been in purchasing from them. Such indicates that consumer demand is down and the economy is equally affecting everyone.

So you discover that several of your competitors trucks are at the distributor all stocking up on parts. This should tell you that you have a problem. Time to investigate, but where to start?

The source of the problem could be in how you market your business. Time to compare what your competition is doing with what you are doing to attract and retain customers.

Maybe that’s not what’s happening. Let’s set aside the external marketing for moment. Are you getting referrals from existing or previous customers? If not, why? Were these customers satisfied with the work performed? Are your employees representing the professional image, performing quality workmanship and showing customer appreciation that you, as the owner, would?

Your employees should be your best marketing resource. If they extol excellence and value, then your customers will become your best advertisers. If they don’t, those employees are destroying not only their reputation but the owner’s as well.

Train for the task as well as the marketplace. Teach your employees how to do the job right as well as how to present themselves and your company. Marketing starts inside the company walls, not outside. That comes second, because if your staff isn’t in the same mindset and invested towards success as you are, then you’re stalled at the starting line.

No matter how much time, energy and money you spend marketing you and your business it will all be offset with catastrophic effect if your employees only care about getting a paycheck.

Things a little slow? Are your employees out advertising your business by attending trade shows, calling on perspective clients, open houses, community meetings or knocking on doors handing out literature? If not, maybe they should be.

As cities strive to improve, many are looking at the heart of their community … their downtown. Towns, villages and cities were built on a core, the center of the community – their downtown. As the need for faster transit between points became necessary, downtown America was bypassed. Businesses who didn’t want to be forgotten moved from the core of the community to its fringes. For a time the core literally and physically shifted out to the expressway’s edge.

The old downtown seemingly died, and with it, many communities lost part of their soul. But now there has been a resurgence of redevelopment in downtowns across this country – partly because the center is being moved back to its original location. The heritage of the past is being given new birth with construction projects that bring the once forgotten back into vogue.

Right now in cities across America, the city center is being revitalized. Businesses are being encouraged to open there, and foot traffic is welcome. Greener thinking is affecting the way we look at commerce. We want locally grown produce, we want to purchase from our local retailers, and we want to enjoy local treats from local restaurants that have a unique flavor and method of operation than the chains that occupy suburbia.

Is this an opportunity for your business?

As the plans are being drawn, if you, as a business owner, are looking for a new location, consider the new downtown. As part of the core of your community, you’ll receive greater exposure and can establish or reaffirm your business as one that keeps the community’s heritage alive and prosperous. What’s the adage? … location, location, location!

If you’re changing your business locale, then you’ll need updated media to let your customers know where you’ve gone. Check out our Small Business Acceleration Packages and choose one of our prearranged options, or contact us for a customized package with the services listed on our Services page. You’ll be glad you did!

If you are one of the many subscribers reading this post, you’re definitely connected. However, there are still many small businesses that are not. Believe it or not, in this modern digital age there are some who refuse to use email. The old line “Didn’t you get the memo?” still holds so true these days.

Why is this? Email is a simple, easily and  efficiently used medium to share information about special promotions, sales, meetings, new product information … and so much more! Your message can touch hundreds, if not thousands of customers in one click, versus the vast amount of man hours trying to reach the same audience by phone.

Whether you’re in need of one or several branded email addresses (as in, your-name@your-domain.com), or a full-blown email marketing campaign, we can help.

For email marketing campaigns, we use and recommend AWeber. Be sure to visit our Do It Yourself Email Marketing page for more information.

Why be left out? Don’t miss getting the memo, it could save you time and create a profitable opportunity.

All your marketing efforts are working and business is starting to take off. Great! Then suddenly you find yourself unable to deliver what you promised. One of your suppliers has slipped and fallen on hard economic times and is no longer in business or cannot sustain the required flow of resources.

Keep an eye on the world behind you, especially those resources that you use to produce products for your customers. Resources aren’t just raw materials, but also your copywriter, graphic designer, printing company, the distributor who supplies your raw materials, or even the company that transports your products to your customer. When the person or company you’re relying on to get the job done suddenly disappears, make no mistake about it, it’s going to impact your business.

Nick Zubko of Industry Week wrote a great piece, 10 Warning Signs of a Supplier in Peril. This isn’t a fluffy concept to be vaguely aware of, but one impacting businesses around the globe. A business within my industry (too close to home) just went under when they were unable to source a reliable supplier due to changes in transportation requirements. Suddenly they were unable to deliver product to their customers.

If you’re in a highly specialized field with few suppliers, a suddenly lost resource will be even more troublesome. If you lose your supply resources, you’re dead in the water. Period.

As my driving and flight instructors said, “keep your head and eyes moving.” Know what’s going on around you. Make sure you’re communicating with your suppliers to keep abreast of their economic situation. Keep that 360 degree view in mind so that you can identify and react to a situation quickly … before it’s too late.

Photo Credit: Gaetan Lee on flickr

Many business owners believe that blogging is a waste of time. Not too long ago, I felt the same way. Let’s face it: Blogging can become a time consuming monster! But done right, it’s an effective, yet subtle way to market your business.

I’ve seen a direct correlation between the amount of time I spend blogging and product sales on my Hawkeye’s Hobbies Web site. Sure, I blog about subjects that relate to the use of my products, but not blatantly. Subtle suggestions and recommendations work better than shouting, “Here it is; use this!”

Many people emulate what they see. They’ll follow along and do exactly what you show them to do, step-by-step, using the products you use in your demonstration or discussion. If it worked for you then it will definitely work for them!

A good example of this is cooking shows … Rachel Ray comes to mind. She provides a list of ingredients before each episode so viewers who want to follow along can acquire the necessary items before the next day’s show. Her viewers purchase exactly what she recommends because they want their recipe to turn out as good as hers.

In my case, I blog about building scale models, which is something I enjoy as a hobby. I enjoy sharing my hobby with others who are of the same mindset, and write for both the beginner and the advanced scale modeler. My blog details how I use my products, and how to use other products useful in the construction of a model. I explain the how, why, where and why of each.

This not only helps me, but also promotes the hobby industry. This industry is relatively small, with manufacturers, distributors, and retailers highly interdependent on each other. I make paint, but without models to apply the paint to, or airbrushes to apply it with, there would be no need for my products. It’s the old adage, “giver’s gain.” There’s no downside to helping someone get started with their first model, or helping the experienced modeler learn a new technique.

Likewise, as a business owner, you’re also interdependent on your customers, suppliers, contractors and employees. If you can increase sales and help others by blogging about things of interest to your market, why not do so? It can be a very cost-effective way to speak directly to your core customer base.

In future articles, we’ll talk about ways to manage your blogging activities, so that your business blog doesn’t become a time-consuming monster.

I’m no different than anyone else, well maybe just a little bit, but what I do believe to be true is that we don’t always find ourselves agreeing with change. Change for most of us is difficult, but something that must occur during the course of our lives.

The same applies to business. We must change to meet the changes in our market as well as the various environmental influences. Take, for instance, the Experimental Aircraft Association. In their January 2009 publication Sport Aviation, Tom Poberezny, EAA President outlined the changes they must face to remain a viable organization and industry.

Also their magazine Editor, Mary Jones, points out about the various methods of delivery of content…electronic as well as print. They must adapt their content delivery methods to meet the changes in the way we prefer to receive information.

Newspapers are “dying” because their readership/subscription base is shrinking. Some can barely afford the cost of production. Fewer readers lead to fewer advertisers willing to spend their ever shrinking ad budgets on this form of media.

The problem is evident; we must change how we do business to remain viable and visible to our customers. The question is how? Business owners and managers need to understand exactly who their customers are, what their habits are, and how to engage them.

Years ago, all you had to do to stay abreast of local information was to pick up the telephone. Everyone on the “party line” was in the know of the local happenings and who was doing what. For a broader scope, newspapers were once a source for gossip and facts. Today however, the world has shifted into the electronics age and gave birth to what is now known as social media.

Essentially, social media is very similar to those early party lines people once shared through the phone company. Those connected to the same circuit conversed and shared information in a very public forum, as we do now through twitter and Facebook.

As business owners, we must all adapt our methodology of doing business to keep our brand awareness at the forefront. Today that means getting familiar with and using the new social media methods of interaction. How are you adapting to change?

Throughout the year, I receive requests from groups and organizations seeking product donations and sponsorships for events. These events are primarily related to the hobby industry, more specifically to scale modeling. I support as many events as possible, but there are times I simply toss the request in the trash because the request was written by a boob.

Some authors come across as simply begging. Others don’t know the name of their own organization or how to spell it properly. A word of advice: If you’re running a first-class event, take the time and effort to send out first-class marketing materials, even if all you’re sending is simply a well-worded letter.

I produce quality products, therefore I want them represented in like fashion. Any event that has a well-documented history, is represented by a reputable organization or promises to promote my products will get consideration of my support. If the request for support is of poor quality, what does that say about the event itself? If you are going to invest the time and effort … Do It Right! Don’t send out materials that won’t paint you in the best light. Have several sets of eyes review the materials for flaws…especially the spelling of your organization’s name!

Many an event has failed to launch because of amateur promotional materials. Even when operating on a budget of nothing but good will, those willing to spend the time to do the work can do a first class job. If they aren’t willing or able, then find those who will and can.

Bottom line: if your event marketing materials are of poor quality, the perception conveyed is that your event is not worth supporting. After all, your potential sponsor is also looking for something in return…brand awareness and new customers.

As a marketing professional, I understand the need to touch potential and existing customers as often as possible. However, there is a tremendous amount of useless, wasted marketing collateral caused by not investing in effective database management.

Waste Not, Unless You Love Cows
Duplicate addresses in the database mean that duplicate catalogs or other marketing collateral get mailed to each addressee. A good example: Sitting on top of my desk right now is no less than six copies of the very same supply catalog! These catalogs are huge, heavy and expensive, not only to produce, but also to mail. Of course, I only need one…the rest get recycled. A local farmer shreds them for use as bedding material in his dairy operation. The farmer is happy because his cows are happy…a happy cow produces more. But there’s zero return on investment for the supplier – and this waste is expensive!

Taking the time to properly set up an accurate database might require more investment up front, but by eliminating waste, it’s less expensive in the long run. As business opportunities tighten, internal housekeeping to alleviate waste must be forefront in daily operations. Besides, it’s a simple and profitable step toward becoming a “green business.”

It is a cold and blustery Saturday morning, so it is a good time to catch up on some of the things I’ve been meaning to get done. One such item is catching up on reading through a few of the trade publications that came in this week’s mail.

As I was thumbing through one particular publication something familiar struck me. On a recent trip to somewhere we needed to go, my wife and partner commented about a billboard advertisement. It created a little conversation about how much has changed in the past few weeks, but after looking through a few trade publications and magazines it suddenly sparked an important thought.

Is it Time-Sensitive?

Many messages we wish to convey to our customers are time-sensitive. Our business environment is always changing and lately it changes with each blink of an eye. Let’s look at the one that sparked this particular post…gasoline prices.

Current Events are … Current!

The billboard and the ads in the magazines were centered on gasoline prices being at all time highs. In a print media there is a lead time between when the ad is conceived and when it is presented to the consumer. The same thing goes for billboards.

Factor In Lag Time For Print Media

In this particular case, both are touting the high price of gasoline. Although this was a major concern just a few weeks ago, in the blink of an eye prices are nearing record lows by comparison. Gas was over four dollars a gallon; now it is just under two dollars (in Neenah, Wisconsin) so the message has lost a great portion of its intended impact. Sure, it serves as a reminder of what the prices were, but for the most part consumers live in the present. If the message wasn’t written to be a reminder, it too will lose its impact towards the market it was intended to reach.

Timing is everything. Remember that print media of any kind has a lag factor associated with it. Broadcast media is nearly instant. New media (Twitter, Facebook, all forms of social media) message can be updated with just a few keystrokes or even by cell phone. Make sure you consider the timeliness of your message before selecting your media venue.

When sales decline, budgets tighten and typically, the first area to be scrutinized for cutback is promotion and marketing. Part of the magic of marketing is the ability to create perception. Businesses must create and maintain a perception that they are critical, viable and resilient.

An example of this is your local auto dealership. Even when sales are in a slump, they continue to run weekly ads in local newspapers. Why? To maintain their customers’ perception that things are just fine. Of course the automobile is an intricate part of the American psyche. Give the perception that the local automobile dealership isn’t viable and the ripple effect can reach far and wide.

If your business wasn’t perceived as resilient, what would your customers likely do? Keeping customers aware of your products, services and existence is crucial especially during tough times. When the situation improves, you’ll be clearly visible as the “go to” resource that is ready to meet the customer’s needs.

We’re not advocating a continuation of a full speed ahead, spare the expense approach. You will have to adjust and tweak to work within a leaner budget. With the right strategic mix, the perception can be maintained that you are viable and ready to serve. Do not let your customers lose sight of your business. What’s the saying…”Out of sight out of mind.”

Remember that your customers’ perception of you IS your brand. Your brand image is far more than your logo, store front, and marketing collateral. It’s how your customers and potential customers perceive everything about your business.

So when the budget belt tightens, a sound marketing strategy is key to both short and long term business goals. Perception can work for or against your company. Make sure to keep it working for you.

Can you afford not to?