Gerald Voigt, co-founder of Zero To Sixty Marketing LLC and owner of Hawkeye’s Hobbies and Images by Hawkeye, lends his thought-provoking perspective to marketing in the micro to small business arena. In this post he describes some negative tendencies to be recognized and avoided by companies offering B to B services.

The customer is never wrong.

Well that may be true, but it doesn’t necessarily mean each customer is right, for you. Recently I was approached by a prospective client who was asking for assistance with marketing his business. I listened to him explain everything that he felt was wrong with all aspects relating to his business and its operations, mostly external. This lit the master caution light in my mind. Sure, there are those clients who just don’t start out running their businesses very well, and they struggle along the way. Some crash immediately after takeoff, yet some manage to get a little air, but no significant altitude.

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Express Marketing Memo

Just like you, we’re constantly on the lookout for ways to work smarter, not harder. Sometimes … okay most of the time … that means something needs to change; and today’s change is how we do the Inside Line.

Strategy by HikingArtist.com on flickr

In addition to the Inside Line, each of our team members has an active online presence for their unique business. We have unique blogs, Facebook business pages, online portfolios and videos. We’re walking the talk – doing the things we advise you to do everyday – because these things work. Of course, and thankfully, we’re also busy with client work.

Here’s where the working smarter part comes in: Rather than writing (or attempting to) write an additional two posts per week on Inside Line, what if we called attention to this mountain of content we’re producing elsewhere? Inside Line will still focus on small business marketing tips, but now you’ll see more from the design, photography, and copywriting perspective unique to each of our businesses.

If you read this blog in an RSS feed reader, you’ll notice more frequent updates – hopefully now on a daily basis. But if you’ve subscribed via our newsletter sign-up form to receive updates by email, you’ll receive updates only once per week. We’ll compile four or five articles before sending it via email.

This idea dovetails nicely with the topic of the latest post on The Richardson Copywriter, by Zero To Sixty Marketing team member, Susan Hamilton. She calls attention to the difference between the online presence of your website and a website marketing strategy. Read more on The Richardson Copywriter.

Is your business a piece of a larger puzzle? If you are one cog in an industry wheel, are you taking advantage of the momentum being sent your way by your neighboring cogs? Or are you skipping a beat … ?

Listen, there isn’t a company out there that can’t benefit from another, especially within the same niche or interconnected business. Those businesses can very easily cross-promote each other to the benefit of the consumer. When you look for ways to engage your customer in related offerings, you actually provide a service. They thought they would have to go elsewhere for that information, but there it was – and you provided it.

For example, an organic grocery store does well to have brochures and catalogs for a local retailer in organic clothing lines at point of sale locations. The consumer who “thinks organic” will love to have this information handy to them. In the same way, an organic fashion retailer who displays the weekly fliers from the neighborhood organic grocery has just become a resource to the consumer as well. Being that resource helps you stay valuable to your client.

Another example would be a model airplane builder and a niche paint provider for that plane. Gerald Voigt’s credibility in the area of niche paint for model airplanes has catapulted him in his career, primarily because of the value that information provides his audience in the hobby industry. He’s built his business on the relationships he’s cultivated within the hobby world through the product offerings those businesses provide.

If you’re not currently embracing a business relationship with “benefits”, you should be. I almost hate to say it because it is so over-used in the marketing industry, but becoming a valuable resource to your clients really will prove to benefit your business, too.

What like business relationships have you begun to develop? Tell us about them! If you’re having trouble figuring out what businesses might be a good fit, leave your questions in the comments section, or send us an email – we’ll be happy to share some ideas with you.

Do you make it a practice to ask each of your clients or customers how they found you? This is actually one of the easiest ways to discern which of your approaches were more effective than others. Unless you’re simply sitting there waiting for business to drop from the sky, you’re using multiple avenues to let people know you exist.

• Company website
• Brochures / fliers
• Print ads
• Social media promotion
• Telemarketing

Learning which of those tactics are truly beneficial will help you avoid wasting time.

If you’re not asking customers how they heard about you, how are you tracking your results from those efforts? There are many ways to gauge your ROI, but the easiest is to simply ask.

Asking the question starts a conversation and enables you to find out much more.

• What appealed to them?
• Was there any info they would have appreciated finding that wasn’t available?
• How could your message be improved to truly meet their needs?

If you’re not asking your customers where they heard about you, and what they heard about you that caused them to contact you, you’re missing out on valuable information. You’re also missing out on great ice-breaking conversation that endears them to you because you cared enough to ask.

Do you ask?

When was the last time you updated your small business website? This week? this month? this year? If it wasn’t this week, it’s been too long and it’s time to give your website a little attention.

Every small business website needs attention in five distinct areas:

1. Is your website working properly? Check to be sure that all your pages load and that your links send visitors to the pages you intended. If you link to Flickr images or YouTube videos, realize that these media may be removed at any time and without warning, leaving you with broken links.
2. How’s your website design? Does it need to be refreshed? Most websites begin to show their age after about two years. This doesn’t automatically mean that a complete redesign is necessary. Many times a simple change to one or two elements on your site is enough to give it a fresh, new look.
3. When was your last content update? By ‘content,’ I’m referring to high quality information shared through blog posts, articles, FAQ’s, video or audio messages. If you’re an artist, when was your last image shared with your viewers?
4. Frequent content updates are important for three reasons:
   • It gives your viewers a reason to return to and engage with you on your website.
   • Frequently updated content is indexed more often by Google, meaning that it helps you attain better placement on the search engine results page.
   • It makes it easier for your customers and other website visitors to refer you.
5. Can your updated content be easily shared? Links are the currency of today’s online marketplace. Make it easy for your viewers to share a link to your content with their friends and neighbors. This can be as simple as adding a ’share this’ plugin to your blog or a Facebook badge to any page of your website.
6. Is your site secure? Websites can be hacked and links inserted that will direct your viewers to unsavory sites. This topic deserves an entire post of its own, but for now, I’ll direct your attention to an excellent resource: the Securi blog, where you can learn more than you ever wanted to know about threats and solutions to your website’s security.

Related Off-Site Article: Google indexing and high quality content

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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.

We all need ‘em, so how do you get that happy customer to actually take a moment to give you a review? And, if he does, what will you do with it? Where will it get maximum exposure? Some businesses know just how to get those reviews set up to be a regular part of day-to-day affairs. They know that the most effective way to get a review is to ask. Yes, it’s bold. But it’s also business. That happy client or customer is worth several more when they share their experience with others. Turn the request into a part of the way you run your company and it’s a no-brainer that you’ll have many reviews to choose from when you want to make your testimonials public.

Sure, not everyone will comply. But companies who practice this will tell you, if you don’t ask, chances are slim that you’ll have much to work with. There is a place within every transaction, or at the end of it, that is appropriate to request a favorable customer response:

• A follow-up phone call
• A perforated post card with return address and survey boxes
• A question asked as the project commences, “If you will fill out a brief review when the job is done, we’ll take five percent off your next … “
• “Please review us on MerchantCircle.com, or Yelp.com if you’re happy with the product or job performance.”

Making it easier on the customer is the name of the game. Give them an opportunity to know the best way to review your company and support your good effort. One thing is certain, if you don’t ask, you won’t get a response. Customers who give a favorable review out of the goodness of their heart are few and far between.

Where are the best places to post your reviews?

Whenever possible, have your customers post reviews on these sites:

• Yelp.com
• MerchantCircle.com
• Google Places
• CitySearch.com
• Insiderpages.com
• Local.com
• Superpages.com
• TripAdvisor

And make sure you’re listed on each of these sites! These places have high authority and the link to your site is a very powerful way to bring traffic to your website. Once easily added by your customers, these can be additionally pasted into your website testimonials page, your direct mail pieces, and any other media that promotes your company.

One more thing. Don’t forget to thank your customer for the favorable review and let him know in some manner how it benefits your company. And if you get a poor review, by all means, fix it! Speak with that customer immediately and ask them what can be done to satisfy, compensate, or make it better. Find out what he feels should have been done differently, and thank him for helping you cure a problem by bringing it to your attention. If you take a willing-to-fix-it attitude to your company reviews in response to comments, you’ll show a trustworthy aspect of your company to your viewers. That practice will endear the public to your company and be visible for quite some time.

Do you post reviews for great service?

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Small Business Listing: Images are Important

Case Study: Small Business Listings

What one company learned the hard way

Did you post photos on your Google Places listing? If you haven’t, consider this: one company didn’t, and the photo that was included was a poorly shot photo of the home of a customer who posted a review.

The review was favorable, the photo was not. Many times, these details seem insignificant until they are seen from the outside looking in. When you’re filling out the details of your business listing, the photos, videos, and reviews play a big part of your overall appearance, but may not seem like they need to be added now. Problem is, if you put it off for another day, another day comes and goes without your listing being completely finished. Images help your viewers understand where you are, who you are, and what products you offer. When you connect with the public on line in this way, you become a reality. You cease to be only a link on a page and become something they can identify with.

The same thing holds true for video. A brief video, a commercial or a tutorial piece is a nice way to connect with your viewers while letting them know you’re interested in offering what they want. Make it funny, and you’ll find it uploaded to YouTube.com, FunnyorDie.com, or a several other video streaming services. People love to share video content. When you’ve properly linked up your website to your small business listing, and posted a video that others want to share, you’ve made positive changes to your online presence that will increase your website visibility. It’s a great strategy.

No one wants their business to look less appealing than it should. These small details put you in the driver’s seat when it comes to your company’s appearance. Most listings require that your photo be no larger than 1MB, but generally you are allowed to add more than one. We suggest using the maximum number of pictures that represent you favorably. Remember that a picture’s worth a thousand words. A video – well, that’s a whole other story!

Do you have an image on your listing? Why or Why not?

Related Post:

Case Study: Small Business Listing

Don’t forget to dot your ‘i’s and cross your ‘t’s!

When it comes to adding your company to a search engine directory, like Google, Bing, or others, there’s a lot to be said for finishing the job. Google is the absolute when it comes to listing locally. Once a company has claimed its business and set up their listing, every other search engine picks it up, regardless of whether or not you’ve listed with them as well. Funny enough, when you look up your company through the other search engines, your Google listing is likely the most frequently returned. It’s important to get it right, as unfinished details can hamper your efforts.

An example of this is can be found with a company who thought they had added their company to Google Places, but in fact had not quite finished the job. After enjoying a moderate rise in rank through our SEO efforts, they began to plateau and soon were outranked by a competitor who had several poor reviews and less than optimal website standards. The first company should have had no problem outranking this second company, as we later found out, had Google details been completed.

• Keywords are important – This is an ideal way to be found, so some research in this area is extremely helpful. Google allows you to craft four or five custom categories once you select from their main category. Using keywords associated with your business in the categories sections will ensure that your company is found by consumers looking for you. Strong keywords within your descriptive text, woven-well with actual value for the consumer, are crucial. Stuffing words for spider-sake that hold no value for people is absolutely pointless because this local listing service is human driven. Poor word use looks terrible and will more likely turn off your viewers.

• Location has an appropriate place - If a location is included in your company name, that’s one thing, but if you stuff locations into your company name that don’t belong there, you’re going to be disappointed. Your business may either be turned down or penalized by Google.

• Make sure you verify your company - If you don’t take that extra step at the end, your listing won’t be finalized. That means that everything you’ve just done, and it is somewhat time consuming, is for nothing. Google allows you and invites small businesses to take advantage of their local business center, now called Google Places. They will find a return for your company when a searcher uses certain terms to look for you, whether or not you’ve claimed your business. If you haven’t, you’re at the mercy of the results they find.

By claiming your business and filling out the information to your benefit, you’re given more authority as a business owner than if Google simply returned your company link for comments or social media encounters, which can happen! Take control of your online appearance by fully completing your information, or hiring someone to do that for you. Repairing the mistakes made by company # 1 made a difference immediately, and the business owner didn’t even realize those things had been left incomplete. Remember to dot your ‘i’s and cross your ‘t’s to get the most out of your small business listings.

What exactly is the purpose of your brochure? Do you want a certain reaction from its readers?

Yes, you want more business. But for your brochure to be truly effective, you’ll have to break that down. More business is the the long-term goal. What steps will a reader have to make in the short-term for that to happen?

Look at it like this:

• They need to pick it up
• They need to read it
• They need to be interested
• They need to be affected
• They need to know what you want them to do. Call? E-mail? Visit your website? Fill out a return postcard?

Most brochures that are sitting in a stand on a counter or set out on an accent table don’t get read. They don’t. They’re still an incredible marketing method, but you only have a one in 10 chance that out of the brochures read, you’ll even get business from them. That means you need to grab and captivate your audience quickly, and then you very specifically need to guide them through the entire piece without making it feel like a chore.

Hint: Men and women process information differently. Most men scan – not read – full context information.

How will you make sure he understands that what you offer matters to him?

• Be precise
• Be bold
• Speak directly to him, and
• Use graphics

Most women, on the other hand, read emotionally. She is more likely to respond to humorous or insightful messages – messages that give her perspective validity.

• Address the circumstance
• Use sarcastic, cynical or endearing humor, and
• Provide a cure

When you provide products or services that don’t cater to a specific gender, the tone, content and graphics yield better results when they’re more personal, and speak to the need a consumer has that would cause them to require your offering.

Whether selling to men, women or both, make it clear what you expect them to do with their newly-acquired information. Don’t let a sale slip through your fingers because you thought your product or service was more important than the consumer. Then request a phone call or website view so they can get more information on solving their problems.

Do you take gender into account when drafting marketing materials for your company? What did I miss? Let me know in the comments below, and feel free to hit reply in our newsletter for a personal response.