If you’re a smaller residential service company, chances are you create your own fliers and marketing materials. It’s likely you create your own business cards and order your invoices and time cards from a company that also offers t-shirts, baseball caps, and embroidered name tag button-down shirts. It’s affordable. You get to have the appearance of a legitimate company and no one selling you pricey services and telling you how your message needs to sound to your clients. Certainly, these things are important for you to stay in control of your costs and your reputation.

Or is it?

If it’s all you’ve got, think again. All of those things do agree with your service van that you’re in business, but does it say, “I’m the only one who will treat you fairly and you should deal with me because I can give you the best service and product, guaranteed.”

Whether you realize it or not, the time you spend coming up with ways to cut marketing costs may very well be the slow death of your company. You may not agree, but if I’m right, ‘lone-wolf’ marketing is far more expensive than using a professional with an eye for detail and a flair for the right words and strategies.

There are many cost-saving methods of getting your message to your potential clients. This blog is dedicated to teaching small companies how to market effectively at reduced costs. Don’t get the idea, however, that you’re better off with a half-hearted, single-minded approach. No, what we advocate is that you learn new, aggressive strategies being used by professionals now with the understanding we impart to you through this blog, and have the polishing done by experts who care about your holistic success. Do what you can do well, outsource the rest.

The difference is clearly financial – but it’s more than that. Consider what Dan Kennedy teaches in No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs (NO BS): if you are in business to be a restaurant owner, caterer, pool service owner, electrician, or plumber, your services doing that are what make your business valuable. Although necessary, the time you spend marketing brings less value to your company than doing what you get paid to do. You will get more bang for your buck when you hire someone to help you bring that quality to the table. Each part of your business should be handled by the people who handle that part most effectively.

Say you’re a florist, for example. You own a brick and mortar shop on the corner and business between holidays is slow. Maybe you employ three others who do various things, like delivery, floral arrangements, and bookkeeping. Between all of your employees and yourself, you’re capable of handling large volumes of business because each can play a part in floral arrangement as well, as long as the finished product is inspected, approved, and re-arranged as necessary by the experts who know this stuff.

Stay with me here.

In another instance, an electrical service has been in business for almost two decades. You hire the electricians who go out on the job, you estimate the large projects, oversee and troubleshoot, and ultimately hold the responsibility for the job being done correctly. Say you manage a team of six, each with their own service vans. You’ve probably got an office manager and receptionist who handle the phones, scheduling, and payroll.

In each of these scenarios, each member of the team brings value to their position. Each player has a financial value in the company and a direct interest in their particular part. They get paid first. Overall company performance and income for the business owner is based on everything above that overhead.

Is the best use of company dollars to pay the delivery driver to answer the phones, or the florist to make deliveries? The best way to utilize electrical technicians isn’t to schedule team members, or do the payroll. Your company makes more when you can charge hourly for skilled work on the job, right? Of course. The right people need to be bringing the money in. It wouldn’t pay the bills to spend company money like that.

What is your dollar value per hour? What do you have to bring in for your company to show profit? If you are doing all of your own marketing, you’re not making money doing what you do best. Time is money. If marketing is what you do best, why not do that for a living? If you only promote your company with limited skill-set, and not for a living, aren’t you short-changing yourself?

There are plenty of things you can do for yourself, don’t get me wrong, but pay for the professional advice and outsource the things that may be taking away from your bottom line. Those same hours are worth more when the right people are on the right job. In the long run, you DO pay for marketing, and you may be paying far more than you can afford when it doesn’t bring in the desired results. Go through our Do-It-Yourself pages, check out our Small Business Acceleration Packages, and look at our Services page for a la carte options our company provides to augment or overhaul your current strategy. Need more information? Call or email us today and see how we can help you get the most out of your marketing dollar.

If you’re listed in the service directories offered online these days, it can be a very good thing. Google Local, for instance, is one of the smartest places to exist, and so are  MerchantCircle, Yelp, and Foursquare. If you don’t exist there, you should, but if you do…

Do you have a Web site? Or did you simply list your business with them and expect that to be your online appearance?

It is a common situation for local companies to list themselves with little more than an online opportunity for reviews. I see a big problem with that. For one thing, when searchers are looking for a residential service company or a local small business, they expect to learn more about them than basic contact info. It really puzzles me to see the companies that have little more than a company name, but it really drives me nuts to see that often they’re not linked to a Web site, and have no name associated with the contact number when it exists. Top that off with reviews that may not be favorable, and it flat out floors me.

Often some reviews aren’t even from customers familiar with the business.

What to do? Remember a few things when you decide to list your business:

• Connect your listing to your Web site. Test your link. We want to know more about you than your company name.
• If you work out of your home, use a mail center P.O. because it allows you to use their street address, protecting yours. (USPS only offers P.O. Box)
• Do make a contact name available. It’s the first step to an introduction, and friendly is good.
• Manage your reviews. If they are poor, address and correct them.
• If your reviews are favorable, thank the customer.

We’ll be going into more detail soon about the importance of a Web site connected to directory listings and other ways they benefit the customer. Meanwhile, the last bit of advice I’ll give you concerns reviews that are not legitimate or favorable. I can’t stress enough how important it is to request customer reviews, especially when the customer ecstatic. Have some things in place to make it easy for them to do so, like a one line request on the invoice or receipt of service, or post card mailings with the link to your directory listing, or even asking the customer if they would like to add their email address to your list for future specials. Make sure the first email is a customer service survey with an opportunity to comment. You can then post their comment in reviews. Honestly, there is no easier way for a customer to publicly brag about your service than an email link.

The more favorable comments you have posted to your reviews, the less impact a negative or illigitimate review will ultimately have. Consider negative reviews a way to connect to your customers and correct problems you don’t want to repeat.

Our affordable business Web sites and hosting platforms have tremendous flexibility, and combined with your years of expertise, may be just what you need to increase visibility.

Take a look at our Small Business Accelerator Packages and see for yourself how affordable the combination of good advice and necessary services can be for your company. Would your company benefit from better visibility? Can you afford to be invisible?

As much as I know that social media forums like Facebook and Twitter offer brilliant free marketing for small businesses when used strategically, there are a handful of things I’ve begun to hate, I mean…er…strongly dislike when it comes to socializing on those platforms. They are, sadly, things I could have done better or understood more fully if I had made it my entire life for a set period of time. I couldn’t, and can’t, and I’ll assume that you don’t have that kind of time, either. I really do work, and because I write for my living, quiet thought is my friend. That means long hours of intense mulling over and reading (the one thing I love about Twitter, by the way – things I read and learn from what is posted there.)

Please learn from my mistakes. I committed these social media crimes knowing full well what I was doing, and thought in time these problems would rectify themselves. They haven’t. And now I’m paying the price for poor planning.

I wanted to name this article, 6 Things I HATE About Social Media, but my sister and mentor scolded me and told me I needed to speak more effectively about my calamity, and also that I should share with you problems I could have avoided, rather than just throw the fit I was intending.

I learned social media for business and accidentally realized it was a good hook up for long lost family. That was cool, but I’m not in there constantly typing about my life, and I haven’t talked myself into purchasing the $400 phone that would let me Twitter and Facebook the only time I really would, (out and about with my unique, humorous perspective:-) I should be ashamed, because I endorse social media for my clients and really believe that a local business can use these tools with some really kick-a** results. But for me, I’ve been in it just long enough to know what I hate…er…strongly dislike.

1. I indiscriminately chose people to follow believing it was more important at the beginning to start a list and refine it later.  I thought it was O.K. to start my list with ‘who-evers’ but now I have to go in and fish through them to rid my list of them so I don’t accidentally get rid of someone I like. What a pain.
2. I followed marketers just because we were in the same industry. B-a-a-aad idea. Only a handful are really interesting, the rest just abuse the twittersphere.
3. I allowed strong political perspectives, but prejudice is prejudice, and I hate it. Republican, Democrat, Liberal, Conservative – whatever, why must you decide you’re one thing and someone else is another? I’ll choose for myself, thank you, but political party certainly doesn’t define me and shouldn’t make you angry.
4. I don’t know how to get rid of the disreputable, vulgar and obscene people that for some reason decided to follow me. I report them, they come back. DON’T FOLLOW ME! I get updates in my email every once and awhile when checking my new followers. I look at their profile and see their updates and can’t for the life of me figure why they followed me. Yuck, go away. I’m not a part of any one’s harem.
5. I allowed automated quotes. I should have stopped following those eons ago. Thought it might keep me positive. Some are actually pretty insightful. Know what keeps me positive? REAL conversations and feedback. I’m a positive person, really.
6. I didn’t get that expensive phone so I can’t update when I’m out running errands. Trouble is, I really engage in conversations with people. Real people I can see. I talk to my favorite cashiers, neighbors, people waiting in lines, and just about anyone. If I’m zeroed in on my cell phone during those precious moments, I’m missing out in some rewarding interaction. That phone is a thorn in my side because I know for business, it would help me be more efficient. I don’t think it would help me as a person, though. Sometimes ya gotta make choices.

So, I guess that’s a shameful perspective for someone who thinks all small businesses should be represented on social forums. There’s only a handful of people I really enjoy, the rest I will delete soon, if I haven’t already. How I wish I had been more discriminating. It will easily take hours.

If only local businesses would represent themselves, they could completely tear up their industry giants. Marketers, on the other hand, seriously over-saturate.

Oh, there’s one more thing I strongly dislike...

I love God, and I’ll tell you all about it in person if our conversation ever goes that way. In no way would I ever publicly or otherwise disclaim God, I think that would be stupid because He’s been integrally involved in my life and I’m uber-thankful, but I really strongly dislike what’s happened to marketing-speak. Every time I try to forage new relationships with what I hope to be my peers, I end up with these people that scream Holier than Holy all over my Facebook page. Nothing wrong with inspiration, but what I’m talking about is over the top. Gonna have to thin that out.

I hope you’ve learned from my mistakes, I’ll try to do better, promise. For those of you who’ve stuck with me through the weird stuff, well…please accept my apology, and…thanks.

Recently we shared a client’s Web site makeover, and suggested you step back to look at your Web site with fresh eyes. If you did that and realized your site is looking a bit dated, what’s the first step toward a redesign?

It may surprise you to learn that the first steps to creating your new design have nothing to do with the look of your site. That’s right, although it’s the first thing we see, it’s actually a secondary consideration. So, what should we consider?

1. How’s your current site working for you? Is your information presented in a way that’s easy to find? What’s the purpose of your current site?
2. Which pages on your current site receive the most traffic? Why? Are these the pages that you want to receive the most traffic?
3. Are you happy with your search engine ranking?
4. What size browsers do most of your visitors use? (from Google Analytics)
5. What’s the purpose of your current site?

Now let’s begin talking about your new site:

1. What new information (content) will be added to your site? Do you need or anticipate needing e-commerce capabilities? Will your new site’s purpose remain the same? Describe your target customer / viewer.
2. How frequently do you plan to update your new site? Do you want to maintain your own Web site or have the developer perform all updates? Depending on the answer to these last questions, we’ll direct you toward either a static HTML Web site or a content management system (CMS). We use, love, and recommend WordPress for clients who want to update their sites themselves.
3. With those questions out of the way, we can now plan the basic architecture of your site – what content can be re-used from your old site, what needs to be added and where, and how the navigation should work.
4. Finally, we arrive at the starting point for the actual design (the look and feel) of your site. Describe any ideas you have for your site’s design. Think about colors, images, and text, but also consider how video might fit into the mix and what elements would help your site be more socially interactive.

Overall, take the time to fully evaluate your current site and to carefully think through your new site’s architecture before beginning the design process. The end result will be a well-planned site that clearly communicates your message in a logical, useful format. Then turn your attention to its design to bring your content to life.

Part of our service offering is affordable business Web site design and hosting. The screen shots below show our most recent Web site makeover for our client, GrassWay Organics. This site is built on the WordPress blog platform and uses a customized premium theme. This is a combination public / membership site, meaning that several pages are only accessible through membership in their association.

Grassway Organics Before

Grassway Organics After

In the market for a Web site makeover? Contact us today for a free, no obligation Web site review.

5 Ways to Work Smarter

Ever feel like this? As a business woman, I admit that I sometimes do. Every once and a while I get the feeling that I’m surrounded by perfectly running businesses and I’m just not keeping up like I should. Times like that make me want to spin on my office chair and blow spit bubbles.

Crazy how we get into that mindset, isn’t it? We work and plan, and plan and work, and it just doesn’t seem to ever really get done. I mean…finished. I get done all right. I get done with projects, I get done with billing, I get done with tasks and errands; but I never get finished marketing. There’s always a better, newer, more persuasive way to get the message out there. It’s never ending.

You gotta’ love your job to live it, and I do. But how do those other companies make it look so easy?

The trick is, finding the easiest way to do the most in the least amount of time, and still build a quality empire. I’m a wife, mom, sister, and daughter–I don’t want to spend all my time working just to be like everyone else. So with that, here are 5 things I’ve learned to work smarter, and keep all my hair.

1. Use quality systems to aggregate. It’s never worth doing extra steps in any marketing strategy that you can do in just one. Consider using Ping.fm your social media updates, and AWeber for getting your small business email marketing campaign off the ground. This saves me TONS of time for pennies a day.
2. Give yourself permission to research competition, read about concerns, and update your brain files with new information. It may take longer than you think, but unless you put a priority on learning as an investment, you won’t be able to keep up with anything.
3. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. Getting up to speed fast is great if you have systems in place to keep up. If you don’t, take the time to set yourself up for success by simply inching toward your long term goals daily. Life is NOT about living in a squirrel cage.
4. Appreciate what the mentors in your market are teaching you, both by what they do, and how they do it. You can always learn the hard way, but isn’t it easier to learn from others’ mistakes rather than your own?
5. Go ahead and do something different, in a different way, and take that risk that you’ll regret not taking. If you never step out, you’ll never know what could have been. You have amazing ideas in your head that need to come out. Don’t mistake that adrenaline rush for fear you shouldn’t tackle. It could just be the turn on you needed to kick the competition’s butt!

That’s what works for me. How do you handle the occasional frustrations that stem from a busy environment? Do you ever feel caught up in the mundane while everyone else looks like they’ve accomplished their goals with ease? Hang in there!

Photo Credit: kevindooley on Flickr

Here’s another example of the design process … Web site design, this time. We’ve just rolled out a new Web site home page design for Sprue Brothers Model LLC. Sprue Brothers is an online hobby retailer for scale model builders. The “sprue” in the business name is significant. All plastic scale modelling parts arrive on a frame called a sprue. The store’s logo reflects this and now so does the Web site.

Before and after screenshots are below:

Before Website Redesign

New Home Page Design

My husband (and team member), Gerald, came up with the idea of sprue borders. Our graphic artist, Scott, took the concept and ran with it. I put it together as a working Web site. Despite a few technical glitches, this was a fun project that came together quickly. It’s also one that will continue to improve over time. Gordon, we hope your new landing page serves you well.

Have you looked at your Web site lately?

Is your Web site in need of a face lift? Believe it or not, most Web sites would benefit from a makeover every couple of years. It’s not only the look of a site that can become quickly dated, but also the technology running the site. If you’re doing your own Web site coding in Dreamweaver or FrontPage, and you’re not a code geek, your site is also likely accumulating excess bits of code … stuff that doesn’t really seem to cause any problems now, but give it time … it will.

So take a few minutes this week to review your Web site from the eyes of a first time visitor. Does it portray your business the way you’d like it to? If you’re using a blog rather than a static Web site, is your blog installation up-to-date? Do your links all work? And if you know what you’re doing, take a look under the hood and check your HTML coding. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, ask me.

Another Reason to Subscribe by Email to Inside Line

We’ll have a free gift for email subscribers to Inside Line this week. Mum’s the word … can’t tell you what it is until it’s ready to go, but I will say that it’s NOT some bonus offer for buying some guru’s Internet marketing course. In fact, it’s not even educational … just something to use and enjoy, and the only string attached is that you must be a current email subscriber to Inside Line. Are you an email subscriber yet?

Ever Wonder If Your Press Release Is Getting Picked Up?

You’re not alone. While writing a press release is only half the battle, getting it picked up and read continues to haunt industry professionals everywhere. This doesn’t have to be the case, say the authors of Press Releases Designed For Effect. Not only will recognizing new dynamics re-energize your small business marketing campaign, but here at Zero To Sixty Marketing, we believe working smarter includes producing better results in less time.

Pamil Vision’s 13-page white paper on press releases is an enlightened perspective on both traditional use and newer methods of distribution. Small business owners, this is good news. You’re no longer limited to writing releases that are only read by news media journalists and columnists, now your information needs to capture the attention of professional bloggers and online readers. While some journalists still prefer a traditionally structured media release, many are finding online resources valuable for finding their information as well. Recognizing the shift in today’s communication and public relations campaigns makes a big difference to the size and geographic location of your audience. The authors of this informative white paper clearly explain the differences between the way we’ve written press releases before, and how to do it better now when considering an online audience. If you’re mindful to steer clear of industry noise, you can tackle actual newsworthy issues much more effectively with an understanding of where your target will find that information.

For example: Take into account both SEO and your social media strategy for promotion. Should you decide to take your release to the online world, recommended, you will have to use your keyword phrase in your title, and limit the length of your title to 60-100 characters. Social media exploits like Twitter and Digg only allow a certain character length in their submissions, so leaving room for the reader to comment and send on is integral. Furthermore, using keywords in your attention-grabbing title causes your release to be seen where new media is trained to search in those arenas using keywords. This method gets the information out to more people faster than traditional press releases.

The rules have changed, and small businesses need to know it. The information here is fully resourced and credible. I found the do’s and don’ts listed here for comparison a helpful and easily understood ‘cheat sheet’ for the independent and small business press release writer.

Getting your story in front of the right people still requires newsworthy content adhering to Associated Press style guidelines. It should be well-written with correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. A small business press release should avoid hyperbole and emphatic expression, while still appealing to the interest of your reader. Transparency necessary before is even more integral now with a savvy reader and viral marketplace. You won’t get away with incorrect facts or poorly drawn conclusions. Consumers want the truth, not keyword-stuffed hype that reads more like an advertisement. Pamil Vision’s white paper takes the press release writer through the thought processes and steps that, if followed, causes his newsworthy item to be broadcast to the specific readership necessary for success, whether using traditional or online distribution methods.

I give this paper 5 stars, and strongly recommend it as a ‘cheat sheet’ in your marketing arsenal. You can pick up your copy here:

Pamil Vision’s White Paper: Press Releases Designed For Effect