Strategy the Nuts and Bolts

A small business with a strong sense of identity, knows who it is and where it is headed.

Its strategy may be a simple matter of “nuts and bolts”, so simple it can be written on a serviette or the classic “back of a cigarette box”.

Yet without this basic strategic framework any small business is much like a rudderless boat in a storm. No
matter how sturdy the craft it has no direction and will end up wherever the wind and currents send it!

A good strategic plan will create synergies both internally and externally and this increased momentum and energy will provide positive direction attracting both customers and alliances, which are essential to sustainable success for small business owners.

Bring your team together, use data already available within your business and brainstorm “what if’s” around new, cost effective way to create awareness, interest, desire, trial and conversion in your product or service.

It doesn’t have to be complex. What makes a good customer for you? What problems do they have that your product/service could solve? Where can you find these people i.e. where do they “hang out”? How can you get your story across in a way that has them listening e.g. what benefits can you offer in order to solve their problem?

Having answered these questions you’ll be able to allocate tasks against an action plan, track progress, monitor the budget and measure the results.

Success is achieved when the plan is used to breathe life and purpose into the business activities undertaken and exceptional success is found when the plan is revisited regularly all through the year, tweaking and amending until your individual success recipe is found!

Use TheSmallBusinessStrategicToolbox.com to assist you in determining your unique selling potential, bottle your small business’s individual character and decant it liberally to outclass your rivals.

Consistency – How Important is it in the Marketing Message?

One of the most important aspects of your marketing is determining what your brands stands for and what your marketing message should be. Take a look at any successful franchise to see the benefit of consistency of message.

KFC and Nando’s are both successful even though their brands stand for vastly different things, however, both of them remain steadfast in what they stand for and everything they do, every marketing message they communicate is consistent and aligned to their respective brand personalities.

Do you do this in your business?

It is one of the downfalls of many small businesses. Consumers are trained to expect consistency and if you don’t provide a consistent service or message they’ll see you as unreliable and unprofessional. For example: if you sell sports cars you don’t want customers arriving to find your sales staff in shorts, t-shirt and takkies and equally if you sell farming equipment you don’t want your staff arriving in a pin-stripe suit and tie.

It seems logical enough however I can almost guarantee that if you pull out all your stationery that has a logo printed on it, look at your business signage and look at the logo on the side of your company vehicles you’ll find they aren’t uniformed.

Either the logo is different in format, has different colours or is not uniformed on where it is positioned on the page etc. This inconsistency sends a message to your customers and it’s not a message you want them to hear!

Commit funds as soon as you can to getting a professional logo done and ensure it is consistent in all the various places your customers will see it. You’ll be amazed what a difference it makes to how people perceive you.

If you’d like more information on how to get marketing working for you why not register for our Small Business Marketing Toolbox programme and make 2010 your year to shine!

Eric Parker will be here in 2010

The Small Business Toolbox is pleased to announce that we will be working closely with FrontRunner Publishing and Eric Parker to bring you the ability to purchase electronic copies of Eric’s famous “Be A Winner” series of business pocket books.

With titles like How to Buy a Small Business; How to Raise Finance for Your Business and how to Make Your Business Fail-Safe, amongst 14 others, we’re sure you’ll find advice and tips to solve just about every business challenge imaginable.

Basil and Eric were impressed with The Small Business Toolbox and are keen to get the payment gateway live as soon as possible so our development team is hard at work to ensure you have access to these incredible tools early in 2010.

Hopefully that’ll enable you to capitalize on all the opportunities surrounding the 2010 World Cup and make next year the year you, and your business, thrive!

Watch this space and, in the meantime, remember now is the time to revisit your Business Strategy for next year so why not do The Small Business Strategy Toolbox programme so you’ve got your business action plan ready to go when the new year starts!

Listen or Be Left Behind

In his book Predicting Market Success, Robert Passikoff says “smart brands do more than survive. They grow through innovation, expansion, diversification or specialization. This growth is rooted in an understanding of what drives loyalty: customer and category values, customer’s expectation, and what customers are willing to believe the brand can actually deliver.”

How true! If you don’t understand what your customer’s expect from you and your product or service how can you hope to exceed their expectations and build loyalty?

Market research is the only way of understanding this. However, it doesn’t have to be hugely time consuming and expensive. It is about asking your customers some key questions and collating the feedback, grouping it under logical business areas and then deciding what you’re going to do with this information.

In The Small Business Marketing Toolbox we have allocated a couple of modules to market research so that small business owners understand how to use the principles of basic research to better understand their customers and therefore build brand loyalty.

This type of market research is ideal for the small business owner because it is practical and cost effective providing tangible results that can be auctioned quickly to give you a competitive advantage.

To find out more about a practical, step-by-step marketing programme for small businesses visit The Small Business Marketing Toolbox today.

Sales Letters – Part Two

Following on from the last blog post on how to write effective sales letter, whether you’re going to send them through the post, or by email. Here are two more writing styles that you should find effective. After all they’ve been tried and tested by the top copy writers of all time.

Ask questions.

Use questions effectively at the start of a sales letter to connect with the ideal customer quickly.

For example: “As a small business owner have you ever stood in front of the mirror and wondered what the heck you are doing in your business? If we told you that you’re just like hundreds of other small business owners and that we have a product guaranteed to help you market your business more effectively, for less than you ever thought possible, would you be interested? And what if we told you this product would cost you less than R500? Visit The Small Business Marketing Toolbox today and find out how easy and effective marketing your small business could be!”

Psychology research tells us that when you ask questions the reader instinctively feels compelled to answer them. In this way you’re involving them in the issue at hand and connecting directly with them and their problems. Many effective sales letters ask a series of questions that are all likely to elicit a positive and strong “yes” from the recipient and in this way channel their actions towards your product.

Also, try offering something for FREE.

An example could be: “Would you like to receive a complimentary newsletter that contains tried and tested tips and advice on how to manage your small business more effectively? Visit The Small Business Toolbox today and subscribe to our e-zine. It’ll deliver sound small business management tools directly to your inbox!”

Why not think of something free that you could offer your customers right now? Perhaps also a free e-mail or printed newsletter? Maybe even a helpful article, report, brochure or booklet. If possible even a complimentary consultation with you or even a discount on their first visit to your business.

These two copy writing skills work very effectively. Take them and adapt them to your business and then use them effectively to increase trial and conversion.