0 After the Summer Break …

I’m taking a summer break for the month of August and will return on Monday 5 September.

However, if I can get the plug-in working to my satisfaction, I hope to recycle some old posts over this period.  These will go out on social media but it’s possible they will not appear in weekly round-up emails.  If you find them, feel free to comment on these posts, especially if you can spot anything dated in them.  As they appear I’ll make an effort to bring them up to date.

Website Improvements

As always I intend to use the quiet time to review and improve my website.  Most of it is becoming dated and it would be good to describe my consultancy business more effectively.

I don’t know how far I’ll get with this but I intend to complete some tidying, if not writing entirely new copy.

The other thing I want to do is showcase Thrive themes more effectively.  Their themes and plug-ins are constantly developing and I am aware my site hardly does them justice.  If you want to look at their offer, scroll down to the very bottom of any page and click on the link.  Remember, this is an affiliate link.

Future Blog Sequences

I’m fairly happy with my routine posts and so I shall continue with the MWF pattern, as follows:

Mondays

I completed the third element of the Circuit Questionnaire, companion posts last Monday.  You can review the first two elements, on the Circuit Questionnaire page.  I shall add in the third element, Proposition, posts in the near future.

So, in September I shall start on the fourth element, Problem and then move on to the fifth and last element, Market.  There is about 30 weeks worth of material to go, so I haven’t given any thought to what follows afterwards.

Wednesdays

This day is where I cover sequences apart from the Circuit Questionnaire.  Earlier this year I completed a long sequence about Spirituality and I have not yet completed the post summary on this page.

Since then I have completed a sequence about In-Person Techniques (the last one was two days ago) and I will prepare a page some time soon that summarises these posts.

I have two ideas for future Wednesday posts and haven’t decided which to publish first.

I want to write about self-employment and its contribution to the local economy.  In this sequence I shall explore work / life balance in various ways and the contributions self-employed people make to both work and life.

The second sequence I have in mind is the contribution marketing makes to community development.  Businesses don’t just contribute finance to local economies but perhaps we’re a little slow to appreciate all they do and could contribute.

Fridays

I write my Friday posts during the week before and the idea is they can be more topical.  I sometimes use them to review books, resources or websites.  At other times I comment on some issue that has come to my attention.  I’m hoping to find time to review more material about co-production, for example.

This is your opportunity to suggest issues you would like me to write about.  Suggest a topic and if I haven’t already written about it, I’ll have a go (within reason).

Guest Posts

Just a quick reminder, I’m happy to write guest posts for other sites and welcome relevant guest posts on this site.  If you are an expert in a related area to my posts, please contact me and we’ll see what we can do together.

0 In-Person Marketing: Advertising

One common misunderstanding is that marketing and advertising are the same thing.  Marketing is the strategy you employ to bring your product, service or cause to your market’s attention and then convert prospects into customers.

Advertising is one method you can employ as part of your marketing strategy.  All an advert does is say: “Here’s a thing and here’s what to do next if you’re interested in it”.

Another misconception is advertising cannot be an in-person approach.  Clearly a great deal of advertising is impersonal, eg hoardings, television, most online advertising despite its alleged targeting.  But advertising can be a step towards a personal business arrangement: “I saw your advert in the window, can you tell me more, please?”

In this post I am not going to write about advertising copy.  This is an enormous topic and I have covered it in various ways in several posts.

Also, I’m not going to write about how to purchase advertising.  I have mentioned this in a few posts as an option in certain circumstances.  The question is do you really need this and if so how can you find expert support?

Local Advertising Opportunities

It is worth asking what advertising opportunities you have in the local marketplace:

What advertising do you find effective reaching local customers?

In-Person Marketing

This is the final post for now in this sequence about in-person marketing.  I shall add more as new possibilities come to my attention.  My next post will announce what’s coming next!

0 Negative Side-Effects to Your Offer

Negative side-effects happen where there is a cost, constraint or difficulty associated with your offer.  The thing to remember is negative side-effects are unavoidable but they can be turned to your advantage.

The key to managing negative side-effects is to expect them and so prepare your clients for them.  The question on the Circuit Questionnaire at 3.18 suggests you could use a statement like this:

Now you can get {benefit} without {traditionally associated cost}!

The first thing to note is this is a cost associated with a benefit.  What you’re saying is your offer addresses this traditional associated cost.

So, let’s say you are a website designer.  You could claim a variety of costs would be eliminated:

Use the Value Triangle!

One point to note: you can save time by paying more money or you can save money by spending more time.  You are unlikely to come up with an offer that saves both time and money.  Indeed, I discussed this very issue in my post about the Value Triangle.

Consider Your Prices

If you’re offering to save your customer time, this means you are using your time.  So, you charge more because you have limited time too!  However, you are:

You should charge for the time you save for your customer and not the time it takes you to complete the job.  After all you can do the job quicker because of the time you’ve spent over years learning your trade!

Similarly, the DWY approach has its own advantages.  The customer will understand their site, how it works, etc.  They will establish a routine that helps them keep their site up-to-date.

Help Your Customer Decide

The point is the customer must decide which of the available options to choose.  The important thing is they make an informed decision and understand its implications.

If you have several offers, you should be able to suggest a couple of viable options.  Alternatively, you can sometimes make referrals to providers who can make a better offer.

So, you can say your offer is time-saving and reasonably priced but make the price comparison with other time-saving offers.  A DWY offer is not time-saving per se and so don’t compare it with the price of a DFY offer.

Use the Value Triangle to find out what is important to your customer.  A conversation around how the three factors interact will equip them with a model they can use with any provider.  If they are going to pay more, they can reasonably expect higher quality and faster delivery.  Pay less and expect to sacrifice either quality or speed.

Be aware of other advantages.  A DWY approach sacrifices speed but not quality and it has other advantages, as a learning opportunity for the customer.  A high-speed, low quality fix may be what you need under some circumstances, eg where you are testing a market and a rough and ready site is all you need for the present.

OK, that brings us to the end of “Proposition”, the third element in the Circuit Questionnaire.  I will pick up with the fourth element, “Problem” in a few weeks’ time.

0 Using Social Media to Promote Your Business or Cause

A few years ago I re-read Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” and discovered how bad-tempered all the characters (including Alice) seem to be.  Users of Social Media are a bit like Alice.  Perhaps when they first fall down the rabbit hole, this new world is amazing; it affords glimpses into so many worlds!  But as the novelty wears off and Alice explores, this world becomes increasingly infuriating.

There are millions of people out there and most seem to be angry.  The Brexit vote is a recent example.  Annoyed Remainers blame Brexiters for the pointlessness of their enterprise and annoyed Brexiters blame Remainers for not seeing the reasonableness of Brexit.  The debate has rumbled on over the months and Mr and Ms Angry are still out there, although for the moment they seem to occupy the left of the political spectrum.

I’m inclined to respond to the question: how do I use Social Media to market my business? with “are you out of your mind?”  But perhaps that is an angry response.  So, I’ll offer a few thoughts that might be helpful.

A Few Social Media Guidelines

Do you have any tips for using social media to promote businesses or causes?

0 In-Person Marketing: Interviews

There are different types of interviews.  They can be part of a referral marketing strategy or an enrolment conversation that leads to sales.  This post is about interviews that convey information.

Some aim to draw out information from clients or prospects that can be used in a marketing campaign.  Others to interview you about your business and you need to convey what it is about effectively.

Interviews of Clients or Prospects

The great thing is you have control over the questions asked!  This does not mean you necessarily ask the questions.  You could ask a consultant to interview your clients or prospects on your behalf.  This way you would discuss what you want to find out with the consultant and then leave them to it.  The advantage of using a consultant is your clients may be more willing to open up to them than they are to you, especially if they are still in a working relationship with you.

The important thing to remember is you will record this interview and published it.  The way  you use the interview needs to be negotiated with the interviewee, even if they are happy to collaborate and want to help you.

Possible Uses for Interviews of Clients or Prospects

Interviews of You

Much of the above applies to you too!  An interview can be used in similar ways and might draw out of you new and surprising ways of describing your offer.  I want to consider three types of interview you might encounter.

The main thing to remember is answer the questions.  I know politicians never answer the question but you have a business or cause and you do yourself no favours by seeming evasive.

Friendly

This is where you arrange an interview for your own purposes, perhaps so you can display a video on your website.  You choose someone who knows about what you’re doing and is willing to sit down with you, plan the questions and guide the interview to the conclusions you want.

This is not to say the friendly interviewer can’t be tough with you.  It is best to allow them some space to ask follow-up questions because they might draw new insights from you.  Unless you’re live, you can edit out the worst moments!

Incompetent

This is where you might consent to an interview, perhaps on local radio or TV, and discover the interviewer has not been properly briefed or has no understanding of your field.  You need to be ready for this happening.  As soon as you are in the hands of a third-party, you have less control over what they do.

Prepare for the interview by rehearsing answers to some basic questions.  This equips you to sound as if you know what you’re talking about, even if the questions are not terribly helpful.

Try to help the interviewer by explaining, as soon as you can exactly what you do and the benefits of what you offer.  Hopefully, most interviewers will then get on track.  You may need to feed them ideas, especially if they struggle to find sensible questions.

Don’t assume your interviewer is incompetent.  The reality may be they have not been properly briefed.  Once they understand what you are talking about they may start to ask more searching questions.  Remember, they may conduct several interviews every day and not always get the briefing they need.

Hostile

Most of us dread the hostile interview and tend to think just about any third-party interview is likely to be hostile.  Most interviewers want to give you an opportunity to talk about your topic and they are not trying to catch you out.  Take any opportunities you can to discuss the interview beforehand and all should be well.

Hostile interviews are rare.  They may happen if you are accused of something.  If so, your aim will be to either clear your name or else apologise and explain what happened and what you are going to do about it.  Either way this nightmare scenario can sometimes be turned to your advantage.

The reason I mention it here is to make the point it is unlikely.  Your interviewer is more likely to be either friendly and competent or friendly and incompetent.  Either way you can make your business or cause better known.

Have you experiences of interviews that have gone well or been disastrous?

1 Indirect Benefits of Your Offer

An indirect benefit is where a third-party benefits as well as or instead of your client or customer.  There are also incidental benefits your client or customer experiences beyond what you originally planned.

Referral Marketing

Referral marketing is a deliberate approach to indirect benefits.  You have an offer that will benefit your customers.  If a business partner refers your service to one of their customers, your partner will benefit from what their customer receives from you.  All three parties win from this approach.

A good example of this approach is Utility Warehouse (this is an affiliate link, included to illustrate this post.  Contact me if you are interested).  They offer an attractive package of discounted utility services.  They use referral marketing to sell their packages, which means they engage distributors, who are self-employed.  So, let’s see who wins.

This is an interesting business model and it is worth studying to understand the power of indirect benefits.  When you have a win-win arrangement, it changes the basis of doing business.  Distributors benefit directly from collaboration.  There is an incentive to generosity built into this approach.

That’s true for any form of referral marketing.  The mindset has to be one of generosity and not competition.  This does not guarantee everything boles along swimmingly!  This approach requires a lot of patience and very often the benefits are not immediately clear.  You have to trust other businesses will in the long run act in your interests.

Causes

Of course, causes are examples of where a third-party benefits, often at the expense of the client or customer.  Perhaps we don’t always think of people who make donations as clients or customers, after all they do not usually receive any direct benefit from their contribution.

However, just as businesses value repeat customers, so charities value repeat donors.  This means they need to build a relationship with their donors.  Whist the donor will expect as much of their contribution as possible to help the beneficiaries of the scheme, many will value reports on the effectiveness of the cause and possibly other incentives to continue with their support.

If the donor feels they are part of something, they are more likely to continue with their support.  The same applies to any customer, if they feel as if they are part of something they are more likely to agree to work with you or shop with you.  Maybe it is not obvious how you will do this but it is always worth asking the question.

Other Benefits to the Prospect

It’s always worth asking what benefits your customer or clients receive in addition to their main reason for buying.  Often these positive side effects can be more important than the thing itself.

So, someone might purchase double-glazing to reduce their fuel bills.  Double-glazing also reduces carbon emissions and this side-effect might be of value to the customer.  If they approach you to reduce their fuel bills, there’s no harm in pointing out other benefits.

It is always helpful to listen to your customers and ask how your product or service has benefitted them.  It is not impossible they will experience benefits you never anticipated.  These may be universal enough to add to your marketing copy.

It is worth reviewing possible side-effects as you develop your product or service.  These might accrue to family life, working life or directly to the customer.

The Context of Indirect Benefits

It’s not really possible to review each of these because so much depends upon the nature of the offer.  However, it is worthwhile being aware of the circumstances in which indirect benefits might arise:

Can you think of additional benefits you’ve found for your offer?  Have you used these to support your marketing?

0 From Story to Brand

I’ve written about stories several times and discussed your story as an essential part of your brand.  However, what does this mean in practice?  This post aims to open a discussion about how we can move from story to brand.

What is a Brand?

It makes sense to start with this question because we need to know where we’re going!  The key to understanding Brand is recognition.  Whatever it is about your business or cause that your market recognises, contributes to your Brand.

When we think of Brand we usually think about things like a logo, a by-line, the name of a product or business, colour schemes, etc.  All these things certainly contribute and for larger businesses, they can work very well without the need for much of a story.

For small businesses, including self-employed these may be harder to bring together and use to gain recognition.  It may be easier to use a story.  Why?

Using a Story as Your Brand

If your story is memorable and well-known it is likely to help people recognise who you are and understand your offer.  Let’s say you are a life-coach.  You are likely to be one among many.

Your market is likely not to understand what life coaching is, let alone decide whether they need your services.  So, the aim of any life coach (and this applies equally to most other businesses) is to establish their own credentials at the same time as they explain who their services are for and the benefits of using them to those people.

Vivid images always help and if they can be captured in a logo that is all well and good.  However, stories can generate images in the imagination, so the words you use to describe your business can generate images just as effectively as a logo.

So, perhaps you use a word like “Chrysalis” to name your business.  Can you link your business name to your story?  This does not need to be spelt out but the two can reinforce your image or conflict and so undermine your image.

Very often we name our businesses a long time before we find our story.  This can be problematic if you find a story that doesn’t resonate with your business name.  Everyone’s understanding of what they are doing evolves over the years.  This means managing your brand is likely to be an ongoing challenge.

Two Types of Story

Perhaps there are two types of story.  They can be combined or presented on different occasions.

One type of story focuses on the past and tells how someone experienced a problem and overcame it.  This type of story may appeal to people preoccupied with the same problem.

The other type of story is about someone with a vision, who worked out how to turn it into reality.  The point of this story is not so much to stake a claim for knowing how to turn visions into reality – as to establish the power of a vision to effect change.  Many people with a vision do not believe it is for them to make it real.

Experiment with different ways of telling your story and try to work out what type of story it is.  (There are certainly more than two types.)

If you already have an image associated with your business, perhaps you will begin to see how it resonates with your story.  Or perhaps it doesn’t.

If you have successfully turned your story into a brand, how did you do it?

0 In-Person Marketing: Articles in Formal Media

A few years ago, an article in formal media, eg newspapers or magazines, or a feature on television or radio was a breakthrough for businesses or organisations.  Everyone now has access to the Internet and so the value of formal media has changed.

That does not mean they are without value.  Perhaps the way to think about it is the Internet has introduced new possibilities and advantages that complement formal media.  Like everything else, to enhance the value of using formal media, ensure it is part of a considered marketing strategy.

Pros and Cons of Formal Media

Using Formal Media to Reach New Markets

The big advantage of formal media is its potential to introduce your enterprise to new markets.  You are likely to encounter people who do not go online so much and those who have not found you online.

The big disadvantage of formal media is it’s ephemeral.  The article in this week’s paper will be forgotten by next week.  Radio and TV may be temporarily accessible online but will soon be forgotten.  The same material on a website might be seen by the same number of people or more but over a longer period.  There are occasions when something goes viral and the world beats a path to your website but these are rare and can’t be counted upon.

Formal media means exposure to regular consumers of that media.  They are not forced to read it or listen but those who do may become new prospects.

Editorial Control

Another disadvantage of formal media is you do not have editorial control.  The reporter, interviewer and / or editor will have significant control over content and presentation.  This is not to say they will make a bad job of it but there is a problem if they don’t like what you’re offering (or it’s not for them) or they don’t understand it.  Even if you write an article or press release it has been known for its main point to be edited out!

Another advantage of formal media is it gives you authority or social proof.  Edited media works like third-party endorsement.  Many restaurants display newspaper articles in their window.  These include information about the restaurant and boost its credibility.  You can report your published item and perhaps link to an online version if it exists.  The fact that formal media value your work sufficiently to publish it still counts for something!

Using Formal Media to Contact Your Market

You will usually be able to invite readers or listeners to contact you.  On a website they can do this through the click of a button.  Whatever means of communication you offer in formal media is likely to be more effort.  However, those who make the effort are likely to be genuine prospects.

One thing to consider when offering contact details is the best mode of contact.  If you have a shop front, its address is likely to be helpful.  Otherwise consider the likely readership of the paper – are they more likely to use the phone or contact you online?

How to Access Formal Media

If this is likely to be a major part of your local marketing, eg if your market is likely to be older people, then you will need specialist help.  Developing a plan to get you out there, assessing whether it will be worthwhile and then making the contacts are all specialist skills.

Here are a few thoughts to get you started:

When you have thought through and consulted about these issues, you can approach your media.  You may have contacts who can help you or else you could try a press release.  Visit their website first and find out if they have any guidance for organisations approaching them.

Advertising

By the way, don’t forget advertising.  Like everything else advertising should be part of your marketing strategy.  The issues in the list above apply equally.  The main point to remember is to do it only of you can afford to lose the costs.  The price is an investment and all investments have their attendant risks.

Conclusions

Many local businesses manage perfectly well without formal media coverage or, more likely, occasional and ad hoc coverage.  When occasional opportunities arise, take them and integrate them into your marketing strategy.

One final point, formal media features more in non-local campaigns.  If you are marketing nationally or internationally, it is a real albeit possibly expensive option.  Many successful businesses manage marketing online as an alternative.  Lots of businesses use both.

How have you used local formal media and how did you integrate it into your marketing strategy?

0 The Longevity of Your Promotion

You have an offer and one way to sell it is through a promotion, a marketing plan for your offer.  The thing you promote is your proposition, the rationale behind your offer. The longevity of your promotion is one thing to consider.

So, if you have a shop front, you could display a sign offering a discount on one of your offers.  The discount is likely to be more effective if it is for a short period:  “For one week only …”  “Offer ends on Saturday …”

If you are going to do it that way, it is usually a good idea to have a reason for the promotion that you can make public, scarcity or urgency, for example.

Where your offer is long-term, perhaps if it is the main thing you sell, then you need a long-term promotion.

So, let’s take a look at short and long-term promotions:

Short-Term Promotions

The main thing to remember is plan about how you are going to combine short-term and long-term promotions.  A product launch for a new offer can pave the way for a long-term promotion.  Once people find you through a short-term promotion, they may be interested to explore what else you offer.

How have you organised your offers, to encourage people to explore everything you offer?

0 On Being Stuck

We’ve all been stuck!  We’ve tried everything and nothing works.  Being stuck, we can’t get traction or make progress despite all our efforts.  What can possibly be done?

Being stuck is a brilliant place to be!  Once you understand why this is, you shall never think about it in the same way again.  If you have tried everything, then any solution you find has to be something new.  To be stuck is to be on the verge of a breakthrough, of an innovative solution.  If you’re not stuck, you need nothing new.

Small business owners often experience being stuck with an offer they can’t sell.  They have a good product or service but can’t find the pulse of their market.

Your Attitude

Generally it is important to be patient and live with the problem for a while.  Have confidence your subconscious is working on the problem.  At some point you will make a breakthrough, see things differently and be able to move on.

It can be really helpful to take a break from the problem.  The old advice to “sleep on it” has some value.  Sometimes all you need is to take a break.  A good long walk might shift the log jam and help you see the problem from a new angle.

Discussing the problem with someone else can work.  The person you choose does not have to be an expert, the point is not that they will come up with the solution.  The point is you will perhaps see things in a new light, as you describe the problem.  It does help if the person you choose can ask intelligent questions.  They might inadvertently stumble upon a new way of viewing the problem.  And someone who does understand the problem may be able to point out some unexplored options.

A coach or mentor can help you think things through.  A non-directive consultant will know lots of ways to help you address the roadblock.

Some Things to Try

So, you’re on your own or you have a team and you’re all stuck.  The chances are you are taking something for granted.  So, consider the following:

1. Do you really understand the problem?  It may be worth going back over the evidence, reviewing the research or even collecting new evidence.  Have you identified your market and asked them for their views?
2. Are you making assumptions about the solution?  Many businesses make a breakthrough when they understand the goal of marketing is not always sales.  It can be education, helping people understand their problem.  If you’re simply asking how to increase sales, perhaps you are asking the wrong question.  Trying a different goal may help you find your way forward by another route.
3. Problems have contexts.  Maybe the approaches you use work better in another context.  It is certainly true that solutions that work in one city or estate, don’t necessarily work elsewhere and sometimes it’s hard to understand why.  If your chosen approach works elsewhere, is there something significant in your context you are not taking into account.
4. Have you implemented your solutions properly?  If you trying something complex, have you followed the instructions?  There is ample time to attempt variations once you understand the basic method.
5. Are you blaming other people?  It is sometimes tempting to assume there is a plot against you.  Or a group of people have some unfair advantage.  Usually this is not so but even if it is so, why are you competing with them?
6. If all else fails, try lateral thinking!  Actually, these approaches are examples of lateral thinking.  It simply means approaching the problem from a different angle.  You can try something like picking a word at random from a dictionary, brainstorm around it and then see if anything resonates with your problem.  If the problem is on your mind, perhaps your subconscious will find a solution this way.

Trust Your Subconscious

The skill is learning to listen to your subconscious and not stamping on an idea that at first may seem irrelevant or irreverent.  Listen to what your own mind is saying and you’ll often find it is inviting you to look at things in a very different light.

What approaches do you use to solve intractable problems?