Researching Your Market

The purpose of market research is to provide relevant data that will help solve marketing problems a business will encounter. This is absolutely necessary in the start-up phase. Conducting thorough market surveys is the foundation of any successful business. In fact, strategies such as market segmentation (identifying specific segments within a market) and product differentiation (creating an identity for your product or service that separates it from your competitors’) would be impossible to develop without market research.

Whether you’re conducting market research using the historical, experimental, observational or survey method, you’ll be gathering two types of data. The first will be “primary” information that you will compile yourself or hire someone to gather. Most information, however, will be “secondary,” or already compiled and organized for you. Reports and studies done by government agencies, trade associations, or other businesses within your industry are examples of the latter. Search for them, and take advantage of them.

Primary Research
When conducting primary research using your own resources, there are basically two types of information that can be gathered: exploratory and specific. Exploratory research is open-ended in nature; helps you define a specific problem; and usually involves detailed, unstructured interviews in which lengthy answers are solicited from a small group of respondents. Specific research is broader in scope and is used to solve a problem that exploratory research has identified. Interviews are structured and formal in approach. Of the two, specific research is more expensive.

When conducting primary research using your own resources, you must first decide how you will question your target group of individuals. There are basically three avenues you can take: direct mail, telemarketing or personal interviews.

Direct Mail
If you choose a direct-mail questionnaire, be sure to do the following in order to increase your response rate:

• Make sure your questions are short and to the point.
• Make sure questionnaires are addressed to specific individuals and they’re of interest to the respondent.
• Limit the questionnaire’s length to two pages.
• Enclose a professionally prepared cover letter that adequately explains what you need.
• Send a reminder about two weeks after the initial mailing. Include a postage-paid self-addressed envelope.

Unfortunately, even if you employ the above tactics, response to direct mail is always low, and is sometimes less than five percent.

Phone Surveys
Phone surveys are generally the most cost-effective, considering overall response rates; they cost about one-third as much as personal interviews, which have, on average, a response rate which is only 10 percent. Following are some phone survey guidelines:

• At the beginning of the conversation, your interviewer should confirm the name of the respondent if calling a home, or give the appropriate name to the switchboard operator if calling a business.
• Pauses should be avoided, as respondent interest can quickly drop.
• Make sure that a follow-up call is possible if additional information is required.
• Make sure that interviewers don’t divulge details about the poll until the respondent is reached.

As mentioned phone interviews are cost-effective but speed is another big advantage. Some of the more experienced interviewers can get through up to 10 interviewers an hour (however, speed for speed’s sake is not the goal of any of these surveys), but five to six per hour is more typical. Phone interviews also allow you to cover a wide geographical range relatively inexpensively. Phone costs can be reduced by taking advantage of cheaper rates during certain hours.

Personal Interviews
There are two main types of personal interviews:

1. The group survey. Used mostly by big business, group interviews can be useful as brainstorming tools resulting in product modifications and new product ideas. They also give you insight into buying preferences and purchasing decisions among certain populations.
2. The depth interview. One-on-one interviews where the interviewer is guided by a small checklist and basic common sense. Depth interviews are either focused or non-directive. Non-directive interviews encourage respondents to address certain topics with minimal questioning. The respondent, in essence, leads the interview. The focused interview, on the other hand, is based on a pre-set checklist. The choice and timing of questions, however, is left to the interviewer, depending on how the interview goes.

When considering which type of survey to use, keep the following cost factors in mind:

• Mail. Most of the costs here concern the printing of questionnaires, envelopes, postage, the cover letter, time taken in the analysis and presentation, the cost of researcher time, and any incentives used.
• Telephone. The main costs here are the interviewer’s fee, phone charges, preparation of the questionnaire, cost of researcher time, and the analysis and presentation of the results of the questioning.
• Personal interviews. Costs include the printing of questionnaires and prompt cards if needed, the incentives used, the interviewer’s fee and expenses, cost of researcher time, and analysis and presentation.
• Group discussions. Your main costs here are the interviewer’s fees and expenses in recruiting and assembling the groups, renting the conference room or other facility, researcher time, any incentives used, analysis and presentation, and the cost of recording media such as tapes, if any are used.

Secondary Research

 

 

Secondary data is outside information assembled by government agencies, industry and trade associations, labor unions, media sources, chambers of commerce, etc., and found in the form of pamphlets, newsletters, trade and other magazines, newspapers, and so on. It’s termed secondary data because the information has been gathered by another, or secondary, source. The benefits of this are obvious–time and money are saved because you don’t have to develop survey methods or do the interviewing.

Secondary sources are divided into three main categories:

1. Public. Public sources are the most economical, as they’re usually free, and can offer a lot of good information. These sources are most typically governmental departments, business departments of public libraries, etc.
2. Commercial. Commercial sources are equally valuable, but usually involve costs such as subscription and association fees. However, you spend far less than you would if you hired a research team to collect the data firsthand. Commercial sources typically consist of research and trade assocations, organizations like SCORE (Society Corps of Retired Executives) and Dun & Bradstreet, banks and other financial institutions, publicly traded corporations, etc.
3. Educational. Educational institutions are frequently overlooked as viable information sources, yet there is more research conducted in colleges, universities, and polytechnic institutes than virtually any sector of the business community.

Government statistics are among the most plentiful and wide-ranging public sources of information. Start with the Census Bureau’s helpful Hidden Treasures–Census Bureau Data and Where to Find It! In seconds, you’ll find out where to find federal and state information. Other government publications that are helpful include:

• Statistical and Metropolitan Area Data Book. Offers statistics for metropolitan areas, central cities and counties.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States. Data books with statistics from numerous sources, government to private.
• U.S. Global Outlook. Traces the growth of 200 industries and gives five-year forecasts for each.

Don’t neglect to contact specific government agencies such as the Small Business Administration (SBA). They sponsor several helpful programs such as SCORE and Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) which can provide you with free counseling and a wealth of business information. The Department of Commerce not only publishes helpful books like the U.S. Global Outlook, it also produces an array of products with information regarding both domestic industries and foreign markets through its International Trade Administration (ITA) branch. The above items are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office.

One of the best public sources is the business section of public libraries. The services provided vary from city to city, but usually include a wide range of government and market statistics, a large collection of directories including information on domestic and foreign businesses, as well as a wide selection of magazines, newspapers and newsletters.

Almost every county government publishes population density and distribution figures in accessible census tracts. These tracts will show you the number of people living in specific areas, such as precincts, water districts or even 10-block neighborhoods. Other public sources include city chambers of commerce or business development departments, which encourage new businesses in their communities. They will supply you (usually for free) with information on population trends, community income characteristics, payrolls, industrial development, and so on.

Among the best commercial sources of information are research and trade associations. Information gathered by trade associations is usually confined to a certain industry and available only to association members, with a membership fee frequently required. However, the research gathered by the larger associations is usually thorough, accurate and worth the cost of membership. Two excellent resources to help you locate a trade association that reports on the business you’re researching are Encyclopedia of Associations (Gale Research) and Business Information Sources (University of California Press) and can usually be found at your local library.

Research associations are often independent but are sometimes affiliated with trade associations. They often limit their activities to conducting and applying research in industrial development, but some have become full-service information sources with a wide range of supplementary publications such as directories.

Educational institutions are very good sources of research. Research there ranges from faculty-based projects often published under professors’ bylines to student projects, theses and assignments. Copies of student research projects may be available for free with faculty permission. Consulting services are available either for free or at a cost negotiated with the appropriate faculty members. This can be an excellent way to generate research at little or no cost, using students who welcome the professional experience either as interns or for special credit. Contact the university administration departments and marketing/management studies departments for further information. University libraries are additional sources of research.

Source:The Small Business Encyclopedia and Knock-Out Marketing.

Positioning: Setting Your Business Apart

 

This article was excerpted from MadScam. Buy it today from EntrepreneurPress.com.

What you have to impress on prospective customers is the added value they can expect when they establish a relationship with you. It may be a single specific feature so unique to your company that it can stand alone as a persuasive reason to deal with you. But the odds on finding and isolating that single 24-­carat nugget of information that makes you so special are pretty small. More than likely it’s a com­bination of less spectacular reasons that when added up give you a definite per­ceived advantage over your competition.

This single feature, or combination of distinguishing features, has been given many names over the years by various marketing pundits, but the most commonly accepted and longest lived is the unique selling proposition (USP), a term coined by Rosser Reeves, the CEO of Bates Advertising back in the 1950s. The interesting thing about a USP is that this unique attribute or feature doesn’t necessarily have to be unique to you, your product, or your services; you only have to create the per­ception that it is unique in the mind of the audience you are addressing. And if by so doing, you become the only one in your business category talking about your product’s special attribute, you end up owning its uniqueness.

Rosser Reeves did this with Gleam toothpaste. At the time, toothpaste was seen as merely a cleaning and whitening aid. (In those days most people smoked three packs a day of unfiltered cigarettes and drank gallons of diesel-strength coffee, so less­-than-­pearly-­white teeth and paint-­stripper breath was a fairly common problem.)

After talking to the people who made the stuff, Rosser discovered Gleam had chlorophyll in it, which was primarily a breath freshener. Rosser immediately renamed and advertised the product as “Gleam Toothpaste with miracle ingredi­ent GL70.” This so-­called miracle ingredient was vigorously hyped as the answer to effective oral hygiene for people who couldn’t brush after every meal because it helped fight both tooth decay and bad breath. If you didn’t want to put up with the operating­-room taste of things like Listerine, this was seen as the answer to your problems. Within months, the product was selling like gangbusters to hordes of Camel-­smoking, high-­test coffee drinking, hamburger-­munching Americans.

But the most interesting part of the story is that just about every other brand of toothpaste on the market had chlorophyll in it. It was only because Rosser took the time to find out about every single product ingredient and its attributes, rec­ognize that one of them presented an opportunity to create a USP, develop a com­pletely new way to position Gleam than the way toothpaste had always been marketed to the public, and then be the only one in the marketplace to talk about it (making it the core element of all the advertising), that he was able to turn a me­-too toothpaste into a huge brand.

This concept of a USP is an important lesson to consider when putting together a marketing strategy. Do not doubt for one minute that there will be some particular facet of your business you can promote as being unique, whether it’s in the products or services you create, the way you sell them or the second-­to­-none after­-sales services you develop that keep customers com­ing back. Believe me, somewhere in that mix there will be something you can transform into a USP. All you have to do is find it, then communicate it to your potential market.

But a word of caution here, virtually all the ads that Rosser Reeves created were appalling. Yes, they worked like gangbusters and sold a lot of products, in spite of the fact that virtually everyone hated them. He was responsible for flaming stom­achs, anvils in heads, and lots and lots of charts and diagrams with unremitting supers (on­screen titles) flashing product benefits over and over. He also had a fetish about dressing every actor in every commercial in a white coat to give the impression they were doctors.

Under no circumstances should you model your efforts on the Rosser Reeves school of hard sell when it comes to executing your advertising. But by all means rely on that fundamental principle of the unique selling proposition when it comes to doing the spadework necessary to develop your communications plan.

Nailing Your USP
Whether you’re a startup or reinventing yourself, identifying the essential core elements that can help build your company’s name and reputation will get you started on the road to fame, fortune and fast cars.

As you develop a marketing strategy you can use as the foundation of your communications plan, some questions you should consider, and hopefully come up with solid answers to are:

• Are you unique?
• If so, in what way?
• Can you definitely prove it?
• If you’re not unique, are you better at what you do than the competition? And if so, what exactly is it that makes you better?
• Can you demonstrate in easily understandable language (not BS) what it is that makes you better or different?
• Do you provide quality–either at a price or irrespective of price?
• Do you provide value? And that doesn’t necessarily mean offering the cheapest prices or matching those of some fly-by-night outfit that could very well not be around tomorrow.
• If you believe you provide value, can you express it in 20 words or less, spelling out what is the unquestionable benefit you provide at a fair price to satisfied customers?
• Do you back up your quality products or services with rock-solid, no-questions-asked guarantees and unmatched customer relationships?
• Are you totally reliable? This goes beyond the above two points and is the reason why some companies have been in business for years, while seemingly not being different than other companies with similar products and services. Perhaps a better way of posing the question would be, Does your company have integrity?
• Do you give the impression that you’ve been around for a while and intend to be around for a good deal longer? That anyone dealing with you, (particularly in a B2B relationship), should be assured that you will unhesitatingly solve to their complete satisfaction any and all problems that might occur in your business relationship?
• Even though it may not necessarily be seen as an obvious bottom-line revenue generator, are you prepared to spend time helping solve customers’ problems, irrespective of whether this is part of the service you normally provide?
• If you’ve been in business for a while, do you have solid and reference-proof case studies, particularly with locally recognizable satisfied customers, that you can talk about in your advertising? Can potential customers call your existing customers to verify their experiences with you?
• If you went out of business tomorrow, would anyone, apart from you, your mother, your dog and your investors give a damn?

So let’s assume you can answer yes to at least one of the above items. (Perhaps, even more than one.) If so, congratulations, you have a USP. Put it down on paper.

To read more about creating great advertising at a low cost, buy MadScam today.

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By George Parker

Interviewing Dos & Don’ts

You’ve written a compelling release, determined the ideal time to issue the news, selected the optimum distribution package through your newswire service provider and developed a list of key media targets. Chances are now strong that reporters will respond, and when they do, they’ll want to talk.

This is a good thing. The pinnacle of PR. Unfortunately for some of you, though, media interviews are an anxiety-laden proposition that can limit your ability to effectively articulate the story you’re so eager to tell.

If you’re one of these people, fear not. There are several techniques you can employ prior to and during an interview that can help smooth the process and create an atmosphere of comfort and control.  

What to Expect
The majority of all media interviews are conducted over the phone. The reason is simple. Most reporters are writing on deadline, and the phone provides a simple and efficient way to make contact and gather information. There may be instances when a reporter requests a face-to-face meeting or, given today’s digital age, an e-mail exchange. But for the most part, the phone is the communication medium of choice.

When speaking to a reporter over the phone, there are a few specific techniques you should consider. First, if at all possible, use a landline. Poor cell phone connections can be frustrating and may result in misquotes. Second, try standing during the call. It may seem like an odd thing to do, but standing will put you in a more aggressive posture and can even help you focus your thoughts. Lastly, and most important, limit all outside distractions. Turn away from your monitor, close out of e-mail, shut down your PDA, and lock your door. Background noise (literal and figurative) can disrupt your thought process and potentially cause you to misstate a response.

Whether on the phone, in person or via e-mail, the following tips should be considered each and every time you’re presented with an interview opportunity. Each can help mean the difference between an article that showcases you and your company as a powerful force in your industry and a story that fails to connect with your audience, or worse, paints your company in a bad light.

To prepare for the interview:

• Research the reporter and the publication.
  Does this reporter usually write favorable, balanced pieces, or adopt a more scandal-seeking approach? Does the publication look for a personal (human interest) or factual style of reporting? Does the publication publish long, investigative features or shorter, newsy pieces? The answers to these questions will determine what sort of preparation you need to do. A basic online search should yield a few past articles from a particular reporter, but to really investigate a reporter’s background and writing style, it may be necessary to subscribe to an online media database.

• Prepare at least three key points you want to get across.
  What are the most important facts or ideas you want to communicate during the interview? Your messages should pertain to the specific topic at hand but also extend to your company as a whole. Write out the information, practice talking about it, and have the notes handy when you speak to the reporter.

• Anticipate tough questions.
  No matter the style of the reporter, it’s always wise to prepare for tough questions. It’s likely they won’t be asked, but it’s best to be ready for worst-case scenarios. Perhaps tough questions relate to the company’s past actions or inactions, or its position in the market with respect to its competitors. Think about the issues as if you were outside the company looking in, then prepare some answers in advance. If you’re asked a difficult question during the interview, avoid repeating the negative angle in your response. It’ll validate the pessimism. Use positive words and phrases as much as possible.

• Expertly answer friendly questions.
  Believe it or not, responding to favorable questions also requires forethought. While you may know exactly what you want to say, the way in which you say it is very important. Often, interviewees get overanxious and try to include too much information. This can cause your important messages to get overshadowed or lost completely. Take a breath before answering, and be sure to refer to your notes. Also, when asked something positive, try to rephrase the question in your response. As explained above, linking your answer to the question endorses the reporter’s angle. In this case, that’s a good thing.

During the interview: 

• Think about sound bites and anecdotes.
  Try to phrase answers in easily quotable sentences. Avoid being overly wordy or going off on tangents. Also, sprinkle in a few anecdotes when possible, as these are good for adding color. In both cases, write out three or four sound bites so you’re ready to quickly insert them into the conversation. But don’t sound as if you’re reading them!

• Avoid extensive promotion.
  While it’s tempting, control the urge to be too salesy–present the facts without hyperbole or marketing jargon. Reporters are generally sensitive to hype, and it could impact their coverage of your company.

• Be cordial and complimentary.
  Even if some of the questions are harsh, maintain a calm demeanor. Do not, under any circumstances, threaten the reporter or walk away from the interview. Be diplomatic. A helpful technique when confronted with a challenging question is to compliment the reporter. Say, “That’s a great question, and…” In doing so, you may disarm the reporter a bit, and it’ll also provide a few extra seconds for you to devise a response.

• Avoid “off the record” comments.
  The basic rule of thumb for all interviews is nothing is off the record. Even if a reporter gives you assurances of confidentiality, there’s no signed contract holding the reporter to his or her word. While the majority of reporters will honor off-the-record comments, it’s best to steer clear of such situations.

 TV and radio interviews offer a great way to get your message to the public quickly and directly. While they’re short in nature, TV and radio interviews can have a tremendous impact on your company. However, these interviews require additional planning and training. 

• Be succinct.
  For broadcast, you’ll only have a short window to state your case–usually three to five minutes. This means your answers have to be concise.

• But don’t be fast.
  Nerves can cause people to speak too quickly. Try to keep a measured pace as you speak. A good way to calm your nerves is to concentrate on taking slow, deep breaths. This prevents hyperventilation and focuses your thoughts.
   
• Have one key message.
  The short timeframe of a TV or radio segment may only allow for one message. Make sure to pick your best, most relevant message, and nail it! Repeat it, if possible. 

• Build a bridge.
  The in-the-moment nature of TV and radio gives you the opportunity to avoid answering a specific question and instead can allow you to “build a bridge” between the question and the message you want to deliver. For instance, a query about sales figures could be turned into a discussion on the company’s long-term strategy; a query on new product development could be used as a springboard to speak about the key benefits this product the consumer offers.

There are generally two settings in which a TV interview will occur–face-to-face with the reporter or off-site into a camera.

• In-person:
  For in-person interviews, unless otherwise instructed, avoid speaking to the camera. Instead, interact with the reporter as if you were immersed in a conversation. Look the reporter in the eyes. Don’t let your eyes drift to the camera, the ground or the ceiling. Also, avoid moving around or, conversely, being a statue. Extremes in either direction are amplified by the camera.

• Off-site:
  More often than not, TV interviews are conducted off-site, where the interview subject is asked to speak to a camera and receive the questions via earpiece. This setting can be a bit disorienting if you’re not properly prepared. Prior to the start of the interview, make sure you’re in a comfortable position and the earpiece is secure. If you feel any awkwardness, alert the producer. Remember, the smallest signs of discomfort are magnified on-air. Once the interview begins, the best technique is to try to have a conversation with the camera; maintain eye contact, but avoid staring–try to imagine that the camera is a person. There may be a monitor in the room broadcasting the interview. If so, resist the urge to look. Wandering eyes are very noticeable on screen.

Remember, while there’s no way to guarantee that an interview will result in favorable coverage, in most cases, reporters are interested in presenting an accurate, balanced story that’ll be appealing to their audience. 

If there’s one key takeaway from this crash course in media training, it’s this: When you state your case in a confident, informative manner, you’re helping the journalist. In most cases, that’ll result in coverage that reflects positively on you and your company, no matter what the topic is.

Implement a PR Strategy in 7 Days

 

Q: I want to generate publicity for my business, but I don’t really know where to start or how to go about it. Can you help?

A: Here’s how to generate publicity for you and your business by spending just a little of each of the next seven days on PR:

Day 1: Determine your target.

Make a list of all the publications in your target market area. These will most likely be newspapers, such as weekly newspapers, daily newspapers, regional business journals, free about-town advertising fliers and chamber of commerce newsletters. I would shy away from national publications unless you have a dynamite national story or you have a connection at a national publication. Next, determine the radio and television stations in your target market area. This includes AM, FM, public radio, college radio stations and the like.

Day 2: Develop a database of contacts from day one.

From each of the publications, determine where your news or announcement would best fit. Once you have done this, find out who the primary editor or reporter is for this part of the publication. Sometimes this is a feature editor, a feature reporter, a pool reporter or the managing editor. Do not send your press release to anybody and everybody at a particular publication. Do the same thing for radio and TV producers: Find out who assigns the news to reporters. Find out who edits the on-air news.

Day 3: Determine what PR story you will communicate.

Brainstorm PR topics. Are you making an announcement, communicating a change, stating an opinion or revealing a finding? Do you have a local angle to a national story? Is your information newsworthy and not promotionally slanted? All you need is 12 topics to average one press release per month for one year. However, don’t let this schedule stop you from reporting news when it happens or making an announcement.

Day 4: Write the actual press release.

Editors love people who speak their language. A one-page press release that opens with who, what, where, when and why will make them happy and increase your probability of getting into their publication. Include some background information, a quote from you or another high-ranking person in the organization and the contact information. That’s all there is to a press release. It doesn’t have to be a long thesis. It doesn’t have to have every single detail in it. If the reporter wants to do more of a story, he or she will call to develop further.

Day 5: Send your press release to those in the database you established on day two.

Some editors prefer faxed press releases, yet there is a growing trend toward receiving them by e-mail. Very rarely are press releases snail-mailed; however, some still are when photos are part of the release. Finding out your editor’s, reporter’s or producer’s preference will increase your chance of publicity.

Day 6: Use your press release for other things.

Because of the sheer number of press releases generated, they cannot all be published. Don’t let this stop you from issuing the release and trying to generate publicity. There are other things you can do with press releases. You can post them on your Web site in the media room area. You can use them as direct-mail pieces to customers and prospects. You can use them as handouts on sales calls or put them on the other side of your fliers. Use your imagination here, and you will be surprised at the unique ways you have to generate publicity and ultimately buzz about you and your business.

Day 7: Continue your efforts to establish relationships with editors, reporters and producers.

The more relationships you have with your targeted publications, the increased likelihood you have of getting publicity. The time to do this is not when you have a breaking news story. Take your time in this area and spread out your efforts. Then when you do have that breaking news or blockbuster story, you’ll know who to contact directly and quickly for the biggest PR impact.

Spending just a little bit of time each day on these seven steps will make you an expert in the PR arena. The most appealing part of all about this kind of PR strategy is the cost. In the spirit of guerrilla marketing, this is not high-dollar marketing, but rather marketing that relies on your time, energy and imagination.

Al Lautenslager is the president and owner of The Ink Well, a commercial printing and mailing company in Wheaton, Illinois, and the principal of Market For Profits, a Naperville, Illinois-based marketing consulting and coaching firm. He can be reached at al@market-for-profits.com or through his Web site, Market for Profits”.

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How to Harness the Marketing Power of Blogs

I’m sure you’ve heard about one of the biggest things to hit the web in the last few years: blogging.

A “blog” (derived from the term “web log”) is basically just a website with two key differences: First, it’s extremely easy to add information to it. A blog is like an online journal, so you just log in, type what happened today, post it, and you’re done! Second, you can add a simple little feature that automatically tells a whole bunch of other websites that you’ve made an update to your blog–every time you make a change.

However, what you may not know is that a blog can also be a very powerful marketing tool for your business, and some people actually earn an income just from blogging alone.

The fact is, blogging is fast becoming an extremely important strategy for any online marketer. An effective blog can:

• drive swarms of traffic to your main website,
• generate more product sales,
• create an additional stream of advertising income,
• be a great customer service tool,
• and much more!

Blogs have an informal, conversational style, and readers can join in by commenting on each post. Blogs can be chatty, informative, opinionated and often humorous, and it’s this “human” aspect of blogs that draws many people to them.

But the best part about blogs is how accessible they are to everyone. Blogs are free (or very inexpensive) to set up using services like Bloggeror TypePad. They’re also easy to use (you can literally create your own blog in less than five minutes) and easy to promote with all the new tools and resources that have been created specifically for blogs.

How You Can Use a Blog to Accelerate Online Success
The fact is, blogs are no longer just online diaries of people’s personal lives. Both online and offline businesses can use blogs to take their products and services to a wider audience, increasing their traffic, leads and sales.

Let’s look more closely at a few of the extremely powerful ways your business can benefit from a blog. With an effective business blog, you can:

• Humanize your business. Because a blog is much more informal than other websites, you can write posts in your own voice and give your business more of a human face. This helps reassure prospective customers that there’s a “real person” behind the website who’ll take care of their needs. It also allows you to inject much more of your own personality into your online business than your main sales site could do.
• Improve your customer service. Your blog can act as a kind of interactive FAQ, allowing your customers to submit questions and you to answer them. You can also provide product updates, how-to articles, and other information of relevance to your customers. Prospective customers who see your blog will be encouraged by your commitment to good customer service.
• Give your target market the information they’re looking for. With its automatic archiving feature–by date and category–a blog is a fantastic content-management system. It’s easy for you to post new information on a regular basis, and it’s easy for your visitors to find the information they want. With a well-written, regularly updated blog, you can become a reliable resource in your industry and build a following of loyal readers who depend on your content. These people will be your best potential customers.
• Drive traffic to your sales website. If you already have a website, a blog can give your traffic levels a real boost. For starters, your blog will attract new visitors that you can then redirect to your main sales website through links and special offers. But an even more effective technique is to use strategic keywords and links to specific sales pages to dramatically improve the search engine rankings of both your blog and your main website.
• Build your credibility and establish yourself as an industry expert. You can give your credibility a real boost by regularly posting valuable and relevant information on your blog. It’s a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your subject area, and allow your visitors to feel much more comfortable buying from you.
• Promote your products or services. You can actually sell products directly from a blog, or you can use your blog to mention new products and direct visitors to your sales website.
• Generate extra income. There are now several advertising programs available, such as Google AdSense, that allow you to monetize your blog and generate an extra revenue stream.

3 Key Tips for Starting a Business Blog
Excited yet? You should be–blogging’s not just a winning strategy, it’s also a lot of fun! The beauty of blogging is that you can easily incorporate it into your daily schedule of tasks. You can even blog when you’re on the road.

But what does it take to become a really successful blogger?

1. Great content: If your content isn’t interesting and relevant to your target market, your blog won’t work. It’s as simple as that. You’ll be surprised, however, how easy it is to find things to write about if you really put your mind to it. It could be news articles about your industry, product updates, interviews, personal insights into topics of importance to your target audience, and much more.
2. Regular updating: I won’t lie to you: there are some days when I really find it hard to find the time to post a new article. But if I don’t post, no one will come back. It’s like subscribing to a daily newspaper but only getting a copy delivered now and then! So post often and your audience will keep coming back. And regularly adding fresh content to your blog also gives you a boost in the search engine rankings.
3. Your own distinct voice: It’s important that you write in your own voice. A blog is no place for formality and corporate speak. It’s more of a forum, a place where ideas can flourish and topics of current interest can be debated. You don’t even need to be a brilliant writer; you just need to be able to relate to your audience and give them good content.

Final Thoughts
Starting a blog can take as little as five minutes. Of course, starting a blog is the easy part; turning your blog into a strategic tool that drives traffic and sales to your online business is a completely different matter.

Building a truly effective blog that keeps people coming back again and again takes a lot more than five minutes; it takes time and dedication to develop a blog that keeps your audience coming back for more.

By Derek Gehl

Derek Gehl is Entrepreneur.com’s “E-Business” columnistand the CEO of the Internet Marketing Center, an internet marketing firm that has helped thousands of people learn to start and run their own online businesses. He is also author of the online guide, Blogging for Dollars

Gathering Competitive Intelligence

It’s official. You’re going to start your own business. You know what you plan to sell and who your customers or clients will be. But how will you decide what your marketing materials should look like or even what you’ll charge for your products or services? You need to become an amateur sleuth and gather competitive intelligence to create an on-target marketing program and tailor your services or products to position against the competition.

It’s important to complete a competitive analysis during the start-up phase of your new business, about the time you’re putting together your marketing plan. In fact, if you get underway without performing a competitive analysis, you run the risk of creating marketing tools and product or service offerings that are way off the mark. This can cost you valuable time and money during the critical early months. You should also plan to gather competitive intelligence as your business grows, in order to stay competitive.

Who’s Your Competition?

One of the biggest mistakes new entrepreneurs make is failing to recognize the range of competitors for their businesses. Your new company will have two types of competition-real and perceived. For example, imagine you’re a former college athlete who’s decided to start a personal fitness training business. Your competitors will fall into two categories: other personal trainers, and gyms and health clubs that offer trainers or advisors on staff. Although you’d directly compete only with the other personal trainers, your prospects-people who want to shape up-would perceive the gyms that offer these services as a viable alternative to hiring you. So to complete your competitive analysis, you need to evaluate the marketing materials and services both types of competitors offer.

Get the Facts

The first step in your competitive analysis is to collect all the marketing materials used by your competitors-both perceived and real. Begin by clipping your competitors’ ads. Then request copies of their brochures and other marketing materials-not so you can copy their ideas, but so you can check out marketing strategies and formats, competitive pricing, special offers, the key benefits (or promises made), and clues to marketing niches that may be underserved. If possible, you may even want to “mystery shop” your competitors-go out and actually buy their products or services so you can experience the purchasing process with their store personnel or salespeople. If your competitors are large enough, you can gather information about them on the Net. Use major search engines to look for recent press releases and articles about them. There are even free sites on the Web that allow you to customize your own daily news page, such as NewsPage by NewsEdge Corp. (www.newspage.com). And don’t forget to check out your competitors’ Web sites. How do your direct and perceived competitors use the Net to attract customers and sell products? This will give you important clues about information a Web site of your own should contain.

Put It All Together

Now you’re ready to draw some conclusions about the types of competitive offers and pricing your new business should use. Best of all, you’ll have clear guidelines for developing your marketing tools. Complete your analysis by answering these questions:

• What size are their materials? Do most of your competitors use standard mailing envelopes, or are they using large folders with inserts?
• Do your competitors use photography or illustrations in their materials?
• Do they have Web sites, and how deep are they? Do they sell products online or just offer information?
• How are your competitors’ products or services similar to yours? How are they different?
• What key benefits do their marketing materials communicate? Can you offer additional benefits that are valuable to prospects?
• What special product, service or pricing offers do your competitors use to stimulate responses to brochures and ads?

Once you find answers to these questions, you’ll be in the perfect position to create marketing tools that work as hard as you do.

This article originally appeared as “The Spying Game” in the October 1999 issue of Business Start-Ups magazine

By Kim T. Gordon

Creative Brainstorming Techniques

Q: My partner and I need some creative ideas for our business. We want to do some brainstorming, but we’re not sure how to go about it. What’s the best way to use this technique?

A: Brainstorming is a great technique for generating creative ideas. Generally performed in groups, it’s a fun way to get lots of fresh ideas out on the table and get everyone thinking and pulling together. Over the years, I’ve participated in and facilitated brainstorming sessions ranging in size from just several people to about 40. But to start out, I recommend you keep your group on the small side. The participants should be relatively at ease with one another, and as you continue to brainstorm together over time, they’ll become more comfortable throwing out off-the-wall ideas–which often generate the best results.

Begin by choosing a facilitator to record the ideas on large, poster-size sheets of paper that can be stuck to a bulletin board or along the walls of the room. This will keep all the ideas clearly visible. And follow these important ground rules:

• Suspend criticism. All ideas, no matter how crazy they may seem, should be encouraged and recorded without comment or criticism from the group. The general goal of brainstorming is to collect as many ideas as possible, making quantity much more important than quality at this initial stage.
• Postpone evaluation. Brainstorming sessions are not the time or place to evaluate the merits of the ideas suggested. So don’t suspend the process to evaluate the projected results of any single idea.
• Build on others’ ideas. At their best, brainstorming sessions are fast-paced and fun. Participants should try to build each consecutive idea on the previous ones. This can sometimes result in surprising twists and turns.

Though all brainstorming sessions should follow these basic ground rules, there are numerous ways to approach the idea-generation process. Here are three proven methods to try:

• Pose an initial question. Suppose you had created a product for small businesses and were looking for a new marketing approach. The facilitator might open the brainstorming session by posing a question such as “What do small business owners want?” Participants would then throw out ideas, such as “to save time” or “to increase sales.” Or you might select a feature of your new product-one-button operation, for example–and open with a question such as “How does one-button operation help small business owners?”
• Use word association. This method involves brainstorming lists of words and then finding linkage between key words on each list. For example, imagine you want to create a new slogan for a hair gel product. You could start with the root word “gel” and use word association to come up with a list of ideas, such as “flexible hold.” Then you could brainstorm another list beginning with “flexible.” In the end, you might have four or five lists of ideas based on word association. To build your slogan, you’d choose a word from each of the lists and creatively link them together.
• Identify a challenge. Even the most difficult questions can be tackled by brainstorming, provided you have the right group of people. When I was called in by an auto parts manufacturer to find ways to use the company’s roll-forming expertise to produce additional products, we gathered together a large group of experienced workers from throughout the plant for brainstorming. As the facilitator, I began by posing a simple challenge–list anything made from rolled metal not presently manufactured by the company. In short order, the group turned out dozens of viable product ideas. Later, management evaluated all the ideas to determine which products offered the greatest potential.

So while inspiration may come to you in the shower, a more structured approach to creative idea generation is often the best bet. Try using these effective brainstorming techniques to come up with terrific ideas for marketing your own business.

Kim T. Gordon is an author, marketing coach and media spokesperson-and one of the country’s foremost experts on entrepreneurial success. Her newest book, Bringing Home The Business, identifies the 30 “truths” that can make the difference between success and failure in a homebased business. Kim offers one-on-one coaching by telephone to motivated individuals, providing practical marketing advice and budget-conscious strategies unique to your business. To receive free how-to articles and advice, get information on coaching and appearances, read a book excerpt, or contact Kim, visit http://www.smallbusinessnow.com, a huge site devoted exclusively to marketing your small business.

By Kim T. Gordon

Creating a Great Business Card

 

A business card is an integral part of any good marketing plan. For its size and cost, it’s probably the most powerful part. Of course, you can’t expect your business card to tell the whole story about your company. What you should expect it to do is present a professional image people will remember. A business card can make or break a client’s first impression of your company. In fact, this little card makes as much of an impression as your personal appearance-the suit you wear or the briefcase you carry.

Choose a card style that’s appropriate for your business, industry and personal style. If you’re a funeral director, for example, you don’t want to be caught handing out day-glow cards with cartoon figures on them. If you’re a mechanic whose specialty is converting old Beetles into dune buggies, a formal, black-on-white engraved card will probably be dropped into the nearest circular file. When crafting a design, start with the style that best supports the business image you wish to project. To help you get started, here are five different card styles for you to consider:

• Basic cards. A basic card is usually printed in black ink on plain white or cream stock. This is a good style to choose when utility is all you need. It’s a no-nonsense approach that can appeal to clients and prospects who would not be impressed by fancy design features-the people who want “just the facts, ma’am.” The design is simple, and the information is clear and concise.

• Picture cards. Having your face on your card-whether it’s a photograph, a drawing or a caricature-helps a contact remember you the next time he or she sees you. Images representing a product or service, or a benefit your business provides, can help you communicate your business better than dozens of words. A splash of color (rather than just black and white) is often helpful on a picture card, too.

• Tactile cards. Some cards are distinguished not so much by how they look as by how they feel. They may use nonstandard materials, such as metal or wood, or have unusual shapes, edges, folds or embossing. Tactile cards tend to be considerably more expensive than regular cards because they use nonstandard production processes such as die cuts. But for some businesses, this more unusual card may be worth the price.

• Multipurpose cards. A card can do more than promote your name and business-it can also serve as a discount coupon, an appointment reminder or some other function. It may also provide valuable information that the average person may need. For example, a hotel may include a map on the back of its card for any guests who are walking around the local area. A card of any type can be made multipurpose by adding any of these types of features.

• Outside-the-box cards. A wildly original, fanciful or extravagant presentation can draw extra attention. Creativity knows no bounds-except the amount of money you wish to spend. Some examples are cards made of chocolate or that folded out into a miniature box to keep small items in.

Now It’s Time to Order

Once you’ve settled on a basic idea for your business card, it’s time to head to the printer. There are four primary considerations when ordering business cards:

• Weight. Most business cards are printed on 80-pound cover stock.

• Finish. Of the three available-smooth, linen and laid-the smooth finish is the most popular.

• Color. Right now, two-color cards predominate. If you’re selecting from a catalog, there are between five and 15 standard colors to choose from. If you have another ink color in mind, your printer can show you a Pantone Matching System book, which includes every shade under the sun.

• Quantity. It generally pays to print more cards rather than fewer, because the printer’s cost is primarily in the setup.

Design Resource

For more detailed descriptions of the different types of business cards, take a look at It’s in the Cards. In it, Ivan Misner, Candace Bailly and Dan Georgevich review more than 2,000 business cards from 10 countries and select more than 200 examples of some of the best, which are shown throughout the book in full-color.

One Final Tip

Though this may sound like obvious advice, it might cost you another trip to the printer if you don’t heed it: Include the essentials. This means your name, title, company name, address, phone number (or numbers, if you want to include your cell), e-mail and Web site. If someone wants to contact you after receiving your card, you sure as heck want them to be able to.

The Basics of Branding

 

Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or B2B. An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets. But what exactly does “branding” mean? How does it affect a small business like yours?

Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors’. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.

Are you the innovative maverick in your industry? Or the experienced, reliable one? Is your product the high-cost, high-quality option, or the low-cost, high-value option? You can’t be both, and you can’t be all things to all people. Who you are should be based to some extent on who your target customers want and need you to be.

The foundation of your brand is your logo. Your website, packaging and promotional materials–all of which should integrate your logo–communicate your brand.

Brand Strategy & Equity

Your brand strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages. Where you advertise is part of your brand strategy. Your distribution channels are also part of your brand strategy. And what you communicate visually and verbally are part of your brand strategy, too.

Consistent, strategic branding leads to a strong brand equity, which means the added value brought to your company’s products or services that allows you to charge more for your brand than what identical, unbranded products command. The most obvious example of this is Coke vs. a generic soda. Because Coca-Cola has built a powerful brand equity, it can charge more for its product–and customers will pay that higher price.

The added value intrinsic to brand equity frequently comes in the form of perceived quality or emotional attachment. For example, Nike associates its products with star athletes, hoping customers will transfer their emotional attachment from the athlete to the product. For Nike, it’s not just the shoe’s features that sell the shoe.

Defining Your Brand

Defining your brand is like a journey of business self-discovery. It can be difficult, time-consuming and uncomfortable. It requires, at the very least, that you answer the questions below:

• What is your company’s mission?
• What are the benefits and features of your products or services?
• What do your customers and prospects already think of your company?
• What qualities do you want them to associate with your company?

Do your research. Learn the needs, habits and desires of your current and prospective customers. And don’t rely on what you think they think. Know what they think.

Because defining your brand and developing a brand strategy can be complex, consider leveraging the expertise of a nonprofit small-business advisory group or a Small Business Development Center.

Once you’ve defined your brand, how do you get the word out? Here are a few simple, time-tested tips:

• Get a great logo. Place it everywhere.
• Write down your brand messaging. What are the key messages you want to communicate about your brand? Every employee should be aware of your brand attributes.
• Integrate your brand. Branding extends to every aspect of your business–how you answer your phones, what you or your salespeople wear on sales calls, your e-mail signature, everything.
• Create a “voice” for your company that reflects your brand. This voice should be applied to all written communication and incorporated in the visual imagery of all materials, online and off. Is your brand friendly? Be conversational. Is it ritzy? Be more formal. You get the gist.
• Develop a tagline. Write a memorable, meaningful and concise statement that captures the essence of your brand.
• Design templates and create brand standards for your marketing materials. Use the same color scheme, logo placement, look and feel throughout. You don’t need to be fancy, just consistent.
• Be true to your brand. Customers won’t return to you–or refer you to someone else–if you don’t deliver on your brand promise.
• Be consistent. I placed this point last only because it involves all of the above and is the most important tip I can give you. If you can’t do this, your attempts at establishing a brand will fail.

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John Williams is Entrepreneur.com’s “Image & Branding” columnist and the founder and president of LogoYes.com, the world’s first do-it-yourself logo design website. During John’s 25 years in advertising, he’s created brand standards for Fortune 100 companies like Mitsubishi and won numerous awards for his design work.

How to Effectively Use Testimonials

What do people who’ve actually purchased and used your product or service think about it?

Answering that question is one of the most fundamental tasks your website needs to accomplish–and it’s as simple to do as it is important.

By using testimonials (reviews and comments from your satisfied customers) in text, audio or video format on your website, you not only answer the question, you also transform your sales pitch into a credible, unbiased recommendation for your product.

Overcome Buyer Skepticism
Adding testimonials is probably one of the easiest ways to improve your website, and a good one can generate more selling power than some of the best sales copy out there.

So why are testimonials so effective?

• Testimonials build trust. Whether your customers are raving about what your product has done for them or about the great service you gave, they’re telling your visitors first and foremost that they had a positive experience with your products and company.
• Testimonials aren’t “salesy.” Because testimonials aren’t written in your “voice,” they stand out in your copy as candid and unbiased accounts of how well your product works.
• Testimonials overcome skepticism. A good testimonial has the power to convince even your “tough sell” visitors that your product or service really made a difference in your customer’s life–and can help them, too.

How to Choose the Right Testimonial
When you’re choosing testimonials, there are a few key ingredients to look for that make the difference between an ineffective testimonial and one that sells. Here’s an example of a glowing, but ultimately ineffective testimonial:

“I love this product! I can’t get enough! I’m so glad I bought your stuff and I’ll definitely be back to get more!”

What could be wrong with that? It sounds like you have a happy customer on your hands!

But what does this testimonial really tell your visitors? Does it prove the product works, or explain exactly how your customer benefited from using it? While the feedback is definitely positive, the testimonial doesn’t provide enough detail to have any real impact on your visitors.

Here’s an example of the kind of effective, benefits-driven testimonial that’ll turn a visitor into a customer:

“I used the methods you told me to use, and for three days my phone’s been ringing! I sold over $3,500 in goods and services in three days! It’s the first time in five months that anyone had really purchased anything.”

What makes this testimonial so powerful? Let’s break down the elements of an effective testimonial in more detail:

• A good testimonial is filled with benefits. A comment like, “This product is great!” is nice to hear, but it doesn’t tell visitors what your product can actually do for them.

• You want the benefits of what you offer to be front and center in every testimonial: “This product doubled our profits in a month!” or “This product made the pain in my back disappear completely–and did it fast!” or “We’ve never seen any product that could get the rust off our car without damaging the paint–until now.”

• A good testimonial substantiates your claims. If you say your product can do something, your testimonials should back up your promises, complete with actual facts and figures. How much money did your customers save by using your product? How much time did they save by using your service? How did it solve their problems or improve their lives?
• A good testimonial is from someone your audience can relate to. You want your visitors to see that your product helped someone just like them. Make sure your testimonials come from someone with whom your target market can identify.

• If you sell primarily to seniors, for example, ask your customers if you can include their age along with the testimonial. If you’re selling to moms with children, ask if you can mention how many kids they have or include a photo of their family.

• A good testimonial is credible. Accompany each testimonial with the first name, last name and hometown of each testimonial-giver to show that your endorsements come from real people. Always try to include a photo as well.

• And if you can, take it to the next level by including audio or video testimonials for maximum effect. Do anything you can to help your visitors connect with your testimonial-givers on a personal level.

• A good testimonial endorses the key benefits of your product. It’s fun to hear that your super-duper floor cleaner smells nice or that the bottle doesn’t drip–both things that matter to people who would consider using your product. But have you established that it cleans their floors well?
• A good testimonial is comparative. Did your customers try another product that didn’t work before they found yours? You want your visitors to know what your product can do that other products can’t. Choose testimonials that set your product apart from your competition.

Now that you know what you’re looking for in a testimonial, how do you actually gather the reviews you need from your customers?

Getting Great Testimonials–Even if You Haven’t Sold Anything Yet
If your customers have given you positive feedback on your product already, then you may already have some great testimonials to add to your site. However, if your customer response is a little scarce–or if you’re just starting out–getting testimonials from your buyers might take a little more effort.

So how do you collect the testimonials you need and keep them coming as you grow your business?

One easy way to collect testimonials is to include a link on your site with a form that allows your customers to give you their vote of confidence: “Tell us how this product changed your life!” or “Click here to let us know what you think!” Put this link next to some testimonials that you’ve already gathered to give customers an example of the kind of feedback you’re looking for.

A more effective method is to create an autoresponder that contacts your buyers after they’ve purchased your product to ask how they’re enjoying the product, as well as giving them a chance to offer feedback on their experience with your business.

And, of course, anytime you receive a great letter or e-mail from a customer, ask them if you can use their comments on your website to recommend your product to others. If they were happy enough to let you know, they’re bound to want to spread the word.

If you haven’t yet begun selling your product and have no feedback yet, offer your product or service for free to a select group of customers in exchange for their thoughts on the product or some details on their experience with your site. The impact that testimonial will have on your bottom line will be well worth the initial expense.

Strategies For Using Your Testimonials Effectively
Once you’ve got some testimonials to share with your visitors, you need to make sure you’re putting them to the best possible use on your site. Always make sure that you:

• Include your best testimonials front and center on your homepage, like in your sidebars, or even above your headline.
• Place some testimonials right in the middle of your homepage sales copy to keep your readers focused on your credibility as you outline the features and benefits of your product.
• Set up a whole page dedicated to your glowing testimonials, as well as including snippets of their comments throughout your site. Be sure to put a link to your testimonial page next to each of those snippets.
• Include testimonials on each and every page of your website. No matter where your visitors click, you want them to find a positive customer review of your product or service.

Now let’s look at a few mistakes to avoid when using testimonials on your website:

• Don’t edit your testimonials to exclude a comment or add information you want to hear! If you can’t post a comment “as is” and feel comfortable with it, it shouldn’t go up.
• Never use a customer testimonial without permission.
• Never, ever invent testimonials! This is fraud, plain and simple, and lying never results in a positive impact on your business.

Final Thoughts
If you’re not using testimonials on your website, you’re missing out on one of the most powerful, easy-to-use and cheap marketing tools available to you.

Most of us would rather act on a referral from a friend than make a purchase based on a sales pitch alone. We want to know that the product actually works before we take the leap to buy, and we’re bound to put more trust in someone who has already used the product successfully than the person trying to convince us to buy it. Using glowing, fact-filled testimonials on your website will let your visitors know that you’re worthy of their trust.

Derek Gehl is Entrepreneur.com’s “E-Business” columnistand the CEO of the Internet Marketing Center, an internet marketing firm that has helped thousands of people learn to start and run their own online businesses.