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Comment The Post Below...
Greetings,
It can be hard for new entrepreneurs to market their great
ideas. Today's article offers some practical marketing tips
to help out those businessmen and women just entering the
working world.
Best,
Mandi
Be sure to visit the SoHo News and Tips blog!
SoHo News & Tips Blog
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NEWS & TIDBITS
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- Konica Minolta withdraws from the camera
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- WSJ reports that Disney is in talks to buy Pixar...
- Peaberry Coffee will close up to 13 of its shops...
- A hearing on a possible injunction shutting down
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- Pershing Square Capital Management said it is
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Practical Marketing Tips For New Entrepreneurs
Many would-be entrepreneurs have great ideas for
products and services, but often they don't know
how to market them. SCORE Counselors to America's
Small Business, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C.,
offers advice on marketing and a range of other
topics through its 389 offices across the U.S. We
talked to Ken Yancey, SCORE's chief executive
officer, about tips for new start-ups. Before
joining the organization, he focused on the small-
business market as an executive in banking in
Dallas for eight years. Here are excerpts from our
conversation.
What's the most common question you get about
marketing from new business owners?
The most common question is: How do I create
awareness, buzz and drive traffic to my business
products or services? There are any number of ways
that can be done. There's traditional advertising
promotion through newspapers, the Yellow Pages and
other things of that nature.
Today you absolutely need a quality presence on
the Internet, and that needs to be crisp, clean
and informative. Consumers need answers to quest-
ions quickly, and, online, it's just like the
telephone. People have the same high expectations
in dealing with your business. They need to get
answers to their questions quickly. They need to
know what products or services you offer, how to
find them and what differentiates you from your
competition.
How do most new businesses get their first customer?
The first customers typically come in via word-of-
mouth. It could be a referral from a friend,
neighbor, colleague or other businesses owner who
let people know in conversation that your business
is opening. As you're getting ready to open, it
certainly makes sense to distribute information
about it by making personal visits to potential
customers, and letting them know that your
business is opening on a certain date.
It's also a good time to consider the value of
membership with your local chamber of commerce,
because the chambers often promote new-business
openings within their community.
What are the biggest challenges in landing that
first customer?
As a new business owner, you need to constantly
promote your business or service in every avail-
able venue. You have limited time and often have
limited funds. It would be wise to get assistance
from a mentor or coach and to reach out to others
who have expertise or who have been successful in
opening a business previously. These could include
friends, organizations like SCORE, the U.S. Small
Business Administration's Small Business Develop-
ment Centers and your local chamber of commerce.
...If you're launching an independent consulting
business, you want to target organizations of a
size that would need your expertise. Make a list,
and start calling each one at a time. Ask for
referrals from colleagues and follow up on every
one. Once you get your first client, ask that
person for referrals and a letter of recommend-
ation.
What are some common marketing mistakes that new
business owners make?
One mistake would be creating marketing messages
that do not accurately describe your products or
services. It could be jargon that might not be
understood by potential customers. It might be
vague and not provide enough detail for a potent-
ial customer to understand. Or, it might be too
specific, and customers won't understand that you
offer a range of services or products.
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...Judson Lovering, owner of The Baker's Peel, a
specialty bakery business in Exeter, N.H., started
out in 1994 spending his marketing dollars on
every product he offered. He wasn't focusing on
the products that were most successful, and when
you're promoting your business, you want to focus
on what generates the greatest return. He said he
felt he was doing everything right, but the results
were just not what he'd been counting on. So to
rectify the situation, he refocused his marketing
dollars on his top few most popular products, and
sales quadrupled.
How can new business owners avoid these snafus?
You want to completely understand who your
customer is and the need that you are fulfilling.
This will allow you to provide concise and accur-
ate information that drives the potential
customer to your business. Test your marketing
message on a mentor, adviser, coach or someone
who you believe represents your customer base.
Ask them specific questions about whether or not
the message gets across.
What do new business owners usually do well in
regard to marketing?
Often small-business owners are active and
visible within their communities. They create
positive relationships with local media. They are
civically active, so that their commitment to the
community shows beyond just their business. What
they also do well, and that's important, is
developing and executing a marketing plan, and
monitoring their results and adjusting as
necessary.
You want to play to your strengths. If that
doesn't achieve the desired result, then it's
certainly time to look at other opportunities
and work on developing other tools, techniques
and capabilities to promote your business.
...John Sortino, owner of The Vermont Teddy Bear
Co. Inc. in Shelburne, Vt., originally attempted
to market his custom-made teddy bears through
local stores. When that didn't work as well as he
intended, he began selling them from a push-cart
in downtown Burlington. His bears then became
popular, and he began wholesaling them to special-
ty stores. He also changed his marketing materials
so that they talked about the quality of the bears
-- how they have 14 stitches per inch and are
American made. By promoting their unique traits,
he differentiated his bears from all others on the
market.
What marketing challenges can first-time business
owners expect?
For new business owners to be prepared, they need
to include a detailed marketing plan as part of
their overall business plan and strategy. The
plan would consider different marketing or promo-
tional alternatives, costs and budgets, and the
resulting plan would be appropriate for a business
that has taken all factors into account.
A marketing plan should include a market analysis,
which is an analysis of the potential customers
and the area you're targeting. You want to find
out who your customers are going to be, their
income level and all the demographics of the
surrounding area. Say you're planning to open a
fine-dining establishment in a neighborhood where
the average income is relatively low. Then you're
opening a business that could possibly be
challenged from the start. Your marketing plan
also should include a good analysis of your
competition. You need to research the strengths
and weaknesses of your competitors and their
products or services.
Then you can start developing your marketing
messages. You want to base them on your analysis
of your target customer and competition, and
consider the various delivery mechanisms, such as
paid advertising, public relations and the Web.
What's the best way to market a new business with-
out spending a lot?
Word-of-mouth remains a good way to drive traffic,
but it doesn't work by itself. You can't rely on
that as your sole way of getting business.
Distributing press releases about new products or
services often provides quality exposure in local
newspapers or other publications at low or no cost.
You could write educational articles for trade
journals or newspapers, and make yourself available
to speak at local functions, service clubs or other
gatherings.
...When Julie Hagenmaier started My Girl Friday,
a personal-concierge service in Cincinnati, she
asked her first few clients to promote her
business to other potential clients. She also
pitched her story to the press, which led to a
series of articles in local newspapers and a
story in a national women's magazine.
--------------------------------------------------
Author Sarah Needleman is an associate editor at
StartupJournal.com.
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DID YOU KNOW?
If your business is growing quickly, your expenses
are also growing quickly, giving you even more
reasons to pay closer attention to your collections.
If you aren't receiving customer payments in a
timely fashion, you may soon be bankrupt.
So what did you think about this issue? Drop me a
line and let me know at mandi@gophercentral.com
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Copyright 2006 PENN L.L.C. All rights reserved.
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