Investing time in social networking can pay off significantly for many businesses.  Yet, just like any other marketing strategy you must first determine if your message will reach your target marget using a social media channel.  Your plan must have a strategy that can be measured to determine your return on investment.  I’ll talk more about this in future posts.

Wikipedia’s entry for social media,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media references several types of social media and subsequent links for their most common uses.  Just because you hear of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter the most often doesn’t mean they are right for you and your company.

So poke around, do some research, join some sites and watch and listen to determine which sites have potential for your business.  This may take some time — that’s okay  — afterall, our second goal is a great ROI on the social media channel(s) you choose to invest time in.  Ciao.

I came across this great advice from Steve King on his blog  Small Business Labs. 

• Stay close to your customers, and constantly look for new ways to add value. Focus on the problems your customers have, not the problems your products solve.

• Network with and learn from others in your industry, but also network with people from other industries. Well known practices in one industry are often innovative in a new industry.

• Experiment often. Try new methods, approaches, business models, and technologies. But keep the experiments small and iterative. Fail quickly and move on when a new idea doesn’t work.

• Most important, be open to new ideas. Embrace and encourage innovation.

King’s advice is succinct and right on the mark.  Our success as micro and small business owners is based on how much energy and attention we put into asking questions, listening and responding to wants and needs.  The days of the push strategy is gone.  Our prospects are pulling — are you offering the value they are looking for?  Ciao.

I have several forms of support to provide extra assistance and perspectives when I need it – all mentioned above.  If you are operating without the aid of another perspective (and I don’t mean your employees’ perspectives) there is a lot to be said about seeking out this type of relationship.

Peer relationships can provide support and if you choose the right partner you may be able to ask your partner to hold you accountable to your goals.  I think this relationship feels good and is definitely needed but I think you need the type of mentor or coaching relationship that stretches you to aim even higher and hold you even more accountable to your goals.  There is much to be said about working through issues and opportunities together and then there is working with someone who has already ‘been there and done that’.

As business owners we tend to have the entrepreneurial mindset that separates us from each other – yet, Napoleon Hill’s ‘mastermind’ concept encourages the joining of 2 or more minds to create a new thought process through the collective mastermind that is formed.  I encourage each of you to reach out and find a mentor to help you aim higher and be willing to spend time masterminding the issues and opportunities.  Afterall you are in business for yourself but you don’t need to do it all by yourself.

Do some brainstorming and come up with a few ideas for a mentor or coach.  Have coffee or lunch and propose the relationship.  I think you’ll find that the person is flattered and ready to help.  Make sure you do the work to plan the meetings, call your mentor and follow through on your discussions.  I’d love to hear feedback and stories on engaging and meeting with mentors.  Ciao.

The point to remember about selling things is that, as well as creating atmosphere and excitement around your products, you’ve got to know what you’re selling.  

So, what are you selling?  I normally get great answers that relate to the the proficiency of the sales person and their process.  …’Knowing their products/services so they can speak in detail and being able to answer all the questions posed by the prospect’ are the most common responses.

But I believe it more about the part of the sales process that frequently gets forgotten or not investigated to its fullest potential.  It’s the part of the sales process where we, as sales people,  are asking questions of the prospect and listening intently for needs and wants.  It’s about the part of the sales process where the prospect is telling us exactly what will make them happy about this purchase.  We then are able to use those wonderful sales skills to provide the solution that fits their needs perfectly – because we have taken the time to ask and listen and have applied our expertise to match those needs with the correct product or service.

I think that’s what Wilde refers to when he says that we must know ‘what we are selling’.  We will be more successful in our sales efforts if we are selling a solution to a problem, an answer to a need, a response to a want.  Indeed, this is the value we can provide and it will be rewarded with a sale in most cases.

As a consumer, this type of sales process allows us to buy and not be sold to.  We both like that.  So, ask questions, listen closely and you’ll find what you’re really selling — it’s first, convenience, ease of use, beauty, health, quality, etc.  and secondly, it’s the widget or a service you had available all along.  But this subtle change makes everyone happier. Ciao.

For those of us that are struggling to master the confidence factor in face to face introductions to strangers here’s an old piece of advice that has worked well for me,  “ Act as if, until you are it”.  It has served me well.  With your attitude in check – we need a tool, the pitch, to take us to the next step.

An elevator pitch is really just a ‘brief’ answer to the question: “What do you do?”  Ideally the response is short – 7-9 words would be great if you can do it. The pitch should relay you/your company’s value to the person. 

The goal of the elevator pitch is to receive the response, “Oh, really? Tell me more.”

Here goes – it’s a simple statement that tells people:

• What you do
• Who you work with or serve
• And the benefit(s) you provide

An example – I am passionate about making a couple’s wedding day picture perfect.

• What you do  - passionate about making
• Who you work with or serve – brides and grooms
• And the benefit(s) you provide – picture perfect wedding day

That’s it – that your elevator pitch.  But where’s the rest?  That’s the beauty of the elevator pitch.  If it’s done right – what you’ve done is created interest and you are the benefactor of the response, “Tell me more”.  (More on this tomorrow).

Networking is about relationship building.  It is a dance of words – a give and take.  Networking is not a dumping ground for – this is me, this is all about me and I am going to try and tell you everything,  just to get you interested in something. Whoa.  Have you ever been on the receiving end of that kind of exchange?  Not fun.

Start this exercise by providing several answers for the what you do, who you serve and the benefits you bring.  This will help as you work to perfect your pitch.  Get all the ideas out on paper and then start putting them together.  Remember, short and sweet.

Tomorrow I will talk about what follows your perfect elevator pitch.  Ciao.

Step 7 – Develop Your Marketing Budget

________________________________________

Your marketing budget can be developed several ways  depending on whether you want to be more exact or develop just a quick-and-dirty number. It’s good to start out with a quick-and-dirty calculation and then to support it with further details.

First, if you have been in business for over a year and tracked your marketing-related expenditures you could easily calculate your ‘cost to acquire one customer’ or  ‘cost to sell one product’  by dividing your annual sales and marketing costs by the number of units (or customers acquired) sold.

The next step is to take your cost to sell one unit or acquire one customer and simply multiply it by your unit sales or customer acquisition goal. The result of this simple computation will give you a rough estimate of what you need to invest to meet your sales goals for the next year.

Remember the 80-20 rule. 80% of your results will come from 20% of your effort.

  Ciao.

Step 6 – Set Sales and Marketing Goals

________________________________________

Goals are critical to your success.  If you haven’t written your goals, you’re still just wishing for success. When creating your goals use the SMART formula. Ensure that  your goals are, (1) Sensible, (2) Measurable,  (3) Achievable, (4) Realistic, and (5) Time specific.  Clearly state what you want and be realistic with current resources.

Your goals should include financial elements such as annual sales revenue, gross profit, sales per sales person etc. However, they should also include non-financial elements such as units sold, contracts signed, clients acquired, articles published etc.

Once you’ve set your goals, implement processes to internalize them with all team members such as reviewing  them in sales meetings, displaying thermometer posters, awarding achievement prizes etc.  Measurements for success should focus on the process of continuous improvement and enhancing performance.   Innovate or evaporate.  Tomorrow Step 7 – Developing Your Marketing Budget.  Ciao.

Step 5 – Determine Your Marketing Medium(s)

_______________________________________________

Your marketing medium is the communication vehicle you use to deliver your marketing message. It’s important to choose a marketing medium that gives you the highest return on your marketing dollar (ROMD). This means that you want to choose the medium that delivers your marketing message to the most niche prospects at the lowest possible cost. Marketing activities may include; direct contact and follow-up, networking and referral building, public speaking, writing and publicity, promotional events and advertising.  

Its better to work on getting multiple exposures to a smaller target group than to spread your efforts and have fewer exposures to more people. Here are some examples of different mediums: – Newspaper ads – Posters – Contests – Local circulars – Seminars – Television ads – Signs – Sweepstakes – Door-to-door – Teleclasses – Radio ads – Banners – Trade shows – Yellow pages – Articles – Classified ads – Newsletters – Charity events – Networking – Infomercials – Billboards – Take-one box – Telemarketing – Magazine ads – Special events – Sales letters – Flyers – Email – Movie ads – Ezine ads – Postcards – Doorhangers – Social Networking – Media releases – Fax broadcasts – Brochures – Gift Certificates – Word-of-mouth – Website – Sign picketing – Business cards – Catalogues – Air Blimps – Public speaking – Window display

The trick is to match your message to your market using the right medium. It would do you no good to advertise your retirement community using a fast-paced, loud radio spot on a hip-hop radio station. This is a complete mismatch of the market, message, and medium. Success will come when there is a good match of these three elements. Tomorrow – Step 6 – Setting Your Sales and Marketing Goals.

Step 4 – Develop Your Marketing Message

_________________________________________

Your marketing message not only tells your prospect what you do, but persuades them to become your customer. Communications should relay how you look, act and perform that differentiates you from everyone else.  This is your USP – unique selling proposition – it is formed from your positioning statement – the market, competition, customer and niche you’ve chosen to concentrate on.

You should develop two types of marketing messages.  Your first marketing message should be short and to the point. Some may call this your 10 second introduction. It’s your response to someone who asks you, ‘So, what do you do?’ The response should include – what you do, whom you serve and the benefits they reap.

The second type is your complete marketing message that will be included in all your marketing materials and promotions. To make your marketing message compelling and persuasive  it should include the following elements:

• An explanation of your target prospect’s problem. This demonstrates your message and material are relevant and less likely to be junked.
• Proof that the problem is so important that it should be solved now, without delay – this is sometimes referred to as a “WIIFM – what’s in it for me” statement. You may have a primary message and one or two supporting messages.
• An explanation about why you are the only person/business that can solve your prospects problem – this is your differentiation statement.
• Features and benefits of your solution – with a heavy emphasis on benefits – these statement will begin to show the customer the value of doing business with you.

Additional materials to support your sales and marketing materials and strategy might include:

• Examples and testimonials from customers you have helped with similar problems.
• An explanation about prices, fees, and payment terms.
• Your unconditional guarantee.
• Special offers should be specific and limited in time frame to relay urgency.
• Cross promotion with other stores, vendors or partners.
• Offer specials during your down time.

Once you’ve determined your messaging – next is deciding on the medium that will deliver the message to your target.  We’ll talk about Step 5 in our next post.  Ciao.

Step 3 – Market Niche Definition

_______________________

Defining your market niche identifies the group of people, organizations, and issues that your business is designed to serve. There’s nothing more destructive than to pick a niche that you can’t communicate with or that costs a lot of money to contact. Defining a specific niche allows you to focus and maximize your marketing efforts. By demonstrating your specialty, you’ll stand out from your competitors.

If you have not defined your niche and ‘everyone’ is your prospect – your messaging will most likely miss the mark.  Your potential customer may not readily identify themself as an appropriate target for your product or service. 

Proper research should help you define if you are providing a unique product or service and if the niche is a viable one to produce the revenue results you are looking for.  Step Four of your Marketing Plan takes all the research and planning you’ve been doing and points to the messages that will attract the attention of your prospects and clients.  Ciao.