Rain-Making in the Desert

Some business owners tend to sit on their hands during an economic downturn - waiting for the market to rebound before they make a move or spend a dime. But although it may seem counter-intuitive, recessions are a great time to get back to the basics of business development and marketing.

As tough as recessions can be on your pocketbook, they do free up space to think and plan - two things that most companies don't do enough of!

If you want to use a short-term lull to drive long-term success, what should you be focusing on?

Relationships. In a down economy it's more important than ever to take care of the customers you have, reconnect with customers you've lost and encourage referrals. By taking every opportunity to interact with people you already know, you can begin to fully understand what needs are in the marketplace and how you can fill them. And while you obviously want to get more money from your connections and leverage their Rolodex, you also need to focus on providing real value and gathering crucial information that will help you set your business up to succeed.

Networking, customer satisfaction calls, face-to-face meetings and hosting events are just a few ways to show your customers, suppliers, vendors and partners that you appreciate them and are concerned about providing thoughtful, personalized service.

Education. It can be hard to reconcile yourself to giving anything away for free, but freebies today drive sales tomorrow. Recessionary economies make consumers cautious, so you have to prove yourself before they will buy from you. Doling out valuable tidbits of information, offering instruction for do-it-yourselfers and having some products or services available for a free trial can create the confidence to earn real purchases.

Now is the time to do whatever it takes to build rapport and trust. Host seminars, offer low-cost classes to share knowledge with the public, allow people to sample your services for free and talk with anyone who will listen about your area of expertise. People do pay attention to companies that demonstrate that they care! Now is not the time to try and monetize every aspect of your business, rather you should be educating consumers on why they should buy from you both now and when their financial picture improves.

Education applies to your internal systems as well. Brief periods of inactivity are great times to mentor your staff, conduct training, implement better processes and upgrade equipment. That way when business picks up again - you're ready!

Market Strategically. During times of plenty marketing efforts can get sloppy. You buy any ad that a salesperson approaches you about... you send out mailers, emails and newsletters willy-nilly... budgets fly out of control as you sponsor events, join professional organizations, and take everyone you know out for lunch.

Economic downturns force companies to make responsible choices about how to spend their precious business development dollars. Go back to your strategic plan and remember who you serve and why. How can you connect with small target audiences on a personal level - and cheaply? Trim the fat from the marketing budget and drop any activities that don't get stellar results.

Most of all, don't stop marketing completely or trust your gut on where to put your marketing dollars. Tracking is the best way to demonstrate how marketing efforts pay off. In tough times many owners and managers think that the first thing to do is cut back on marketing expenses. However, providing numeric results and reporting on success stories are easy ways to underscore the importance of marketing/ business development and demonstrate ROI for the activities you keep.

Guess what? You're in Sales!

At some point in every business’ growth cycle the leaders lose sight of their real job – sales. They get hung up on staffing issues, quality improvement, planning or new product development and completely forget that if no one is buying what they’re selling they have a huge problem.

In order to grow your company, you must remember that your business is sales. Your business is not the product you manufacture. Your business is not the service you provide. Your real business is marketing and building the internal capacity to successfully sell and deliver your products and services to a multitude of consumers.

Most business owners don’t initially launch their company because they are a great manager or a born marketer. They start their particular business because they possess technical skill in a certain area of expertise such as making glass vases, roofing houses, fixing computer systems or teaching people how to ski. So, when it comes to marketing, small business owners are often fish out of water.

That’s a colossal drawback in today’s competitive business climate, because you can make the most beautiful vases in the world, or be a whiz at troubleshooting computer glitches, and if no one knows you exist you’ll be bankrupt in no time. Or if you design a product that no one likes except you, you’ll have no market for what you are selling. You simply can’t generate revenue without mastering the process of bringing in and retaining customers!

Truly great marketing is an art form - and the strongest companies are willing to invest in professional help to do it right. But every business owner should know their customer base, understand the basic appeal of their products and services, and think like a marketer.

At its most basic, marketing is a three step process:

1. Understand consumer desire. You can’t sell to people you don’t understand, so get intimate with your ideal customers right away. Think about every transaction from their perspective. Learn what they like and don’t like, where they hang out, who they respect… their age, race, gender and income range. Nothing is too small to pay attention to. This process let’s you create a profile of who your best customers are, and will arm you with the data to find them, speak to them, and tailor your business model around issues that are important in their world.

2. Develop an offering that fits your target customers. If you’re selling diamond rings for $10,000, and your target customers are middle-class suburban teenagers who like ‘bling’, it’s not going to work. They can’t afford what you’re selling. Armed with information about your target audience you can make sure that your products and services meet their needs and fit their budget. Maybe in this instance you could create a flashy line of costume jewelry that would suit your target customers better? Or maybe you could re-engineer your products and promotions to appeal to a better target market - upper class professional women.

3. Connect consumers to the products and services they need through a sale. This step represents the most obvious stage of the marketing process – reach a customer and close a sale. You have to know where to reach your target audience, what to say that will peak their interest, and how to remove barriers to buying. Whether you are advertising on TV, writing an editorial column in the local paper, hosting a networking event or making a speech – you have to keep your focus on penetrating your target market and convincing them to make a purchase from you.

There is another key element to the marketing process that is critical and frequently overlooked… What comes after a successful sale? Businesses tend to focus on obtaining new customers to the exclusion of following through on their brand promises and retaining the customers they already have. You need to have a system in place to follow up with customers, encourage repeat purchases, invite referrals and ensure satisfaction.

As you grow your business, I urge you to examine every level of your company from your customer’s perspective. Successful entrepreneurs know that each sale has to be mutually beneficial and consumer-focused to move them a step closer to their ultimate dream of running a large, thriving organization. By thinking like a marketer and acknowledging your never-ending role as the chief salesperson on your team, you too can set yourself up to succeed down the road.

How to Build a Press Kit

I've gotten lots of questions lately about how to create a quality press kit. It seems that when everyone is tight on cash, free publicity becomes an attractive option for promoting a business. I know this is a little long, but I think it will benefit many small business owners!

There are certain elements that are standard in a media or press kit, and others that are arbitrary. Use this list of 18 potential media kit components to help you build a comprehensive and effective kit. You don’t have to include every item, but try to be as thorough as possible. Give journalists everything needed to build a great story!

1. Greeting and Table of Contents. Kit receivers always appreciate this feature, it respects their time. Don’t think of the Table of Contents as a separate page, just include it within your personalized ‘welcome’ letter, using design elements such as bold, larger font or centering to set it off from the rest of the letter. Place your greeting letter with the Table of Contents as the page before all other pages. For electronic delivery, use color, to help gain attention for the primary elements you’ve chosen to include.

2. Company Information. An "About Us" page includes contact information, of course. But it is also an accumulation of other aspects about the company - in summary format. When founded, vision and mission, a simple list of services and product offerings, or just an overview.

3. About You. This page should be similar to number 2 with the focus being on a single individual. You will want to focus the language and information toward exactly what the media needs to know. For example, with solo-preneurs, the particulars would be about you, your credentials, and background. Think of it as an abbreviated and story-like resume or bio of a key figure or the company founder. What is your personal story about starting the business, creating a product or service? Is it a ‘rags to riches’ story? Usually people don't think they have a good enough story to include; however, that normally turns out to be fiction. Look for the buried treasure and ask others what they think is engaging about your story.

4. Upper Management. It is important to stress any special skills or unique background in the company that is an asset or that might make an interesting story. Use one page per management level or put several people on a single page. Several pages are okay for this section if it supports the media requirements, but don’t overdo.

5. Services and Products. Keep your service information concise and focus on broad areas - one service per page or several to a page. If you don't have enough material for a whole page, create enough. If you have more than one key product or service, but are highlighting the only most noteworthy thing, add a list of the other products and services at the end of the page to indicate what else is available. You will want to include whatever pictures are needed to depict your products, how to use them, results people can expect, etc...

6. Company History. Adding a history can make or break media attraction. If you are a young company you might think it could be a negative element - not true. For a seasoned company, it is a must. What should prevail is how interesting is your story, and what hooks can an article or interview be built around. If it is interesting or creates curiosity, include it.

7. Awards. Include any awards or special interests of the company, the founder or employees. Do you have published authors in your company, an Olympic participant, or something else? Consider including anything noteworthy. Sometimes a backdoor interest can bring media coverage in. If there is only one award you can add it on another page under its own header. To create a whole page from short information, list additional information about the award or accolade, and pictures always add interest.

8. Distinction Page. This page needs to show how the company is different. Comparison charts and graphs are easy for readers to scan and comprehend. Pricing, market share, features and other differentiators work well.

9. Client List. List your customers whether they are well-known or not. If your client list is extremely confidential, mention this in lieu of the list. You can expand the information by providing some brief background information about key customers or creating a full page of glowing client testimonials. You can also spread testimonials throughout the media kit components using pull quote design effects.

10. Company Affiliates. If you have a formal affiliate or partner program, add this information. If you use top quality vendors, add their information as well. If you sell through certain distributors, list them. Connections add flavor and make your story more attractive.

11. Press Releases. Use any relevant releases with dates less than 90 days. Otherwise you look stale.

12. Publication and Speaking List. If an author, tell where you were published. If you’ve been written about, expand by adding details about the publication and the nature of the piece. A few summarized paragraphs will do. If you write your own electronic or printed newsletter, add this information as well. Add copies of the articles, newsletters or shorts only if they are relevant and current.Have you spoken at events or to groups? List them, and if the appearances are old, don't include dates. Include panel participations, seminars you’ve taught and events you’ve spoken at.

13. Radio/Television Appearances. Whether you were a guest, a host or an expert doesn't matter. Tell readers where they can access any audio or video clips. You’ll want to set the availability of this information off with some sort of design element to make sure it isn't missed. To expand an appearance, add elements about how you got on the show, what you did or didn't like, what you talked about or other details about the experience. Human interest stories always spark interest to the media. Give enough to peak their curiosity.

14. Endorsements or Personal Acknowledgements. For media kits, credibility is crucial. Endorsements should include more detail than brief testimonials. Add copies of special endorsement letters or just mention them throughout other components. Only add letters and statements with the endorser’s permission. Product manufacturers and book authors frequently include endorsements. Be creative with this area and actively look for endorsers all the time.

15. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). This component is a must in every media kit. Normally, media people read these pages first or second, and they want a synopsis of answers to common questions. Formulate the questions by asking media contacts what they would need to know to write a story. Don't guess what they want.

16. Photos. For trainers, speakers, or other professional services, color photos can be expensive to include and aren't necessary. For product manufacturers, stores, corporations, etc… use images of your facilities, team and offerings to spark interest.

17. Community. Add volunteer projects you have worked on, or board positions you have held. To expand, add additional details about the community organization. On a corporate level, talk about events you’ve sponsored, charities you’ve partnered with and relevant donations you’ve made.

18. DVD/CD-ROM. If you have the resources and time to pull together a corporate or personal DVD/CD to insert in the media kit, great. This is not necessarily right or required for many press kits, but if the media can see you in action they will get a feel for how you might perform in an interview. If they can see your facilities, your products being used, and your services being delivered, it will build confidence and rapport.

* If you have a well-trafficked website, it is a good idea to post your entire media kit and press releases in .pdf format online. Have downloadable images available as well. This allows the media to access everything they need instantly, and it keeps them from having to store a hardcopy of your press kit or call you for information.