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I had an exchange yesterday with a small business owner who had been marketing his business — a retail business in a busy downtown area — through newspaper advertising and was frustrated by the lack of results.

Here’s the bottom line: the folks that sell you your ads will never admit this, but the truth is that any kind of mass media advertising isn’t designed to “work” the way a small business owner wants it to. Those are awareness-building tools and not the kinds of initiatives that, on their own, are likely to bring you the kind of ROI you’re looking for… Namely phone calls, foot traffic, etc.

I recommend that small business owners invest their time and marketing budget into efforts that are likely to reach fewer people, but more likely to net actual customers. These would include networking, referral marketing, retention programs, email marketing, etc. And build an audience that you can reach over and over again.

I wrote about this in November and again in December but considering the topic, it’s work saying again. Marketing is a science of reach times frequency. Reach is sexier because we all like to think that because we’re in a magazine that’s read by 200,000 that we’re going to drum up a lot of interest. But frequency is actually more important. You’ll win a lot more business by reaching 50 people 10 times each than you will reaching 500 people once.

Another thing that works is incentives… Incentivize new customers, incentivize current customers to refer friends and family, incentivize partners, local business owners and others who can send you new business. When you network and meet people that have the potential to send you a lot of business, bring them in and offer them a free or discounted service so they can see how great it is. And make sure that when you do win new business that you have a retention process in place to keep those customers and stay in front of them.

The business that I mentioned that sparked this post was actually a massage business. Here’s what I suggested to the owner as examples of high-ROI but low-cost marketing efforts that would likely make more sense for him than traditional advertising:

• Create a referral program
• Create a retention program
• Solicit businesses to allow you to use their offices/retail locations for advertising; if you offer a discount it could be considered an employee benefit
• Also solicit business owners to buy your service in the form of gift cards for employee bonuses or x-mas gifts
• Office massage days are a great idea too as is offering massage in a company’s trade-show booth. These types of services have a great value to the business you market them to and gives you the opportunity to be paid to market yourself to a large group of individuals that could ultimately become your customers as well.

Traditional advertising is a great tool… just not for what most small businesses use it for. I usually tell small business owners to invest in developing low-reach/high-frequency/high-ROI initiatives BEFORE spending on advertising. Mass media is usually the thing I recommend that businesses do last after they have developed all of these other engines to acquire and retain customers. That ensures that we have the right processes in place to keep any customers that DO come into the system through traditional advertising.

Have questions about developing an effective small business marketing plan? Shoot me an email, I’m happy to help.

Posted by E. Wolf

Zero-G Creative was featured in this month’s Around Town Small Business Journal, a business magazine serving the north Atlanta area. The subject of the article was building lasting business partnerships, a topic that is very important to us here at Zero-G.

Click here to download the article as a PDF.

Posted by E. Wolf

Every one of your prospects is asking themselves that key question whenever they make a purchase decision. Our job as marketers and business owners is to create tools and materials that help answer that question simply and emphatically. So whenever you go on a sales meeting or prepare your marketing collateral or web site, make sure that you’ve given a lot of thought to the difference between the FEATURES and BENEFITS of your product or service.

This is actually a common mistake, and something that I talk to our clients a lot about. The problem starts with the gap between the seller and purchaser of any given product. As the people selling or marketing an item, we know it inside and out. We understand what it does and the things that make it unique and incredible. We innately know why everyone should want one. The customer though is a stranger. They know little or nothing and often need to rely on us to help them make good purchase decisions. We, on the sales and marketing side are obsessed with features. They are often our differentiators and the things that we get excited about.

When I ran marketing communications for a global baby toy manufacturer, our company revolved around features. If we came up with a baby seat that played seven soothing songs while our competitor’s product played only four, that was a good day in the office. After all, we were fighting a war for shelf space against larger, more mature companies like Fisher-Price; anything that could give us extra ammunition when we went into battle was important. And seven songs is definitely more — and better — than four.

But what’s in it for the end customer? Do they care how many songs it plays? Our customers, regardless of the industry, are obsessed with benefits. They want to know how their lives or businesses will improve by making this purchase. To the business owner, the benefit seems obvious because their extensive knowledge on the subject prevents them from being objective.

There’s no doubt that features are important… But they usually aren’t meaningful unless connected with a benefit for your customers which you can easily express in both conversation and collateral. Before you do anything else, make sure you tell your customers what’s in it for them. It may be the most productive change you ever make to your sales and amrketing approach.

Posted by E. Wolf

I’ve been in and around marketing and design for a very long time and I’ve found that there are many business owners and marketing managers out there that don’t like doing business with people in our industry. The biggest complaint that I hear time and time again is that they’ve learned not to trust their graphic design resources. It’s a terrible indictment of the people that work in graphics and the web and a hurdle that the honest, hard-working firms and individuals out there have to overcome every time they sit down with a potential client who has been burned in the past.

As a consultant and the owner of a design firm, I have these kinds of conversations with business owners all the time. They paid money to someone who disappeared. They waited months to hear from the designer that suddenly lost interest in their project after a long string of unreturned emails and phone messages. They didn’t realize until after it was too late that their designer didn’t have the expertise to properly and professionally execute the project at hand.

When I started my design firm, Zero-G Creative, I was determined to break these stereotypes and show business owners that they can get quality design, good advice and outstanding customer service without paying agency fees. We’ve offered transparent pricing, a solid design methodology and a satisfaction guarantee that protects businesses from being charged for additional revisions when they are unhappy with their designs.

But now we’ve taken our commitment one step further… Zero-G Creative has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau. It’s just another way for us to prove to our clients that we’re willing to go the extra mile to earn their trust and that we are confident enough in our track record that we’d be happy to have the Better Business Bureau publish it on their web site.

Trust is the foundation of any good business relationship and we believe in serving our clients in the manner they deserve. While we can’t make up for any bad experiences people may have had in the past, we can certainly give them a better design alternative now.

Posted by E. Wolf

I’ve been talking to people a lot lately about the importance of forming solid strategic partnerships with other small business owners. Connecting with other entrepreneurs — even those that may not ever become clients — is an extremely valuable use of time and will pay off in the long run.

Personally though, I think one of the most frequently overlooked places to find valuable connections and partnerships is with your competition. I know this may sound like heresy to many out there, but in my experience it’s true… Your competitors can actually HELP you grow your business.

My company specializes in graphic design, web design and marketing for small to medium-sized businesses. There are hundreds of qualified firms and individuals competing with us just here in Atlanta and, I would guess, tens of thousands nationwide if not more. But at the end of the day, no two design firms are exactly alike. Some firms are big and some are small. Some do a little bit of everything, but some firms specialize in a specific media like print, magazines or web. Some firms work exclusively on specific types of clients, like technology firms or consumer products companies.

Many times, we’ll get referrals from other firms for projects that aren’t right… Projects that are too small for our agency contacts and projects that are too big for freelancers we know. Sometimes other designers will even start projects for us to finish. Why not? Building a good relationship with people within your own industry is a great way to earn a top-notch reputation. And this strategy isn’t limited to design and marketing… I have seen people in a variety of industries work effectively with competitive firms or individuals. Business consultants do this all the time as do lawyers, accountants and IT firms.

Certainly you need to be careful about how you work in relationships like this… You obviously don’t want to expose too much of your organization or give someone information that they could easily exploit to your disadvantage. But at the same time, you have a lot to gain by developing close relationship with other professionals in your industry — even if their services overlap with yours.

Posted by E. Wolf

I have to shake my head every time someone says, “It’s just a business card.” That business card is probably the single most important piece of marketing material in your arsenal. Why? I can tell you in one word: longevity.

If you distribute brochures, most of them will likely end up in the trash within a couple of weeks and almost certainly within a year. Many direct mail pieces end up in the trash within five minutes of bringing in the mail. Promotional products can make a wonderful impression, but most of them will probably end up as a toy for someone’s kid. But the business card I give you today may stay with you for ten years and you will be reminded of the quality of that first impression every time you flip by it in your rolodex or business card portfolio.

Business people who carry a stack of cheap, templated business cards wherever they go are doing themselves a great disservice. Those cards are not likely to ignite or support a great first impression in any way… And the evidence of that failed opportunity may stick in your prospect’s files for years to come.

Don’t think it doesn’t matter or that people don’t notice… People will judge you on appearances, and your marketing materials play as much a role as your attire and demeanor. But your business cards will suffer the most scrutiny over time.

Remember also that no matter how much you spend on your business cards, they are probably STILL the cheapest piece of collateral that you will ever buy. There’s really no sense in trying to save a buck on business cards. Saving $50, $100 or even $250 on business cards just isn’t worth it when you consider what it could cost you in business in the long run.

Posted by E. Wolf

What makes a successful home page design? More than anything else, it’s FOCUS. The goal of your home page is to quickly qualify you as a product or service provider in your industry and give your visitors a clear call to action that shows them where they need to go next… Get more information, sign up, order, etc. The home page is also a good place to separate different types of visitors. A products company, for example, may need to separate consumers from retailers and present custom-tailored information for each or a services company may need to separate current from prospective clients.

I usually recommend that before considering home page content that a company decide what they really want to achieve with their web site. What is it supposed to do? Provide information? Develop credibility? Build a mailing list? Generate online sales? Some business owners may say “all of the above.” That is not the right answer. In any business endeavor there is always one goal that is more important than all others. If your business sells a product and intends to sell it online, that product should be front and center on your home page. If you’re a service provider, it probably needs to be your value proposition along with some call to action that leads your visitor significantly closer to contacting you.

From there, set the rest of your priorities and be prepared to demote some of them to lower pages in your web site. If your home page works, visitors will ultimately make their way to that content… If you overwhelm visitors, you’ll likely lose them right away.

Of all the mistakes that business owners tend to make on their home pages, I see two time and time again… The first mistake is overload. Businesses can’t tell their whole stories on one web page any more than they can on one sheet of paper or one PowerPoint slide. Start with what’s important and use your second-level pages to support your claims.

The second mistake is — for lack of a better word — vanity. Videos, cool flash demos, photos of the business owners or recent company events can all have their place in a web site. But that place may not be on the home page. It is extremely important to have a web site that you, as a business owner, like and appreciate. But although you may own your web site, it isn’t FOR you, it’s for your customers and your home page needs to tell a story that will be meaningful to them. No matter how much you spent on that video and how much you like it, the video may not be a replacement for a good product shot and tagline. No matter how much of your personality is wrapped up in your business, a photo of you may not adequately describe your firm’s value proposition. Please note though that these aren’t absolutes (i.e., never put a video on your home page), just examples of common home page pitfalls…

Not sure what belongs on your home page and what doesn’t? The best advice I can give is to speak frankly to your marketing/web folks and ask them how they would approach it… As business owners there is only so much that we can do ourselves. And marketing decisions can be especially sticky as many small business CEO’s feel compelled to drive their marketing themselves down to each written word and the layout of each piece of collateral. I’d advise you to find a good resource that you can lean on to help you make these types of decisions, just as you would lean on and trust a CPA, attorney or IT professional to help you make decisions as they relate to certain aspects of your business. Don’t know where to find one? Email me and I will be happy to point you to some good people.

Posted by E. Wolf

This is a follow up to my post a few days ago about printing in small quantities. When my company hires printing on behalf of our clients, we’re usually doing one of the two things I described in that post… Hiring a “bulk” printer that prints many jobs at once on an offset press or using a digital printer. It is a rare occasion when will we even quote a custom job on an offset press. Most of our clients don’t see the value in this, especially if they are only willing to commit to printing small quantities and are running a simple job like business cards or a standard-sized brochure.

But at the same time, business owners need to understand that there are serious limitations to what we provide without going to a custom print job. One of the biggest is paper/finish selection. If you print bulk, you will get little or no paper selection (they may let you select weight if you’re lucky) and your pieces will likely HAVE to be finished with some type of varnish, whether it is matte or gloss. Why? Because applying the clear finishing coat allows the pieces to dry almost instantly, allowing the bulk printers to cut and package them faster and move the product out faster.

With digital printing, you will be able to select from a variety of paper stocks… But as of this writing, still a fairly small variety. If a job hinges on a custom paper stock, there is no guarantee that your digital printer will have access to it — or anything even close for that matter. As a rule, digital print stocks also do not run as thick as traditional stocks. My digital resource told me the other day that they are modifying their equipment so that it might be able to handle a 100 lb. uncoated sheet. The technology is catching up, but it’s still a long way away from being a true alternative to offset printing.

Our rule of thumb would be to tread carefully and manage customers’ expectations. A customer asked us recently if a particular type of paper might be available for his small quantity print job. We spoke to our vendor and found an acceptable digital alternative to the stock he requested. Halfway into the project though, he changed his mind and says that he wants a different type of specialty paper. This one looks like a no-go.

In the end, when it comes to printing in small quantities and on small budgets, tradeoffs need to be made somewhere. Although many of us would like to see the digital printers fill this niche someday, there still isn’t any “have your cake and eat it too” solution for small business printing.

Posted by E. Wolf

As with any experience with a company or brand, people tend to notice and appreciate the details. Late last week I took my son to a doctor’s office. The office building was part of a big medical campus that was attached to a large and complicated parking deck. As we were waiting for the elevator to come and take us up to ground level, I noticed a small plastic display in front of the elevator, filled with business cards. The cards told you where you had parked so you wouldn’t get lost on the way out. On the back, they printed the facility’s phone number and web address.

It was an unexpected and considerate detail, especially in light of the stress and uncertainty that comes with doctors visits in general. Plus, it cost them next to nothing to produce and is likely noticed and appreciated by hundreds of visitors every day.

Sometimes it helps to take a step back and put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think about what it’s like to experience your product or service from their point of view. What can we do to make it just a little easier for our customers to do business with us?

People remember the little things… Sometimes even more than the product/service itself. I’ve just written several paragraphs inspired by the parking lot at my son’s doctor’s office. I also appreciate the hot minty towels that my barber uses and that they remember me and my regular order at my favorite coffee shop. They aren’t the only reason I continue to go to these places, but they certainly help.

Posted by E. Wolf

My friend and colleague Jennifer Koon wrote a terrific post on her blog last week about the minefield of inexpensive, small-run printers. Click through here to read what she has to say.

Unfortunately, small businesses printing in small quantities have very few affordable options and are forced to make a trade-off somewhere… Either giving up control, paper selection and personal service with a bulk/online printer or sacrificing some print quality and the ability to print on thicker cardstocks by going digital.

I’ve been through this a few times and so I’ve got some tips to help you mitigate your risk if you’re considering going with an online printer.

1. Order their sample pack. It should be free.
2. Read their reprint/return/refund policy. Even under the best circumstances, you’ll need to go through this process at one time or another if you’re using a printer consistently.
3. Contact their customer service department as if you were a real customer. Do it via phone and email and check out their response/hold time. If you wait on the phone for half an hour before you’re a customer, you’re likely to have the same problem when you are a customer.
4. Get references. Find out who you know has been using these resources and what they think. The last time I was looking for an online resource, I narrowed the field to my two favorites and then asked my entire LinkedIn network if they had any experiences. The feedback was valuable and helped me make my decision.
5. These printers are usually cheap and allow you to order a box of business cards for only a few dollars. Doing a trial run is low-risk and will give you a real look at what it’s like to be a customer.

For anyone out there interested in running the online printer gauntlet, I wish you luck. Prepare to be frustrated and prepare to be disappointed, but I promise, there are some decent options out there.

You’ll get a better overall experience with a local digital printer… Personal attention, an eye for detail and a company that is likely very interested in preserving their business with you. The drawbacks? Digital machines just aren’t able to achieve the kind of quality that you get on a real printing press and while you get a better variety of papers to choose from, you’re not going to be able to get a really thick cardstock for business cards.

If you want to get EXACTLY what you want, unfortunately the only way is to spend a lot more money and have it printed at a local offset printer. They will meet your expectations in print/paper/service quality and give you the ability to customize your job however you like, but you will pay for it. The cost won’t be so bad at very high quantities (say in the 10’s of thousands) but will be cost-prohibitive for short runs of a few hundred to a few thousand.

Posted by E. Wolf