Strategy

Email is one of those things that people talk A LOT about fixing. It makes a terrific virtual water cooler topic because it meets the following requirements:

1. It’s draining
2. It’s incessant
3. Almost everyone has a suggestion about how to manage it

I’m going to go out on a limb and postulate that you’ve faced a few email issues of your own. How do you manage it, both personally and professionally? How do you use it to provide the kind of customer service you’d like to be known for? How do you support your brand with email?

These are all big questions, some with intuitive answers and others that require a bit more thoughtful digging. If that’s not digging that you’re interested in doing, you’re in luck. We’re handling that for you at the Email Center Pro blog.

Of particular interest might be a recent series we completed, entitled “Stop the Madness: Manage Email to Grow Your Business”. The posts provide insight on things like brand identity and the value that you provide through email. If you’re trying to figure out how to make better use of the time you spend wrestling with this communication channel, the Email Center Pro blog is the place to do it.

If you just want some interesting insights and a bit of a light-hearted look at email, you’ll find that there, too. We’d like to think that we’re a full-service solution.

Jason Gallic,
Product Manager, Email Center Pro

Tags: Email Center Pro
Posted on June 4th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Statistics show that 70% of entrepreneur-owned businesses do not survive the founder. Did you work this hard, for this long, to see your life’s work implode?

One of the most important features about good marketing process is its impact when it comes time for the owner to move out. Whether you plan to sell out or pass the business on, having a system installed that generates leads and converts them to loyal, profitable clients will significantly improve your business’s value.

Your marketing system should include a clear statement of how you are different and better; a complete sales kit filled with persuasive reasons to do business with you; a lead-generation process that includes the internet, advertising, public relations and referrals; and a process that effectively and efficiently converts leads to loyal customers.

Succession planning is more than just marketing, however. Here are seven other areas you need to consider:

1. Retirement isn’t death. Small business owners don’t plan for succession because they genuinely hate the idea of not working—no control, no work, no identity …so only about one quarter have a plan. Not planning leaves your staff and their families incredibly vulnerable.

2. Retirement isn’t just deciding not to go into the office anymore. It’s ensuring you have enough money to retire on from the sale of your business. Will your business even carry on or will you sell it? Who’s going to manage the business? How will ownership be transferred?

3. The biggest business “killers” are taxes and family discord. So succession planning is about management, ownership and taxes. Will an owner manage the business or not? Will all owners have the same number of shares? How will you reorganize the company to reduce your taxes?

4. Outsource. If you’ve been successful, you already depend on a network of help to manage your financial, tax, and legal; maybe even marketing, distribution and HR issues. Small business owners are typically too emotionally involved to make good succession plans, so let someone else you trust do it for you.

5. Train and mentor your successor(s). Okay we know you hate this one—who has the time? But how can you expect your business to continue to thrive without you if you don’t train? And remember, you’ll be throwing away your life’s work if you don’t.

6. Start business succession planning early. Okay we know you hate this idea too. But five years in advance is good. Ten years in advance is better. Many business advisors tell budding entrepreneurs to build an exit strategy right into their business plan.

7. Read. You owe it to yourself, your family, your employees and your suppliers to know the issues that will affect them once you’ve left.
Canadian Resources

An overview by the Financial Post of retirement planning, after the sale, taming your tax liability, financing the sale, and accurately evaluating the business.

“Investing in Your Future: Building a Succession Plan” to members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Transition planning tips from the Business Development Bank of Canada

“Closing or Selling Your Business—A Succession Plan Info-Guide” from the Canada-Ontario Business Service Centre. Includes toll-free numbers to get detailed information on legal and tax requirements, plus helpful information.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin
Posted on June 2nd, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Our friend Dave called last night, he’s started a small engine repair business and he asked us to review a sales letter he’d written. Dave’s letter was actually pretty good; the only problem was that it did not give a really good reason why anyone should do business with him! There was no incentive; no “special introductory offer”; no inducement for anyone to dash to the phone and call him. Of course we offered to rewrite the letter.

The number one objective for a sales letter is get the letter read. And the second is to persuade the reader to take an action and start a business relationship.

How do you do this? First, create a powerful headline with an immediate clear benefit for the reader, not some wishy-washy “Hi, here we are” statement. Ask a question that shows you understand their needs,

Are you still looking for someone who can guarantee your mower, tractor, trimmer, cultivator or compactor will be ready to work when you are?

This show’s you understand their needs and are not just jumping into a “rah rah” selling pitch.

Then tell them you have the solution,

Our 10 point small engine tune-up will keep you running strong all summer long-we absolutely guarantee it.

Give them your business credentials. Dave could say, “I’ve been repairing all makes of lawn and garden equipment for over 15 years and I love it!”

Now offer them something they can use, in other words: tell them what’s in it for them if they buy your product or use your service right away. Don’t be afraid to be bold. Use Capitals, underline, or bold type–let the offer leap off the page so that if they read nothing else, they’ll at least see the offer you’re making.

Take advantage of our FREE get-to-know-us offer!

Now add some credibility-people want to know what others say about you, so tell them-add two or three testimonials.

Be sure your letter has a high interest factor by adding some free advice or tips and tricks. Dave could tell how to make an engine run better by selecting proper fuel mixtures or how to keep a lawn mower blade sharp.

Clearly state what the next action should be and give them a reason why it’s important to act right away.

Be sure you’re ready for the growing season–call us NOW!

Use plain language and don’t use language that you would not normally use–be sure it sounds like you.

Thank the reader for reading your letter and sign it personally. If you know the reader, add a note at the bottom in your own handwriting.

Last, add a P.S. This is a great place to reiterate the offer and maybe even sweeten the deal.

Take advantage of our FREE “get-to-know-us” offer by April 30th and we’ll throw in a free tank of gas for your mower or tractor.

Of course you must have a good list to send this out to–one that is accurate and up-to-date. Sending a great letter to a non-existent person is a waste of time, so phone your contacts before you mail and make sure your list is up to date.

Do a test. Send out a few dozen per week, and follow up by phone. Vary the offer and see what happens.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin
Posted on April 28th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

I’m fascinated by the hubbub that Tropicana created by changing their branding.

Have you seen this?

A while back, Tropicana decided to change their boxes from the straw in the orange look to a new, cleaner looking box with a “crate and barrel glass” filled with juice on the edge of the box.

The move, as I read at the Daily Heller,  was pushed as a “historic integrated-marketing and advertising campaign… designed to reinforce the brand and product attributes” and “help consumers rediscover the health benefits they get from drinking America’s iconic orange-juice brand.” Wow, that’s a pretty big job for a simple box redesign.

What was the result of this “historic” push?

It lost money. Either because people didn’t recognize the branding anymore or were turned off by the “generic” look of the new box. Personally, I like the clean look of the new branding, but the thing that used to say Tropicana doesn’t say Tropicana to me anymore.  It says Orange Juice.

Maybe they should have talked with Naota Fukasawa who designed new fruit juice packaging meant to mimic the look and feel of the fruit inside.

Updating your packaging and by extension, your brand can be important to keep current in the fast moving world, but at what expense?

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager

Tags: branding, Marketing
Posted on April 20th, 2009 | 9 Comments »

Tim Berry was featured on Jim Blasingame’s Small Business Advocate radio show yesterday.

Succession planning is a big part of the long-term planning for millions of small businesses. Tim Berry has studied this and actually done it successfully, and he talks with Jim Blasingame about his advice based on his experience.

You can listen to the full show by clicking on the image below.

And be sure to check out the Small Business Advocate website! Jim and his amazing staff have a wealth of information contained on the website.

Tags: jim blasingame, radio appearance, succession planning, Tim Berry
Posted on March 17th, 2009 | No Comments »

It’s no secret we’re big fans of John Jantsch around here. So it was exciting to read about a new webinar he’s involved in concerning something we get a lot of questions about.  Branding.

John writes:

Please join me and a very fun panel of small business branding pros on Wednesday, March 18th at 11am CDT for – The “Truth” About Small Business Branding – using your small business brand to outsmart the competition – a panel discussion featuring practical branding tips and tactics from leading small business branding experts.

Panelists:
» Karen Post – The Branding Diva & Author of Brain Tattoos
» John Moore – Creator of Brand Autopsy & Author of Tribal Knowledge
» Sam Horn – Author of Pop! – Stand out in any crowd
» Aaron Weiss – Chief Product Officer for MarketSplash

This won’t be your typical Branding 101 discussion, trust me, these guys get small business.

Register here for the Truth About Small Business Branding

Definitely a webinar to  make time for!

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Tags: branding, experts, john jantsch, Marketing, Small Business, webinar
Posted on March 12th, 2009 | No Comments »

Here is the link to an interesting BusinessWeek Online opinion piece by Steve McKee, Why Social Media is Worth Small Business Owner’s Time.

Why? The subheading points it out “All Those Users Spell Opportunity”. McKee also makes a nice comparison of today’s growth in Social Media to the growth to near-omnipresence of the Internet in business during the last one and one-half decades.

Give this a read, and then “Jump Right In”, making Social Media participation a strategy for your business.

Steve Lange
Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software

Posted on January 20th, 2009 | No Comments »

This is a time of year when family and good cheer should take precedence over work and things like email monitoring. Many of us will step away from our inboxes and turn our focus on real boxes — those containing gifts.

Of course that’s not to say that messages aren’t going to continue materializing in your inbox. In fact, you might even get a few good ones — potential leads, perhaps.

Given that fact, it’s impractical to consider stepping away from the mess entirely — as recommended in this Lifehacker.com blog post. This might work for the few of us who can afford to pass by viable opportunities or for those among us who don’t place a premium on customer service.

But for the rest of us, it would be nice to find a solution built to distribute the workload of customer and business email so that when one person steps away from her inbox, others can pick up the slack — and see that no opportunity is missed.

For instance, Email Center Pro was designed to manage exactly this scenario. By centralizing all of your email in a single, transparent location, there’s no longer a need for one person to manage all of it.

And that means that you can step away from your business email with a peace of mind — because you know that messages are no longer piling up in eager anticipation of your return. Instead what’s piling up is leads.

Jason Gallic
Product Marketing Manager
jason@paloalto.com

Tags: Email Center Pro, email overload, lost leads, managing email, vacation email
Posted on December 19th, 2008 | No Comments »

I was sent a link to an article about a pub in the UK that has decided to only charge £1 for their meals. All the meals. Lunch and dinner.

And their gamble is paying off.

“Three or four months ago we were really struggling, we thought we would have to give it up,” he told Sky News Online.

“Back then we typically had 15 people in for lunch – today I’ve had 300. Tonight there’ll be about 350 people in, whereas four months ago it was 20.

In fact, the gamble has paid off so well for them, they aren’t going to go back to regular prices. How do they make a profit by pricing everything on the menu at only one pound?

“We are making a profit by doing everything ourselves, shopping and sourcing the food locally, we’ve got a local butcher who works along with us,” says the landlord.
“We can do some of the items on the menu – things like meatballs and chips or chicken and chips – for 20p or 30p a portion, so we’re still making a profit.”
The pub is now doing a roaring trade with people travelling from Birmingham and even Liverpool to enjoy the food.

Now, there’s a business that moves with the punches. Good for them.

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Have you signed up for the Back to the Fundamentals webinar yet?

Posted on November 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »

Interesting article today on Businessweek.com about the importance of recognizing your business costs and getting them under control now verses later, when it could be too late:

“…by recognizing the problem early and making moderate reductions, small firms can avoid more severe cuts later on, financial experts say. Companies that ignore warning signs can erode their profits with rising costs, and those that borrow to meet those costs can wind up insolvent.”

How many of you are looking at your personal or household budgets and cutting expenses? Change vacations plans? Did you dump those magazine subscriptions that you don’t need?

Why wouldn’t you do the same thing at your business?

The answer is, you would! No question. Right?

Now, here’s the next question. Are you being smart in your cuts, or are you looking at the highest costs and slashing them without really looking down the road and seeing what the cut is going to do to you later on? How many of you immediately shut down your advertising campaign? Canceled all your trade show appearances? Eliminated a position or two on your staff?

Let me say this again. Cutting your business costs now verses later is a good idea… but making sure you make the right cuts is going to make the difference between having a strong and functioning business and a “just hanging on” business down the road.

You are in business now because you made smart choices. Keep that up. Pull open your budgets, study your cash flow, your planned vs actuals, your forecasts. Adjust them for the good, the bad and the really really ugly. Be brutal in your projections and then look at your costs.

Make a plan. A good plan.

Now is not the time for guess work and hasty decisions. You can’t afford it.

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Have you signed up for the Back to the Fundamentals webinar with Tim Berry? There’s still time! Register Right Now by clicking this button

Tags: backtofundamentals, business planning, global entrepreneurship week, smart planning, Tim Berry, webinar
Posted on October 30th, 2008 | 1 Comment »