Local marketing experts will tell you that the only thing that matters is getting to number one on google, or having the most fan page likes, but rarely will they tell you about the things that REALLY matter to sales. How you treat people IN PERSON, once you get them there matters even more!

So, local business owners, first I want tell you about some marketing books you need to go get and read right now:

• Purple Cow, by Seth Godin
• The Thank You Economy, by Gary Vaynerchuk
• Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping–Updated and Revised for the Internet, the Global Consumer, and Beyond, by Paco Underhill

I would love if you read them and then came back, but at least put them on your book list or radar to read if you own a local business and care about local marketing.

What they mostly say is that to succeed in business you have to be customer centric and unique in the marketplace – BOILERPLATE ALERT. So what do those fancy terms mean? I thought it would be easier to tell you about a great local business, rather than describe them (ad nauseum) in a blog post.

Water 2 Wine in Greenwood Village, CO

I do not wax eloquent too often about service from a local business. I am generally happy to snap a picture and throw something up on FourSquare to show my appreciation, but last night’s experience required a little more. I was meeting some friends before a networking event at a wine bar (I am a beer girl) so had low expectations, plus I was early, again…sigh.

Walked in the door and was greeted by a nice lady who didn’t push me to order and who headed me in the right direction for the loo (restroom for those of you who don’t know the technical terms). Now, ever since I was a little girl and saw a fountain in a bathroom, I have been fascinated with facilities. These were gorgeous, clean and (gasp) had wonderful high-end toilet paper. Seriously, they had me at Charmin!

Next was the nice bartender (who I found out later was the owner) who asked me about what kinds of wine I wanted and proceeded to give me samples of three I tried. PS – he knows what he is doing, every time I tried one I thought I would like, WRONG, all of his, spot on!

The networking started and he mingled, made sure everyone had a nice time and generally helped make the evening great.

So onto paying…first off, I had trouble understanding that they were not charging me for the tasting….really? Okay, well here’s the charge, where is the tip line so I can add a nice little gratuity…what? No tipping?!??!!

They are nice to everyone AT A STORE LEVEL…from the owner, to the bartenders, to the nice man who seemed to be a barback and who got me a glass of water, apologizing that they don’t have ice (probably so goobers like me can’t ice the red wines!).

Okay local marketing class? What have we learned today?

• A culture of caring starts from the top down – Employees are like kids, they model what they see and if you have a caring attitude, it will shine through to your employees.
• Give more than you said – No tip means that I saved $2 – I charge between $100 and $250 an hour for consulting and you can’t buy a promotional post on my blog so for less than the price of a cup of joe, they guaranteed that they got one more raving fan (and some free marketing).
• Raving fans – when I was saying I was coming down for networking (I usually don’t leave the home at night) the ladies I know all said I would LOVE Water 2 Wine. These kinds of apostles out in the marketplace, telling everyone how wonderful you are – priceless.
• Multitudes of Awards – you don’t even have to take my word for it that this place is BRILLIANT, they have won the 2011 Denver’s #1 Wine Shop and Wine Bar AND the award for Denver 5280′s Top of the Town.

I KNOW, not all that much marketing and more customer service today, BUT SO important to sales! If you know a great place in your area who could use a customer service shout out, post a link and I will add it!!!

Lastly, thanks Marcus for being such a good business owner and a downright nice guy! If you would like to check out Water 2 Wine, click the link to visit their site! Or better yet, head over there for glass of grapes…

Water 2 Wine
9608 East Arapahoe Road
Greenwood Village, CO 80112
303-799-9463

Related posts:

1. Direct Sales MLM Case Study – Green Cleaning Products
2. Small Business Marketing Case Study – Body and Mind Enrichment
3. Small Business Marketing Case Study – Intuitive Organizing

Public speaking is not as hard or as life threatening as it may seem. There are definitely some tips and tricks to make it less scarier and more effective.

I have heard the old wives tale that people would rather die than speak in public, BUT for some people that is probably true.

This post is not going to give you silly ways to make yourself feel better about speaking in public (like picturing everyone in their undies). These are just some ideas to make it a little less scary.

Tips and Tricks for Public Speaking

Make sure it is all about THEM – My A NUMBER ONE TIP – If you do not do anything else, make sure you are rock solid clear that the only reason anyone wants to hear from you is to get help doing something they do not already know how to do! If you have the chance to give a one minute speech at networking, give them a tip from your industry. If you have an hour to talk, DO NOT take up the first 15 minutes telling about you and your background. Get to meat as quickly as possible.

Be enthusiastic about your topic – Have you ever been to a speech where the speaker seemed like they were unhappy to be there or pitifully shy? None of that matters if you are rabidly enthusiastic about your topic. I heard a guy talk about musical instruments once who was SO pumped up that I listened for almost an hour.

Handouts – I like to give and to get handouts. There is nothing worse than sitting in an audience with a great speaker and nowhere to take notes. Handouts keep people from freaking out that they are going to miss something AND provide a way for you to provide your contact information discretely. Also, if the computer dies, powerpoint fails or the electric goes out, you are not standing there talking about how good your speech would have been.

Powerpoint – I rarely do powerpoints, but that is just me. I have to tell you, I can tell if a speaker is going to be a dud based on how much they were obsessing about slides at 10pm the night before a speech. Seth Godin says it best in Really Bad Powerpoint.

Dress comfortably – Notice I did not say professionally or nicely. If you are going to be enthusiastic about your topic and wow audiences, you cannot be feeling weird about your outfit. If you are a jeans kind of person, be a jeans kind of person when you speak (if it is good enough for Gary Vaynerchuk and Jeffery Gitomer it is good enough for me). HOWEVER, if you are speaking to a bunch of suits, wear a suit. Basically, you want to be genuine at all times.

Speak In Public A LOT – OHHH, this a bad one for you shy people. Really, if you speak in public A LOT, you get less shy. Offer to speak at Rotary, your church, in your child’s classroom, at your place of work. The more you speak, the easier it gets because (honest), you never die and hardly anyone will throw things at you. In the words of my mom, act confident, no one can tell the difference.

Give Away Your Best Stuff – This is another powerhouse one! Giving away your best information can seem a little counter-intuitive. If you tell them how to do what you are selling, why should they buy? To me there are three types of people at your event: people who are going to do it themselves no matter how good you are and who will benefit from the knowledge, people who feel better for hearing about and who will do nothing either way AND people who are looking for someone to hire. The people who are looking for someone to hire want to know that you know your stuff. Nuff said.

Tell Stories – Whatever you are talking about will be more understandable if you can give a framework with a good example from someone else’s success. Use anecdotes from people you know, articles you have read or “borrow” other great stories that you have heard, citing the source of course.

Last one, more an opinion than a tip. Talk about what you know. It is fine to have to do some research to flesh out your topic, but in general you should have a wide range of knowledge about your subject BEFORE you agree to speak about it. Nothing is worse than getting to the questions and answers part and being unable to talk about anything outside of what you had prepared.

Related posts:

1. How To Get Paid For Speaking My Top Ten Tips
2. Do Bad Social Media Marketing “Tricks” Actually Work
3. Speaker Training Tips – How To Make Your Sound Better

Small business marketing is all about the Linchpins that Seth Godin talks about in his new book. I just finished listening to it and I loved the part about finding your superpower and using that to succeed!

What is your superpower?

Do you know what your superpower is? Do you know WHAT a superpower is? One of the examples from the book is that a ConEd guy is “good with people”. That is not a quantifiable skill, nor is one that can really be taught. That makes the good with people guy valuable.

My superpower is to be able to see what small business owners need to do next to succeed in business. When they tell me all of the things that are going on which are keeping them from succeeding, the real issue sticks out like a bullseye on their face to me!

My husband, computer programmer and this week wedding photographer, is REALLY good with math. That helps him with programming, spreadsheets and camera settings and lighting.

Recently I have met people who; seem extremely stable, are amazingly funny and who are master negotiators. Those are their superpowers. They can do other things BUT each of those traits had a powerful adjective in front of them.

I think it may be hard to know our own superpower. To find yours, ask your friends and clients. They will know your superpower and that will help you to craft a really great mission or positioning statement. The nice thing about superpowers is they are all BENEFITS and not features.

You would not say that you are obsessive compulsive, you would say that your attention to detail makes you the perfect person to work with lawyers. You are not hyperactive. Your high energy assures that you meet deadlines and achieve your clients goals.

I would LOVE to hear your superpowers and how you are using them to help grow your business…:) Make sure to leave them in the comment section!

If you would like to purchase Seth Godin’s Linchpin please click the link. It is an affiliate link so if you want to purchase it without my getting a little bit of money, make sure go directly to Barnes and Noble yourself!

No related posts.

Affiliate marketing is a topic that comes up A LOT in my world. Bloggers are often affiliate marketers and I have just one word of warning for them. Make sure to follow your passion!

Many of the small business blogs that we develop are for affiliates. Oftentimes they have picked a topic that is “hot” by doing research on trends and search volume. I have done that in the past. Sigh.

Every time I have made the decision to do affiliate marketing with no passion behind it, I have petered out early. Now do not get me wrong, passion comes in many forms and it is easy to find a way to monazite your passion but pick your topic wisely!

The benefit of doing an affiliate blog with a hot topic is that you have the opportunity to get fast money. There are serious downfalls also:

• AFFILIATE MARKTING COMPETITION – this is a biggie. If you are not serious about spending some major adwords coin on keywords, you are probably not going to see a huge amount of traffic right off the bat. Make money online is a great niche but the cost per click is about 3 bucks. Not cheap.
• AFFILIATE BURNOUT – I can tell you unilaterally, if you are not at least somewhat interested in your category you will come to hate it more than life itself. I keep reading about fishing, lures, tackle, etc. So when Christmas rolled around I figured it would be a great idea to have a list of presents for fishermen. Argg. I HATE fishing. It took me 10 times as long to research fishing presents as it did for me to research crafting presents (I like crafting) since I had no background other than having fished 30 plus years ago with my grandfather.
• ORGANIC KEYWORD COMPETITION – Now I am HUGE proponent of picking big keywords and having a long term plan for ranking well for them. That having been said, if this is just a little affiliate blog without tons of content, you will struggle to beat the established players in your niche market. If your category is not your passion, coming up with content or even content ideas will be a struggle.

So how do you make your passion pay? If you are a passionate green living nut, find a product or service to sell that goes along with your lifestyle, DO NOT pick something because it is hot. Today on clickbank the top selling product seems to be SatelliteDirect – Highest Converting Tv To PC Product. That is SO not a green item and would not be a good fit.

I was “watching” Seth Godin’s ebook the other day over at Vook and he talked about the farmers market Zeitgeist. Now the farmers had no way of knowing that eating well would be coming back into vogue BUT they had the products and systems in place to serve foodies when it did! Pick a topic that is trending but not super hot and then build a destination for people to come to.

Cathy over at Copy Cat Copywriting had a great post the other day about online marketing and picking a buying niche. It is SO worth a read!

Related posts:

1. How To Find Your Small Business Passion
2. Small Business Affiliate Programs Overview
3. Small Business Affiliate Partner Programs

Here is the link to a totally free ebook on how to get people to attend your event. Whether you are holding a seminar, workshop, party, open house or anything else, you will find some gems here to help get people in the door! I cover using meetup.com, facebook, linkedin, email marketing and some other really great ways to get your message out.

http://marketingartfully.com/How_to_pack_an_event.pdf

How come it is free?

Well, I moved to the Denver area 2 months ago and I was having my first big event (my internet mastermind in Denver) and wanted people to come. I also wanted people to sign up to say they would come to the event, even if they never showed – WHY!?!??! Because people like to go to things that other people are doing – genius I know…:) So anyways, I was in the process of writing a Ebook on how to get people to come to your events and I thought to myself, “how can I get people to sign up even if they aren’t coming?” Then cam a flash of brilliance – bribe them!!!

So, long story short, (too late I know), I am giving this book away, no questions asked, no email required, share it with anyone you want (Seth Godin would be SO proud!). If you like, please comment. If you hate it, don’t bother to complain, it is free…:)

Happy speaking…Tara

PS – I had 10 people who were very interested in internet marketing show up (thanks guys!!), two people who called to say that would have come but heard about it too late, one person on facebook who said the same thing and all the people at the mastermind said they would share the goodness with their friends and colleagues. Can’t ask for any more than that!!!

Related posts:

1. Realtor Marketing – FREE Social Networking Workshop
2. Eyejot – a free email marketing tool!
3. How To Use Email For Marketing from Top 10 Internet Tools

Sunday morning. Coffee and reading a couple of blogs – BAM! I was just “hanging out” online and suddenly had GREAT inspiration in under 2 minutes!

Andrew Warner over at Mashable interviewed Seth Godin for a couple of minutes and gave me a great way to start my day of business building! Here’s my take on a couple of the points that came out of the interview..

Less Competition – I was thinking about this the other day. The small business owners that we work with are concerned about all the companies that are failing. Realtors are looking around and seeing their brethren dropping like flies and wondering if this is the time to drop out too. OH MY GOSH – this is SO the time to dive in and take market share! You are competing with fewer like businesses, you can make a slight tweek in your business and make huge differences! Don’t be afraid – be aggressive!

Build Value – It is amazing to me that in this day and age, after YEARS of hearing about Permission Marketing and being “customer-centric” the way that most businesses market. They are still sending out advertisements telling how great their product is and why you should drop everything, reach into your wallet and give them your money. They are NOT using relationships. They are not trying to build a business based on trust and sharing and providing true value for money. 

Focus – Seth’s last point was to be disciplined about what you are building. Deliver what you promise. Provide more than you promise. Work within your budget. I think we need to add to this that you HAVE to know what your business is doing. This seems simple but most business owners do not know what the main goal for their business is – figure it out! 

Thanks Seth and Andrew for starting my business building day off with a bang!

Related posts:

1. Westminster and Clearwater – 7 Minutes In Marketing Heaven!
2. Seth Says…Gobble Up Market Share

I was just thinking about packaging today and my marketing mentor (Seth of course) wrote a great post about it!

There is NO reason for for huge globs of plastic to surround products that we purchase. I HATE when you buy something and then have to take 15 minutes to get it freed from it’s nuclear bomb proof package. My husband hates it too! Not because he objects to that type of packaging, but because of the 2-3 hours of grousing that comes along with it (that would be me!)

I also have a HUGE problem with tiny things that come in big packages. If they are that worried that I will steal something they should put it in a locked case or just put a chip in it that makes a huge noise when I leave the store.  I have heard a rumor that the RFID chips in things will eventually be able to associate what I usually by with what I might like to buy and offer suggestions. If manufacturers are that smart they should be able to make a product that I can open without a blowtorch and a fire ax!

Another thing that makes me crazy is the packing within a package. My husband buys cigars that come individually encased in hard plastic tubes WITHIN a plastic wrapped container and tray. Now if he was buying them for hundreds of dollars each I could understand the concept BUT they sell for under $5 for a pack of 4! (As you can tell my manic zeal for marketing and packaging excellence has yet to have an appreciable effect on my spouse BUT someday maybe….:)

On a brighter note, I am SO glad that they are selling the reusable bags at the grocery store to use instead of the plastic bags! I totally dig the concept and personally have about 25 of them since I buy them everytime I go – I am a forgetful person and do not remember until that they are in the car or my home until I am in the checkout line. I am starting to have concerns that I have personally killed more trees by buying reusable bags than I have saved by not using plastic bags!

Thank you for letting me vent – we will resume our regular programming shortly!

Related posts:

1. Random Ramblings – Cat Scratch Fever

I have a great admiration for small business owners! The entrepreneurial inspiration hits and they are ready to go out in the world and start selling (either products or services).

I am currently doing work for a fabulous mortgage banker, Brian P. Forrester (who is honest and hardworking and doing great right now, despite the downturn his entire market has taken), some STUPENDOUS realtors, a great friend and business partner Tammy Leventis at Mail Marketing and some other start up small businesses.

All are making it happen in a market that is not easy and getting harder by the day. BUT they have decided that a downturn in the market is a great time to increase their market share through branding and exposing themselves to the market with a focused message!

What are some things you can do to make an impact? Here are my top ten! I know – you have heard of these before. There is no magic here, just common sense.

1. Have a website or blog that allows you to communicate with other people – this is the most affordable and user friendly way to make an impact right now. People ARE looking for your services and products online, can they find you?
2. Make sure your business card is distinct and DOES NOT have a hundred ways to contact you – one number, one email, address and fax – anything else confuses the user and they do not know which means to use to get a hold of you!!!
3. Have a brochure – This should list a little about you and then have your services. It provides a way for people to learn about what you offer without you having to tell them.
4. Contact your clients (part 1 CALL THEM) - These are people you work with or have in the past. They should like and respect you. They should refer you to their friends. If they do not like you, take them out of your database and free your soul for people to work with who DO like you. Now call them. They like you, remember, and will NOT be offended if you pick up the phone to communicate with them. Have something interesting to say, say it, tell them you like them too, ask for a referral or two, hang up. See how easy that was!
5. Contact your clients (part 2 MAIL THEM) – Anyone who knows me knows this is MUCH easier for me than calling (I don’t talk to people on the phone normally). Mailing stuff to people works. You can send them a postcard with your services or testimonials or information. You can send them newsletters or great articles you have found that are relevant to your industry. You can even send them recipe cards (I CANNOT believe I just said that!!!…:) BUT whatever you do, send them something on a regular basis.
6. Contact your clients (part 3 EMAIL THEM) – All of us get emails every day. We take the time to read those that are personal and from friends and contacts who we KNOW are going to be interesting and relevant. This is the opposite of the mailing someone, sending just anything will not do. You risk being added to the spam list or removed from their approved email list EVERY time you send something. DO NOT send recipe emails if you are a pest control company, do not send funny emails if you are a mortician, DO send emails that are timely and will ADD to your readers knowledge or life. DO NOT spam people.
7. Send personal notes – When you get a personal note it makes you feel nice. You know someone has taken the time to think of you, put pen to paper and then added a stamp. They have walked to the mail box or drop off point. Make sure your personal notecards are professional. They can brand your company or have inspirational quotes or just be pretty. They DO NOT have to be long, just a sentance or two to let someone know you have thought of them. DO NOT send personal notes from a mass mail company, it is disingenuous.
8. Network - Go to events with your co-workers, go to Charity functions, go to sporting events, amusement parks, open houses. Go to service clubs and formal networking events. When someone asks you if you want to do something, say yes. Ask someone you do not normally spend time with to lunch and learn more about them. Make time to talk to your friends. In today’s world we hear constantly about time management, but we rarely here about making time for people. Listen to them, most are really interesting.
9. Do what you say you are going to – The best indication that you are going to succeed is doing what you say you will. DO NOT promise a turn around time of 1 day if something takes 3 days. Under promise and over deliver. Do more than you said you would. Surprise someone with something they did not expect. Ask what your customer wants and give them that.
10. DRUMROLL PLEASE – Get a Niche (or two) – Figure out what you do well and do that more. Give the general public a way to catagorize you in their mind so that they can refer people to you. Give great customer service, market their home to 20 different places, capitalize on your Irish-ness, specialize in Investors, work a farm, always start your appointments on time, be a stable influence in unstable times, focus on golfers, bowlers, non-profits or car dealers.

Thanks for listening.

Related posts:

1. Seth Says…Gobble Up Market Share
2. Realtor Marketing – Market Like A Maniac Class Available December 22
3. How To Market Your Small Business

I talk with A LOT of realtors and other business owners about whether they should have a blog at all or if they should focus on their website. If it is one or the other I ALWAYS recommend a blog for numerous reasons.

It MAKES you keep up with your site because it looks downright silly to have a blog with the last entry from a year and half ago (and shame on you if you have a website that has not been updated in a year and a half either). The days of being about to spend the big bucks to have a site built that will stand for the next 5 years as a symbol of your business is over! Today’s internet is a dynamic one that addresses current issues and REQUIRES input from the author. Information is the new exchange currency and having an outdated marketing piece for a website just won’t cut it.

It lets the world know how you sound and lets them get to know you better. I spoke with a friend who reads this blog and she said she can hear me talking as she reads. She can see me waving my hands around and emphasising points as I get excited about a topic. Do NOT get hung up on whether you are a good enough author to blog. Do NOT worry that the grammar police are going to come and get you if you say something wrong. If a commenter points something out, thank them and then ban them from reading – JUST kidding! Fix the error and go on with your day. Two of my favorite bloggers who I look forward to reading every day are Seth Godin and Kris Berg. They both have a VERY interesting and ironic style that is compelling to ME. But, no matter what your style is it will be interesting to SOMEONE. Not everyone will like it, BUT if you offer great content and genuine insite into what makes you tick you WILL get an audience.

I tell almost everyone that having a blog means instant access to search engines and clients. You can write an post about how “blogging and niche marketing go hand in hand” and find it on a search engine in DAYS not months or years. The law of large numbers then takes over for you. There are GAGILLIONS of people searching the internet for something interesting RIGHT NOW. No one can know what they are thinking of BUT if you have enough content through blog posts about a subject they are searching for your odds of being found go WAY up.

Blog OR website is YOUR issue, not thiers. Your blog can bring you clients and new clients will NOT be judging you on whether you have a blog or a website. A good portion of the population doesn’t even know what those “new fangled blog thingys” are. If they find you through a search and they come apon your blog, and then they find the information that they are looking for, they WILL NOT care if it is a blog or a conventional site. I found a GREAT example of a web log today that looks like a site! Real Estate Entrophy. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not throwing accolades out about design right and left (I am a graphic artist in a past life) but this a GREAT design! Bloggy enough not to turn off readers but pretty enough that if a real estate client comes along they will not be confused about what to do.

And last but certainly not least, it took about 8 hours to set up this blog. It took over 80 hours to set up my www.cometoclearwater.com website. You do the math!

Related posts:

1. Difference Between Small Business Websites Versus WordPress Blogs
2. Ask A Marketing Question
3. Social Media and Blogs Are The New Yellow Pages

Today Seth Godin posted a PDF about the record industry and how they HAVE to change their model. It got me thinking about what they are trying to sell (records that we can’t copy and the fact that we should maintain their industry just as it is). Seth said what they SHOULD be trying to sell is the cool stuff that we actually like and will pay for – information about our favorite artists, backstage passes, concert tickets and other things that have NOTHING to do with paying $20 for a CD.

So what ARE you trying to sell? It really does make a difference because then you can give everything else away for FREE!

Why am I giving away all this information about how to do things for your niche? How to set up a blog, how to market your services or products and how to brand yourself. I am VERY clear about what I am selling so I can give everything else away for free. I like to figure out what other people are selling and tell them fun ways to do it. I like to talk to Realtors and find out what makes them special and then help them find ways to express that special-ness. I like to sit with people I like and talk about how to position their paintball business to get more corporate clients. I am selling IDEAS so anything that requires implementing those ideas I can give away for free!

I have a bunch of photographers in my family. They take pictures ALL the time and they have captured HUNDREDS of great images (the header features pictures by my husband John Jacobsen and my MIL Linda Jacobsen – thanks guys!). They post their pictures online and lots of people we know “borrow” them for their blogs or websites. I am sure that people we don’t know borrow them also. I sent one of my clients to John’s blog the other day and she fell in love with his style. She wants a print. THAT is where John can SELL something. The images on the internet are not large enough to print well. He should let EVERYONE use his images for free with a link to his blog so that they can buy prints of the ones that they like.  He is not going to do that right now because photography is a hobby and that feels like work to him BUT HE COULD! If I were a photographer this would seem like a much better way to make money than to schlep around taking pictures of weddings or dogs or families. It would let you take pictures of whatever you like and market them to people who like them too!

Because I am in the real estate business I read a lot of real estate blogs. Currently there is a huge controversy going on in the blog world and on TV about DOM (days on market). Consumers want to know how many days a property has been on the market – not just how long the current listing has been in the MLS. I think they should have that access. The National Association of Realtors is trying to hang on to the way it WAS instead of focusing on how to make the industry better. In the past Realtors provided access to information that everyone didn’t have – that is not true anymore. What Realtors provide now is the knoledge and experience that consumers do not have, THAT is what NAR should be selling NOT trying to hang on to an outdated business model that puts limits on the information that the public has access to.

If you are reading this post because you are thinking of starting your own business or trying to learn how to market your currrent company, focus on what you are trying to SELL. It will make firguring out what to DO so much easier!

No related posts.