Don't we love a disaster

With the year drawing to a close, I thought I would look back at the stats for my blogs over the year. The blog about the disasters of Wendy's and Burger King's marketing was, by far, the most popular. And popular around the world.

Most of the readers found the blog through a Google search. Have Wendy's and Burger King become the equivalent of rubbernecking a car crash? As North Americans, we have a morbid fascination with disasters and these two fast-food joints are definitely the prize winners for disastrous branding and marketing.

I re-read the blog to see if there had been any changes to the situation since writing about them in January. To my surprise, the brand-scarring I mentioned in the blog had been eliminated. The evil papier mache King head seems to be gone and the idiots in red braids seem to also have left the building. And thank goodness for it.

Wendy's brand has become more stable and likable again. Burger King is still a mangled mess, but at least they aren't scaring people anymore. (Well, they do scare me but that's a different thing. What scares me is that someone is out there making money off this mess and pretending they know something about marketing)

Needless to say, ill-conceived marketing ploys will be more painful for companies during the recession. Lack of consistency and follow-up will affect business bottom-line in a more pronounced fashion. With a tighter hold on their wallets, consumers and businesses will be making more thoughtful decisions about where they spend their money. Emotions induced by marketing messages will have more power to create a strong customer base.

Tight credit and closely held wallets won't make people stop using their emotions when they make buying decisions. They'll just get better at rationalizing the purchases. So mind your marketing and how it affects your customer.

Best wishes to all for a prosperous 2009.

If only they could remember why they were unique

Automakers are a fine example of what happens when everyone looks and sounds the same. I'm pretty sure their television ads are actually intended to demonstrate the quality and value of the product, but when everyone is saying and looking the same, why even spend the money?

When was the last time you saw a television ad for a car or truck that truly inspired you, either emotionally or mentally? For the last several years, there are only three vehicles that actually stand out for me. That's three, out of hundreds.

The Cadillac CTS 'Hammer' ad is one of them. As an A-type personality, the message fits me to a T. I found myself emotionally involved in the delivery of the message because it totally defines my personal style. I intentionally watched it a second time to learn what car was being promoted. And since then, I just watch it because I love it.

Kudos again go to Cadillac for their ad with Kate Walsh. I don't think there has ever been such a sexy promotion for a car. Again, I got emotionally involved. Had a wonderful sensation of 'mmmmm'.

So with two ads, back to back, Cadillac stood out with great writing, great delivery and great emotional impact. So the Cadillac CTS is the only vehicle currently being marketed that means anything to me (and I drive a Ford Focus).

In the past, Jeep was able to get my attention with their hilarious 'Rock me Gently' ad. I enjoyed it so much, I didn't even realize until just this minute that it was a 60 second ad, not a 30. While it probably doesn't speak to everyone, it engages a certain audience in a memorable way.

And finally, the whole series of swamp ads from KIA for their Sportage are memorable and entertaining. Particularly their lastest Goth version. If a vehicle can deliver this much fun, it needs to be in everyone's life.

So there - three out of hundreds of cars and trucks over the years. Buying a car is a big decision. It costs a good portion of most people's annual income. If you can't find the unique selling proposition and demonstrate in an engaging and informative advertising campaign, why bother selling it at all?

The Cadillac ads are a great example of how we've become more about "what's in it for me" than about features and benefits. We are emotional buyers.

Now for the benefit of the marketing firms who put together the majority of boring, repetitive, indistinguishable advertising for the automotive industry, I will say we have no idea what the creative brief looked like, how creative you tried to be and how often the auto execs kyboshed your ideas. In my experience, executives are executives because they know how to organize and manage people, not because they are creative or willing to step out of the safety of "everyone else does it this way". In most companies, you never get to be an executive if you are creative and willing to be different.

Being different takes guts. Entrepreneurs with guts are the ones that grow their business. Business people who are afraid to be different than their peers, find themselves lost in the shuffle. That's a good message for small business, but on topic today is how this insistence on continuously developing 'typical' advertising is one of the reasons auto sales just aren't what they used to be.

In a recent press release, I wrote about how the auto makers and their behemoth structure keep them from giving their customers what they want and need. This is definitely true where their marketing is concerned.

Make sure as small business owners you don't fall into the same trap. Understand your unique selling proposition and if you can't figure out what it is, then either speak to your customers to learn what they think, or for heaven's sake, just give up and walk away. There was, at some point, something unique about your business. Remember what it was and market that in an equally unique way.

Perhaps the automakers need to figure out what was unique about each of their models and if they can't remember, stop making them.

Recession survival - Knee-jerk marketing the woe of small business

How many times have you been contacted by a media or marketing sales representative who has a great song and dance about why they are the best place to put your marketing? And how many times have you bought what they're selling, even when it was never a part of your marketing plan?

Of course, that makes the assumption that you have a well thought out marketing plan based on your actual audience definition.

Most small businesses are led by people who are great at what their small business delivers, whether product or service. But being good at one thing doesn't make you good at everything. As a result, there are folks with no marketing training or experience developing plans or, most likely, making knee-jerk decisions based on the last sales rep who walked through the door.

In recessionary times (and I'm pretty sure everyone now admits that we're in a serious recession), it becomes more important than ever to develop a thorough marketing plan and then stick to it. Recession marketing requires a brave business owner who understands that cutting the marketing budget also means cutting off the conversation with the customer.

The value of the marketing plan versus knee-jerk spending is two-fold. Firstly, having a plan allows you to know what your expenses are every month so you can plan ahead. Secondly, it forces you to really think about who your audience is and how to reach them efficiently.

To start your marketing plan, you need to know all about your audience. And not just their age, education and income level. You need to learn about their hobbies, families and occupations. These additional pieces of information help you reach them in their 'special' places, and in most cases, more economically than in mass media.

After you really, really, really know who your audience is, you can move on to doing the research about what is available for reaching them.

Example: Moms with school-age children are trapped in the family vehicle for a number of hours, trotting children to extracurricular activities, doing the family shopping, etc. Reaching them could be as easy as buying your local radio station that runs bus cancellations and amateur sporting reports. Add the radio to a sponsorship of a local amateur sports team and a partnership with the local grocery store and you have a great package to reach this audience part.

Recessions require that if you are going to purchase a marketing tactic, you have to purchase it correctly. Planning helps with this. If you don't have enough budget to do it right in January, save January's budget and combine it with February's so you can achieve your goals. You are better off getting great results from a combined budget tactic than no results from a poorly delivered one.

And above all, know what your strengths are as a business owner and focus on those during recession. If you aren't a marketing expert, find someone who is. Even if your marketing expert costs you a few dollars, the increased results will make it worthwhile. (But for heaven's sake, make sure your marketing expert is actually a marketing expert not an ex-media sales rep or just someone who purchased a desk-top publishing program. Marketing is about a lot more than just being able to produce a flyer!)

Smart recession survival

Small business owners can see recession two ways. One where they sit in fear and one where they take advantage and stay ahead of the pack.

I suppose it's a natural survival tactic to hold everything close, keep it safe - particularly your money. But if you let fear govern your business decisions, you simply may not survive.

Recessionary times are when the smart survive and the unique get noticed.

Smart companies recognize marketing as a revenue generator, not a cost centre. They don't immediately cut their marketing budget. They get smarter about how the money is used. Mass communication is replaced with targeted communication. Interaction with the customer is increased so they stay front-of-mind.

Unless you are in a luxury market, your customers still need or want your products. Make sure your products and services are priced to reflect market tolerance. Surviving recession isn't about lining your pockets, it's about survival.

Get creative about how you reach your customers. Surprise them with where they find you and what you are telling them. Small business messages have historically been very ego-centric. You have to become customer-centric to make it through tough times (actually you should be customer-centric all the time, but it's even more important now). Standard tactics won't be enough.

And tighten up your marketing spend. That doesn't mean cut the budget, it means eliminate the chaff and be efficient with the money you have. If a tactic isn't bringing a return, then change the tactic. But remember when you are measuring the success of your tactics that it isn't just about the immediate return. It's about developing a relationship with your customer. If you're getting inquiries or website hits but no actual buying, then your tactic has done its job. Marketing's purpose is to bring customers to you, it is the job of the sales team to actually make the sale.

The best weapon you have in recession is a good data base of your customers. This will help you deliver personalized attention at the marketing level. You can gather a good data base through a contest with a small survey as part of the entry form. The contest creates traffic, either to your website or your place of business, and while your customers have a chance to win so do you with the information you gather. Variable data printing isn't only for big companies these days. It's affordable to businesses of all sizes.

Develop a referral program. This is common place in the financial services industry but is functional for all types of business. Your best advertising is word-of-mouth (whether it's traditional word-of-mouth or through social media) and if you can get your customers talking, you're a step ahead. And if your referral program is strong enough, they'll definitely start talking.

Above all, don't try to manage your marketing on your own. You're in the business you're in because that's what you are good at. Don't try to be good at everything - no one can manage that. Call in the specialists to really get your marketing budget working for you. But make sure they are trained and experienced. Just owning some desktop publishing software doesn't make someone a marketing specialist.

Small businesses can be agile. That's a great advantage over big business. Be ready to change at a moment's notice - whether it's your product list, your audience base or marketing tactics.

Recession means get smarter

The economic news throughout the world has recently become a big threat to small business. Lending has tightened, customers are holding their funds close to their chest. For many businesses, the next order of business is to cut costs. AIC, a mutual fund company cut their staff by 20% this week. In the article it is mentioned that this isn't as big a deal as it appears because most of the staff cuts were to IT and marketing.

And there's the rub. So often, the first that gets cut in a recession is the marketing team and the marketing budget. And without either of these, how do you get your message out?

Recessionary times are about being smarter with your money. Quite frankly, in my book being smart all the time makes the most sense but so many business people and even in-house marketing teams take the money for granted in the good times.

So how do you use your money wisely?

First, get to really know your audience. Mass marketing isn't economical if you sell a niche product or your audience represents a specific market. Find ways to fine-tune your delivery mechanisms. Stop talking to the people who will never be your customer. To use an example from last week's blog, if you are selling something that costs $30,000 stop talking to neighbourhoods with high unemployment or low incomes. You may have to get out of your office and actually sell your message in person.

Second, stop buying message delivery systems just because they seem inexpensive. If you spend $125 to reach no one who responds it is actually more expensive than spending $250 to reach those who will. Of course, you can only spend what you can afford, but if you resist the urge to spend that $125 that seems so inexpensive you can add that to next month's budget and actually reach people who care.

Third, and while I've come to hate this expression, think outside of the box. Be creative in how you reach your audience and how you spend your money. For some US readers, this could mean thinking about getting a Canadian marketing team to craft your messages. The difference between the Canadian and US dollar right now means you get more for your money. But it doesn't mean to resort to your nephew to do your creative development just because he happens to have a design program on his computer.

The companies that stay in the customers' minds during a recession are the ones who survive and grow more quickly after the recession ends. Which it will. It always does.

Relevant messaging - what if your customer doesn't care?

The Canadian election on October 14th had the lowest voter turnout in Canadian election history. And yet, for many of the people who voted, it was considered the most important election in their lifetime. What went wrong?

Apparently the majority of the population just didn't care. (I am a firm believer that if you don't vote, you don't get an opinion about the state of the government later on.) They were getting mixed messages from the media, backtracking from the politicians, irritating telemarketers and door-knocking canvassers.

There was too much negative commentary from the parties as well. And here's a very important point for small business that would have put a different tone on the election. Spend your time and your money telling me what is good and unique about you; don't spend my time just yapping about the things that are wrong with the competition. Yes, yes, each of the parties purchased advertising in which they spouted their positive attributes, but we all know that media coverage gets more attention and belief than any paid advertising. In the end, all the political leaders looked lame and some even looked childish.

I had a conversation right before the election with my local MP. We had a great chat about how the Conservatives are their own worst enemy when it comes to messaging. What they mean to say and what gets published in the media are often two very different things. And I can't help but think that if they actually had a marketer, instead of just a whole slew of public relations folks, their messages might be a little tighter. Sure they use a marketing firm to produce their lovely paid advertising, but where is the marketing guidance for the every day mess?

The complicated stories that were the underlying issues of the election were too complicated to resolve in speeches or one-minute ads. The environment, the economy and leadership abilities all require a consistent, understandable message - one that isn't up for media interpretation.

And small business needs that relevant, clear message as well. You can spend a lot of money uselessly if your messages aren't relevant to a person's life. You can help people care through education and exposure, but neither one of these things is an instant return. Are you selling a $30,000 item to an area with high unemployment and a fear of job loss? You might want to check in on the relevance of your messages.

Politicians are fun to watch because they have to educate, get exposure and convince people their "product" is the best, all in a short period of time. Jack Layton hasn't changed his "product" in years - so if it wasn't relevant to people before, why would it be relevant now? Elizabeth May personifies what everyone feared of the Green Party - fanatical extremist. That has a pretty limited relevance. Stephen Harper obviously had the most relevance for the voters - a calmness in the face of economic explosion, a leader who admits mistakes rather than blaming others. He has his flaws but he came closest to being relevant to Canadians. And Stephane Dion? Well, poor Mr. Dion just didn't have a clue. And all the Liberals are equally to blame. They voted him into the leadership position and supported the Green Shift. Don't let any of them convince you that Mr. Dion did that all by himself. Relevance, gentleman ( and lady). If you want voters out, you better find out what is relevant to your customers. And that's us. Every single person in Canada is your customer.

Part II - Be careful how you say hello

Last week, I took a look at the dangers to your brand that a badly handled dismissal or layoff can create. This week, I'd like to spend a moment with how ignoring the importance of your brand when hiring new staff can have long term effects.

The brand outline is rarely one of the things that is contained in the welcome package for an employee (and some companies don't even have a welcome package and, okay, they don't have a brand outline either). New staff learn about the human resources policies, benefits packages and history of the company. But there is an absence of indoctrination into the brand and the importance of upholding it.

Lots of senior management believe that upholding the brand is the duty of the marketing department but in reality it's the responsibility of everyone who works at the company.

Basic brand ideas, such as the appropriate font for emails, can be shared with new staff easily. I've lost count of the number of emails I have received from customer service staff using wonky fonts. And the language in emails needs a certain tone depending on your business and your brand. There's a big difference in how the staff talks and writes at Virgin Mobile compared to a stuffy insurance company.

And then there's the evil creature - the PowerPoint presentation. When staff outside the marketing department are called on to do a presentation, their imaginations run wild. Colours, images and language that have nothing to do with the brand creep in; no one stops them because, as I mentioned, there is a belief that brand protection is the job of the marketing department. Heaven forbid one of these presentations gets out of the building and in front of the customer. Any strong brand presence is whittled away.

Your staff needs to be engaged with the brand and have enough knowledge of what it represents to uphold it. This includes not just the visual and verbal entities mentioned above, but the philosophy of the brand as well. Companies who have brand support throughout their staff are strong companies. And they're believable companies because their message never falters.

Be careful how you say good-bye

Companies expend a great deal of time and money protecting their brand in the public, but for many companies it is their internal behaviours that are the most dangerous. How new staff are greeted, and existing staff let go, have multitudes of impact on the perception of the brand.

A recent example is, of course, the automotive industry in Ontario. The lay-offs abound and some brand damage has been delivered to General Motors and Ford, among others. The important thing here is these companies put effort into minimizing the public effects of the lay-offs as best they can with great buy-out packages, paid new training for laid-off workers, minimizing impact through attrition and negotiating support with the government.

A disgruntled laid-off or dismissed employee has a huge impact on the brand. They all have families that are part of the experience, feeling the anger, humiliation and fear right along with the worker. And all those family members have extended families and friends that hear about the issues. All told, one worker can impact the brand attitude with over 50 people.

Companies in the financial services industry have varying levels of attention to how they treat workers. Many of these companies in Canada are out-sourcing support departments. (The financial services industry in the U.S. is just another story all together) How these out-sourcings are handled impacts the brand.

A positive example is Sun Life Financial. They undertook to save costs against their budget by outsourcing their cafeteria, fitness staff and print departments. There was fear among the employees as the negotiations took place, but Sun Life Financial minimized the impact with regular communication and assurances of protection for existing employees. When the outsourcing was implemented, the staff in each department were offered the opportunity to stay, have benefits and keep their seniority.

A not so great example is the out-sourcing of the mail room at Aviva Canada. The staff were informed of the negotiations last November and were promised protection. Suddenly just before Labour Day, a meeting of the mail room staff was called and they were all informed the department had been outsourced and their jobs at Aviva Canada would end in four days. So much for even an act of courtesy like two-weeks notice. Sure, they gave them a buy-out package including the two-weeks in lieu of notice (required by law), but these people were suddenly out of work - after understanding they would be protected. The next day, the outsourcing company, Pitney Bowes, arrived and offered the staff their jobs back, but at $10,000 a year less, with no seniority, no accumulated holidays and a three-month probation period. And they had one-day to decide if they would commit to this new job.

Aviva Canada was most pointed in informing the mail room staff that they would now be considered outside employees and would be treated as such if they should apply for a job with Aviva in the future. This after some of the staff had been with the company for nine years.

Now a couple of nasty brand things happened here. Aviva Canada's brand got nailed as being untrustworthy, secretive and uncaring. Pitney Bowes gets nailed as being cheap, uncaring and advantage-takers. It's not about the money and the 30% cut in pay most of the workers experienced, it is about decency and dignity. Giving these people only one day to decide if their future was tied to an advantage-taking company or tied to unemployment in a potential recession, fear would certainly win out. Perhaps this is good business strategy - trained workers at 30% lower cost - but it isn't even close to good brand strategy.

And if these companies think for one moment that the staff of the mail room didn't share their experience with their families, they are not thinking clearly. And what the family members do with the information - well, the company has no control over that.

Next week - be careful how you say hello. Yet another brand damaging experience.

The cost of creative - in dollars & sense

Great marketing is driven by great creative - the words and pictures that engage the consumer. It evokes emotion, whether good or bad. And emotion is the key driver in 90% of purchases in our modern times.

Before the 1970s, features and benefits helped the customer make the buying decision. Now the decision is based on how they feel about the product or service. Does it make them feel good? Is it easy to see "What's in it for me?"

Creative that doesn't engage the consumer or, heaven forbid, causes a negative reaction is, at best, a waste of time and money and at worst, damages the relationship between the company and their customer.

Great creative isn't cheap. It's a rare thing when the perfect creative answer happens in the first hour of work. But don't be fooled that you need to pay $250/hour or more for creative that really works for your customer.

Quick case in point - Microsoft (you knew I was going to there). The Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates partnership on what was supposed to be Microsoft's venture into being "cool" is a fiasco. And certainly didn't come cheap. Why would they even try to be cool? Well, because Apple looks cool, sounds cool and is slowly chipping away at the PC world. But Apple is cool without obviously trying. Microsoft is rather like your great uncle who wears plaid pants and sock with his sandels. You can give your uncle a great, funky haircut and new clothes - but he'll never be cool. He doesn't talk cool or walk cool.

Somewhere along the way, the creative team on the Microsoft fiasco forgot that the success of Seinfeld, the show, was based on the interaction of the characters not on the simple presence of Jerry Seinfeld. It was an ensemble success. If you change one element, it no longer has the appeal. Seinfeld himself was never the key element. He was simply the glue that held it all together. And worse news, Seinfeld is old news.

I have the utmost respect for Bill Gates, his philanthropic work and how he has taken Microsoft to the edges of world domination. But I simply have no respect for the idea that Bill Gates can act or even look comfortable on screen.

Big lesson here? Don't try to be something you're not, even if the highly paid creative team thinks they are on to a new direction. Use common sense. And no matter how you look at it, $10 million for an "old news" performer to kibbutz about everything except the product is bad, bad, bad.

But fortunately for Microsoft, all the brew-ha-ha over the Seinfeld fiasco allowed their Mojave Experiment campaign to basically fly under the radar. Whose brainchild is this? The creative team obviously recognized that Windows Vista is a behemoth of negativity. But trying to disguise it as a new operating system called Mojave is just emphasizing how really negatively consumers feel. If Microsoft accepts the consumer view that Vista is the devil in disguise, then seriously make headway in changing the consumer attitude. And not through an ill-conceived television campaign. Deal with the issues that make consumers angry. Deal with the megalomaniacal behaviour that made the decision to design Vista so you have to spend a ton of money replacing your older programs with new versions that work with Vista. And how about more testing before release so you don't fry people's brains with ridiculous errors and constant updates to the product? If you bought a refrigerator and then discovered you had to re-wire your house to use it and it only remembers how to stay cold with constant adjustment - well, you'd just return it and probably not buying anything from that company again. This concept isn't rocket science.

And contrary to what Apple would have you believe, their operating system is not without its own bugs. They may not have the blue screen of death, but they have the ever spinning wheel which, if you watch it long enough, probably hypnotizes you into believing they are a direct descent of the gods.

Enough with trashing poor, poor Microsoft. (Although if you folks at Microsoft can hear me, maybe next time hired folks who are a little less "cutting edge" and a little more "common sense")

To bring it all back into the world of small business, your creative should engage your customer in a positive way. Keep it neat and tidy (no over-designed grunge please). Catch their eye and give them a reason to spend a minute with your message. Don't embellish (you'll get caught), don't lie (you'll get fined), and don't think that amateur creative doesn't damage your brand. It does.

Big or small budget - it's what you do with it

Marketing budgets come in many sizes. Having a "small" budget, doesn't preclude you from being successful.

The Globe and Mail recently ran an article about a new company called Cenabal Gourmet Organics. In this piece, the article commented: "Standing in the way of her spreading the word is a modest marketing budget of $25,000 a year. Says Ms. MacDonald: 'I need advice on effective ways to create buzz around a product, without a lot of money.' "

For some small companies, that isn't a modest budget at all. It really comes down to making the most of the money you do have. And that doesn't mean cheaping out on your marketing endeavours either.

For Cenabal, an "expert" recommended that she modify the label - and if she can't afford to do that then she should create a small booklet that ties around the neck of the bottle. A much less expensive way to go would be to create a shelf-talker. This piece of cardstock can draw the consumer's eye to your product and inform them at the same time. And yes, you'd need a designer for it to be professional, but as an alternative to a booklet around the neck of the bottle, infinitely less expensive and potentially more effective as the booklet still relies on the consumer picking up the bottle to be informed.

The most expensive part of a small company's marketing budget should be the time put into knowing you have the right answer to reach your audience and make every penny count. And that doesn't mean finding the cheapest printer or designer. It means developing tactics that give you great returns, even if they cost a little bit more.

For example: It will cost you $50 to be a minor sponsor at a charity event. You get your logo on their website and a mention in the program. Value? You also have the opportunity to spend $100 partnering with a related business on a one-colour insert in your local Chamber of Commerce newsletter. If your budget is tight, which would you choose?

The insert costs twice as much, potentially four times as much once you get the writer and designer involved. What you would discover however is minor sponsors of charitable events rarely get any business from only a logo on the website and a mention in the program. So $50 out the window. (But keep in mind that it is important to be a good corporate citizen and do your part, either with the $50 knowing it isn't going to get you any business or volunteer your time)

With the insert, you are reaching hundreds of potential customers and could easily wind up with 10 or 12 new customers. So it cost you four times as much and you get 10 times the customers.

Get where I'm going with this? Don't pick the cheapest thing just because it's the cheapest. Always have your return-on-investment (ROI) in the front of your mind when you build your plans and pick the tactics that will get results, even if they cost more than the alternative.

Value statements - Your business in one sentence or less

Looking at my blog site statistics, I discovered the most popular piece was about taglines and their value. That being the case, I thought it a good idea to revisit the concept and expand a little.

It's surprising how many companies have trouble describing themselves in a succinct manner. It is such a challenge that TechAlliance in London, Ontario held a 60-second Pitch competition. Folks had to stand up and "sell" their business to the crowd in 60-seconds or less. So if 60-seconds is a challenge, 30-seconds would be even more difficult. And one sentence? Well, can it really be done?

I like to encourage clients to develop a "value statement" for their business. This could be part of the mission/vision statement process, or can be developed a bit later in the game.

One important thing to note: Your mission and vision statements are there for your internal audience, not for your external customers. Your mission and vision should inspire your staff to reach those goals. Mission and vision statements are not value statements, nor are they taglines.

Your value statement speaks to what you bring to the customer that is different than anyone else in your field. If you are selling based on best price, then that should be in your value statement. (I never recommend selling based on best price. People who purchased because you have the best price will move on pretty quick when they find another best price. You need loyal customers, not ones who only buy because you are the cheapest.)

Tepperman's has an excellent value statement - "Family to family, that's the difference!" Their tagline is another thing altogether - "We fit the lifestyle of your home". The Tepperman family has been selling to other families for decades. And families appreciate that they know what buying for a family feels like.

Unless you have just invented a brand new widget and have no competition, figuring out your value statement can set you above your competition. Is your value that you have loads of experience? Is it your location? Is it your training program? Or is it that you go the extra mile for customer satisfaction? These are just a few examples of things that can represent a value statement.

To develop a value statement, you need to listen to your customers. What is it they value about your business? If you ask enough customers, you'll start to see at least one attribute repeated over and over. This is probably where your value statement is hidden. Once you know that value, it is imperative you always live up to it. Nobody gets to have a bad day when delivering on your value statement.

Can your value statement also be your tagline? Maybe. There's certainly merit in the concept. And at the very least, it is the perfect place to start when developing your tagline.

Your website statistics tell all

Are you regularly reviewing your website statistics? You should. Buried in those statistics is the indicator of your website's success (or lack thereof) along with customer information that can help you grow your business.

All credible internet service providers offer statistics of varying degrees. You should be able to discover easily how many people are visiting your website, the pages they look at and what site directed them to you.

What's the value of all this information? At their most basic, website statistics offer you a view of what your customer values in your website. Are they visiting the pages you thought were the most interesting? Are they staying to actually read anything? Is your home page engaging enough for them to spend more than three seconds with you?

One of my clients had me do a press release to announce her new product. The press release got over 2,000 hits. But the client doesn't know if anyone came to her website because she doesn't access her statistics. However, she does know she hasn't sold a single unit even with all the press release exposure.

That many hits to the press release normally would translate into at least 700 visitors to the website. Why hasn't she sold anything? It could be because no one finds value in her product, but more likely it is because her website isn't doing its job. Looking at her statistics would show her how many people are coming to the site, how many potential sales she missed. She'd learn how the readers found her site, which could indicate their other interests. And she'd know which pages had information that interested the reader.

I encourage all of my clients to review their website statistics at least once a month. If the traffic is low, develop a tactic to drive traffic your way. If no one is visiting a page, then consider removing it and using that space for information that is more engaging. If the majority of visits to certain pages are less than three seconds long, consider whether you are presenting the information in an easy to absorb fashion or whether you are navel-gazing.

If you have an e-commerce site and you aren't making sales, you need to ask yourself why that may be. And then adjust your website or product to be what your customer wants.

Be professional or lose business

A week ago, during an interview about how communication styles affect your success with customers on ThatRadio.com, I had the chance to air one of my biggest bug-a-boos - business people who don't take the time to be professional. It isn't an expensive proposition but it can make all the difference in the world in terms of creating a trusted relationship with your customer and in protecting your brand.

The first contact with a customer is often on the telephone. Sometimes it is in person, but regularly, in our age of rush, rush, rush, we find ourselves listening to voicemail rather than a real person. Those voicemails are the gateway to your business. If you can't afford a professional voicemail, then for heaven's sake, take the time to write a script for yourself and make it professional.

Please don't pretend it is your house. It is your business. So, no "Yo, this is George, you know what to do." And if you run a home business, it is even more important to recognize that your customers are calling to find a professional business person. As cute as your three-year-old might be, that is not the voice they want to hear when they call.

Another prevalent non-professional behaviour is the use of yahoo, msn or gmail as your email address. These free email services are used regularly for scam and spam emails. You could find your communication to your client going into their trash bin. Not only is that a risk, but your credibility and stability could be questioned.

At the very least, use the email from your provider. An email extension that says rogers.com, sympatico, etc. is a little bit more credible. At least it shows you have a provider for your business and are not just sitting in an internet cafe somewhere accessing your email.

Best case scenario is obviously to develop and purchase your own business URL. This needn't cost an arm and a leg. There are several sites that offer registration of URLs as low as $20. And there are companies, such as Black Sun, that offer web support of your URL for as low as $10 per month.

Do some research. Ask business associates the name of their service provider and whether they are happy with the deliverables. Even if you are a novice at website and URL management, tapping into your business associates' knowledge and experience can get you on a good path. Or check in with your local small business centre. They often have experience in this area and can guide you.

You don't necessarily need to put up a website just because you have a business URL, but if you do, make sure that your website reflects the credibility, stability and professionalism of your business. Just because your nephew has Front Page, doesn't make him a web designer. Keep it simple, keep it clean. There is rarely any need for animation. Keep in mind you have about three seconds to engage your customer or they move on to someone's else website.

In closing, professionalism doesn't mean you have to become dehumanized. Deliver the personal touch that helps grow your business. And remember all the things that touch your customer reflect on your business and on your brand even your voicemail and email address.

Active writing, active reading - get your email message right

Active listening is the cornerstone to good relationships, whether in your family or in business. But active writing and active reading are too often left in the dust of business behaviour.

How many times have you misunderstood an email message or written one that just didn't cut the mustard?

When we compose an email to a colleague or a customer, it is so important to remember you will not be there to interpret the message.

So here's few rules to really keep you on track for active writing and active reading for emails:

1. Resist the urge to use a background. You have no control over how it is going to display on your customer's screen and you could lose a lot of business just because your email is illegible. Backgrounds add no impact to an email, but they can sure make a mess of it. And in many cases, in the business world imbedded images are blocked and can ultimately send your email to the spam bin.

2. Write in an active tone of voice - use present tense wherever possible. It helps get your reader involved in your message. Get involved in your message and your reader will too.

3. People scan! Always remember that your reader is busy and is likely scanning the email to see if it is worth their time. Don't ramble. Get to your point. Put your most important issues at the beginning of the email and close with a call to action. The middle is often material that the eye sees but the brain doesn't absorb.

4. Use bullet points. Because of our tendency to scan, bullet points work better. They are easier on the eye and the brain can absorb them faster.

5. Use plain language. Scanning two syllable, even three syllable words, works but much above that and your reader might get the word wrong and not even know it.

6. Actively read your incoming messages. You will scan; I guarantee it. You scan to make a decision whether to spend time with the message and you scan to absorb the content. Try to slow down and really read all the words. It takes practice, believe me. We all live in a hyper-active world and just to keep up we need to find ways of saving time. Don't make your business associates' or customers' email one of those places. Unless of course you get a lot of silly nonsense from them...then scan. And maybe recommend that they aren't helping people take them seriously and on that note....

7. Don't send junk. Few business associates and few customers want to see pictures of your kids, read joke emails or learn the newest psychic information. Use discretion for goodness' sake. Only send emails when there is important information to share or questions to ask.

8. Give them some face time. Both your customers and your business associates would benefit from you actually speaking to them in person or even over the phone rather than through email so much. We're forgetting the value of personal contact. Get off your butt and build a relationship.

9. And finally.... watch your tone of voice! Cheekiness, quips, sarcasm and innuendo just don't translate safely.

You have one chance to get your message right - damage control for "accidental emails" is too time-consuming and potentially costly to your business.

Plain Language - a gift from the gods

Small business writers, owners and general marketing staff often get bogged down in their own industry lingo and leave their customers behind. The 'big guys' are even more prone to this. The financial services industry has completely forgotten how to speak normal-people-language; technology companies, I think, prefer to never speak regular language in lieu of boggling all our minds and cell phone companies are happy with the bewilderment they create with terms and conditions.

But finally, I have had a wonderful language experience I think bears noting. And can be a terrific example for small business when building "the sound of your brand".

I lost all respect for my cell phone carrier a long time ago but had to wait until my contract was up to change to a new provider. The shop clerk understood why I wanted a change and recommended Virgin Mobile. I was prepared for the "same old, same old" but was in for a fantastic surprise. Not only are there no hidden fees - or for that matter no additional fees for things like access or set-up - but they actually speak the same language that I do. In fact, they speak a language anyone over the age of 12 could understand!

And the brilliance of all this, is they not only talk a comfortable level of language, but they write it too! Their brochures and guide books can be understood even by someone like me (I'm an audio-kinetic learner so the written word is sometimes a challenge if the language is high-falutin' or too much technical jargon). Heck, my eight-year-old neice Emily would be able to manage in the Virgin Mobile environment.

Now don't get me wrong. They don't talk down or in a condescending fashion (nothing makes me boil faster than that). It is the simplicity of it that really makes the mark.

The lesson for small business here is the KISS principle - Keep It Simple, Silly. (We don't like the word 'stupid' around here, so no need to write and tell me I got the acronym wrong)

Don't use four sentences when one will do. Don't get lost in your industry jargon - even if your industry doesn't seem to have a lot of technical terms. Your industry could be peopled by folks with masters degrees who just by nature write at a high-end university level.

People tend to scan material and get involved only if the scan has given them value. It is easy to scan two or three syllable words. Much above that and you run the risk of them scanning and getting the meaning all wrong. Courts have said that contracts must be written in plain language so the common man can understand them (not that contract writers are actually listening in most cases). If the courts are insisting on plain language, it only makes sense to make sure your small business insists on it too.

Do your homework

Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party have offered up such a terrific example of what can happen when you don't do your homework, that I couldn't resist. Their widely publicized plan, The Green Shift, may well get its time in court as it flies in the face of trademark, copyright and intellectual property laws.

Green Shift, a company in Toronto, has been around for approximately 10 years. So even if they never trademarked the company name, there can't be any question that it belongs to them. Perhaps the most irritating part of the story is that the Liberals were aware of this company and went ahead anyway. There is something grossly arrogant about thinking you won't get caught.

For small business, it is key to do your homework about all aspects of marketing your business. If you are incorporating, you must do a name search but when you are a sole proprietor, you can get away without one. But to save face and potential court and rebranding costs, you better make sure no one else is using the name.

Imagine the embarassment when your new business customers are suddenly faced with a new business name; and even more so when the explanation is that you didn't do your homework. What does this do to your business' credibility?

Keep in mind that your customers do business with you because they have developed trust in you. If you have so little respect for your business that you don't do your homework, why should they have respect for it?

And doing your homework isn't limited to just your company name or slogan. It pertains to how you market yourself. Learn some of the basics of marketing law. And then, for goodness sake, abide by them. Just because you see big companies flying in the face of good marketing laws, doesn't mean it is the right answer for small business. They can afford (apparently) the fines and loss of face. Small business can't.

Learn what your competitors are doing and saying. Then stay away from those things. Not only do you eliminate the risk of a lawsuit regarding intellectual property or copyright, but you also have to spend some time thinking about how you are unique. This helps you stand out from your competition because you aren't using their words and actions.

Don't take the lazy way out. Have the same passion for your homework as you do for making sales.

If you pay for it - get your money's worth

I have the utmost respect for my colleagues in the world of developing strong marketing strategies and tactics to help small business get the most for their money. I certainly have great respect for the talented graphic designers that take the concepts and strategies and bring them to life.

However, I have no respect for people masquerading as marketing experts or graphic designers when they have less experience and qualifications than my big toe.

I have lately come across a few small businesses that sell themselves as marketing support, graphic designers and copywriters. Their qualifications? They have taken a three-day pre-press course at the local college's continuing education section. They have purchased expensive software. They have a husband that is a salesman. They took English in high school.

I am not threatened by these "businesses" taking clients from my customer base. I am however completely incensed at how they damage the field of marketing and, even worse, take money out of small business' coffers without any hope of appropriate return on the investment.

I have mentioned before that cheap is often a signal of lack of quality (Cheap is a relative term so let me make it a little more clear. If you are paying your graphic designer $15/hour, there's a reason for it. If your marketing expert works for $15/hour, you are in trouble).

To make sure your decision to work with someone who says they are a marketer or graphic designer is the right decision, here are a couple of tips that can weed out the chaff:

• Ask who else they work with. If possible, ask for references that include comments on the return on the investment.
  
• Ask to see some of their work. You will be able to tell if they are good or not. And don't just think "well, it's better than I could do". You are skilled at running your business, not at marketing or graphic design. (If you were skilled at marketing or graphic design, that is the business you would be running)
• Remember that you get what you pay for. If you only pay $30 for a graphic designer, but it gets you no results, then you just wasted $30.
  
• Review their marketing materials. If their own marketing materials are not professional, engaging and worth comments, then one of two things is happening. The first could be that they have no respect for their own business which means they won't have respect for yours. The second could be that they just don't have the talent or know-how to do a better job on their own materials. And if that is the case, run screaming from the building. If they can't make their own work sing, then they certainly can't make yours.
  

Okay, I'm ranting. I have very strong feelings about small business owners not getting the best possible opportunity to grow their business. Your graphic design and marketing plan represent your business in the eyes of your customers when you are not there personally. So it actually makes all the difference in the world.

Listen to your customer - navel gazing part II

It's too easy to become self-absorbed as a business owner. And once you start spending time looking at your navel, you stop listening to your customers.

Case in point (once again) is Canadian Tire. Earlier I wrote about their perfectly dreadful website and now they have canceled production and delivery of their catalogue, which forces people to go to their perfectly dreadful website.

The Canadian Tire catalogue is an icon to Canadian baby boomers. It had an extended shelf life in bathrooms all over the country. And now, no doubt thanks to a hip and happenin' marketing team, this icon is no more. Was there an actual review of customer behaviour?

I can accept there is a cost savings on making this decision. Printing is costly. Distribution perhaps even more so. But hiding this motivation under the environmental wonderment of saving trees is almost pathetic.

For decades, Canadian Tire customers have used the catalogue to stream-line their purchase behaviours. They would browse the catalogue at their leisure (making them more susceptible to the marketing messages) and discover items to buy they didn't even know they wanted. And there is nothing leisurely or even intuitive about the Canadian Tire website. So kiss those add-on sales good-bye.

Why did Canadian Tire stop listening? First they ended the great TV commercials with the lovingly annoying Canadian Tire couple, now they are eliminating the catalogue. Both of which were strong representations of the brand. There was a hew and cry, even in Marketing Magazine, about the end of the TV campaign. That campaign had garnered enough recognition that it had reached the often unattainable heights of being mocked by comedians. And the death of the catalogue has been mourned in Canadian Workshop magazine (which no doubt is the biggest demographic of Canadian Tire shoppers).

So now that the rant is finished, how does this pertain to your business?

Listening to your customers and knowing when something is working for them is paramount to success. Just because you have become bored with your marketing tactics doesn't mean your audience isn't reacting to them. And there is no point in trying to become something other than what your customers want you to be. If Canadian Tire is trying to appeal to a younger audience with these changes, well they have lost their minds. Visit a Canadian Tire and see how many young people are there, other than their ill-trained, ill-informed part-time staff. So not only are young people not their audience but they are alienating their solid baby boomer audience. And good heavens, baby boomers have most of the disposable income in this country!

So the lesson here:

1. Talk to your customers. Find out what they like and don't like. And use that information as a guide.

2. Don't let your personal feelings about being bored with your campaign be the deciding factor in whether to continue.

3. Understand that mocking by comedians is the highest compliment to the strategy there is. Comedians won't mock something unless it has had enough audience hits they are guaranteed 90% of their audience will know what they are talking about. I spoke with some folks from AIG Assurance the other day. We talked about the mocking of their insurance for seniors - they actually track how many times they are mocked and they love it! Kudos to them.

4. Don't cancel a marketing program that is working. You may think that the hew and cry is valuable because it creates chatter, but negative chatter can destroy your business.

And for Canadian Tire, for pete's sake, you could have saved money by making the catalogue by-request-only. Which would have given you a pretty solid database to really pinpoint behaviours and characteristics of your audience. Maybe think next time.

Accuracy & Clarity - who's doing who any favours

In the United States, Dell Computers is being taken to court by a class action suit for their constant disregard to being accurate and clear in their advertising as it pertains to financing and customer service availability.

Here in Canada, Dell Computers is a popular company to have complaints lodged against them with Advertising Standards Canada. And yet, in Canada, they continue to do business practically unscathed.

And The Brick. If there was ever a complete disregard for accuracy and clarity in advertising, The Brick is the granddaddy of nose-thumbing.

So if these big companies can get away with it, why should small business try to be ethical, clear and accurate in their advertising? Obviously, based on Dell and The Brick, there are business reasons to obfuscate terms and conditions, pricing and service promises - at least someone high up in these companies believes this to be true.

First, let's deal with Advertising Standards Canada. This organization is a not-for-profit group which is funded by advertisers. So basically, self-regulation. And Advertising Standards Canada has no power. They can make recommendations, but they can't really punish anyone. That is left up the Federal Ministry of Industry. And humorously enough, or maybe not so funny, is that Advertising Standards Canada relies on the consumer with the complaint to provide all advertising materials with respect to the complaint. If the advertiser doesn't co-operate and supply the suspected and accused advertising materials, then Advertising Standards Canada says they have no choice but to close the file.

Second, let's deal with the personality of many Canadians. Most people just don't find it worth their time to lodge a complaint and deal with the ensuing paperwork that complaining involves. We'd much rather just complain to our friends and family.

Of course, the key element that small business needs to pay attention to is that in the process of complaining to friends and family, the true punishment arises.

(Of course at this point The Brick has so many customers that love the special deals that the punishment doesn't affect them. But if you look at the deteriorating market share for Dell, it is finally hitting home.)

And what is this punishment, you may ask? Loss of business. Loss of credibility. Loss of any brand equity you may have had.

When one person is upset by a business' behaviour, they generally will tell at least 10 people. So at the barest bones of the matter, you have lost the trust of 11 people when one person is dissatisfied, either with your advertising, pricing or customer service.

While small businesses may, in the short term, benefit financially from questionable advertising practices, ultimately you will lose business and lose face in your community.

Be truthful. Don't get in two terrific items and then mark them down dramatically and run a sale ad for those two items. There is value in having loss-leaders, but be reasonable about what the demand will be and be prepared to meet it. If you promise great customer service, be prepared to deliver it.

Be accurate. If there are terms and conditions on a purchase price, say so in very clear, readable type. Nobody likes these kinds of surprises.

Be clear. Don't use mystery language that can be interpreted any number of ways. Tell it like it is. Your customers will appreciate it.

Make it a practice, nay, a policy to always be truthful, accurate and clear in all your dealings with your customers. While they may not verbally thank you, you won't have to guess if someone is out there telling 10 other people not do to business with you. Because, you know, those 10 other people are telling their friends and families too.

Your business in one sentence or less

Marketing folks and advertising salespeople will both tell you that you need to deliver your message to your customer a minimum of five times before the customer will act on your offer. What sometimes is missed in this discussion is that it needs to be the same message five times.

So, without boring your audience to tears with the repetition, how do you get space in the frontal lobe of their brain?

That's where a great tagline fits in.

A great tagline defines your business in one sentence or less. A great tagline is also arguably the most difficult part of developing your marketing strategy.

A great tagline has rhythm. It defines your business in a way your target customer can relate to. It also doesn't try to be all things to all people. And a great tagline immediately tells your customers "what's it in for me".

Burger King has one of the great taglines - Have it your way. If there was ever something that spoke to "what's in it for me", it's this one. (Pity they can't get their act together on their strategies...even a great tagline can't save you if you flip flop all over the place with your strategies.)

The value of a great tagline is in its ability to be on everything you do to market your business. It should be on your business cards, brochures, print ads, signage and...well, you get the idea. If your tagline is well done, then all these "hits" on your customer will help you develop space in their brain.

How do you get a great tagline and how do you know when it's great?

You can, of course, hire a professional. Writing great taglines is a serious skill. When you think about how many business owners can't describe their business in 30 seconds or less, you can imagine how hard it is to actually come up with something in one sentence or less.

Another option, and one of my favourites, is to have a tagline party. Silly? Yes, maybe. But I have found wonderful taglines evolve from many brains bouncing ideas around. Get some friends, customers or staff together and throw all ideas into play. No idea is too silly. From silly ideas come great taglines. After a couple hours of eating, drinking and making merry, pick two ideas and massage them into final examples. Then test each of them to find which one relates well with your customers.

I'm not saying a tagline party will work for everyone. And you should bounce your final ideas off a professional to make sure they are all the things you think they are. A professional can help you polish your tagline into a bright shining example of clever marketing.

Many business owners think that a tagline is only for the "big guys" but a great tagline is a lifeline for new and small businesses.

Psychographics - a better audience definition

For many businesses, trying to get a great definition of your customer base just can't happen with demographics alone. In most instances, your customer base is defined by a lifestyle or a mindset, rather than by their age, income and education.

You need to discover what makes your customer base tick. Do they love to read? And if so, what do they read? Do they love to garden? Are they fans of old movies? Every one of these answers teaches you more about your audience and how to reach them with your marketing efforts.

For the sake of example, let's look at organic products. This is a very specific mindset and lifestyle. They cost more than traditional products and their benefits tend to not be seen immediately. So what might be the defining elements of this customer base?

With traditional demographics, this audience could be defined as anyone over 21 years of age, largely female, with college or university education and a mid-range to high income. They have a healthy lifestyle that would include exercise, outdoor activities such as gardening or hiking, they stay away from prepackaged/preprepared foods. They like to read and support the arts in some form.

So what could your marketing plan include that would reach this customer base? If we only looked at the demographic information, it might make sense to buy traditional media like radio or newspapers. But that just isn't targeted enough.

With the information about the customers likes and dislikes, you can fine-tune your plan and hit them where they live, thereby getting more return on your marketing investment. Gardening magazines would be a good choice. Magazines based on hobbies or interests are read with more attention than general stream newspapers or magazines. In Canada, Canadian Gardening offers a subscription base that would well match the psychographics of an organic product purchaser.

Sponsoring an art event or buying an ad in a theatre program, would also streamline your message delivery. The most important thing is to not waste your money on traditional, general interest media.

So how do you figure out the psychographics of your customer base? Talk to them. Survey them. You'll see commonalities fairly quickly. And there will be commonalities you can take advantage of to grow your business.

Perception is Reality - Finally proof!

For years, I've been coaching clients through the maze of their customers' perceptions and how they relate to the business' reality. I've also written periodically about audience perceptions in these blog pages.

The bottom line is: your customer's perception about your business is truly their reality about your business. Based on your marketing tactics do they perceive you as trustworthy, reliable, quality? Their perceptions are built from the quality of your paper choices, the colours and language styles you use, their personal experience with you and the myriad of other things that represent your brand.

This week The New York Times, that most august of publications, ran a story discussing two studies into consumers' preferences in wine. Within the article I discovered valuable proof that perception is indeed reality.

In one study, researchers scanned the brains of 21 volunteers as they tasted small samples of wine. They scanned the part of the brain where flavour responses apparently register. The subjects were only told the price of the wine. Without their knowledge, they tasted one wine twice but were given two different prices for that wine. Invariably, they preferred the one they thought was more expensive.

So now we can safely say perception is not a small trigger. If brain activity can actually be measured and responses changed because of perception, small businesses need to be ever more aware of the perception they are delivering. Professional marketers have been aware of this for centuries, but most small business owners aren't professional marketers.

Perhaps the most marvelous example of perception being reality is Cervantes' Man of La Mancha. In this story, Don Quixote is viewed as a dangerous madman because he sees the world differently from those around him. But his perception of the world is truly his reality. Where everyone else sees a barmaid prostitute, Quixote sees a chaste, saintly woman. The strength of his belief eventually sways a couple of people to believe they are what he sees.

Unfortunately, for small businesses there isn't time to convince your customer of your reality if it differs from their perception. So the key is to control their perceptions right from the start. You might be proud of your business, but do your customers see that in your marketing tactics? You may believe you have a valuable, unique product or service, but do your customers see that?

Customers make purchases with their heart and their head. We know the emotional purchase is almost always based on perception, but now we have proof that perception is also affecting the brain.

Two takes on "you get what you pay for"

My work with small and rural business has made me realize there really are two concepts covered by the adage "you get what you pay for".

The first one is obvious. If you buy a cheap pair of shoes, they last three months; if you buy a good quality but more expensive pair, they last you years. The same goes with your marketing communications. A designer who charges you $10 per hour is probably one of three things: desperate, untrained or unemployable. Most designers have pride and talent that comes with a fair market value. This is also true of your marketing consultants. If your consultant has solid experience and a background with results, then it is going come with a price tag.

The second interpretation is a little different, but is a piece of information to which start-up businesses need to pay particular attention, and small business might still require.

In this case, "you get what you pay for" speaks to the fact that once you have paid for your design, you own it and your designer or advertising firm should make it readily available to you. In fact, you really should get copies of all your designs - logos, ads, print materials - to keep for your own records.

I have recently heard of too many situations where designers are refusing to release logo designs and print ads. And in some cases, promotional item houses are refusing to release the digitized logos used to sew garments. I assume they do this to try to keep the business to themselves. If they give you the logo, you can get anyone to do the work for you.

In both cases, once the item has been paid for, you own it and are entitled to have it in your possession to do with what you wish. Don't ever let a designer, ad firm or promo producer tell you otherwise.

Canadian Intellectual Property law stipulates that once the work is paid for, it belongs to the person/firm who paid for it. For there to be an exception to this rule, there must be a contract, signed by both parties that clearly states the property remains in the designer's ownership.

I think it is fair to say designers/companies who will not release your logo, ad or other designs are not ethical marketing personnel. If this has happened to you, I hope you no longer do work with them. If it hasn't happened to you yet, the minute it does change your supplier to someone who knows and abides by the law.

There may be a small fee from your designer to supply you with digital files of your work, and I mean a small fee. This would cover the time to back-up the files, sort them, burn them to disk, etc. Hopefully, your designer has included this in his estimate of costs and automatically supplies you with your files without any form of debate.

So if you are tired of hearing people say "you get what you pay for" as you go along marketing your business with cheap paper, amateur design or free existing templates - and then not seeing the results you desire - perhaps you weren't meant to be a long-lasting success. But even for you folks, the second interpretation is valuable.

Small business social responsibility

Small business owners, whether urban or rural, have an opportunity to impact the needs of their community. It doesn't cost a lot, but can make all the difference.

Volunteering and donating are, interestingly enough, a great way to grow your business, not just support your community. The pro bono work you may do leave a mark and people talk about it in a positive way. This is always very good for your brand. Whether the positive word-of-mouth about your company comes from a paid experience or a volunteer/donated one, that support can bring you business. You can expose your business to a new audience with donation of money, products or services or through volunteering your time.

A friend of mine, Annette Hovey, is trying to raise funds to help her family. Her sister passed away after a battle with breast cancer and it has turned her family inside out. Annette is a small business person, an artist, and while working full-time for a business development corporation, has still found the time and method to help out others. Her creative solution is to sell a book of poetry on-line - not a big investment of her small business money, but something of value and a big help to others. Read her story.

While Annette's story is personal - helping her family - there are loads of opportunities for businesses to give back to their community.

Volunteering is perhaps the most valuable thing of all. Yes, it is time consuming but the new people you meet and the potential for business growth make it worthwhile. For new business owners, this is a pathway to faster business growth. If you can tie your volunteering to your business theme, even better.

And keep in mind, that while volunteering and donating are philanthropic, there is no reason not to put some "conditions" on your time, product or service. Get your logo out there. If there is a way to get your story out there too, then take advantage of it. There is no reason not include a small card with your business description and contact information with any form of donation.

And right now, with all the fear of a recession, you do well to find methods of promoting your business that reach new audiences and confirm to your existing audiences that it is a good thing to do business with you.

This week in television ad land

We haven't talked about television very much because in most cases it just isn't a good buy for rural & small business. But there are certainly lessons to learn from what the big guys are doing with their ads.

Let's start with my favourite ad of the last couple of months. It's a Jeep ad using pop music as support. People who have attended my workshops know I despise pop music in ads because you remember the music but never the vendor. In this case, the ad is so well done that I remember the vendor just so I can reference it successfully to others.

So take a look at the "Rock Me Gently" Jeep ad. Why does this ad work so well?

First off, the acting is great. The guy has so many terrific expressions that actually match what's going on. And they have done a great match between generations. The guy is young to appeal to a 20 - 35 audience but used music from a generation older. They have made the music an integral part of the ad, not just background music. (and the music sticks in your head altho not sure that's a positive attribute) And laugh! Oh my goodness, after watching it 50 times I still laugh when I see it. And humour is the #1 way to get people to remember your ad. Jeep has found humour that is great to participate with, without being rude or disgusting.

Kudos to the creative team. Positive genius!

Now, the medium success on Canadian television. Aviva Insurance is starting to advertise and went big with the buy. They are on American Idol, Family Guy and some other huge audience spectaculars. Primarily, not sure the buy is worth it. So much of this audience group is outside of their target market. But hey, more people will see it even if they won't care. Maybe a really targeted buy to some specialty channels would have been a better use of the money. It isn't all about being on the biggest shows, it's about using the money sensibly to hit your specific market more often. For every hit on American Idol, no doubt there could have been five hits on a specialty channel.

The ad talks about changing insurance. They have tried to go for humour but it falls down. Mildly amusing at best. The big issue is the colour choices for the banner at the end that identifies the company through logo and website. You can't read the website address and the yellow just overwhelms the screen. You instinctively watch the announcer rather than reading the text in the bright yellow box. Yellow is the most conflicting colour to the human brain so maybe not the best choice for so much screen space.

But bravo to the folks at Aviva that built the survey that supports this ad campaign. It is amusing just walking through, but when you select the "relief" button you can really see that someone has a great sense of juxtaposition. The yellow is still really hard on the eyes so folks will probably rush through it, but at least the exposure and more of the story are there.

And last, and certainly, least - the new RONA split 15-second spots. I've only seen one of them, but in that one they share information that isn't even correct in an attempt to sell more of their product. In the front end 15-second, you get a question. In this case "Can you use the same drywall in all rooms". In the back 15-second, they give you the answer (after you have sat through other people's ads). In this case, they answered "no". Well really, of course you can use the same drywall in all types of rooms. You may not want to, but you can. And in my opinion, split 15s just make people watch the ads in between with more vigour while they wait for the answer. So other advertisers should be thanking RONA for this less than clever sales tactic.

What's the big learn from today's rant?

1. Know your audience and the audiences around them. Jeep does a great job reaching a broad audience base by using music that is now multi-generational.
2. Humor is your friend. Especially when you can do it without being disgusting.
3. Make sure you use great talent. Whether it's your actors or your designers, great talent shows. Jeep has used a terrific creative team and a brilliant, funny actor. Aviva has used some good ideas but the visual team (or the corporate folks with the final say) have mucked it up with the insistence of using so much yellow.
4. Don't use yellow if you don't have to. It hurts the brain.
5. Be smart with your buy. Target your audience and use the methods that reach them with as little spill into useless audience as possible.
6. Don't stretch the truth in your advertising. You'll get caught and it's a negative mark on your brand.

When less is definitely more

How many ads have you seen and heard where the advertiser tries to do too many things at once? Unfortunately, I've seen way too many over the last weeks. My focus on rural and small business has exposed me to print and audio/visual advertising that is over-designed, over-produced and completely unfocused.

If you want to make the most of your advertising, there is a very key thing to remember. Be focused, focused, focused.

Keep your message short and sweet. People today have very short attention spans, especially for advertising. You'll never successfully be all things to all people, so don't even try. Know your audience thoroughly and design your messages to speak clearly to them.

Don't mix your messages. Pick a topic and stay on it. The 30-second radio spot is great for this because you can only do a little bit in 30 seconds. But print ads and flyers can get away from you pretty quickly.

Make sure your designer understands the concept of minimalism. There's often no need for tons of illustrations, graphic effects, and there's definitely no need for a kazillion type styles and sizes. Trained designers know this. I realize that not everyone is working with a trained designer, and those companies can be spotted instantly through the over-design and clutter in their advertising.

Remember too that white space is easy on the eye. If your customers have to struggle to read your message, they'll just turn away. Be careful when using reversed-out type (white type on dark surface). Many type styles can't hold up under this treatment. Most especially script fonts.

Test all your print and audio/visual advertising with someone who doesn't know the message. If they don't get it quickly, then you need to modify.

Even word-of-mouth doesn't happen on its own

One of the big news stories in the US this week is the purchase of XM by Sirius Satellite Radio. It's big news because of the discussions around competition and how the consumer is affected by Sirius buying up their competitors.

But I bring it up here because their marketing tactics could have foretold who was going to come out on top. A couple of years ago, I was working with a large financial institution on a project in which we needed some prizing. I chose a package from Sirius as the major prize and had to defend this decision with the senior executives. Their big question was, "How do you know Sirius will be around in a few years and that everyone won't have gone with XM?"

My answer was, "Their marketing". Now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, marketing has to be interpreted here as more than just advertising. I was never a big fan of the Sirius advertising, but they were managing their budget well. They became a supplier to Canadian Tire and other large retailers. They sponsored some great events. They had a terrific PR machine keeping them in the forefront of people's minds.

Where was XM?

And this is my point today for small and rural businesses. You have to get out there. It doesn't always have to do with advertising.

This week, I heard a story about a group of small business owners lamenting that they had made no sales. When asked what they planned to do to change this, they all said, "Nothing, word of mouth will get me sales eventually."

For those of you who have read some of my other blogs, you can probably imagine the screaming going on inside my head when I heard this. Word of mouth doesn't happen on its own. You have to start the cycle of referral with planned tactics.

Similar to Sirius, rural and small businesses can increase their sales, and their chance of still being in business a year from now, by getting out there with whatever means are possible. I'm not talking a huge advertising campaign. I'm talking specific, economical tactics that have an excellent chance of returning the investment.

Event-based marketing is a good example. Develop or sponsor an event and promote the dickens out of it. Use media releases, posters in your neighbourhood variety store and post offices, develop an inexpensive postcard to carry with you and hand out everywhere you go.

You don't have to spend a fortune to get your business into the front of people's brains. But you do have to be creative with your tactics and messages. As a rural or small business owner, you have to set the ball in motion so word of mouth can develop. Take advantage of networking opportunities like your local Chamber of Commerce. Attend their events and hand out your postcards or business cards and talk up your business like crazy.

Once you have a few satisfied customers, then word of mouth marketing stands a chance. But if you can't get a few people talking, word of mouth will never do you justice.

Customer service - the face of your brand

This week was an interesting experience for me in the world of customer service. Some people came out of it with accolades and others should be ashamed of themselves. And even more interestingly, small business owners dropped the ball the most.

The staff at Mormac had cause to be on the phone with customer service departments from five large companies this week. By name, they are: Hewlitt Packard, Amtelecom, Black Sun, Ministry of Revenue for the Province of Ontario and the Department of Immigration and Employment for Canada. Yes, there are two government agencies on this list.

In every case, the customer service staff were helpful, attentive and knowledgeable. Good heavens, the guy from the Ministry of Revenue even had me laughing uproariously while he worked through my questions.

I make a point of including the names of the companies here because good customer service is hard to find. People are mainly self-involved, too busy and just don't care. And when that spreads into the delivery of customer service, it says a lot about your brand.

The front-line people are the real owners of delivering the brand experience. So whether it is salespeople, customer service folks or the owner of the company, everyone needs to buy into the brand definition and deliver that experience. The companies mentioned above have instilled enough pride in the brand and enjoyment of the job that the customer service people are trusted to be the face of the company. (Here's the spot to say - you get what you pay for...make sure your front-line people are paid well enough to enjoy their job and want to stay.)

And now for the ball-droppers. I won't name them here because this message is no doubt broadly true. And you know who you are - the small business owner that is just too busy running the business to pay particular attention to being on the front-line.

These are the people who don't return emails and phone calls. They are the ones who are negatively vocal about their competition, rather than identifying the positives in their own business. And they are the ones who don't care about how they are perceived by their suppliers.

Yes, suppliers. Your customers are not the only people that can destroy your brand for you. Your suppliers interact with you on a regular basis and have the biggest opportunity to develop an opinion about your business. Just because they are a supplier doesn't mean they don't have the power to recommend you to others, or tell others not to do business with you.

Make it a point to return emails in 24 hours. Even if it is just a note that says you are busy and will get back to them in a day or so. (Or make sure to have an auto-reply saying when you will be back to your emails)

Acknowledgment is one of the driving forces of humanity. Acknowledge your customers and your suppliers. Always remember that everything you do reflects on your brand and on your business. If you don't return emails, people will soon question your reliability and organization skills. And when I say "your", I don't just mean you, I mean your business as well.

Get into the habit of talking about the uniqueness of your business rather than the negative things about your competition. By talking about your competition, you are giving them mind-time they wouldn't otherwise get.

Many small business owners are also the customer service department. You need to think like a customer service representative. It is easy these days to bring to mind a negative customer service experience, not so easy to remember a good one. That alone will make you stand out from the crowd and will help you grow your business.

The little card tells a big story

I've been seeing a lot of small and rural businesses' business cards lately. You can really tell the ones that have been designed and printed on home computers. You can also tell the ones that have been designed and printed professionally.

I have to guess that the businesses putting their face forward with business cards designed on their home computers and printers just don't realize the message this sends to their potential customers.

So here's the scoop:

Your business card is your first contact with a good portion of your customer base. You hand them over at networking groups and at every meeting you attend. They hang around in people's day-books, pockets and in weird places in their cars. You should never underestimate the value of great looking business card.

Unfortunately, too many rural and small business owners think the business card is a throw-away and not worth an investment. Think again. Your business card tells your story, represents your brand and has more staying power than almost any other kind of printed marketing.

So what message do you think an unprofessional, flimsy business card relays?

What it says is, "I don't really care about my business. I probably won't be around in six months so don't worry about losing my business card. I don't have enough pride in my business to bother about looking professional or reliable."

I've still got business cards from people I met 10 years ago. And you can bet the quality of the card reminds me why I have done business with them, or why not.

Your business card sets the tone for all the rest of your marketing - your stationery, your print ads, your website.

So say, for instance, your customer base is highly educated people with a disposable income. If your business card is messy, cluttered and on cheap paper, do you think this customer base is going to trust you?

It isn't rocket science. Get your business card designed and printed so you can be proud to show it off. You'll find your customers believe in you faster and you'll also find yourself being more excited to hand your cards out to others.

And all he sees is the almighty dollar

I did a survey recently and discovered that 98 percent of rural and small business owners were handling their own marketing. I also discovered the majority have an intense dislike of advertising sales guys. You know the ones - they get your phone number and call you all the time, they stop by unannounced and muddy the marketing waters by insisting their advertising is the best way to go for your business. They are slick and shiny. And they have left a very bad taste in a lot of people's mouths in my area.

And out of this environment of intense dislike, one of these sales guys opened his own business selling advertising and promotional items to local small businesses. Changed his tune, but didn't change his schtick. He is still slick and still shiny and believes success is based on being the cheapest at what he does.

What he has also managed to do is take away the uniqueness of many businesses. He achieves "cheapest" by offering a standard paper so he can take everyone's work and pile it up into one print run. (It's called 'ganging' the work. e.g. business cards from 25 different businesses all laid up on one sheet, same paper, same ink, same quality - or lack thereof)

Of course, businesses don't have to work with him and can keep their uniqueness. But when you see 1,000 business cards offered in full colour for $40, who would say no?

For goodness sake, say no. If your company is promoted on the same paper as everyone else, how will you stand out?

And while he shared with me the wonders of his successful business, our advertising-guy-turned-business-owner laughed over mistakes he'd made in people's information. Are you willing to accept mistakes that hold up your marketing efforts or, heaven forbid, get out into your customers' hands?

Attention to quality costs money. People are always cheapest for a reason. They rush the job through so it takes less hours which can translate into mistakes. They don't use quality supplies which reflects poorly on your brand. And often times, they just don't care about your business.

Buy the right solution for your business. Keep your uniqueness alive. And don't scrimp on your marketing. Your customers will see it and measure your business by it.

And the first to go is the marketing budget

When sales go down, as many industries will see in the next while because of the state of the American economy, the accountants start making their lists of cutbacks and layoffs. This is true in big business as well as rural and small business. And one of the first things to go, in the majority of cases, is the marketing budget.

Accountants see marketing as a cost centre. There is no direct line from marketing to increased revenue in an accountant's mind. It is the sales department that brings in the revenue. So cutting back the marketing budget will save money, right?

Wrong!

If you cut back on your marketing spend, how will your customers learn all the great things about your business? If anything, you should plan to increase your marketing budget to support your sales during times of lean coffers.

I've lost count of the number of times I've had this discussion with accountants and actuaries. Okay, for their sakes, I'll change what I just said (plan to increase your marketing budget) to leave the marketing budget alone - leave it at the same level it's at before your business starts to shrink.

This is where having the right marketing team in place is so very important. Your messages have to be fine-tuned and extremely targeted during the lean times.

I've just had the pleasure of working with a bunch of brand new business owners as they build their business plans. Needless to say when you're first starting your business, times are lean as well.

It was painful for me. They were being told by the class facilitators that a reasonable marketing budget is between two to five per cent of their annual sales projections. Of course, they were also coached that they should decide what they needed to do to market their business and plan an appropriate budget. Not one of them went above the five per cent mark, and most went with two per cent. Needless to say, these percentages were created by accountants.

Brand new businesses should be planning a bigger marketing spend to get the word out and promote strong sales. With a tight, skinflint marketing budget, their business will grow slowly and may not survive the first year.

Economies of course make sense when times are lean, but it's important to look at the big picture. If you cut back your marketing budget, what will support your sales team and deliver your message to your customers?

Small business needs to outsource marketing to get best bang for their buck

A survey recently conducted by Mormac Brand Re-engineering showed that 90% of small business owners do their own marketing. In some cases this meant everything, including graphic design. About 12% did have professionals handling their graphic design and web page development but all other marketing tasks were handled by themselves. This was particularly true in start-up businesses.

And people wonder why 50% of small businesses close in the first year and 70% are gone by year five.

You wouldn't go into a serious court case and handle it yourself. You'd take your lawyer. You wouldn't battle the tax man by yourself, you'd take your accountant. You have financial advisors, insurance advisors - so why don't you have a marketing advisor?

The Canadian Bankers Association recommends this list of advisors to help small business be successful: "Lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, communications and marketing specialists, insurance agents, computer and technology experts – all can provide professional advice and other services to you."

Lately, I've heard small business owners saying, "I can't pay for a marketing specialist right now, I have to make more sales so I have more money." And where are those sales going to come from if you aren't marketing yourself correctly? And realistically, poorly-handled marketing costs you money - it doesn't make you money.

Now I know some small business owners think that to get good solid marketing advice they have to pay through the nose. But this is not necessarily true. A consultation on the habits of your customers and how that plays into delivering strong messages may be all it takes. Marketing isn't just advertising (which is where an awful lot of money is spent). A small business marketing consultant should save you money and increase your sales.

You don't need a glitzy, glamorous advertising agency to help you get a handle on your marketing. Check around. There are entrepreneurial marketers out there with the experience and skills to review your plan and give advice, without having you tie yourself to full agency services.

Do yourself a favour. Stop thinking you know how to do everything. You don't. And no one expects you to - except maybe yourself. Get a marketing advisor just like you get a lawyer or accountant.

Know your audience means save your money

I just finished reading a newspaper article about a government program for interest-free, forgivable loans. The director of municipal housing for London, Ontario was interviewed:

'Louise Stevens, London's director of municipal housing, said the program was well-publicized in London in lending institutions, libraries, realtors and the media.

"We promoted the heck out of it," she said.'

One of the conditions of this program, in which renters can get a loan for a downpayment on purchasing a house, is household income of $50,000 or less.

So let's take a look at the city's tactics in this "well-publicized" plan versus audience behaviours.

Families with less than $50,000 income are probably not hanging out at the bank. And a majority of folks under 40 years of age do their banking on-line so they're rarely in the bank, if ever. So using funds to promote this program in lending institutions should probably have been kept to a minimum. A nice message to the lending officers might have been enough on the off chance that someone making $50,000/year decided they could afford a house (never mind all the public relations nightmares going on in the US about housing costs and loans and the impact rising interests rates have had on people's ability to pay their mortgages - that has had so much play in the Canadian media that lower middle income families are likely stepping cautiously).

Libraries. Hmm. I love the library. Bought my house because the library is right next door. But I know I am an anomaly. Reading for fun is becoming less and less a popular hobby, especially with people in lower income and lower education brackets. Research is done online for those with a computer rather than wading through the stacks at the library. And in this time of over-packed schedules, I can't think of anyone in my experience intentionally wandering around the library to find adverts from the city or anyone else.

Would you have a chat with a realtor if you didn't think you could afford a house? Of course, they would want to be aware of the program, but again, not necessary to put much money under it.

And now the buggaboo of all buggaboos - the media. And by this, she means mainstream media. Newspapers and radio. Maybe even some television.

Newspaper readership has been deteriorating for over a decade. Partly because people are less interested in reading, partly because mainstream journalism has become an entertainment industry rather than a credible news source in many cases and finally because the internet allows people to streamline their experience with less newsprint in the house and less black smeary ink on their fingers.

Loads of statistics across the country show that newspaper readership goes up with higher education and household income. So, doesn't look like a favourable buy for households under $50,000.

And beware of misleading comments in the readership statistics of newspapers. London Free Press says that 71% of adults 25 - 49 read their newspaper each week (notice it doesn't say every day). Which properly translated means these people open the newspaper a minimum of once a week. So which section? How many of them only look at Friday's entertainment section? How many only look at the classifieds? Sports page? Lifestyle?

Radio is challenging at the best of times. Each market has more radio stations than you could possibly need. London has at least seven stations, not including all the stations from surrounding areas that spill into the market. Radio is terrific if you can really nail down the habits of your audience, but again you are trapped with figuring out when they are actually listening. No point in running ads when your audience isn't there.

And then television, one of the most challenging things to buy on a tight budget. London does have a local station, but with all the specialty channels and major networks, how many Londoners are actually watching? Not many.

So it is easy to criticize but is it easy to figure out what might have worked? How about an online component, even it is only a targeted ad on the newspaper's website? How about unaddressed admail directed to those neighbourhoods with the correct demographics? How about some kind of partnership with Walmart or Zellers? An insert for their shopping bags?

Municipality employees often make tactical decisions based on their own life experience, not through any solid research into the habits of their audience. Which is why so much municipal marketing money is wasted. And don't get me wrong - municipalities aren't the only ones who do this. Large corporations right down to the mom-and-pop corner store are frequently guilty of this.

Don't waste your marketing dollars. If you don't know the habits of your audience, find someone who does. And be open to new ways to talk to your audience.

"We promoted the heck out of it" is obviously a relative statement, but I certainly don't think the tactics she listed would equal promoting the heck out of anything.