Marketing in Business and the Economy
Posted by Rebecca Blackwell on Oct 6, 2008
Last week I wrote a post (Right Now Might be the Best Time to Start a Business) about the advantages of starting a small business when the economy is less-than-perfect. As it turns out, eMedia Wire posted an article last week titled, Top Marketing Experts and Small Business Owners Agree There is No Recession, that makes a couple of excellent points along those same lines.
Here’s an exert from that article: “If we’re watching the news,” Lee says, “we have to ask ourselves do we really believe all these knee-jerk reactions? All we hear over and over is ‘the money is gone’ but where did it go is what we’re asking.”
Robin adds, “the thing is, the money is not gone. It’s still here, and for people who have the vision to agree that There is No Recession and to grab this opportunity, I believe we can have a repeat of what happened during the great depression where more ‘common folk’ became billionaires than any other time in our history”. “After all,” Robin adds, “what is really happening today is a correction of big business mistakes and a redistribution of wealth from THEM to US and truly there are time-proven and measured steps you can take today to make sure you take advantage of this immense opportunity that our government and big business has handed to us on a silver platter.”
Hmmmm…..
I attended a lunch meeting last week with 30 fellow entrepreneurs where the conversation sounded very much like the quotes in that article. In fact, most of the entrepreneurs at that lunch talked about how they were shifting their focus in order to best capitalize on the current economy.
Interestingly, most of them felt like this was the time to spend money, not hoard it; that right now they could indeed get the most bang for their buck and become the biggest fish in a smaller pond. (On a micro level, I say “good for them!”. On a macro-level, that’s also good for the rest of us. Those gutsy entrepreneurs are the grease that keep our economy moving no matter what.)
And where were most of them going to spend their money? On marketing their business.
An MSNBC report suggests that weathering an economic “storm” requires having a solid sales and marketing plan in place. I wonder how many small business owners and entrepreneurs have a plan in place to remain above water even in poor circumstances. Taking it one step further, how many have a plan to not just remain afloat, but to capitalize on poor circumstances. Do you?
Big Marketing for Your Small Business
Posted by Rebecca Blackwell on Oct 5, 2008
Read a good article this morning by Steve Mulder titled “5 Marketing Tips for Tackling Twitter”.
This article, written in September of this year, outlines 5 ways that marketers can use twitter to listen, communicate to, and better connect with, their customers and potential customers, and lays out great examples of large companies that are using twitter to facilitate this kind of intimate connection with their customers.
This spotlights an interesting (though not very new) trend, also discussed in a 2005 article by John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing.
Small is the new big.
In that article, John wrote that, “Large organizations are beginning to wrestle with the reality that their markets want something more personal, more honest and real, from the companies they buy products and services from. It’s obvious that small businesses possess natural advantages in this arena, so the rush is on to think small. Acting like a small business, it seams, is the latest killer innovation.”
This was true in 2005 and is even more true today. What’s more, new social networking tools, like twitter, have provided an extremely effective and efficient platform for large companies to act small.
The interesting thing is - these same platforms have also provided ways for small busineses to act large. Social networking platforms (like twitter) have leveled the playing field for both large and small businesses.
Large businesses can act small (connecting with customers, projecting a personality, reacting quickly, etc.) and small businesses can act large (reaching large numbers of people quickly, driving customer opinion, generating buzz, etc.).
If you are in business today, large or small, chances are your best advantage lies in implementing the same strategy. And that is new. Years ago I stated an opinion that consumers were tiring of the very large, impersonal type of business that have the distinct advantage of being able to offer a wide selection at low prices, but also have the distinct disadvantage of not really being able to connect with their customers and build the type of loyalty that only comes from personal relationship. Well, it seams that very large companies are finding the resources they need to retain the above mentioned advantages, while mitigating their impersonal nature.
At the same time, small businesses, which have the distinct advantages of being closer to their customers, creating strong customer loyalty, and can shape and adjust quickly, can now use social networking tools to reach ever increasingly larger audiences on the cheep.
So, what does this mean if you are trying to build a successful small business today? Simply that if you aren’t currently using the many social networking resources available to you now, you are missing out on an advantage that you can’t afford to miss out on. In the world today, it doesn’t matter if you are large or small, you have the ability to stay “small” and act big.
If you need a jumping off point for social media, check out this blog: http://pistachioconsulting.com/. If you need to figure out how to better incorporate social marketing into your existing marketing strategy, or if you simply need to construct a solid marketing strategy, better contact the team at Your Marketing Lab, Inc.
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/YML
Right now might be the best time to start a small business.
Posted by Rebecca Blackwell on Sep 29, 2008
And, if the economy gets worse, it might be an even better time to start a successful business.
Check out this post from Seth Godin’s blog:
“Inc. magazine reports that a huge percentage of companies in this year’s Inc. 500 were founded within months of 9/11.: Talk about uncertain times. But uncertain times, frozen liquidity, political change and poor astrological forecasts (not to mention chicken entrails) all lead to less competition, more available talent and a do-or-die attitude that causes real change to happen…….If I wasn’t already running my own business, today is the day I’d start one.”
Ultra successful Information Marketing Guru, Dan Kennedy would agree. He started an information marketing business at a time when the economy was poor and charged more than anyone thought anyone would pay. Incidently, it was also a time when no one else dared start a business like his which automatically made him top dog. And, he ended up with a very successful businesss.
When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. If you are in the mortgage industry right now, and can find a way to survive while everyone else jumps ship, it makes sense that you will be the one to not just survive, but thrive. You will be forced to do things a bit differently. You will be forced to find the next great idea. You will be forced to become a better at marketing your business. You will become strong and come out on top, the proud owner of a very successful business.
