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Small business customers don’t all speak the same language
If you donât know who your prospects (or clients) are, itâs hard to craft an effective message (or strategy) that is compelling. Itâs not usually practical to customize each message (although there are ways to automate this simply when you have a name). There are, however, some easy ways to segment your small business customers…
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There’s a cure for small business owners suffering vertigo
âWhat you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.â â Ralph Waldo Emerson Appleâs iOS 7 has been in the news a lot lately. Apparently the 3-D image enhancement is causing some illness among users. It continues to amaze me how common courtesy is lost with the iPhone craze. What used…
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Home town pride is good for small business
No matter where you grew up, there are places youâve called home you feel compelled to defend. Great media opportunities exist for your small business with hometown newspapers, college alma maters, your current residence or anywhere else someone can call you a claim to fame. I didnât grow up in New York, but have called…
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Think you’re crazy with your small business marketing strategy?
âInsanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage.â â Ray Bradbury, writer (1920-2012) This is a wonderful quote from Ray Bradbury. Perspectives are incredible things â and also can provide horrific excuses for behavior. History has proven the moral majority (curious term â I rarely find majority opinion to be…
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Wild rides provide small business lessons
The scariest ride I ever faced was on a 1954 International Tractor. As I rounded the top of 20-foot-wide pathway between pastures and started heading down the half-mile or so hill, it popped out of gear. My mechanic had advised against replacing the breaks, citing anything legal today would be shot in three months. Iâm…
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It’s OK to seize unfair advantages for small business marketing success
When I was a kid, I cringed at the idea of embracing advantages I didnât earn. In fact, Iâd dismiss offers and opportunities immediately, without thought. Finally, my dad explained, in a way I could accept, why it was dumb for me not to utilize such breaks. This particular conversation concerned a job arranged for…
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7 tips for small business success
If youâre truly committed to making your small business a success, youâll get there, provided you start with some critical components. If youâre motived by money alone, youâre better off finding a salaried job. Think get-rich-quick schemes are the ticket? Play the lottery. Your odds will be better.
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Small business marketing strategy secrets can get dicey
Recently, the President visited our city. It wasnât on his itinerary, with scheduled event attendance at Buffalo to the West, then Syracuse to the East, but it would have been a real snub to Rochester if he didnât detour the ten miles or so to come say hi. So, he did lunch. What amused me…
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Small business marketing against the grain
I had a barn cat at the farm for almost 15 years. She came with the name Boo Kitty, which is one she seemed to like. She was happy hunting, being lavished with attention while home and roaming free as she did her wild thing covering miles and miles on her daily trek around the…
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Is firing your team a good marketing strategy?
It was sad news to hear the Chicago Sun Times fired the entire photography staff (28 people) at the end of May. This story, which didnât merit many headlines nor involve a paper I read, touched me in a big way. It seems blurry smart phone images with heads chopped off along with writing rife…