I’d like to add something extra to the promotion: support your local small business, not only on Nov. 27, but throughout the holiday shopping season. When you shop locally with Seattle area businesses, your dollars go to work in your town;  not only for jobs and business owners in the greater Seattle area, but in many cities, your local sales tax helps support essential local services such as transit, emergency services or business development. So shop small and local – and keep your money in your community!

Come on folks. Let’s support our local Seattle area businesses in a big way this Holiday season and BOYCOTT this recession. Oh wait, the recession is over right! Damn right it is.

I realized this week that this is a real problem that plagues small business owners. You get so uncertain about whether an investment is going to pay off, you never actually try anything.

If that’s the case, all you have is hope. That’s not a plan to grow a business, or survive in this “new economy”.

Let’s just get this out of the way right now. FAILURE IS GOING TO HAPPEN!

You are going to make investments in marketing that won’t pay off. I had a campaign recently that failed miserably. No doubt it sucked. The good news though is that I learned something in the process. Had I not tried in the first place, I would have never had the discovery of what actually did work to generate new leads for my business.

You don’t have to accept failure, but don’t avoid it. The key here is measuring your investment.

Here are three (3) quick marketing tips to beat the fear of marketing failure:

1) Clearly identify your target. What are their needs, wants, pains, and frustrations? How does your offer address those?

2) Create a clear call to action. Add a special offer with a deadline. Create a reason to act.

3) Measure your results. If you cannot measure your results, you are flying blind. Create a custom link on your website to track. Use a specific phone number for your offer to track how many calls were made for each specific campaign.

The bottom line here is getting really clear, executing, and measuring your results. Test and Tweak!

this isn’t about throwing a bunch of money at a marketing campaign. You can start small, measure your results, then go big. But most of all, expect failure will occur, just be ready to deal with it and move on.

To your success,

Matt

Here is a quick quiz:

1) Do your marketing campaigns typically have one step?

2) Do you frequently move from one marketing tactic to another?

3) Do you frequently wonder why that email, postcard, or fax blast didn’t produce any results?

If so, you might be a promoter. There is a big difference between the two. Here’s why…

Your prospects are bombarded daily with marketing and advertising messages. Me too promotional sales and one shot pony campaigns don’t work, and they don’t generate results.

Educating your prospects, taking the long term view of cultivating a relationship and truly differentiating yourself is critical. Especially with social network and the ADD induced state most of your prospects find themselves in…

They can’t pay attention to the road while texting, let alone long enough to pay attention to your one time promotion…

It isn’t quite as easy building a true marketing strategy, but well worth the results.

You have a choice. Build a proven marketing system that works, or continue being a promoter wondering why you can’t generate more revenue for your small business.

Sometimes a little straight talk is called for…:)

To your success,

Matt

Did you say zero? Almost…

The worst number in business is the number 1. Here’s why…

If you are dependent on ONE source of leads for your business, you are already in trouble. I don’t care if it is referrals, pay per click (PPC), direct mail, or email marketing. Relying on a one source is dangerous, especially in this new economy.

Smart small business owners are realizing that the convergence of offline and online marketing is the WAY to build a marketing system to generate leads on a regular basis. More importantly, having the peace of mind that if they lose one lead or revenue source, they can keep trucking along.

Here’s how you can start moving your business in the right direction today:

1) Grab a piece of paper and write down all of the way leads and prospects come into your business today.

2) Highlight which of those sources produce the most results for you now. Ask yourself, “Does my business depend on one source for leads and new business?”. If so, move to step 3.

3) If you are in fact dependent on one referral partner, one lead source, or one tactic you need more sources. From the list you created, start outlining a list of more ways you could cost effectively generate leads for your business.

4) Create a plan. Now, grab that calendar and I want you to focus on building one lead generation tactic each month. If it takes 2 months, don’t worry about it. Just keep adding to your system, one layer at a time…

5) Pat yourself on the back. I know, it sounds corny but most business owners don’t get to step #2.

I guarantee if you take the five steps above, your business will be better off for it. More importantly, you will be generating more leads and business than ever before. As you know, it doesn’t happen overnight.

Through patience and persistence you will have a marketing system you can rely on, even in this economy.

To your success,

Matt

If you are a small business, you need to be riding the “long tail” in all of your online marketing. Why is it important?

Here’s why…

See Al Gore invented the Internet some time ago (joke), and I think you will agree it is a pretty competitive place these days. To compete (especially when you are getting started online) with your blog or website you need to compete in a smaller pond so to speak.

So, here’s where the long tail comes in…

If I optimize my website for the term “Marketing Consultant” I am competing with potentially millions of sites with years of history. Not that I am not going to try of course, but it will take me some time. That is a great long term goal, but like you I want leads NOW dang it!

So, here’s how you can win in that game. Leverage the long tail. Optimize your site for a term like “Marketing Consultant Tampa, FL” for instance. Or even get more specific, and use a keyword like “Marketing and Branding Consultant Tampa Bay” for instance.

Here’s a good way to do a little research. Go into Google and put your keywords in quotes. See my example below. You will notice there are only 12,300 competing sites. Now we are on to something here…

So…When you are optimizing all of your online digital assets you need to be leveraging the long tail. This includes images, video, audio and of course your blog posts. So how do I do that you ask? Well, in part 2 we are going to dive into that deeper and go into long tail research for your small business.

Start by writing down all of the top level phrases related to your service, product, or industry. These are usually one or two word phrases or keywords that are commonly used by your prospects when searching for your product or service.

Start there, and you will be ready for part 2…

Now…Get back to work and Target, Attack, and Profit!

To Your Success,

As Americans we like to subscribe to the theory of bigger is better, but that isn’t always true when it comes to marketing. Especially today, in the age of Social Media and total transparency.

You can’t just hit a button and SPAM someone with 50 Tweets, or 10 emails in a week and expect the leads and sales to roll in. It just doesn’t work that way.

I see this time and time again. The tools are so efficient, that is is almost TOO EASY to post the comment, send the email, blast the Tweets, and business owners forget about the best interest of their prospect. They only think of their own need, before putting their prospects and their needs first.

Where less is actually more…

What if, you actually gave your best stuff away. All your secrets, pulled out all the stops and just gave it away. This is often referred to as moving the “Free Line”. Basically to say that when marketing to your ideal client, you should be giving them the best content you have. Help them solve their biggest and hairiest problem. Maybe it through an email, your blog, or maybe you crank a quick video out. But help them solve their biggest problem related to your product or service, or your industry.

Wait a second, that’s my “secret sauce” you say…

I know, it seems counterintuive but that’s hwo you build trust. You want your ideal client to say Holy Cow, if they are GIVING this kind of content away, I wonder what it would be like to be a client.

And that’s where you build your authority and position yourself as an expert.

So, back to less marketing…

Don’t stop marketing, but make sure every interaction, post, and piece of content is the best stuff you have. Do a quick inventory of all the marketing you do and make sure it solves a problem.

One key warning sign is if all of your marketing talks about YOU and not your prospect.

Go Target, Attack, and Profit!

~Matt

Of course you do. You are a technician, professional service provider, or maybe a retailer right?

BZZZZZZ…Wrong Answer!

You are in the marketing business. The reality is that we are all in the same business. Our job is to get prospects and suspects to know, like, and trust us. Regardless of what service we provide, or product we sell we are all in this together. Without that, you don’t have a business.

Often, small business owners ask me if I provide marketing coaching to their specific type of business. My answer, “Yes, I provide coaching to your business because you and I are in the same business”. If you are familiar with Pareto’s law (or otherwise known as the 80/20 rule) you understand that 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort, your clients, you name it…

Here’s the problem…

Many businesses forget that they are a marketing business so they go on spending 80% of their time DOING their thing and not marketing their business. No strategy, no plan, no time spent investing in marketing knowledge, diving into tactics without a strategy, and approaching each event as a one shot pony PR event.

The result…

Lack of leads, lack of revenue, and never truly achieving their dreams with their small business. It all starts with realizing you are running a marketing business. Sure your target, niche and message is different but the fundamentals are the same.

If you really want to reach your goals in 2010, stop right now and think about how that one simple shift in mindset from doing your THING to building a marketing company will explode your growth this year.

Remember, what you focus on will expand.

Go Target, Attack, and Profit!