Marketing Comet - Small Business Marketing Secrets

Viral Marketing - get Your Customers To Do Your Marketing For You

It's one of the latest marketing buzzwords: viral marketing. If done correctly, viral marketing is one of the least expensive, but most effective ways to build word of mouth.

What is Viral Marketing?
A viral marketing piece has a couple things in common with the virii that cause colds and other diseases: common:

1. It can be replicated easily and cheaply.
2. It can be passed along from person to person.

What are some common examples of viral marketing?
Viral marketing today happens primarliy on the web. This is because the web offers instantaneous communication and community building tools.

One of the simplest forms of viral marketing  are electronic greeting cards. Everybody has gotten one of these from a friend or family member at one point. And, what do you have to do when you get an email saying that you have an e-card waiting? You have to go to the company's web site to retrieve it. And while there, they offer you the chance to send out cards of your own.

Reccomend this site to your friends buttons are another example.

Some of the most popular viral marketing pieces are movies or animations that are funny. People pass these around in email endlessly. The guys at JibJab.com became wildly famous when their musical cartoons poking fun at US politicians circled the web. I'm guessing their business has profited as well.

What Makes a Good Viral Marketing Piece?
The best pieces tend not to be straight advertisements. However, there are some examples of very funny TV commercials becoming very popular on the Internet.

My feeling, from the thousands of emails I have recieved over the years, is that people are more likely to pass on things that are amusing rather than things that are useful. However, I appreciate the useful stuff more and am more liekely to act upon it.

Again, the mechanism of delivery must make the piece easy to pass along or replicate.

You can build a reward system for passing a viral along. Recommend this web site to 5 friends and you'll get to download a free report, or movie, or whatever.

Look around for viral marketing pieces, or look in your email to see what your friends are sending you. This shoudl give you a sense of what is working, and what people are sending around. You don't have to have the resources to produce movies or funny animations, your viral can be useful information.

J D Moore - Marketing Comet

What Are Sales Objections REALLY About

Anybody who has been in sales for five minutes knows that objections can be frustrating. You could be selling free money and some people would still find something to complain about. There are a few basic reasons why people use objections, and understanding these will make your sales effort easier.

Valid Objections
First, let's talk about valid objections. Valid objections are any disconnect between what the customer wants and what the customer thinks you are selling. I want a blue car and you only have the one I want in red. I might object to the color.

Dealing with valid sales objections might involve creative problem solving. You might give me the red car at a discount so I can go get it repainted. It also might mean that you walk away from a sale because you don't want to create a unhappy customer.

How do you tell if an objection is valid? First, if a customer comes to your with specifications you can't meet, or while you are gathering needs you find out the objection may be valid. You may also seek out more information about the objection and learn that it is indeed a disconnect.

A valid objection might also be a misunderstanding. A customer might have a false impression about your product that you can clear up.

Invalid Objections
Invalid objections are excuses that customers come up with not to buy. They can be exaggerations, lies, or just items that customers have some discomfort with. There are a few reasons why customers come up with objections:

1. No rapport: You have yet to build a relationship where the customer trusts you. There is a cultural norm that sales people are out to get our money at any cost. You haven't made yourself different from that image in the customer's mind.
   
   
2. Natural Sales Resistance: Nobody likes to feel sold. We all resist the idea that we would give up our will power to some salesperson. We all resist someone trying to sell us something to some degree.
   
3. Contrarian Personality: There are some people who just like to disagree all the time. They usually don't do this to be difficult, but unconsciously it's how they add to a conversation. It's about low self esteem and asserting that they are special and different. You may have to puff up their self esteem a little bit to get their trust, and be careful about disagreeing with them.

The easiest way to counter any objection is before it occurs. Build rapport, stay attentive to the communication and ego needs of your customer, and never ever argue.

J D Moore - Marketing Comet

What Should I name My Business?

What's in a name? Maybe a lot if it is what you're going to call your business. From the array of business names I see around me, it seems that many miss the mark. Business naming is an extremely important part of branding.

Remember - branding is a part of marketing and marketing has only one job - to make profits. If your business name doesn't help you be more profitable, then it stinks.

Let me see if I can help...

I have been through the naming process with several companies, and I can tell you that it can be difficult. This is especially so if there's any kind of committee involved. A committee, by the way, is and 2 or more people or yourself if you've got multiple personalities.

You can go out and hire a naming company for a couple of hundred thousand dollars. They will have a team of semantic and language experts scour resources for your new name, make sure it's not trademarked, and that you can get the domain name. Or you can just do it your self.

For small businesses I am particularly fond of business names that describe what the business does in some way. In Massachusetts we have Kelly's Roast Beef, Mike's Roast Beef, and the now defunct Buzzy's Roast beef and Daddy's Roast Beef. Guess what each of these businesses sells. If you wanted a roast beef sandwich would you know where to go?

Tech companies are the worst because they usually wind up with a name that sounds like a disease - Meagatechnoplex, Nanoshperion, Scipilogix. Or they string together a bunch of technical words that are nonsense - Industrial Logistics, Technology Partners, Logic Stream.

Sure there are some technology companies with crazy names that are doing OK. Everybody has a crazy aunt that smoked 3 packs a day and lived to 105. That doesn't mean smoking, or picking a lousy name, are good ideas.

From a branding perspective, here are some things to keep in mind when naming.

• Short, sweet, and memorable. If people can remember your company name they can seek you out. I bet you can remember Daddy's Roast Beef in 20 minutes, but probably not Pleximeditechnoform.
• Yes, you do want to own a domain name that is spelled exactly like your business name. I don't do a Google look-up to find the domain name for Sears, I just type Sears.com. If I get a porno site when I get there I don't go back.
• Think trademark. At least do a search on the USPTO web site to ensure you aren't infringing on someone's rights. You also want to do a search at your state level. Seek the advice of an attorney if you have questions. You may want to think about registering your business name as a trademark - talk to an attorney.
• Your business name should work with your overall brand. If you are an upscale jewelry boutique, picking a name like "Joe's house of Rocks" isn't going to cut it. If you own a diner that specializes in ribs you probably don't want to pick, "Maison Jacques".
• If your name is not descriptive of your business (Boston Car Wash) you are going to have to work to attach the name to what you sell in the minds of consumers.
• Avoid cute for cute sake. Being cute can have it's place, but use it sparingly. Hair salons are notorious for this - the Mane Event, Hair-em, Shear Delight. Pet stores, and kids stores can get away with this sometimes. You don't want your customers to be embarrassed to say your name to their friends.
• Yes you can brand with your  name, just be aware that it can make you the center of attention wanted or unwanted. I know of some businesses that are branded under a name that is a pseudonym.
• Easy to pronounce and spell. If you want referrals, you had better make sure your customers can pronounce your name and write it down. In general you want to spell it like it sounds. Growing up I knew a guy whose last name was spelled Desgrossieleirs, which he pronounced (de GROSS ee ere). Of course in non-Anglo french the pronunciation is slightly different. Imagine trying to write down that name for a friend or pronounce it after seeing it in an ad.
• You are naming your business for your customers. Many business owners pick a name that means something personal to them but nothing to their customers (Virleo - because the owners are a Virgo and a Leo). While it's a nice sentiment it has as much power as a made up name.
• A new trend with upscale clubs, restaurants and hotels is to name them after their street address. In Boston we have XV Beacon (at 15 beacon Street), No. 9 Park, 180 and many others. This is OK, but it's getting old. As more businesses in an area do it, the potential for confusion is great.

These are a few of the things to keep in mind when naming your business. Always remember that it's about the customer. Create the correct impression and make it easy for them to find you.

J D Moore - Marketing Comet

Should You Do Your Own Commercials

OK - this is going to get personal, so I apologize in advance. There are many people who appear in their own commercials, or speak in radio commercials, to promote their local business. Sometimes this is a good idea, most of the time it isn't.

First, remember that the goal of advertising is to bring you business. The decision to appear in ones own commercials is usually ego based. Why do I say that? Because no objective person would look at 90% of the local commercials I see and say, "I gotta have that!"

Let me tell that I have been on radio and television multiple times. I have also studied performance for television from one of the best in the business. I can tell you that delivering lines to a television or radio audience and compelling a sale is not that easy.

Yes, your friends will tell you how wonderful and witty your commercials are. Yes, when you look at your commercial you will think that you did a good job. However, connecting with an audience requires skill and a certain look.

I can't tell you how many poor girls that I have run across who have friends that tell them they should be a model because they are tall, pretty, and slim. Most of these girls will never get work because they don't photograph well. However, to an untrained eye, they are very pretty. Put their photograph next to a professional model and there's a clear difference.

I once went to a bridal wear shoot where the vendor was to provide the model. The vendor basically pulled a non-professional who she thought was pretty to do the shoot. The "model" required hours of retouching in photoshop, she didn't know how to pose, and there were only a few usable photos out of the whole shoot. It turned out OK, but the shoot was far more difficult, and less productive than it would have been with a pro.

Radio has its nuances as well. All you have is your voice. People can be turned off if you have any kind of accent other than what's termed "Neutral American English." Good radio announcers know how to project, speak clearly, and with resonance. They are trained experts, not just people with nice voices.

This is not to say that great fortunes haven't been made by people doing their own commercials. Sometimes business owners just have what it takes. Sometimes the offer is so compelling that the commercials succeed despite themselves.

There are certainly certain types of businesses where appearing on your own behalf works. Sometimes you are the brand. You may be a professional, or the only person who does what you do. Donald Trump is absolutely lousy on TV, but the guy has charisma and a few billion dollars, so people listen to him. Imagine a guy with no money who spoke and looked like Trump - with the bad wig and all. Would you trust that person?

If you're going the TV or radio route think long and hard about bringing in professional representation. Set the ego aside. If you are still insistent on doing your own work - get some training.

J D Moore - Marketing Comet

How to Compete with Dove (Or Other National Brands)

A nice woman named Rhea Brown wrote me and asked if I would write an article about competing with a national brand like Dove. She sells a line of 100% natural products that include things like Organic Shea Butter.

I think that her question is a good one and I will offer several pieces of advice. Even if you aren't in the beauty products business, pay attention - there are probably a couple gems in here for you too:

Realize That Your Target Market Is Different:
OK, everybody buys soap, and Dove is one of the top selling brands in the US. However, there is a separate, smaller, but profitable market that is willing to pay a premium for natural or organic products.

If you can show a valuable difference in your product you can actually charge a premium for your products. While you may not be able to capture the market share of a billion-dollar branding organization like Unilever, you can have a higher profit-margin per product.

Think About Your Brand
Some successful brands that come to mind are Burt's Bees and Tom's of Maine. These products are carried at many health food stores and even some regular grocery stores and gift stores. These brands sell to people who want to avoid unnatural chemical beauty products. They both have a "modern hippie" orientation.

Another way you can go with the brand is pure luxury. Think about selling your products through Spas, boutiques or other luxury locals. a|MEN|ity is a brand of natural men's having products sold through boutiques and at Barney's New York.

Branding is all about difference and clarity. What makes you products different and meaningful? Now everything you do from packaging to copy must reflect that.

Remember that the price you can charge for your product has a lot to do with branding. Why are a pair of Nike shoes, made in the same sweatshops in China as other brands, able to command such a high price. Nike has branded itself as an elite product synonymous with success, power, and importance.

Position Correctly
If you do your job correctly, you will not be in competition with national brands. Leave them to the masses. Unless you have a few hundred million dollars in your marketing budget - you won't be in the same league for a while.

Starbucks started as  a quirky, hippie, environmentally sound, youth-oriented brand. Their prices were higher than other coffee shops, and much higher than brewing a brand at home. They penetrated their market and offered a significantly different product (they have nearly double the caffeine content of other coffees).

Use Guerrilla Marketing Tactics:
If I had a beauty product to sell, here are a few things I might do to get the word out.

• Develop a "media kit" or info packet about the product that can go out to the media or interested buyers
• Get the product into the hands of every beauty editor for every magazine in the country
• make sure to clip and copy every positive thing written about your product to use as a sales tool
• Send free samples along with wholesale order forms to the owners of upscale boutiques and salons
• Have a web site / blog / and e-newsletter that offers free beauty tips. Make sure to capture customer information through an opt-in form.
• Find bloggers that write about health and beauty and get samples with info packets to them
• Go to conventions, hair shows, etc. as an exhibitor. This is one of the best ways to get in front of buyers.
• Focus on a word of mouth campaign. Run a promotion on your web site where if somebody buys one unit you will ship another unit free to a friend.

These are just a few of the tactics I would use to get the product known and in front of as many people as possible.

With a little ingenuity, competing with a national brand is unnecessary. Ultimately you create your own market of loyal customers.

J D Moore - Marketing Comet

A Note On Shopping Etiquette

Today's post is not about marketing or business per se, but about behavior I have experienced with regard to retail shopping. If I had my way, every person in the US would be forced to work in retail customer service for 6 months. We would treat these people better.

Personally I have worked several retail sales jobs, starting when I was in high school.

Today I went with my wife while she picked out a new pair of shoes. We got to the store about 10 minutes before closing. At that time the store made an announcement that the store would be closing and to bring final purchases to the front. We did.

When we got to the front a man barged in the door. The clerk told him that they were closing. He ignored her, barged in and started shopping.

We were in line for a few minutes and got rung up while shoppers ignored repeated announcements that the store was closing and continued to shop. The frustration on the faces of the store employees was palpable.

Shoppers who do this are being selfish, knowingly or unknowingly. Many seem to think they have the right to stay in a store (or restaurant) as long as they want if they get there before closing. When I worked in retail people would try to stay 1/2 hour or more past closing. One man actually tried to justify staying longer because he got in just before we could lock the doors.

If you do this, you need a slap.

Why is the behavior so unacceptable?

• Retail workers are, for the most part, underpaid. The extra couple of dollars they might earn staying an extra half an hour past the their scheduled time is not reward enough to put up with you.
• The workers have been on their feet all day waiting on people. They are tired and looking forward to the end of their shift no matter how pleasant they are towards you.
• Retail employees' work rarely ends at store closing. After you saunter out they probably have to clean the store, cash out, run reports, and set up for the next day. Many of these things can't be done until every customer leaves and the doors are locked.
• There is no retail law, rule, or social norm that says you get to stay in a store as long as you want. Stores close for a reason.

So, the next time you're shopping close to closing, have a heart and let the folks that serve you go home. Don't just try to run around and squeeze out an extra few minutes of shopping.

J D Moore - Marketing Comet