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Travis Baker

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Marketing Baby Steps

marekting baby steps

I have a 9.5 month old baby.  I feel all techie when I type it like that.  Like she might be an android.  Not the phone, the not quite a human not quite a robot thing. 

She is too young to walk so right now she does a weird low crawl, kind of like a snail thing.  But I am not complaining,it saves me having to sweep.

My point is that when she does start to walk she won’t start off running; she will begin with cautious incremental movements. And that makes sense because walking is a very complicated process,there are a ton of little things you have to do or you fall or fail, both really.

And you just can’t start walking you have to learn to pull up.  Then you have to learn to balance when you are up.  Then you let go and balance.  Then you take a step and keep your balance.  Then you move one step forward.  And so on and so forth.

Kind of like when starting a marketing effort, you need to prioritize and start with one task complete it build.  So what should you do first?  Start a blog or website?  Get on Twitter or Facebook?   The first thing I think you need, as I have said before, is to listen.

Hear what others in your space are saying and how that pertains to you and your business.  Spend some time on your competitor’s site.  Read their blog and comment, see what their customers love and or hate about them.  Surf the webnets and Twitter to hear what others are saying.  Oddly enough people love to tell you what they think.

The next step is to start your website or blog. Depending on your business one or both can work just as well.  Then when you are talking online you can send others to what you think.  Gradually build your following thorough having something to say and contributing.  Listen then talk.  Sounds like a conversation almost.

After that you can continue to build.  Just get one thing down before you start the next. The key is to do something until you can safely add to it.  Like jenga. Business Jenga. It is way too easy to get overwhelmed and want to do a hundred things at once.  I have to have a Facebook page or I will look like a joke!!

Do the one and build to two.  Two to three,three to five, five to eight.  This is why I took marketing instead of accounting.

Snowball,baby, snowball. Too warm where you are to get a good snowball going? Give us a shout at @travisabaker or contact 366 marketing now.

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Listen Up! Putting Your Marketing Ears on

I have a revelation, hold on for this one.  People are obsessed with talking.  They will talk about anything.  We share opinions, reviews, recipes what kind of jell-o they are enjoying. We want to talk in different avenues, channels and venues.  140 characters to thousand word manifestos.  It doesn’t take a lot of effort to get someone to talk. 

And small business owners may be the best.  They love to talk, and talking is good for business. You can tell people about what you do, how you do it, what you produce.  You have a business and you are passionate about it. 

The unfortunate part is that no one cares. 

So why don’t we listen? I suppose listening is not nearly as glamorous.  Perhaps not as cathartic either.  But how else are you supposed to find out what people want?  Maybe they want your product to have different features, or you are open when your customers don’t want or need your product. You keep spouting information but it is not what they need or want so they ignore you.

So instead of broadcasting, try communication.  You know back and forth.  There are roughly, oh I don’t know, a billion, online communities out there and your customers and prospects would love to have you out there exchanging ideas with them.  So put down the bull horn and have a chat.  Listen and maybe learn.

We at 366 Marketing are always listening so let us know what you think, comment below.

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Embracing Your Businesses Marketing Weakness

hugs by qmnonic.A lot of times I see businesses try to run from or disguise what makes them weak. 

Why do we do this?  I think it has a lot to do with business wanting to look “professional”.  If you are a professional you can do anything, no job too small or big for Professional Man (or Woman).  And maybe if we cloak ourselves in professionalism we become a little less vulnerable.  

The downside of being professional is that you aren’t allowing yourself to be human.  And Idon’t know about you but I would rather deal with a human than with a business any day of the week.  I am friends with people not corporations. 

So the next time you are thinking “We are too big, or toosmall, or too niche or too broad, or….. too full of monkeys”.  Try to embrace your weakness and garnerstrength from it. 

You have a one-person shop. That means you can offer personal attention and your customers always deal with the owner.

You are too niche, that’s called specialization and customers will kill for that.  They know if they go to you they can get exactly what they need.

You only have one shop. So you are local you can get in your car and visit your customers.  You do website design in Rock Hill SC and not for people in Indian.  What’s the problem with that?

You are too big, you can do anything for anybody.  It seems to be working for Wal-Mart.

You have too many monkeys……you can open a zoo.  Kids love zoos.  Hell I love zoos.

The important thing to do is not to shy away from your weakness because in the age of Al Gore’s internet you can’t hide for long.  The chinks in companies armor used to be a lot less evident, but now one unsatisfied customer can open huge can of worms….orarmor…stupid mixed metaphor. And you will spend so much time and effort trying to hide something you aren’t you can’t focus on being good at what you can do.

Be a people.  People love people. 

Need help being a more people like person?  Contact us at 366 Marketing for a FREE Marketing Consultation.

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What’s Your (Businesses Marketing) Story

         What is your story?  No I don’t mean it in a gritty, Al Pacino grabbing you by the collar and throwing you against the wall way.  I used to lose more clients that way….  I mean what is your businesses story?  And can you tell it effectively to prospects?  And more importantly do you convey  it through your marketing?

 

Look at someone like Ben and Jerry’s.  Everybody knows the story behind their company and their brand.  Couple of hippies…yada…yada…yada…awesome ice cream with funny names. So can you customers find yours? 

 

And more importantly do they care after they do? 

 

For instance, my story is “Sleazy Marketing Guy, to Earnest Marketeer. (I love the word marketer it reminds me of Orlando for some reason…..) My journey from wide-eyed idealist, to Machiavellian Manipulator and back.

 

You have a transition, a character arc, and a heartwarming protagonist.  You can’t beat it.

 

So especially when you don’t have the opportunity to come out and tell them what it is can they feel it?  Through what they read about you, what you show them, by your store, your logo, everything you do.  Tell a story.

Need help with your story?  Visit 366 Marketing for a FREE Consultation, maybe we can help.

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The Number One Reason to Have a Website….and its Three Friends

I was speaking with soComputer, monitormeone today, oh let’s call her M. (because her name starts with an M) who mentioned that a friend of hers, lets call him B. (because I don’t know his name) was interested in getting a logo for his business.
Great idea, I thought, branding, and all. M. also suggested a website, but B. did not seem very excited. I asked M. what reason she gave to B. to have a site.

“Ummm, because it is 2009”, she replied.

I thought, well, overall maybe that is the best answer. When some people’s cats have websites and some businesses don’t, well that seems rather odd. Either the cats are taking over the world, which means me and the puppies are screwed, or some people still don’t see the reason for a website.

So there you go, the best reason to have a website. Don’t you love it when you get what the title promises? But why not I will throw in my next three reasons small businesses should have a website, for FREE.

1) It’s the Business Card on Steroids. If you think about it, a website is like the best business card ever. You can give it to people and they can’t lose it, or run it through their washer. It has a ton more information about what will fit on a business card. In the end, a lot more people are going to see it than your business card.
And that’s even if you go to every business after hours in your town and leave your business cards on top of the gas pumps. Does that not just smack of desperation, especially when you know a least half of them will be used to clean a dipstick.

2) Always On. Your website is always working for you. Once it’s up and out there floating in the inter-web, a prospect can find you at 3 am. I don’t know about you but I am not manning the phones after midnight. Unless you are my wife or my mom, I’m just not going to pick up. Sorry Nana.

3) Ninja Business. Returning to the business card example, wouldn’t you love it if every time someone in your area thought “Hmmmm, I need a lawyer, (mechanic, plumber, piece of fish) you could pop-out of the bushes and hand them your card?
Well that is what is happening when someone types a search in Google. If your site has some SEO juice (Search Engine Optimization, (makes it easier for Google to find you, check it out)) your digital business ca… I mean website pops up.

Anyway those are my top four reasons why you should have a small business website. Think you might need help reaching the next step? If you are in Charlotte Area contact 366 Marketing for a FREE Consultation.