I teach a small business marketing seminar for locally owned businesses that’s called “EIGHT Ways to Make Your Cash Register Ring in Any Economy.” In this seminar, one of the eight strategies that we outline is what we call “Pursuing Partnerships & Alliances.”

There are several different types of partnerships or alliances that work really well and should all be used liberally in local businesses and restaurants.

1.  There is the alliance or strength gained from “riding the coattails of an industry elephant.” This happens when you carry a major national brand in your store that is doing national advertising – and you mimic elements of that advertising campaign in your own marketing messages or images. This same strategy can be accomplished when you ride the coattails of a major trend (such as the green or environmentally friendly movement) or a major cause or organization (such as a political, religious, or industry promotional campaign).

2. There are the partnerships that participate in cooperative marketing programs generated or promoted by local or regional organizations. This strategy is implemented when local businesses join together under the banner of a common cause or organization. This would be the case when a Main Street or Chamber pools your money or even fronts the money for a promotional campaign for all of the businesses involved or to promote a certain shopping district or event.

3. Finally, there are those alliance that businesses make directly with one another. These are created with the purpose of co-promoting one another’s business. This is best configured when two or more businesses are targeting the same demographic or target audience, but they do not have a competing product. (This works regardless of geographic area – it works if you’re close geographically – it works when you’re not.)

Think about it. Are you using all three of these Partnership/Alliance strategies to grow your small business? You might be blown away by the results. I know I have been in my own business and in the businesses of our clients. Think about how you can work with others and get started today!

Photo Credit: exfordy

You’ve heard us talk about the phenomenon for small businesses that is Twitter. We’ve talked about everything from fun Twitter contests to writing tweets that get the picture or link opened.

But what about Twitter basics? Lots of brick and mortar retail stores and local restaurants are catching onto the fact that their customers are on Twitter – and that deals are being done there. Is it time for you to catch on to Twitter and capture some of those deals?

I say an emphatic YES!

First things first:
1. Setup an account on Twitter. Go to www.twitter.com and get started… It’s easy and painless. And unlike many social networking sites – if you choose a username or “handle” as they’re called in Twitter circles – and decide later that you made a bad choice – you can change it! Twitter is cool like that, so don’t sweat it – go sign up!

2. Upload a PICTURE of you or your store logo for your avatar. This is a critical step.

3. Tweet a few times. Just say something about your business, what you like, what you’re doing. You can’t tweet too much – unlike Facebook where you can really overdo it and drive folks nuts.

4. Download Tweetdeck to your computer. It will be your new friend.

5. Visit Twitter’s Advanced Search engine – type in some searches about your community, business district, business niche or even your business name. Watch in amazement at what pops up.

There’s more to a successful run on Twitter – like writing a description that gets you found, creating a Twitter background, who and how to follow, how to grow a following – and most importantly how to start doing some business on and thru Twitter. That’s exactly what we’ll be covering in our webinar on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 called (remarkably) Twitter for Small Business 101. Andy and I will co-teach this webinar – and you will leave FULL of great and valuable information whether you a complete Twitter novice – or have been on Twitter for a while. We’ll talk Twitter strategy perfect for retail stores, small business and local restaurants and the like. Join us by registering here… and stay tuned. We’ll be talking a lot more Twitter in the coming days and weeks.

Editor’s Note: Annie Mueller provides value-filled, relevant content to help small businesses build an effective online presence. In over 6 years of freelance writing, she’s never had an unhappy client.

Networking is about meeting and building relationships with people for a purpose. It’s that last part that counts in the definition, the purposeful part. Otherwise we’re all just socializing, which is what much of it amounts to anyway because if you don’t know your purpose, it’s pretty difficult to achieve it. That’s fine if you just enjoy socializing for the sake of socializing (and, actually, the best social networkers are people like that usually). However, if you’re spending marketing dollars and the prosperity of your business depends on the success of your social networking, you’d better do a bit more than socialize.

1. The Question You’d Better Answer First

Why are you interested in social networking? To build your business? How, exactly?Do you sell online or just promote online? Are you locally, nationally, or internationally focused? Do you want people to talk about your business online, share your links, spread the word about you, learn more about you, recommend you, sign up for a program, get a free sample, get your e-newsletter, read your blog, interact with you, ask questions, get a membership, order a product, pay for a service, refer you to their friends? If social networking works for you just the way you want it to, what will the results be? Get that pinned down first; don’t tweet a single character or start a Facebook page or write a blog post until you know the answer to this question:What do you hope to accomplish from your social networking? What are your ideal results? Be very specific; don’t say, “I want my business to grow.” Say, “I want 75 members in my exclusive coaching clubs,” or “I want to sell 6,000 widgets online next year,” or “I want 100,000 readers so I can sell pricey ads on my site,” or “I want 250+ people in my referral program,” or “I want 100 customers to sign up for my gold-level service club.”

2. Believe in what you have to offer.

Billy Mays. Everybody wished he would be a little bit quieter but nobody doubted he really loved that OxiClean. And he sold it. Bob Ross. He was all calm and light and happy trees and you just knew you could paint that way, too, if you listened to him. He believed it, and he sold it. Tyler Florence. A gourmet chef singing the praises of a packaged salad dressing? Er. Something’s screechy and wrong here. If what you are trying to sell violates the principles you have already defined for yourself and your business, don’t waste your time trying to sell it. You either have to find a new product or service which fits with the way you’ve defined yourself, or you have to redefine yourself and your business. If you can’t convince yourself that what you have to offer is genuinely worthy, then you cannot convince anyone else. Believe in your business, first. If you’re in one of those slog points, revisit the notes you made on top of the mountain. Remember your strengths. Think about your unique offer. Define the value and make sure it’s something you believe in.

3. Find the right people: the ones who actually need and will benefit from what you offer.

Target your online audience as (or more) carefully as you target your target market. Who will be interested in what you have to offer? Don’t waste your time trying to interest “everybody.” NOTHING (except maybe toilet paper) has universal appeal. Focus on the people who will love, adore, and build small shrines to the solution you bring them. They will become your secondary marketers and will talk a whole bunch of other (fringe) people into trying your business, too. They will be passionate, enthusiastic, and committed customers. Get these people. Focus on them. Pour your attention onto them. Quit trying to convince a huge crowd of slightly disinterested folks to get interested in you, and instead, start talking to the people who are already into your field. Your job is half-done.

4. Find a (free) preliminary way to solve problems.

Before you sell, give. This is a basic idea of permission marketing, education-based marketing, and Golden Rule marketing, which are all pretty much the same thing. So pick a name and then apply the concept by giving first. Offer genuine value. Don’t try to cheap out at this point. People will flee and never return.

5. Find and focus on 1 to 3 social outlets.

Even if you have a full-time, salaried social networker plugging away for your business, focusing on a few social outlets rather than trying to have a presence on all of them will get you better results. Of course Facebook and Twitter are the big daddies, but if you know your target audience well (and you should) go where they are, whether that’s Facebook, Twitter, ZombieLandForums.com, or somewhere else entirely. Go to the people you want to reach and focus on a few of the places where they hang out online.

6. Be enthusiastic.

Because if you don’t really care or even like it that much, why should anybody else? Introverts, break out of your personality a bit and show some emotion. If that’s utterly impossible for you, delegate or hire out so you get a voice out there with some enthusiasm in it. Otherwise you waste your time.

7. Offer value, help, and attention.

First, offer free items of value. This could be content (your blog, your resources) or samples (don’t be cheap) or trials or digital products (ebooks, podcasts) or giveaways or clubs or services.Second, offer help when you see a need and, definitely, whenever people ask for it. Don’t hesitate. Don’t count up the loss of billable hours. Help.Third, offer attention when people start interacting with you. Don’t work to get people to notice you and then ignore them when they do. Follow up. Listen, Respond. Interact. Be real. Give your attention.

8. Be consistent.

Give people familiarity and reliability. They tend to like that sort of thing.

• Consistent message: say one thing, say it clearly, and repeat it often.
• Consistent value: don’t create one great product and then cheap out on the next. Your customers will feel betrayed.
• Consistent method: if you blog, post on the same days and follow the same format; if you tweet, offer the same kind of helpful info all the time; whatever you do, set up a format that works for your goal and stick with it. Sure, some variation and creativity is great; just work within some basic boundaries so people know what you offer and aren’t disappointed. It only takes one visit to a blog without a recent post for a visitor to strike you off the “live” list.

9. Be ready to sell what you have to offer.

If you follow the steps as outlined, eventually (maybe much sooner than you think) people will ask, “What else?” You’ve offered value, you’ve been sincere, you’re enthusiastic and likeable, you’ve been helpful, you’ve been consistent. You’ve won them over. They like you. They want to give back. They are eager to invest back in you the way you have invested in them. So give them a way to do just that!

• Make it obvious. Obvious doesn’t mean obnoxious. No flashing signs or neon arrows necessary, but a nice big button that says, “Order XYZ Product Here” could do the trick.
• Make it easy. Purchasing should be a simple, one or two step process.
• Make it sincere. Any sales material you have needs to reflect the heart and vision of your business. Go back to step 1: do you still believe in your business? Put that belief into words. Be real. You can always get an editor.
• Make it subordinate. Yes, this is your business; but your first goal must remain – always – to help the people in your network. If you know that they would be better helped by another product or service, or that your product/service will NOT help them, then it is your responsibility to say so. You may lose a sale, but you will gain a reputation that is worth many more sales in the future.

10. Follow up with even more value after the sale.

Repeat steps #7 and #8 with everyone who buys from you. Sound like hard work? It is. That’s the thing with social networking: it isn’t a magic button or an automatic cash cow. There is no keyword strategy that can build a business without any real value any it. So build a good foundation. Put the work in. And here’s the good news: the initial work will pay off exponentially. That’s the magic part of the social networking model, and it does work. Once you put in the work, the time, the belief, the energy, the effort, the attention, and the value, you win over a few people who love you like you love your business: maybe 10, maybe 100, maybe 1000. Then they network for you. The 10 becomes 100, the 100 becomes 1000, the 1000 becomes 10,000. And it keeps growing. You keep giving, of course. So yes: social networking, done right, is 1) hard work which 2) requires time and effort and 3) takes time before it pays off. But it also 4) does pay off and 5) the returns can be quite great and often 6) will take off and continue to grow far beyond the original investment you made.

Photo Credit: Intersection Consulting

Today is Friday, which means that on Twitter it’s a #FollowFriday or #FF as some folks have started hashtagging it. If you aren’t familiar with Follow Friday, read this post on Mashable for the details.

This Friday, I want to share a few folks with you who I think of as “Smart Marketers” – but who are actively teaching and sharing with the rest of us how to do it better. Some of these folks are expected follows if you’re in our industry, but this week I’ve run into several people who had never even HEARD of some of these folks – which means it’s time to review my short list of very smart people for you…

Here’s who I recommend you follow this #FollowFriday… and here’s the why on all of them: they share their own stuff that they write which is always really valuable AND they share lots of other stuff that is valuable. They are a wide open fire hydrant of valuable marketing information that will make you think – and hopefully ACT revolutionary! Yes, it applies to local business. Yes, it applies to small business. Be revolutionary and pay attention to what these folks are saying:

(In no particular order, of course.)

Chris Brogan – @chrisbrogan + @broganmedia – I knew he was a great guy, but last week we connected over this post about the great things happening in Michigan because he had been there and seen it, too. A family-loving guy who is smart, human and positive. (Plus, I think he’s about to unveil some things through his new venture, Human Business Works, that will be valuable for small businesses. Keep an eye on that.)

Jason Falls – @jasonfalls – We hung out with Jason last fall at a conference where we both presented, and he has proven to be accessible and just plain smart. I like the way his brain operates, his angst with impracticality and his passion for practical solutions that move the bottom line needle. He’s a roll-up-your-sleeves and make things happen kinda guy.

Becky McCray – @beckymccray – Becky is someone who I want to be friends with off-line, but who has encouraged me along the way on-line. She’s also a farm-girl who shares my passion for rural communities, community development in general, small business and cultural tourism (among other things). One day soon I hope to give her a hug in person.

Sheila Scarborough – @sheilas – I follow Sheila because she works on Tourism Currents with Becky McCray. And I figure if she’s good enough for Becky, she’s good enough for me. So far, so good. Great stuff especially when it comes to tourism, CVB’s and ideas for the smallish versions of the same among us.

Seth Godin’s blog posts – @sethsblog – A must read. Twitter feed is a good way to not forget to pay attention to Seth. He’s the master and shouldn’t be ignored.

Ann Handley – @marketingprofs – Funny. Pithy. Thoughtful. Exceptionally smart and forward thinking yet immensely practical. She shares great stuff. Best of all, very well respected in her field.

Darren Rowse – @problogger – Owner of ProBlogger and the very helpful Digital Photography School. Constant stream of valuble information that you can use.

Brian Clark – @copyblogger – Founder of Copyblogger and also a fire hose of exceptionally valuable information. As a journalism student who was always accused by teachers of writing with an agenda in mind, I appreciate this guy a lot. And I am humbled at how much I still have to learn. I can’t keep up with these folks, but I soak it up and try.

Sonia Simone – @soniasimone (also of Copyblogger fame) – Love to watch her interact. Shares good stuff. See above comments about quality of content.

Robert Scoble – @scobleizer – a very, very smart guy who now works at our server company, Rackspace. Rackspace has the best customer support and uptime in the business with one of the smartest guys as a voice.

Chris Penn – @cspenn – Genius when it comes to customer service and building human relationships. I love the format of his e-mail newsletter. He works for @blueskyfactory with new daddy @djwaldow who I also really like to chat with and learn from.

Justin Levy – @justinlevy – a very accessible guy who is smart about all things Facebook marketing (and much, much more) over at New Marketing Labs (of which Chris Brogan is president). Also a restaurateur.

Ike Pigott – @ikepigott – a smart and funny fellow working for a power company in Birmingham. He lives in the South so points for that, but he’s also insanely smart (and I think that despite the fact that he hasn’t publicly outed @eatbhm yet). His profile sums it up: “I make complex things simpler.” There’s not enough of that in the world.

Michael Hyatt – @MichaelHyatt – CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and a really smart networker and authentic person. I massively enjoy watching his stream and connecting with he and his company. He shares smart stuff, and I wonder how he gets it all done.

Peter Shankman – @petershankman – founder of the Help a Reporter out service and a funny guy to follow. Worth connecting with. Just ask my friend, Grace Bateman (@perupaper).

Who do you follow on this Follow Friday? I’d love you to follow me, too, @resultsrev. I love to learn and love to share.

So I decided I’ve had it. I’m done. I’m not putting up with it any longer.  I’m quitting. What, you ask am I quitting? Whining, and hanging out with whiners…

Recently at a business function I couldn’t help but hear multiple people complaining about how bad business was. Really, I thought this was networking not a support group.

Let me be clear, I’m sure it’s harder to make a dollar right now than it was a couple of years ago. But I’m working with a lot of folks that are doing PRETTY darn well this year and I’m not going to be out there whining about how bad it is. Think about it. Who wants to do business with a guy who’s about to lose his shirt? Not me. But the guy who’s fighting, I’m gonna go out of my way to give him not only business, but a little extra if I can help it.

Your attitude is everything. If you don’t believe it, you might want to check with the facts. Complainers have fewer friends, and do less business than positive people. I’m sure I can google up a study that talks about that somewhere, but it’s common sense. No one likes a whiner.

But it’s so bad out there, haven’t you seen the numbers? Yes, I have and here’s the rest of the story.

It’s a better time to own your own business than ever before. The workforce is ripe with talent, and they’ll work cheaper and harder than you could have dreamt 4 or 5 years ago. Bright folks are waiting for good ideas. Property prices are down to record levels, and while that’s lemons to some, that’s cheap rent to those who have a little sugar and some ice… I can sit down and have a sip of that.

What about our business, we are down 50% from last year? I’m sorry to hear that. Have you changed your strategy?

What we did last year doesn’t work this year. It’s not your customers’ job for YOU to stay competitive. But I can promise you this—If you’ll dig a little deeper and talk to your customers, you can probably figure out what they NEED and turn that in to a profitable business.

Yes, it’s a jungle out there… There are loads of pitfalls and tough times and you may be having some. But keep your chin up, dig a little bit and figure out how to make someone else happy with your product or service. Some folks are having record years, and I’m not just talking about the RepoMan… There’s plenty of money circulating around here—but it’s being spent with winners, not whiners.

Your attitude rubs off a little on everyone you are around. Don’t come see me if you are going to whine.

Photo Credit: zzzack

Easely Amused is a painting studio that teaches classes every night with 25-30 students per class. Easely Amused teaches step-by-step painting instructions while allowing our students to personalize their painting for their own personality. Easely Amused is entertainment and education in one business, teaching art classes that are fun to those that have absolutely no experience as well as those who are artistic. Bridget Tisdale created Easely Amused in January 2009 in the garage studio of her interior design business.

Andy: How did you get started with the business?

Bridget: We started in January of 2009 in the garage studio of my interior design business. I have taught hands on classes for years with my interior design business, but started with two painting classes a week in January. We easily had 24 a night, so I started adding more classes. We now have two full studio/retail locations – one in Ridgeland and this one in Flowood (Mississippi). We have 6 teachers and just as many assistants.

Andy: What about marketing?

Bridget: This is an accidental business. We gained publicity by word of mouth and Facebook. The first month we were open I had a class where I didn’t know anyone. I started asking how they had heard about us, and it was through Facebook or word of mouth from a friend.

Andy: So Facebook was an accelerant to the referral process of your friends and customers?

Bridget: You can’t buy advertising like that. The key with Facebook is using it in a personal way. That’s what makes it work.

Andy: I looked this morning and you have 4800 “likes.” How did you get that many “likes” on Facebook?

Bridget: What we post is interesting. It’s attractive and visually interactive. I try to give teasers of the calendar, so fans will have to check back to see the upcoming schedule. We always take pictures after the classes and post them on Facebook. People get so excited to see it and tell their friends.

Andy: What other advertising have you done?

Bridget: Other than Facebook, we have t-shirts and a website where we have our calendar and post pictures of our events. We have signage outside of both locations to spark interest.

Andy: Tell us about some of the different angles of your Easely Amused classes and how you are developing your business to keep it interesting.

Bridget: We have school groups and children’s classes, and we have children’s camps in the summer. We have local artists come in as guests teachers. They offer different styles of paintings, and it gives the participants in the class a chance to learn more about them and their art. You may see their artwork around town, but may not know anything about the artist. Now we have customers who leave educated about that artist and their work. We also have people who may already own work by an artist and come to the class because they are already familiar with their work.

Andy: What have been your biggest growing pains?

Bridget: We have a great staff and a lot of inventory. We are amazed at how many canvases we go through each month. We are learning how much we can handle – how many classes, how many locations.

Andy: What about feedback? What do you do when someone gives you negative feedback?

Bridget: I try to be as open and honest as possible. We aren’t the perfect business. Even in circumstances when the customer is not right, they still deserve to be heard and treated respectfully.

Audience question: When was the moment that you realized you had to start thinking about your business, not just managing it?

Bridget: Six months in. You get to the point where it looks like it’s going to work and you have to take the plunge.

MyScoop is an entirely online magazine with editions in three markets, Birmingham, Mississippi and Nashville. MyScoop caters to Southern fashionistas and tries to capture the flavor of the south as well as let our readers know what’s going on in other parts of the world. MyScoop focuses on locally made or owned products that are sold nationally or internationally OR national trends that are sold locally.

If you are a fashion retailer in these markets, you want to know MyScoop as a media outlet. If you’re any other business owner, well, I’m here to tell you… Elizabeth Fowler is one of the smartest business women I’ve encountered in a long time, and she has some business scoop to share.

Marianna – How have you used the power of referrals in your business?

Elizabeth – When we expanded to Mississippi we used a referral program so our current readers in the state could tell their friends about us. We gained tons of readers through that web community. It is important to have a consistently email database and utilize Facebook so that readers are interacting with us and each other. My Scoop is the beginning of a very branded community. We have grown through Facebook and Twitter. We are currently growing by about 1,000 each month. All of the advertisements on our site are linked to that local business and we do the same with emails so there is constant exposure to My Scoop and the businesses.

Marianna – As a member of the media, how does a business get your attention?

As the media you can send out press releases. If business owners can promote a category as a whole and promote a trend and not just their store/product, we are much more likely to use that. Example: A boutique owner wrote an article for me on a summer fashion trend. She wrote about the trend as a whole, not just her business. She will gain attention to her business because of the article, but people are more likely to read it instead of just writing it off as advertising. Small business owners should remember that once you reach out you should continue to stay in touch. There are some business owners who will send me reports of new merchandise that they have just gotten in. That is very helpful because they have just saved me a lot of work in finding out what has come in.

To get in touch with the media, introduce yourself at networking events. Email them and follow-up with a phone call. Ask for a media outlets editorial calendar. Most owners don’t think to do that or don’t know that you can. You can learn what they are going to be featuring each month. For example, if you see that the October issue is going to have an article on pumpkin carving and your store sells a pumpkin carving knife you can let the magazine know that and advertise more specifically.

If the media calls you, invite them to come into your business! Make sure you have the owner or manager there – someone who knows the business well and can answer questions. Show them your products and ask how you can help them.

The biggest faux pas when dealing with the media is easily that business owners aren’t responsive enough and miss opportunities.

Marianna – Partnerships are a critical part of what you do and what you sell to clients. How do you view partnerships in business?

I have a great quote that I took from a local business owner, “In today’s world there is no competition; there is only collaboration.” These are the business that will continue to be successful. You should be thinking, “How can we leverage each other’s strengths?”

Marianna – In your opinion, what’s next in new media/social media for businesses? What will they have to do to maintain an edge?

I think we are going to see more creative concepts coming out of media outlets. I think owners should let the media help create their advertisements. That way the ads are more targeted toward the audience of the publication. We need to see partnering with advertisers to create campaigns for a specific market. As a business owner, you have to know what you are trying to accomplish. You’ll use it differently depending on what you’re trying to achieve.

Catch up with Elizabeth at http://www.myscoop.us, Facebook, or Twitter (@myscoopus).