The more you venture into social media and online marketing for your local business, there more you’ll hear about two particular parts of this online/social world: 1) content and 2) relationships. But what do these two terms mean for you and your business online and locally, for your brick-and-mortar store experience? Well, as it turns out, they mean quite a bit.

What Content Means for Your Business
“Content is King” was the cry of the Internet for the first decade or so, and though other forms of interaction rise in the online world, content still holds top position. Content simply refers to any sort of valuable resource, usually information-based, which is produced and shared online. It’s information in a digital format; the posts on a blog are content. The sound files of a popular podcast are its content. A downloadable eBook is content. Frequent updates and notes on a business Facebook page are content.
For your local business, content is the way you get to prospects and turn them into fans, friends, and lifelong customers. When you provide – online – valuable, relevant content that your target market is interested in receiving, you provide the gateway for interaction, connection, and. wait for it… relationships.

What Relationships Mean for Your Business
Let’s step back and look at what relationships mean for your business in the offline world. You don’t need a marketing primer to know that building relationships – real, solid relationships – gives you a solid foundation for ongoing business. The more people like you, know you, and like your products and services, the more they want to do business with you. Relationships also have the positive effect of extending your business into a whole new circle of prospects with every relationship you make. If people really love what you do, they share it with their friends. You form more relationships, you build more business, and on it goes.

Relationships in online marketing and social media are no different. In fact, they have the added quality of spreading faster and further than “offline” relationships can. Because sharing information, reviews, and opinions is so easy online, people are more apt to do it; and more people can read about their information, reviews, and opinions through social media sites like Facebook. Friends can share with friends and the information keeps going.

What Education-Based Marketing Means for Your Business
Education-based marketing is simply a strategy for sharing content that leads to building relationships? You start by sharing information (content) that is educational; it should tie in to your business somehow. For example, if you run a winery, you could start a blog all about growing grapes, choosing wines, pairing wine and food, finding good wines on a budget, storing wine, etc. Anything that provides educational information about a topic closely related to your business becomes valuable content that can lead people back to your business.

Perhaps you have a great local boutique selling home goods, decor, and gift items; your customer’s love your taste and you often get into long conversations about color schemes and decor. The natural step is to take your expertise online. Start up a Facebook page and start writing notes, sharing little tips and ideas. With very little initial set-up, you can easily start producing videos online, leading anyone who views through simple decorating tutorials or sharing tip, hints, and ideas.

The main idea is that before you try to sell, you simply share valuable, educational information. Your target market will naturally be drawn toward that information and will see you as an expert and a resource. It’s not marketing as much as it is simply being useful and thus, building relationships, but the end result is that all that usefulness creates valuable relationships, which end up building your business.

Photo credit: velkr0

By design, you’ve got customers and lots of them – because they are attending an event that you are hosting or sponsoring. They are a captive audience. Now what?

How do you hold on, keep the edge, make the big event pay off? It’s all about “Leveraging the Boom.”

When you have a dense customer population in your small business – a.k.a. a boom – you MUST make the most out of the event attendees literally while it’s happening in order to grow your business for the long-term. This is the only way to truly get the most return on investment from your event.

To make the most of the bump, you must make smart use of marketing tools to do two things:

1. Capture new customers.
2. Educate them about the benefits of using your company.

There are a lot of ways to accomplish these things, but here are three easy ways to connect that are extremely easy and efficient to accomplish – and fast – ways to turn a short-term boom into long-term sales and business growth for your small business:

1. E-mail. Get that e-mail address! It might not be a hard fact, but it seems like at LEAST 50% of folks have an e-mail enabled smart phone. For example, here’s a fun way to gather a bunch of e-mail addresses at a large event venue: Ask attendees to send an e-mail to you during the event. Then, announce the winner of an immediate prize: move to the front row, get a chair at the chef’s table, win a free dessert, receive an upgrade to the super-duper best package. “Just e-mail us, and we’ll pick a winner… right now.” Taking the 3-5 minutes at an event venue may net you 15 to 100 email addresses – easy.

2. Facebook + TEXT (SMS). While there is a lot you can do with text messaging, here is one free way to gain a connection to your new prospects and customers so that you can sell them more stuff over and over again for a long time.

Start by looking at the number of Facebook “Likes” or Twitter followers you have before the event begins. During the event, post signage and also just ask folks to text “LIKE YOURPAGENAME” to FBOOK (36556). For us we’d say “text LIKE RESULTSREV” to FBOOK on your phone right now. Guess what — you just got a new like! Live events can produce huge bumps in the like numbers for a Facebook Page.

3. Twitter + TEXT (SMS). The same thing holds true on Twitter. Have attendees text FOLLOW RESULTSREV to Twitter (40404). Yep, that’s all it takes to start tweeting. They’ll get your tweets on their phone – even if they’ve NEVER signed up for Twitter before.

But at the end of the day, did that ring you more sales? Probably not today – but it did make sure that you made contact with the people who attended your event. Now, tomorrow, you can stay in touch with them and get to know them better and expose them to new elements of your business – and yes, increase your sales accordingly. It will blow your mind. I promise.

What about you? What is your best method to turn an event into long-term customer relationships (and sales)?

Photo Credit: mastermaq

Dear Traditional Advertising Agency:

Reference: See my previous post about the three key elements of a brand.

Leaving your client’s web site URL off of their print advertising does the following harm to your client and it wastes all of their money:

1. This mistake gives you nor your client any way to measure the value of the print advertising by tracking incoming traffic to the web site.

2. This mistake leaves the reader (and potential business prospect) with no real actionable place to go to learn more without making a phone call. (In 2010, we just need a URL. Period.)

3. Worst of all, this mistake leaves the impression that your client is behind the times and isn’t worth considering for important business.

Instead of allowing this sort of image torture to happen for your client, I would recommend that if you insist on pushing print advertising into your client’s budget that you at least implement the following strategies to give the ad spending the best shot at giving a return on investment:

1. Build a vanity URL (www.clientname.com/magazinename).

2. On this specific web page (within your main web site), put valuable, advertisement specific copy, images and links to a wealth of business information, testimonials, and include another call to action to the prospect into your sales funnel deeper. (How about asking them some information about them or providing them with a valuable tool for free to grow their loyalty towards your client’s business?)

3. Put a call to action in the print ad that answers the “What’s in it for me?” question for the prospect and lures them to the vanity URL you created earlier.

4. Collect the data about who visits the page including geography, what else they look at on the site, what information is working and not working and conversion to next step or other actions within your sales funnel.

5. Help your client make adjustments in their process based on this new business intelligence.

Sound simple? Well, it really is pretty simple. No matter how complex the business model, a simple strategy like this followed through to the end (with measurement and continuous improvement) will show your value to your customer as an advertising professional.

There are a million ways to kick that idea up another notch, but for now, let’s start with getting that URL onto the advertisement in the first place and having a web site that’s ready to accept traffic. That’s the first step to building credibility and brand legitimacy in 2010.

Thanks for listening.

Sincerely,
Marianna

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Tom Beck, owner and commercial photographer extraordinaire, at Beck Photographic for sharing his thoughts with us… Tom is the best in the business, check out his web site or connect with him on Twitter to get to know him better.

Why would you want your brand (advertising) photography to not look professional?  What purpose does it serve, except to make your business look unprofessional.

A good portrait photographer is not necessarily a good commercial photographer, and vice versa.   Photographers tend to have specialties, and just because one shoots great portraits doesn’t mean they can shoot products, or food.  Research who you’re hiring, and notice what photos of theirs stand out.

What does a “good enough” photo mean to your business and your ad?  If it looks blah, then it’ll get lost and forgotten in all the other ads out there.  And even if you do see results, how much better would the results be if you actually had a GREAT photo in your advertising?

When you hire a pro photographer, you’re insuring that you’re going to get great results.  Does the person you hired for $100 off of Craigslist have pro equipment?  Backup equipment?  A certificate of insurance in case they break your merchandise?  Are they going to behave professionally on the shoot?  Do they know the technical specs of what you need delivered, and will they deliver in a timely manner?  These aren’t (usually) a concern when you hire a true professional.

If you (or your graphic designer) is purchasing microstock photography (iStockphoto, Shutterstock, etc.), then your competition can too.  How embarrassing will it be to see the image you’re using being used by your competitor (and yes, it HAS happened, more times than you know)?  Also, is that image “good enough”, or does it stand out?  If the image is just “OK”, even if you didn’t pay much for it, how much is it costing you in business you COULD have had? In other words, are you getting the biggest bang for your buck?

What say you? What is your experience with good enough vs. great photography?

Here at the Results Revolution, we’ve had numerous guests on our show talk about the concept of “giving to get.” Basically what this means is using your own currency to market your business – instead of using someone else’s currency (usually cash). This helps moderate cash flow while keeping your business’ marketing healthy. And we like that.

Remember, the object of sampling is just that – to offer folks a sample of your business with no strings attached. You won’t win over 100% of those who sample, but for some who never have broken the invisible plane to enter your business, they will now feel comfortable having experienced this sample – and their lifetime value as a customer is worth far more than the sample.

Here is a link to a ResultsRevTV archive where a photography studio owner in Michigan shared extensively her strategy and plan for using sampling and service donations to non-profits as a primary marketing tactic. It’s a 30+ minute show, but an entertaining guest full of valuable ideas for your small business.

Here are two other ideas for using the concept of “sampling” as a marketing tool that other business owners shared with us.

BAG STUFFERS

Debra Yergen, owner of DY&Co, offers a detailed strategy for using bag stuffers for goodie bags at non-profit events to gain exposure for your business. Here’s her advice:

“If you do have a product business, such as a restaurant, give a free drink or food item, and DO NOT REQUIRE  an additional purchase. If you require an additional purchase, many people will save it for later and later may never come. It it’s completely free, most people will buy something else, maybe a whole lot of something else, while they’re there.”

GIFT BAG WITH PURCHASE

Kathy Dalton, of The Kadis Group and co-founder of Little Stinker skin care line, loves sampling because “it gets results. People love to talk, especially about their favorite products or services, and they’re also more likely to trust a product recommendation from a friend over a commercial or other traditional marketing method.”

Kathy suggests using mini-samples or a gift bag with purchase sample. When distributing the sample, she says to include stickers or business cards. But, she insists, don’t just hand out ONE flyer or business card; hand out three so your potential clients can share with friends! There’s that word of mouth marketing being encouraged while offering a sample… sounds like a magic formula to us!

What say you? Have you used sampling to market your business? How did you do it, and did it work for you? What results have you seen?
Photo Credit: Mr. T in DC (bubble tea sample)

I just got done flipping through fashion “look” book produced by a local traditional media outlet. In my opinion, the tabloid is filled with mediocre photography, mediocre image advertising and absolutely no education, information or explanation as to what I’m looking at, what or where to wear the “looks” or how much said looks might cost me at the various stores. In short, the entire tabloid lured dozens of premium retailers into spending their hard-earned marketing dollars to advertise. I bet they said something like, “if you advertise, I’ll guarantee that your competition won’t be allowed to advertise” or “you have to be in this issue because your competition will all be there.” Then, each business fell into rank and file… paid their money and submitted to the “look” that a traditional media publisher suggested for their ads. So, they all look the same, no one stands out, there is NO message or value to the publication, and the only one smiling is the media outlet because they cashed out.

Now, that’s just my perception and opinion. But I just wonder what would happen if a great retail shop broke status quo and did something different…valuable…memorable with their advertising? Or what if a few retailers weren’t scared to be left out of the popularity contests that media run – and instead made decisions based on data and smart strategy?

What have you done lately that was truly different, valuable or memorable? What have you done lately that was based on data and/or smart strategy? We want to hear your story!

Photo credit: stevendepolo

I’m a car person. Or at least I aspire to be. I usually get a new-to-me car/mobile office every couple of years, mostly by necessity. In my mind, I make practical car-buying decisions – like never buying new. That practicality, of course, balances out my tendency to want to “look good” in my car. I justify my choices by telling myself that I need to feel comfortable in my car because I spend so much time in it – upwards of 50,000 miles a year between work and play. My car is quite literally my mobile office in many respects, and it also needs to make a good first impression (note to self: maybe I should remember that and try to keep my interiors more orderly).

In my short professional life, I’ve driven a very nice limited edition Ford Explorer, some sort of sporty Lincoln 4-door, a mommy wagon for the baby years, and now a sporty Volvo SUV.

In my opinion, however, it’s definitely getting time for an upgrade… it’s been over three years, after all.

When thinking about a new(er) car/mobile office upgrade, there are a lot of features that are out there now that would make our life soooooo much better/easier/more convenient/efficient. All of which lead to an improved bottom line and happier, more sane business partners/married people/parents (in our case since we do all of that together).

Here are a few of the features I have in mind:

1.    Extra “power” outlets for our various equipment, so that we can practice the standard traveler’s motto: ABC – always be charging.
2.    Audio input for iPod/MP3 player.
3.    Fuel efficiency. At 50K miles a year, a couple of miles per gallon improvement in fuel efficiency means a lot.
4.    Handsfree Bluetooth phone capability – the safety and convenience of this feature multiplies itself with the miles, in my opinion.

Enter Patty Peck Honda. We got an e-mail back in March from Bob Aubrey (@bobaubrey1) over at Patty Peck Honda (@pattypeckhonda) wanting to setup an initial consultation with us through HALO Business Advisors (our business marketing consulting business that specializes in new media/social media marketing). Through a series of consequent conversations, we ended up on a Spring Break test drive of the Honda Pilot (fantastic, but more on that later).

When we returned and gave our feedback, Bob Aubrey, the GM at Patty Peck Honda, recommended that we try out the new Honda Accord Crosstour for a while. It was a car he had been driving for a few days, and he asked us to drive it and give him some feedback.

Bob, here’s your feedback. (And I think Andy will be supplementing with his own feedback shortly.)

To be honest, I was slow to the party. I loved the Pilot – and I like an SUV for kiddie-hauling. But more than that,  I’m a skeptic by nature, so I was looking for all of the problems in this new model – sure that its newness would surface problems, mistakes, functionality flaws, etc.

After two months in this car, I can’t imagine a better long-term solution for the mobile-office folks out there, or for me. I have claimed the car as my own, and relegate Andy to the old car.

This car has everything that I mentioned above as important features for the mobile office/car. It has great fuel efficiency, it’s amazingly roomy, it has power outlets everywhere and the hands free phone and voice command features keep my eyes on the road. Even more, it’s sporty, nimble, stable and fun to drive. It makes a great first impression. The cargo space looks big, and it functions even bigger – it’s got a LOT OF ROOM BACK THERE! It’s got the best seats ever placed in a Honda – although I definitely recommend the leather on the Crosstour. It’s a supportive, luxurious seat that passes muster, even on long trips, even with my very sensitive back issues. Bonus: the reverse view camera, warning sounds and mirrors that adjust to help me not back into anything while moving in reverse are the answer to all of Andy’s prayers for me to never hit anything while backing up ever again.

If you’re looking for something different – yet reliable – take a look at the Honda Crosstour for your mobile office, commuter car or SUV alternative. Yep, I said it: it’s an SUV alternative. With a backseat big enough to hold two car seats and a third happy camper – or three adults comfortably, this car is a winner all around. And since it’s based on the Accord, you know it’ll be reliable for a LONG time…

Thanks to Patty Peck Honda for believing in their product enough to wait for me to come around – that’s the stuff real relationships are built upon. And thanks to Honda for building vehicles that are immensely practical – and fun – for the workshifters, digital nomads and mobile office mavens of the world. We also just happen to be a pretty savvy group of influencers on social media that can share your products with lots of other people, too. I’m so glad I was encouraged to try a vehicle I never would have before – makes it easy to talk about it.

Disclaimer: Make sure you also say thanks to Patty Peck Honda for sponsoring the Results Revolution, which makes all of this great information available to you.

Another disclaimer: While I like frequent car upgrades, Andy drove the same 1992 Honda Accord until February of this year when we finally sold it to someone who asked to buy it basically once a month for three months. So, here’s to wishful thinking that I’ll ever get a new car………