Note: I got an e-mail a while back that challenged me on my inclusion of an Amazon link in one of my e-mail campaigns. This and the following post (and probably a few more beyond that into the future) will be my long-considered answer to the seeming “crisis” presenting itself to local brick-and-mortars… the invasion of big boxes and big-box style on-line competition. Here’s my first stab at how small businesses can beat Goliath.

Small businesses face a double challenge in the new economy; not only are we in the midst of recession like times, with everybody tightening belts and spending less, we’re also transitioning from store-front shopping on Main Street to isolated shopping via the Internet. Location is not the factor it used to be in shopping choices; anyone with Internet access (which seems to be practically everyone) can shop at any store online. The options have opened up, and for the most part, consumers seem to love the choices.

Locally owned small businesses can thrive in the new economy – and love it – but it requires a different approach. When your competition expands from being the other small retail shop two streets over to being the biggest national box stores plus the on-line retailers… it’s time to think of a new angle.

Independent bookstores are a good example, because the ones that have survived and thrive despite competition from Amazon.com have learned to work the new economic angle successfully.

The angle is this: you must create your own niche position and dominate it in order to compete with huge brands and online options.

It’s not enough to be an average bookstore, or an average retail shop, or an average restaurant. When customers have limitless options, average is not going to bring them back.

But you can bring them back.

Niche Examples from Independent Bookstores

An article in the New York Times highlighted how the niche angle has helped independent bookstores to survive. “Being a specialty store gave us something that would distinguish us,” said Alan Beatts, owner of Borderlands, which focuses on science fiction. “We are serving a special demographic, and we receive customer loyalty in return” For a locally owned bookstore, a niche could include

• Selling signed first edition books (and holding regular author events)
• Selling, trading, and assisting customers in rare books
• Covering niche topics (stocking and special-ordering specialized books, magazines, newspapers, and trade journals)
• Establishing expert status in book-related topics or specialized topics
• Engaging an active online community and having stellar e-commerce options

So, if you’re a bookstore, a retail store, a service-oriented business, or a restaurant, how can you find your niche, establish yourself in it, and thrive in this new economy?

“It’s entirely possible that you will choose a niche that’s too small. It’s much more likely you’ll shoot for something too big and become overwhelmed. When in doubt, overwhelm a small niche.” -Seth Godin, business & marketing expert.

Want more ideas from the local book store angle? Here’s a post from USA Today on a similar subject showcasing ways that small local brick and mortar bookstores are competing with the Kindle, Nook and similar book technology…

Image by ReneS.

Twitter, basically, is a “microblogging” service. You create an account and then send out short messages (140 characters or less) as often as you’d like, keeping people up to date on your business, your life, of whatever you happen to be “tweeting” about. Twitter is hugely popular for personal use, but it’s also a powerful and easy-to-use marketing tool that local businesses can and should be learning and using. If you’re still in the “I don’t get it” phase with Twitter, I hope this article will help you view it as a huge opportunity and not a silly and useless social network – because it’s certainly NOT that. (A few more Twitter article for small business marketing purposes.)

Here are the basic guidelines you need as you get started with your small business on Twitter.

1. Be personable, but don’t put your personal life into your Twitter business account.

Remember that your Twitter account for small business is supposed to be about your business; it’s great to share personal things that relate, and to be friendly and approachable, but it’s not great to use your business Twitter to talk about your personal pet peeves, your mood swings, your family issues, or how you can’t decide what to wear today. Keep yourself on topic and remember that the topic is your business.

2. Follow everyone back.

(Unless they look totally off color). As with anything Internet-based, there will be spammers who follow you on Twitter. They’re pretty easy to identify – strange names or obviously spammy tweets or direct messages sent out. Ignore them, but whenever a real person becomes your follower on Twitter, follow them back.

3. If anyone tweets to you, reply if possible and reply as soon as possible.

These could include both tweets sent to you or in which you are mentioned and direct messages sent to you from another Twitter user. It’s much easier to do lots of these on the computer a couple of times a day than on a smartphone. Try to set aside a few times a day to check your Twitter account and make replies. Try and thank people who say something to you. It’s a cocktail party, and you would at least speak to everyone who said hey to you. Twitter is the same.

4. Keep it PG.

Don’t alienate people by being crass; it’s not professional, and it won’t gain you any points with your followers. It’s great to be witty and trendy, but it’s not great to tweet inappropriate jokes, innuendos, or profanity. Along with that point, remember: don’t tweet under the influence!

5. Use pictures.

Pictures are the hot button thing. People love them. There are several different Twitter services and Twitter photo services. Check out Twitpic.com for starters. And remember that the text with a picture is as important as a picture. Make your “caption” short, sweet, and intriguing so that people want to click and see that photo.

6. Be yourself.

Don’t try and be anyone else. Get that personality out there. No one can compete with you being you.

7. Be personable.

Talk about your daily work, your perspective, what’s new and interesting to you in your industry. Share about what is exciting to you in this season in your business. Ask for opinions. Ask for insight. Answer questions when you know the answer. Respond to people quickly, and be courteous and friendly. Treat your Twitter interactions like real interactions.

8. Stay focused.

Use your Twitter business account to entertain, to education, and to engage with your target market. Provide content, in those bite-sized bits, that is new, interesting, relevant, helpful, and makes people want to find out more about you and your business. Don’t be afraid to share what you know. It’s your expertise in your business that makes you able to reach out to others, so share your knowledge.

What do you think about Twitter? Have you used it to help your business?

Photo By: Search Engine People Blog

Twitter can be a powerful marketing and outreach tool for small, brick-and-mortar business. You can reach out to and engage with your local market, and you can also reach further than your local boundaries. But you’ve got to start with a few basics if you want Twitter to promote your business rather than just take up your time! Most Twitter “failure” comes from just not knowing a few basics, and then getting lost in the question of “Okay, now what?”

There are three basic rules of Twitter business use; and these rules define the purpose of your tweeting. Every tweet you send out should accomplish one of these three purposes: to entertain, to educate, or to engage.

Rule 1: Tweet to Entertain

You already know your potential Twitter audience has lots of choices, so don’t bore them with mundane items like “Just drank my 3rd cup of coffee” or “really bored today.” They’re looking for something new, interesting, something they don’t already know or can’t easily find out for themselves.
For example, if you’re a chef or restaurant owner, you can provide endless entertainment by giving people an “insider view” of the kitchen. (Here are more restaurant marketing ideas.) Think about all the reality TV shows, cook-off shows, and celebrity chefs out there; people are nuts about knowing what really happens inside a commercial kitchen. Remember, this stuff may seem mundane to you because you live it every day, but for the average person, this is intriguing, different, and thus, entertaining.

Examples:
“Just cracked 142 eggs for the batter for our fried fish.”
“I’m slicing up the fresh tuna just flown in… will be the chef’s special tonight!”
“Making up 3 gallons of hot fudge sauce for our dessert special.”
“Lettuce just arrived from the produce market; half of it is bad, going to have to redo the night’s menu.”

Rule 2: Tweet to Educate

Think about what the average guy doesn’t know about your business, product, service, or specialty that you do know. Tweet about what you have expertise in; remember, it may be day-to-day stuff for you, but it’s new, interesting, informative, and educational for folks who don’t work and live this subject daily. Get into the educational aspect of your business; maybe you’re a retail shop owner (more retail ideas here), a restaurant owner, or a service-based business. You might not think of yourself as an educator (education-based marketing is a winning strategy), but take time to think about how you would train a new employee, or explain a process to a new contractor. What do people find fascinating about your business? What expertise do you have? Break that knowledge down into bite-sized pieces, and you’ve got educational Twitter material just waiting to be shared.

Examples:
“Just got in a new shipment of linen skirts. Linen is one of the most durable materials out there! Always wash it in cold water for longest life.”
“Picked up some great heirloom tomatoes from the local farmer’s market today. Check the market out – they’re open every Saturday.”
“Best time of year to put a new coat of paint on your home’s exterior is fall. Anybody know why?”

Rule 3: Tweet to Engage

One of the biggest things people fail to use on Twitter is the question mark. Ask questions; lots of questions. And when you see questions related to your topic, answer them! Ask for input, ask for opinions, ask for help. And be ready to offer your professional input, expert opinion, and help whenever you can via Twitter interaction. Answering a question or responding to a direct message on Twitter only takes a few seconds, but it can gain you a fan who will share that information with all their friends… and so on it goes that leads to sales.

Examples:
“Which new dessert should we add? Vanilla bean cheesecake or apple crumble with caramel sauce?”
“Having an open house at the store for Halloween; Anybody know a great bluegrass band for hire?”
“What’s your favorite fall clothing item? Boots, sweaters, scarf, something else?”

Don’t waste other people’s time; stick with tweets that entertain or educate or engage (or all three, even better) and you’ll be using Twitter successfully to build, promote, and expand your local business.

Photo By: Spencer E. Holtaway

What’s Your Excuse?

One of the most common complaints (excuses?) given for not engaging in online marketing and social media is that there are simply too many options and, to put it simply, business owners are afraid to pick one and go with it. They don’t always come out and say that – we don’t usually like admitting we’re overwhelmed and scared – but that’s the heart of it.

You might have said it yourself, maybe a line like one of these:

I’m too busy to figure this online thing out.

There are too many options and I don’t want to invest in the wrong one.

I’m too old for this stuff.

It’s too complicated.

There’s no way to measure ROI.

I’m just going to focus on offline marketing for now.

Maybe next year, when things calm down…

Any of those sound familiar?

The Great Big Secret of Online Success

Well, if any of those ring a bell, this post is for you. We’re here with the one secret you need for online success. Are you ready?

Do something.

Yes, that’s it. Really. Sorry, we know, it’s kind of disappointing that it’s so simple. But the secret is simple; doing nothing will get you nowhere. Pick one online option and go for it. Really put some effort into it, whether it’s your business website or a business blog or a Facebook page. Work at it for 15 to 30 minutes daily and you will see an enormous impact. And while you’re working at it – even just for 15 minutes at a time – you’ll learn everything you need to know. You’ll see that in the online world, just like the offline world, truly successful marketing is about connecting with people. Social media, blogs, and websites are just new ways to connect, and for many local businesses, they are less expensive and easier to manage.

You just have to put your fears aside, jump in, and take action.

Remember, the longer you hesitate, the more time you waste. Get your feet wet. Take a step. Take another step. Start moving forward. Making progress is not as difficult as you think; you just have to pick a direction and start moving forward.

Ready? Let’s go.

Photo credit: andreskrey

Introducing my very old fashioned (using e-mail technology) “thank & recommend” strategy for building customer loyalty, customer visit frequency and improving retail or restaurant sales.

This system will help you lock in customers for life and earn business in the short term.

Before we get much further, please know that I get that life is busy and that there are lots of technical system (called trigger e-mail marketing) that do this in a more systematic way. But I want to encourage you that if things are at all sluggish in your business that you dedicate to working this system until things get better. Then, once they are better, set the calendar on autopilot naming days or weeks on a regular basis when you do it again for a short period to keep things flowing and extend your attitude of gratitude back to your customers (for example, once things are great again, pick the slowest night of the week for your restaurant or retail store – or choose to do this on the 2nd week of every month for five days, etc.). Customer loyalty, visit frequency and sales volume will improve.

Here’s the three step “thank and recommend” customer loyalty builder system:

1. Post lots of current products or menu items in an online photo album that is public. Post them on blog posts on your blog, Facebook photo albums, Flickr, or even Picasa.

2. Dedicate that every day for one week employees are required to take note (either using the technology tools of the point of sale system or old fashioned note-taking) of each customers e-mail address and what they bought.

3. At the end of each day, you, your employee or wait staff, should pen a short customized e-mail based on a standard system that will make it quick and easy… Here’s a template that you can follow to make the e-mails quick and easy to write.

Dear (insert first name of customer or Mr/Mrs/Ms Last name) -

I wanted to personally thank you for visiting us today at (insert name of business). Your support of our locally owned business really means a lot to us.

As I recall, you (choose purchased/enjoyed/ordered/took home) the (insert name of what they purchased).

Since you left, I’ve been thinking that you might also really like (insert name of three other potential products that are linked to their photo online). I included links to them here, but you can also check them out the next time you come in – which I hope is soon!

If you see something you’d like immediately, just hit reply, and I can answer any questions you might have or take care of your order over the phone tomorrow.

But don’t be a stranger – we always enjoy seeing you!

Thanks again for your business,

(insert your name)

P.S. In case you haven’t already, you can connect with us on Facebook at (insert direct link) and follow us on Twitter (insert direct link) for more ideas just like these. Thanks again!

Now – go get some sales and share your feedback in our comments below!

Photo Credit: a.drian

Life as a small business owner can be tough. Owning a local business can be stressful. It can sometimes not feel like it’s doing for you what you wanted it to do. Maybe you just have a mental block about your business in general.

But some days the stars align. I actually believe God is gracious and just showers me with His undeserved Grace a bit more on these “good days.” But the bottom line is – they do happen occasionally – and I wanted to let you know how to recognize the entrepreneurial “good days” and enjoy them.

GOOD ISN’T PERFECT

First off – you have to come to grips with the fact that perfection doesn’t exist. Life and work are not going to peacefully co-exist, and we’re talking about “good days” here – not perfect days.

That means that while some loose ends or underlying currents of strife or stress might be there – it’s important to not allow those to overshadow the blessings and positives. A critical element to business success is the ability to be thankful – and thankfulness flows out of a positive attitude – one that recognizes tiny blessings and is able to pause, soak them up and then show appreciation where appropriate.

SEEING THE GOOD

I think this is most easily explained by an example.

Today was a good day for me. In the past 24 hours, not one – but FOUR of our private advisory clients (and there aren’t but 10 of them at any given time) have called or e-mailed not simply to compliment or thank us for our work – but to RAVE about the results they’re getting in their businesses. They took the time to stop what they were doing and give us specific, positive feedback at no urging of our own. Completely random accolades.

Now this may seem over the top as an example – but I didn’t talk to all of these clients. Andy talked to two of them, and two of them e-mailed enthusiastic and specific, but very brief e-mails. In my distracted, busy and otherwise cluttered life, I could have entirely missed the magnitude of these blessings – and missed gaining the benefits of a “good day.” Thank God I didn’t, because they were blessings. And I like blessings.

There are plenty of icky things going on in my life – but when “good days” happen – or even good moments – have your eyes wide open to see them.

USING THE GOOD

When you see good in your day, don’t waste it. Here’s what I recommend:

1. Take a moment – or an hour – to pause and soak it in. It’s okay to reward yourself a bit. Take a deep breath, smile, laugh, allow yourself an extra long lunch or a day off in reward. Use this “good” as a stress reducer – reduced stress is good for your body and your spirit and will give you the stamina to keep going!

2. Reflect that good just came into your day – a blessing.

3. Blessings deserve a thankful attitude; pass on the “goodness” of a thankful attitude to someone else or many other people as appropriate.

4. Use this good as a milestone that motivates and inspires you to keep going in your work. When things aren’t so good – reach back in your mind to this moment and be motivated and inspired by it many times over.

5. Learn from it. What did you do to get this “good” result? If you can pinpoint it – maybe you can replicate it to create more “good days” in your business.

What about you? What “good days” or “good moments” have you had in your business or life lately? Share the goodness.

Photo Credit: Ev0luti0nary

I have a case of writer’s block.

Sometimes I have work block. Or house cleaning block. Or organizational block.

Mental blocks are frustrating. And when it comes to small business – costly.

The best thing to do is to just start doing. Face the facts and put one foot in front of another. Don’t sweat the missteps or the imperfections. Just move forward. Break the block. It’s the ONLY way to find success.

Photo Credit: scottobear