If you read one article on where marketing is heading in 2010, then this is it. It’s already been tweeted 627 times as I write this into! It’s written by David Garland of Rise To The Top and I think he’s nailed it – from claiming the 30 second is FINALLY dead, to big brands learning from us little guys (check this podcast) to the death of the one-way website it’s an article that will get you (the marketer and / or business owner champing at the bit for the new year to arrive. In fact don’t, start now! Read on.

There are many reasons…here’s 5 to kick things off:

1. Marketing is the quickest way to a sale. Great marketing identifies a problem your customer or prospect is experiencing and then provides them with a solution that gives them every reason to buy from you (and not your competition). Think of it like this…the marketer of a business has control of five very big levers labelled Product, Price, Place, Promotion and People. Their challenge is to adjust these levers to positions that make your offer so irresistible and compelling that it’s impossible not to buy from you…that competing with them seems far less desirable.
2. It’s your only (profitable) point-of-difference. Today’s market place (in almost every industry) is one of parity – it’s full of businesses offering the same products, at the same price, delivered in the same way. So how does one stand out? Well, you could be the cheapest…but discounting is a dead-end street as it is quickly copied, and a point is reached where a business can’t be any cheaper or they’ll lose money. Instead, it’s much more effective to be clever in the way you package up product, deliver it in ways that make it easy for them to use it and offer payment options that makes it much easier to say YES than NO!
3. “People can copy what we do, but not who we are” – Martin Daley, the head of People at Virgin Blue, uttered this. In saying so, he was admitting that it was possible for anyone to walk on up and start an airline. That was easy enough! What was much harder for them to do was create a brand that meant something…a brand that defined the business in the minds of its prospects and customers in a way that made them want to be a part of.
4. Great marketing creates a strong brand – A brand is best defined as an emotional attachment. This is not meant in any soppy kind of way. Not at all. The type of emotional attachment we talk about here is one in which you create a brand that clearly demonstrates it understands its target audience. One that shows insight and sympathy for what they are dealing with and provides simple, interesting solutions that make them want to buy from you. Most importantly, once a customer is emotionally connected to your brand it is that much harder for them to look elsewhere as they see real value in what you are offering.
5. Marketing creates a sense of value and meaning – As the previous point indicates, if you spend time building a brand (and remember, you register a business, but you build a brand) then you are inherently creating value for your customers. And a customer, who feels as though they are receiving real value by transacting with you, is generally willing to pay above the odds.

What would you add?

Whether or not this shoe (Tweeker!) is real or not doesn’t matter, what I love about it is the tailored offering. It mixes two themes up and creates something special.

Tailored offerings keep things interesting for the business owner and shows your customers and prospects that you’re always on your toes.

I think we sometimes forget that as Marketers we are first and foremost PROBLEM SOLVERS. Our task is to get inside the heads of our targets, understand what they’re thinking, what problems they have and then hit them between the eye with a tailored solution.

When you get it right, man does it feel good.

I’m working on right this minute…I’m going to shake up the way marketing workshops are held…in terms of content, how it’s presented, the location and so much more.

How can you shake up your product offering with the aim of giving people exactly what it is they want… even if they didn’t know it?

I just visited a local graphic designer who had on her office door…By Appointment Only.

It got me thinking how, as business owners, we can have systems and structures in place that actually make it hard for people to do business with us. Here’s four that come to mind:

1. Not making your contact details freely available…they should appear on all your stationary, email signature, website.

2. Not being easily contactable. These days a phone number and email isn’t enough…let people know your Skype, Twitter, LinkedIn handles.

3. Accepting only one, maybe two payment methods…what about Paypal, Moneybrokers, EFT, lay-by, credit, payment terms?

4. Ill-considered opening hours…this is business dependent however I sometimes see a business that is closed when it should be open and open when it should be closed. I just drove past the local GPs and it was closed on a Saturday afternoon. Isn’t this a good time for those who work all week to get things done?

I call these hurdles because they get in the way. In this case, in the way of making doing business with you really easy.

What would add to this list?

I like shopping at warehouse type stores.

Chemist Warehouse. JB Hi-Fi. Bunnings.

You know, the stack ‘em high, sell ‘em low set-ups?

In doing so I actually feel as though I save quite a lot of money.

Unfortunately though, as a general rule, the customer service stinks. Does it really cost more to smile? To look someone in the eye and ask if they need assistance? To advise how long something might take? To say “Have a ripping day!”?

I think not. The only thing I can think is that these businesses are under-staffed, so everyone’s under the pump. But at least that way they can charge less.

What do you think? Am I being harsh?

Are you online? Or do you just have a website?

The world of real estate marketing has changed forever. And for the better.

Running ads, installing boards, printing fliers and having a website are still valid methods of marketing properties and attracting listings, however opportunities abound for the smart Agent who is willing to roll his or her sleeves up and enter the world of Web 2.0.

“Web what?!”, I hear you say. Don’t worry too much about the fancy name, Web 2.0 is simply the current incarnation of the internet that enables people and businesses to become much more involved via communication, collaboration and sharing of information. You simply need to know this…The web is no longer a static medium that allows you to post information in the hope that the right people will find it.

What today’s Internet allows is an amazing opportunity to interact with your Clients and prospects like never before. Here’s how:

YouTube: Google own YouTube. Google believes that videos enhance your Internet experience. So any business that uploads videos to YouTube will be looked on favourably by the world’s most popular search engine. And that’s got to be a good thing. Here’s some ideas of what you could upload:

• Tours of homes.
• Selling tips.
• Buying tips.
• Suburb overviews.
• Staff introductions.

Twitter: A simple way of getting your message out there in 140 characters or less. Twitter is a great way to share what’s happening in your business and industry, to enter conversations that others are having about your industry and to connect with prospects and others who are interested in what you do and have to offer.

Podcasts: These are simply audio programs that can be downloaded from your website or Apple’s iTunes store. Podcasts are a great way to position yourself as an expert and provide your prospects with valuable information. Once again, topics could include buying and selling tips, suburb overviews or special guest interviews with local personalities.

Google Adwords: There are two ways of rising to the top of Google. One way is to do everything within your powers to ensure your website is key word rich and highly search engine optimised. The other is to use Google’s pay-per-click advertising service. Basically, you ask Google to run your ad on the right hand side of their search results when someone keys in a search phrase relevant to your business – For example…Homes for sale in (insert suburb).

LinkedIn: There shouldn’t be an Agent in the world that doesn’t have a profile on this highly effective networking site. Over 45 million business people use it to exchange information, ideas and opportunities. It’s simply a great way of building your online personal brand.

Now, I don’t expect you to race off now and start doing all of the above…I know for some of you what I’m proposing is quite alien. However, the wonderful thing about all of the above marketing channels is this:

• When combined, they have a significant effect in building your online presence, so that when prospects do a search for a business like yours (and they do) you will rise to the top.
• A presence in everyone of them by default leads back to your website.
• They’re free…the investment is generally one of time, not money.
• Using them will put you way ahead of the game. And afterall, isn’t the idea to create a brand that’s so irresistible that it makes competing with you far less desirable? I think so.

So, are you online? Or have you just got a website?

How often are you pleasantly surprised by great customer service? If you’re like me, then sadly not very often. But recently, I had a good customer service experience that demonstrates the best way to handle customer complaints.

Last winter I had a fire grate made. For $170 I got what appeared to be a solid piece of craftsmanship. But after only twenty fires, it started to lose shape, bend in the middle and generally stop functioning.

Because I generally like to avoid conflict at all costs, I tossed up for a couple of weeks about whether or not to take it back, but I finally decided I should. I was of course expecting the worse – “Sorry mate, our guarantee only extends to 14-days” or “Sorry but you shouldn’t have kept using it.”

To my astonishment the fellow who made it apologised, offered to fix it and/or replace it and advised that it would be all done within two days. The end result was that it was fixed on the same day, at no charge and now works better than ever. And he didn’t even refer to me as “Mate”. As a side issue, I think referring to a customer in this way is very unprofessional. My favoured approach is to use their first name, but that’s another article in itself!

Now, back to my fire grate. Okay, so maybe the problem shouldn’t have arisen in the first place and they should pay more attention to their craftsmanship…but mistakes do happen. From a business owners perspective, the learning here is how you handle customer complaints.

I could almost guarantee the fire grate fellow has had no training in customer service, he just did what seemed right. He listened to the customer, made a judgement that the customer’s request was reasonable and then over-delivered. In fact he under-promised and over-delivered…even better!

This doesn’t mean giving in to every customer’s request – of course there are times when they are simply unreasonable. But it does mean being sensible and mature about your options for the best way to handle customer complaints.

How you handle customer complaints can create an opportunity to promote your business. Handled well, they are a great way to generate word-of-mouth. That said, I’d buy another fire grate tomorrow from Flash Weld in Mornington, Victoria!

I speak to Clients and groups of business owners weekly about what it takes to build a strong brand.

The first thing I respond with is that BRANDS ARE EARNT…not bought. You buy a business name…you create a brand.

The second point is that it’s important to agree on a simple definition of a brand. For me…A BRAND IS SIMPLY AN EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT. Already we’ve covered some seriously important concepts that we’ll leave for another day.

So, in no particular order here’s the ten things every business owner must do to ensure they build a strong, healthy brand:

1. Know what your brand stands for…whilst I may be a marketing consultant in every day speak…my brand  is all about making businesses and charities irresistible. That’s what I stand for. Identifying what your brand stands for is actually the first part of my Brand Character process.
2. Do things properly…If this means do less, then do less. Avoid cheap, shoddy anything…Printing, design, packaging, photography, copy etc etc. If this means buying a cheaper office chair, then get a cheaper office chair!
3. Have one designer do everything…logo, fliers, website, signage, PowerPoint, stationary etc. Make sure they know what they’re doing though…particularly in regards to your website.
4. Know your core values…These should form the basis of all decisions you make in your business and around your brand.
5. Identify your prospects’ problem…As brand builders we are problem solvers. Make sure your brand clearly says “Hey, I can fix your problem!”
6. Identify your brand’s personality…Then ensure it comes through in all its marketing.
7. Be unique…Take a look at what the competition is doing, identify the gap and fill it with your brand. If all the brands in your category are black then be white. Great brands challenge their category.
8. Be consistent…Make sure you present your brand to the market place in exactly the same way no matter what the medium. You are creating one brand…not 10!
9. Socialise it…Make sure every person within your business knows what your brand stands for. It’s useless having everyone on different pages.
10. Make it visually really interesting…There are so many boring logos out there…Don’t be one of them. Be brave…it pays off.
11. Under promise and over deliver…All good brands do this. Remember, I promised 10 points…well this is the 11th ;0)

This is not the definitive list but we could make it one…What would you add?

This is a story about a small business getting it terribly wrong…and how you can avoid the same mistake.

My local Chamber Of Commerce recently distributed a brochure on behalf of one of it’s members. The brochure asked…“Does Google ignore you?” It then went on for 6 pages explaining how they could ensure this didn’t happen for your business. Fair enough…they made some good points…they appeared to be a local SEO company good at what they did. They even offered a ‘free Google website ranking check’.

At this point I’m thinking, I like the sound of these guys…they tell me they know their stuff, they have a core focus and are offering a nice little free entry level product. And they’re asking a question in ‘Does Google ignore me?’ which is clearly a question many business owners ask themselves.

So…before I call them I figure I’ll just check that they’re walking their talk. So, into Google I key in their business name…and back they come, front and center. Then I key in typical search terms that one would use to find them…I key in the most obvious…’SEO experts in (insert my suburb)’…NOTHING! I try four more obvious search phrases…NOTHING!

At this point they’ve lost me and a potential new client…instead I decided to blog about the experience.

Guys…if you make a claim in your business…BACK IT UP WITH REAL LIFE EXAMPLES. That makes sense, doesn’t it?

Oh…and just to make things worse here’s a few more things they got wrong and that we all can learn from:

• There was no URL in their call to action…just an address and phone number…Really!
• They had no social media involvement listed either…fundamental for an SEO business I would have thought.
• And when I did go to their website..they had an outdated blog (last entry May 2008!).

OK…enough bagging these poor guys. The lesson? Back up every offer you make with a claim..a case study…a testimonial.

In fact, live by the below saying and you’ll be well and truly on the right track:

“Don’t tell me you’re funny…tell me a joke!”

What do you think? Do you agree?

There’s a key question in any good marketing communication’s brief that asks something like…”What’s the single most important thing you want to tell your prospects?”

It’s based on some consumer behavior theory that states that as humans we aren’t overly good at taking in too much information at any one time. Ironically, as Marketers we often feel the need to bombard our prospects with information overload…It comes in this many colours, it’s price is this, you can buy it here, the various models are these blah blah blah.

It takes courage to be single-minded…particularly in paid media where you want to make every second or column centimeter count. But the reality is that all great communication is single-minded…look at the ads that appeal to you and I’ll bet they’re single-minded.

So, how can you apply this to your business. Easy…figure out what you want your prospects to do and then decide what is the most important (AKA compelling) thing you could share with them in order to inspire them in to action.

What brands do this well in my book? Apple. Seth Godin. Can you add to this list?

What’s your single-minded proposition?