I’m now sharing all my marketing blog love over here.

Not only will you find more delicious blog articles to help get your business booming…you’ll also discover, if you haven’t already, AUSTRALIA’S #1 MARKETING PODCAST FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS.

Plus, (do the bonuses ever end?!)…you can check out where and when my latest marketing workshops are on.

And if you’d like an immediate injection of small business marketing ideas then my marketing book full of real life case studies is a great place to start.

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.

This whole idea of simplicity in design fascinates me. Especially in regards to websites, whose beauty lies often in the fact that you can rattle on forever about how good you are! I know that’s bad copy, but you can if you want to! The fat is however:

1/ I have no eye for design yet I do love simplicity in design.

2/ However, I just wonder how much simplicity actually sells.

3/ If the end game is simplicity then job done.

4/ If the end game is sales. then job not done. Fail.

5/ My takeaway is that simplicity works for creative types – writers, photographers, designers.

6/ The idea of stripping everything away and hiding it in other sections of say one’s website (eg. hiding social media links in Contacts),  scares the hell out of me.

I’d love to simplify my site…in fact I want a site just like this.

I just haven’t got the guts!

You?

I hardly ever listen to commercial radio…it scares me.

However, I happened to tune in today and was reminded why this is the case.

EVERYONE’S YELLING.  The announcers, the ads…the guy in the traffic helicopter!

Is this really what we, us consumers, are demanding? Really?

Would a station that was chilled out, relaxed…fail? Would we all go “That’s shite. They’re not hyped enough?”

I don’t think so.

I have this marketing theory that says “When everyone else is yelling….whisper.” That way you’re more likely to be heard.

Life is busy. The world is often crazy. Surely this presents an opportunity for the odd, brave brand to swim upstream.

What do you think?

I bought a Paddle Pop today…an ice-cream that should have taken me way back to when I was 10 or so.

Instead, all I could think of was how hard the manufacturer had worked at reducing costs whilst still being able to deliver an ‘acceptable’ product.

I’m noticing this  a lot lately…products ‘aint what they used to be. The concept of quality seems to hold a different definition these days. I’m particularly sensitive to this when one of my kids tells me they’ve saved enough money to go toy shopping. My heart sinks knowing that they are more than likely going to buy something that just wont last.

This happened a fe months ago when my boy forked out a whopping $80 for a remote control helicopter…sure enough, within 2-days (not years, days) it was busted.

Yes, this blog post is a ‘shout out’ to product manufacturers to pull their socks up (without the elastic breaking!). It’s also a reminder to the many service providers of us out there to maintain quality standards. Let’s make sure we don’t go the same way as Paddle Pops and remote control helicopters.

Every now and then I send a tweet out that hits a nerve.

My most recent one was this “Am I wrong to think it’s rude when someone doesn’t respond to a proposal or simply says you’re “too expensive”?

Within minutes I had quite a number of responses. Here’s a few:

“You’re not wrong…. and ‘too expensive’ is such a lazy response – too expensive compared to what? The results you want?

“I think a thank you is in order for a proposal, as it does take time to prepare. Not all people are so kind.”

“No- it drives me nuts.”

“Perhaps honest. Ever considered that you are “too expensive”.” (Funnily enough, this is from a fun Client of mine who did a great job in getting me down on my rate!)

“No, I don’t think you’re wrong. Any ‘no’ could lead to confrontation, and people don’t inherently like conflict so just avoid u!”

“I think a thank you is in order for a proposal, as it does take time to prepare 1. But not all people are so kind.”

“ This really annoys me too!”

“Not at all!”

“Happens a bit in the travel industry, who’s 2 blame tho? Is it us not being able 2 highlight the true “VALUE” of our proposition?”

‘No you’re not wrong. You took time to compile proposal & they should take the time to give feedback. networking goes both ways”

“Give them a chance – they may have been inundated by *better* offers, taking time sifting through?”

“Not wrong…. and ‘too expensive’ is such a lazy response – too expensive compared to what? The results you want?”

“It’s not rude, it’s just business, ideally you would like for them to discuss the alternatives”

“I don’t think its rude to say its too expensive, but its rude not to respond. But it depends on circumstances”

OK, so we all pretty much acknowledge that getting back to someone who’s provided you with a quote but hasn’t got the job is the right thing to do. It’s just common decency.

But there’s also a great learning here and it’s comes from Jake Hower…I’ve highlighted it above. The bottom line is that it’s incumbent upon all of us to demonstrate real value when pitching for business. Real value. For $X you get this, this, this and this. Oh, and I’ll include this as I think it will make a significant difference to your outcome for these reasons. To be completely literal, I think actually listing what it is you’re offering is the best way of showing value visually.

This tweet certainly made me stop and think if I was too expensive, but in the end it reminded me that what I have to offer is worth paying for…I just need to spell it out clearly.

What do you think? Do you think prospects should reply to your proposal? Or do you quickly move on to the next job?

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?

I’m excited…My new Flip HD pocket video camera arrives next week.

Besides it being a gadget which excites me anyway…it is so much more than that. It will take the marketing of my business (and my Client’s businesses) to a whole new level. All of a sudden us little guys can have commercials…and interesting ones at that. It’s not as if there haven’t been video cameras around for a long time, but this bad boy provides me with two dedicated hours of HD footage all in the size of a small mobile phone.

Us little guys can communicate with our prospects in a more personal way. It’s a shot at the viral spotlight.

But don’t worry, I’m not about to bombard you with stupid videos…as always, the magic is in the message…not the medium.

Here’s 4 ways I’m intending to use it:

1. When I see an interesting marketing idea when I’m out and about I can film and comment on it.
2. I can interview someone there and then…no need for appointments. Watch out seminar attendees!
3. I can do vox pops out on the street..get consumers views on a particular topic.
4. I can quickly capture a thought whilst driving a long (I’d pull over of course!) and not have to try and remember it until I’m next in front of my Mac.

Video blogging is opening up a whole new marketing channel for businesses and charities who would never have thought that in  million years they could have such a campaign.

So watch this space for some upcoming video action that I promise will add value to your business.

Does video blogging appeal to you? What would you use it for?

The key to success is in the doing

This blog post is a result of my most successful Twitter campaign ever…successful in that the ideas took me 5-minutes to post and added 30 Followers in a matter of minutes. The campaign was made up of 20 tweets altogether…hash tagged ‘Doable Marketing’. My idea was to share 20 doable ideas that any small business owner could do to improve their marketing efforts….Doable in the sense that they cost little or no money to implement, were easily understood and effective in the results they could produce.

Importantly, no one of these ideas will work in isolation …however if you do one a day for the next 20-days you’ll lay a solid foundation that should increase enquiry to your business…and that’s why we do it after all…right?

So, here they are:

1. Thank one client a day for the next 5-days.
2. Send someone around to your top 10 clients and have them wash their car.
3. Pick one designer for all your needs & stick with him or her…the results will be beautiful. Well, at least consistent.
4. Send Clients really useful links to websites that will add value to their life or business.
5. Identify the real problem your business solves for your Clients and build all your communication around solving it.
6. If your business relies on local custom, get to know your pizza guy and real estate agents. Buy them a coffee.
7. Go halves in an ad campaign with a business that has relevance to yours.
8. List whatever it is you sell on eBay. I once listed an hours coaching and got more than my standard rate!!
9. Use the back of your business card for something meaningful. Quotes. Dates. Your biz story. Folio.
10. Offer a referral bonus. Book vouchers are a great all round gift.
11. Pay a visit to your competition.
12. Get a Client to write your next ad.
13. Create 5 different email signatures…each one with a different offer.
14. Think of your ideal Client. Identify them. Then cold call them. Oooh, the pain!
15. Send an email to all Clients (past, present, future) detailing ALL the ways they can use you.
16. Include an offer on all invoices you end out from now on.
17. Reprint your business card to include your Twitter, Facebook and Linked In IDs.
18. Include you web address in your voicemail.
19. Rewrite your home page copy to list 5 benefits of your product or service.
20. Start sending cards (this is blatant promotion but also one of the better doable marketing ideas around)

Which one is your favorite?

Do you have one to add? Please feel free to do so below.

I don’t know about you but I love it when I see I see a product (or service) promote itself by an extreme demonstration. The picture tells a thousand words.

How would you use this marketing tactic to promote your business?