The answer is always the same: it depends. If resources were unlimited, you would be everywhere right? But since that is not the case with most small or medium-sized businesses, every marketing decision must be made….drumroll please…

in relation to its potential return compared to other options.

I know this sounds obvious but I think the pressure is so intense on small businesses now that they feel if they are not applying resources somewhere people are talking about, they will lose.  And they fail to recognize the enormous opportunity costs of  knee-jerk reactions with their precious marketing resources.

Consider this: a professional service firm targets C-suite executives as decision makers. The firm feels strongly that their potential clients are not actively seeking information on their services in Facebook. So they stay the course of doing targeted mailings – which get results. Then one day the firm principal meets someone at a conference who raves about how many people they have on their Facebook page. The principal gets nervous that if they are not using Facebook they will seem “old school.” So they drop the mail campaigns and spend considerable time trying to cultivate likes and pushing content. In six months their efforts have paid off. They have gotten a couple of calls from people in the biz that lead to contacts etc.  Well, what happened to the contacts with the C-suite executives they have been reaching successfully through the mail?

What was the opportunity costs of the resources applied to social media?

This is the question, that in my mind, no one is answering.

Everyone knows they need to have a presence on all the big sites – but no one seems to measure their efforts – and compare them to other options.

I think if a business owner likes social media on a personal level- and they have time to invest – then it’s a no-brainer – they’ll get a return. But if they don’t want to do it themselves, and they have to hire some one to do it long-term- then they better measure it – just like you would measure the success of a direct mail effort or newspaper ad.

There are myriad ways to market your business – success is determined not by you jumping on the latest trend – but by you making an objective assessment of what will provide the most return for every dollar– period.

The good news is that now companies can have greater control of their online identities by having their company (or city, product etc.) as their domain extension. Think, refreshing.coke or diet.coke. The ramifications are powerful. And daunting. It is already difficult (onerous for large companies) to manage and control domain name activity with the 20 current extensions and variations of brand names. And even for small or medium sized organizations, significant resources are expended to merely protect and defend a brand name.  Read: more expenses that may produce nothing. No revenue. No goodwill. Nothing. Just money spent to get ahead of opportunistic entities before they hijack your good name for cash flow.  Hopefully the $185k application fee and the “several-hundred page application” will prevent a lot of that. It’s not surprising that many companies were opposed to this change. What’s your strategy for this?

Last week as our friends in Alabama were falling victim to historically damaging weather, a huge online retailer sent out an email newsletter to their marketing list with the title “Mother Nature Hates You. Deal with It.”  I don’t know the backstory – whether their phone rang off the hook with angry customers – or if their PR people were just putting out a potential fire but soon thereafter another email arrived with the subject “An Apology for Yesterday’s Email”.

Here are the first two paragraphs of the email:

“We messed up. …we neglected to put a stop to the distribution of an email with the header: “Mother Nature hates you. Deal with it.” This was extremely insensitive and offensive, and we are so sorry.

Please accept our sincerest apologies for this mistake. What was intended to be witty marketing copy may have been when we wrote these words two weeks ago, but in light of current events and the suffering of people affected by Mother Nature’s wrath, it is not only not witty, it is completely unacceptable.”

It was refreshing to see a large business not use spin – and how could they really? But it was also a painful reminder that any time you use humor or sarcasm to make your point, you risk offending, or at the very least, not properly communicating with a potential client. Although our culture is rife with snarkiness and irony, and it can be entertaining, you must ask yourself if it has a place in your marketing. There is a fine line between showing “personality” in your work and being unprofessional.

I’m giving a presentation soon and because I loathe boring PowerPoint sessions, I want to use humorous photos to keep it entertaining and lively. I’ve mulled it over so much: “Will it come off as unprofessional or condescending. , “Will they appreciate seeing something different, a unique way of presenting dry material.” I don’t know the audience that well so I can’t make a sound decision, but, if I do go with what I think is “funny” I’m prepared to risk some negative comments – they are either going to love or hate it.

Consider the risks and make sure you can live with them.

Why You Must Manage Your Digital Waste

A cautionary tale: a colleague decided to pursue another business so she let her 5 year-old domain expire. Some “private” entity bought her domain and at some point before she let it go – copied her old files and put them back up. So now, even though she is no longer in business, her old clients still get the impression she is – and she has no control over what these people to do her files, her logo etc. Her recourse is to report it to Google and send the “private” entity a cease and desist letter –but the odds are not in her favor of a quick or easy fix.  Frighteningly, web sites are very easy to steal.

Despite the fact that (in my opinion) search engine optimization is a somewhat fading part of internet marketing*, it, and pay-per-click ads, have made lapsed domains worth their weight in gold.  Here’s why:

• Search engine optimization guides state that search engines give greater weight to older domains in order to weed out spammers, duplicate sites, and link farms (things people do to try to trick the engines in to ranking their sites higher). So older domains are an opportunity to put up bogus sites just for the purpose of adding links to optimized websites.
• Some people are making a lot of money buying old domains and selling Google Adwords on those sites – money for nothing (for them).

So, if you are taking down a site and want to protect your reputation, try to hold on to the domain for several years. Also consider buying frequent misspellings of your company name/domain and additional extensions. It’s tough now with the plethora of domain extensions available but if you get a decent amount of traffic, you have the resources, and you care about your online reputation, think about .us, .net, .co, and a few others at a minimum.

One other tip, you may have seen the recent New York Times Magazine article about digital litter – the files we leave behind when we die. The article mentions the ramifications and highlights ways you can plan for this. Your business faces the same issue. For example, the same colleague also noticed that despite her business closing, Google Places still listed it. The take-away is that if your business or name reputation matters, cleaning up your digital waste is an onerous, but necessary, consideration.

*New search websites dedicated to weeding out sites that use SEO tricks, the emphasis on Google Places, and the ever evolving search engine algorithms will likely make many current SEO practices obsolete.

Forgive me if this sounds like a rant or if I seem like a prude or snob, I’m not. But, am I too “old school” to think that in business communications, decorum is still in order?

Here are a few examples of things I encountered this month:

• At a meeting of people responsible for shaping images of regionally and nationally important firms: a keynote speaker using not one, but three, crude words including “bullsh**” and “sucks” during the presentation.
•  A professional, not technical mind you, meeting of important business issues:  people wearing t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. (If this was a group of people who were just starting out, or people in social or public service, or even the “creative class”, you could argue that it is wrong to judge their lack of business attire. But, this was a group of influencers from renowned enterprises who, I have to assume, are decently compensated.)
•  On social media (but from professional business pages): Debates about sexiness, tweets using crude words, and a business “thought leader” bringing attention to a celebrity’s bikini photos. (I follow him for marketing insight to help my business – not gossip.)

I get that the line between our work selves and our social selves is gone. And I get that culturally things are disheartening. (I can’t let my tweens listen to the radio because of the number of times I’ve heard “bit**” and “a**” used by the DJs. And I cringe to let them watch even “family-friendly” channels because of the commercials (the last disturbing one was for the Pussycat Dolls). And, admittedly, I can employ choice words in my personal life at times. But I thought that in business, people would always maintain a respectful demeanor, if for no other reason, than to get their potential clients to respect them, to get the sale.

Have our standards changed so much that we don’t even expect a “polished” presence from professionals anymore?

I hope not, but if that is the case, I urge you to rise above the fray. You’ll genuinely differentiate and call attention to your business—the good, old-fashioned way.

Don't do it...

Despite your best intentions you have probably found yourself in a position of wanting to get out of a gig. There are myriad reasons for this (slow pay, unrealistic expectations, misalignment of ideas) but it happens to every business at some point. When it’s time to say goodbye, honesty and authenticity are always the way to go…this will let you sleep at night, provide solace for you knowing that you treated your client with respect, and protect your firm’s goodwill.  So how do you protect your resources while validating your client?  No, don’t try the “it’s not you, it’s me” tactic. Most of us have been on both ends of that platitude and it stinks for all parties. Do the hard work of respectful disengagement:

• Talk in person if possible.
• Explain your feelings about the account when you started the work. Let them know that you were excited and appreciative of the work.
• Provide specific details about how the relationship is not a fit. But, and here is the key, use “I” statements. Instead of saying “your idea of design is not anything I want to put my name on” say it honestly but without diminishing them: “the vision for my firm includes a different design aesthetic and we are going to stay focused on that…”
• Lay out a plan to accomplish their immediate goals and then have some potential provider information for them for the future.
• No matter how contentious, send them a follow-up note and thank them again for their business. After all, they did have faith in you and surely you learned something from working with them.

Remember, an angry ex-spouse (uh, client)  has many communication tools at their disposal these  days, and your word is suspect when it is defensive. As a professional you have to honor every client’s value and disengage sincerely – you’ve worked too hard to allow one bad engagement wreck your hard-earned reputation.

In their book Conquer the Chaos, Clate Mask and Scott Martineau, cite some startling statistics:

• 81% of sales that close do so on or after the fifth contact with the company
• And yet,  in the survey of business owners, 90% quit following-up after the fourth call.¹

If you are like these business owners, you are missing out on a lot of new clients.

If you think you can do better but lack the time to make a huge change – take it one step at a time.  When you get a lead, code it for an automatic follow-up in one week, two weeks, and then at three weeks. Doing this at the same time you are entering their contact information in Outlook or another contact management program is almost effortless but will pay big dividends.

If someone has given you a proposal and then disappeared you know how you probably felt; “they must not have really wanted my business.” Don’t be that person. Follow up with the people that take time to contact you. Even if you don’t earn their business, they will be left with the impression that you are serious and committed to solving your clients’ problems.

 ¹ p. 143, Conquer the Chaos, How to Grow a Successful Small Business Without Going Crazy, Copyright 2010 (Source cited for statistic:  Sales and Marketing Executives Club of Los Angeles)

 Here are the concepts that resonated with me for their application to my clients’ businesses:

• Don’t get bogged down trying to make the “best” decision every time. How much time did you spend analyzing which printer to buy or what tiny shade variation of blue to put in your logo? Did any of that time generate business, publicity, or goodwill?
• Embrace your wabi-sabi. I love this. Wabi-sabi is the Japanese view that what is imperfect and authentic is beautiful. Your clients want to work with someone real. Someone reliable, talented, dedicated, and honest. That’s you–don’t panic at seeming perfect at every single contact point.
• Work smart, but have a life. Your real life informs and inspires your work life. All of us entrepreneurs need to remember this as there is literally no end to the work to be done.

I can’t do this book justice in a short paragraph but I assure you that you will get some practical tidbit or a liberating idea that will help improve your business.

 Happy reading!

Here is a short list of solutions you may have heard of or are considered trying – I have used all them with various clients and can attest to the significant time and resources they save.

• Act Sales Management Software – Even if you work with smaller projects this tool takes all the detail work out of the sales process. Put in your sales process and it automatically reminds you of when to contact prospects and helps you determine your close rate so that annual forecasting is easier and more accurate.

• Postcards – Do you send out letters to clients?  The personal touch is nice but if you find yourself getting behind and they are not hearing from you – they are not getting any touch. Why not print postcards in bulk – which is much less expensive and time consuming, send you contact list to your printer, and just order a mailing every few weeks. If it is this easy to do you are more likely to be consistent – and with mail – frequency and consistency are key.

• Constant Contact – Hopefully you are using this wonderful program. But if you are not, consider getting permission from your clients now and adding an option for future clients to sign on to receive e-mail specials from you. You can easily create a contact once and update it for monthly specials.  You can send it out in a moment and get valuable reports on how many people opened the e-mail etc. This program is very inexpensive and can apply even if you only have a contact list of 20 people.

• GoTo Meeting – How much is your time worth? If you could save 3-4 hours each month, still deliver excellent customer service, and only pay $49 would you? This program is so simple to use and enables you to present to your clients online. I realize some people like the personal touch of a meeting but if their time is valuable too they will appreciate that you helped them and saved them time.

• Stamps.com – Even if you are a micro business – making a physical trip to the post office is just not necessary anymore. You can save signfiicant time each month with this system by avoiding lines and drive time. Even if you use an assistant, their time can be spent helping you generate more revenue.

• General Technology – Is your use of technology optimal? There are so many simple ways entrepreneurs can automate their processes – that are overlooked. Do you charge the same for a certain service over and over? Why not have an online purchasing option so that your clients can schedule you and pay at the same time. Think of how much you will save in billing and collection time? Setting up monthly billing is easy also and will help you keep your cash flow in better shape. Can your customers get documents they need from your website? Fill out anonymous surveys about your service? Be reminded of upcoming events?

None of this advice is innovative – in fact it is quite old school. But you would be surprised how many people, because of their obligation to manage the day-to-day demands, miss these opportunities to easily buy more time, revenue, and profitability.

If you want to stay small then bootstrapping it makes sense. But if your objective is to grow your business consider the hidden ways you may hinder your own progress by thinking too small and trying to do too much of everything yourself.

Then upon my return to Memphis I was inundated with story after story of increases in bankruptcies, continued job losses, and families newly placed on the brink because of the colder weather. What gives? There has always been a large prosperity gap of course but, is it just me or does it seem even more pronounced in this economy- despite reports that the gap is narrowing?  Then I realized that it was the same for my client base. Some of the businesses I work with are thriving – struggling to keep up with demand and others are, well, struggling. I spent some time considering some common things among the ones that are doing well.  We can probably all benefit from more of these habits. The still-successful businesses that I have witnessed did the following during the harrowing business climate of 2009:

- They continued to advertise and market themselves. Maybe they spent less – maybe they sent typed letters instead of 4-color brochures – but they kept their name out there.

- They used savings they had from flush times. That’s right – they did not spend all their capital in 2007 and 2008 when the good times were rolling.

- They tried every low-cost, low-risk strategy they could to get new business. They ramped up their risk tolerance and put their egos aside to try something new.

- They took care of people who took care of them. They invested in providing better service to their current clients.

I’m not suggesting that companies who did not fare as well were negligent. This economy took the best and brightest small businesses too.

What did you do right last year? What would you do differently? Be sure to take note – I hear we could be in for a “W”- shaped recession which means we will all get a second chance at honing our recession survival tactics.