Bike Shop and Triathlon Retailer Combo Creates Branding Conundrum

In a Keyword Driven Era, How Do You Brand a Business Serving Two Different Audiences?

T3 Multisport in Indianapolis came to me a few months ago with a real dilemma.  His primary client base is triathletes.  He carries products and provides services designed to help triathletes excel in cycling, running, and swimming.  He has established himself with that crowd and the shop does well for being relatively new. 

Owner Vern LaMere isn't satisfied with being limited to triathletes:  "We know the triathletes in our area, our staff is bent that way, but we also want the road bike crowd.  To a great extent, these two groups are oil and water.  They don't necessarily buy the same brands, and they are a bit jealous of their distinctiveness."

The name and the website are totally missing the keywords needed to rank on Google search or Google Places (aka Google Maps and Google+ Local).  For that they need bike shop Indianapolis and bicycle Indianapolis.  They need it in the title tag, description, in the body copy of the home page, and best would be in the name.

Unfortunately, if T3 bumps up the status of bike shop, it might hurt the triathlon business.  In other words, if the name were T3 Bike Shop and Triathlon Center, it might send the wrong signal.  Even the use of bike shop seems a bit two pedestrian for a high end cycling center.  Unfortunately the public doesn't Google Cycling shop or Cycle or Cycling anything.   Google also doesn't seem to see Cycle as being a good synonym for bike or bicycle.  

LaMere is reluctant to give up the T3 brand, so he understands that the brand already screams Triathlete.  The issue is how to get the road bike crowd to feel that it is their store, too. 

We turn the question over to our faithful readers.  What would you do and why?

Here is the shop info if you'd like to visit their website or blog to help with the question. 

Bike Shop in Indianapolis IN
Triathlon Shop in Indianapolis IN
Bicycle Fittings;  triathlon training
Blog: Bicycle and triathlon gear reviews and training concepts
Linkedin:  Meet the owner, Vern LaMere M.S.
T3 Multisport
1343 W 8th Street
Indianapolis, IN  46260
phone:  (317) 257-1117

10 Most Rediculous Marketing Ideas Ever

10 Perfect Ways to Destroy an otherwise Potentially Good Business

I'm no Letterman, and the following are not intentionally humorous.  I could give you a list of 100, but here are my top 10.

10.  Believing that it is easier to make money with Multi-Level Marketing than other small business options.  Multi-level, whether it is an establish brand like Amway, or a brand new offering like Scentsy, requires tons of work to turn them into businesses.  Finding, motivating, and managing part-time workers is like herding cats.

9.  Believing you will get rich easy with any scheme, but especially affiliate marketing.  If anyone says they want to sell you the secret to a get rich scheme, ask them why they aren't so rich that they could care less about selling it to others.  Most of the online efforts to help you become a great affiliate marketing are just making their income selling you the method.

8.  Starting or buying a business that you know nothing about.  Many, many people buy or start businesses that they have no education, experience, or even passion about.  Odds of success are pitiful.

7.  Thinking your product or service is so great or in demand that you don't need to market or sell.  If you have Gold at $10 an ounce, you still have to put up a sign. 

6.  Having one customer represent more than 20% of your revenue or profits.  When you allow a client to dominate (think especially WalMart, Target, CVS), they own you.  This is also true for the $1,000,000 wholesaler or manufacturer selling to a major account.  If they switch horses or go out of business, you are toast.  If they stay with you, they dictate the terms.

5.  Believing that you can undercut your competitors who are gouging consumers.  Many enter business because they are on a mission to help consumers whom they believe are being ripped off by the rapacious businesses they will compete with.  Margins are what they are for a reason.  The market is very good at driving overprices to reasonable pricing and underpricers out of business.

4.  Failing to stay on top of trends in your industry.  Famous statement - There is only a small difference between a goods business and a museum.  Book retailing was a great business not so long ago.  Not to mention newspapers, magazines, cameras, GPS devices, ad infinitum. 

3.  Offering open credit terms without adequate research and a great collection plan or without adequate cash flow to finance the accounts receivable.  So many cases where otherwise great businesses give easy credit and end up broke.

2.  No business plan. Maybe one person in a hundred is able to run a business from the seat of their pants.  Why take the chance.  Spend 48 hours of your life writing up a plan.   That time could be the difference in success and failure.  Don't have 48 hours.  Pay someone $3000 to do it for you. 

1.  Clearly the biggest one.  Entering business without full support of spouse, or with inadequate understanding by spouse of sacrifices that may have to be made in time, energy, stress, and money. 
Your business and your marriage will suffer, and the suffering of each will impact the other.

Tutorial - How to Put On a Big Event and Become More Visible

Chapter 41/101 - Marketing Is Largely About Visibility - Events Are a Great Way to Become Visible

If this is your first time here, I want to thank you for stopping by and let you know that this is chapter 41 out of an eventual 101 Marketing Secrets that I am compiling on this blog, and that I will eventually release as a book.  You can get chapter titles and links to the other 40 chapters here.

In this next section we are going to look at various ways small businesses can reach out to the larger community around their business and get VISIBLE.  It is easy to get super lazy and sit behind the desk or the counter waiting for the phone to ring or the door to swing.  But it rarely works out well if that method is followed for very long. 

Add the concept of VISIBILITY to your list of important things to think about.  Much of marketing is about visibility, but many who do marketing for all or part of their living, sometimes fail to think of the marketing in those terms.  The next 10 chapters will discuss 10 great ways to become visible.

Major Events Can Create More Visibility in One Weekend Than You Would Normally Get in Three Years

Location is still a very big deal for any retailer.  But no matter whether you have only been in your location for six months or are an absolute fixture in the neighborhood, a huge percentage of your potential clients don't even know you are there.  Want proof?  How many times a week do you hear, "I drive by here all the time, and i didn't even know you were here."  And those comments come from those who "drive by here all the time."  The ones who never drive anywhere near you are even less aware of your presence. 

If you are in an office complex or work from home, getting visibility is even tougher.  You have no street visibility at all, which is generally the number two source of new traffic for those who do have a "main street" location.

Major event managers will tell you that a single event can generate up to three years worth of neighborhood visibility.  In other words, in a three year period, X number of potential customers will become aware of you through various methods.  A well run event will get you that same number of awareness results in a single day or weekend.

Assuming that such results would be an exciting proposition for you, the next question might be:  How much time and sweat is it going to cost me to get that result?  I did a recent event for a client that cost just about $5000 out of pocket and probably about 30 hours of his time, which resulted in 700 people showing up for his anniversary party. 

$5000 is probably the minimum you can spend and expect great results.  You could also spend $50,000 and 150 hours of your time and not equal those results due to inadequate planning.  Here is the outline for a plan that will work every time.  Don't leave anything out.

A.  90 day advance planning minimum.  120 days is better.
B.  Assemble a team of at least 4 people who will brainstorm and handle tasks
C.  Plan a first meeting for the team
D.  Set the date, the theme, the details of the activities for the event, and the budget. 
E.  Find a large local non profit, service club, or charity to share the work and help get participation.

In my experience this last part is as important as anything else you will do.  Your event will become a fund raiser for them, and done correctly might raise $5000, $10,000 or even a lot more.  In return you get a huge list of benefits, not the least of which is that the charitable organization will want your event to succeed. 

Within their organization will generally be local folks who are well connected.  They may be able to help with publicity, star power for the day of the event, attendees for the event, and even members who will help with some of the work. 

The fund raising will generally be some kind of raffle.  You can turn to your suppliers for many of the items to be raffled, and you may want to donate a some high end products also.  In some cases, members of the non profit will buy items from you to add to the list of prizes.  If you are in a service business, you can work with retailers and restaurants in the area to assemble a great prize list.

Print up 10,000 raffle tickets with both your company name and the non profits name.  List at least a few of the top prizes, the date and details of the event, and any rules.  Maybe you want the person entering to have to be present to win.  The sales force for the raffle will be the members of the group you partnered with.  Sure, you'll sell tickets at your business, and you and they will sell a lot the day of the raffle.  You and the partner organization can also sell them online if one of you has an online store. 

Please note that various states have rules for raffles.  Check online to see what rules you may need to follow.

The Bigger and Better the Prize List, the Better All Results of the Event Will Be

Whoever on your staff works the most closely with suppliers should start dialing for prizes and swag.  Distributors and manufacturers will gladly help you with T-shirts, hats, and all kinds of other items that can be given away.  But you may need to exert a bit of pressure to get items worth over $100 that will make the best items for the raffle.  If you have room and believe it will make the event more interesting, suppliers may also send reps with pop-ups, demonstration booths, and/or contract athletes, entertainers, or speakers to add star power.

Hopefully someone on your staff, a member of the non profit, or a local PR person can help spread the word with online PR, print, radio, and TV.  Even in a major market you should be able to get top newspaper and TV people to show up for your event.  Pre-event publicity in these types of media are critical to success. 

You may want to advertise in some of the places where PR is going to matter.  And you may be able to advertise in some media that will be useful to increase interest.  However, don't use this event to experiment with advertising.  You should only use those media and approaches that have worked for you in the past. 

Weekly Planning Meetings Are A Must to Keep Everything on Track

Hold weekly meetings with the top players.  Set tasks each week that can be completed by the next week and that will culminate in reaching all necessary goals in a timely way.  If a team member is consistently late on tasks, replace them early.  

Social media is huge to spread the word.  You will clearly want to get the event on your website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and YouTube Channel.  In addition, send emails every other week until the last 30 days, and then weekly, to your entire list.  If the partner organization has a list, they should also send out information to their list.  During the last week, send out emails every day.

A new way to spread the word that may be the most effective and efficient yet is Google+ Events.  You can learn all about this by going to http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/events/  You can also use the event system in Constant Contact.  This is especially useful if you already have a large email following. 

And while on the subject of emails, your most likely participant in the event will be your most recent visitors to the store.  Hopefully you and your staff have been compiling a huge list of emails from those who have made any kind of purchase.  You might also be generating emails from your website email capture forms or on Facebook.  In any case, you will want to email something about your even at least twice per month up until a few weeks before the event, and then even more frequently. 

One of the major benefits of the event is the accumulation of even more emails that you can use to reach customers through regular mailings in the future.  Make sure the raffle ticket asks for an email, and have prizes or other incentives at the event to gather emails from those in attendance.

A big draw for events in most cities today are the food trucks.  You will need to call these folks month in advance as they are very much in demand.  Each one will have certain policies and requirements, and some may even require a minimum gross for the time they are at your shop. 

An Event Should Be Exciting and Fun - A Boring Event Is A Huge Waste of Time and Treasure

On the days of the event you will want to keep the party going.  There is nothing worse than big lulls and lags between the festivities.  One way to help is to have a local music combo come and play.  This might be a group from the local high school, and their personal popularity will bring more youth to the party.  You can commonly get such a group for free.  Be certain to get a preview of their style and ability before bringing them to your event.  And make it clear what kind of music you are hoping to have them play.

You will need an MC for the raffle and give away portion of the day.  Make sure that the MC has a personality that can keep the crowd engaged.  You will want to thank any company that has given the various prizes and other items that are given away.  Tossing items to the crowd has become a standard approach for generating a fun atmosphere. 

Make sure you have a clear schedule of events.  This might include clinics, demos, sign ups for clubs, charity sign ups, carnival booths (dunk tanks and similar), product demonstrations, samples, super interesting seminars by local or national speakers.  Have your team brainstorm on what will please your crowd enough to stay all day, or even come back the next day.

To have a sale or not to have a sale.  Sometimes the event will be all about selling things.  Sometimes you will be more interested in creating visibility and good will.  Other times you may want to do both.  Only you and your staff can determine what the day will be designed to accomplish in your overall marketing strategy.   If you are going to have a big sale, try to concentrate the time of that sale into one or two windows to create a "frenzy."  If the sale goes on all day or over several days you won't get that kind of atmosphere. 

To draw that neighborhood crowd, consider search lights the night before any day of the event.  You might also want to rent a huge rooftop balloon for the week leading up to your big day.  Banners are great.  If you are partnering with a local service club, school, or other group, you may even get the city to allow banners on the major street in the area.

Invite local dignitaries such as the mayor, president of the chamber, and others to come.  This will help your post event PR. 

Be sure to take lots of pictures.  You may even want to hire an event photographer or videographer.  These pictures and videos can then be used for emails, youtube videos, blog posts, content on Facebook, etc.

Holding an after event party is commonly a great idea.  Invite all staff, their dates or spouses, volunteers who helped, the leadership of the partnering non-profit, press, and local dignitaries.  This dinner might cost you a pretty penny, but it will be worth it to create good will with everyone concerned. 


What other things have you done to insure the success of an event.  Add your thoughts in the comments below.

8 Rules for Using Backlinks Help a Miami Lawyer to Rank?

Miami Lawyers Gilbert and Smallman

My Miami Lawyer Client Is the Hardest Keyword I've Ever Faced

Some keywords are easy, like chimney sweep Hackensack.  Other keywords are hard.  I was talking about this with another SEO consultant the other day.  We weren't sure if Miami attorney or Philadelphia lawyer was harder.  We just agreed, both were tough.

The basic rules for writing online content in order to generated views and backlinks haven't changed:

Rule #1 - Your content should be written for the consumer of the content, not for Google.
Rule #2 - Rewrite to optimize the article for backlinks without compromising the quality of the writing.

Both of these rules will please the Google Beast.  You must first feed it strong, healthy food, then you can add in the Extreme Moose Tracks.  For a while in 2010 - 2012, this was not necessarily the case.  You could write, "spell article by lawyer in Miami attorney for criminal law around special patterns," and hyperlink Lawyer in Miami to their home page.  Then you would merely place this sentence in an article, press release, forum,  and/or "guest blog," and Google actually gave the links credit.

But algorithm changes Panda, Penguin, and assorted others changed everything in early 2012, and today this same practice might actually cause the beast to eat you.  There are some new rules in 2013.

Rule #3 - Don't overuse the same exact keyword from the same source.   We used to believe that you just needed to keep the total use of a keywords under 5% of the total on the page (or some other percent depending on which guru you were reading).  Now you can lose the value of keywords or even get negative attention if the keyword is overused even in the same website or blog.

Rule #4 - Solve the overuse problem by using synonyms.  Google wants you to write naturally, and knows that good writers don't use the same words over and over.  A good writer will say that, "The Miami lawyer was noted for involvement in a synthetic marijuana case.  The Miami based Attorney made the news in this case which potentially would break new legal ground."

Rule #5 - You will note in the above rule #4, that each link is to a different URL that the dealer hopes to help to rank.  In this case, one is to the website and the other is to the blog.  It would be easy to also point out that,"The Law Offices of Gilbert and Smallman offer many videos about criminal law in South Florida."   This link goes to their YouTube channel or could go to a specific video.  You can repeat this with individual blog posts, inside pages on the website, and so on.

Rule #6 - Google also knows that good writers will commonly provide a "natural" url instead of a hyperlink.  So they like to see variations in this theme as well.  "Another way that Miami criminal attorneys Gilbert and Smallman impact the legal scene in Florida is through their extensive blog on all designed to help consumers understand legal issues.  The blog is available at http://blog.hgilbertlaw.com

Rule #7 - I also changed the URL for this blog to have /Miami-lawyer appear first in the internal page portion of the URL.  Google looks at URL's, and believes that what you put in the URL is what is most important to you.

Rule #8 - I created a "Search Description" which is the equivalent in Blogger for the description tag.  This tag should be written as a teaser and have 140 characters or less.  

The blog post above provided my client with 5 backlinks to 4 different URL's with 3 different keywords.  And you'll also note that one of the links was in the H1 headline.  The article sounds perfectly normal, not jammed with inappropriate or weird sentences designed to merely spam.

What would you add to this analysis?  Are there other techniques that you are currently using to provide great content, but that also benefit your sites with links?

Does Your Business Cultivate Customers, Clients, or Fans? Chapter 40/101 Marketing Secrets

In Business Customers Are Necessary, Clients Are Profitable, and Fans Rock the House

For nine chapters we've been spelling out the importance of word of mouth to increasing sales and profits in your business.   If you are just joining us now, you might want to go back and see what all the fuss is about starting in chapter 31.  In fact, you might even want to go back to chapter 1. 

We made the case that 70% of all new business for almost all companies comes from referrals.  Therefore as much as we might spend money, fuss about, and concern ourselves with other important marketing strategies, word of mouth is the big kahuna.

If you've been reading along, you know that a recurring theme has been customer service.  Great customer service can take a customer who just sees you as a shop, a place, a method for filling a need or want, into a client.  A client is someone who sees your business as an ongoing resource for products and services, sure.  But also for information, ideas, encouragement, engagement, insight, and possibly even a part of their social circle. 

Clients don't shop around.  Clients are more likely to refer you.  Clients want to receive your email blasts, and sometimes even open them.  You can call a client and ask a favor or just to chat about something new in your business that would be of interest to him.  And a client is more likely to do an online review for you, and one that you will be happy about. 

The word Fan is of the same root as the word Fanatic.  These folks are a different breed.  And they are worth cultivating.  They not only don't shop around, they actually want you to be successful.  They are less likely to quibble about the price, but expect you to be appreciative in figuring their cost.  They are excited to see an email from you.  Snail mail, too.  And if you run an add in the paper, they feel an attachment. 

If you need allmost any kind of reasonable favor, the fan is ready to help.  They consider you a friend and hope you feel likewise.  They've already done reviews of your business, but are ready and happy to do more.  They may or may not be influencers in the communities you care about in any traditional sense of the word.  However, they will tell anyone who listens that they should do business with you. 

Image via CrunchBase

How Do You Get More Fans?

When I say fan, what comes to mind?  Stars in sports, TV, music, and movies.  What is it about those folks that turns us into fans?  We might also be fans of certain products or brands.  Apple, Corvette, or Cheesecake Factory.  Why? 

I think if I had to sum it up, the word that comes to mind is excellence.  You could say top-of-class or best-in-category.  Costco, In 'N Out, Mercedes. 

We know in our knower what it takes to be the best.  Hard work.  Laser like focus.  Uncompromising attitude.  Risk taking.  Discipline.  Attention to detail.  Working the fundamentals.  Unflagging perseverance. 

The good news is that all of this is graded on a curve.  You don't have to be Bret Favre to have fans if you are on the Cleveland Browns or playing in High School.  You have to be the best in YOUR community.  That still means going for A's in all the subjects outlined above. 

If you build it, they will come.  If you build the kind of fan base that appreciates what you do enough, your chances for success have leapfrogged by a hefty multiple. 

So we come to the end of the WOM section, and head into the "Going Big" section.  By going big, I don't necessarily mean even opening a second location or hiring more salespeople.  Going big means creating a marketing shot heard round the world . . . or at least your world. 

101 Marketing Secrets

101Small Business Fundamentals That Could Easily Change Your Life

Following is the introduction to a book that I am writing online.  The first 40 chapters out of 101 are linked below.  By the time you've read those 40, I should have at least another 10 ready for you.  Subscribe so you are kept up to date.

 

The Top Ten Marketing Fundamentals According to the Serial Marketer

 

The Project

Several months ago I set out to create my seminal book up to this time.  In 1998 I updated When Friday Isn't Payday, a book that attempted to take a business owner or even a potential business owner through every phase of a start up or take over from the conception of the idea to the eventual sale or passing off to family or employees.

The book is available dirt cheap on Amazon used, or you can buy a brand spanking new copy for a little bit more money.  Heads up:  the internet portions are a bit outdated.  However, that means the other almost 300 pages are evergreen.  Warner Books believed in those 300 pages in 1993 and gave them new life in 2008.  Inc Magazine said it was one of the top three small business books published in 1993.  The new title is Running a 21st Century Small Business.  There are tons of reviews if you care to check it out.

In late 2011, I completed my 4th in a series of books for the bicycle industry, called Principles of Bicycle Retailing for the Internet Age.  There are only a few copies left at $50 each.  The content works for virtually any retailer.  You can buy that here.

Now I wanted to kick it up a notch.  I've started and owned or co-owned 33 businesses in a variety of industries.  But I don't want to bore you with all that.  If you're interested, check out my bio.  In the last five years I have worked with another 250 businesses for anywhere from a few months to the entire five years as a marketing consultant.  The die had been cast.

The seminal book is to be called something like 101 Marketing Fundamentals According to the Serial Entrepreneur.  The title is a work in progress, and if you are great at titles, give me your best idea in the comments.  I'll reward you with something if I use it.  No promises. It will be any more than a signed copy of the book.

Or books.  There is a chance I will release this as 5 books or 10 books.  Short eBooks covering various aspects of the marketing equations.  I have written 35 of the chapters and they are interspersed here in this blog.  I might take them down when I finish.  I might not.  Not sure.

I am in the process of rewriting the first ten chapters.  They are linked below.  Depending on what day you follow the links, you may get the first draft or the latest update.  But know this, it is all free, and no obligation.  I've been blessed in my life with great mentors and I'm happy to pass along any wisdom that I might have gained.  You may not think it is great wisdom.  Happy to have you express your opinion in the comments of any of these chapters.  I'm not nearly too old to learn.

So have at it.  Here are the first ten chapters.   And these are in order of importance.  After the first 10 chapters, the tend to fall in groups.

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The Top 10 Marketing Fundamentals According to the Serial Entrepreneur and Biz Book Author Randy Kirk

1.  Setting Goals Is The Number 1 Marketing Fundamental  by a Landslide  

2.  Strategies Are What Make Goals Come Alive
 
3.  Tactics Are the Third Leg in an effective Business Plan  

4.  What is Profit - How Do I Make More of That?

5.  Cost of Goods and Overhead Can Make or Break You  

6.  Nothing Happens Until Something Is Sold 

7.  Customer Service and the Ultimate Question  

8.  Business Reputation Online and Off  

9.  Hire, Train, and Motivate the Best People 

10.  The Quality Decision  

 

10 Marketing Secrets: How Do You Establish An Image For Your Small Business? Chapters 11-20

Let's all be honest.  We did not sit down when we started our small business and plan all the details of our image.  I have started 33 businesses, and I have not followed my own advice on this subject more than a few times.  You may have become very successful without paying attention to any, some, or all of the items on this list.  But I daresay that if you even scan over this list, you will agree that analyzing these items and proactively making decisions about the image issues listed will have a positive effect on your potential.

It is never too late.  You can start tomorrow.  Each of these items is linked to a blog post that gives the details for the headline. 


 11.   The Niche Your Company Occupies
 12.   The Branding of Your Company
 13.   The Territory Your Company Seeks to Sell Into
 14.   The Demographic of Your Client Base
 15.   The Expression of Your Personality as Projected onto Your Company
 16.   Your Logo, Colors, and Slogan and the Impression They Make
 17.   The Street View of Your Business
 18.   The Brands you Carry Effect Your Company Brand
 19.   Online Personality Commonly Doesn't Reflect Your Business
 20.   The Way You Answer the Phone Is Part of Marketing

 

Marketing Secrets Tutorials - Logistics Review - Key Stuff You Need to Properly Market Your Company in 2012.  Chapters 21 - 30

Marketing Secrets: The Fundamentals of Great Marketing

Take a quick test of your business leadership skills.  How do you come out on these four?

Thus far in our series of 101 Marketing Secrets from a Serial Entrepreneur, we have built the case for goals, strategies, tactics and seven of our top ten recommended logistical considerations. 

The seven logistical items we have covered thus far are linked below.  Are these elements controlling you or are you controlling them.  Are you proactively evaluating and planning for adequate provisions for the battle, or are you marching into war hoping you'll find ample supplies of critical materials, equipment, and other resources along the way?

21.  Having enough money matters!  A lot.
22.  Suppliers are more important than customers
23.  Lost our lease is more common that you think.  Facilities
24.  Employees are a necessary evil OR your key to long term success
25.  Time is relentless, unyielding, precious. Count it
26.  You and your employees have limited time and energy.  Plan accordingly
27.  Your family is a logistical consideration.  Unhappy families kill businesses
28.  If You Ain't Got No Axe, You Cain't Cut No Wood
29.  Empty Wagon or Museum? - Inventory Control
30.  Small Business Visibilty Has a Cost and a Benefit That Can be Measured

 

Referrals Beat Every Other Method as a Source for New Clients, and Excellent Quality Clients at That.  Chapters 31 -40

Chapter #31   I make my living helping small businesses figure out the best way to increase sales.   My services are much more necessary for helping with print, trade shows, packaging, new product development, blog, websites, videos, social media, and email than they are for the most effective tool in marketing for generating new business.  WOM - Word of Mouth.

However, I spend huge amounts of time convincing my clients to do the very things that will increase referrals.  You can read about them throughout this post and throughout this blog.

With #31 in the series we now move to building on that foundation with specific approaches to delivering phone calls, foot traffic, and online activity.  The goal will be to go from the most effective for the most businesses to the least effective.  Effectiveness would be defined as those things which provide the highest return on investment of time, energy, and cold, hard cash. 

There are certainly times when you will want to undertake marketing methods that have a low ROI, but still create absolutely certain results at appropriate times.  Sometimes the ROI is not easily identified, but can only be seen over a very long term.  For our purposes, we will look only at high, immediate, ROI as the criteria.

With that introduction, we return to the number one source of new business for almost any new business.  All the statistics show that at or above 50% of new customers are showing up at small businesses because of this factor.  My own conversations with 1000's of companies would show the same results.  Anywhere from 50% to almost 100% of new customers are derived from word of mouth (WOM).

The interesting thing about WOM is that most of the cost of traditional WOM is free.  WOM is most commonly driven by things like quality, customer service, and overall experience.  Achieving those three elements in a business may require the hiring of better people, training investment, use of better materials, and spending on fixtures and systems.  Almost anyone who has studied these kinds of business costs has come to the conclusion that the savings from scrap, obsolescence, rework, and lost customers alone pay for these expenses and more.  That they are also responsible for increasing sales and profits through WOM is basically icing on the cake.

    32.    Creating Effective Word of Mouth (WOM) About Your Customer Service Edge
    33.    Experiential Marketing
    34.    Amazing Products and Services?  Grade Yours!    
    35.    Amazing Follow Up.  Are Your Customers Out of Sight, Out of Mind?
    36.    Stay in Touch to Create Maximum Word of Mouth
    37.    Equipping Your Clients to Recommend You Can Increase Word of Mouth
    38.    Find the Influencers in Your Community to Spread Word of Mouth
    39.    7 Ways to Thank Those Who Send You Business to Build WOM
    40.    Do you Cultivate Customers, Clients, or Fans?

Virtually every company I have ever discussed marketing with will tell me one minute that WOM is the number one source of new clients, but then assume that the future will depend on the internet or some other factor.  My first thought is always, "how do we capitalize on what is already working."

Obviously, Word of Mouth is no longer only the traditional case of one person telling another in a face-to-face or telephone conversation.  There is now an entire industry based on internet reviews and social media that has pushed WOM into something quite different.  I will go out on a limb however, and even offer you the chance to tell me I'm all wet.  Traditional WOM can provide all the potential that it always has.  And if the company is doing what it should to create traditional WOM, the online version will do quite well, thank you very much.  Online WOM or WOMM will be discussed in future chapters.

*****If you are finding this information valuable, please tell your friends and associates who own small businesses.  Tweet about it, Facebook it, Linkedin it, Google+ it, and Put it up on Pinterest.

Chapters 41 - 50 should be coming to you by the end of June.  Maybe sooner.  The basic idea of the next 10 chapter is "Going Big."  Sometimes we get caught up in small time thinking.  These are larger, more aggressive, and more visible types of marketing effort.  The rough chapter titles for this section are:

41  Call a Huge Amount of Attention to Your Company (event, contest, scavenger hunt)

42  Go Where Your Customers Go 

43   Join Something.  Anything.  Ok.  Almost Anything

44   Do Something Wild and Crazy  (price, delivery, hours)

45   Give Away Gold Bars  (or something else valuable)

46  Make Your Mom Proud.  Become a Local Celebrity  (top execs or employees, too)

47  Make Your Dad Proud.   Become a Noted Expert    (top execs or employees, too)

48.  Make Everybody Proud.  Write a Book

49  Start A New Community Event

50  New Products, New Services, New Displays, New Ideas, New Categories

7 Ways to Thank Those Who Send You Business to Build WOM

Marketing Secret 39 Out of 101 - Thank, Reward, Cheer, Publicly Appreciate Influencers

Marriage Tip #1 - Don't ever take your spouse for granted!  Wonder how many marriages would still be in tact if that advice had been followed.  "But how many times to do I have to tell you that your beautiful?"  Correct answer:  It is never enough.   "But how many times do I have to tell you how amazing you are at running your business?"  Same answer. 

Business Tip #39 - Don't ever take your influencers for granted!  Wonder how many customers not only stopped spreading the word about you, but even stopped coming in because they didn't feel the love.  And just because it is tip #39, does not mean it isn't important.  After all, there are another 62 that follow this one, and I'm sure others could add another 101 to my 101.

Do you know who is currently singing your praises and bringing in new business?  Think about it.  Make a list.  Ask your staff for names.  Then start a proactive campaign to get more.  These can be from existing customers, friends, and associates, or starting with the next customer.   (See chapter 38 - Find the Influencers in Your Community to Spread Word of Mouth).

How can you keep them working for your business?  Here are 7 ways to thank them.

1.  Keep them Informed - Those who like to influence others are generally information sponges.  They can only be an influencer if they are providing useful, timely information about a wide range of subject.  Their motive may be many and varied, but generally they feel helpful, useful, or even powerful as a result of the role they take.

Help them out.  Give them the latest scoop.  Call, send emails (personal), and take them aside when they are at your business.  Provide them with inside information about new products or services.  Let them borrow samples of items to try.  Are you aware of trends or deals that you can share?

2.  Make them special - Personalize your own business relationship the Nordstrom's way.  You may or may not know that Nordstrom's sales people keep a book on many of their clients.  When new clothes arrive, they go through their client list to see who would be likely candidates for the latest greatest offerings.  Then they set up appointments for them to come and try on the new items.  When I ran a factory, the commercial lines insurance broker would call me every quarter to set a time to meet.  He would bring me up to date on changes in the commercial insurance markets. 

3.  Praise in public - Publicly praise or thank your influencers.  When they come in the store, introduce them to any new employees, giving high praise for their importance to the store.  The client should see that they will have influence with anyone on your staff.  If there are seminars or dinners or clinics that your influencers participate in, find a reason to applaud them in that situation. 

4.  Update them on the referral - If you get a specific client or contract or opportunity as a result of a recommendation from an influencer, make sure that you let them know the status of that opportunity.  Did you call?  Did you connect?  What is the current status?  Did you land the deal?  This is important on so many levels.  From the point of view of the influencer:

• I'm not going to give you more referrals if you don't take advantage of the ones I bring you.
• I can get extra feel goods by knowing the outcome
• I can call my friend and get the benefit of having been part of the effort
• I may be able to help push the deal forward, and broker any missteps  

5.  Send a gift - Obvious right?  Do you do it?  Cash is the least appreciated.  Discounts on future purchases seems like what they should get anyway.  A free item or service?  That's better.

Like any gift, the best gift will be something that shows you know them and care about them.  Tickets to their favorite sports or entertainment event.  Dinner out on you.  A really, really nice wine.  If the new client turns out to be worth a lot to you, you may even want to send another thank you later. 

6.  Return the favor - Is there some way for you to refer business, ideas, or suppliers to the influencer?  This won't cost you out of pocket, but it will take a serious effort in time to think about where you can be of help.  

7.  Create a VIP club - This club never has to meet, but I'd suggest that it does meet at least once a year for a tribute dinner.  It can be made up of best customers, influencers, suppliers, etc.  They are the folks who are making the biggest contribution to your success.  They should certainly have some kind of platinum card that gives them specific benefits.  There should potentially be a special email several times a year.  There can be special hours when they can shop or visit that are not available to the rest of your customers. 

So by now your word of mouth should be making you tons of friends and money.  We cap off the word of mouth section of this book with chapter 39  "Do you Cultivate Customers, Clients, or Fans?"

Have you read the other 38 chapters that proceeded this one?  They are all on this blog.  At least for now.  If you subscribe, you will be alerted as I keep adding to the list.  Why don't you let your friends online and offline know about this blog.  After all, you could be my influencer. 

Find the Influencers in Your Community to Spread Word of Mouth. Marketing Secret 38/101

Target the movers and shakers, then become one - make them feel like insiders

Thanks to http://snoo.ws/2013/04/15/engaging-with-social-media-influencers/

In every "community" there are those who are influencers.  Wikipedia says that:

There are substantial differences in the definition of what an influencer is. Peck defines influencers as "a range of third parties who exercise influence over the organization and its potential customers".^[4] Similarly, Brown and Hayes define an influencer as "a third party who significantly shapes the customer's purchasing decision, but may never be accountable for it.".^[1] The Word of Mouth Marketing Association defines an influencer as "A person who has a greater than average reach or impact through word of mouth in a relevant marketplace.^[5] Keller and Berry note that influencers are activists, are well-connected, have impact, have active minds, and are trendsetters,^[6] though this set of attributes is aligned specifically to consumer markets.

Influencers may or may not every buy a product or service from you.  However, they are a conduit of information to others who find their advice to be useful.   So your goal is to make yourself know to influencers, so they can do what they do so well.

First, you need to identify these individuals within your community.  And even the community needs to be determined.  It could be geographic, industry specific, political, religious, or any number of interest groups.  Other communities might be identified by age, gender, ethnicity, or income.

Once you've identified a dozen, a hundred, or even more of these folks, you can set out to find a way to bring them into your fold.  Here are some likely methods:

1. Join the clubs, groups, or associations that they belong to
2. Become active in service that is attractive to those influencers
3. Ask your best customers who they believe is an influencer you should connect with
4. Pay special attention to those in your current circle who might be influencers
5. Connect with these leaders in social media where they are active
6. Be bold.  Set up an appointment to discuss how you can help one another

Once you have a core of influencers to work with, consider ways to help them spread the word about you.  Refer back to chapter 37, dealing with ways to equip those that you hope will "sell" for you.

Create A VIP Club and Invite Influencers to Join

One way you might turn them into a mighty sales force would be to establish an inner circle, a VIP club, or an unofficial board of directors.  These folks love to influence, provide counsel, and use their powers for good.  Give them what they want.  Once they have "bought into" your entire business plan as members of the elite wise council, they will clearly become cheerleaders at every possible chance.

If you do this, be certain to choose carefully.  You will need to actually implement some of their ideas to keep them interested and motivated.  Pay them with favors they can give to friends, samples to test, and "inner circle dinners."

Influencers in the Social Media World

In addition to the real world, we now have the virtual world.  I used to have a radio talk show program.  On that program I had a couple of fairly articulate listeners who called in all the time.  They were influencers in that medium.  I later met one of them, and he was socially awkward and unattractive.  He would likely not have had much influence in "real world" setting.  However, he was talking to thousands on my show.

So, too, on Facebook, Google+, Blogs, and more.  One of the most influential media in the US today is Mommy blogs.  These women may or many not be on the phone or giving advice at church, but their blogs often have very long reach.

You can more easily determine who the online influencers are, as they will be searchable in Google and within the various other media.  They may also be difficult to reach, but the effort might truly be worth it.  By creating lots of online media yourself, you may actually get the phone call or email from those very folks you hope to reach.  My clients have received calls from radio shows, ehow, major industry blogs, Yahoo, and others, asking for contributions in print or live. 

What other ways are you finding, reaching out to, and generating better WOM from influencers in your community?  Help us all out with your influential comments.