Marketing! Argh! … Sigh … As a small business owner with little time and resources, I often find it exhausting and overwhelming to think about marketing. With so many social media platforms, which one is right for me? How do I choose my networking groups? Should I partner with someone to provide complementary services? Should I pay for advertising in print or online? How do I go about finding opportunities to present? Should I invest in pens, keychains, flyers, decals, and cards? Oh my goodness! It’s important to know your target market and to be strategic. Rather than spread ourselves too thin, it’s better to focus on the tools that are right for you – where you can present your best self. Marketing takes clarity and effort. Likely, we won’t make the most advantageous choices in the beginning. But that’s okay. As clear as we may be in our future goals, there will be trial and error along the way. Even as we stumble on the path, we’ll get back up with perseverance and fortitude. That passion for our business keeps driving us on. With belief in the quality of what we’re offering, the reliability of our service, and honesty and kindness in our interactions, we forge relationships over time. We market to create “awareness” and to pique “interest.” We market to make human connections and build trust. With time and patience, our marketing tools become stronger until, at last, we’re selling regularly, having “transferred our feelings” to an ever-growing loyal clientele.
Every day brings with it new tasks, situations, and a to-do list that may get overwhelming. Thinking of the day ahead and the things that need to get done can be stressful and frustration may take over. One proven solution to stay in control is to apply prioritizing techniques.
Prioritizing what must get done in a day is a skill that anyone can acquire with a little bit of organization and discipline. However, learning to stay focused and focused on goals requires determination and persistence.
Each day, one gets to do planned activities and unplanned activities. It is easy to prioritize planned activities. Applying a few prioritizing techniques will increase efficiency on a normal day. As for the unplanned activities that unexpectedly come up, the best way to handle them is by making decisions that are focused on business goals.
Techniques that may help in the prioritizing process:
Create a To-Do list the night before. Just work on a list without even thinking of what should get done first or last.
First thing in the morning, get the To-Do list and read it carefully. Based on business goals for the day take out the tasks that may not seem important for that day.
Number the remaining items on the To-Do list based on importance to the set goals for the day.
Deal with unplanned activities that may unexpectedly arise, by making decisions that are based on daily goals.
During the prioritizing process, learning to say “No” may seem a difficult practice at first. However, it is a practice that needs to get done in order to stay focused on the prime tasks assigned for each day.
Entrepreneurs and small business owners may have the brightest business idea, but if they fail to identify their target market and their target audience they have set up their business venture for disaster. A distinct target market is the number one element of a successful marketing strategy.
WHAT IS TARGET MARKET?
It is analyzing a business sales market with the ability to identify who will be most interested in the product and/or service it is offering… and why? It is a segmented market whose interests are focused on the product and/or service a business is selling.
3 REQUIREMENTS FOR DEFINING YOUR TARGET MARKET
Research
Look at the demographics and geographic positioning of the market you are selling to. Explore their social status: their age, family size, education level, jobs they are holding, what area they live in, can they afford your product or services?
Segment Your Market
Based on your research divide your market and filter your data based on market interest and income status. You may find that a segment of your target market can afford to buy your offerings at full price; while you may also find another segment of your market that is interested in your offerings but can only afford to buy them at a discounted price.
Know Your Customer Base
Connect with your customers regularly and occasionally survey their needs for what you are selling. As your business grows, your client needs and social status may change. Build a system that will keep your client base information up-to-date. Your current clients already have an interest in your product/service and after all word of mouth will help you acquire new clients or even potential clients that are interested to follow your business.
WHAT IS TARGET AUDIENCE?
Based on its target market a business can then identify the group of people that may be interested to get their promotions and advertising material, or they may even be at the ready stage to buy a product! That group of people can vary in terms of age, occupation, geographic location, family status, or income, but the only factor that makes that group the target audience is that they are identified as having developed an interest in your product/service.
3 REQUIREMENTS FOR DEFINING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Knowledge of target market
The more you know about your target market the easier it is to identify your target audience. If, for example, your target market is Women in high positions in the workplace; then in order to identify the audience it will help to know their management ranking. Are they part of Senior management or are they in Junior management? Are they involved in a decision-making process or do they just transfer recommendations through the company hierarchy, etc…
Surroundings matter
When the target market gets outlined it is also important to consider its surroundings. If women in high positions, that make decisions in the workplace, are the target market, then the target audience will be these women along with anyone in their social and professional circles: their subordinates, coworkers, direct reports, husband, partners, kids, and family members, fitness club friends, etc….
Purpose is Key
Define the purpose for providing your business offerings. Is the purpose behind your product/service to enhance beauty? Or is it to facilitate logistics? Is it to develop your customer team? Or is it a food item that your clients or family members may be interested in?
Knowing the target market and knowing the purpose behind providing that specific product and/or service will definitely help the business define its target audience and stay focused on the needs to whom they are selling. A distinct target audience is definitely the number one element of a successful sales strategy.
Most small businesses create their marketing strategies without considering the many online marketing tools available for them to use as they promote and create visibility for their business. Here are three promotional tools that will help grow a small business.
Speaking at events
Becoming a speaker at events may require some effort to attend the different events that take place in a business area. Joining business networking groups and becoming active members there may open up opportunities for increased visibility for a small business. In some groups, speaking at events may be offered as a benefit to members only.
Podcasting
Position your business as a leader in its business industry, and create podcasts that educate, inform or maybe create awareness about a product or service. Podcasting is a growing trend that will increase visibility for your business, and they make good content to post and circulate on social media platforms.
Advertise in a community newspaper
Community magazines are usually widely distributed and read by the public. Find the community magazine that is most viewed by your business target audience and run an ad there for a few months in a row. Ads are most effective when seen by the viewer repetitively.
Some beneficial promotional resources that are worth exploring are:
Bizbites (bizbites.ca) – a pool for business podcasts
Canadian SME – the #1 small business magazine in Canada.
More tools are available out there, explore opportunities and search for what works best to position your business as a leader in its own industry.
Is creativity crucial to small business success? Is it enough to hire creative workforce to design, plan, strategize and implement? What about businesses that adopt the traditional business approach? Do innovative business strategies define the success of a business?
Yes, in order for a small business to stand out in this competitive world of business it requires creativity and innovation. Whether a small business can hire inventive staff or not, creativity has to start in Leadership. When a business owner is not creative, the business becomes very habitual and resistant to change. In a world where change is happening every day, a business that lacks creativity will eventually expire.
Here are 3 goals to drive the creative business owner:
Be a leader in your industry
Competition is on the rise and business owners have to work hard to make their business stand out from other competitors. They find themselves working with an innovative mind rather than moving forward the traditional way. Any small business seeking to become leaders in their own industry finds it fundamental to be creative in their business approach.
Think outside the box
As a business owner myself, I found that anytime I confine myself to one business approach and restrict myself to that school of thought, my success curve will eventually decline. Business owners: stay up-to-date with the latest business trends and feed on the creativity that is presented by the different business experts.
Make creativity your business mark
Competitors are watching the progress of others in their industry; make creativity your mark. When that happens they will find themselves copying your ideas and business strategies and you automatically become the leader in that business trade.
Small businesses cannot survive on their own. In every business, most sales are done through word of mouth or referrals from people who have established trust in the business or the owner of the business. Building a network of connections results in getting leads that may turn into customers or that may send customers to a business. Being a part of a business community will help expand the reach and, with that, increase leads.
Learn Best Practices
Business community websites are filled with information that can be of importance to small businesses. Starting from how to start a business to the latest business trends, business communities are a great resource to gain knowledge about how to’s and where to’s for growing a business. Whether it be through forums, group discussions, or just postings on a profile timeline, there is always something to learn and gain knowledge from.
Stay Motivated
Being a part of a network will definitely help motivate a business owner. Entrepreneurs tend to lack motivation at times as they are responsible for all business tasks. At times they get overwhelmed with tasks and lose motivation, and at other times they may feel they have run out of ideas and lose motivation to continue. A good way to stay motivated is to find a professional business community and stay active there. Stay connected with business owners on the network, attend community networking events, stay visible by placing ads or taking up speaking engagements during events, and always offer to help. That will not only keep a business owner motivated, but it will also increase business visibility within the community.
Generate Leads
Business leads come from knowing people. Meeting people requires a community. Loos for business communities that have a virtual platform and that also run events. That way, one will get to meet people and then stay connected over the internet to send leads and referrals. One thing business owners have to remember, in a community, one has to give in order to take. Give leads, and others will send you leads. Give referrals to other business members, and others will send you referrals.
Enjoy Benefits
Business community websites usually offer benefits to their members. Benefits may vary from free services to discounts and offers to access to business resources and more. Make use of these benefits! Many businesses register at business community websites and forget about their accounts. It’s good to visit business community websites often to explore new benefits added to members.
In business life, the inception of a new idea potentially turns into a vision. However, a vision does not bring growth to a business except if the business owner gets busy equipping their business for growth. A vision may direct a business, it may lead the path and be the foundation for objectives and goals, but it will require some equipping along the way to bring growth. Here are few steps that will equip a small business for growth:
Register a business to give it an identity and status
Organize the business idea by writing a business plan. Even if it was a short 2 pages plan, the purpose is to help detail the idea, eliminate chaos that may result in delays, and bring it into existence.
Write the vision and mission statements to define a purpose for the business.
Detail the product/service. Give it a name, a price and a description.
Package products/services to facilitate the process of sales and provide a value added bundle for the client.
Prepare a presentation highlighting your products and services to display when meeting with clients.
Prioritize marketing the business and treat it as an integral part of the budget. One of the main purposes of marketing is to increase visibility of your brand and cause people to talk about it.
Marketing attracts leads and fans to your brand (and/or product/service), and these leads will spread the word about your business.
Stay up to date with the latest trends.
Make an effort to stay abreast with technologies.
Be ready to answer questions about your business.
Meet with clients in a professional environment. Find an office rental provider that will equip the business for growth by providing quality services and benefits.
There are two concepts that are important to understand and that contribute to the growth of a business:
Give first and that will open doors for others to give back. Do not be afraid to provide free services. Identify a service that may turn into a hit and offer it for free at start. Take facebook, Twitter and linkedIn as examples, the platforms have been offered free since their inception, and once they became popular the owners started finding ways to monetize them.
A business does not grow without an investment. Whether it be time investment or money investment, it has to be substantial. A business grows gradually, but the time will come when a business has to run from a physical space that will allow it to grow. Looking for an office to rent becomes a must, and through weighing the pros and cons the small business owner gets to choose the office solution that works best for their business. Beware as the benefits that come with an office will definitely determine how much the business gets equipped for growth.
