• Put your best foot forward:  I started this post giving you a background of the summit-facts & figures. I stopped and started over. Why? Because,  I was reminded at the summit that you have to start with the best part first.  The part that your customers want most.  The organizers of the event did this by having the first keynote delivered by Guy Kawasaki.   It was BRILLIANT!  Guy is an expert at marketing to SMBs and that is what that audience cared about.  He is an excellent speaker and his presentation was a home run.   Why is starting with the best so effective? Because you immediately engage your audience (customers).  It shows you care about helping solve their problems and their needs.  It shows that you understand them and share their worldview–their values and beliefs.  This is very important because it sets the tone for the rest of your interactions with them.   You as a small business have the power to be in control of how you are perceived by your customers and the market.  A lot of small businesses give this power away without even realizing it. By having an industry expert and legend open the summit, the company set a positive tone and made a great impression on the audience (their customers).
• Make a variety of friends: The leadership team at Parallels has always been great at creating partnerships and making friends.  Early on, Sergeui Beloussov (now the company’s  Executive Chairman) had the foresight to have a diverse set of companies become partners.  Sergeui is a visionary and was able to understand that it takes a village to grow a company.  In other words, if you want your company to grow, you need to create a diverse ecosystem with varied resources.  At the summit, Parallels continued to promote this philosophy by giving participants the opportunity to meet each other and network.  This is crucial for a small business.  I am a small business myself and I went to the summit to find partners–I took every opportunity at the summit to network.  The result: I found partners.  Parallels is also providing tools for their partners and customers to extend their own ecosystems through their APS program (details in original post.)
• Get social NOW: It still blows me away to think that small businesses are not using social media.  The conversation is already happening—join the conversation!  Parallels has done this incredibly well and has a great social media guru(s) handling @parallelscloud twitter account.   The person/people handling the account interacted with me months before the event even started and encouraged me to attend.  They engaged me and kept the conversation alive.  They were responsive but most importantly, they were authentic.  That is what social media is about.  It brings your brand to life.  It makes your company accessible and more “human”.  Your customers are humans and want to connect with your company/brand on that level.  @parallelscloud also monitored the hashtag #parallelscloud and was extremely responsive.  The activity on the hashtag showed that people were engaged and actively discussing the event.  I used the hashtag to monitor attendees.  If I saw a company that was interesting and fit my partner profile, I started a conversation.  Small businesses today need to use all the tools available to start and continue conversations.  Oh yeah, remember the partners I told you I met earlier in the post? Guess how I first reached out to them? That’s right, twitter.

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Original Post: Background, facts & figures

Last week, I attended Parallels Summit 2012, a conference aimed at helping service providers (such as hosting companies) launch new services in the cloud. A side note for non-techies, you probably already use cloud services–on the internet, such as email, collaboration tools, website builders and other marketing automation tools.

As some of you know, I worked at Parallels before it was Parallels.  In fact, I was part of the marketing team that put together the first summit.   I had not been back to the conference since I helped organize it and I was definitely curious to attend the summit.

I was impressed with everything about the summit.  It was well organized and the key notes were fantastic.  The first key note was Guy Kawasaki, who spoke about the art of changing hearts, minds and actions.  Really great speaker and made some noteworthy points which I will cover in a separate post this coming week.

Next, came Birger Steen, CEO of Parallels.  He shared some impressive stats with us.  Did you know that:

• There are over 5,000 Parallels service providers and re-sellers
• Parallels tech power more than 12 million small and medium businesses (SMBs)
• $1 Trillion is the amount of money spent by SMBs on IT and Telecomm

The next day, Serguei Beloussov, Executive Chairman of Parallels, gave his key note.  In it, he looks towards the future and how cloud computing will change in the next ten years.  Serguei is truly a visionary.  I have known him for many years and he has always had a knack for understanding where technology is headed.

Something that I am very interested in is Parallels efforts to expand its partners ecosystem through their Application Packaging Standard (APS).

With that in mind, I wanted to write a post and give small business tips on how to use some mobile marketing strategies.  

Mobile SMS Marketing Campaigns

These types of campaigns can be easy to implement and fairly affordable, I have seen pricing as low as $15 with a one year contract.  Reaching consumers on their phones can be an easy way for businesses to stay top of mind with consumers.  Here are some tips to make sure you are implementing an effective campaign:

• Always ask permission: Let your customers or potential customers know that if they provide you with a phone number, you will be using it in a text message campaign to send information, promotions, etc.  NEVER, EVER just take someone’s phone number and add it to a text messaging campaign.  You will get reported as spam and get shut down.
• Easy opt out: Make it easy for people to opt out of your campaigns.  You do not want a frustrated customer as this will create brand friction and they will associate this with your company.  Remember, mobile marketing is just one part of your comprehensive marketing strategy, if customers choose not to participate, that is OK.
• Stay on topic: It is crucial that you stay on topic and your campaigns are relevant to your customers.  If your customers signed up to receive coupons about a particular product, don’t send coupons about another one of your products in the hope that you can cross sell.  This is irritating and alienating for the customer.  It is vital that you are consistent and deliver on your brand promise. 
• Be consistent and clear:  It is important that you are clear in your messages, keep them simple and keep them short.  You must have a very precise understanding of who your audience is before you send a message.  If your audience is young, they will understand “text shorthand” but if they are not, your message may be misunderstood.  Also, consistently deliver messages–don’t wait two months between messages.  Timely messages are key to stay top of mind.  
• Have a give away: Its a great idea to get your customers engaged to give away something that they can’t get anywhere else.  It will definitely get the word out and hopefully they will tell their friends about the cool give away.

Have you used mobile marketing? If so how? What where the results? How have you seen other companies use it? Did you like it? Why or why not?  

Reach out! Leave a comment!  Email me at lore1173@gmail.com  follow me @npersona

• Content target and development
• Distribution

Content Targeting

Its important to understand who you are targeting with your content.  Who is your audience? What do they value? What problems are they trying to solve?  An important yet overlooked question to ask is, at what phase of the buying cycle is my customer?   This last question varies tremendously based on your product/service or industry.

It’s crucial for small business owners to understand the stages of the buying cycle:

• Vision: In this stage, the customer is trying to figure out what the best solution would be for their particular problem.  As a business owner, you can reach people by helping them figure out what problem they are trying to solve
• Planning: Here, consumers are starting to plan how to apply what they have learned during the vision phase.  Blogs can help consumers understand how your product/service can help them meet their requirements.
• Evaluation: Next, customers are evaluating solutions in detail.  The most relevant and influential content you can present is focused on function.
• Selection: In the final stage, customers are really in charge of the decision and have the negotiating power.

Customers expect to be educated by your content.  This knowledge should have an enormous impact on the content you create.  The quality of the writing and presentation are key in increasing effectiveness.  A lot of small business owners make the mistake of providing low quality content without even realizing it. This defeats the purpose of your blog and can even have a negative impact on your brand image.  Remember, thanks to social media—twitter, facebook, linkedin and others—content can very easily go viral.  As a small business owner, its important you don’t miss that opportunity.

Distribution

Google is affecting how content is found.  Ever since the search giant released its powerful search engine, relevancy has become the most important factor in internet searches.  Consumers use Google as a starting point for find everything—even your business.  Unfortunately, Google is in control of how and who finds you.  As a business owner you do not have that power.  When you are developing content, for blogs, wikis, social media, etc., you must always make sure you are using relevant terms that will be indexed by the search giant. Headlines are very important for grabbing users attention—you must have a “hook” to engage the reader so they continue to read.  However, they are also the first thing that is indexed by Google’s bots.   Be sure it is optimized with key words that are relevant to your product/service/company.  It is CRUCIAL, I repeat CRUCIAL to use tags, especially in blogs so others can more easily find you.  Don’t let Google decide where to position your content, use as many tools as possible to influence your rank.

Bloggers are another source of distribution for your content.  In fact, they are even more important than traditional media.  In terms of bloggers, the most important thing for a business owner to do is to find the “experts” in your industry and start interacting with them.  The key is to influence the “influencer”.  Chances are your potential customers are also reading these bloggers content.  Become part of the community and engage bloggers through comments and by offering to provide educational content they can use.  Remember, bloggers are always looking for content—become that source.  Its basically free PR for your business and much, much more influential.  Even better, become the expert yourself!

Remember your goal with content marketing is to create awareness and generate leads.

Hope you found this helpful!  Please comment!

Contact me at lore1173@gmail.com with questions and follow me on twitter @npersona

1) Grow your business: read new clients

2) Maintain your business: read maintain existing clients

3) Grow your brand: read establish trust

I think the title of the post summarizes my thoughts on the importance of marketing.   By the time you realize you need marketing it may be too late.  You need to be prepared and have a client pipeline that is active and filled with qualified leads.  Ask yourself, when was the last time I reached out to a former client? Do you have an active relationship with current clients?  When was the last time I engaged my clients or potential clients in a conversation? Am I active in local networking groups to meet other professionals in my field?  How am I effectively using social media to establish and maintain my brand?

Developing a strong marketing strategy BEFORE you need it is key.  So, how do you get started?  Start by creating a business plan.  First, determine where you are as a company.   Who are your best customers? What do they think about you? Lets talk about this for one second.

Most businesses have no idea what their customers think about them.  Have you asked?  There are many free survey tools out there to use.  One example is Survey Monkey http://www.surveymonkey.com/ Figure out what appeals to your customers about your business.  Why did they buy? Was it an outstanding product? Outstanding customer service? Find out what your “secret sauce” is as a small business and then emphasize that out of proportion.   Get customers to talk about you and tell their friends.  Even better get customers to give you a testimonial and create a story around your “secret sauce”.  And then send out that story in your newsletter.

Oh. You don’t have a newsletter?  One of the best ways to keep your products and services top of mind with current and potential customers is via email newsletters.  A great one is Mail Chimp www.mailchimp.com Make it a habit to communicate with your customers on a regular consistent basis.

Wait, you don’t have a database. Oh.  Its important that you capture emails for current and potential customers.  This is the life blood of your business, why would you not want to communicate with them and engage them in conversations?

But thankfully its not too late to start off 2012 right! Here are your action items:

1) Determine where you are as a company

2) Ask your customers what they think about your company/product

3) Start a database (if you don’t have one)/If you do, set up your newsletter

Do one action item each day and by the end of the year you will have done 365 positive things for your business.  This is how you get results! Execution. Determination. Action.

You can do it!

One issue that stuck out for me was the immigration reform issue.   Mr. Case nailed it on the head when he said we (the U.S.) have the brightest people come here to study and then we send them back to compete with us.   This has always baffled me.  Only the best and most dedicated come here to study and work—and we let them go? huh? I fully support finding a way to keep these hard-working intelligent people here–to continue to build this great nation.  To fill it with innovation and new ideas.  My greatest hope is that the day is near when we are able to keep talent here, in the US.  To have entrepreneurs come here to build great strong companies.  To foster an environment that welcomes innovation not politics. 

I am an immigrant.  Without a lot of luck and hard work I might not be here. I am an entrepreneur.  I am building a company that I hope one day will bring a lot of value and create jobs.  I am going to make the economy strong.  That is the mission of my company.  Those are the services I provide, those are the products I build.  My company is built to make a real difference. To help small businesses and other entrepreneurs grow strong companies.  I know that my company will make a difference in the lives of many.   Today I walked away with hope that more people will have the opportunity that I have–the opportunity to work hard and make a difference in the world.  Carry on!

I hear a lot of businesses say that marketing does not work because they do not know how to implement and take action on their marketing strategies.  You have to iterate and tweak as you go.  If possible do A/B testing on websites and on copy.   I have never met a business owner that did not have the best intentions when it came to marketing their product/service.  I have also never met a business owner that did not think they knew how to market their product/service.  Bottom line is, GOOD marketing is hard because it requires an completely different way of looking at the world.  Many business owners are enamored by their products (or services) and who can blame them, otherwise they would not have created them.  But they often forget when executing on their marketing plan, that  the art of marketing is not about your product/service. Its about your CUSTOMERS and making their lives BETTER.

Your product may have the latest XYZ technology but if it makes your customers lives more complicated, guess what? Its not making their lives BETTER and they won’t buy period.   A good marketing plan contains strategies and tactics to convey this.  And it takes TIME to execute.  Here are some tips to help you execute and save you time:

1. Hire the young communicator: They are easy to find. They are on twitter and have large followings.  They often engage in conversations with others and are trendsetters.  Hire them as social media interns and if they work out hire them full time.  Give them some guidelines but please let them engage in conversations freely.  Otherwise you are wasting your money.   Also, understand that social media is about awareness and conversations. Do not expect huge sales to come from here.
2. Contract a senior level marketer:  Often, small businesses have junior level marketers doing everything from newsletters to setting the marketing strategy.  A senior level professional can help you and your team prioritize and recognize where there are gaps in your strategy that are hindering execution. Experience comes with a price but it is priceless when you are trying to grow your business.  These individuals can be freelancers and can come in every few months to keep you and your staff on track and in optimal condition.
3. Have a budget: Please don’t be cheap and think you can do everything using “guerilla marketing tactics”.  You can do some of these and raise awareness but its not going to get you the big win.  You are not going to go viral on tweets alone.  You do need to hire experts to help you execute and you do need to do some ad words or other advertising campaign.
4. Be persistent:  Marketing is not a one off thing you do when the mood strikes you.  To be effective you have to be able to consistently deliver on your brand promise.  You have consistently blog, tweet, update and optimize the content of your site.  Have regular marketing status meetings to keep everyone in check.  Accountability is crucial to success and execution.
5. TAKE ACTION!!! Do one marketing activity everyday.  Make that your goal for 2012!  ACTION! ACTION! ACTION!

Hope that helped!!

Please comment, I am on twitter @npersona email me at lore1173@gmail.com  

This will be the first in a series of posts analyzing key elements of a marketing plan.   We will begin by understanding the importance of market research and analysis.  This is a key step in any marketing plan.   By researching and analyzing current market conditions you can determine where your company stands in the market place.  This allows you to identify growth opportunities that exist. The following are key aspects:

Industry Analysis: Understanding your industry is key to ensuring you have positioned your business to be as competitive as possible.   The analysis consists of understanding the complexities of a particular industry and the market forces that impact it.   When doing research you should take into account economic, political and market factors that may impact the industry.  A good tool to use in analyzing the data is Porter’s Five Forces (more on this in a later post).

Competitor Analysis:  It is important that you understand your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses.  This will allow you to understand your company’s position in the market place.  A great tool is competitor profiling.  By having deep knowledge of your rivals you will be able to determine gaps in the market.  Furthermore, you will be able to add value where the need exists.  Another advantage is that you will be better able to predict your competitors moves in the market and be prepared to meet the challenge.

Market Segmentation:  This allows you to determine the sub-set of the market that is more likely to buy/use your product/service.  Understanding your primary target market is key in being able to effectively reach potential new customers/users.  Segments are homogeneous and exhibit common needs.   They have the same worldview and respond similarly to market stimulation.  By knowing this information you can better customize your company’s value proposition, position statement and messaging.  Remember you can’t be all things to all people.  Knowing what segments of the market are already open to your message will save you invaluable time and a lot of money.

Ok, lets stop there for now.   I hope you have found this information helpful.  In coming posts, we will explore different aspects of the marketing plan, including consumer analysis, product strategy, internal company analysis and much, much more.

Please leave a comment or question. You can also find me on twitter @npersona.

 (I recommend you follow them  Taking that a bit further, I thought it would be good to share at least some of my goals and report on the results throughout 2012.   Here we go:

1. Blogging: I started this one early.  My goal in 2012 is to at least blog once a week.  As a small business its important to have a voice in the market place.  More importantly, blogging helps small businesses establish themselves as experts in their field.   And my favorite, branding, branding, branding….by blogging you are able to establish and re-enforce your own unique brand.  This last point is key because it helps to validate your value proposition to existing and potential clients.
2. Networking in-person: My goal for 2012 will be to either attend two networking events or to meet at least two people for coffee. The networking events that I want to target are primarily for small businesses. I will report on the events on this blog and give my overall impression. I have found that networking in person helps me close business much faster.   I also want to establish a networking calendar to help me keep track of events/meetings.   This will be in addition to any co-working I currently participate in.
3. Networking online:  Admittedly, I am a huge twitter fan.  My plan is to leverage that tool to continue to meet new people online and try to take the relationship offline.  My goal will be to have conversations with at least five new people online per week. Tools like twitter allow me to have access to people that I would not normally have contact with either because they were not in my network or were located far away.  I also want to leverage Linkedin much more than I have done so in the past.  I plan to post comments to at least two Linkedin groups per week and interact with users on the site.
4. Partnerships: Another goal of mine is to establish stronger partnerships.  A few organizations I have identified are the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,  the Arlington Economic Development Center and the Shady Grove-JHU campus.  The first quarter of 2012 will be dedicated to developing strong working relationships with these organizations.  In addition, partnerships can help validate a business and add social proof that can be used to leverage and close sales.
5. Workshops: I plan to hold at least three workshop days in the first quarter of 2012.  The workshops are designed for small businesses to learn how to stand out in a crowded marketplace.  The goal is to teach small businesses how to differentiate their product/service from the competition.  This will give me an opportunity to have one on one face-time with organizations which can also help close business.
6. Webinars:  An extension of the workshops will be a series of free webinars for small businesses.  I will try to do these weekly but may have to do bi-weekly. These will focus on how small businesses can market their product/service and reach their target markets. As a small business its impossible for me to be able to reach every potential target.  Webinars will give me the flexibility to reach business at any time and any place.  In addition, they will also allow me to showcase my knowledge and add to my “expert” status. Topics will include defining your market, finding low-cost marketing channels, understanding the competition, social media and much more!
7. Email list: Creating an email list has been something I have been avoiding.  However, email is still a great way to reach people.   A lot of people are not regularly using social media.  Moreover, business email is something that most people regularly check.   This also helps small businesses stay top of mind with their existing and potential customers.

Ok that was a lot! We will see how these go and I will report on how well they are working. What are your goals and plans for 2012? How are you going to achieve them?  How are you holding yourself accountable?

Comment or email me at lore1173@gmail.com! On twitter: @npersona

1) Consistency:  The company does a good job of delivering a consistent, reliable customer experience.  I have been to several of their DC area locations and the service, food and atmosphere are always consistently good.  This is important because it goes back to the point I made about managing customers expectations and delivering on your brand promise.  A reliable, consistent experience helps to build trust.  Trust is the key to building a strong brand.

2) Authenticity:  BGR is great because they are genuine.  In other words, they are able to tell their “brand story” in a way that reflects their company values and honestly speaks to their worldview.  They don’t try to come off as something that they are not.  The staff is genuine & friendly (more on that in a bit) and Mark (the owner) is accessible (via twitter & facebook of course!).   Mark uses social media to connect to his customers.  Yes, its Mark who tweets.  Mark is a busy man but he knows that there is nothing more important than being present for your customers–truly and genuinely.

3)Great customer service: And building on the previous point, BGR has wicked good customer service.  The staff is friendly and always makes sure that I have a FANTASTIC customer experience.  (True, they do recognize me by now at the Clarendon location but that is neither here not there.) Whether its my first time at a new location or my (blushing)  one hundredth time, customer service has always been great.

4)Generosity: This is tied to the last point too.  BGR is generous with their products true.  It is not uncommon for owner Mark to give customers a milkshake just because (yes, he gave me one:)  They are generous with themselves and their time.  I strongly believe that you cannot provide outstanding customer service if you are not a generous person (company) why? Because you have to think of your customer first.  THINK: what will make my customers happy? Not: how can I make more money.  Some people might think that it is not cost effective for Mark to give away a milkshake.   But, Mark knows he can’t afford not to.  He understands that he doesn’t sell burgers and milkshakes.  He is selling an experience you can’t get anywhere else–he is building a strong brand built on trust.

5)Great product: Ok, I saved the best for last (salivating).  BGR makes a great product. Period. Their burgers are made from quality meat.  They are cooked the way you like them.  And they are delicious.   The fries and milkshakes and everything else is great too.  This ties back to the first point.  Their food is good and continues to be good. Every time I have been there (and yes I have been there a lot).   Having high quality materials creates a good product. What makes a GREAT product is consistently delivering on your brand promise.  Because like I said in my last post, you never know when you will make the first impression.

The culture at BGR reminds me a lot of the book Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.  If you have not read, you should.

There you have it! Now go build a great brand–BUT before you do, you’ll need a lot of energy–Go to BGR first–I hear their burgers, fries and milkshakes are delicious