How Can Marketing Help My Competitive Advantage?

Entrepreneurs continue to search for ways to increase their competitive advantage. Winning business from competitors isn't easy. In fact, trying to gain new clients can sometimes take quite a long time - time that most companies do not have if they intend on staying in business. In the weeks to come we'll discuss more about competitive advantage and how to increase it through specific marketing initiatives that perhaps you know - but just haven't had time to touch on in a while.

Let's explore areas that will pollinate your competitive advantage by revisiting the following - Get a pen, write it down, or print it out for your own strategy sessions:

• Increase the time it takes deliver your product or service (increase efficiency)
• Survey your clients to find out their level of satisfaction (know your customer)
• Build strategic alliances so that you never lose a contact (make contacts work for you even if they are not your direct client)
• Lean your processes (better understand supply chain management)
• Touch base with your sales force more often (treat your sales force first class, they are in many cases the first contact with client and they know their pains and needs)
• Know your unique selling proposition (revisit your positioning statement to enhance differentiation)
• Have planning sessions for your business (make sure to spend a time each week that focuses on your businesses no matter how busy you get)
• Create a board of directors or group of people that you can learn from (in many cases, professionals will join forces to share best practices, insight, and planning opportunities)
  

You probably know exactly where I'm coming from, but in order to increase your competitive advantage through marketing here are a few specific items to consider.

1. Build a strong relationship with your customer by getting to know them thoroughly - do a little research, keep a database of pertinent information that will help targeted messages
   
2. Implement technology that will better serve your client - examples include: email marketing, dynamic Web sites, and customer relations management software
3. Create stickiness - develop memberships, incentive programs, reward programs, or added value for your clients
4. Make sure your brand is relevant - meaning, make sure that your brand means more than just the offering of your product or service - for instance, community initiatives
5. Enhance the customer experience - create a culture that is customer-focused, making sure that your clients have this experience every time is developed through your systems and execution

These are just a few things I recommend in creating competitive advantage. It has worked for hundreds of small to medium sized enterprise and can work for your business too.

Apply these concepts and you will Augment Your Marketing efforts ten fold.

Trisha Ahlman is a marketing strategist and small business owner. She has worked in just about every marketing function possible for nearly 20 years. Augment Marketing Group's specialty is helping small businesses build strong brands, increase visibility in the market, and generate sales - this is called the B.I.G. system. To contact, email trisha@augmentgroup.com.

What works best for small business - PR or Marketing?

I haven't written in a while - I've been just a little busy lately, but I wanted to address the question posed tonight at the Indio-American Chamber of Commerce. I was invited to speak regarding marketing and PR for small businesses. What works: Marketing or PR? Which one can set small businesses apart from their competitors? The answers that resonated are that marketing is everything you do for you business, but PR is one very important marketing initiative that can generate BIG results while gaining credibility as an expert in your field.

I've spoken before about B.I.G. results. In essence, it means to: Build awareness and trust, Increase interest, and Generate sales. PR is a way to build trust and funnel buyers through the decision making process non-offensively. Specifically, we spoke about education marketing and educating consumers about your products and services rather than selling them. With public relations, we tend to think what we hear or see is believable or acceptable rather than a sales pitch or marketing ploy.

I think that marketing and sales professionals get a bad wrap for the most part because of all the high pressured sales people of the world. Quite frankly, car salesman and insurance salesman have given us all a bad name. None the less, we still need to sell our products and services, right?

How do we do this? The answer is PR. Build credibility with your consumers. Here are a few tips from tonight's excellent panel discussion on PR and Marketing for Small Businesses:

1. Spend time blogging or writing articles that demonstrate your expertise in your field.
2. Make sure you have some kind of online presence.
3. Use an integrated approach to marketing - if you do use traditional media for advertising, make sure that you use other guerrilla marketing tactics and online media to help support initiatives for the best results.
   
4. Make a lasting impression with your clients - don't forget the old hand shake and customer relations.
5. Make sure you under promise and over deliver.
6. Be unique and make sure that your marketing mix has a specific message to a specific target - the more targeted the better.
   
7. Use a platform that allows you to tell your story - you finally have it all together, you know your marketing, you know your client, you know your brand ... talk radio is just one way to utilize a platform that gives you more than just a 60 second commercial.

These concepts and so much more were discussed this evening. Everyone participated and we all gained a great deal of insight from the conversation. If you would like to know more about tonight's meeting, please email trisha@augmentgroup.com.

Trisha Ahlman is the CEO of Augment Marketing Group and has over 15 years experience in marketing for corporations and small businesses. She sits on several creative and strategic development boards nationwide. "Inspired by growth" from its inception, Augment's mission is to inspire growth in all businesses large or small when developing strong brands. We believe in inspiring, learning and growing.

How Ready Are You For A Marketing Consultant?

Take the test. Yes or No

1. I know my 'exact' target audience?
   
2. I have a marketing budget for planning?
3. I have a marketing budget for creative, production, and placement?
4. I know what stage of growth my company is in?
5. I understand my marketing mix?
   
6. I have established the right price point?
7. I have supporting marketing initiatives to help with advertising goals?
   
8. I have research to support my decisions?
9. I have someone to implement and enforce marketing ideas internally?
10. I have a system in place to evaluate my marketing initiatives?

If you answered 'No' to most of these questions, you may need to start with a marketing and business plan before calling a marketing consultant; however, if you think you could quickly put these factors in place, a marketing consultant can help with determining your market, budget, and overall plan. If your resources are limited, take each of these sections and find answers. You can send your questions to "Ask The Expert" at trisha@augmentgroup.com.

Marketing isn't an easy job as most of you know. It takes know how, validation, measurement, and just plain hard work. Chances are if you're an entrepreneur, you understand elbow grease. If you don't, marketing is a hands-on job - it's not mysterious or magical. Understanding that will not only help you initiate marketing efforts but will also help you better understand the marketing consultant you hire.

Tell us about your experience with a marketing consultant? We want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly. It helps all marketing consultants better when they understand their strengths and weaknesses.

[Trisha Ahlman is the CEO of Augment Marketing Group and has over 15 years experience in marketing for corporations and small businesses. She sits on several creative and strategic development boards nationwide. "Inspired by growth" from its inception, Augments mission is to inspire growth in all businesses large or small when developing strong brands. We believe in inspiring, learning and growing. She can be reached at trisha@augmentgroup.com]

Can Branding Be Augmented Without Working At It?

The answer in most cases is NO. Branding takes a very conscious effort on the part of the brand manager/ entrepreneur. Sure there is always an exception to the rule; however, it doesn't mean the principles of branding were not present, it just means that the manager did not have a specific plan. The brand has to stand for something to build the perception in consumers mind that it is worthy. The best approach for branding is to take charge, understand your brand, and make sure that your brand tells a story.

How do you do this? A few assignments to get you started might help:

• Vision, Mission, Core Values. There is a direct correlation between your brand, its success, and these components. If you haven't already, write down your vision, mission, and core values. A vision statement is based on where you want to be in the next 5-10 years. This is usually derived from several factors but most importantly - strategy. Do a SWOTT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, Trend, and Threat) Analysis and you might learn more about your industry and the direction you need to take in order to achieve long-term growth. The mission statement should determine how you are going to get the internal and external audiences to achieve the vision (5-10 yr. plan). Core values are typically 5-7 attributes that you and your staff can buy into to achieve your goals. For instance, integrity, sustainability, environmentally responsible, etc... See www.bp.com for excellent examples of how to establish strong values to drive your brand.
  
• Tell a story. Once I understood that every brand tells a story, a light bulb went off for me. Explaining to clients what branding is can be difficult and the concept of telling a story makes sense to most people. If you aren't sure, put on your journalistic hat and write down what you 'think' your brand's story is and see if you can develop a compassionate story line to weave in the fabric of your brand if you haven't already.
  
• Express your brand. If you have found the story of your brand and you know where you want to be in 5-10 years and beyond - it's time to express yourself. Create copy, collateral, and ads that represent your brand from the inside out. Your brand should connect the dots for consumers. Your brand is competing with over 2000 messages a day your audience is exposed to on average. It has to be simple, make sense, and tell a story.

Learning more about branding is critical for the sustainability of your brand. You can learn more about branding here on this blog or read the Seven Myths About Branding. It's your responsibility to know as much as you can about how to build your brand efficiently and effectively.

A good example of this: Cingular, BP, Coca Cola, and Starbuck's.

Trisha Ahlman is the CEO of Augment Marketing Group and has nearly 20 years experience in marketing for corporations and small businesses. She sits on several creative and strategic development boards nationwide. "Inspired by growth" from its inception, Augment's mission is to inspire growth in all businesses large or small when developing strong brands. We believe in inspiring, learning and growing. She can be reached at trisha@augmentgroup.com

Is Your Design Balanced?

The "Magic Box" by Trisha Ahlman

Here's the test. In advertising, there is a theory called the "magic box". It's the place where you want to draw the consumers attention. I like to use no more than three (3) focal points (in most cases) when designing a piece of collateral. Do not over do it! This is difficult because we are tempted to get our logo, the message, the promotion and all the other important facts in our ads.

In order to find the "magic box", you need to draw a box around the item you want your audience to notice first. For instance, if you're Coke it might be around the coke can. If you are selling diamonds, perhaps it's the hand with the diamond that is prominent. Then draw a horizontal line and a vertical line (I like to off-center the magic box). If there are other objects fighting for my attention, there are several techniques that work. All other objects outside of the "magic box":

1. Create smaller text and use a lighter color (i.e. gray so that it's not too prominent)
2. Keep it clean and take some of the other objects out all together
3. Using a graphic design program, make the "magic box" object more prominent
4. Make other objects smaller from a perspective point of view
5. Ask friends and colleagues if they think the ad is balanced for a quick field test
6. Off-center the focal points (I prefer asymmetrical design)
7. Blur out background images so the focal point is more prominent
   

Some graphic artist say that balance is achieved through symmetry... I say, achieving balance doesn't mean that you have a perfect, symmetrical ad or design - it just means you need to find the "magic box" and make sure that your focal point isn't fighting for real estate from background noise.

Always follow the rule K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple Stupid). Sorry to be so brash, but I see too many great ads that over do it when it comes to layout. Can you find the magic box in the ad posted here?

Trisha Ahlman has been marketing for nearly 20 years. Out of high school, Trisha Ahlman was awarded a four year art scholarship in which she won from an impressionist painting she entered into a contest by the Houston Art Society. She has a team of designers and artists that work with her and is creatively directs nearly every project. She now teaches Visual Communication part-time at the Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Texas Southern University. Her company, Augment Marketing consults hundreds of businesses on marketing, branding, layout, and design. For more information, visit www.augmentgroup.com.

Are You a MicroPreneur?

Harry Futch of MicroBiz weighs in (or visit MicroPreneur),

"Business blogs are very popular right now, but we intend to focus on the MicroBiz - and for our purposes that means less than 10 employees and a burning desire to compete on the level of much bigger companies. We have assembled a talented crew of guest writers from our local area (Houston, TX). As we progress, we will be asking some of our respondents to serve as guest writers also.

As the CEO of a microbiz (that’s Chief Everything Officer), I’ve spent hours on the Web searching for information on running my business more efficiently and effectively. I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by people much more talented and much smarter than myself. I have been, however, smart enough to get them to share information about what made them successful. I intend to pass along as much of that information as possible.

Unlike many blogs, this one does not have the feel of Holy Writ. What works for one business might not work for another. The importance of this type of exchange is to keep a free and open flow of ideas and techniques. Together we are more powerful than we are alone. Let us hear from you. "

For more information on how you can grow your business visit the MircoPreneur Blog

Inspired By Growth: Augment Addresses Advertising

A famous writer by the name of Roy Williams tells the best stories. He is literally THE guru of writing, marketing, and advertising. He created the Seven Laws of the Advertising Universe in his book "The Wizard of Ads" (excellent reading). I thought it would be fun to offer the perspective of the consultant or agency in this article. For One, I thought perhaps clients didn't know what it was like to be in our shoes and would want to hear this perspective. Secondly, I think that it will open your eyes to really great ideas that will manifest new growth in your advertising.

I have picked four out of seven key laws and made a comment after each describing the other perspective to illustrate how best to approach or think about the law.

1) An Energy of Words has existed since the day He said, "Let there be light." Learn how to use this energy. You are created in his image. Trisha's comment - with the internet growing by leaps and bounds daily, small businesses have no choice but to create presence on the internet. Some clients still have not taken the plunge believe it or not. Words are our energy. Begin writing. Develop a program or guide for your clients. Developing key material for your company is essential to your success. Let words augment your growth. Do not let fear of the unknown keep you from taking the first step.

2) Intellect and Emotion are partners who do not speak the same language. The intellect finds logic to justify what the emotions have decided. Win the hearts of the people, their minds will follow. Trisha's comment - this is soooo true in advertising. Some clients begin analyzing campaigns to death. I call this "analysis paralysis". Certainly, you will not augment growth if you never make a decision. Emotions or evoking emotive responses work very well in advertising. That isn't to say that you should not take an educational approach to advertising. In my experience, what works best is a balance between Education and Emotion. A winning combination.

3) Opportunity and Security are inversely proportionate. As one increases, the other must decrease. High returns are gained form low-risk strategies only through the passage of time. He who will cheat time must embrace the risk of failure. Trisha's comment - Again, Roy Williams is superb. Number three can go hand-in-hand with number two. If clients never take a risk, how will they have the opportunity to test the market. Creativity comes from the gut many times because it is evoked by emotion. Sure, one can fail utilizing all emotion and no logic, but isn't it fair to say that great ideas are often ideas that can come literally from a vision. It can happen that fast. I say that to say, take a chance.

4) Engage the Imagination, then take it where you will. Where the mind has repeatedly journeyed, the body will surely follow. People go only to places they have already been in their minds. Trisha's comment - I do think that the more you allow your advertising agency, your employee, your partner, or your marketing consultant to engage in creativity and use their imagination, the more often you will gain the best they have within them. Harnessing imaginations keep creativity from flowing. Allowing it to flow can create some of the most amazing marketing and advertising ideas ever to be produced. [This excerpt was taken from "The Wizard of Ads" by Roy H. Williams, renowned advertiser, marketer, and author.]

By no means, am I saying that all decisions are emotional, immediate responses; but, I am saying that in order for "juices to flow" to create ideas that will possibly enhance your image and increase revenues, it's a risk worth taking. Be creative, take chances, live on the edge. Cutting-edge, break-through ideas do not come around everyday. Thinking in the box will not get you there. You would never know when a campaign, a new logo, or a new tag would augment your company to an entirely new level.

Coming from the consultant side, I hope I've given "you" the entrepreneur or small business marketer some advice on how to work with consultants and employees to produce the absolute best results.

Inspired by Growth Blog is driven to gain insight for those seeking advice as well as receiving advice. Your marketing and advertising may be in the hands of someone else, but if you are the kind of person that is really, really good at what you do....let your consultants or agencies do what they do best and await the results. I promise if you step back, you'll be amazed at the results.

A little perspective goes a long way sometimes.


[Trisha Ahlman is the CEO of Augment Marketing Group and has over 15 years experience in marketing for corporations and small businesses. She sits on several creative and strategic development boards nationwide. "Inspired by growth" from its inception, Augment's mission is to inspire growth in all businesses large or small when developing strong brands. We believe in inspiring, learning and growing. She can be reached at trisha@augmentgroup.com or www.marketingmyinternetbusiness.com ]

5 Easy Steps to Follow When Marketing My Internet Business

Marketing my internet business can be challenging, especially for beginners. Let's look at some terminology and basics to get you started. The results will inspire growth when launching your internet business. Follow these 5 easy steps to start:

Step 1) Find the best keywords and phrases: write down a list of keywords and phrases that best suit your business. Put yourself in the consumer's mind as much as possible. These are the words that consumers use for searching for products and services, so it's important to spend some time on this task and think it through. Think of direct keywords, keywords that provide solutions, think of key phrases not just words.

Step 2) Choose a domain name: Make sure your domain name is keyword driven or catchy. If you have a unique business name then you can use that as well. Three and four words are okay if they are short but easy to remember. Common names are hard to optimize as a beginner. If you have a business name like Acme, Omega, or Infinity, you're in for a real challenge to become visible on the internet. Research other ideas to make sure you make the right choice.

Step 3) Optimize your web pages: Again, focusing on keywords and phrases you are telling the search engines which keywords you want to be found. Rule of thumb - optimize six pages and each page should focus on one or two keyword phrases that are relevant to your product or service. It's helpful to have software or a consultant help you to find which keywords and phrases you should use to optimize based on your competition and industry.

Step 4) Optimize your inbound links: Links can be one of the most important factors for high search engine rankings. This includes links from other sites, links within your website to other key information in your own website, and links from internet directories. There is software that automatically registers inbound links for you that you can research.

Step 5) Submit your website: Submitting to search engines invites other sites to visit your website. If done correctly with optimizing web pages, you can move up in the rankings. It's also important to use your domain name when submitting your site and using a reliable web hosting service. Only submit actual sites versus a site that is redirected to another site. Last but not least, your url should not contain special characters for search engine submission.

Following these five steps will help your website move up in the rankings-- guaranteed! Is it going to be easy? The answer is NO. I've learned a lot of these steps by trial and error when marketing my internet business. It's become a daily ritual to keep an eye on my rankings to make sure that I'm becoming more and more visible on the net. Don't forget, there are a lot of "free" and organic ways to market your internet business on the net that I have revealed in this blog.

Most of all, you really just have to take the first step and that is to decide to become a part of marketing an internet business online. The reason - by the year 2010 almost every business will have presence online that includes some sort of e-commerce. Now is the time to plan for yourself and for your business. Don't get left behind.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.... For more information to obtain an online marketing plan, please visit www.marketingmyinternetbusiness.com. That site offers a free online marketing plan download.

Trisha Ahlman is the CEO of Augment Marketing Group and has over 15 years experience in marketing for corporations and small businesses. She sits on several creative and strategic development boards nationwide. Augment's mission is to inspire growth in all businesses large or small when developing strong brands. We believe in inspiring, learning and growing. She can be reached at trisha@augmentgroup.com .

Augment Marketing Speaks on the 8 Principles of Building a Strong Brand

We learned in a previous lesson that there are seven core values of a brand, according to Scott Bedbury, one of the leading brand managers in American history. He has worked with two of the largest brands in the world Starbuck's and Nike. To review his theory of building strong core values of a brand, in his book "A Brand New World", we look to build brand strength, longevity, and passion within the foundation of the brand. To recap, he states the seven core values being:

• Simplicity
• Patience
• Relevance
• Accessibility
  
• Humanity
• Omnipresence
  
• Innovation

Every brand has a core "essence" that gives the brand its substance. One thing that great brands have in common is the "experience" consumers have with the brand, but clearly you need more than that to build brand strength. It's critical to build your brand around the relationship between the brand, the consumer, and the stakeholders as a whole. As we begin to explore Bedbury's 8 principles of a brand, you should begin developing your own core values and examining each principle carefully.

1. Relying on brand awareness has become marketing fool's gold - This is the difference between brand awareness vs brand strength. Most brands think that building awareness is building a brand. Yes, building a brand from the ground up will include creating awareness some where in the plan; however, according to Bedbury, this is where relevance and resonance come into play. This is the core, the root of a brand and what it means. If you build your brand on awareness alone and the substance of the brand has shallow meaning, your brand will not survive. Building brand strength here is all about the consumers "experience" with the brand.
   
2. You have to know it before you can grow it (cracking the code) - Sitting on several board's for strategic planning, I have had the honor to dig deep in the core of some very astute brands. Defining your mission, vision, and core values is just the beginning of cracking the brands genetic code. You need to clearly define your goals, your vision, a snapshot of your future and how success will be measured; including consideration for your customers, your potential customers, even your employees. This is where you tell the story of your brand to the world. Make it a novel.
3. Just because you can doesn't mean you should (the spandex rule of branding) - Yes, according to Scott Bedbury, just because you have spandex, doesn't mean you should wear it. While determining when and if you are ready to grow, you should be innovative, remain on the cutting-edge and plunge into growth if research supports it. It means building intelligent brandwidth -- ie. joint ventures, strategic alliances, acquisitions, but remember "every brand has it's limitations" according Bedbury. If you are building a solid brand, growth can be exciting. If your brand is built on sand, the foundation crumbles. Know your limitations.
4. Transcend a product-only relationship with your customers - This principle builds in the emotional experience between the brand and the consumers. What emotion does your product evoke? Perhaps individuality, longing, belonging, freedom, self-actualization, discovery. These concepts are what build substance into your brand and how consumers react. Think of Hallmark or Disney.
   
5. Everything matters - In essence, this is the environment in which you build your brand-- much like when raising a child. When you raise a child, everything you do and don't do will affect the child's ultimate outcome as a person. The same holds true for a brand. You should care about the customers, the environment, the employees, representation of the brand...everything. The dress code, the brand definition, the office space, the expectations. This is "brand excellence".
6. Being a good leader for your brand - This principle encompasses leadership, accountability, and motivation. Your brand is an asset to the organization and is just as important to protect as any other assets of the company. In many ways being a good brand parent is much like what the CEO is to the company or what the head of household is to a family. It's being the rock of the organization and leading the company to reach great things. Your role here is to live it, breathe it, and not just talk the talk, but walk the walk. First and foremost, you must believe it and then you must teach others in the organization to believe it as well.
   
7. Big doesn't have to be bad -This is where the core value of omnipresence resonates. As you begin to grow and take over market share, you can be perceived as the Goliath-- the bad giant taking over the world. If your brand isn't about more than making money and taking over market share, sooner or later you will certainly have to fight off the competition, but consumers will see right through it. Their emotional relationship with the brand will emerge and the bad press or belittling comments from competitors will easily be overlooked. This isn't just important for larger corporations, but from a small business perspective as well -- its all relevant to the playing field. You may be considered fierce competition right now, but if your brand is more than just bringing in the revenues-- now you are building brand strength.
8. Building your brand future - Based on relevance, simplicity, and humanity, your brand's future will rise to the top of its category. Consumers relate to these components. Being simple and relevant helps consumers understand the brand. For example, Oprah Winfrey, is a huge brand and makes billions of dollars. The reason everyone loves her so much no matter how much this woman makes is because she's been so simple. She sits on her stage, a person that can now afford to buy anything she wants, and talks about buying an affordable good pair of jeans, what it means to be on a diet and work out like every other person in the world. Her audience can relate to her. Build a strong brand future on simplicity.

The ultimate goal for Augment Marketing is to help small businesses understand the values and principles in building a strong brand that will survive in a world of giants like Kodak, Coke, Disney, Starbuck's, and Nike. We can build strong brands that hold their weight in their own right, in their own category, and in their own markets. It all starts with the foundation. We'll continue to discuss this topic because there is so many details to cover. If you have a comment about building brands, please feel free to elaborate.

As we begin to dive deeper into building a strong brand, your first exercise is to write down your mission, vision, and core values. Augment's Marketing My Internet Business blog will discuss building a strong business online in the coming weeks to further expound on this topic.

Trisha Ahlman is the CEO of Augment Marketing Group and has over 15 years experience in marketing for corporations and small businesses. She sits on several creative and strategic development boards nationwide. "Inspired by growth" from its inception, Augment's mission is to inspire growth in all businesses large or small when developing strong brands. We believe in inspiring, learning and growing. She can be reached at trisha@augmentgroup.com or www.marketingsoftwarebusiness.com .

Augment Marketing Makes the Headlines Again!

Augment Marketing Group discussed the many challenges of small business owners in a recent interview. The real news came when Trisha Ahlman, CEO spoke of online marketing trends for 2008. "It doesn't seem fair that small businesses have to keep up with big-time technology-driven trends this year. The fact is that without employing some of the latest marketing techniques like search marketing, social marketing, mobile marketing and others, entrepreneurs will not survive. Fact is, this years marketing trends are not going any where", explains Ms. Ahlman. She spent a lot of time deciphering the news for 2008. Viewing Trish's quick tips on our "Quick Marketing Tips Blog" will give you a brief synopsis of what we begin to break down over the next few weeks in detail.

Inspire, Learn, Grow...

Automating Internet Marketing Generates Wealth

We've been talking about automating your marketing efforts over the last few weeks. As an entrepreneur, it's important to multiply your efforts. There are several ways that this can be done.

First exam all of your processes, internet marketing, communications, sales, etc... Once you have drawn out each departmental process (i.e. 1. lead captured 2. communication starts, 3. promotions set, 4. sale generated, etc...) you then know where improvements can be made.

For instance:.

1. Generate a landing page that captures interest and builds awareness.
2. Use video, audio, or the like to increase interest in your site.
3. Have a compelling message.
4. Capture the leads from your site.
5. Begin a compelling communications and promotions campaign.
6. Use automated marketing software.

A clear strategy to internet marketing has to be automation. Make sure that you are using all the latest technology and tools to attract visitors. Once you have the lead, your marketing is turned-on autopilot. You shouldn't have to go back and be pressured to get your messages out. If you haven't started marketing your internet business, now is the time.

Marketing consultant's are meeting their match because with this software, aggressive entrepreneurs can automate their own marketing without needing the assistance of a small business consultant.

Entrepreneurs are creating massive wealth with new marketing software business!

Last year was an amazing year for my company Augment Marketing Group. To top it off, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the largest universities, oil companies, and medical centers in Houston not to mention the vast number of small businesses I have consulted over the years. But what really takes the cake, if you will, is an opportunity I found to buy a marketing software business that literally turns the B.I.G. system I created over one year ago into a true reality.

As a marketing consultant for small businesses, I have entrepreneurs work through a comprehensive survey to develop a customized marketing plan to best suit their needs (found on my website www.augmentgroup.com). Many of the businesses I have worked with have all needed the B.I.G. System because it helps build brand awareness, increase interest, and generate revenues. What I was missing however, was a turn-key implementation system that helped small business owners implement their marketing plan. I actually even thought about developing this software on my own. Now, I don't have to - thanks to this amazing new marketing software business.

I'm only telling you about this because if you have to rely on your own efforts to do the marketing for your business or you want an opportunity to provide marketing solutions to your clients you might want to research this grand opportunity. With a team called Mentors4u of Passport to Wealth, I have been able to provide my clients with marketing software to help implement more effective marketing strategies.

For more information, visit the marketing software business website. I found that only this team provides the kind of support to really achieve massive results in building wealth with online marketing. They offer free weekly webinars, support and training to their members. Records indicate that entrepreneurs and marketers are seeing immediate results.

As a marketing consultant, this software solution has given me a huge edge over my competitors. I can bet they are not offering this type of free training.

Aged Shelf Corps with Funding Gives Businesses a Boost

Are you looking for a way to boost the foundation of your business? You can actually purchase (which can be costly), an Aged Shelf Corporation that will give your business the distinction of being in business as long as the aged shelf corp was in business. Imagine what this can do for you when trying to obtain funding or trying to get a large contract. The credibility of being in business for over five years can play a huge role with banks, potential clients, and government requisitions.

There is a lot of information out there. It's really hard to distinguish which companies are legitimate and which ones might not be knowledgeable. Here are some things to look for:

1. Full disclosure
2. Funding options included in the offer
3. Marketing packages should be included
4. Paydex scoring
5. Customer service and support

Aged Shelf Corps Funding is a website that I felt offered the full agreement right up front. You don't have to call a sales rep just to know more about it, you do not have to rely on someone calling you back, you don't have to wait for answers...It's simply all right there at your finger tips. I thought that was very important.

If you can afford it, it's an amazing boost to your business. The success of a business begins with the strength of the foundation. Purchasing Aged Shelf Corps and matching that with Funding can turn your business into a profit making machine. Augmenting your business can be that easy.

Aged Shelf Corps plus Funding is one solution to building a strong corporation from the very beginning. Trust me when I say, the banks care and your clients care. Wouldn't it be nice to tell them, not only do I have 15 years experience, but I've owned my corporation for 10 years.

No that is not dishonest. It simply is a corporation that you purchased. Like a subsidiary or a franchise, turn-key business. Large corporations do this all the time to expand and so can you.

5 Things you can do to augment your marketing - The only way to get it all done!

Just think about it. You own your own business, you are starting to really see some success, you still have to think about the sales, the marketing, the finances, etc... So, how do you get it all done? It all boils down to proper planning, vision, time management, hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Sure, I could name more but those are the basic core values you have to have to achieve success. We spoke previously about writing down priorities. Zig Ziglar gave us some really great advice, "Only work on 6 "TOP" priorities a day". What else can you do?

In order to augment your marketing, you have to have the right systems in place. I really focus my time on analyzing automation. Ask yourself what more you can do to systematically deliver marketing. Listen, take it from me; someone who has to market for other businesses as well as their own, marketing is tough work. None the less, if you are dedicated to making this business work, you can bet you may have to commit to late nights, pushing the envelope, being innovative and creative. It takes all of these qualities to get it all done!

Are you just another business trying to mark your territory in this land of opportunity? Is there a way for you to really make strides? You may be a small and growing business but your ideas are huge. Make a difference by:

1. In one sitting, brainstorm 12 topics that you could write about to start generating PR for your business. Be creative here and try to connect public relations, consumer education, and a news worthy event. (ex: Business: Day Care - One article may be about safety awareness. Invite the police and fire fighters to your day care. Have Blue Cross Blue Shield come out...invite them all. Have a huge safety awareness day and make an event out of it. Write about it, make news, follow-up with an article to parents about safety. The list goes on).
   
2. In one sitting, create your event calendar based on your business and seasonal purchases. (ex: Business: Youth Retail - Have a back to school sales planned in advanced, Spring into action sale, Christmas Toy Drive, etc...)
3. Start a constant communication campaign. Either send postcards regularly, thank you notes, emails, or phone calls. This should be done on a regular basis. Get out your calendar and schedule it out in one sitting. This will eliminate falling behind and procrastination.
4. In one sitting, develop a call list of new potential clients. If you do this Sunday night, your list is made for the week and you will be more efficient.
5. Make sure you have one marketing task on your list of 6 priorities for the day. (ex: upload the latest news to your website, post a new article to your site, write an ad for your local paper, etc.. ) Even writing down your marketing vision will progress your marketing).

If you try these 5 things, you will augment your marketing this year. The key here is to set each one up for the whole year in one sitting. While you are in the mood to create ideas, you can develop the campaign all at once. By doing this, you are really combating procrastination and communication delays. Tell the rest of us, what you do to get it all done.

The biggest lesson I learned that enhanced my marketing results.

The biggest lesson I learned that enhanced my marketing results was one that I heard from Zig Ziglar himself. He said, "Write down (6) six things everyday that are most important from top priority down. Do this everyday, 365 days a year. You will produce results." He is right!

Have you ever had those days where you were extremely busy but did not feel like you achieved all that you set out to do. That might have been the day you were side tracked, took on too many phone calls, answered one to many emails, or the like. In fact, we can get so busy some days that we never touch on ANY of the important tasks we need to do.

Stop! Take a moment and jot down the 15 or so things that have to be done this week. From there, categorize and prioritize the most important. Shooting for no more than 6 priority tasks each day. Include at least one marketing task for your business. It's important to always focus on marketing and sales because it's the life line of your business. Without revenue, your company may cease to exist.

Start now. Don't hesitate. I started this as a new years resolution and it has done wonders for achieving those things I just couldn't seem to find time for in the past. None the less, it was very important on growing my business so I took charge of my "To Do" lists. You should do the same.

How Often Should You Email Your Clients?

Good news travels fast, but how often is considered too much? Well, that's a debate and it really depends on a lot of factors. First and foremost, ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you have an opt-in list?
2. Are your messages targeted?
3. Do you get to the point?
4. Do you have an objective for contacting them? (i.e. sales, informative, educational)
5. Do you bring value to your readers?

These are simple questions you can ask to begin deciding how often you should contact your clients. In a sales environment, I've seen emails come across weekly if not daily in some cases. In an informative or educational environment, I've seen weekly or monthly. Rest assured that people are getting a lot of email correspondence frequently and they are also bombarded with traditional advertisements on a daily basis. Is this overload?

Here are a few quick tips:

• A good rule of thumb is around 2-3 times a month (depending on your objective)
• Poll your clients to see if the correspondence reaches your goal
• Take an educational approach to build trust
• Review your spam or opt-out statistics
• Offer what your clients really want to hear or buy (use targeted list)

These quick marketing tips should help you but in the industry, there is much debate about this. The question still remains how much is too much or too little for that matter? If you don't contact the client on a regular basis, they'll buy from your competitor. If you contact them too much, they'll become annoyed. You just can't seem to win for loosing. The important factor is that you reach your target audience with a valuable message they need.

Tell us what worked for you so we can pass that to other aspiring entrepreneurs.

3 Lessons to Augment Your Credibility!

Earlier this month we had a really great article on "Becoming the Expert". We talked about becoming the expert or preferred provider in any field by using PR or publicity to get exposure. Advertising budgets are competing now more than ever with PR budgets because both are very important when building a brand. What if you could do both? How would you do it? One company that used publicity to build a great brand is Microsoft. Did you know that Microsoft is the second most important brand next to Coca-Cola, according to Interbrand, a brand research company? Amazingly, its not the amount of revenues that this company brings in, or the dollar spent on advertising that this poll is based on, it's the value of the brand in the mind of consumers.

You're questioning how to do this by now. Here are a few tips:

1) Leak information to the media. Do you write press releases? Certainly something you are doing is news worthy and can be built into a news story. For small businesses, there are a ton of free online PR news forums that will submit your articles. Of course, this isn't going to secure media attention in most cases; however, when consumers begin searching about your company on the internet, finding an article or two is a credibility builder.

2) Name your business or product properly. If you are going to go to all the trouble of having a great product or service or company for that matter, you had better name it something that generates a little buzz. Something new, fresh and creative is important. Two major mistakes, creating a line extension of an existing brand or too generic to have substance. The media likes "new" ideas. Refer to the branding section of this blog for ideas.

3) Build your credentials. There is only one way to do this and that is to obtain the degrees, certifications, build the reputation, work with those who are already considered credible. This too can be read under "Become an Expert" section of this blog. Having someone attached to your product or service that is a doctor or already branded as an expert can give your product leverage in the media. If you begin taking an educational approach with consumers you will begin establishing credibility as well. Just think of a product that makes it to Oprah. After she is done talking about your company, you can bet, it's like putting a gold stamp right across your name. Oh, don't forget to add this type of endorsement on your website. Seeing a "as seen on Oprah, or as heard on Channel 2 News" etc... is also a credibility builder.

Listen, the first thing you have to do is envision where you want to be in three to five years. You will be amazed when your plan starts coming to fruition when you really see where the future can take you. Plan for it, experience it, and envision the possibilities. Soon you will be there.

Augment Your Sales: 2 things you can do immediately!

Marketing and sales is what keeps your business going, right? An infusion of both can help your business soar. If you are feeling a little stagnant and need to augment your marketing and sales read these two tips and put an action plan in place to implement immediately.

1. Overcome fear and develop courage and self-confidence. Part of that comes from practice and knowledge (knowing your product, competitors, and potential rejections). Having a well thought out presentation is also helpful. That doesn't mean to over do it and get all stressed out. Have a professional presentation printed on quality materials and dress well. Confidence shows!

2. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and call your prospect. The worst that can happen is that they say "NO". What always works best for me is to be patient. Just keep calling (not harrassment), but keep in touch. Being in the right place at the right time is critical. Increase your call number by at least 5 people a day. This will get you more sales ultimately.

These tips are designed to be easy enough to implement immediately. Just a few ideas each day will help your business to grow.

What do you to overcome fear, break barriers or increase sales?

Augment Online and Grow: Quick Tips

" Augment: To succeed online, augment your website with offline promotion, constant maintenance of your site, participation in newsgroups and forums, email, chatroom attendance, posting articles, hosting conferences and rapid follow-up." (Guerrilla Tips from Advisor Today News, 2003).

Wow... This is great advice. Augment means to enhance, to grow, to make larger. Yes, these things will work; however, you also have to incorporate long-term strategy. What does this mean? We will cover long-term strategy more often in this blog, but for now to state it briefly, keep the end in mind.

Where do you want to go? How can you get there? Let's discuss.

Use "The Secret" on your brand and watch it grow

I'm sure you have all heard about the documentary "The Secret" by now. Take this challenge. Put a pencil to paper and tell me if you could have any end result you could imagine, what would your brand look like? What would it feel like? Following the core branding values in this Blog, write down how your brand would look. I want to hear about it.

Aren't brands really a culmination of emotions meet logic? Trust me on this one. If you write down what you want your brand to end up like in 1 year, 3 years and 5 years, I will bet you that you will be somewhere close if you are committed to building your brand.

Tell me your thoughts on the subject and what successes you have had with planning and developing your brand.

My Biggest Fear is Speaking!

We are all struck with fear when we speak, well let me just say most. Few gifted individuals have the gift of gab without the fear - how dare they. For the most part, however, the rest of us are "um'ing and awe'ing" our way through it. I'm reading a book I just have to tell you about. The author is Marcia Yudkin. She has a host of marketing information if you love diving into the subject like I do. On the flip side, she also talks about speaking and writing and a lot more.

Her book is "Smart Speaking". I learned a new speaking strategy that at first seemed kind of weird. It's called "Plosive Polishing"...What? Apparently, plosives are a group of eight sounds in English that make an explosive sound when pronounced. They are:

1. b ex: cab
2. p ex: tip
3. d ex: lead
4. t ex: light
5. k ex: back
6. g ex: big
7. ch ex: church
8. j ex: judge

Her book is really easy to read. If you are like me and you would rather pull your hair out strand by strand than to speak sometimes, read "Smart Speaking: 60-second strategies" it really works. The exercises are easy and fun. The only other thing I would recommend is to get rid of the audience...just kidding.

If you just spend a few minutes a day reading aloud, sounding out plosive sounds, and practicing when its time to speak, the jitters do seem to subside. Finally, facing your fears head-on (which is what I did) will finally keep your fears on a leash.

What do you do to relax before speaking?

5 Simple Tips to Name Your Business

Naming your business can inspire growth and it can hinder growth if you're not careful. I have researched several ideas that might help you come to a final conclusion and should absolutely be considered.

1. Avoid acronyms in your company name. How many companies are named ABC, NBC, etc. etc... Since we are no longer driven by telephone book advertising, having an A-name or acronym is not necessary especially for marketing purposes. If you noticed large companies (in most cases), didn't use their acronyms until they were well known and already branded. i.e. - HP, Hewlett Packard; IBM, International Business Machines Corporation; GM, General Motors. Just be careful when you are starting out. Using acronyms can make it difficult for a small fish differentiate in big pond.
2. Be easy to spell and pronounce. If someone says, "huh?, can you repeat that?, or gives you a totally different name when they repeat it back to you" ...it's definitely a good idea to rethink your naming strategy.
3. Be careful not to be a brand extension. I truly believe that each child (Jr.) and each brand name, needs its own identity. A study showing movies that were the II, III, or extension of a very successful first version never did as well as the first. Identity is so important and having a unique fingerprint in the world of brands is important to your success.
4. Can you build a brand with it? Really ask yourself if the brand is clear and concise. Certainly, you can have a Starbucks, nothing to do with coffee really and it has worked for them, but you have to always consider your brands clarity. If you do not have a lot of resources to brand your image like a Starbucks, you need to sit down an go over the 7 Core Branding Values article on this blog and start your own brainstorming.
   
5. Beware similar products and names. Be careful in naming your product or service a name that has 100's of other product names. I recently had a client with a very popular name and trust me, getting a name like that high on the search engines when you have a small marketing budget is quite the challenge. You can name your company Tri-star or Triple AAA this or that, but you are in for a big surprise when trying to brand your product or service.
   

The key here is to really brainstorm and think about the different names you can come up with. I have a link to a company that names your business in the favorite links section of this blog or find a small business marketing consultant to help. Most importantly, research your options. Another great website is www.wordlab.com.

How ever you decide to come up with your name, make sure to have fun, think of long-term effects, and make sure you are comfortable with the end result most of all.

Become the Expert and Win Business

Everyone will listen to experts, right? How do you become one? Unless you are highly qualified already and have multiple certifications and/or degrees, it might be a long journey to becoming "The Expert" trusted adviser in your field. However, I believe that this is a long-term strategy that can be a won if you follow a few simple techniques:

1. Write articles for your local newspaper. Don't you remember writing letters to the editor? Pick up a magazine or newspaper and read the style of that journal. Once you get a feel for the type of writing, give it a shot. If you do get published, this clearly gives you a great start to a portfolio that will build lasting credibility. If your not a great writer, there is only one way to get better and that's to start writing.
2. Know your target audience. You will hear me say this a million times. I don't know how many times I have to tell my clients to narrow their audience. The more defined the easier to target.
3. Always be prepared and do your homework. I spend at least 1000 hours a year studying marketing and case studies. Anything and everything that has to do with marketing, PR, online marketing, etc... I'm reading about it. With fast changes in every industry just about, you have to be cutting edge and knowledgeable to speak as an expert.
4. Develop a long-term strategy. Another bit of advice you will hear from me often. Becoming an expert isn't an overnight plan. In fact, if you do not develop the mind set that it's going to take time to build your credibility, you will not be able to get past the quick fix syndrome that many small business owners have. Think about posting articles, starting a blog, speaking engagements, educating consumers, or building a portfolio of events and press releases that demonstrate your expertise.
5. How about a newsletter and email list. A small article in a local newspaper can generate an email opt-in list if you give away free advice by directing them to sign up for your newsletter online. It's really quite simple. Think about all the topics you can cover. Plan them out over a year. Develop the articles and send out a blast at least once a month but typically no more than three.
   

Credibility is a journey not a quick fix solution. Your action plan is to write down five things you can do to start building your credibility and the title of being "The Expert" in your field. List the five things and then spend a few minutes each week building a to do list that gets you from A to Z. Start now and before you know it, you'll have five published articles, three speaking engagements, eight press releases and a host of credible resources for your portfolio.

Most of all, credibility builds trust and trust generates sales. You have to crawl before you can walk. Plan today!

Inspired by Growth on a Budget: Can it be done?

Growing can sometimes be painful and expensive. I have personally scoured hundreds of websites claiming low-cost marketing tips. I've done the research and I've got the experience, so what did I find? Great news. Let me give you 10 of my favorite tried and true marketing for small business tips that can work for any industry, any time.

1. Focus your marketing. If you do not know your target audience, spend some time trying to figure that out. It will save you 1000's of dollars in the long run giving you a bigger budget to work with.
   
2. Direct Mail. It's affordable, still works great and can be used as a test marketing strategy for bigger, costlier ads in the future.
3. Visit Trade Shows. That's right, you don't actually have to participate to make a trade show worth your while. Just make sure you have clear objectives and work with what you've got. With some professional business cards in place, you'll be sure to capture some new leads.
4. Image is Everything. Have professional materials printed to give out. This alone is branding 101 and something that's hard to reverse if the first impression is a bad one. Read "Image is Everything" below. If you have to, print one at a time to save on bulk costs until more sales come through the door.
   
5. Plan.Plan.Plan. Even if you just right down some simple goals each month. Number of calls, number of follow-ups, number of sales, number of profits. Something that will motivate you to reach for bigger goals.
6. Stay in Contact. Be sure to have a contact system in place to respond to potential clients and clients consistently. This drip marketing method is a great way to develop long-lasting relationships. There are plenty of free and trial CRM software programs available.
7. Strategy. Develop a long-term strategy. Connect your product or service to something larger than you. By doing this you will give meaning to your product or service and consumers trust those who have their best interest at heart. Volunteering is free and can bring in new leads.
   
8. Co-brand. Look for alliances, partners or those products and services that compliment yours. Teaming up can be a great way to cut costs and reach different segments when marketing.
9. Find Your Niche. I don't care if it takes you every day for a year. Constantly ask how you are different than your competitor. Implement loyalty programs, free trials, anything that will gain consumer trust so they can see you are different and all you really pay out of pocket is the cost of the product.
   
10. Customer Service. You're bringing in the client finally, so be sure to have a strong follow-through. Listening to their needs, sending thank-yous, over delivering, and a strong handshake can make all the difference in the world. Customer retention is definitely the least costly marketing you can do. You've already spent the money to get them in the door. Now...WOW them!

Tell us how you save money and time when marketing your new business.

7 Core Values of Branding: Implement now while you’re young

A Brand Building Strategy that’s built on brand-centric feedback and customer experiences. According to, A New Brand World written by Scott Bedbury et. al., marketing and branding work through building an emotional experience for your client not necessarily a logical one. Emotional hot buttons are extremely effective. The author points out (7) core branding values that every brand should follow:

1. Simplicity (Risk insult for the sake of clarity)

2. Patience (Solid brands are patient and realize that it is not built overnight but with specific strategies in place)

3. Relevance (You cannot build a lasting company on one product or service. Look for relevance and alliances to create more opportunity)

4. Accessibility (Always include your website address, phone number and contact information, and always follow-up with some sort of response)

5. Humanity (Connect your brand to something much larger, more timeless, and more interesting than just your company, no matter how great you think it is)

6. Omni-presence (Place your brand where it needs to be to represent your values, fulfillment of our higher values)

7. Innovation (Create an inspiring environment and hire people who have the same values as you have)

A good brand parent has a well thought out vision, mission and core-values as well as a business plan and business model. Take an online survey at www.augmentgroup.com to learn more about your marketing readiness.

If there is one thing that Scott Bedbury knows, it's good brand parenting. He has lead some of the largest conglomerates in the world to reach even higher grounds. Just to name two, Nike and Starbuck's. Advice doesn't get any better than this.

Kids Can Build Marketing Skills Too: Parents have fun helping...

Listen to this creative and exciting activity for kids. Wouldn't it be a fun experience to teach your child business skills, marketing skills, and money managing skills all by trying this exercise? Have your child do the following:

1. Pick a product (Ex: Lemonade)
2. Pick a location (Ex: Church Bazaar, School Fair, Garage Sale)
3. Determine the price (Ex: Have the child determine how many packages it costs to make a gallon, divide the cost of the lemonade mix by the size of the cup to determine how many glasses you can get out of a gallon and that is your cost. Now determine the profit margin and explain what all this means "age appropriate of course".
4. Choose the promotion (Ex: Buy two glasses for the price of one, get a piece of candy with the lemonade, etc...)

Listen up parents, this can be a lot of fun and is just the beginning of helping your little entrepreneur understand marketing, accounting, and of course "PROFITS". Learning these skills will last a lifetime and be a fun project in the mean time.

Remember to emphasize, honesty, integrity, savings, and customer service skills. Be sure to continue reading the blog each week to learn more about "Marketing for Kids".

Image is Everything: Planting the seeds for long-term success!

Thinking long-term can be one of the best choices you make as a small business marketer. So many just go with quick, cheap solutions that they end up missing the mark all together. Developing an image that will build long-term success is like nurturing a seedling to maturity.

With that said, it’s important to understand that image is everything and can be the difference between catching a big fish or Nemo. How many businesses start on a whim (not necessarily a bad thing), but give out hand written business cards, poorly designed graphics, or the quality of stock used for printing is not just bad, but really bad! I know what you’re thinking. That’s all I can afford. There are definitely some things you can do on a shoestring budget that will help you improve your image and grab clients a little faster even if your look changes completely in a year or two. The idea is to get business as fast as possible without looking like it’s little old you running the whole company. A few “Inspired by Growth” tips:

• One thing you should always consider is to invest in a professional logo with tag line
• Always use a quality stock of paper
• Less is more
• Be consistent with colors, look, and theme
• ONLY give out brochures printed on a quality stock even if you have to print them one at a time
• Use templates and icons if necessary
• Find a small business marketing consultant (this can be an affordable option)

Remember, the important thing is to get sales as soon as possible. You can always upgrade later down the road when your company is growing beyond your wildest dreams.