Home » Small Business Marketing

Category: Small Business Marketing

30 Years Into Six – The Journey Continues

It’s a long time coming.  But it’s finally here. Book number two 30 Years Into Six – “ A Marketers Journey Through The Small Business Jungle. Now available on Amazon, the 30yearsIntoSix.com website or Create Space.30 Years Into Six book by Author & Content Producer Dave Krygier - 30YearsIntoSix.com

What started this journey and changed the course of my life was a crushed hand with a broken finger on December 30, 2009. This is where God intervened and got my attention.

When I started this new journey I was searching and looking to reconnect in the online world. My experience one the years had all been in small business with occasionally dealing with large corporations. The corporate world never suited me, yet I spent 10 years as a contractor to an international company.

I created and started writing here on the Click and Mortar blog in February and slowly but surely the words started to flow onto the screen. In June of 2010 I came across Sean Mize, an Internet marketer who had specialized in articles for traffic, info products and coaching. Info products and coaching were intriguing since they enabled me to work virtually and on whenever I wanted to. Over the course of the next couple of years I learned so much from him including how to write articles, sales letters and all the components to building info products and coaching classes.

Later in 2010 I ran across Ken McCarthy of the System Seminar and attended his last big System meeting in early April 2011. This was an eye opener and game changer.

Over the years I have absorbed it all, took it all in, studied constantly, and began to test, research, and document on my blog and published articles. BTW – I still study, research and test to this day.

Combined with my experiences in the early years of the late 1980’s and 1990’s along with later years in the early to mid 2000’s, the content for the 30 Years Into Six book was flowing, even though I hadn’t decided to publish a written book yet.

My first book “Secrets of The Tiny Store,” written about 12 years of experience during the pre-Internet and early Internet years was published in 2014 as a digital e-book.

The 30years Into Six book was actually published in early 2016 as a digital ebook and then just recently we published the printed version available through Amazon and not the 30YearsIntoSix.com website.

I hope you enjoy the book and as always you can reach out to me here or on my production company website at DMK Productions.

Increase Sales with Local Internet Marketing

The early days of local Internet marketing…

When my wife and I first moved to Wenatchee in March of 1999 it was almost like a dream come true. Here we were living in the Apple Capital of the world and one of the sunniest parts of Washington State with over 300 days of sunshine each year.

We loved the weather and smaller town atmosphere. We really enjoyed it and it was an exciting time.  Plus we arrived in the still early days of the web and the local newspaper was just getting its feet wet in the online world.

I recall being the first residential test guinea pig in Wenatchee watching the three GTE techs hooking up the 115K ISDN connection to our home office. They had never done this for a residential customer and it was quite a sight as they took the better part of a day to get the work completed.

Those were the days of expensive banner ads and what I refer to as the wild west. I vividly remember discussing a potential banner buy with an account executive at Double Click. This was at the peak of the bubble, right before it burst and prices were sky high and just plain ridiculous. 

Local Internet Marketing in Wenatchee

I operated and worked from a home office, taking calls and emails from around the globe. The fax machine was still in use at that time and it wasn’t uncommon to come home to a pile of paper having to do with orders, questions and operations. This was during the Internet boom and our business was booming and cruising along. 

We found needs in the market and we filled them. Simple but true.

So all this leads to one question: As a small business owner in Wenatchee and Central Washington, how do you increase sales with local Internet marketing and market your business on the web and actually make it work?

There are Two Sides to this Web Coin:

Side A: If your business is located anywhere in Central Washington like Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Chelan, Cashmere, Plain or anywhere in between, and you have a product or service that isn’t restricted to being local, then you must seriously consider testing a ‘regional’ local Internet marketing strategy when it comes to your marketing on the web. 

Side B: If your business is really focused on the local or regional community in Central Washington, then a local web strategy will probably fit you better. Why – because you need local business, not business from outside the region. Local means people that are only going to shop and spend their money with a business that resides in their local area like Wenatchee or Cashmere.

With all that said, I can relate to both sides of this coin due to years of experience, testing, failing, succeeding and doing both sides from Wenatchee.

The bottom line is that if you want to increase sales with local Internet marketing and stay up with the ever expanding web, then you’ll need an Internet marketing strategy that is designed for your business. Not a cookie cutter approach. It may be a local internet marketing strategy and it may be a boader strategy. Either way, you need to target your market and focus versus throwing the wide net.

To your web marketing success,

 Dave Krygier

PS – Should you get stuck in the mire of web workings and require some assistance to make your way to safe ground, give the Small Business Mechanics a jingle. They have the tools and experience to help your business plus you may even see a bonus or two…

How to Reach Your Target Market – Channel Selection

How does a small business owner connect with his or her target market and do it in a way that is professional, affordable and shows a return on marketing investment?

It’s not that complicated but many marketers make it more complicated than it has to be by throwing mud up on the wall and seeing what sticks.  Or they use old tactics that just aren’t very effective in this day of mass media where people are being bombarded with all kinds of messages and information. So you really need to know who your target market is and do your best to not throw mud up on the wall.

For one particular venture I tested and researched all kinds of advertising and social channels, but good ole’ networking still produced the best and fastest results.

Why you say? Well for one thing it put me in front of people who had immediate needs for what I offered and secondly it allowed me to outreach into their sphere of influence while having an advocate to back me up.

Now I’m not saying that networking is the end all to business development but it could have a major impact on your business if developed properly in an organized fashion.

Maybe you’re like so many small business owners and professionals who just don’t have a handle on driving new business on a consistent basis. They are handing out flyers at the local fair, sending postcards to purchased lists, buying pay-per-click ads on the search engines, utilizing social media channels and still buying yellow pages.

The results vary and can be really sketchy, especially if you don’t test.

So I suggest you ask yourself the question – Which channels work best for you? Which channels have you tested and seen results? Maybe you know and maybe you don’t?

What I’m saying is this – what are the best, most cost effective ways to attract your target audience and keep their attention?

During my years at the Tiny Store, both on and off the web, we tested many different forms of advertising and marketing (channels).

Here’s a short list (pre Internet days of 1995):

Direct Mail –( RSVP Postcard deck, Internal List, Valpak), Radio, Road signs, Yellow Pages, Magazine Advertorials, Newspaper, Home Shows, Tradeshows, Chamber of Commerce, Parades, Welcome Wagon

As you can see, up until 1995 and the year we jumped on the World Wide Web, we utilized the all kinds of offline media.

Yep, we threw a lot of buckaroonies into the old yellow books and even a black book. And no, it’s not what you’re thinking. This company published a black book instead of a yellow book.

Some things worked better than others but one thing is for certain…

One of best offline marketing methods was the regional home and remodeling shows. We started doing these in 1985 and for 16 years those events really paid off, to the point where 25% of all revenue was trackable to each specific event.

The Special Events provided us Four Benefits:

#1 Reinforced to the consumer who we were and what we had to offer.

#2 Got the wheels rolling even if the consumer wasn’t ready to purchase.

#3 Continued Presence at these events showed that we were not a fly by night company and each year had a compounding effect.

#4 Enabled us to connect with our Target Market.

Yes, #4 was the key – Our Target Market.

We were connecting with our target market and what better way than to be in front of this market year after year.

And this my friend, is what most small businesses should be working on with their marketing resources and very valuable time – Their target market.

So go find the channels (online and offline) that work best for your business or organization, and make every effort to attract and connect with people who want what you offer.

To your target marketing success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher 

Small Business Success Stories – Secrets of the Tiny Store – Part I

Is your business becoming extinct and you don’t even realize it? Or is all your hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and money about to go up in smoke or down the drain and you feel helpless to do anything about it?

Let me share a short story about a small family business that struggled, fell, tripped and succeeded….

 9.11.2001 6am

It was on this day that I was supposed to fly to Wisconsin to meet with our biggest vendor, hoping they would approve of the new buyer who was soon to purchase our small family business.

The call came from my sister-in-law around 6am Pacific Time. It came as quite a shock so my wife and I quickly dressed and drove to my Mother’s home to view the unfolding tragedy in New York, the place of my birth and early years.

We quickly realized that I would not be flying that day and that our business sale may be put on the back burner. But we continued to watch and then waited to see if more disaster was to come.

In the weeks after Nine Eleven, we worked to salvage the sale and the buyer did purchase our company, although without the #1 vendor on board.

This vendor, who we had promoted and marketed for 12 years, was at that time the biggest in the industry. We had aligned ourselves with them so we could grow our small enterprise and this decision turned out to be one that we would not regret. Although it did cause some serious aggravation with our buyer.

Ultimately the executives at our #1 vendor held our fate in their hands and decided that the buyer of our business would not be permitted to sell and promote their products.

How ironic it was that we as small business people had to get their blessing and the people approving this deal were not even involved in a small business. They were corporate folk, doing their jobs, looking for increased sales and covering their bottom line.

To my knowledge, not one of the original executives are still working for this vendor and the business we sold….

Well, that’s another story that I will continue with in Part II. So stay tuned, avoid online extinction today and look for my next article where I’ll share what happened after the sale…

Dave Krygier
Publisher

PS – Want to learn more about the Tiny Store and how this small family business dominated niches? Get the inside scoop and check out Secrets of the Tiny Store and you’ll find out.

Increasing Sales in a Tough Economy – 2 Proven Steps

Increasing sales in a tough economy is not as difficult as many business owners make it out to be. Although it can be tough if you keep doing all the things that have not been working or performing like they used to.

One guy I met with recently mentioned how the business he worked for was having some troubles and the owner had to go work for someone else! This was troubling for me considering that this small business had a decent sized customer list. But what was even more troubling than that was the foundation of the business sounded like it had some major issues.

Yes, my reader, I am again mentioning the foundation – that base which all small businesses are built. That base which can deteriorate over time unless the owner continues to maintain and repair it.

To begin to increase thy sales, thou must have a solid foundation that is free of cracks and can handle more business.

Now this article is not about the foundation, but know this: to increase sales during a tough economy you need to be able to bring in more business and not have it evaporate as fast as you bring it in.

Here are the two steps that I mentioned in my title:

1. Market to New People utilizing Reviews and Testimonials as the base that which you launch from. In other words – let your customers spread the good word about your business. Help them spread the word about your business. Help them share with others and then have a vehicle to bring them back to you.

2. Market to Existing people (your existing customers, clients or patients). These people already know you and your business. You’ve already done the work to attract and capture them. Now all you need to do is implement one of more of these four tactics and your sales should increase.

a. Up Sell Your New Customer at the time of sale and after the sale. This creates additional business. If you don’t have an upsell product, service or information, then create one!

b. Keep in Contact with your customers, clients or patients. Email is the best way and text messaging also works well for certain businesses.  BTW – share more than you sell.

c. Ask for Referrals at every turn. This is a gold mine if you just ask at every opportunity that arises.

d. Follow up with your customers, clients and patients after each and every sale. This may seem like a simple thing to do and it is. Keep it simple – a phone call, thank you note, email or Candy Gram. Whatever method you choose, make sure to do it consistently.

Ok, enough for today.

One thing I always want to reinforce is that everything I mentioned above I have personally done at The Tiny Store, ad agencies, consulting and working with small businesses. It all works – you just need to do the work and get ’er done!

Increasing sales during these very tough economic times can be done if the business owner and management are willing to do the work. Start and test with one tactic and then move onto the next one. It’s a building process and is worth the time and effort.

To your continued success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

Local Marketing and the Future of Your Small Business

I recently attended a conference that was focused on all things that had to do with Local Marketing and the web as we know it right now, and what’s to come in the near future. It was three days of speakers, videos and PowerPoint presentations along with lots of networking. Which was worth the trip alone…hint, hint, hint.

Of all the topics that were presented, three hit home with me and today I am going to share with you one of those three. It was titled ‘Local Social’ and it is what local marketers will either embrace or be left in a ghost town.

Local marketing and the ability to utilize the web have come light years in the last ten years. I wonder what it would have been like at The Tiny Store to have such awesome tools  and avenues to develop and grow business? We’ll never know or maybe we will…

Web two point oh is now evolving to another level and engaging the searcher like never before. You probably already know this but I’m going to dig in and cover it anyway.

Search engines are starting to embrace the patterns and behaviors of us humans, aka the searcher. Combine this with the social media element and you have a very interesting chemistry that brings forth a new way of doing business.

This also brings even more to the surface as we become inundated with more and more information.

Thus the ‘Local Social’ comes into play and as we meld the search engine with social sites and other citation/review sites. Now it’s a little more complex than that but hopefully you get the picture.

It’s a new day for the offline small business that relies on the local folk for their livelihood!

So if you run and operate a small business that relies on the surrounding local community, then listen up and pay attention for a few more minutes, because this is serious stuff!

1. If you desire to attract and capture new searchers and visitors – you need to develop as many positive testimonials and citations (reviews) as possible.

2. You need to make sure you are listed on ALL of the local directories.

3. You must take action now and not delay another day!

Why you ask?

Because the race is on and the small business owner does the work and works the plan will be the one who rises to the top and dominates in his or her local marketplace. Yes, that’s the way it’s going to be moving forward. But now the small business can go head to head with the big national box and can stay out in front and win!

Guerilla tactics are us! (Thank you Jay Conrad Levinson)

Now there is more to these steps, if you are curious to find out – check in at SBM and see if the “Local Social Plan” for Small Business Owners is still available. Depending on when you read this, it may or may not be still on the market.

So waste not any time my faithful reader. Take action now and go make it happen.

Stay tuned and plugged in,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

The Tale of Two Marketing Camps

Ever seen the movie ‘Daddy Daycamp’? It’s the story about two Dad’s who take the leap and get thrust into a summer day camp, only to find out that their competitor across the lake is going to give them a run for their money.

This leads me to today’s topic of marketing and the two camps – Smarketing and Farketing.

Why two camps? Because in small business I’ve generally found that most businesses fall into one camp or the other.  It’s a strange dilemma and one I’ve seen from time to time in certain small businesses that I’ve come across.

Why is it that some small business owners continue down the same path or stay in the same camp, with the same old broken ways of doing things, yet they complain and suffer but won’t change?

Let’s look at the two camps and do a little comparison. There are those that work in what I refer to as Smarketing and there’s the other group that sits over in camp Farketing.

SMARKETING is all about innovating, creating and producing marketing, advertising and promotions that break the barrier. Or at least makes the leap across the canyon.

It’s the owner that sees the possibilities and takes a step outside the box to go where he or she hasn’t gone before.

It’s the owner, partner or manager that says, “We can do things different and have a positive impact on our prospects and customers.”

This camp is constantly staying ahead of the curve and really fun to work with.

When you visit Camp SMARKETING you’ll most likely experience one or all of the following traits:

1. These campers think outside the box.

2. They like to go where no one else has gone before.

3. They’re not afraid to take it up a notch and do some serious testing to see what works and what doesn’t.

4. These campers are most likely very profitable and are seeing ROI.

Compare this with ole’ Camp FARKETING where these folks stick with the old marketing that just looks worn out and should be left in the musty basement, tucked away and never to be seen again.

The marketing at this camp is dull and regurgitated from years past saying, “We have been here and done this before but would like to show you again!”

It’s the same ole, same ole, sell, sell, sell – pitch, pitch, pitch. Blah, Blah, Blah!

These campers think that their way of doing things is just fine, yet their businesses tend to stagnate, suffer and sit idle. He or she scratches the old head and wondering why it ain’t working like it used to? Why are the same old ads, headlines and gimmicks just not bringing the business their way as in years past?

Then one night the campers hear the cheers and music coming from Camp SMARKETING and a few of the Farketers decide to venture over and see what all the hubbub is about.

They arrive to see their competitors, some known and others unknown, sharing strategies and tactics that just seem unreal and far out there.

And then something happens that the ole’ Farketers didn’t anticipate. A few of their group become curious enough that they decided to pull up stakes and camp out at Camp Smarketing to see what they could learn and implement in their business.

Something had opened their minds and now they were ready to venture out.

The great news for these campers is that they can now begin on a journey that will bring change, but more so they’ll begin to see improvements in their businesses, if they pay attention, listen and then take action.

So there you have it – the two camps. Which one are you in? Or are you just getting started and need to decide which one you’ll be staying at?

I hope you choose the camp that “Thinks Outside the Box” and if you do then consider connecting with The SmallBiz Mechanic and he’ll make sure your properly outfitted for the adventure.

To your success,

Dave Krygier

 

Sports Marketing – How to Find the Hidden Treasure

If you market to athletes, or the youth sports marketplace – tune in for a few minutes and find the six words that could make the difference in your business or organization this next year.

My observation with three children in youth sports has been that the sports organizations we’ve come into contact with have had lack luster marketing and they just don’t understand how to attract, connect and communicate.

Now you would think that these so called sports marketing experts would be all over the web and also use utilizing offline direct response channels to drive business and increase awareness? Well that’s rarely the case, at least in our five going into six years of experience.

This experience tells me that there could possibly be an opportunity that presents itself to your small business. The question is will you even notice it or jump on it when the little opp comes into play?

One of the best ways that you as a marketer can attract more business to your enterprise or organization is simply by surveying those you come in contact with and your existing customers. This is one of the first steps to finding out what the market really wants.

Now you may look at this old fashioned method or say that surveying is a hassle, but I will stand by this simple method and state that a survey can make the difference of profit or loss and success or failure. It made a huge difference in the success of The Tiny Store and over the years I’ve had clients take advantage of this age old tactic.

You see, as the business owner( or manager or director) you need to find out what people want, need and desire. Not what you want, need and desire. Because it’s all about them and not you. It’s all about what they want to do, purchase and read. So you need to meet this need if you want to grow and better serve your local and regional sports community.

It’s one thing to have a great idea for a product or service but it’s entirely another story to bring it to market and see long-term success.

Let me give you a simple example of what not to do:

Many, many moons ago my Dad and Uncle manufactured a hard cover tennis case. It was essentially a violin case but pretty ugly and just not attractive. Now the idea was very sound, but was there a market and real need for this item or did they just concoct this idea and think it would fly and make them a gazillion dollares?

Since it never went anywhere and only the samples were produced, the record shows that this tennis case ended up being a dust collector. Now I believe had they done some simple market research along with simple surveys, they might have found out just what the market needed at that time. This research may have lead to further development and even a full blown launch, but instead the ugly duckling got stuck in the attic and was chalked up as an experiment.

So let me leave you with this…

If you already have clients or customers, then simply ask them what they want!
It’s not rocket science. Just ask them over the phone, in person, by sending an email, via social media channels, or even snail mail.

The bottom line is: Find the need and fill it.

To your sports marketing success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

 

 

 

Offline to Online Marketing

In today’s post I’m diving into the topic of what I call Combination Marketing. So if you are involved in a small business that has been using traditional media and you desire to jump online and combine the two, this might be just what you need.

Combo Marketing is a mix of using online and offline marketing methods to attract and reach your target market.

If this is new to you then let me give you a brief example:

Let’s say you own and operate a small restaurant that currently uses direct mail but also has a simple website with menu, about us and contact info.

You would simply start using your website and a social media site like Facebook to get started. Once you are ready to go you would place specific response mechanisms on your direct mail pieces that direct people to your website or Facebook.

Once the searcher clicks and takes action, you end up with a new reservation, a take out order, an inquiry, a new subscriber or a phone call.

This is a simple explanation and one of many roads that you can take, but it gives you the basic idea of offline to online marketing.

But even though combo marketing allows you the small business owner to possibly get more traction and results faster, you still need to pick your battles and focus, especially if you are on a limited or restricted budget.

Here are a few of many different strategies that you might consider using when implementing offline to online marketing:

Strategy #1
One of the strategies I like is to use a Dedicated URL that is short and relates to your business, products or services. URLs have become so inexpensive that for as little as $10 a year (and sometimes less), you can test a URL to see if it pulls and has any weight. This simple test will show you if it pays to expand and put more money behind the URL.

I also recommend that you combine this URL with one offline channel at a time, like a direct response postcard or classified ad.

If you want to take it a step further and dig down one more level, create a separate landing page for each and every ad or promotion that you create.  This allows you to create and track individual pages to see which ones are performing and which ones aren’t.

Strategy #2
The second strategy is what I refer to as the ‘Mobilizer Campaign’ and it’s whole purpose is to drive traffic and leads through a mobile website. The idea being that mobile users will search and arrive at your mobile site that directs them to specific pages that you have created for them to see and take action. These pages are response driven and need to have incentives and reasons for the searcher to click and take action.

For more information about these and other offline to online marketing strategies, along with the ‘BITS Program’, contact The SmallBiz Mechanic and get started today.

Dave Krygier
Publisher


 

What is an Email Autoresponder?

What is an email autoresponder and how does a small business use it?

The email auto responder is online software generally provided by a third party company. This software is what enables you, the small business owner, to capture, communicate and sell to the people on your email list plus have the ability to track and have access to data through detailed reports.

The email auto responder company that you as a business owner choose to use is an extremely important decision and should not be taken lightly. This company is going to be providing you with software and maintaining the database of subscribers that you accumulate. Without the auto responder it would be virtually impossible to develop and grow a list of subscribers online.

When I initially was looking for email software I tested two different products and ended up going with Aweber because of the simplicity and ease of use.

In my opinion their setup and interface was and still is one of the best on the market for email marketing, especially the beginner or those that are less technical when it comes to computers and software.

Auto-responder software provides many different features like the lead capture forms, an email interface, a database and reports for the user to review and analyze data for marketing purposes.

One of the best things about online email software is that if you happen to be involved in a traditional brick and mortar business, you can setup the email auto-responder and market to both prospects and clients with out a complex web site.

This is due in part to the simple web forms that the 3rd party software company provides. These forms can be posted anywhere and in some cases the company will also host the form for the business.

So for those people that want to keep it really simple, the lead capture web form can be used on social media sites like Facebook and on blog sites just like this one.

No matter which email software you choose for your business, make sure that the company has great support and provides you with an online resource for answering questions.

I’ve trusted Aweber and so far it’s been a great experience.

By the way, if you want more information about email marketing, check out my post about it by clicking here.

To your success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher