These days everyone is a social media expert. They are armed with a Facebook fan page, a few months on Twitter, and a working knowledge of how to push content to all social media outlets at once. With this vast background, they position themselves to help business owners leverage social media. The result is a lot of bad advice and a number of business owners who doubt the effectiveness of social media as a tool.

The truth? Social media works.  It works when it is done thoughtfully and with a strategy.  It works when it is guided by professionals  willing to admit this is a relatively new field, and we are all learning. How do we learn? We watch others and talk with others who have been doing this longer. We share stories and best practices, and we read. We read well written books by smart authors; books like “No Bullshit Social Media” by my friends Jason Falls and Erik Deckers.

In person, they are an unlikely pair. Jason is brash, direct and outspoken. He seems to enjoy stirring up a little controversy in his wake. Erik is reserved, soft-spoken, with a subtle, biting wit. In print, they are a killer combination. The book is an extraordinarily well written easy read, filled with practical tips and specific examples and no bullshit or hype.

And to make it fun, the book contains just enough of the authors’ humor and sarcasm to make it feel as if I am sitting across a table chatting over coffee as I turn each page.  Some of my favorite case study/examples from the book are:

Cisco Product Launch: Using social media they reached 90 times (yes, that is correct, 90 times) as many people as they typically did with a product launch. The best part of this example was the fact the results were achieved at a significantly lower cost. The Lesson: Go where your customers are.

Toni and The Cars: Toni Deckers doesn’t have high influence according to Klout, but she does in the real world.  She influenced the purchase of four cars in just a few months. The Lesson: People have influence both on and off line. Don’t ignore either.

Want more examples? You will have to buy a copy of the book. You can’t borrow mine, because I will be referring to it again and again.  You can buy your own copy here.

Today’s guest post is by Nick Carter, author of “Unfunded: From Bootstrap to Blue Chip Without the Fuel of Round-A Capital.”   This is the story behind the story, untold tid-bit that didn’t make the book’s final cut.

For a newly forming business, there is perhaps no greater piece of the marketing puzzle than the website. Yet, for many business owners, the realm of website design and development remain shrouded in mystery. What is the difference between WordPress and a custom PHP-programmed site? Why do some vendors advertise websites for bargain prices like $99, and other firms won’t even talk about websites for less than $10k? Is there really that great of a disparity?

There is. Allow me to shed some light and make some recommendations for the budget-minded business owner.

First, let’s talk about design. Design is a skill. Design is a professional service. It takes time and there are some who are good at it and some who are bad. I never appreciated art until my wife (an artist) unveiled the many intricacies in it. Masterpieces selling for millions are so sought after because the artist created beauty from nothing.  Artists don’t spend hours, they spend weeks, or months, or even years carefully applying each stroke. And, when it is all done, only one exists. This painstaking process and utter exclusivity often fetches a very high price.

Perhaps the reason I was so slow to understand this value in art is because I was accustomed to buying a print and a frame for a quick buck at the mall. It looked okay to me, and hung well in my dining room. I called it wall art. But, while it may have been on the wall, it was far from art. This piece can be sold inexpensively because it was produced in mass. Countless other people have the same so-called art on their walls. It was cheap, but my house could be decorated exactly like my neighbors.

In websites, these are the two extremes. On the one hand, you have websites that are designed uniquely by artists—or graphic designers, as we call them today—and offered exclusively for one customer. On the other, the $99 website template is inexpensive for sure, but there could be thousands of other sites on the web that look exactly like yours.

So, how does the budget-conscious business owner pick? Simple: use a blend of the two.

Instead of hanging a mass-produced print on your wall, what if you could commission a true artist to spend a day (not weeks or years) applying  just a little new shading here and there, a touch of color where you would prefer, all-the-while using the underlying work to fill the majority of the content? The painting would be distinguished from its fellow templates, yet the most labor-intensive part of creation was foregone.

I would rarely advise a business owner to select a WordPress theme and use it as-is. But, with a few subtle modifications, such a predesigned template could bear many of the benefits of a custom design at a fraction of the artist’s cost. The website, though stylistically similar to thousands of other sites using
the same template, is visually unique.

Design aside, there is one other aspect of websites which can dramatically impact costs for much the same reason. It’s the matter of functionality.  And, like design, functionality can be created anew for your business alone, it can be a template (known as “off-the-shelf” software), or it can be a blend of both worlds. It is no accident that WordPress offers thousands of plugins that each offer their own off-the-shelf functionality. But what if you need something different?

In almost every case, an existing plugin can be found that meets some portion of your functionality requirements. Starting from this foundation, a developer can usually customize the plugin faster and less expensively than programming from scratch.

So, with so many templates and plugins available, where should you begin with your next website project? With the right partner. Experts like the team at Roundpeg are your guide to knowing what template and what plugins with which to start—what foundation on which to build. Decide on a budget and let your website vendor tweak the template(s) that are right for you.

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To read more about Nick Carter’s framework for startups, visit www.gounfunded.com/unfunded-book/.

BusinessMap: A Practical Guide to Business Planning – $35.00

As a small-business owner, you need a map — a business plan! Without it, you are traveling blind. Often, the road to achieving your goals is a series of small steps. Creating a schedule for these interim steps or milestones will help you track progress toward the overall goal. In this combination book and companion CD, you will discover a step-by-step process complete with numerous examples to help a new business owner create a viable business plan.

Accompanied with blank forms and outlines, “Business Map” provides you will all the necessary information to get your started. Business Map contains:

• Outline of what your plan should contain along with a complete listing of the questions your plan should answer throughout the process
• How to avoid the 10 most common mistakes small business owners make when writing their business plan
• Excerpts from plans across a range of industries to help you formulate your plan

BusinessMap includes a CD with sample plans, outlines and spread sheets to build proforma financial statements.

Check our a free preview or order your copy today!

The Entrepreneur’s Notebook: A Guide to the Science of Marketing – $20.00

Every company, large or small faces the same challenge – to create effective marketing. The difference? Large companies typically have a systematic process for the development of their marketing plans. Now you can learn the secret to big company marketing.

In this combination reference manual and workbook, you will find a step-by-step process to make your marketing investments more effective.

• Apply the Science of Marketing to your business
• Prepare a SWOT Analysis and use it to create realistic action plans
• Build a Marketing Pyramid and use it to form your Marketing Plan
• Segment the market, identifying the best potential customers
• Use what you know about your customers as the foundation of quality communication

Check our a free preview or order your copy today!

]]> http://www.roundpeg.biz/2009/09/small-business-marketin-3/feed/ 0 http://www.roundpeg.biz/2009/09/confessions-of-a-networking-junkie/ http://www.roundpeg.biz/2009/09/confessions-of-a-networking-junkie/#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:22:25 +0000 Lorraine http://www.roundpeg.biz/?p=3600

Confessions of a Networking Junkie – $15

Savvy networkers know that it is healthy for a business to get its BUZZ from networking. With a solid base of contacts and referral sources, a true networking junkie can say goodbye to cold calling and scale back on expensive advertising.

Discover a simple 12-step program designed to help any novice create a plan for their networking addiction.

As you use the workbook and listen to the 25 minute companion CD you will learn:

• Simple techniques to put the right words in your word of mouth marketing
• Practical strategies to build a referral network
• Tools you can use to find business in your business card pile

Check our a free preview or order your copy today!

Now available as an eBook or Kindle Download for $.99. Order Kindle version here or purchase the eBook version here:

With all the “so called” SEO, Blogging and Social Media experts cropping  up on a daily basis, it is refreshing to find someone who really is an expert.  Doug Karr author of the Marketing Technology Blog, really knows his stuff when it comes to blogging for business.

In a new eBook he has boiled down effective business blogging to five key elements, and then explains how to maximize each element.  While he admits he won’t write your content for you, he does have great tips on how to develop new ideas, engage readers and publicize what you write.

So if you are just getting started, or well on your blogging way, this is must reading!

1. The platform’s ability to present the content to search engines effectively
2. The use of keywords and phrases to attract search engine traffic.
3. Compelling content that meets the expectations of the visitor and encourages them to engage your business.
4. A path to engagement
5. Effective publicizing of the content through every other medium available.

 To  discover how to put some of these compenents into action, you will just have to buy the book – And at $9.99 it is well worth the investment!

Confessions of a Networking Junkie – $25.00

Savvy networkers know that it is healthy for a business to get its BUZZ from networking. With a solid base of contacts and referral sources, a true networking junkie can say goodbye to cold calling and scale back on expensive advertising.

Discover a simple 12-step program designed to help any novice create a plan for their networking addiction.

As you use the workbook and listen to the 25 minute companion CD you will learn:

•  Simple techniques to put the right words in your word of mouth marketing
• Practical strategies to build a referral network
• Tools you can use to find business in your business card pile

Check our a free preview or order your copy today!

The Entrepreneur’s Notebook: A Guide to the Science of Marketing – $20.00

Every company, large or small faces the same challenge – to create effective marketing. The difference? Large companies typically have a systematic process for the development of their marketing plans. Now you can learn the secret to big company marketing.

In this combination reference manual and workbook, you will find a step-by-step process to make your marketing investments more effective.

• Apply the Science of Marketing to your business
• Prepare a SWOT Analysis and use it to create realistic action plans
• Build a Marketing Pyramid and use it to form your Marketing Plan
• Segment the market, identifying the best potential customers
• Use what you know about your customers as the foundation of quality communication

Check our a free preview or order your copy today!

BusinessMap: A Practical Guide to Business Planning – $35.00

As a small-business owner, you need a map — a business plan! Without it, you are traveling blind. Often, the road to achieving your goals is a series of small steps. Creating a schedule for these interim steps or milestones will help you track progress toward the overall goal. In this combination book and companion CD, you will discover a step-by-step process complete with numerous examples to help a new business owner create a viable business plan.

Accompanied with blank forms and outlines, “Business Map” provides you will all the necessary information to get your started. Business Map contains:

• Outline of what your plan should contain along with a complete listing of the questions your plan should answer throughout the process
• How to avoid the 10 most common mistakes small business owners make when writing their business plan
• Excerpts from plans across a range of industries to help you formulate your plan

Check our a free preview or order your copy today!

Register for classes, download our ecourses and buy a book, all from one central location.
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Last Fall I started a project to create a second edition of my book: The Entrepreneur’s Notebook.  Periodically I present a piece of the original text, and ask for suggestions or additions.  I was hoping some of the great marketing minds I have met on the net would weigh in on some of the topics.   And I have gotten some good feedback.

But I got busy, and haven’t put a section up recently.  Well it is time to get back at it.  Contributors will be included with credit in the revised text, which I still hope will be released some time next summer.

Today’s Text comes from a new section on Your Competitors I want to add to the 2nd addition. What do you think:

Even new, completely innovative products have competition. Long before your product comes into the market, customers have found ways to solve their problems. Understanding who your real competitors are is critical to your business success. As you analyze your competitors, it can be helpful to think about the three levels of competition.

Level Two. These companies offer an alternative solution to your customer’s problem. On the surface, they may not appear to be a direct competitor because the product or service is dramatically different. If, however, this alternative solution solves your customer’s problem, it is a competitor.

Level Three. These companies or products do not solve the same problem at all, but compete for your customer’s limited resources.

Your business may not have competitors in every category, but you have some. As you think about the solution you provide from your customer’s perspective, why would they choose one of the alternative solutions? Price? Habit? Unless you understand why they are making the choice, it will be difficult to help them choose you instead.

A few days ago I introduced this challenge to my readers, to help me write the second edition of my book, :The Entrepreneur’s Notebook.

Every few days I present a piece of the original text, and ask for suggestions or additions. Contributors will be included with credit in the revised text, which will be released some time next summer.

Today’s Text comes from the Section on Your Brand Position

Once you have defined a market segment, and determined it is large enough, the last step in this process is defining your market position. This is the unique niche your business will serve and the key benefits you provide.

What do you want existing and potential customers to think of when they hear your name? What solutions do you offer them? The impression you are hoping to create should be captured in a clear concise statement which describes your target customer, the primary benefit they are seeking, and how the benefit will be delivered.

What is your brand position?  How do you describe your company and the unique market space you own?

For Roundpeg our Position Statement reads like this:For small business owners, who want to grow, Roundpeg provides, practical, affordable and productive marketing to make their phone ring.

Keep in mind this is not advertising copy. It is an internal definition of who your company serves, and what you provide which will help you create effective marketing messages.

In contrast our marketing message is simply: Roundpeg, we help small businesses become big businesses

So what is your brand position?  Will you share your favorite examples?