Still more branding and design – get your tips here…

We’re still disseminating some of our knowledge to prospective and current clients through email campaigns at the moment. Those on our lists will be getting regular emails with tips on design and branding issues pertinent to small and medium business.

You can find the latest from the Luxgraphicus website.

So that Canberra Small Business Blog readers don’t miss out, I’ll be posting bundled sets of tips here in my regular spot.

Please make comment or feedback on anything you find interesting, confusing, in need of more detail or otherwise worthy of comment. I look forward to developing a dialogue over the coming weeks and months.

10 tips on re-newing your brand for growth

1. If design is not your profession, hire a professional.
2. Research your audience.
3. Ask, why re-brand?
4. Brief your design professional on your messages and audience.
5. Consider a wide range of options.
6. Let go of previous solutions.
7. Package your “stuff” (visual collateral) to keep costs under control.
8. Use the change to promote your business more, or differently.
9. Plan to phase out ALL old material.
10. Ask your design professional for a set of rules for application to ALL your “stuff” (visual collateral).
11. Ask your design professional for an ongoing review of your branding.

(oops, that’s eleven!)

5 tips on email marketing management

1. Keep your emails short and fun.
2. Allow unsubscribes.
3. Make your emails look like all your other marketing material (follow your brand rules)
4. Use HTML emails (they look better and nearly everyone can see them).
5. Track opens and click throughs on links.
6. Build your database with online subscription web forms.

(still having trouble counting!)

 

See you next time, and remember, the best businesses are watching their branding!

Brian Miller
Creative Director
Luxgraphicus Design Agency

More branding and design – get your tips here…

We’re still disseminating some of our knowledge to prospective and current clients through email campaigns at the moment. Those on our lists will be getting regular emails with tips on design and branding issues pertinent to small and medium business.

You can also follow these tips regularly on the Luxgraphicus blog.

So that Canberra Small Business Blog readers don’t miss out, I’ll be posting bundled sets of tips here in my regular spot.

Please make comment or feedback on anything you find interesting, confusing, in need of more detail or otherwise worthy of comment. I look forward to developing a dialogue over the coming weeks and months.

7 tips on design for start-up businesses

If design is not your profession, hire a professional.
Research your audience.
Brief your design professional on your messages and audience.
Get your brand design done before your website, business card and brochure.
Plan ALL your requirements, then get some done now.
Get the others done later by the same designer.
Ask your design professional for an ongoing review of your branding.

10 tips on re-freshing your brand

If design is not your profession, hire a professional.
Keep all your “stuff” (visual collateral) consistent.
Look to “modernise” your logo (keep it’s shape and intent, change its feel and appeal)
Add some new graphics and text treatments
Compliment your standard colour palette with a few new ones.
Choose a small set of iconic images for your marketing and promotion
Change the format (shape & size) of some material.
Change the delivery method of some material.
Use a quality paper stock for your key material.
Ask your design professional for an ongoing review of your branding.

See you next time, and remember, the best businesses are watching their branding!

Brian Miller
Creative Director
Luxgraphicus Design Agency

Fly Me To the Moon – Marketing for Small Business

Jean McIntyre

By  Jean McIntyre (Marketing Angels)

Jean Mc talks about how small businesses can learn a lot from NASA by clever use of resources.

I got the inspiration for writing this post from watching one of my all time favourite movies ‘Apollo 13’.

My favourite scene (well one of my favourites) is where they find out that the carbon dioxide filters are the wrong shape for the inlets and they have to build new ones or the astronauts will die.

They collect stuff they have on the ship – socks, flight plans and things and a guy walks into a room of engineers, throws it all on the table and says:  “We have to find a way to make this, fit into the hole for this, using nothing but these.”

Of course they achieve it.  Nasa engineers are very clever but it’s such a good metaphor for ingenuity – especially in business.

Be Like NASA

Marketing in small business is all about clever use of resources.

When we write a marketing plan – it’s a roadmap for how the business could use its resources.  It lays out what the opportunities are, what the costs are and the likely payoff from using those resources.  A marketing plan helps the business owner to make decisions about for what they will use their resources and what they expect to achieve with them.

If the US Government hadn’t decided to spend the money they would never have achieved their goal.  Now we live in a world where a man has walked on the moon.

Deciding on Resource Expenditure

The first thing a business needs to decide on is how much they want to spend on marketing.  That includes both money and time.

It’s true that marketing can take a huge chunk about of a business’ operating budget.  The really big companies think nothing of spending millions on their marketing campaigns because spending money on marketing works.

That said, marketing (particularly if you advertise) can suck up all of your spare money if you aren’t clever about it.  You need to decide what is a reasonable amount of resources to spend to achieve the kind of return you want.  Marketing Angels has a very good e-guide about this subject that’s downloadable for free called “How Much Should I Spend on Marketing“.

Once you know what you want to spend – then you need to decide what to spend it on.

Hint:  Startups need to spend a much higher proportion of their budget on marketing than existing businesses.

What to take with you to the moon

There are literally 1,001 different ways you can market your business (I have a book with exactly that title!).  So what to choose.

I’ve talked in detail in previous posts about the different forms of marketing and when to use them. To make decisions on this you really need to understand your market inside and out.

Knowing your market (from research) will tell you: what magazines and newspapers they read, what channels they watch and listen to how they use the internet and what websites they frequent.  Research can tell you what organisations they belong to, how they shop and how much they spend.

All this informs the kind of marketing you will choose to spend your resources on.  It can drive your advertising, your publicity, your networking, your sponsorship, your events.

Most importantly it determines exactly what you will say to your market in your advertising – your key messages – so that what you say encourages potential customers to buy from you.

The NASA engineers know their ship, the astronauts, the journey and the destination inside out – so they’ve got a lot to work with to decide what resources to use and when and where.

Decide then DO IT

Probably the most important issue around using resources to market you business is to have faith and just decide to do it.  You know it will cost you time and money to succeed and committing those resources to marketing is perhaps the hardest leap to make in business.

In helping you with making that leap – I’m hoping you might find inspiration from President John F Kennedy when he announced that America was going to land a man on the moon.

I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on resource expenditure for marketing.

Jean Mc

Opportunity

Author  Donna Moulds

When opportunity knocks make sure you open the door.

 

Recently I have been listening to Donald Trump’s program “Think Big and Kick Ass” and he often talks about opportunity and making sure you take every opportunity you can so long as it is for the right reasons. I would add my personal opinion of, “is it for the greater good”? The greater good for me comes from my values. When opportunity knocks for me it has to be for the greater good. This could relate to a number of things such as my Family or my Team or my Business. Sometimes we are presented an opportunity that will also push us into a place we didn’t think we could go. Think Big and kick Ass, has made me realise how small I was playing in Business and since realising this, I have been thinking bigger and greater opportunities have presented themselves.

We have all heard the statement that “everything happens for a reason”, well this can be a subject for great debate, as I have heard many times in the past from various opinions. As this is a blog and my personal opinion, I have to say though, from experience everything does happen for a reason and at times we don’t know till much later on or with great reflection why! I also strongly believe that adversity brings great opportunity, such as self development and personal growth. We may feel uncomfortable or stretched physically and/or emotionally, however their will be a reason behind what is happening.

Do I have lessons to learn?
Do I want different results, therefore need to change what I am doing?
Have circumstances changed, where I need to adjust?

Opportunity can look different if you are an Optimistic V pessimistic person

Is your glass half full or half empty?

In the program The Shift, Dr Wayne Dyer spoke of people at a radio station loosing their job and how devastated they were and he made a statement about it being time to move on, and if you weren’t ready you would be forced by change. What I have seen in the past is optimistic people will accept decisions and find a solution sooner than a pessimistic person, who may take longer to find a solution and they also make statements about how this will impact them negatively or other statements that may place them in a victim mentality. Now let me also say, I agree loosing your job can be very devastating especially with bills to pay and a family to feed….

Tips…..When a situation occurs that may push our comfort levels slightly or significantly, try to ask a number of questions before you take action.

What specifically has occurred here?
Can I change the situation?
What resources do I have that I can tap into?
Who could I call on for advice or support?

Then break the situation down into the facts and take appropriate action. This strategy can also provide you with the mindset to see greater opportunity.

Till next time Bloggers

Donna Moulds

Marketing – How to Not Be Everything to Everybody

Helping Canberra small businesses to Get Smarter Marketing

By Jean McIntyre (Marketing Angels)

Jean Mc talks about how it’s important to identify your business’ unique selling proposition so that it’s clear to your most lucrative market that yours is the best business to serve their needs.

I had coffee today with the lovely Maria Taylor from The District Bulletin and we talked a lot about marketing – how advertising fits in to a marketing strategy but also how businesses need to really get clear on exactly who they are marketing to.

I’ve said it many times before but one can’t say it too much.  Marketing is all about understanding markets and having the right messages that appeal to the markets that are most lucrative to your business.  It sounds simple but most businesses get it wrong.

Well – Not That Simple

It is simple but there’s a rub.  Business people can’t help but think of all the possible sales they might get and they don’t want to miss out on any possible sale.  From a marketing perspective that’s just the wrong approach.

It’s true that there may simply be billions of people out there that, should they hear about your business, might be inclined to buy from you.  Trouble is – that getting to them all is prohibitively costly even with the advent of the internet.

The other thing that marketing is all about is resources.

A marketing strategy is simply a plan that determines exactly where are the best places to spend your money to access the people that are MOST LIKELY to want your products and buy them.  You choose a market according to how well your business can serve their needs and how easily you can communicate your messages with them.

What Determines Your Market

There are a few parameters that you should consider when establishing where your marketing dollar will be spent.  This is usually determined by your resources (people, skills, experience) and limitations (money and accessibility).  There’s just no point in choosing a market that has loads of money to spend if it’s impossible for you to communicate with it.

Markets generally need to meet four criteria: they must be sustainable; they must be able to be clearly identified and measured; they must be able to be reached and the must be responsive to your offering.

Here are just some of the more common characteristics that businesses can use to determine their market.

Geography

The extent to which geography determines your market depends on the type of business you have.  If your business relies on interaction with people then you will generally be limited to the area to which your people can travel.

If for example your business is soccer coaching and your customers are mums and dads that have to drive their kids from school to soccer – then its likely that you’ll limit your market to a small geographic area like Tuggeranong or Woden.

If this was the case then it would be silly to spend money on advertising in the Sydney Morning Herald and you would likely make better use of local networks to promote your business.  Of course if you franchise your business then it’s a different kettle of fish but still – each local area will have the same considerations.

Age

In marketing we call them ‘Cohorts’.  It’s not the only way you can break up age in to markets but it’s the best known approach.  You’ve heard them:  ‘Baby Boomer’, ‘Generation X’, ‘Generation Y’ etc.  Over time the things that happen in history, politics and society give particular age groups shared experiences that add together to affect their values, likes, dislikes and opinions.  These things impact on the behaviour – in particular spending habits of particular groups that make them good prospects for certain companies.

Of course each individual in the group is unique – but there are characteristics that are generally shared that make targetting the whole age group an efficient use of resources.

Here’s a description of Baby Boomers that I love from Marketing Textbook ‘Essentials of Marketing’ (Summers et al 2003 pg 438).

“…baby boomers are concerned with their children, their jobs and their retirement.  Nevertheless, some things will never change: they are a little selfish about their leisure time, a little careless about the way they spend their money, remain suspicious of the status quo, and they will always love rock ‘n’ roll.”

If this looks like a market that your business can serve you can use what you know about them to shape your messages and find the places that they’d be likely to congregate (in person and online).   Thinking again about advertising – if, for example, your business sold camping equipment – then you might think about creating messages about enjoying your leisure and your marketing might include advertising in a retirement magazine and networking with over 55’s groups to get your message out.

You wouldn’t advertise at a Raiders game.  Just because it’s possible that SOME of your market might be there – you are paying big money to deliver a message to a huge audience most of which isn’t interested in what you have to say.

Income

Of course – there’s no point in marketing to a group of people that can’t afford or aren’t willing to pay the price you want to get for your products.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has really good figures on how many people are in each income quintile (incomes are divided into 5 groups) and how much they spend on each category of product each week.  Using this you can establish the size of your market, determine how much of this market you are capable of capturing and how much you can earn from it.  This will help you establish what your marketing budget should be to reach them.

Other Segmentation Bases

In marketing we call breaking up the market into smaller more managing groups ‘segmentation’ and the things I have described are what we call ‘bases’ or characteristics.

There are other segmentation bases that are frequently used such as psychographics (personality, values, livestyles, motivations); family life cycle; product use frequency and benefits.  Each of these are appropriate ways to choose a market for your business to serve.

Get Choosy

When it comes down to it – business people need to get a bit fussy about who they choose to market to.

Stop thinking about those trillions of dollars you could earn from the billions of people out there – you are NEVER going to be able to reach them all – not with your small budget.

Start thinking about which markets will give you the best return on your marketing investment and start going after them with passion, commitment and your unique style.

I’d love to hear about what characteristics you’ve used to choose your market and why.

Jean Mc

References:

Summers J, Gardiner M, Lamb C, Hair J, McDaniel C;  ‘Essentials of Marketing’ 2003, Thompson Publishing Victoria Australia

Sales Facts

 

 

Here are a few sales facts to help you along the path of business success…

 

 

 

 

Sustainable sales revenues will take at least two years to develop
Sure, you will get revenues before this, but repeatable business will take at least this long

There is no right or wrong time to contact a prospect or client
Unless previously agreed, call them anytime (during working hours). They will soon tell you whether the time is right or not. If you can’t get hold of them, leave a message/email to say that you called, and that you will call them back.

There is no limit to how many times you should try getting in touch with someone
It really depends on how much time you’re prepared to spend. The fact that they haven’t contacted you doesn’t mean that they aren’t interested. There are many reasons why they haven’t called you back, and unless you can read minds, you will only find out once you have been in contact with them.

You have two ears and one mouth – use them that way
Listen to your clients and prospects (the above statement is figurative if you sell online). Have a conversation with them. Make sure you know exactly what they want. Ask questions. Wait for their replies. Take notes. Act on the notes. Provide solutions.

Plan, Action, Review, Plan, Action, Review…
The actual cycle time will vary, but keeping to this cycle will give your business the best chance. Make time for each phase.

Cold calling is a great way of renewing your business
Get a list, verify the list, and call everyone on the list. Expect about 10% response. It will give you feedback, it will give you new types of organisations into your client portfolio, and it will help to insure you against any future specific market sector slowdowns. Continue to do this regularly, not just once.
If you run a web based business, changing the way you advertise to attract a different market segment will achieve similar outcomes.

Do Business Development work regularly
If you don’t, you will invariably suffer peaks and troughs in your revenues, or at worst, cashflow issues

There are essentially two types of salespeople; Hunters and Farmers
Which one are you? You really need both in a business to run effectively, but I suggest that if you can’t do this, engage Hunters (or do the hunting yourself), and get your delivery people to manage the engagements once they are established.

A good face to face sales relationship will beat any other type of sales relationship every time
For the important deals, make sure this is the way you develop the sale above all else.
People buy from people. A major part of this is trust. If you can’t get close to your prospect to develop a good relationship, then look at ways of generating trust. Ebay have their rating system, testimonials will also do it, but the face to face relationship is the best.

Keep in touch
Meetings, Emails (approved of course), newsletters, blogs, Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Keep your profile fresh and updated. Keeping in people’s faces will remind them that you are still active and open for business. They will think of you before your competition. As Oscar Wilde wrote “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

You don’t need a reason to keep in touch
If you are genuinely interested in keeping your relationships going, call your colleagues and contacts once in a while, ask how things are going, invite them out for a cuppa. Invariably they will say yes.

Give freely of your time and expertise
Offering to help someone out with some advice for free (and with no expectation of return) is a great way to develop long term relationships and friendships. Of course, you will need to charge eventually, but you will find that the time to do this will come naturally.

Branding and design – get your tips here…

We’re disseminating some of our knowledge to prospective and current clients through email campaigns at the moment. Those on our lists will be getting regular emails with tips on design and branding issues pertinent to small and medium business.

You can also follow these tips regularly on the Luxgraphicus blog.

So that Canberra Small Business Blog readers don’t miss out, I’ll be posting bundled sets of tips here in my regular spot.

Please make comment or feedback on anything you find interesting, confusing, in need of more detail or otherwise worthy of comment. I look forward to developing a dialogue over the coming weeks and months.

7 tips on why branding?

1. Your client’s perception of your business is based on how they see you.
2. They “see” you at every contact point with your business.
3. This impression is created in a second.
4. Their perception is often unconscious.
5. This perception is often not a considered decision.
6. To your client, their perception IS reality.
7. When this perception is positive, potential sales become clients, and clients become advocates.

Why are the best businesses watching their branding?

5 tips on branding your business

1. If design is not your profession, hire a professional.
2. Review your brand and it’s purpose regularly (every 6 months).
3. Apply brand rules across ALL aspects of your business.
4. Apply brand rules ALL the time.
5. Be consistent and stick to a single solution.

5 tips on managing your brand

1. Review your brand regularly (every 6 months).
2. Follow a checklist to make sure everything is considered.
3. Create a system of rules.
4. Make sure everyone follows the rules.
5. Keep all your “stuff” (visual collateral) safe and retrievable.

See you next time, and remember, the best businesses are watching their branding!

Brian Miller
Creative Director
Luxgraphicus Design Agency

Learning, why is it so important?

Donna Moulds

I recently learned a number of lessons that have impacted my life in a positive way, even though pain was involved in the learning it was very worth while. I have been an avid learner and reader of other peoples life lessons for a number of years now and I hope this blog can assist your learning.

When I talk about learning I am not specifically focused on formal education, but learning life lessons as well as basic life skills. We learn many things over time but if you think about how, it is very diverse
Mentors
Parents
Teachers
Brothers and Sisters
Friends and colleagues
However the reality is sometimes we don’t have these examples or if we do they may not be the most positive of role models. We also may need more that what we are being taught at home or in school or out in the playground.

What kind of learner am I?
Do I learn by listening?
Do I learn by doing?
Do I learn by repetition and guidance?

What should I learn? Knowing what you need to learn can be a challenge as we don’t know what we don’t know. Thinking about your future and knowing we can achieve great things inspires us to learn, I think that is a big part of personal growth.

If we find our passion, we tend to become hungry for knowledge and it seem to be easier to learn new things, albeit scary at times but also exciting to know we love what we are learning and the direction this is taking our life, career and family.

Learning may cost money but far less than not learning and making the same mistakes over and over again. There is a great saying “If you keep doing what you have always done you will keep getting what you always got” Is a great Philosophy to live by and be a constant reminder that when things are not working we need to change what we are doing.

What if we don’t know how to do things differently?….I asked this question at the CEO sleep-out. Sometimes we don’t know there is a different way to do something as we have no one to guide us or show us an alternative.

When lights go off, or you have that Ah ha moment great things are possible, so keep learning. Have a look at this brief clip from the CEO Sleep-Out where we are helping homeless men learn how to do things differently.

I want to leave you with a thought

There are no winners or losers in education only learners!

So your business is unique – just like everyone else!

By Jean Mc (Marketing Angels)

Jean Mc talks about how the secret to business success is being different.  But being different is only a valuable asset if it’s in a way that’s meaningful to your target market.

I had a preliminary meeting a couple of weeks ago with an eager gentleman who is wanting to break into the ACT Solar Power market.  He was bemoaning the fact that the NSW Government canned the solar feed in tariff.  No doubt he would now be cursing Minister Corbell for doing the same thing here.

The problem I see with this market (and many others that are fad based) is that they all want to claim a major share of the market through offering cheaper prices.  “Ah but we offer a quality product” he said.  “That’s what makes us different”!

There are two really big problems with this approach:

1. Quality costs money and so you can’t be cheap.  Everything that we equate with quality: better materials, improved service, speedy resolution – all cost either time or money that – if you want to stay in business – you’ll have to pass on to your customers.  The fascinating thing is that consumers who want quality understand this and are prepared to pay for it.  So why then would they opt for a campaign around being cheap?  In the absence of any other way to tell the difference between providers, customers will just ring aroung for a few quotes and go with the cheapest.
2. THAT’S WHAT EVERYBODY SAYS!!!  Truly – when the market is hot like this – the easiest thing to do is to find out what your competitors charge and just charge less.  If you’ve got a big bucket of money behind you and can stick it out – this is a sure-fire way to get rid of the ‘fly-by-nighters’ and reduce your competition.  In this case the only people who win are the consumers that pay much less money. But at what cost?

Step 1 – Polling is Essential

Business is Like Politics

Political parties win elections by appealing (more than the opposition) to the masses but (with some parties moreso than others) there are some lines they won’t cross to get elected.  To do this they poll endlessly to find out what’s important in the electorate and what they can do (within their beliefs and value systems) to satisfy electors.

Being in business is not unlike this.

Before you even start in business you should conduct lots of research about your target market.  Things like what is important to them (eg: family, wealth, the environment); what activities do they engage in (eg: community and sporting groups, social activities); what media do they consume (eg: internet, print, television, radio); what are they really looking for in life?

The more you know about your target market the better you’ll be at creating products that really meet their needs (or policies if you are in Government).  You’ll know how best to communicate with them and how you can build a long term meaningful relationship with them that benefits both them and you.

We usually choose a business to be in that we have special skills in or that interests us or suits our value systems.  So what we are prepared to do to meet customers’ needs is bound by these parameters.

Step 2 – Educate your Market

Sometimes, what we offer customers is more likely to meet (what we call in marketing) “latent needs”.  That is, needs that they don’t yet know they  have.  It means that they haven’t yet thought that they have a problem that you can resolve.

Using the solar power example – there are still people who haven’t really engaged in thinking about putting solar panels on their rooves.  So what is the point in telling them that you do it cheaper than everybody else?

Like politicians , we can do a lot to educate the market on how what we can offer, meets their needs better than our opposition.

Understanding your market and how it thinks can help you describe your offering in a way that connects with them and their personal goals.

Imagine for a moment that you have found out through research that your market is concerned with the rising cost of living.  Do you think they would be more interested in a low cost installation or a solution that invests in lowering the costs of power for their family well into the future.

Step 3 – Tell Your Story

You educate your market through using language that appeals to their values and describes your product as clearly meeting their needs.

Communicate your key messages based on what you know of your market and its needs and your unique selling proposition to meet these needs.  The market will decide all by itself to buy your products (goods and services).

I’d be interested to hear what it is that makes your business different from your competition and why that’s important to your market.

Jean Mc

A Change to Sydney Business

This blog will give you some tips on how to work with larger business to clinch more business for your business! The tips can be used in any market, but the new NSW political scene gives you an idea on how to put it into practice.
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell recently unveiled a 100 Day Action Plan to carry out key commitments made during the election campaign. This Plan features major construction and redevelopment projects, including:
•    ‘planning and budgeting work for the South West and North West rail links including the establishment of project teams
•    beginning negotiations on the M5 widening to reduce congestion
•    implementing the Better Hospitals and Healthcare plan which includes a $3 billion investment in city and regional hospitals, more beds and additional nurses’
(source: Liberal Party of Australia New South Wales website).

Working and partnering with the bigger players
The key to playing a role in the delivery of these multi-million dollar projects is to work or partner with the successful larger organisations to pick up the work in IT, construction or other development. Larger organisations, including big developers will outsource the expertise and SMEs can provide this expertise. Your expertise can range from sales, project management, to liaising with government lobbyists. Your main assignment is to sell your expertise to the bigger players.

Tips to get your foot in the door
One of the most important tasks you can do is to identify networking opportunities to meet the key people within these larger organisations. The big players are usually members of industry groups including the American Chamber of Commerce and NSW Business Chamber. You need to attend these industry events to identify and network with the right players.

As well as attending industry networking functions, you should attend information sessions about the projects. Go along to see who the other key players are. It is at these events that you can identify your competition or potential partner organisations. It is also beneficial to have already established networking relationships so you don’t get lost in the crowd. Larger organisations could respond more positively to SMEs who they already have an established relationship with.

You should also talk to organisations and individuals within your own network who you have a relationship with, to see if they can introduce you to the main players on a particular project. You can also use online networking to identify people through resources such as LinkedIn. An upgraded paid version of LinkedIn also allows you to send messages to people who you aren’t connected to or who aren’t members of the same network or group as you.

If you still aren’t making any connections, then make a phone call to the key players. You may be lucky enough to talk directly to a senior member of the organisation or someone who is in charge of the area you want to target. If you can only get in touch with an Executive Assistant then they can point you in the right direction or at least organise a meeting time with the relevant person.