Category: Small Business Marketing

Today, April 10th we have our Meet the Expert call and we’ll be talking about the keys today for entrepreneurs to be successful.
Hope you can make it!
Register for free here:
http://www.buzzbooster.com/real.html

I like Seth Godin a lot. I’m an avid reader of his blog and I’ve read his books, but the last one Meatball Sundae is by far my favorite. We see what he talks about happening everyday, people adopting new tools, especially online and not getting any results out of it. Why? Because they didn’t look at the core of their business first and how they should be running it. It is a must read.

I’d like to invite you to two very good opportunities.

The first is to get your complimentary copy of our new magazine:

Engage – How to Win Big at The New Marketing Game at: http://www.engagemag.net

And then to be part of our next teleseminar: Learn How To Achieve Instant Celebrity Status By Starring in Your Own 30 Minute Television Show, on Feb 6th Register at: http://www.buzzbooster.com/YourTVShow.htm

So I went to check my websites and e-mail this morning like I do every day and found out that Dreamhost, the company I use to host my websites had incorrectly charged me in 3 bank accounts. Let me tell you, this is not a good way to start the day.

My first reaction was to yell: Nashhhhh, help! Get in touch with Dreamhost… but before we were able to write them an e-mail, we saw in our feed 2 notices from them reporting the problem.

We went to their blog and there it was, a very humorous post talking about their big mistake and stating that they were going to take care of everything.

In the afternoon we got some e-mails saying the money was refunded, although at this point we can’t see that in the bank statement. They had to refund $7,500,000 to their clients.

Their blog right now has over 1600 comments. Some people mad that they tried to explain what happened in a light way, but several glad that they were communicating and being transparent about what was going on, and the fact that they could interact.

I hate that companies can incorrectly bill you and take money away from you, but every time they are transparent about the mistakes and take action to correct the problem, I think it is a lot easier to forgive them, and as far as I could see in the comments, most people feel the same way.

Much better approach because you feel you are not being scammed and you won’t need to spend days trying to prove it was their fault. Like for example, with Pre-paid legal.

Remember?

They took money from my bank account and after 4 months, I’m still waiting for the refund that never happened. No communication from them either. Maybe I need to make one more phone call or send one more fax.

See the point? With one company i didn’t have to lift a finger to have the problem I didn’t cause solved, with the other…..

Which one will I keep being a client and will keep referring to my clients? Any guess?

The best time to change your business model is while you still have momentum.

A lot of small business owners are really scared to make shifts in their business. They fear they will loose what they have, they think people will see their changes as lost of focus etc.

Any good business needs to make corrections and sometimes even change the whole business model. Sometimes, your current strategy is just not attracting the right kind of customer or even revenue.

The thing is, you cannot come and make changes when things are really bad. you need to do them when your business is doing well, when the market perception is good. So you need to always keep an eye in the horizon to see what is coming and take action before the storm is too close.

Like in any big city, beggars are easy to find around here.

To get some money they go to busy places like movie theaters, malls, post offices, parking lots, etc.

Most of them around here stay with a piece of cardboard with something written trying to grab your attention.

Some are more creative or skilled and they stay in busy places playing some kind of instrument.

Some just approach you and beg.

There is one guy downtown that has a different approach. He goes around with his dog. His dog is a Pug a little overweight and well taken care of. It is a cute dog, very calm.

If you were to stay around these two, you’d notice that from every 3 people passing by, at least one stops to pet the dog.

Guess what happens next? A coin exchanges hands.

This fellow found a way to separate himself from the other beggars and gets more coins than most.

He found a marketing strategy that works for him. He found a way to attract people and to engage them through emotion without doing what every other beggar does.

I’m not trying to touch any moral aspect here. I just want to make a point:

Every time you find a way to differentiate yourself from the competition, you win and if you understand that people buy based on emotions, you win again.

Take a look at your business and ask yourself this question: How to I really differentiate my business from the competition?

Do not come with things like: We offer great customer service or have the best price.

What is really your unique point?

And then, ask this?

How do people learn about what is unique in my business?

See, my friend with the Pug dog makes sure he is around high end malls and places with a lot of foot traffic.