FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

I recently ran a seminar – Small Business Marketing for Women Business Owners. Had a great group of enthusiastic women join me and as always I learned a thing or two. What I notice over and over at these seminars is how often business owners make marketing more complicated than it has to be. They think they have to have big budgets and big brands before they can start marketing their business. Absolutely not!

1. Figure out who your ideal customer is.
2. Figure out where they are located and how to connect with them.
3. Determine what your message is – clearly outline the benefits they are going to get from your product or service.
4. Get out into the market and let these people know about you. You can do this with simply tools such as showing up at networking events for that industry, sending out postcards, or inviting them for a coffee to discuss how you might do business together.

The key to being successful in building your business is to be bold. Stop worrying about how it’s going to turn out and just take action.

Our annual “Taste of Success” week is set to kick off June 11th. The Ghost CEOs in Vancouver will be hosting 80 sessions for professional women and entrepreneurs interested in having a taste of business coaching. It has slipped out that the event is happening and already 17 spots are accounted for. These are 40 minute in person sessions happening in our downtown Vancouver offices.

Check out our promotion here: Taste Of Success Promotion Information

Here is the follow up to my previous post providing more key points that customers must consider in order to create a succesful Internet brand:

3. Brand Impact:
The top portion of your website is the most important area – it’s the first thing visitors see when they click through to your site: use it to your advantage and make sure what they see has impact. The company logo should be displayed prominently here along with a short tagline that describes concisely what you do. Content should be clear and concise and should quickly get to the gist of your offering. This makes it obvious to prospects immediately that they have come to the right place (or not as the case maybe) saving them time and effort.

4. Keep it simple and clear:
Many companies make the mistake of trying to put too much on their home page making it look busy and all that results is information overload - visitors are confused as to what the company actually does. Bear in mind that the most successful Internet brand is Google (link to www.google.com) whose classic website is plain white with the Google logo prominently displayed then the simple search functionality – it seems stark, but it really works.

5. Your domain is part of your brand too!:
Your domain or url should either reflect your company name or your function exactly: I don’t know how many times I have come across a company in a magazine or newspaper article and have tried to find them on the Internet using their company name but to no avail. When I do finally track them down it turns out that their domain is completely different and has no apparent similarity to the corporate identity. Had these organisations chosen a domain that encompassed their company name or at the very least one that describes concisely what they do it would have been so much more obvious and easy to find.

The keys to building a strong Internet brand include consistency, impact, simplicity and clarity - make sure that the look and feel are consistent with existing marketing efforts; that your message is obvious and apparent; that your brand has impact and your domain is obvious and as a result, your organization you will avoid potential pitfalls, ehance brand awareness and build more brand loyalty.

When creating a web presence, many companies think of technology and web design first with marketing as an afterthought when in reality, their major concern should be the latter: after all the web site is often the first point of contact you have with your potential customer. It’s imperative therefore to consider marketing (and branding in particular) a priority when creating your Internet presence. If you don’t, you could risk damaging this substantial asset considerably. In part one of this two part series I provide some key points that companies must consider in order to create a successful internet brand:

1. If your brand is already working well for you, there is no need to reinvent the wheel:
In most cases companies have already made considerable investment in building brand awareness. Don’t discard this; rather use it to your advantage. Always extend your existing brand image to your on-line presence so that people who are already aware of your brand recognize it easily on the web.

2. Consistency is key:
The company brand should be consistent across all touch points. Use existing corporate logo’s, taglines, fonts and colour schemes on your website to mirror the colours you use in your letterheads, signage and tangible marketing materials (or vice versa). Always include the internet domain or home page on existing corporate materials because driving traffic to your website will serve to further enhance your brand.

Employee Attitude: What a Difference It Makes!

I recently flew down to LA on business and took an American Airlines SkyWest flight. This was my first time flying with SkyWest and I was impressed. The flight crew was friendly, smiling and very welcoming. They helped passengers with their luggage, guided people to their seats and talked to people during the flight about things other than safety drills, seat position and beverage service. They made the flight a great experience; a far cry from the nasty arrogant attitude I generally encounter on my usual carrier. Kudos to SkyWest – that is a company that cares about its customers!

The way your staff treats customers directly impacts your bottom line. What kind of experience are your customers having when they do business with you? This article on the Customer Service Point site discusses 8 Keys to Good Customer Service that will help your company ensure your customers are content.

Sitting on the beach, watching the waves come in, it struck me that the ocean has a clear purpose and plan and it works that plan consistently, day after day. That is exactly what is at the heart of successful business development. As a business owner, you are responsible for making your business grow. Pick a niche market, develop a clear sales message and then go out and get in front of potential customers consistently and frequently. Just like the ocean. Don’t let fear get in your way; don’t keep procrastinating; don’t wait for things to be “better” before doing something. Just decide to grow your business and make it happen.