Archive for November 2011
November 26, 2011 | 
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As an entrepreneur and business owner I am always on the prowl for creative and effective ways to capture the attention of potential customers. During a long flight from Seattle to Columbus Ohio I was seated next to an executive from a large marketing firm with whom I’d managed to strike up a conversation. Her questions and responsive interest indicated to me that she was genuinely interested in the services I offered so I handed her my finest business card which she tucked into her pant pocket while gather her luggage from the over head compartment; as she did this I suddenly thought of all the paper wads I had found in the bottom of the washer that had been business cards I really wanted to save. So I decided to scientifically measure the value of this age old marketing / networking tool. Here are the results:
Over 600 people interviewed
Subjects sampled more than 29 states
(a very scientifically substantial and relevant sampling)
40% said they discard cards received because of no value.
So what happens to the other 60% of cards we hand out?
40% said they usually lose or misplace business cards.
10% said that most cards are difficult to spot in piles, files or organizers so they turn to resources like yellow pages.
Less than 5% said they have secured services from a business card.
Let’s sort through the data. By the way if you search the web you will find studies that conclude the business card is your most vital business investment. So, who’s right and who’s wrong? Actually no one is entirely wrong. Business cards have their place and uses. What research and experience tell me is that business cards are a great value when used well and in a timely fashion.
Business cards are seldom a good front-end marketing tool. This is true because most of them are discarded, lost or avoided due to obscurity. The exception to this rule is the creatively valuable business card.
Some examples of creative business cards include: calendar cards, magnet cards, coupon cards, info. Cards, etcetera. I will never forget the first business card I had ever actually kept and used; it had been handed to me by the owner of a print shop, on the back was a years calendar, so I placed it in my wallet and referenced it often for nearly a year before I was asked to lead a project at work that involved securing printing services, you know who I called first. Another example was a magnet card I picked up just because I thought it would be nice to secure notes to the front of my file cabinet; several months later I needed to buy tires for my car and the first call I made was the tire shop on that magnet. Another card I held onto for months was one that had some interesting facts and statistics that I thought I could reference in the future. The bottom line is, be creative and come up with a reason your potential customers should hold onto your card.
Business cards make great back-end marketing tools. Once you have you foot in the door they can and should be used frequently to ensure the customer knows how to contact you. I include a card with all correspondence. At the front end and back-end it is important to make sure your business card stands out.
Precautions and Tips
oAvoid depending on the business card to get the potential customer to contact you.
oAsk for the potential customer to give you their contact information in exchange for yours.
oMake notes that will be helpful for the potential customer on the back of the card.
oA photo of yourself is a nice personalizing touch.
oFollow up with card recipients within five days if they’ve never done business with you, ten if they have.
oInclude a card with every correspondence.
oPersonalize the business card by writing on the card what you can offer in your own handwriting.
The same precautions and tips may apply to the business card alternatives I’ll suggest next. If business cards aren’t all they’re cracked up to be what are the alternatives? There are actually many, and here we’ll explore just three that I have found are powerful.
Promotional Items
Instead of carrying business cards consider carrying a book of promotional checks. I like to ask this sales question, “If I could give you a blank check that you could fill in the -in the amount of- blank with any amount and cash it with guaranteed payment would you be interested in hearing more?” I then give them a check from my “special” checkbook that contains my contact information, a hand written expiration date, unique authorization code (the check number) and states that it is valid for a FREE 30 minute coaching session with me via telephone. They tend to generate second hand leads because the person I give it to finds it so interesting that they talk about it to others and they then contact me as well. You can order your checks from Current checks. Obviously you will not want any account information on the check. You will want your contact information and Key selling information or services on the check. You may also consider ordering look-alike checkbooks from a printer; unfortunately they may lack authenticity and resulting novelty as well as the unique check numbers.
Brochures & Booklets
Brochures and booklets are a great alternative to cards because they provide valuable information that encourages the receiver to keep it or better yet pass it on after retrieving your contact information. Brochures can offer research information, tips, innovative ideas, interesting facts or even fictional writing. Because brochures are relatively inexpensive you can distribute them liberally.
The most important rule to follow is, make sure your brochures are content rich. Put time and effort into brochure design to make them stimulating and attractive. You may consider having several different brochures to ensure you have a brochure that will best meet the potential customer’s need.
Consider including coupons, special offers and free gifts that must be claimed by an expiration date. You may also consider providing space where you can add handwritten notes to customize the piece for the customer.
Posted in business card | 
Tags: Business Investment, Marketing Firm, Networking Tool | 
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Want to save paper, save money and wow your business contacts at the same time? Use a cheap key chain “pen drive” (a small flash memory card that jacks to a USB port) to create an interactive “business card” that will stand way out from the crowd.
Upload the drive with your filled-in Outlook/Plaxo contact or virtual business card and add a few free offerings such as an short MP3 demo of a class or training, a white paper, workbook, ebook – whatever is pertinent to your business. Keep the drive with you and whenever someone is talking to you about your work and has access to gear that will accept your drive (PDA, laptop, pocket PC, USB-capable smart-phone, etc), you can just offer to download your inclusive package into their device.
No more agonizingly expensive waste of newly obsolete business cards whenever you need to update or change your contact information. One less “what do I do with this” business card for your contacts to have to deal with when they get home from whatever networking event you’ve connected at. And you can constantly tweak the content for relevance, change seasonal discounts, update with limited special offers, and so on!
A few caveats:
1. Choose your selections carefully. Opt for high-value, high-return options that will benefit the receiver, not just the giver. You can include a brochure, if it seems appropriate, but make the bulk of your offering valuable, pertinent and something they’ll want to pass on to friends (taking your information with it)!
2. Respect your contact’s time and available memory! Make sure that you don’t pack it so full that it will overload smaller devices or take 20 minutes to download! If you have large-file offerings you’d like to share, consider creating a single html “web page” to download instead, with the links embedded in it. Your contact then simply opens the page, logs onto their ISP and clicks through to get all the great stuff you want to share!
3. Don’t push! Not everyone is comfortable letting just anyone download stuff into his or her devices. If this is a concern, offer to take their card and send them the information via email. You’ve already made a good impression just by being ready and willing to pass on valuable items on the spot. Anything beyond that is pure gravy.
With just a bit of careful decision-making and common sense, a pen drive business card can be an amazingly successful vehicle for generating greater interaction, creating an environment of valuable informational exchange and providing a source of interesting conversation. It can include anything from a PowerPoint presentation to a multi-media product demo to an audio/video clip of your services or presentation skill – all condensed into one tiny, cigarette lighter-sized bauble. You can even buy them in designer shapes and colors, or imprinted with your logo. And, while we have been discussing mainly business applications, it is a technology that lends itself to a nearly infinite variety of adaptations. How many ways you can think of to use this idea?
Small Business, Big Business – What’s the Diff?
Well a lot actually!
I become frustrated and angry at the government’s paying lip service to assisting small business. It appears as though all governments, bureaucrats and many accounting advisers do not know what a real small business is.
In Australia the government’s definition for a small business is one which has less than 100 employees. Who are they kidding? In my consultancy that’s a big business.
They believe that ‘small business’ is the same as ‘big business’ on a smaller scale, that ‘big business’ is ‘small business’ with more of the same.
Wrong! About 99% of small business employs less than 10 employees and what is beneficial to the 100-employee firm may be downright dangerous for the 10-employee firm. Governments must know that. They can’t be so stupid not too… can they?
We Aussies are ready to believe anything about our politicians. We have met so many of them and none of them seem any brighter than the fellow next door. (In fact, none of them seem to know as much as I do).
When I decided to go global I was certain that the situation would be different in the USA. I was wrong.
The USA Small Business Authority has set a size standard for most ‘small business’ enterprises. In the full Table of Small Business Size Standards Matched to SIC Codes published by the Small Business Authority it is annual turnover that limits the size of small business firms.
In my consultancy of restaurants, coffee shops, florists, hairdressers, electrical retailers etc. the turnover limit is $5 million. In Australia there are NO single shop establishments achieving that sort of turnover.
In Australia a hairdressing salon working a 7-day week at an average price of $70 per client would need 30 clients each and every hour on ever day of the year. Impossible in Australia and probably in the USA too.
This does clear up an anomaly I had noticed in the different approach business plans took in Australia as opposed to that taken in America.
When Australian business began to use the Internet almost all the business plan software was from the States. The plans, although meant for small business, were not appropriate for Australian firms because they focused entirely on obtaining venture capital.
There were very few venture capital providers in Australia and of those that were few were interested in providing capital to the majority of our small ‘small business’. Business Plans languished in the filing cabinet and were hardly ever seen again.
The Australian consultants began to oversee business plans that focused on their being used as management tools. The planning itself was a vital element in the success of the business…and the plans were used to chart the course of the firm.
Each month the actual results were compared to what had been expected in the business plan. Tactics were formulated to overcome shortcomings or build upon favorable results.
Are you a small business owner who has studied all the books and web information that you can get hold of, and it is still not happening for you?
Perhaps it is because the information was directed to firms much larger than yours – firms with 100 employees or $5 million in sales. You need information more suited to your own business size.
Various organisations publish benchmarks for your industry. Compare your own results with the industry average. This will show where you should be concentrating your efforts for improvement.
You should seek out advisers and information that applies to ‘mini’ business – firms that are your size whatever it is. Perhaps you own accountant can help you find it.
But never be so foolish as to believe that what the government says is good for small business will be necessarily good for you.
Kelvyn Peters CPA and Associates knows profitable business strategies that really work.
And he’s only an e-mail away.
Posted in small business | Tags: Business Plans, Politicians, Small Business Authority | No Comments »