Our Blog is Starting to Grow

January 14, 2008 | 2 Comments

Our Austin, Texas Duct Tape Marketing blog has finally achieved a Google Page Rank (PR3)! If you are not sure what Google Page Rank means, check out the technical definition on a Wiki article here. But, simply speaking, it is a Google-provided ranking number, based on popularity, content quality and inbound links. While a site may rank well in Google for certain keyword phrases, it takes a while (6 months in our case) after launching a new site to be awarded a Google Page Rank. It is an indicator that our website and blog is moving the right direction, with more people linking to us, reading our content & blog and listening to what we have to say about Small Business Marketing Strategies.

I’m sure many of you may be saying “who cares”. It is easy for someone to get a Google Page Rank. Yeah, I get that. But, let me give you a bit of background to illustrate why this is such a big day for us. My business partner/brother, Charles, & I started Forest For The Trees in mid-2007 after being involved with 2 companies we owned, and hundreds of client companies, to help grow their business. We finally decided that our approach and skill set was very unique to the marketing consulting or marketing coaching world, we decided it was time to get this company moving. But, we did a bit of an experiment to show that we know what the hell we are doing and could jumpstart a company on a shoestring - just like many small businesses would be doing.

A bit more background… Charles originally started a specialized products company over 5 years ago and I joined him about a year later. (Now at that point, Charles brought many years of successful Business Development in Corporate America and I brought many years growing and running small companies, with a specialty in Internet Strategy.) We received our patent after 4 years of work and generally went through hell & hundreds of versions while growing the company to where it is now. We are (we think), in final discussions to sell the products company. But, with most of our capital (especially Charles) tied up in this products company until it sells, we had to bootstrap Forest For The Trees. So, we’ve been working at least several times a week, if not daily, building links, adding educational content to our site, blogging about small business marketing and attempting to build a community of readers. This takes time to happen organically! So, getting to this point means that that the strategy that we’ve been following is beginning to pay off.

If you are trying to do the same thing with your blog or website, then I would suggest that you subscribe to either our RSS or Email subscription (on the upper right column). I will show you techniques, tips and strategies to help you raise your profile with your prospects. So join me and follow along.

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The Rich & The Strong

January 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I was out for a morning jog today and had my usual odd combination of content on my iPod. Of course you have to start-out with The Eagles “7 Bridges Road”… what could get you jump-started better than that. Next, I move into Army Rangers Cadence because I always loved to run to cadence when I was in the the National Guard years ago. Next, I move into some old pod-casts of NPR’s Marketplace (I told you I was a bit odd).

Anyway, each Marketplace reporter was re-playing their favorite interviews and recordings of the past few years. One was an interview with a man living in New Orleans in the months after Katrina. He was camping behind his house, working by day to make repairs so he could move back in & reclaim his home. He told the reporter that because of all the massive changes (understatement), the only people that were going to make it were “the rich and the strong.”

That statement resonated with me as I’ve been wondering, along with the rest of us, what is really coming down in 2008. The sub-prime mortgage crisis, pundit’s talking of recession… yet I look around and I see just the opposite. I’m working with people who are starting new businesses, quitting their jobs to go full-time with a business they started earlier, and expanding existing companies. They are taking chances & boldly forging ahead.

I, like many, struggled after losing most everything when the Internet industry collapsed in Spring of 2000. We lost our company, our home and almost all momentum. It sucked, but we got up, dusted ourselves off and struck out again. It has been long and hard and I’m sure the challenges from economy & world problems will kick us again… maybe this year. But, that’s life. As this lonely soul in post-Katrina New Orleans said, “the only ones who are gonna make it are the rich and the strong.” Are you strong and ready to go?

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Let Me Be Your Word-Of-Mouth Manager

January 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment

We have just launched our program designed to help you create a powerfully effective Referral or Word-of-Mouth Marketing System.  But, first, let’s start with the basics…

What is Referral Marketing?

Simply put, referral marketing is a specific set of strategies and tools designed to bring the small business owner new clients, qualified leads, and repeat business with the aid of, or in addition to, other advertising methods.

Many business owners have built thriving businesses entirely upon referrals, or Word-of-Mouth. Almost all businesses get started this way. The business lands a client, does some good work, and that client tells his or her family and friends. Before you know it, this kind of word-of-mouth marketing creates a steady stream of projects. The sad thing, though, is that many of these same businesses never realize they could generate even more business if they actively participated in the generation of referrals.

You need a Systematic approach to Referral Marketing - a way to create a steady, predictable  stream of highly targeted prospects and customers.  Come join our Referral Flood Power Group program starting on January 22, 2008.

Visit our sister site to learn more: http://wordofmouthmanager.com/power-groups/

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Referral Marketing Success Story

January 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment

“I get at least a hundred times the referrals now as I did before I had a referral plan.”
      ~ Scott Hensley - Affordable Concrete Cutting

This is an article I pulled directly from a Duct Tape Marketing email newsletter. It showcases the power of Referral Marketing for a Boston contractor. If you are interested in achieving the same kind of success with your word of mouth marketing efforts, visit our site at www.wordofmouthmanager.com

Today I want to share with you, in it’s entirety, a copy of a letter I received from a small business owner who implemented a number of suggestions I gave him in the Duct Tape Marketing book. I chose to share this not to point out how brilliant I am - writing this stuff is the easy part sometimes - but to showcase how acting on what you read - the really hard part - can pay huge dividends.

Scott’s business cuts concrete, not exactly your Web2.0 business - yet, he has developed a simple, but systematic approach to generating referrals and shares it very specifically in this great letter - thanks Scott

Dear John,

I implemented what I call a “passive referral system” days after I read your book. I have a small business in a niche industry and have always been successful at getting the calls, business and the money.

Either way, I can always use more calls, business and money. I never realized the importance of a referral system because I always got referrals without trying, most likely because of my niche.

I am not a “come out and ask” sales pusher type so some of your suggestions don’t work for my personality. I am sure they work, don’t get me wrong, it is just not something you could convince me to do.

Therefore I took the main message from your program, which is to simply have a referral plan and I implemented it. I will explain to you how I do it in a minute but the reason I am writing is to tell you that I get at least a hundred times the referrals now as I did before I had a referral plan.

I get calls from new customers that mention people that I have never heard of and say “so and so referred me!” Simply having a plan is enough for me and I want you to know I would have never thought of it without your newsletters and your book.
 
I merged my referral plan into my marketing plan to some degree. I derive a lot of business from the yellow pages and unfortunately yellow page people are loyal to the yellow pages and the next time they need a concrete cutter they will return to the yellow pages and wind up being serviced by my competition or who I like to call the “uninsured toothless cave man.”

As a self proclaimed marketing professional I like to vision it as similar to the old west, my competition and I are Ranchers. These yellow page customers are wild cattle and when the come up to one of my fences I open the fence quickly and drag them in. I then take my branding iron and brand them. I send them to re-education training, if you will. Everything that they see or hear in the next several days is “Affordable Concrete Cutting” and my logo, so I can gently hypnotize them into never even thinking of leaving my ranch and when they call home or call their friends they tell everyone what a fantastic experience they have had here and how it would be great for their family, friends and colleagues to join them.

On top of that I keep my fences in tip top shape by keeping in touch with my customers by using (USPS Direct Mail) mailings every month or by sending them a decent gift for no reason other than to remind them of the great experience that they have had here. Now, my competition on the other hand, has a real problem with keeping their fences up and the fact is that their customers escape most of the time.

This is when I open my fence up and persuade them into coming in. I then hold them down and “re-brand” them (most were never branded in the first place) and again gently hypnotize them into forgetting the competition and to never even thinking of leaving.  We provide better than great service, we are on time every time and the customer’s satisfaction is priority. Why wouldn’t they tell everyone? Well as you said it yourself because they were never asked to! So now I ask. I don’t ask verbally but I make it more than known that referrals are very important to me.
 
My first contact with the customer is via a phone call inquiry. I mention my company name several times and I make the customer feel great about using us. Next my guy goes to the site and performs the cutting. This is where the marketing and branding or re-branding begins. Once the job has been completed successfully my men give the customer a paid invoice and are instructed to hand the customer ten or so business cards and to ask that they mention it to everyone. The old “your best compliment is a referral” thing.

Unfortunately, sometimes this part gets left out. I counter this by sending each customer a computer generated paid invoice with an insurance certificate request form and a W-9. On the invoice I hand write a thank you and I enclose several business cards and a Rolodex card.

Now, as part of your referral suggestion I put a big sticker on the envelope that reads “Thank You! We appreciate your referrals.” Then I prepare a Thank You card that basically says if you were happy with our service then please tell everyone ( the key is to make sure they are happy in the first place.) I don’t mail this until a day after I mail the invoice. Then I prepare a “gift pack” which is a bubble mailer (lumpy mail) that contains a gift, a pocket knife with my logo on it, a mouse pad, some pens or a couple of pads of paper. Inside the mailing is a bunch of business cards and I don’t mail this until the end of the week because I have to go to the Post Office and by the end of the week there are about 20 - 30.

Every new customer is placed on my mailing list and they are mailed a gift, a letter or a post card every month, come Hell or high water! Since I started using the stickers and the Thank You cards my business has exploded and is increasing exponentially.

 Just a small suggestion for referrals works incredibly. Now I know you would probably say that verbally coming out and asking works better and I am sure it does but that’s not my style. The point is that thanks to you I have a referral system that is active and in place and it is working.
 
Thanks
 
Sincerely,
Scott Hensley
http://www.affordableconcretecutting.com/

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Video - Small Business Branding

January 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment

What is Small Business Branding, a John Jantsch video.

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What is Marketing Really?

November 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment

For so many small businesses, Marketing is pixie-dust, pretty brochures and the killer idea of the week.  To them, Sales starts when they go stand in front of a prospect and start pitching their products or services. The world has changed!

Ridgely Evers, the Founder & CEO of NetBooks (a tremendous Forest For The Trees & Duct Tape Marketing partner by the way) makes a tongue-in-cheek point of the idea that ’salesandmarketing’ is not one word. But, thats how so many businesses think of it.

Marketing is the foundation of every company, no matter what business you are in. No sales happen without a strong marketing base. 

As Ridgely Evers states in his post:

“Simply put, Marketing is the science that helps you (1) identify your best markets, (2) compellingly engage them as a group, and (3) refine your offerings to better meet their needs.”

To put it another way, marketing is getting prospects to know, like and trust you… and choose to do business with you. Pretty simple - and it can change the way you look at ’salesandmarketing’ forever.

There is more to come on this topic. In my next parts of this discussion on Sales and Marketing, I’m going to introduce the ideas of ‘Educational Marketing’ and ‘A Selling System Refined’. I will also discuss how to harness the internet and technology in a way that is so much more than a website or SEO.

 You started a business because you are passionate about what you do. Get this part right, and you’ll have all the business you could ever want.

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Business Blogs as CMS - a marketing conversation

October 17, 2007 | 1 Comment

If you own a small business and don’t yet know of Michael Martine’s Remarkablogger site, go subscribe to the RSS feed now. He provides fantastic insight and ideas into blogging for business.

His recent posting - Video: Business Blogs vs. Normal Websites - discusses using the blog platform as a content management system for business sites. But, more importantly,  he points out how critical it is to write for your website using a conversational tone - not brochure-speak. I often tell clients that people don’t want to be “marketed to”, they want to be “communicated with.”

As you can tell, after analysis of different web development approaches and platforms, we decided to use WordPress as the structure for our entire site. Its easy, powerful and has great search optimization capabilities. We’re just getting started here, so check back with us often. Now, go watch Michael’s video post!

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The Death of Business 2.0

October 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I  just received my October issue of Business 2.0 and noticed the outside cover saying “This is your last issue…” OK, I thought, I need to update my subscription, but then I read further… “We’re writing to inform you that Business 2.0 magazine will no longer be published in print form.”

This is a huge loss of a great business publication. Business 2.0 has been, in my opinion, one of the best Technology & Business magazines for the past 10 years - since its first issue.  As I’ve read on other blogs, Time Inc. entertained offers to purchase the magazine & subscriber-based, but instead chose to close the publication and roll part of the editorial team into Fortune magazine. I think this is a huge mistake.

 While Fortune Magazine is a great publication, its editorial filter will change the unique content style and approach that was the trademark of the Business 2.0 team. Who will step up and fill the gaps?

• Fast Company
• Inc.
• Fortune Small Business

Read what some others have to say on the subject…

TechCrunch

ValleyWag

BloggingStocks

It’s sad to see the last issue!

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