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Advancing Entrepreneurs, Small Business and SolopreneursArchive for May, 2010
“Preneur” WEB (4 of 12-Part Series)
Web Networking
Welcome to the “Preneur” 12-Part Marketing Series. This is the 4th post out of 12.
To see how effective your marketing is on the Web, take this little test. It’s free and takes very little time.
- Go to the top four search engines – Google.com, Yahoo.com, Bing.com and Ask.com
- Type your name in these top four search engines.
- Also, try another search to put your business/company name in it too.
- Then, see where they show up on the search.
- The ultimate goal is to be on the top of the organic page (left side). This will show you how well your search engine optimization is working.
- With marketing, you are either invisible or visible.
Since the trend is to use computers and search engines to find everything versus off-line directories (Yellow Pages, etc.), you want to make sure you are on the web. Here are several ways to get more visible:
- Writing articles in newspapers and magazines that are on-line
- Put searchable text content on the front page of your website
- Blogs
- Social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Facebook Business Page, Twitter)
- Having the media write stories or mention you in newspapers or magazines
- Full Profiles
- Titles, META tags and Key Words
- Paid AdWords
- Occasionally submit your website to the search engines. You can submit your site to Google at http://www.google.com/addurl.html.
- Participate regularly in some form of Social Media. Pick the one or ones that work with your style, personality and business. LinkedIn is specifically for business users and helps with your SEO.
Remember to have fun while you are doing this. It can really be enjoyable and you can meet or reconnect with a lot of people along the way.
“Preneur” COMMUNICATION (3 of 12-Part Series)
Welcome to the “Preneur” 12-Part Marketing Series. This is the 3rd post out of 12.
Forms of Communication
“Ya talkin to me?” I can almost here the beautiful slang communication. Preneurs need to make sure you know who you are talking or writing to and what type of message you are sending. In 21st Century Viral Marketing, there are three types of senders:
- Expert (informative, knowledge of a subject matter)
- Entertainer (TV, Radio, singer, actress…)
- Watcher/Spectator (background person or in the audience)
Which category do you fit in? Figure out which type of sender you are and format all of your messages in this manner.
With two-way communication on the flip side, there are 3 types of receivers of communication:
- Viewer/Listener (TV, YouTube, Audio, Web & Podcasts…)
- Reader (Blog, Twitter, Email, Web, newsletters)
- Talker (Interactive, Q&As, Responding back…)
Who are your receivers of your message(s)? Figure that out and then, you’ll know where to place your message(s).
Now go one more level and put a face on your demographics. There are categories of buyers of your product/service. They are also the decision-makers in the B2B (Business to Business) process. These people are described in the following groups:
- Depression – Born 1912 – 1921 – Ages 98 – 89
- Pre World War II – Born 1922 – 1927 – Ages 88 – 83
- World War II – Born 1928 – 1945 – Ages 82 – 65
- Baby Boomer #1 – Born 1946 – 1954 – Ages 64 – 56
- Baby Boomer #2 – Born 1955 – 1964 – Ages 55 – 46
- Generation X – Born 1965 – 1979 – Ages 45 – 31
- Generation Y (also N Gen) – Born 1980 – 2001 – Ages 30 – 9
- Generation Z (anyone born after 9/11) – Born 2001 – 2021 – 9 – 0
What demographics are you selling your product/service to? What language do you need to use? What message are you sending to your age groups? These need to be considered while communicating.
Depending on what sender you are, get out there and listen, dialogue and build relationships. Create an on-line presence with your communication. Oh, by the way, have fun with while you are doing it too!
Next in the Preneur Series is Part 4 about WEB.
“Preneur” RESEARCH (2 of 12-Part Series)
Welcome to the “Preneur” 12-Part Marketing Series. This is the 2nd post out of 12.
In today’s world, there is no excuse for not doing your research before implementing your plan. With three major search engines (Google, Yahoo and Bing) at your disposal, you can learn anything. Type in what you want to know. Figure out what to do before you start. There is an abundance of free sources – Webinars, YouTube “how to” lessons, white pages, ebooks, etc. Then, there is a whole other universe for paid information (classes, books at the bookstore, on-line books, pdfs of information, on and on…
Things you want to research:
- Competition
- Subject Matter about your product or service
- Websites available
- Names of other companies, products, etc.
- Avenues to promote your business
- Publications for visibility
- Local, city, state, country information
- Sources of education
- Leaders in your field
- Decision-makers for purchasing your product/service
- Demographics – What your client/customer looks like and where they are?
- Networking sources
- Accreditation or degree sources
- Professional organizations
- Packaging information/sources
- Partnering sources
- Business types
- Taxation information
- Printing sources
- Insurance
This step is not a one time occurence. You will want to continue your research on a regular basis to see what the trends, changes, new software, visibility means, etc. Preneurs need to have a lot of drive and endurance to keep moving forward. No one said being a Preneur was going to be easy.
Next is Part 3 is about COMMUNICATION.
“Preneur” Awareness (1 of 12-Part Series)
Digital-Age Marketing On-Line Presence is Essential
Welcome to the “Preneur” 12-Part Marketing Series.
Mainstream America has created an entirely new breed of people called “Preneurs”. A preneur personality embarks upon a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome. They usually have a vision and drive that vision until it comes to fruition. In addition, their personality features great integrity, tenacity, and a high tolerance for risk taking and adventure.
Part 1 of 12 is about your awareness level. Marketing for the “preneur” starts with becoming aware of what is happening around you. There is a chasm divide occurring between Traditional Marketing that was very successful for decades and even the past century and today’s Marketing in the Digital-Age.
Traditional marketing spoke to one’s quality and used a company name, business card, brochure and website. All of these things are still very important. Just add them to the Digital-Age. Develop an On-Line Presence with networking and getting feedback from others on the web regarding your product or service. Using Search Engine Optimization and spreading the word and getting picked up from multiple sources.
While you are becoming aware of the on-line community, visit the websites, view the communication via email, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, etc. The connections are being made via the internet, not just on the tv stations or newspapers. Now they go from their to You-tube, or Streamlining, etc. People pull up directions or phone numbers off their cell phone blackberries or whitepages.com.
The first step to Digital Age Marketing is to become aware of the changes around you! Do you see any shifts occurring in your industry between Traditional Marketing and Digital-Age?
Part 2 is about RESEARCH and will be coming shortly.
Celebrate your Unqiue Packages on Mother’s Day
My Unique Packages - Christopher, Lauren, Natalie & Shawna
I am a proud mom to four children that all arrived in unique packages. My wish from young adulthood was to be a mother. God gave me so many opportunities to engage in that role. From about 21 to 32, I was dubbed the “neighborhood mom” and had a bunch of fun, exciting, beautiful children in and out of my home day and night. I even bought their favorite foods so I would have breakfast, lunch and/or dinner when they stopped by. At 32 years old, I was handed my first official title of “step-mom” to my new husband’s two children. I was especially happy when I met him and he had two young kids that were adorable. My next chance at the ripe age of 40, I was blessed with a birth child. From inception to birth – another chapter to add to my life. Then, to our surprise, my husband and I adopted a fourth child unexpectedly. It was an incredibly rewarding experience and she is a joy to us today.
These experiences shaped me into who I am today. Know that you may not have the “official” title of mother but anyone who plays a part in the positive development of a child is participating as a mother. Do you inspire a youth on the soccer field as a coach or a team parent? Did you teach a child how to plant something in your yard or how to cut the grass correctly. Do you engage a child in an incredible conversation about their dreams or how smart they are? If you passed by a little girl that fell and hurt herself and you showed tenderness or affection, guess what, you are maternal? We don’t have any clones out there because the village of people that step in each day for a child makes them unique with those encounters. I encourage you to reach outside of yourself and take a minute of your day to “mother” someone. It makes you feel so incredibly rich.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you in this world that help raise a child to their full potential.
Tell Your Story with Photos that Speak…
With marketing your business, you want to tell a story
about your produc
t, service and/or people. There are so many possible outlets – Web Site, LinkedIn, Facebook Page, Blog, Brochure, Poster, Flyer, etc. Tell your own story the way you want to before someone else does via the media.
Your story can make THE difference. Do you sell Media Equipment? Then zero in on what the outcome is – an incredible auditorium with the big picture. After you define the big picture, then take secondary photos. Zoom in and capture those specific things that achieve that goal – say the best speaker system in the world. Then go in for a macro shot of the speakers and components. Tell the story frame by frame. Images with words bring the story to life. That is why 3D movies are breaking sales records in theatres across the world right now. People want to experience a story.
When photographing people, find out what they possess that is unique? Do their eyes sparkle and dance? Do they have an incredible infectious smile? Is it their hair that says something different? Or, do they walk with a “swagger” For portraits, point your camera and capture that unique “X Factor” quality. It is called having an “eye” for artwork or photography. Your eye and instincts figure out what that special “IT” is and snap on it.
Most people are limited by a tighter budget these days and can’t hire a professional photographer? If this is the case, take your point and shoot camera and get creative. Here are TEN TIPS for telling your story through a lens:
- ZONE – Get in the zone before you shoot. Be in an incredible mood when you pick up and hold your camera. Makes a huge difference where your energy level is and how you are feeling. Make it fun. Get out of your left-brain and pull from your right brain – the creative side.
- IT FACTOR – Spend a few minutes talking with your subject before you shoot them so you know what that “IT” is and can capture it. Or, brainstorm about your building and/or product and shoot that concept you want to sell.
- RESOLUTION – Use the highest resolution on your camera setting so you can do different things with the photo. If you take it with the lowest setting, you are limited to web use only. With the highest setting, you can crop, you can enlarge, you can go to offset printing without blurry images, etc.
- PREPARED – Pick up an extra photo memory disk so you don’t run out of space. Make sure your battery is fully charged or carry a spare.
- LIGHT – When shooting, try to have the light source (sun, lamp, etc.) coming from your back or shoulder area to light up your subject. You can also purposely shoot with the sun coming from your side or in front behind your subject. For a more professional portrait, put an extra light on their hair. Take a few different shots with lighting and see which ones you like best.
- PERSPECTIVE AND ANGLES – Shake it up a little bit. Get down lower or up at a different level to get some unique perspectives instead of the straight on shots. Place your subject off-center. Look for lines and follow a line in a photo. Think about the final uses of the photo to determine if you should take a horizontal or vertical shot?
- BACKDROP – Make sure you survey your backdrop area first. Is it solid? Is it too busy and won’t let your subject speak? Clear the clutter or set the stage for what storyline you are telling. It is better to do it first or you’ll have to invest in a lot of photo editing afterwards.
- STAGE – In order to tell your story, you need to have some ideas in your head and rearrange or stage your set, the people, the backdrop, props, etc. to let the photos speak. This is your moment to be the director. Enjoy it. Get in the moment and have fun with it.
- FLASH – Experiment with your flash. Sometimes you need more flash for a portrait on someone’s face. You can use it indoors and outdoors. Try one with and without.
- FOCUS – Make sure you lock in the focus and make your photo sharp. To get a really crisp photo, press the shutter button half way down. Re-frame your photo while continuing to hold the shutter button. Then, finish by pressing the shutter button all the way.
Speak to your demographics about what you do and/or sell. Most businesses are posting their services and products online today. It is important to provide realistic and eye-catching photos of your product(s) that make a difference quickly or have someone react to your call to action. When talking about your management, showcase the uniqueness and personality in an artistic journalistic style. Try to evoke an emotion through your camera lens for your potential client or customer to react. Tell your story the way you want to before someone else does it for you.
Published in Inside Business May 2, 2010
