For business owners who choose to dive into the Shark Tank and plan to walk away with a deal, they have to market at least two things to this cunning group of investors:

• Undeniable passion and a focus on their business.
• Preparation for the next level.

You may not be looking for investors, but you can market these same values to your prospective clients.

I Really Care About This Brand

Grounded passion is attractive. While website visitors (and journalists) don’t want to know the 50 page version of your back story. They do want to know what your product or service can do for them (and in the journalist’s case — what it can do for their audience).

Providing this information gives them a reason to care and to keep listening to the rest of the story. But after you succinctly tell your audience what’s in it for them, share why you became interested in providing this type of product or service in the first place. Share your passion. Stories paint pictures in the mind. They give people something to hold on to and to share with others.

It makes the company seem human and adding the human touch to a highly effective product or service is perfect for attracting publicity. According to Al Reis and Laura Reis, the authors of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, in the early stages:

“Publicity grows brands.”

I Have Plans for the Future of This Brand

Investors want to know your future plans because because they don’t want to put their money into a company that won’t last. For certain types of businesses your clients are the same way.

If you’re selling a product that has to be replenished, then your prospects want to feel like the company will still be there. If you’re selling a service, no small business owner wants a disappearing accountant, for example, or an on-again-off-again marketing advisor.

Marketing your future plans to your clients helps to promote the idea in their mind that you will be here. The start of a new year is the perfect time to do this. You can thank your current clients and shoppers. Then give them a short “State of Your Business Address” where you let people know what they can look forward to in the coming months.

Will you add people to your team or a new a product or service to the company? Maybe you have plans to update your current services, training courses or product.

Share that information and build a little more trust.

The post Marketing Lessons From Shark Tank appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Highlighted in the “mystery millionaire” portion of the program Debbie Wiener, mom and millionaire, fired off a few marketing tips to another small business owner in efforts to help them grow their company.

It’s the kind of advice that could make a big difference in establishing any small business brand.  Below are two of her suggestions.

Add A Tagline

When potential customers visit your website or see the packaging for your product, it should be easy to figure out the core benefit of what you’re offering. They shouldn’t have to guess or take a long time digging through your content in order to discover what you can do for them. Let your visitors know up front with a tagline.

In offering a little friendly advice to another small business owner Wiener said:

“If I saw your product for the first time by itself, I wouldn’t know what it was.”

That’s the key for all of us: make it easy for your future clients to understand what you’re offering without having to talk to you. The tool that helps you make your message simple and clear up front is the tagline. You may want to check out The Artist and The Message — 6 Steps To A Better Tagline to help update yours.

Think Globally, Act Locally

Even though you may take full advantage of the fact that the internet makes it easier to reach the world, always start where you are. The first steps to marketing your small business are often taken in your own back yard.

Yes. Set up your website, so that you can reach the world. Put scalable systems in place, so that your company is ready to grow. But when it comes to publicity, Wiener suggests that you:

“Think globally, but tell your story locally. Newspaper journalists love “that local woman does good story.”

Action Steps

If you’ve never done it before, why not write your first press release this week. And then circulate it to the newspapers in your area. If they cover the story, then add the press clip (the article they published) to your website.

Plus you can turn around — with new confidence — update your press release and then submit it to the local television and radio stations in the area. Keep in mind, journalists are looking for news, not an ad. Your release needs to have the tone of “this is interesting local information” instead of “buy my product now.” Janet Meiners Thaeler offers Five Killer Press Release Tips for Small Businesses, in an earlier article.

Marketing is a process, you don’t have to do everything at once. But you do need to do something every month.

Millionaire Photo via Shutterstock

The post Mystery Millionaire Marketing Tips appeared first on Small Business Trends.

The passionate and opinionated authors of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, Al Ries and Laura Ries, say:

“In business there is never only one way to do anything.”

It’s true we have choices:

• To market primarily online or off-line.
• To focus our brand or try to be all things to all people (the second choice is dangerous).
• To make our websites the center of our digital brand or to give that prized position to our Facebook page.
• To build a team or try to do it all ourselves.
• To attract the right kind of people to help us manage our company or just take what we can get.

The power to decide is freedom and the wisest decisions can propel you forward. This is never more true than the process you use in attracting and hiring new team members inside your small business.

I recently spoke with Scott Kriscovich, President of TrueBridge Resources — a national talent acquisition firm, and he offers some insights about the job descriptions that you use.

Believing that the traditional one is outdated, Scott suggests that small business owners take a few steps to get the most out of this document:

Culture Match Over Skills

Not that you want an incompetent person on your team. But instead of focusing so heavily on every little skill set that you think you need — the ones that are often described in typical job descriptions — look for someone who can do the job, but also fit the culture.  According to Scott:

“You can train for skills.”

Within reason, of course. But a vinegar personality to your oily environment may never gel quite right.

Minimum Criteria, Not Perfection

Scott says:

“Tunnel vision leads to group think that ultimately paralyzes organizations.”

To get your thinking out of the tunnel stop imagining a “perfect” candidate. This thought process backs you into a corner and limits your ability to see the potential in front of you.

With minimum criteria in place, you’ll be able to weed out the ones who just don’t fit at all. Now you can start talking to the rest to discover their strengths and weaknesses. Every viable candidate is strong in one area and weaker in another.

You want to discover what you’re willing to work with and the first step is to create a job description that helps candidates filter themselves.

Determine What You Really Need

Instead of using generic terms like “well-rounded,” Scott helps businesses find talent for their companies by putting more specific phrases in their job descriptions. He suggests that you:

“Pick 1-2 traits that are critical in the position they will hold.”

Every company thinks they’re looking for a well-rounded individual, but what’s more relevant are the “words that would help describe your culture,” says Scott. Instead of well-rounded you’re probably looking for:

1. A team player
2. An open and creative individual
3. A collaborative, self-starter
4. A compassionate but candid team member
5. An ethical person

Your list ultimately depends on your culture. Which means you can’t write an effective job description if you don’t have a clear understanding of the culture within your company.

Determine What You Don’t Need

Consider this. Scott believes that:

“Your stellar employees are the ones who really excel in a couple areas. They aren’t likely good at everything, but they have a couple of exceptional skills and you love them for it.”

Pay attention to the team that you already have. Write down the traits that make them important to you business.

Walking through this process will make it easier for you to identify the traits that you truly need in your next team member. Scott adds:

“When you do bring candidates in, conduct focused interviews talking through those 1-2 traits versus the 1,000-foot view.”

In other words, don’t spend time discussing everything. Focus on the main things that you need on your team. Remember, you’ve used these key phrases in your job description. And you can use the interview to dig deeper.

Recognizing that the owners of smaller companies wear a lot of hats Scott highlights the fact:

“. . .they tend to be a little more flexible in what they’re looking for, but have a harder time knowing exactly what that is.”

Which hat do you stop wearing first?

Your new hire probably can’t juggle like you do. And is that what you really want? Maybe it’s time for a focused Administrative Assistant who keeps your office running smooth while you generate new business.  Scott says:

“In a smaller organization, every hire that you make is more important to the company.”

Their personality won’t get absorbed into a big machine. It will, however, represent you loud and clear. Their personality will make an impression on your small business brand.

So make sure you use your job description to promote the “values and guiding principles for your organization.”

Writer Photo via Shutterstock

The post Write Better Job Descriptions And Build A Stronger Team appeared first on Small Business Trends.

It’s a habit formed by repeated actions. Witthout thinking, you’ll slip into it over and over and over again.

As a small business owner, you may have a few marketing habits that need shifting into a different direction. Below are three to consider.

Build It And They Will Come

If you’ve been in business for any amount of time, you know the truth by now. You have do a lot more than just “build it.” To be effective, your marketing has to be woven into the product, service and the launch itself. Instead of one step, it’s four:

1. Tell your target audience what you’re going to build and how it’s going to change their life.
2. Then build what you said you where going to build.
3. Tell them that you built it and simultaneously show them what’s in if for them.
4. But don’t stop there. Continue to find relevant and unique ways to show your target audience what you have and how it will change something in their business/life.

Marketing, like every successful move in business, takes focused and intelligent effort and the building phase is only part of the equation.

One Egg, One Basket

You can be a one trick pony and that focus may allow you to excel at that one thing. But when it comes to marketing  you need more than one avenue.

It’s already too dangerous to put all your eggs in one basket. Because if you drop that basket, everything you have is gone. So having just one egg is even worse. You need multiple ways to explain what you have to offer.

You can put your message in text, videos and pictures — many eggs.   You also need varied ways to transport your message to where your target audience is. You can deliver it via social media, website, print items as well as local television and radio publicity — that’s more than one basket.

One Man, One Woman Show

You may have started your small business at the kitchen counter by yourself. You may have hustled alone, to move it forward for years. Ultimately, however, every strategy requires a savvy-little team to push it to the next level and your company is no different. The longer you ignore this fact, then the longer your brilliant ideas remain under-utilized.

You need a team, but it doesn’t have to be a sea of employees. When it comes to marketing, an outside but well-trained eye can make for a great mix. To move away from the one man or one woman show, you could contract with a marketing assistant. Someone to do things like help you monitor your social media, post your blog articles, and find engaging photos to accompany your content. Or you could add a marketing consultant to:

1. Brainstorm with you.
2. Learn to understand your brand and your audience.
3. Help you implement the advice.
4. Assess the impact with you.
5. Adjust the plan for the next step in the strategy.

In other words, get help with your marketing and grow your business faster.

Colored Man Photo via Shutterstock

The post Change Your Mind, Change Your Marketing appeared first on Small Business Trends.

The problem is office chaos created by unmanaged office politics.

Any time a group forms, there’s going to be a play for power and positioning — that’s natural. It happens in high schools, on athletic teams, in social organizations. And it happens in business settings. It’s a normal function of groups.

The engagement, however, becomes dysfunctional, if it goes unchecked.

Who’s In Charge?

You don’t have to be a bulldozer to run a business or effectively manage a team. But you do have to be bold enough to set a standard, and then protect that standard.

In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, a leadership fable by Patrick Lencioni, he highlights the idea that teams can be dysfunctional in layers. Depicted in the form of a pyramid, Lencioni says:

“The first dysfunction is an absence of trust…that stems from their unwillingness to be vulnerable in the group.”

Consequently, the trust issue creates a conflict issue that leads to a commitment issue as well as an accountability issue. By the time these four issues pile on top of each other, you end up with an underperforming team and company — which is the ultimate issue when it comes to small business impact.

Where Did The First Problem Come From?

If trust is the foundation to successful team relationships, then how does a small business loose it in the first place? A few things get in the way including:

1. A lack of awareness that the trust was never earned.
2. A leader who hopes the issue will fix itself.
3. An owner who doesn’t have time for these types of concerns.

Healthy teams don’t build themselves. If nobody is actively responsible for the team, then you get what you get — a mess.

Trust

Lencioni says:

“The fact remains that teams, because they are made up of imperfect human beings, are inherently dysfunctional.”

Our personal chaos follows us where ever we go. We all have triggers, quirks, behavior issues that we have to manage. We’re human, it’s not an excuse, it’s an observation.

Since we are people with issues, chances are we come through the door with concerns. If those concerns go unchecked, then there is no trust. But if they’re effectively and consistently addressed, then we open up — a little at a time.  This opening creates a safe place to do business, to collaborate, to create amazing things together.

Keep in mind, the consummate professional will make the most of a bad situation no matter what. But here’s the concern – what skills, what ideas, what witty inventions are being left on the table, because of your team’s unchecked dysfunction?

Traction

Marketing is about promoting a message that means something to your target audience. The small business owner, ultimately hopes that his marketing efforts turn into paying customers. He wants his message to gain traction and gain attention.

Marketing not only happens outside of the company, but it also takes place within the team. Every time bad behavior goes unchecked, then a new standard gets attention, a dysfunction gains traction, and the team losses ground. A destructive team will ultimately erode the company.

Lencioni states:

“Inattention to results occurs when team members put their individual needs (such as ego, career development, or recognition) or even the needs of their division above the collective goals of the team.”

Again, teams don’t build themselves, leaders do — and that takes time. Effectively working together is often a learned behavior. Somebody has to set the standard.

Time

The quality of your team impacts the quality of your business. If they turn on each other, eventually one of them is going to turn on your customers. Think about it, if your team fails to own up to their mistakes when dealing with each other and you, then that behavior is going to leak out. And when clients call in with issues you want them to encounter an honest, direct and solution-oriented team. Evasive and defensive is just bad business.

There’s always time for leadership.

In Leadership Truths That Every Leader Needs To Know, Dale Kirke says:

“As a leader, you create an environment where people are encouraged to work harmoniously together using their own unique talents and skills to achieve common goals.”

The environment doesn’t create itself. The leader creates the environment.

Here are three tools to help you redesign your office atmosphere:

1. Clear expectations. Make sure your team understands what you expect. And then you live up to that expectation.
2. Constant feedback on behavior. Make sure your team sees you respond to questionable behavior. Self-correction often happens with a little bit of guidance.
3. Concrete course of action for conflict resolution. Every issue isn’t a major one. Managers can check certain things just by speaking up. But some types of concerns including sexual harassment and other forms of bullying need a written and clear course of action.

You can be firm but fair, fun and effective. But you have to remain frank and focused on the kind of team and environment that you are creating.

Senior Manager Photo via Shutterstock

The post How To Manage A Dysfunctional Team appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Consequently, many companies make the bulk of their money in the fourth quarter.

So here’s another question: if you find a strategy that works during this holiday season, why not use it all year?

Holiday Lights in May

You know how some people hang up holiday lights . . . and 3 months after Frosty the Snowman has melted and the Christmas trees have returned to the Earth and Santa has long been on vacation – their lights are still up? And it seems out of place?

I’m not talking about trying to have a black friday sale in the middle of Valentine’s Day (though there is a way to do just that if you wanted to). But there are some holiday marketing tips that, with a few adjustments, can work for your small business all year round.

Speak the Holiday Language

Understand the holiday, your audience and the language and then dive into the conversation. Engage your people with holiday sales, guides, special holiday-only products if you want to.

But why not stay relevant all year round?

Don’t stop at Christmas. Celebrate Valentine’s Day, Labor Day or the First Day of Spring with your clients and prospects. Retail businesses already do this pretty well. They remind you that Mother’s Day is coming, and then offer a solution to your problem with gift ideas. Of course, those gifts are in their shop and that’s smart.

But why leave season-based marketing to the retail industry?

A service company could to the same thing.

Offer a labor day package, where “you rest and leave the work to us.” Whether your service is house cleaning, car wash or repairs, virtual assistant, you can celebrate the season with your audience and simultaneously spread the message about your brand.

Every small business can benefit from weaving the season and relevant current affairs into their marketing strategy.  Besides being relevant gives your business a heart beat which brings us to the next year-round, holiday strategy.

Spread the Love

The most powerful marketing messages tend to have a pulse behind them. Apple’s “think different” beats to their consumers’ need to feel savvy and innovative. While Samsung is playing to the same emotions with it’s Galaxy S3 marketing message, “the next big thing is already here.”

Christmas and the other holiday’s around it are full of meaning and emotion. If you pause to tap into it, you can weave that meaning into your marketing, but it doesn’t have to stop as the clock strikes midnight and ushers in another year. There’s meaning all year.

Business is about what you can do for others. Your marketing message is about making that benefit clear and engaging. The emotional element in marketing is everything. It’s not about having a nice, short phrase like “think different.”

It’s about how the product/service and the message surrounding that product or service makes your target audience different — and better and smarter because of that difference.

Emotion Drives Sales

Don’t wait for Thanksgiving to give your business a pulse. Start now and keep that spirit all year round.

Lights In Summer Photo via Shutterstock

The post Holiday Marketing Tips That Work All Year Round appeared first on Small Business Trends.

As we enjoyed song after song, album after album, a relationship formed. We began to understand what to expect from that artist. And that awareness creates a fan who organically checks out every new album and live event in their area — with a nudge, of course.

There is something to be said for repeat impressions. Twelve songs in, I know what to expect from Anita Baker, the mellow side of Coltrane, and Sade.

But what about the one hit wonder? 

Regardless of your style of music, there’s probably a song that you love by an artist who only had one great moment. Well, one great moment is better than no great moment. But multiple moments is the best.

When it comes to marketing your goal is to create the best moment you can as often as possible. You want to be seen, heard and remembered. In a world where money grows on trees, then you can buy the biggest ad they make, the most airtime they have, a spot on the front page of all your favorite websites and run it forever.

But on the other side of never-never land there’s a budget.

You are a small and wise business with a marketing budget that has limits, and you don’t need the biggest ad to get the best impact. Think about it, when you encounter something new — a new piece of software, a new grocery store in your city, a new law firm or simply a new way of doing something — it takes a minute for it to stick.

You have to be exposed to it several times before you begin to remember on your own.

Each exposure is an impression. The more impressions, the more memorable the product, company or system becomes. Effectively marketing your business works the same way. The more marketing impressions, the more memorable your business.  It’s all about multiple impressions.

In other words, avoid the one big ad — the one hit wonder. And purchase smaller, targeted but repeat ads instead.

A large impression once a year is nothing more than a tease. Smaller, consistent impressions is the making of a relationship. Get in front of your target audience and get in front of them often.

One Hit Wonder Photo via Shutterstock

The post The One Hit Wonder Approach Is Bad For Business appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Thank goodness for Small Business Saturday, the heavily promoted day between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s just a beautiful weekend of shoppers.

But did you make the most of it?  And what can we learn from this year’s holiday season to make the most of it next year?

In a recent article, Small Businesses Hit It Big With Cyber Monday, for USA Today, Oliver St. John, stated:

“While small businesses have trouble steering Black Friday shoppers out of the malls and into their stores, they’re only a click away online during Cyber Monday.”

He went on to highlight how social media promotions helped level the playing field for many smaller companies.

After watching some of my favorite spots make the most of the weekend and others failing to get involved at all, I’m thinking since people are ready to spend during that time, give them a reason to spend with you.

Map out your next Black Friday strategy – today.

When Does Black Friday Really Begin?

It starts when you say it starts. In an interview with Aaron Task for The Daily Ticker Lindsay Sakraida, Director of DealNews.com, exposes the Top Black Friday Myths, including the fact that many sales actually begin before Black Friday.

Regardless of the type of business you run, give yourself a chance to become a part of their holiday spending. Offer your black Friday goods or service-packages early. Let your clients know via email, your website and social pages that you have something to offer, but make it time sensitive. If you start early, then your can make your small business sales before your shoppers and their wallets head to the mall on Friday.

Why Should Your Clients Spend With You Right Now?

People need an incentive to act now. For the best impact your sale needs to be irresistible and restricted.

Depending on your business model you can limit the amount of time that the product is available. Like Disney, after Cyber Monday or Black Friday or Small Business Saturday, your holiday product goes back into the “vault” or the sales price goes away forever or for a really long time — but keep your word on this. You can restrict the number of items or service-packages that are available at that price.

The possibility of selling out is a motivator.

What’s The Real Secret To Black Friday?

Just because you have a product or service to sale does not mean your target audience will automatically spend money with you. Black Friday is not a magic pill. You have to market. Let your people know what’s going on:

“We’re having a Black Friday sale and it begins on Wednesday.”

Then describe what you have to offer, the price and when their access to this product, service or price point ends. Give them a reason to drop by your place of business and shop on your website (before they go to the mall).

Black Friday Photo via Shutterstock

The post What Did We Learn From Black Friday And Cyber Monday? appeared first on Small Business Trends.

There’s also affordable access to local radio and television stations, especially in smaller towns. Without too much effort a modest, as well as robust, marketing budget can quickly get away from you.

Before spending another marketing dime in print or online consider a few questions that need serious attention. Taking the time to answer them will help you maximize your budget and make it easier for you to say “no” when you need to.

Find Your People

Understanding your target market is key to identifying the best marketing opportunities for your business. In every situation you want to know:

“Who’s going to see my marketing items and are those people my target audience?”

Of course, you can’t answer that question if you don’t know who your people are in the first place. So take the time to get clear and it’ll make it much easier to respond to any marketing opportunity as well as write the copy for your website.

You Need as Much Time as Possible

When you pay for marketing, in effort and money, you want to make sure your audience has enough time to see and respond to your message. Before that dollar leaves your wallet, ask the salesman (that’s what they are):

“How long will my marketing message/ad/banner (whatever you’re buying) be in front of your audience?”

If it’s a coffee table magazine that people tend to keep, you may get a better bang for your buck with that versus a free paper that quickly reaches the trash can or recycle bin. Remember, you want as much time as possible to get your message across.

Say the Most in the Time You Have

Print ads are limited by size. Radio and television ads are limited by time. Instead of trying to say everything in the seconds and space that you have, get your core message out. Ask yourself (and your team):

“What message does our audience need to hear in this setting and how do we need to design it in order to get the most attention?”

Decide the one thing that you want your target audience to do, and then focus on promoting that message in that particular ad. Saying everything at one time can be overwhelming and result in your audience hearing nothing but noise.

Loud and Clear Photo via Shutterstock

The post A Simple Strategy For Every Marketing Dollar You Spend appeared first on Small Business Trends.

In an article for Visual.ly Blog Professor Alberto Cairo, Author of The Functional Art: An Introduction To Information Graphics and Visualization, says,

“Designing an infographic or a data visualization is an act of engineering,”

Infographics, like other effective visual images, should be more than just pretty pictures or something to take up space on a website. Professor Cairo says he’s not:

“. . .indulging in some sort of vague game of metaphors, literally. I believe that an infographic is a tool in a very similar way that hammers and screwdrivers are tools.”

You can get the nail into the wall without the hammer. But the right tool makes it easier to accomplish your goal. In other words, with the hammer you can do more — faster.

Likewise, you can get your point across with written text alone. But partner your text with a visual tool like a relevant picture, infographic or even video learning and you can accomplish your goal more efficiently.

New Concepts Take A Minute To Digest

If you rely solely on written words, then it may take 20 to 30 casual impressions or a handful of in depth reviews before your audience understands your new idea well enough to act on it. And people buy what they understand. Not that they know exactly how a television works, for example, but the buying audience is clear about how it impacts their life, “more entertainment and information in my living room.”

Drive Your Point Home, Make It Visual 

If you want to honor the idea that “the world is visual,” as David Langton and Small Business Trends Founder, Anita Campbell, state in Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways For Small Businesses To Market With Images And Designs, then you’re always in the market for ideas to enhance your message.

Here  are 3 things to stay on top of your visual message:

Collect Things That You Like

Start with magazine covers and images, color combinations, photo images and videos that grab your attention and put them in a swipe file.

Define And Study Your Main Message

Get certain about the point that you want to drive home in your marketing. Once you’re clear about this core marketing message, then it’s easier to use visuals to enhance it.

Build A Team 

Do what you do best and then get help with the rest of it. As the owner you will need to be hands on in drafting a marketing strategy, but then you may need a graphic designer or photographer to help you implement your plan in a timely manner.

In marketing, every word and image counts.  Make sure it all says what your audience needs and wants to hear from you.

Visual Photo via Shutterstock

The post Warning: Your Visual Message Is Just As Important appeared first on Small Business Trends.