Small Business UnMarketing

Using forums to increase your business presence

I am continuing my posts on tips to increase your business.

Tip #2 - Using Forums to Increase Your Business Presence

There are many online forums where you can network and exchange ideas with others in your field. If you are in the real estate industry you will want to check out Active Rain. This group now has 50,ooo members, and grows at the rate of about 5,000 per month. On this and most other forums it is important to just visit for awhile before you post. The regular members tend to be very territorial and do not like it when a newcomer becomes outspoken too soon. By lurking in the background for days or even weeks you can get more of a feel for what is going on.

To find forums for your industry go to Google and type in the name of your industry and the word forum right after it.

We are all in the marketing business

I continue to tell my clients that we are all in the marketing business, no matter what our other business is. Think about it: every time you meet someone new and talk about yourself or what you do you are marketing yourself and your product/service. If you truly have a passion for your business then marketing comes naturally.

Marketing is not selling; it is informing others of what you do and what you have to offer. I've had conversations with people that end up being the basis of a business relationship. By sharing what you love about your work, others sense that feeling and want to do business with you. Joe Vitale talks about this in his Hypnotic Selling series of books and materials. Tell others why you love what you do and they will be drawn hypnotically to work with you.

Post, Ping, Publish

If you are working on your business by putting it online you will want to keep a blog updated regularly. After you have written be sure to ping the directories so that others can find you. Make sure to organize your posts into categories so that you will be able to publish what you have written as a compilation of your writing over a period of time. Post, then ping, and finally, publish for the best results of marketing your business on the internet.

Attracting New Clients

With any small business you are constantly looking for new clients. This can be done one new client at a time, or you can work on the clients you already have. This can be done either by asking for referrals or increasing the amount of products or services, or the frequency, to the existing clients.

It is much easier, and less expensive to keep clients you already have. They know, like, and trust you - which is half the battle. Write your ads as though you were speaking to them directly and one at a time and you will see your business grow.

The Know, Like, and Trust Factor

People are more likely to do business with people they know, like, and trust. This makes perfect sense. So how do you attain this? Treat everyone as though they are the ideal friend and client.

Domain Names

Domain name usage is very important to your overall marketing plan, yet many people are not taking full advantage of the impact a domain name can have on their small business. For example, my domain name for this Blog is Small Business UnMarketing. This domain name utilizes keywords (small business and unMarketing) that I wish to emphasize in order to optimize my search engine results.

Additionally, I am making use of forwarding and masking of my domain name www.SmallBusinessUnmarketing.com from this Typepad blog, which is called http://greenhouse.typepad.com/small_business. You must admit that the former is easier to remember than the latter. Use domain names wisely and you will see your rankings move up quickly.    ~Connie Ragen Green

So long, Mervyn's, I'm going to miss you

I stopped in at my local Mervyn's store this morning. I was looking for a beige sweater and I knew that they would have what I wanted without me having to spend too much time looking. I took one off the rack, picked up a pair of girl's jeans and a pink shirt, and got in line to pay. Everything was on sale in the store. Not just some things, everything. Twenty minutes later when it was finally my turn to pay, the girl rings up everything at regular price. Another fifteen minutes passes while I point to all of the sale signs and she rings up everything again.  I finally have my purchases in a bag and I'm ready to leave. The difference in price after the markdown? Forty-six dollars and change!

Mervyn's was sold by Target in 2004, after having purchased the chain of low end department stores for $300 million back in 1978. They cited low sales and a changing marketplace for the failure of the company to be financially successful.

How about some good old-fashioned customer service? What if every Mervyn's employee knew what was on sale and where to find it in the store? What if each employee smiled and thanked you for shopping at Mervyn's?

The next time I shop at Mervyn's is when they are finally closing their doors for good and I won't be able to resist the 75% off everything clearance sale that will ensue. I won't care if the service is poor. I won't care if the cashier doesn't smile or even make eye contact with me. I won't care because they don't care. So long, Mervyn's, you should have tried a little harder.

Connie Ragen Green on the new UnMarketing

I have been reading Seth Godin's book, Small Is The New Big, and I must say that his thinking has changed my outlook another 90 degrees or so. On pages 86-91 he talks about flipping the marketing funnel, where he describes a new way of looking at the entire process of finding and keeping clients. Check him out at Seth Godin for more incredible insights.