East Bay Entrepreneur andSmall Business Meetup

Agenda

• Introductions

• What’s in it for Me?

• Online Marketing

• Referral Marketing

• Next Steps

How to benefit from this group?

1. I'm in the following stage of my business:• Planning• Startup• Growth• Mature• Decline

2. If you're already in business, how long?• 0-6 months• 6-12 months• 1-2 years• 2-5 years• 5-7 years• 7-10 years• 10 years +

3. Some of the things I'm looking to gain from belonging to this group are information or support related to:

• Establishing a business plan• Solidifying an existing business plan• Expanding marketing opportunities

4. Our group is scheduled to meet in-person monthly. Do you prefer to:• Monthly works best• Meet more frequently• Meet less frequently• Not meet in person, rely on phone or email

5. Meetings are typically held at a public venue where food and beverage are served.

Do you prefer:• Restaurant• Restarant/bar• Coffee shop

•Networking opportunities•Financing for my business•Bookkeeping for my business•HR standards and hiring

Getting More Customers with Online

Marketing • 63% of all Americans expect that a

business will have a website about a product that they are considering buying.

• 74% of all households use the web to search for information about local merchants and service providers

• 45% of local searches had a buying intent.

Kelsey Research Group

Where to begin?

• start with your customers. Who are they, what are they likely to be looking for online and how do they like to purchase?

Competitive Analysis

• be aware of what your competitors are doing. When you search for information about your own product or service, which competitors rank highly in the search?

Look Inward

• consider your own product or service. Some products and services are easier to communicate and sell online than others. Compare notes with fellow Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners.

Online Marketing Audit

• Use the following list to take a quick audit of which online marketing efforts your currently use and which ones you’d like to try. Note any questions you’d like to group to address.

• An email address with a business domain name, not a service provider domain name (i.e. bob@bobsgarage.com)

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• A website with marketing and contact information available

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• A website with the ability to buy products online or to reserve/request a service (i.e. book a room)

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• Business information registered with local versions of search engine (i.e., Google Local, Yahoo! Local)

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• Search engine optimization efforts (i.e. using keywords in your web content to drive natural search)

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• Search engine marketing efforts (i.e. paid rankings, Google Adwords, etc)

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• Internet advertising (i.e. banners, sponsored links)

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• Email marketing – using email to drive sales, referrals and repeat visits

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• E-newsletters – using email to provide information to customers

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• Writing your own blog

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• Recording and sharing your own podcasts

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• Making your inventory available and searchable online

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• Viral marketing campaigns (i.e. “tell-a- friend” links in your outgoing emails)

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

• Other

Online Marketing Tactic

Currently Use It?

Why / Why Not?

Word of Mouth Marketing

• Is marketing just for big companies or more established companies?

• Many small business owners think marketing means expensive advertising, flashy brochures or extensive websites. The reality is that marketing is just another way to say “getting customers.”

Word of Mouth: 2 types

• Organic: natural conversation that occurs between your customers as a result of an experience with your company.

Word of Mouth: 2 types

• Amplified word of mouth is pro-actively created by you and occurs as the result of a campaign specifically run by a business to affect how customers tell each other about a company.

Word of Mouth Marketing Principles

• Making sure that your product or service is high-quality, meets your customers’ needs and competes effectively ensures that you’ll have good organic word of mouth.

Amplify

• by, first and foremost, making it easy for your customers to talk about you.

• provide relevant, meaningful information to your customers that can be easily shared with their friends, family members or peers.

5 Activities You Can Do Today

• Ask for the referral: many customers would be willing to provide them. Let your customers know that you’re interested in growing your business and ask them if they know someone who could benefit from your product or service. One easy way to do it – include extra business cards in your correspondence with customers. Extra cards remind your customers about your request and make it easy for them to share.

5 Activities You Can Do Today

• Give your customers something special to share - can be as simple as a friends & family discount that only your best customers can share with others.

• develop a special newsletter for your top customers that provides insight into your business that others don’t have.

• These inside pieces of information make your talkers feel special and encourage them to share news about your company.

5 Activities You Can Do Today

• Learn how others get referrals: Other small business owners are your best source for learning about word of mouth marketing. Ask your peers about how they’ve grown their business with word of mouth.

5 Activities You Can Do Today

• Team up with other related businesses: Small business owners often exist in a eco- system within an industry.

• e.g., the wedding industry is made up of wedding planners, caterers, event locations, dress shops and more. These professionals can team up with other businesses that share the same quality and philosophy about their customers to cross-promote each other.

5 Activities You Can Do Today

• Uncover your biggest fans, make it easier for them to talk: 10% of your customers will make most recommendations

• When you’re told that a customer found out about you from a referral, ask who made the referral

• put together special programs to help them talk more.

• Take care not to tie rewards to their referrals, which may make your customers feel like your sales team.

Open Discussion Points

• Where do you spend money on marketing today?

• How much time do you devote to your marketing efforts?

• Is word of mouth marketing the number one way that you get customers?

• If word of mouth marketing isn’t how you get customers, what marketing do you do?

Open Discussion Points

• How do you currently use word of mouth or referral marketing tactics?

• How many of you think that word of mouth just happens, and you don’t have any control over it?

• What pitfalls have you faced with trying to get more referrals?

• Is there something you wish you’d known when you started trying to get more referrals that you know today?

Resources

• www.ducttapemarketing.com• www.smallbiztechnology.com• www.quickbooks.com• www.actionplan.com/• www.getclientsnow.com/• www.womma.org• www.jackrabbit.intuit.com

Next steps

• Meetup location?

• Meetup frequency

• Time