DOTC: Bouncing Back

In marketing, we tend to focus on leads acquisition - that is, bringing in new customers.

While that is absolutely a function of marketing, another major task of marketing that often goes neglected is growing revenue from our existing customer base (a third is activation of lasped customers, but we'll save that for another time).

And there, my friend, you can find a bunch of cheap marketing tactics that will work well to grow your business.

Let's take a classic loyalty program tactic - the bounceback program.

These can take a many forms -  I'll focus on a couple that don't require special technology or equipment and can be done for very little cost.

Jeremy is having a little difficulty
 with the punch card concept.

THE PUNCH CARD

This is old-school, and cheap.  Make up business-card sized punch cards - have your customer get a punch every purchase (or after spending (x) number of dollars).  After so many purchases, they get a reward.

Pros:  easy to execute and promote, inexpensive, low-technology

Cons:  people forget they have them, almost impossible to track results

Variant: What if you did this as a referral program?  Existing customer gets so many punches for referrals, getting a really good reward after the card is filled?

BOUNCEBACK COUPONS

These kinds of coupons are usually given after a purchase is concluded, in order to incite a return visit (a "bounceback").  Make sure your coupon has a relatively short redemption window - first, because you want them to return quickly, and second, because they will forget they have the coupon after too long a period.

Pros:  easy to execute, inexpensive, low-technology, easy to track results if coded properly
Cons: people forget they have them, doesn't work well for businesses that have a long repurchase window

Variant: If you have a long repurchase window, make this coupon a "refer a friend" coupon.  When the friend's coupon is redeemed, the person who gave out the coupon gets a reward

Do you have any favorite cheap ways to "bounceback" a customer?  Let me know in the comments!

DOTC: Pounding the Pavement

With “cheap” marketing tactics, sometimes, it’s easy to over-think things and overlook the obvious.

I was thinking about this as I received yet another Chinese food menu (with coupons!) on my door. I get at least one of these a month, sometimes two or three.  I get other fliers too, but for some reason, it’s the favorite tactic of Chinese food restaurants in my area.

You see, there’s a lot of marketing advice out there, and it is rare when I see anybody mention good old door-to-door flyers for small businesses.

Yes, that means pounding the pavement with fliers and putting them on every door in a neighborhood.

Sure, it’s not sexy, but for some businesses, such as restaurants, lawn care, martial arts schools and

Pro tip:  Skip this house.

gyms, and during tax season, bookkeepers and accountants – it would work as well as any other tactic.

In my opinion this tactic is best for those with physical locations but it’s worth trying if your target audience are consumers (versus other businesses) to see if it works for you.

The main reason small businesses need to consider this option is that it is cheap.

Depending on your design, it can be very inexpensive to run off two reams (200) copies.  (Hint: you can use half-sheets and get two per page – just make sure to use a good paper cutter to cut them in half if your printer doesn't do it for you).

You can saturate a neighborhood in one day for a fraction of the cost of postage.  You can recruit teenage relatives and their friends to do it for you on a Saturday!

Make sure your flier includes the following:

• What service or product your provide
• Contact information (phone number, email, web site)
• Strong call to action (such as “Call Now for a Free Quote!”)
• Offer – this should be tested, but try an offer that’s only good with this flier that you use nowhere else

Make sure that you can measure the result – that is, it took (x) people spending (y) hours in the neighborhood, and it cost (z) in materials, and I got so many responses and sales as a result.

Don’t be surprised if your first attempt yields poor results.  Most people need multiple exposures to take action, so in your plan, make sure you hit up the same neighborhood several times over a period of several weeks.

Be sure to know any rules surrounding this tactic in your local jurisdictions and HOAs before you begin.

Need help with this (or other cheap tactics)?  Have you done it, and have any great tips to share?  Let me know!

TMI!

There are, by my last count, about eleventy jillion sources of marketing, small business, entrepreneurship, and leadership information on the internet and in print.

I may have rounded that number there a little bit.

The thing is, while much of it is repetitive - how many times can we post about (x) number of tips for Facebook and nag us about not using the standard text for LinkedIn connection requests - there's a lot pretty good stuff out there.

You can read another post about how
to screw up on LinkedIn, or look at cute
cat pictures.  Decisions, decisions.

There are very interesting insights, genuinely useful tips, and critical information that might actually make a huge difference in our businesses and our lives.

The problem is, we can't possibly read or comprehend it all.  For most of us, it's not our jobs to track or curate this content (although it is mine, kind of - that's what I try to do in my social media networks, especially in my Twitter feed).

It becomes a huge amount of noise - useful, interesting noise. It becomes close to impossible to wrap your mind around it all.

I hear this from lots of my friends in the small business community - that they can't keep up with all of the information.  Honestly, I've been struggling with it myself.

So here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to hone in on a few outstanding curators of excellent marketing and small business information and stick to them from now on.  I may miss some really awesome insights, but that's the way it's got to be.

I suggest you do the same - but please keep me in your feeds, ok?  OK!

Let me know how you handle the information overload in the comments!

This Business Is Serious: The Professional

I've been thinking about "professionalism" lately.

I think it's easy to fall into making judgments about what is "professional" or not, as if it's some universal and obvious quality.

Typically, one hallmark of "professionalism" here in the United States is always keeping a calm, collected, and above all, serious (but friendly) demeanor.

This leads us to tone down our clothing, our sense of humor, our hobbies and passions and things we hold very dear.

We strip all the personality out of what we say and do, in order to conform to this "professional" image.

I think this is a mistake, especially when you are small.

People want to do business with people they know and like.  If you take the "you" out, how can they know or like you?

You see, one advantage we have over the big guys (usually) is the fact that people can actually have relationships with us - the honest-to-goodness people providing a good or service to other honest-to-goodness people.

We aren't a faceless corporation that treats customers like accounts rather than human beings!

So, don't be afraid to have a sense of humor, or to be colorful and memorable, if that is your personality. Don't wear the uniform of a banker if you are a carpenter or artist or air conditioner repair guy.  Don't hide your passion for fishing, or skiing, or (like me) the martial arts.

Don't completely take the "you" our of your business.

I have a joke in my LinkedIn profile (tip - look at the education section). I've been told a couple of times (especially when I was job hunting) to remove that joke, as it might look "unprofessional".

You know what? If that joke makes a potential employer or partner think I'm not right for them, well, they are probably right! Because that joke goes to the heart of who I am, and I'm going to bring that to work with me.  If that joke turns you off, then yeah, we're not a good match.

And that's okay with me.

In closing, when I think of "The Professionals", this is what comes to my mind. Some language at the end NSFW, so keep your earphones on!

Agree? Disagree? Want to talk about this movie?  Let me know in the comments!