The "B" Word Blog

Flood Yourself With Revenue Streams

Put on your creative hat and come up with new products or services. A simple way to do this is to look at your current products/services and create packages combining 2-5 items for a slightly discounted price. You can feature these "New Deals" in your marketing materials or simply make them apart of your elevator pitch.

Beyond creating packages, take a look at your competition and other industry related products/services and see if you can come up with "new" products/services for your business to offer. For example, if you are a:

• Florist - offer landscaping services and outsource it to someone you know.
• Caterer - offer recipe books to clients as giveaways at their event.
• Website Design - offer hosting, email marketing,  or copywriting.
• Book Store - offer Book Club gatherings with refreshments.
• Bookkeeper - offer office organization/decluttering
• Electrician - offer entire-home LED bulb upgrade, buy the bulbs in bulk and charge enough to cover costs to get it done in one day.
• Plumber - offer entire-home low-flow upgrade, buy supplies in bulk and switch out all faucets/showers/toilets.

Get creative and think outside the box. Start marketing a service that you "just usually do for your clients", imagine something like, "Free ____ with every purchase." Increasing your revenue streams and marketing a full list of products and services that is original and customer-centric will make you stand out from the competition and increase your bottom line.

Let Your Opinion Be Known

If commenting on blogs feels like a self-indulgent waste of time, it's time to get over your misconception about blogs. Yes, writing your own blog is a good business practice, but lets assume you don't feel that you have the time to keep one up. If that is the case, then I agree that you shouldn't start one. There is a next best thing:

Start commenting on blogs that relate to your industry. Believe it or not, other people read those blogs too. When you comment on someone else's work/ideas you have the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and know-how. You also demonstrate that you care enough to take the time to give accurate information.

When you post a comment on blogs make sure to:

1. Provide a link back to your website (when available).
2. Give constructive feedback that relates to the specific entry that you are commenting on.
3. Appreciate the writer for giving you the venue and opportunity to promote your knowledge.

It takes me about 3-5 minutes to read an entry and post comment. That little time investment usually gets me about 10-100 new visitors to my website. I try and pick articles or entries that would appeal most to my customer base. If I disagree with the author, I state why I disagree and always offer a solution or alternative to their post. On the contrary, if I agree with the author, sometimes a simple "Thank you for this entry, I found it very (appropriate adjective)..." will suffice (and still bring me traffic).

Find a few blogs that relate to your industry (start with five), put them in your browser's favorites and visit them once a week. There are a number of benefits from doing this: keeping up to date on your industry, seeing what other's find interesting and valuable about your industry, establishing yourself as a credible authority in your industry and of course, getting more traffic to your website.

101 Things in 1001 Days

I stumbled upon this site. Love the idea. I'm a serious list maker and an obsessive planner so this is right up my alley. Create your own list for yourself or your business. To stay aware of your time-line, you can add a little time keeper tool to let you know as your end date approaches. They also offer the ability to link up your list to their site (Think FREE Advertising!). Set up your list, link it to their site and let other find out about your business and the plans you have for it all in one place!

I'll post my list on another page for you all to view (I'll also try and get Kate and Ruth to do the same).

People...They Love The Lists.

Stumped as to how to create some new content for your website? Not sure what to do to make your website more interactive or useful for users? Can't come up with a good topic to speak about in front of groups?

Here's the worlds easiest trick to providing info that people want: Make it easy to understand, short and to the point and easily accessible or convenient. I'm talking about creating lists. When I speak in front of groups my topics are often something like: "3 Things To Do To Get Googled" or "33 Ways to Market Your Business On A Budget."

Creating lists of how-to information is much easier than writing a compelling article and the user often appreciates the directness of a list. Your lists don't have to be long, giving 3 tips is about as low as I would go in terms of numbers, but often 3 will be more than enough. You don't have to do anything in the 100's, however if you want to take that on, consider doing 103 or 111 to make you list stand out from all of the other 100+ lists. Here are some examples of easy lists to create:

• # Easy ways to...
• # Ways to Save Money Doing...
• # Things Your ____ Doesn't Want You To Know
• # New Ways to...
• # To Quickly Enhance Your...
• # Not to do when...
• # Things Every ____ Should Know

Not so interested in lists? Then try coming up with a how-to checklist. People love checklists. Going through a checklist makes people feel reassured and confident in their actions. Think about providing a checklist that has something to do with your services or your industry in general. Here's a few examples:

• Things you need to have before you...
• Things you need to do before you...
• Items needed in order to...
• Does your service provider give you...
• Does your product meet your needs...
• Are you getting everything you should from....
• Are you on target...
• Materials you need in order to...

And there you have it, the easy way to create content. If you want it to be even easier consider hiring copy writer.

Business Bucks from BWP

Maybe you've been thinking your business should start going green so that you can run with that ever popular marketing angle...but how to "go green"? I say the best way to go green in Burbank right now, is the way where someone else pays for the upgrades!

Low and behold, this is actually an option: Burbank Water and Power will come out to your business, do a little survey to see what can be done to increase your energy efficiency (survey is free of charge), then let you know what you should do to get "greener" and "save some green".

IT DOESN'T STOP THERE! They will also pay for up to $2000 worth of upgrades! Seriously, I'm not kidding. They do this for up to 200 businesses in Burbank a year and it's all first come first serve. Check out the details on their website:

"There is no catch. The program is truly this good. BWP pays for the cost of the energy survey of your facility and BWP pays for the first $2,000 of retrofits you select. You pay nothing, just reap the rewards of a more efficient building and reduced energy costs."

Do you know why you're so great?

Sit down and write out all of the benefits someone experiences when they use your products or services. Remember to include non-tangible things like stress relief, sense of security, confidence, convenience, etc. Once you've got your list, take a look at your competitor's websites and see if they offer anything that you didn't put on your list. Also take a look at other businesses selling either products (if you sell products) or services (if you are service based). Start watching commercials (instead of fast forwarding through them) and see if the catch phrases and benefits named can apply to your business.

Another great way to find out what sets you apart from your competition is to ask. Call some of your loyal customers and ask them why they stay with you. They may surprise you and see tremendous value in something that you thought was just too obvious to mention. Once you've surveyed your customers ask if it would be okay for you to post their comments as testimonials on your materials. Testimonials are often one of the best ways to communicate your benefits to prospective customers.

Once you've done your research take a good look at your marketing materials (website, brochures, postcards, business cards, t-shirts, etc) and see if they include all the benefits you've come up with or if they need a little revamping.

Take Chances...Go somewhere NEW.

You may already be a member of the Burbank Chamber but have you checked out your other networking options in Burbank? If not, take a look at justBurbank's Networking page which lists off all of the networking groups in town as well as their meeting times and locations.

Take your networking up a notch by making a point to visit a new networking group every month. Go to a number of different meetings and find a group that fits into your schedule and seems like a good fit for your business. The membership costs range from $85 to $350 per year, but often groups will let you visit up to two times without becoming a member. Take advantage of these meetings and gain some new contacts.

Plan out your networking each month. Start thinking in terms of speaking opportunities when you call to get more information about the group you plan to visit. Offer up your services as a speaker for one of their events. Come up with a few different topics that would be of interest to business networking organizations. They are always looking for new speakers to educate their members. Demonstrate your expertise and establish yourself as an authority in your industry. It's a good idea to keep the topic based in "How To" and stay away from delivering a 20 minute sales pitch. Giving away your knowledge will often return to you ten fold in sales.

Fusion Marketing: Stratgic Parters Unite!

Okay, so you've done all the marketing you can think of: direct mail, online advertising, networking meetings, grand re/opening, new storefront signs, etc. Good job. Now it's time to take it to the next level. You know what they say about two heads being better than one...the same is true for marketing, two businesses can be better than one.

Look around your location. Is there a hair salon near by? Restaurant? Gas Station? Look around and start getting to know your neighbors. A strategic alliance with another business can be as good as gold. Start talking to other business owners you know and see if there is some sort of deal you can work out together to benefit both parties. Here are a couple of ideas:

• Give the owners/employees discounts on your services in exchange for them sending you referrals.
• Set up signs or coupons in each other's locations to encourage your customers to do business in both places.
• Split the cost of a direct marketing campaign that promotes both of your products/services.
• Split the cost of a large newspaper ad, movie theatre ad, or outdoor promotion (billboard/bus/benches).
• Tell customers that if they bring their receipt to your partner's location they'll get 10% off. (and have the partner do the same)
• Exchange links on each others website as resources for specific products or services.
• Put ads for your partners in your newsletters (and vice versa).
• Come up with a package deal that you can both promote that incorporates both of your services/products.

Those are just a few ideas. Once you get together with a strategic partner try and schedule a brainstorming session and make a list of all your ideas (no matter how big and ridiculous, you never know).

Fusion marketing isn't just for brick and mortar business. If you work from home or are a service based business start listing out other businesses that would make sense for you to partner up with (ie: if you are a wedding planner talk to jewelers, hotels, bakeries, appearal locations, florists, DJ's, caterers, etc). Not only will you build a large referral base, you'll also be better able to serve your clients if you have all of these people on your side and in your pocket.

Keeping an Eye on the Competition

Go to Google. Enter in a keyword term or phrase that you think a prospective customer would use to find your service/product (ie: if you are a Burbank Chiropractor, you might type in "Burbank Chiropractors").

Now, does your business website come up, or is it that darn competitor of yours that you can't seem to top? If you're seeing your competitor first then don't huff and puff about how much you paid your website designer, or just give up in utter dismay...

Instead try making a habit of visiting your competition's websites. Check them out, throughly. Look at the ones that are ranked above you. Don't get competitive during this research, just stay inquisitive. Take a look at their:

1. Navigation: is it easy to navigate around their site? Can you find exactly what your looking for within a click or two? Can you find your way back to the Home page without getting lost or pressing your "back" button a million times? Is there anything on their site that you can use to improve your site's navigation?

2. Aesthetics: Do your competitor's websites have great images? Do the colors they use seem more appropriate than yours? Is their logo clean, professional looking and easy to identify? Do their images stir up emotion that would drive a customer to contact them? Is their something about the way their site looks that you like and could incorporate into your site?

3. Contact Info: Is their contact information readily available on every page? Is your contact info as visible as theirs? Do they offer special customer service that you could incorporate into your business? Do they highlight or feature their customer service in a way that you don't?

4. Content: Is the text on your competition's websites keyword rich? Do they update it regularly? Do they have a blog? Do they have a newsletter? Do they have tips or FAQ's that you could add to your website?

5. Website URL: Does their URL have keywords in it? Does yours?

Those are just a few things to keep in mind when looking at your competition. Remember, reviewing your competition is about getting ideas for your own site. Look for things on their sites that speak to you. Try to look at the site through a customer's eyes. Don't critic what you don't like, just try and figure out why a customer would call them instead of you.

For more SEO tips read the SEO article posted on justBurbank.com.

Marketing Bible

The tip this week is simple. Read Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Levinson. Do it, live it, breath it...then re-read it. This book has given me ideas just though osmosis.

Data Entry, Everyone's Favorite Hobby

I used to go to up to 20 networking meetings a month and my pockets were always full of business cards by the end of each day. Instead of being overwhelmed and annoyed by the mess, I created a small place on my desk for the cards and on Friday's (when I was winding down my week) I would enter them into a database.

This was a saving grace for my sanity and for my bottom line. I took the time at the end of the week to enter in their names, businesses, websites and a note about their interests...all of this information helped me to categorize them as hot/warm/cold prospects. I would plan my Monday emails around who needed to be contacted right away, who I should send an "it was nice to meet you" note, and who I should contact down the road "just to check in" and see if they were still happy with their current situation or if there was anything I could help them with. With a simple excel sheet I was able to turn many one-time-basic-introductions into clients or referral sources.

Keeping track of your contacts is ABSOLUTELY time consuming, and it can suck the life out of you at times, but it is an essential part of marketing. If you have dreamed of the day when you will be booked solid with business for months in advance, then you are the perfect candidate for implementing a tracking system/database.

Hand Written Notes

Don't try and implement this one into your everyday marketing. Instead try to set aside an hour or two once a month to hand write thank you notes to prospects or clients. You may want to align this with the time you set aside to do billing so you know exactly who you'd like to thank.

Maybe you received referrals from associates or friends, or maybe one client gave you a tip in their area of expertise, or perhaps the people you work with (suppliers or employees) deserve a little recognition.

Give yourself a small goal like 5 notes a month, set up a time to write them and keep a note pad on your desk where you can make notes throughout the month of the people who earn your hand written appreciation.

You may want to make your note a little more legible than the example shown here :)