Marketing your small business: Step away from the Great Idea
I always love to intro a new guest blogger to Small Business Owner, and today is no exception. Please extend a warm welcome to Bambi Gordon, co-owner of a number of businesses including Regional Events Australia, The Brew, and her ‘baby’ The Woo.
You know how it goes. 3am. Pondering the big questions of life, like whether to have fruit or toast for breakfast, when the internal light-bulb goes ping and you have a ‘Great Idea’.
Maybe you’re just hanging with your partner and the dog arguing over whether to watch Two & A Half Men or just kill yourself now, and one of you comes up with a Great Idea.
Or you’ve been corralled into a small room with water, Minties, whiteboard and co-workers to apply the trade-marked secret steps of “creative problem solving” and mind maps to come up with a…Great Idea.
Great Ideas are a highly valued commodity and are widely considered to be the holy grail of marketing.
Unfortunately they are usually also a huge pile of doggy doo – a total waste of energy, resources and time – which in a small business can spell disaster.
You can usually recognise a Great Idea by the following criteria:
- The boss (or partner, courier, girl at the cafe) really likes them because they are ‘clever’ or ‘funky’ or ‘different’ – which of course they are blatantly not.
- They are perceived to be cost effective because they involve giving away stuff – in particular stuff that you get other businesses to give you like a bottle of wine, some form of gift basket or a week’s accommodation at a time-share resort.
- Great Ideas have magnetism. Once you have the initial Great Idea it usually attracts lot of other great ideas to it (usually the ones that got knocked back at last month’s planning meeting).
- Your Great Ideas often looks very much like whatever else is big in the news at the moment – like putting ‘I’ in front of a new product even if it’s not digital
- Seasonal and recurring themes are usually big in the World of the Great Idea …. Like, it’s our birthday but you get the gift. Free box of easter eggs with every car tyre sold.
Most importantly of all – Great Ideas are rarely strategic; which means they are NOT in fact a GREAT idea at all but just another directionless, ad hoc tactic that may or may not work to market your business.
Imagination, creativity, and inspiration are valuable resources for the business owner. But when it comes to marketing, step back from the white board and immerse yourself in the foundation of your business – your marketing strategy.
Focus narrowly upon your customers; who are they, what do you want to say to them and how do you want to say it. If a Great Idea comes along that directly addresses those questions, it really is Great.
Want to share some rubbish you’ve seen lately that was masquerading as a ‘great idea’?
Bambi Gordon, Up The Front @ The Woo
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I agree, Megan. It’s beaut to get some fresh blood on (sorry, in) these pages. Many thanks, Bambi!
Thanks Paul & Megan. Very happy to be today’s sacrificial lamb…:) & very much looking forward to some really BAD great ideas.
Hi Bambi,
Man alive! You always speak (write) so sensibly I can’t believe you’re not ruling the world. There’s a spot waiting for you in corporate America.
That’s where my least favourite “Big Idea” comes from. I was working for a multi-national software company who shall remain nameless because I’m not feeling too snarky this morning. We sold commercial software used in large mainframe installations appealing mostly to high-volume businesses like banks and insurance companies. It was boring stuff but made tons of money. Our CEO, in an effort to improve our image, launched a major ad campaign featuring bikies. The clever idea was they would all have tattoos with our corporate logo. And that was it. The campaign cost millions and guess how much money it generated? Not much. Why? Because bikies don’t buy high-end software. The guys that do, can’t relate much to bikies. What did bikies have to do with our company? Squat. What happened when the sales force gave their honest opinion about the viablity of the campaign? Let’s say it was a career-limiting move. What happened when the campaign tanked? The expensive advertising banners stayed in our corporate HQ in an effort to show how hip we were.
Anyway, the company isn’t doing well these days. I guess they need another clever idea. I can’t say their recent decision to change their logo into something that looks like a guitar pic is going to work either. I can say that because I don’t work there anymore.
Great post with a lot of good advice.
Thanks Sarah.
First things first….Ruling the world or running a major corporate was never gonna work after my mother decided that ‘Bambi’ was a really cute name
Re your bikie loving CEO, let me guess…He wanted a leather jacket and a Harley? I have so many examples of bosses who instruct staff to sponsor the footy ‘cos they desperately want to flash around their ’super box’ tickets.
Have a close look at the companies who sponsor motor racing. Some are so beautifully targeted and executed – like Shannons Insurance for Motoring Enthusiasts. But then there are the others….like white goods manufacturers…What?
Is this sort of stuff more likely to happen with men…? *Whack* *slap*
Really great post, thanks Bambi! You are right on the money, there is rarely, if ever. the ‘one great idea’ that makes small business marketing a success. It’s doing many little things right, having a plan and understanding the difference between strategy and tactics.
For some really good small business marketing ideas can I recommend a book (because I wrote it!) called Million Dollar Marketing Tips for Small Business. This book really shows you how it’s done at the grass roots level.
It’s availalable at http://successsurfer.blogspot.com/
It has helped many small businesses change their approach to marketing without having to spend a fortune.
As usual, Bambi hits the nail on the head.
And now I feel like crawling back into bed and covering my head with the doona. No more great ideas for me…
Great ideas come to me when I’m sitting on a plane or driving – must be something to do with movement. The problem is when I stop – stand still – the GREAT idea no longer seems so flash…
When I boil things down – its not so much about GREAT ideas – its about doing the stuff you know you should do with a bit of flair and panache. If people would just do that – we could all be saved from the next GREAT idea…
Love your post Bambi, and Sarah’s comments too. Don’t have anything magical to add myself yet, however today I’m locked away in the role of marketing manager for my own small business. Hence this is very timely advice and I’ll be sure to watch out for Great Ideas .. that really aren’t.
-SCuff
As you say Malcolm – many little things right: Consistency, determination and a blend of targeted activity makes a great marketing mix.
Your comment on this post and your ‘membership’ of this community is a case in point. You are communicating the benefit of your product (your book) to the people most likely to find it appealing (small biz folk).
That’s a great idea – without any bells, whistles, free box of chocolate or bikies with tattoos.
Sonia & Debra – Thanks Gals. Yep – just a case of asking yourself: Will doing this ‘thing’ get this message in front of these potential customers? Yeah or Neah. If not, don’t waste your resources (and for us small biz peep time is nearly our most precious one).
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by PaulHassing: Guest blogger today. Step away from the Great Idea: http://bit.ly/aO5MtT [Nice one, @DoTheWoo
]…
It’s funny, because I was just relating a story the other day of a successful event involving an IT firm I worked for about 6 years ago and a shiny Harley Davidson.
We were sponsoring an annual conference of real estate agents, and we booked a big stand. We had lots of shiny new laptops, printers, digital cameras etc etc. All the stuff that real estate agents might need.
But it looked dreadfully boring, perhaps even intimidating.
So we borrowed a brand new Harley, got an awesome Harley leather jacket, and went to work asking the real estate agents if they would like a photo of them posing in the jacket on the Harley.
I can assure you it was very successful – we had the most popular stand by any measure. We’d take their photo on a digital camera, upload it to the laptop, and print it out on the photo printer on glossy paper. The whole process took about 2-3 minutes, most of which was waiting for the photo to print. During that time the would-be-Harley-owner usually started asking all sorts of questions about the easy-to-use gear we had on display. It was a genuine conversation starter.
Most importantly, we got quite a bit of good business as a direct result.
The difference between Sarah’s experience and mine was, I guess, that the event I was involved with was an inexpensive *tactical* marketing effort, and it worked marvellously, because it appealed to the vertical market we were after at the time.
It wasn’t a strategic marketing effort, mainly because it was a one off event that generated lots and lots of word of mouth – it was a social object, and people responded to that.
What he said
Great example. And as you say – tactical rather than strategic. But a 99% improvement on what most exhibitors do at shows (…but then that is another topic, and hopefully something I can rattle on about if invited back here in the future).
It was in fact a good tactic – a quick one that worked to attract peep to you. No down side.
But imagine IF the use of the Harley was to convey something specific about your range of products (rather than just being a brand that blokes like)?
For example, if one of your IT products was particularly fast (…getting a little stuck as I am not sure what features/benefits Harleys have), and you then followed the theme through everything you did around that exhibition site – leading into and out of the event..?
e.g. A competition to win a Harley ride; an offer to pick up customers and bring them to the event on a Harley; a visit by the Harley to their workplace with sausage sizzle, use of Harley images on your web-site, newsletters, etc.
The difference between a good tactic and a great strategy is not just the consistency of the creative theme across a campaign period, but that the theme says something meaningful about your product/service to your potential customers.
Must say – taking a pic of the potential customer to take away with them (and remember you) was really well done.
Thx
Hi Bambi
Thanks for recognising the “great ideas aren’t so great” phenomenon.
Just 2 weeks ago my business partner and I recognised that our steady stream of great new ideas was actually stopping us with getting on with our marketing plan. New ideas are now shelved and the next priority marketing actions are completed first. And generally that gives us time to think about whether or not they really have value.
Cheers
Mel
Well done Mel.
And you bring up a really good point….Time. Giving yourself time to ponder on the idea and see whether it really looks so great ‘in the morning’.
Someone taught me a phrase years ago – which is so true: Have the courage to be a strategist.
And that means, sit back, take a deep breathe, scrape away the initial excitement coating the new idea and test it against your strategy.
All the best with slowly and surely executing your plan.
In an affort to stamp out dangerous ‘great ideas’ that can get small businesses all tied up in knots and wasting resources, together with a stack of other marketing practitioners, we are holding a big fat marketing training day…The day is big and fat, the marketing will be the usual size
We have 11 workshops next Tuesday March 30, from creating a strategy through PR, publicity, research, advertising, branding, social networking – etc. And a case study from Rebecca of Sourcebottle.
Details on my web-site. If you know of some small biz folk who you think would benefit from getting up to speed with how to market their biz, please let them know about our day.
Thanks for allowing this shameless plug (Does it rate as a good or bad idea?)
[...] Got a great idea for marketing your business? Step away unless it addresses the basics of who your customers are and what you want to tell them. Small Business Owner [...]
This forum is great!
[AND THIS COMMENT IS SPAM! BAMBI, YOU WERE RIGHT. I LEAVE IT HERE, WITH LINKS REMOVED, AS A WARNING TO OTHERS. Paul
]
I am just starting my first business after working for an engineering firm for 5 years. I don’t really know how to go about spending my funds in the right way. I have allocated 10% of my budget to spend on promotional products.
I live in Melbourne Australia and found a company called Qua Promotions [SPAM LINK REMOVED] which is located not far from where I live. I want to buy the following products, USB flash drives, pens, our corporate uniforms, compendiums etc,
After looking on the website i discovered that you didn’t need to be a big business to order a large number of promotional products as they are reasonably cheap.
What are your thoughts?
Thank You
Great to hear from you, Steve. Welcome to our space.
I’m sure Bambi will have thoughts on your question.
And I know that Malcolm has had HEAPS of experience in promotional items (from both sides of the fence).
I hope you get some good feedback. Best regards, P.
Hi Steve – Welcome to the mad and whacky world of business ownership.
With regard to throwing yourself into marketing, before deciding upon what stuff you will do, you need to nail your strategy…
Like – Who are you targeting? What is important to them about your Business? How are you going to tell them that you are able to deliver to them the stuff they think is important?
Now, it may be that Promo Products are one of the ways to convey that message by reinforcing your brand. In which case, full steam ahead.
I usually find with a newer small biz with tight budgets (and who doesn’t have tight budgets…) that the limited funds are best put into your web-site, brochures, great looking design, fantastic copy, maybe advertising (…big maybe), social networking, events…and that tactics such as Promo Products are best used if they are at the core of a larger campaign.
(In other words, don’t just hand out pens for the sake of handing out pens).
So, look for promo products that in themselves really say something.
Like – If you are conveying that your Accounting Firm takes out the stress of doing tax, maybe the Promo Product is some herbal tea, a eye mask and some soothing music (on that USB Drive).
As an example, years ago to promote a big episode of Mad About You, where the couple are about to have a baby, we sent out a stack of media releases to TV Journos and radio stations. But the release was inside a logo printed cigar box with chocolate cigars inside…and both blue and pink ribbon (to get people to start guessing whether it would be a boy or girl).
In this day and age we could support that Promo Product with an online “Betting Form” for people to guess whether it was a boy or girl…
Good luck with your biz Steve.
And remember the most important part of your brand….Being authentic and transparent.
Great stuff, Bambi! Better than I could have hoped.
Defnitely agree on the fantastic copy point.
I once received a promo pen from a Mercedes dealership. It fell to bits on Day 3. Get the picture?
Hi Steve,
I have to agree with Bambi about promotional items. When you spend money on something like a pen, you have nothing to show for it – except a box of pens. You might be better off investing in a newsletter or a case study. It becomes an asset to your business, establishing your authority and helping people make a favorable decision about your products and/or services. I don’t know how much business a free pen is going to generate but I have many customers who attribute sales activity to a case study (customer-success story) they had posted on their website.
And, yes, welcome to the world of small business ownership. It’s a fun place.