Opening a New Business?

Recently, we received an inquiry from Matt and Ricky. They had developed a successful mobile pizzeria and wanted to know what was necessary to open a free standing store. They found a good location with a few other restaurants located within a block. Then they completely remodeled a law office into a restaurant with a new kitchen, bar, tables and chairs to seat 40. Next, they developed a logo or brand, and carried it through their signs, bumper stickers, mailers and the wait staff’s t- shirts. Their restaurant became EVO’s.

Here are the major points of our discussion: First thing I told them that they must do is to find out who their customers are...

• Where do they live?
• What are their demographics?
• What need is their business filling?
• What is their unique selling proposition or “brand”?

Trade magazines from your industry can help you find your market. Focus groups, informal surveys, present and past customers, your competitors and good old fashioned research are necessary to help you find your market. Once you know who your best potential customers are and where they live, then you can determine how to reach them and convince them to try you out. People that go out to eat usually have 4-5 restaurants in their regular list. You need to get them to try EVO. If they like it, EVO will become part of their routine and their least favorite restaurant of their current list will be dropped.

You can find customers by word of mouth from friends and relatives. However, you cannot depend on word of mouth advertising to be successful. Business all over the USA tell us “we survive on word of mouth” - key word = survive. If you want to thrive, you must advertise with mass media to reach thousands of eyes and ears.

The three most important factors in a successful advertising and marketing campaign are: Reach, Frequency and Consistency. You must reach a fair percentage of your potential customers; have enough frequency of advertisements to break through the thousands of ad impressions that hit us every day; and be as consistent as your budget will allow.

The biggest mistake small businesses make? Not putting together an annual marketing and advertising plan, AND, not giving it enough time to work. Advertisers are constantly trying different media, using whoever has the best “deal”, fluctuating between media choices too much, and not giving any one media time to do their job. All advertising works – pick the one vehicle that makes sense to you, use it correctly and efficiently, and give it time.

Only electronic media (radio, TV and cable), can effectively brand a business. Having a recognizable brand only means that you have a chance to compete for market share and gain some attention. It might be wise to coupon within a reasonable distance of your store. Adding broadcast to call attention to the coupon will double and triple the usual 2% return.

I felt it was important to add “pizzeria” to their name. Most people would not be able to associate EVO with anything and would have no idea what they do or sell. Compare “Fred’s”, to “Fred’s Fine Furniture”, which tells the story?

I feel that radio would be good place to start (along with couponing). Three – four month schedules on selected radio stations can be very effective and reasonable. Promotional add-ons from the radio stations are readily available. As the restaurant grows, the next step is to add a television station. Radio and TV advertising can be intimidating. Most advertising reps understand how to reach enough people with a good frequency for a reasonable amount of money. You don’t need to buy the most expensive time slots.

There are two parts to advertising: art and science. The art is the commercial or the ad. The most creative advertisement is wasted if scientific, proven facts regarding the placement, number, and media used are not followed. Miller Beer just cancelled their “Man Law” commercial campaign. Critics raved about the commercials and consumers loved them, but sales were flat. Make sure your commercials will reach a sufficient number of people, maintain a good frequency and be as consistent as your budget will allow.

If you have any questions about your business, feel free to contact us.

 

Search Engine Optimization

Increasing the chances of ‘being found’ on the web After a website has been designed and created, then comes the task of letting the world know it’s there. This is where search engines come in handy. In fact, handy is an understatement. A survey conducted earlier this year by Fathom SEO, a search engine optimization service, showed that business-to-business customers use search engines in great numbers to research new products. When asked where they would go to find a product or service, 63.9% of business-to-business users said they would head to a search engine. A 2005 Google-Milward Brown study showed that industry buyers use search engines more than any other type of media. In the research phase, search is used 30% more than trade publications; in the consideration phase, search is used 21% more than print publications; and in the purchase phase, search is used 62% more than traditional media. The question, then, is how to be sure your website shows up in the first few pages of the search engine results. The answer is Search Engine Optimization (also knows as placement and positioning), the process of improving a website so it ranks higher on search engines. There are three steps in SEO: Select the Keywords – This is the most critical step, because it will influence other aspects of optimization. It is important to select relevant keywords for ranking. Consider who uses the product and how they would search for them. And include variations on the phrase or word. Optimize the Website tags – Once the keywords are selected, they must be placed inside the Website tags. The HTML titles are the most important but other tags such as headers anything in bold type are also key search elements. Optimize the Content – Clear, readable copy is vital but the placement of the words is key too. Search engines use mathematical algorithms to identity which words are most important on the Website. Keyword frequency on a page is important, as is the prominence given to the keyword. After the Optimization, the Website should be listed with the search engines. Some are free, some charge fees, some are industry-specific. In each case, the SEO process will significantly improve the chances of being a top return in a customers query. Thanks to Sheila Watson

Attention Real Estate Agents!

Need an easy, Low-Cost Way to Market All Your Contacts? Are you still sending email the hard way, usually one at a time, while storing contact information in a simple email address book? There’s a huge difference between free email programs or basic ones like Outlook and an email marketing and contact management system. Here are 8 ways successful agents use a stand alone email marketing like IHouse MarketReach: Systematically market services to prospective clients. Use Ecards to stay in steady touch with people, and build friendly relationships. Send email property fliers to advertise listings and open houses. Send an unlimited amount of email campaigns, targeted to different groups. Increase traffic to listing web pages and open houses. Centralize and organize contacts into easily accessible database. Assign contacts to an unlimited number of lists to organize email marketing. Keep track of all scheduled email campaigns. Email is absolutely the most cost effective marketing tool available.

Dan Kennedy Says:

Tips for Successful Marketing Marketing is all about results. Not opinions. A governing principal is that your friends’, peers', competitors’, trade associations’, employees’, spouses’, mother-in-laws’ opinions, even your own, do NOT count. The only votes that count are accompanied by money. There are three fundamentals to all successful marketing, each equal importance to the others. Message – what you say about yourself, your products, services, offers, guarantees, company, features, benefits, customers, etc that is compelling and magnetic to a particular audience. Market – who you choose to craft the message for, and deliver it to. Media – how you get the message to the market in a way that is effective, efficient, and affordable. Assumptions verboten. Do not assume your mail will be opened, your ads read. Do not assume your customers remember your story or believe your promises. Instead, think and act as if they do not.