Archive for May, 2010

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Some Thoughts on Green Marketing and Green Washing

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

Everywhere you read, search, listen, and watch, green is king. Whether it’s saving gas, electricity, paper, or the planet, going green can mean greener pastures and thumbs when it comes to our environment and your company’s bottom line. Green is in. Green is good.

However, with the ever-present emphasis on “greenness” also comes the need for how to communicate the enviro-message. Does environmental messaging sometimes sound more like a fad than reality? Does your product line include features and benefits that are just waiting to be communicated? Are you forcing green features into your products that may not exist?  Are you guilty of “Green Washing?”

Don’t be green just to be green. It’s more important to be accurate, rather than faddish, about what your product or service offers the environmentally conscientious customer.

What do you think?

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Economic Recovery: Optimism Foundational-Realism Not Optional

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Some say the recession is over and some say it’s not.  It all hinges on how you define the terms.

Let’s look at two frequently used words: recession and recovery.  Recession, by the traditional definition, means that GDP declines for at least two quarters or roughly six months.  Overall economic numbers and activity are trending downwards.  The current recession includes: reduced earnings; lower home values; less consumer spending; tighter credit, increased job losses, and domestic and international debt problems stemming from the U.S. and reaching to Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, the U.K., and other countries.

Once a recession turns from “Negative Street” to “Positive Boulevard,” the trends may be shifting but it takes time for traffic to flow again before a recovery begins.  In short, the end of a recession does not mean the start of a recovery.

Recovery means positive job growth.  Recovery also includes a long-term, increasing, free flow of the exchange of goods and services.  Government stimulus is only a short-term “fix.”  Moving from recession to a sustainable recovery takes two vital ingredients: patience and jobs.

No job growth.  No recovery.  No way.

Be patient–exceptionally patient.

Be optimistic yet realistic.  There are many ways marketing can help your business during this recession.  Below are a few tips to ponder and apply:

  • Shift your marketing budget from old-school mediums such as newspapers and magazines to digital, no cost or low cost advertising, branding and web based networking such as e-mail marketing.   Make sure to include social media tools like Twitter and Facebook in your mix.  Tweak rather than slash your marketing budget.
  • Update your web site content, keywords, phrases and HTML page titles. It’s simple SEO.  Both Google and your customers will find you faster.
  • Use time more efficiently.  The wise use of time is one of the most effective yet neglected product and service differentiators.  Your company has 24 hours per day and so does your competition.  Time is money so let it work for you.
  • Be more patient…
  • Keep laughing!
  • Hug your family!
  • Read my new book, Small Business Marketing – A Guide for Survival, Growth and Success.

What do you think?

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Table of Contents for Stuart’s New Book: Small Business Marketing: A Guide for Survival, Growth, and Success

Monday, May 24th, 2010

If you’re looking for a list of top selling business books, this book can help you:

  • Save time and money.
  • Increase revenue.
  • Grow market share.
  • Endure good and bad economic times.
  • Work less and play more.
  • Avoid costly marketing mistakes.
  • Apply preventative marketing tools to grow your small business.
  • Understand whether you really know what marketing is.
  • Capitalize on green marketing trends.
  • Practice more eco-friendly marketing.
  • Refine and apply revenue-generating principles of marketing.
  • Find your best customers.
  • Manage your marketing mix.
  • Discover new customer segments through marketing research.
  • Better manage your products and services.
  • Tell your story.
  • Improve your marketing messaging.
  • Create, design, or revise your Web site.
  • Increase visitors to your Web site.
  • Help customers find your Web site.
  • Increase page views on your Web site.
  • Better understand and apply social media.
  • “Tweet” for success.
  • Expand your brand through free social media tools.
  • Apply and maximize e-mail marketing to increase your marketing ROI.
  • Ask the tough questions needed to grow your small business.
  • Get more sleep.
  • Retire earlier :)

Table of Contents

Part I: Traditional Marketing

Chapter 1:
Essence Versus Attribute: What Is Marketing?

Chapter 2:
How You Go to Market: Choosing Your Style

Chapter 3:
Managing Your Mix: Turning the Four Ps into Profit

Chapter 4:
Managing Your Product: Raising Your Child for Growth and Beyond

Chapter 5:
Finding Your Customer: The Art of Segmentation

Chapter 6:
Small Business SWOT: Embracing Strong Opportunities

Chapter 7:
Think Before You Act: Small Business Marketing Research

Chapter 8:
Writing Your Plan: The Choices and Challenges

Part II: Digital Marketing

Chapter 9:
Creating, Optimizing, and Revising Your Web Site: Quick Tips That Work

Chapter 10:
E-mail Marketing: The Proven Tool with High ROI

Chapter 11:
Facing the MySpace of the LinkedIn Twitter Monster: Social Media Benefits for Small Business

Part III: Miscellaneous Marketing

Chapter 12:
Telling Your Story: From Personality to Press Releases

Chapter 13:
Embrace the Case: Let Harvard Help Your Small Business

Chapter 14:
Using Your Time Wisely: Turning Minutes into Money

Appendix

Cool Tools

Sample Press Release

Sample Creative Brief

Green Marketing

The Art of Brainstorming

Notes

Available from Amazon in both paperback and Kindle versions:

  • ISBN-10: 1439255415
  • ISBN-13: 978-1439255414
  • Author: Stuart Atkins, MBA

To Buy, click the Amazon link below:

http://www.amazon.com/Small-Business-Marketing-Survival-Success/dp/1439255415/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274728768&sr=8-2

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Is a Google Search All the Marketing Research You Need?

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Doing a Google search is NOT market research!

Google can sometimes find valuable secondary sources, but beware.  If all you do is Google and expect to find revenue-generating research, you are traveling only on surface roads.  You may not find your road to ROI.  In short, you may not get to your destination.

Solid marketing research goes much deeper than a search engine.  You have to do some thinking, legwork, and primary source research to make safer decisions.

How do you do market research?

Please let me know your thoughts…

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Marketing Defined: We Know the Term But Do We Understand its Meaning?

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Marketing. What is it? You hear the term used in a wide range of conversations: business, personal, and casual.

How do you define it? Pause and ponder a minute. Write the definition in your brain. Hold that thought and read on, because how you define marketing will define your small business.

Before I define what marketing is, let’s clarify what it’s NOT.

Marketing is NOT:

  • Sales
  • Public Relations
  • Advertising
  • Branding
  • Messaging
  • Management
  • Communicating
  • Networking

These preceding bullets are aspects of marketing, but ultimately, they are only means to your marketing ends. Think essence not attribute. The essence of marketing is the active and sustained process that delivers the product or service to your customer. An attribute, such as advertising, is a means to an end, but not the end. An attribute is a piece of the puzzle, but it does not complete the puzzle.

So what do you think?

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