Bill Sweetman, a Toronto-based Web marketer who recently became VP of Internet Strategy at MacLaren McCann Direct & Interactive, was interviewed last week on OneDegree.com, a terrific Canadian site for information on the e-economy.
As part of the discussion, he had some interesting insights on the difference between small business clients and big businesses:
One Degree: Who needs a bigger kick in the ass to get on the Net advertising bandwagon - big advertisers or small businesses?
Sweetman: Neither.
The small business folks, God bless them, are more motivated in and excited about advertising online, however they tend to have unrealistic expectations and not enough budget to do things effectively. In the worst cases, they think of Internet marketing as a cheap or free alternative to doing anything else, and then are frustrated when it doesn’t live up to their unrealistic expectations.
The big advertisers, on the other hand, have got plenty of budget and want to “do stuff online” but many are still skittish about re-directing an appropriate portion (based on reach) of their budget to a medium they don’t fully understand.
Small or large, I’m not blaming the advertisers because the responsibility rests with us Internet marketers (whether we are freelancers, at boutiques, or working at large agencies) to help our clients understand and then capitalize on the potential of this medium.”
This fits with a lot of evidence I’ve seen that small businesses are quicker and more eager to innovate than most bigger businesses – even if the entrepreneurs don't have as much available cash with which to explore new media and opportunities.
For the rest of the interview, go here.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Another bad ad
I’m a big believer in creative flexibility. If you have a great idea, throw out the old rules. But if you don't know what you’re doing, you might as well follow the rules, because your message is likely to get lost otherwise.
For instance, I believe in headlines. Whether you’re designing an ad or a newspaper page, you need headlines to attract easily distracted readers. If you have a big idea and/or an arresting visual (say, the World Trade Center collapsing), maybe you can get away without a headline. But if your main image is like the one at left, better get a good headline. You need all the help you can get.
The ad at left appeared in the March issue of Fast Company. Capital One is targeting small business owners looking to tame their company finances. So where is the dramatic, benefit-oriented headline? It was deemed expendable, probably because the art director was so tickled with the cartoon.
Here’s the 411. Entrepreneurs want solutions. They don't want cartoons. They don't like cartoons. In my experience (and I once published a Dagwood/Mr. Dithers cartoon on the cover of PROFIT Magazine, but only once), business owners view cartons as kids’ stuff, not serious business. Plus, this is a complex cartoon with no central focus and no caption. Only readers with lots of time on their hands are going to sit down and try to figure out what it all means. When’s the last time you heard a busy entrepreneur say, “I’ve got nothing to do. Think I’ll spend an hour analyzing illustrations in this magazine.”
Worse, anyone who does study this cartoon finds the company being depicted is totally inept, its workers unprofessional at best, and likely suicidal. Few entrepreneurs find anything funny about unprofessional behavior. So if Capital One is expecting its prospects to identify with poor Alonzo, I think they're going to be disappointed.
Below the picture is the “sell” copy. It seems to have nothing to do with the cartoon. “Are your business finances turning out to be a big headache?” Alonzo’s problem is that his workers are building a substandard house and killing each other.
I could see this cartoon possibly working for an ad for a skills-training company, but it has no place in a serious financial ad.
The rest of the copy, about online account servicing, free year-end summaries and a rewards program, is good enough, I guess, but flat and uninteresting. It probably doesn't matter, since any entrepreneurs who stuck around to read the copy are going to find their heads hurting from trying to match the pitch with the cartoon, so they’re unlikely to last till the end.
The call to action? Buried at the tail end of a dense paragraph of low-contrast, hard-to-read body copy. No bold type for the URL, not even a “www” to help it stand out as a Web-based resource. Just a mess.
And don't get me started on the branded “Small Business Solutions” tagline. People with big dreams rarely like to be associated with such a demeaning word. (See my Jan. 10 post, Don’t call them “Small Business”.)
Takeaways: If you’re creating ads aimed at business owners, have a clear message. Help entrepreneurs solve their problems. Use headlines to attract attention. Keep your message simple. Don't monkey around with inappropriate humour (your audience takes itself very seriously). Use simple text devices (boldface, anyone?) to make your key messages stand out.
Note how Capital One put its own tagline [What’s in your wallet?] in bold instead of its key pitch, or its URL or phone number. Selling is about the customer’s needs, not yours.
For instance, I believe in headlines. Whether you’re designing an ad or a newspaper page, you need headlines to attract easily distracted readers. If you have a big idea and/or an arresting visual (say, the World Trade Center collapsing), maybe you can get away without a headline. But if your main image is like the one at left, better get a good headline. You need all the help you can get.
The ad at left appeared in the March issue of Fast Company. Capital One is targeting small business owners looking to tame their company finances. So where is the dramatic, benefit-oriented headline? It was deemed expendable, probably because the art director was so tickled with the cartoon.
Here’s the 411. Entrepreneurs want solutions. They don't want cartoons. They don't like cartoons. In my experience (and I once published a Dagwood/Mr. Dithers cartoon on the cover of PROFIT Magazine, but only once), business owners view cartons as kids’ stuff, not serious business. Plus, this is a complex cartoon with no central focus and no caption. Only readers with lots of time on their hands are going to sit down and try to figure out what it all means. When’s the last time you heard a busy entrepreneur say, “I’ve got nothing to do. Think I’ll spend an hour analyzing illustrations in this magazine.”
Worse, anyone who does study this cartoon finds the company being depicted is totally inept, its workers unprofessional at best, and likely suicidal. Few entrepreneurs find anything funny about unprofessional behavior. So if Capital One is expecting its prospects to identify with poor Alonzo, I think they're going to be disappointed.
Below the picture is the “sell” copy. It seems to have nothing to do with the cartoon. “Are your business finances turning out to be a big headache?” Alonzo’s problem is that his workers are building a substandard house and killing each other.
I could see this cartoon possibly working for an ad for a skills-training company, but it has no place in a serious financial ad.
The rest of the copy, about online account servicing, free year-end summaries and a rewards program, is good enough, I guess, but flat and uninteresting. It probably doesn't matter, since any entrepreneurs who stuck around to read the copy are going to find their heads hurting from trying to match the pitch with the cartoon, so they’re unlikely to last till the end.
The call to action? Buried at the tail end of a dense paragraph of low-contrast, hard-to-read body copy. No bold type for the URL, not even a “www” to help it stand out as a Web-based resource. Just a mess.
And don't get me started on the branded “Small Business Solutions” tagline. People with big dreams rarely like to be associated with such a demeaning word. (See my Jan. 10 post, Don’t call them “Small Business”.)
Takeaways: If you’re creating ads aimed at business owners, have a clear message. Help entrepreneurs solve their problems. Use headlines to attract attention. Keep your message simple. Don't monkey around with inappropriate humour (your audience takes itself very seriously). Use simple text devices (boldface, anyone?) to make your key messages stand out.
Note how Capital One put its own tagline [What’s in your wallet?] in bold instead of its key pitch, or its URL or phone number. Selling is about the customer’s needs, not yours.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Today's Hottest Buttons
What problems most bedevil Canada’s entrepreneurs? Here are the results of a recent survey of “mid-cap” business owners by COMPAS, for Roynat Capital, conducted in January 2006.
I’m actually surprised to see these entrepreneurs so concerned about financing. This is an issue that seemed to have gone away for a while; certainly, it is no longer the national political issue it was a few years ago.
This looks like a warning to the banks, especially for when they come back to Ottawa for permission to merge. Plus, it’s a sign that all the new private capital now being directed to buyout funds and mezzanine funding isn't getting where it needs to go.
Meanwhile, there’s lots of food for thought here for marketers trying to make entrepreneurs’ lives easier. How can you help them deal more effectively with staff issues (hiring, training, motivating, retaining)?
How can your products or services level the playing field, and enable entrepreneurial firms to compete with bigger organizations?
And how can you help them sell more?
These are the hot buttons your market will respond to.
(You can find the survey summary here. )
I’m actually surprised to see these entrepreneurs so concerned about financing. This is an issue that seemed to have gone away for a while; certainly, it is no longer the national political issue it was a few years ago.
This looks like a warning to the banks, especially for when they come back to Ottawa for permission to merge. Plus, it’s a sign that all the new private capital now being directed to buyout funds and mezzanine funding isn't getting where it needs to go.
Meanwhile, there’s lots of food for thought here for marketers trying to make entrepreneurs’ lives easier. How can you help them deal more effectively with staff issues (hiring, training, motivating, retaining)?
How can your products or services level the playing field, and enable entrepreneurial firms to compete with bigger organizations?
And how can you help them sell more?
These are the hot buttons your market will respond to.
(You can find the survey summary here. )
Thursday, March 09, 2006
No more pencils, no more books
School's out next week and the kids are demanding attention.
So Selling to Small Business is going into reruns till March 21.
How do reruns work? Simple. You scroll down and read the posts you haven't seen before.
As always, send your comments or suggestions to rick (a) rickspence.ca
And if you have time, check out our links to the left. Lots of good learning there.
Rick
So Selling to Small Business is going into reruns till March 21.
How do reruns work? Simple. You scroll down and read the posts you haven't seen before.
As always, send your comments or suggestions to rick (a) rickspence.ca
And if you have time, check out our links to the left. Lots of good learning there.
Rick
Segmenting your market
What keeps entrepreneurs awake at night?
Before answering that question, you have to know which part of the small business market you're targeting. It's Marketing 101: this market is so huge and so variegated that anything you can do to segment your preferred audience (young entreprenurs, female business owners, manufacturers, startups in Manitoba, etc.) will result in finer targeting and produce better results.
Case in point: A January 2006 Industry Canada study of financing for young entrepreneurs.
Here are the "Perceived Obstacles to Business Growth and Development" identified by the study. As you will see, it found significant differences between young entrepreneurs and older ones.
Problems Facing Young Entrepreneurs
Finding Qualified Labour: 40%
Obtaining Financing: 39%
Instability of Demand: 25%
Levels of Taxation: 23%
Low Profitability: 19%
Government Regulations: 19%
Equipment Renewal: 13%
Managerial Skills: 11%
Problems Facing Older Business Owners
Levels of Taxation: 40%
Finding Qualified Labour: 38%
Low Profitability: 34%
Instability of Demand: 33%
Government Regulations: 29%
Obtaining Financing: 23%
Equipment Renewal: 17%
Managerial Skills: 6%
If you're targeting younger entrepreneurs, for instance, you wouldn't worry so much about taxation or high taxes. You might, however, focus on financing solutions. One thing is clear: both demographics are equally concerned about finding good help.
Why do young entrepreneurs matter? Well, apart fom the possibility of them being good customers for the next 30 yars or so, they are stepping up to the plate now and starting or buying businsses as more and more baby-boomer entrepreneurs look for a change or outright retirement. This is a market you need to know.
Before answering that question, you have to know which part of the small business market you're targeting. It's Marketing 101: this market is so huge and so variegated that anything you can do to segment your preferred audience (young entreprenurs, female business owners, manufacturers, startups in Manitoba, etc.) will result in finer targeting and produce better results.
Case in point: A January 2006 Industry Canada study of financing for young entrepreneurs.
Here are the "Perceived Obstacles to Business Growth and Development" identified by the study. As you will see, it found significant differences between young entrepreneurs and older ones.
Problems Facing Young Entrepreneurs
Finding Qualified Labour: 40%
Obtaining Financing: 39%
Instability of Demand: 25%
Levels of Taxation: 23%
Low Profitability: 19%
Government Regulations: 19%
Equipment Renewal: 13%
Managerial Skills: 11%
Problems Facing Older Business Owners
Levels of Taxation: 40%
Finding Qualified Labour: 38%
Low Profitability: 34%
Instability of Demand: 33%
Government Regulations: 29%
Obtaining Financing: 23%
Equipment Renewal: 17%
Managerial Skills: 6%
If you're targeting younger entrepreneurs, for instance, you wouldn't worry so much about taxation or high taxes. You might, however, focus on financing solutions. One thing is clear: both demographics are equally concerned about finding good help.
Why do young entrepreneurs matter? Well, apart fom the possibility of them being good customers for the next 30 yars or so, they are stepping up to the plate now and starting or buying businsses as more and more baby-boomer entrepreneurs look for a change or outright retirement. This is a market you need to know.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
How tech fails medium-sized business
Does the tech industry understand the medium-sized business market? Not according to Dan Mclean, editor-in-chief of ITWorldCanada.com, in a story published March 2 in The Globe & Mail.
“When it comes to information technology designed to suit their specific computing needs, mid-sized companies in Canada are on the outside looking in,” Mclean writes.
When businesses with between 100 and 499 employees look for tech solutions, what do they find? “These days they're typically scaled-down versions of large-business IT hardware, software and services, or scaled-up small-business products,” he writes.
The problem, says analyst John Sloan of Info-Tech in London, Ont., is that the IT needs of a mid-sized company can be every bit as complex as those of a much larger firm. But they have fewer people to support and manage it. That means mid-sized firms need products that have big-business function at a small-business price.
According to Sloan, two-thirds of a mid-sized business’s IT spending goes to maintenance and management. Anything that reduces the need for operational support “is likely to get a good hard look by a medium-sized business customer. Gains in efficiency and productivity are golden for customers in the mid-market.”
Medium-sized businesses are big IT spenders. On average, says Mclean, they spend more than $1 million a year on IT.
Lise Dellazizzo, VP of IT for Ipsos Reid Corp., calls medium business "the most significant revenue-generating engine in Canada when it comes to IT spending." Large businesses may spend more per capita, but the mid-sized market has greater volume. Canada has nearly seven times as many mid-sized companies as large companies.
As Mclean concludes, this is a market worth figuring out.
See the original story (until it slips behind the pay curtain) here.
“When it comes to information technology designed to suit their specific computing needs, mid-sized companies in Canada are on the outside looking in,” Mclean writes.
When businesses with between 100 and 499 employees look for tech solutions, what do they find? “These days they're typically scaled-down versions of large-business IT hardware, software and services, or scaled-up small-business products,” he writes.
The problem, says analyst John Sloan of Info-Tech in London, Ont., is that the IT needs of a mid-sized company can be every bit as complex as those of a much larger firm. But they have fewer people to support and manage it. That means mid-sized firms need products that have big-business function at a small-business price.
According to Sloan, two-thirds of a mid-sized business’s IT spending goes to maintenance and management. Anything that reduces the need for operational support “is likely to get a good hard look by a medium-sized business customer. Gains in efficiency and productivity are golden for customers in the mid-market.”
Medium-sized businesses are big IT spenders. On average, says Mclean, they spend more than $1 million a year on IT.
Lise Dellazizzo, VP of IT for Ipsos Reid Corp., calls medium business "the most significant revenue-generating engine in Canada when it comes to IT spending." Large businesses may spend more per capita, but the mid-sized market has greater volume. Canada has nearly seven times as many mid-sized companies as large companies.
As Mclean concludes, this is a market worth figuring out.
See the original story (until it slips behind the pay curtain) here.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
The long drawn-out agony of giving up control
One of the big problems facing entrepreneurs is control.
When they found their business, entrepreneurs are in complete control. They have to be: they can't allow a free-thinking employee or supplier to undermine thier vision or the standards they are trying to create.
Some people dismiss entrepreneurs as “control freaks,” but they are this way for good reason. Just as a watchful she-bear will fight for her cubs, entrepreneur will take few chances that would endanger their business. When you take your eye off the business, danger is always close by.
(Recall 15 years ago when Magna founder Frank Stronach started dabbling in restaurants and politics -- his auto-parts company started to crumble. It was only when Frank returned to put his personal stamp on the business again that it recovered.)
Over time, then, entrepreneurs must battle hard to find systems that allow them to give up control without sacrificing quality, standards or culture.
In an article written a few years ago for PROFIT Magazine’s website, Markham, Ont. entrepreneur Aaron Moscoe, co-founder of a corporate-giftware firm called The Promotional Specialists, described his efforts to let go. Here are a few excerpts that speak to the difficulty of letting go – and the incredible opportunity that creates for suppliers and other potential partners who can win an entrepreneur’s trust.
"Having built this business personally, [my partner and I] like to have things done our way - and who better to do it exactly that way than ourselves? The problem is that there are too many accounts to manage to allow us the time to plan and manage our business properly. Like many small business entrepreneurs we have tried to just work harder. After a while you learn that there is not too much of this or that, but too few of you.
"Hiring others to do jobs that you handled previously is tough because it means relinquishing some control. (Rick’s note: the suggestion here is that relinquishing control is bad. I am sure Aaron has gotten over that notion now, and recognized that delegating is an essential skill – but it’s a hard concept for many to accept]. While you can train employees, you also need to trust them and to realize the various ways they can add value to your business, even if it is by doing things differently.
"Perhaps the most important way to grow is to realize that you must inevitably rely on others. Whether employees, suppliers, couriers, financiers, or key clients, it is dramatically important to choose those strategic partners carefully.”
You can read the rest of the story here, but here's the main point: When you sell services to entrepreneurs, they may be cautious, skeptical, even hostile, because they are being asked to entrust their business to your systems, your standards.
Once you recognize that pitching your product is much like asking new parents to entrust your baby to their care, you will better understand that your primary job is not to sell your services to entrepreneurs, but to win their trust. If you can do that, the rest gets much easier.
There are no quick wins in this market. As Moscoe concludes, “Partnerships must be mutually beneficial in the long run if they are to last. Accordingly, it is crucial to work with partners who value the contribution that your partnership brings to them.”
If you're listening, that's the sound of an entrepreneur demanding respect.
When they found their business, entrepreneurs are in complete control. They have to be: they can't allow a free-thinking employee or supplier to undermine thier vision or the standards they are trying to create.
Some people dismiss entrepreneurs as “control freaks,” but they are this way for good reason. Just as a watchful she-bear will fight for her cubs, entrepreneur will take few chances that would endanger their business. When you take your eye off the business, danger is always close by.
(Recall 15 years ago when Magna founder Frank Stronach started dabbling in restaurants and politics -- his auto-parts company started to crumble. It was only when Frank returned to put his personal stamp on the business again that it recovered.)
Over time, then, entrepreneurs must battle hard to find systems that allow them to give up control without sacrificing quality, standards or culture.
In an article written a few years ago for PROFIT Magazine’s website, Markham, Ont. entrepreneur Aaron Moscoe, co-founder of a corporate-giftware firm called The Promotional Specialists, described his efforts to let go. Here are a few excerpts that speak to the difficulty of letting go – and the incredible opportunity that creates for suppliers and other potential partners who can win an entrepreneur’s trust.
"Having built this business personally, [my partner and I] like to have things done our way - and who better to do it exactly that way than ourselves? The problem is that there are too many accounts to manage to allow us the time to plan and manage our business properly. Like many small business entrepreneurs we have tried to just work harder. After a while you learn that there is not too much of this or that, but too few of you.
"Hiring others to do jobs that you handled previously is tough because it means relinquishing some control. (Rick’s note: the suggestion here is that relinquishing control is bad. I am sure Aaron has gotten over that notion now, and recognized that delegating is an essential skill – but it’s a hard concept for many to accept]. While you can train employees, you also need to trust them and to realize the various ways they can add value to your business, even if it is by doing things differently.
"Perhaps the most important way to grow is to realize that you must inevitably rely on others. Whether employees, suppliers, couriers, financiers, or key clients, it is dramatically important to choose those strategic partners carefully.”
You can read the rest of the story here, but here's the main point: When you sell services to entrepreneurs, they may be cautious, skeptical, even hostile, because they are being asked to entrust their business to your systems, your standards.
Once you recognize that pitching your product is much like asking new parents to entrust your baby to their care, you will better understand that your primary job is not to sell your services to entrepreneurs, but to win their trust. If you can do that, the rest gets much easier.
There are no quick wins in this market. As Moscoe concludes, “Partnerships must be mutually beneficial in the long run if they are to last. Accordingly, it is crucial to work with partners who value the contribution that your partnership brings to them.”
If you're listening, that's the sound of an entrepreneur demanding respect.
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