Marketing Profs, a US site offering marketing advice, takes on the small business market today with a short piece offering three ways to get your message across to business owners. “Get to the point,” they say.
“The vast majority of small business people will respond with interest if you clearly outline what you can do for them.”
* Simplify your pitch. Small business owners don’t want to see your binder filled with charts and graphs. They care about ROI. Demonstrate how your services will pay for themselves.
* Let others pat you on the back. Testimonials from current and former clients provide credibility. They should highlight solutions implemented or problems resolved.
* Put on a good face. If you're selling marketing services, wow prospects with the quality of your Web site and collateral. If you look good, they know you’ll make them look good.
The unnamed profs believe small business owners to be tight with a cheque – a point we have made made here ourselves. To sell them your service, they say, you have to prove its value.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
The Quarter of the Canadian Entrepreneur
Kudos to Roynat, which this year launched a bold initiative called "The Year of the Canadian Entrepreneur." As I understand it, their intent was to build a coalition of marketers interested in reaching small and medium-sized business, and together create events and content that would celebrate Canadian entrepreneurship and help inform and strengthen individual entrepreneurs.
Sadly, Corporate Canada never signed on. Rogers Wireless became a partner, and at least one other organization I know was looking to get in on it. But Roynat had ambitious plans - a monthly mini-magazine called "Essential Guide" in Canadian Business and PROFIT, and a full weekly "Entrepreneur" section in the National Post - and they required deep, deep pockets.
This month, Roynat threw in the towel, and who can blame them?
Congratulations to Roynat (and Rogers) for their vision and market leadership. And to all those organizations that make lots of money off Canadian entrepeneurs and declined to support this worthwhile initiative, may you reap what you sow.
To sell to small businesses, you have to create value for them. Roynat gets that. The rest of the market? Not so much.
Sadly, Corporate Canada never signed on. Rogers Wireless became a partner, and at least one other organization I know was looking to get in on it. But Roynat had ambitious plans - a monthly mini-magazine called "Essential Guide" in Canadian Business and PROFIT, and a full weekly "Entrepreneur" section in the National Post - and they required deep, deep pockets.
This month, Roynat threw in the towel, and who can blame them?
Congratulations to Roynat (and Rogers) for their vision and market leadership. And to all those organizations that make lots of money off Canadian entrepeneurs and declined to support this worthwhile initiative, may you reap what you sow.
To sell to small businesses, you have to create value for them. Roynat gets that. The rest of the market? Not so much.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Grand & Toy Gets Ambitious
I love office-supply stores, but I have always had a love-hate relationship with Grand & Toy.
As a kid I remember wandering into their store at Yonge and Eglinton in Toronto and wondering why they didn't have any toys. ("Grand" and "Toy," I learned later, were the company founders .) Later I could never understand why they had two sets of prices -- one for retail customers, and huge discounts for commercial accounts.
When Staples and Office Depot bought big, bright stores and high-tech wizardry to Canada's office-supply market, Grand & Toy seemed to be caught napping. But now G&T, which calls itself Canada's No. 1 source for "complete business solutions," is staking a leadership claim by helping small businesses get online.
According to a release published today, "To show that they understand and support the needs of Canadian small businesses, Grand & Toy has launched Website Design & Hosting services, an easy and affordable way for entrepreneurs and smaller organizations from coast-to-coast to be available 24/7."
"At Grand & Toy we know that time and money are limited for small business owners," said David Addison, General Manager, Services. "But we also know the potential of growing that business with a simple website offering. That is why with our new Website Design & Hosting services, small businesses can have a site that looks as professional as the large corporations at a fraction of the cost."
Costs? G&T offers "an impactful, customized website design" beginning at $499.95. It also offers hosting plans from $12 a month.
Many business owners have trouble knowing what to put on a website or where to find the help they need, so this service appears to meet a huge industry need. The test, of course, is in the details of the pricing, and the quality G&T offers.
Web design for small business is often handled by kids, friends of friends, or networking specialists who know nothing about design, so there is room for a quality, brand-name service.
But I have my doubts that G&T can compete on price, which, in my experience, is the No. 1 concern for most small business owners. Competing with teenagers and students is never easy.
For more information on the new service, click here.
(Bonus note on selling to business owners: Help your customers find information fast. Grand & Toy's press release commits a cardinal error by directing prospects to their home page, www.grandandtoy.com. Any busy entrepreneur who hits that page will look around a few seconds, observe that web design and hosting are mentioned nowhere, and then take off. Never to return.
Don't expect them to persevere and go, "Hmm, should I try clicking under "Home? Technology? Services? G&T Brand? Deals? Customer Service? Heck, I've got all day, I'll click them all!"
Pick an easy URL, (e.g., www.GrandandToy.com/web) and communicate directly.
Never expect entreprenurs to make an effort to find the information you've promised. They ain't that interested.)
As a kid I remember wandering into their store at Yonge and Eglinton in Toronto and wondering why they didn't have any toys. ("Grand" and "Toy," I learned later, were the company founders .) Later I could never understand why they had two sets of prices -- one for retail customers, and huge discounts for commercial accounts.
When Staples and Office Depot bought big, bright stores and high-tech wizardry to Canada's office-supply market, Grand & Toy seemed to be caught napping. But now G&T, which calls itself Canada's No. 1 source for "complete business solutions," is staking a leadership claim by helping small businesses get online.
According to a release published today, "To show that they understand and support the needs of Canadian small businesses, Grand & Toy has launched Website Design & Hosting services, an easy and affordable way for entrepreneurs and smaller organizations from coast-to-coast to be available 24/7."
"At Grand & Toy we know that time and money are limited for small business owners," said David Addison, General Manager, Services. "But we also know the potential of growing that business with a simple website offering. That is why with our new Website Design & Hosting services, small businesses can have a site that looks as professional as the large corporations at a fraction of the cost."
Costs? G&T offers "an impactful, customized website design" beginning at $499.95. It also offers hosting plans from $12 a month.
Many business owners have trouble knowing what to put on a website or where to find the help they need, so this service appears to meet a huge industry need. The test, of course, is in the details of the pricing, and the quality G&T offers.
Web design for small business is often handled by kids, friends of friends, or networking specialists who know nothing about design, so there is room for a quality, brand-name service.
But I have my doubts that G&T can compete on price, which, in my experience, is the No. 1 concern for most small business owners. Competing with teenagers and students is never easy.
For more information on the new service, click here.
(Bonus note on selling to business owners: Help your customers find information fast. Grand & Toy's press release commits a cardinal error by directing prospects to their home page, www.grandandtoy.com. Any busy entrepreneur who hits that page will look around a few seconds, observe that web design and hosting are mentioned nowhere, and then take off. Never to return.
Don't expect them to persevere and go, "Hmm, should I try clicking under "Home? Technology? Services? G&T Brand? Deals? Customer Service? Heck, I've got all day, I'll click them all!"
Pick an easy URL, (e.g., www.GrandandToy.com/web) and communicate directly.
Never expect entreprenurs to make an effort to find the information you've promised. They ain't that interested.)
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