Small Business Marketing
I’m helping a client design a consumer rewards program, with the goal of increasing our competitive advantage and attracting new customers. Because the product mix has excellent margins, we can offer a program that provides high value to the customer. To…
Read MoreAs a small business, if you have an automated phone system, it’s killing your marketing. From your customer’s perspective, everything you do is marketing. And the upbeat, chipper voice on your phone system drowns out all other marketing attempts. When customers hear…
Read MoreDo you know that Google owns YouTube? You probably do. Google owns lots of things and is buying and creating more things every day. Google has a simple business goal: to take over the world. And one small part of achieving that goal…
Read MoreHow do I know your employees want to be cross-trained? They’ve told me. In my work with Yastrow & Company, we do extensive, in-depth employee research, and cross-training is the most universal request we hear. Practically every group of employees,…
Read MoreDo you have different marketing strategies for interacting with customers at each phase of the customer lifecycle? Most businesses don’t, but they should. The cost of acquiring a new customer can be quite high– think of traditional metrics like CPM,…
Read MoreSometimes, advertising legalese really goes over the top. While a case can be made for clauses like, “Not valid with any other offer,” each additional restriction discourages customers from trying out your product or service. Advertising, coupons and special offers…
Read MoreMost marketing metaphors seem so violent. Many of these metaphors are directed at competitors- you need to outwit, outflank, outsmart the enemy. It’s a bit macho for me, but I get it. You want to beat the other guy. I’m…
Read MoreSmall Business Marketing for Startups Yesterday, an acquaintance asked me for advice on his startup company’s marketing. He just didn’t know how to get started with his first customer. He wanted to know what kinds of brochures, business card or…
Read MoreKnowing your small business’ future is the most important thing you could be working on today. And yet so many small business owners don’t have a solid idea of where they want to take their businesses. Other, more immediate issues…
Read MoreRecently, I was given the privilege of designing the cover for the paperback edition of one of my favorite business books, Brand Harmony by Steve Yastrow. The process of redesigning helped me reconnect with the core principles of my small…
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