"The 12 Days of Business" Day 5: Tips To Grow Your Business On

“The 12 Days of Business”

“On The Fifth Day of Business, My Consultant Said to Me: Rember the 5 Golden Rules.”

Things are starting to move now, and you have customers beginning to notice your products and services as things begin to get into a routine. It’s time to talk about the 5 Golden Rules of Business that you should be following throughout your business cycle. These Golden Rules are tried and true rules followed in most every successful business that you will come across. They are primarily common sense ways to approach your business that encompasses all that we are talking about over these 12 days.

The first Golden Rule is a variation of the adage that ‘The Customer is Always Right,’ which is that “Perception is Reality.” Your customers and clients may be totally wrong about what you are offering or trying to do, but to them, their perception is their reality. You may be doing something right 99 out of 100 times, but to the person who is that 100th, they believe that you have no idea what you are talking about. As an owner or manager, you must at least acknowledge their reality as being real to them, and then find a way to overcome it and let them see the error of their ways by getting them to give your business another chance. You can do that with enticements to come back, or you can discount the immediate purchase. Whatever it takes, don’t be defensive, just realize that this is their temporary reality and you have the power to change it.

The second Golden Rule is to have set policies and procedures in place so that everyone knows what is expected of them, and how to perform the tasks at hand. It may seem silly to have these policies and procedures in place when you are a 1 or 2 man operation, but you never know when you may need some temporary additional help, or be taken out of commission for a few unexpected days. If you can’t create your policies and procedures before you open your business, at least create them as you go and maybe write up a couple a day as you come across issues and growing pains in your first year of business. A good employee handbook and a set of policy and procedure manuals will take your business to the next level as you work to streamline your processes, and to get others to be able to jump in when needed with just a quick demonstration about what they have read.


The third Golden Rule is to constantly evaluate your products and services for relevance and comparisons to the competition. Everyone is always trying to build the better mousetrap, so you need to make sure that whatever you offer is as up to date as your competition and find out how you are different and/or better to use in your marketing efforts. Just because a product or service is older, does not mean that it is still not relevant or can perform just as good if not better than what else is on the market. Subscribe to magazines, message boards, or any information that will tell you about where your industry is going, and who is doing what to take them there. Knowing how your services are perceived and how they compare in the marketplace, is a Golden Rule that will always keep your company relevant and in the publics mind.

The fourth Golden Rule is to realize that not everything is going to work out as planned. If you are waiting for the perfect opportunity to launch a product, service, or promotion, it will be a long wait, there is NEVER a perfect time. The key is to understand that you don’t use all of your resources at one time, but you do targeted bursts of promotion and see how it fares in the real world. The best thought out plan may land flatter than a pancake the first time implemented, however, if you constantly refine your technique, eventually the stars may align to create the results you had hoped for. Most business owners will try something and if they do not receive immediate results, they will mark it as a failure, never to be thought of again. If you take that same initial idea that you tried in the Winter, change an element of it, and launch it again in the Summer, you may have two totally different results.

The fifth Golden Rule is to make it fun, not only for you, but for your staff, customers and clients as well. In order for you to be motivated to run your business, you need to like what you are doing, and to have your employees buy-in, they need to at least feel involved in the business and like what they are doing as well. Not every job is “fun,” but you can make it enjoyable to be at work. Create a company culture that promotes exchanging of ideas from the newest employee to the most senior executive, and let them feel like their ideas matter. Do you run a high-stress operation or service? Make sure there is down time available at the workplace or in the field to provide balance and make the job fun. A strong business and marketing consultant, can help you create a corporate culture that provides both productivity and fun.

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"The 12 Days of Business" Day 4: Tips To Grow Your Business On

“The 12 Days of Business”

“On The Fourth Day of Business, My Consultant Said To Me: You Need Four Kind Words.”

Your business has started, you have gone out and found a couple of your target customers, they have seen your website, and thought your fresh ideas for promoting your business were kind of cool. Now What? Well hopefully your first customers liked your products or services and don’t mind others knowing what they think of you. It’s time to get some testimonials out there.

Testimonials are a powerful tool to establish your business as authentic and to create a little buzz. I tell all of my clients that they need to be asking for at least 1 of 2 things whenever they meet with a new customer or client; ask for 2 referrals and/or ask for a testimonial with permission to use it in future marketing. Testimonials let your customers and clients know that people have trust in you and felt good about your product or service to sit down and write you about it.

Testimonials should be dated and updated regularly on your marketing material and your website. Don’t let your praises get stale or outdated, you want to have new ones posted within days after receiving them. Believe me, the customers that take the time to write them will be looking for them. A lot of websites have it built right into their Content Management Systems, so you can update testimonials instantly to your site.

Kind words from your customers and clients should be answered with a thank you note or email if they were unsolicited. There is no greater marketing than word of mouth, so take the words from the mouths of your clients and make sure you post them as testimonials as soon as, and to as many places as possible.

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"The 12 Days of Business" Day 3: Tips To Grow Your Business On

“The 12 Days of Business”

“On the Third Day of Business, My Consultant Said To Me: Have Three Fresh Ideas”

You now know who your customers are, have a couple ways to introduce yourself and your products, and it is time to think a little outside the box and start getting clients and customers. As I have mentioned before, with more and more competition, it is time to set yourself and your company apart and here are a couple of suggestions that just might work for you. You can use these ideas, or come up with a few fresh ones of your own. Brainstorm with your team if you have one, you never know where the next great idea might come from.

When launching a new company, a lot of businesses will have a ribbon cutting or an open house. How about launching it with a community service event? Does your product or service benefit someone in some way? Does it impact an end-user? Take your business to the end user and launch it there to create a more press-worthy event. This could entail spending a bit more money in product or service giveaways, but the publicity and goodwill can generate a lot of future business and a good buzz about your company. Examples could include bringing your food (restaurant opening,) products such as hats, shirts, golf balls, etc (retail opening,) services such as marketing, tree service, cleaning service, etc. (service opening,) to an end-user with free samples and examples and having the press cover the event. You could bring your food to a small nursing or retirement home, your products to a local non profit agency or youth organization sports team, and demonstrate your service to someone in need.

Another idea is to utilize your social networking that we already discussed, in the form of creative contests. Having contests and giveaways that are only available or mentioned through your twitter account, blog, website, newsletter or facebook page can really give you great feedback on how these areas are working for you. Try to utilize only one method at a time to find your best information gathering sources. How about a scavenger hunt using GPS coordinates for clues to products or services? If the promotion is big enough and clever enough, you can find some local press coverage for it as well. The key to any of these types of promotions is planning and follow-through. Take the time to plan the event well in advance to take care of any media, including monthly magazines and other media deadlines. It is very important to follow through with all promotions and announce winners and updates as they occur. A fresh and clever idea does no good if nobody knows about it, and there is no community or customer/client buy-in.

A third fresh idea could be to find a partner to team up with for mutual promotion. How does your product or service tie-in with other companies in your area? Can you combine a marketing campaign that will benefit all of the businesses involved? I am very happy to see some local cooperation in my television media. Competition is not always a bad thing. 4 of our Valley’s local restaurants teamed up to create television commercials that featured each of their chef’s or owners and do you know what happened? Each of their respective businesses picked up sales even though the ads had their competition included. If you have faith in your products or service and believe either they are the best or among the best, don’t be afraid to combine resources with others in your field. Why do you think you find a lot of the major chain restaurants within a few blocks of each other and not all over town, miles apart? The competition actually drives business to your vicinity and then your reputation for excellence brings a piece of the pie to you. Consumers actually enjoy having choices and will share the wealth if they believe you are worth it. For example, what if your company sold coffee products? You could find a company in the area that sells quality 5 gallon bottled water service that would be perfect to be used in brewing your coffee. A joint marketing campaign could be created to feature both of your products as the best in the area and help drive sales to both companies at half the marketing cost.

A fresh idea is key to growing your company and keeping it alive in your consumer’s minds. A good marketing consultant may be able to give you ideas you have not thought of before, or guide you in the implementation of an idea you have wanted to do, but were not quite sure how to pull off. Enjoy the holidays as we continue to bring you the “12 Days of Business.” Look for a new entry tomorrow.

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"The 12 Days of Business" Day 2: Tips To Grow Your Business On

“The 12 Days of Business” Day 2

“On the Second Day of Business, My Consultant Said To Me: Create Two Calling Cards.”

So on the first day of business we identified who our customers were and the importance of networking to reach out to those customers. On this second day, we want to touch on your first two impressions that most business owners usually make on their customers, the business card and the website.

Business cards have gone thru many incarnations from simple to flashy but a strong business card can create a lasting impression on those you meet and network with. A good business card will have some basic elements: If you have a physical location where your customers or clients will go to see you or write to you, that should be on your card. If your customers never see your physical business and do not have to contact you there, the address is not needed. All applicable phone numbers should be included, cell, business, fax, and 800 number. A website and email address should always be included. Some visual element should be included, whether a logo or an artful design. A good business card will also take advantage of both sides of the card. Business cards should be on on heavy card stock with a laminate finish to really pop.

Some things you should avoid on your business card include; using oversize/non-standard cards that stand out when you are holding them, but if they can’t fit easily into a wallet, card holder, or rolodex, they will be put into a drawer, never to be seen again. Plain white cards have nothing that catches your eye and will soon be forgotten when customers are rifling through cards to find you. Using magnets with the front of your business card on them are great accessories to your business card, but should not be your main card. They will be left on file cabinets or at the office and are not easily portable. Another fad was the CD as business card, creative in the information it can provide, clunky and not kept at arms length when a client is ready to find you.

A good consultant or marketing firm should be able to get you 1,000 double sided full color laminate cards for about $65 dollars and it will be money well spent in formulating your first and lasting impression on your clients and customers. If you already have a good logo, there shouldn’t be any design fee’s, but if you want them designed by scratch, it could cost anywhere up to another $100.

The second, ‘first impression,’ you make on your customers or clients is the website they find by surfing the web. If your company does not have a website yet, it’s definitely the time unless you want to continually lose market share. A good website is very subjective, but from a business standpoint, it should include some basic elements as well. Your website needs to first and foremost be found on the web, so search engine optimization through keywords and other tricks of the trade, need to be implemented in its design. Visually, you want your site to be attractive, but not to distract from the products, service, or message you are trying to convey to your audience. A good website will have a site map or be easy to navigate with clear and concise links to the information it offers. Finally, security is an important basic function when designing a site. You don’t want others to be able to hack into your site and make it unsafe or unreadable for your customers and clients.

Web design is moving more and more towards combining style and functionality, and a good designer will make them work well together. Content Management Systems, (CMS,) has become more sophisticated where the owner of the site can create changes much more easily than before, without effecting the sites beauty or functionality. In my own web company division, I am constantly amazed by what my designers can do. Websites can cost from $500 to thousands of dollars, and you want to find someone who will listen to you and be able to implement your ideas. There are also web design programs available that if you have a little bit of creativity, can give you a basic web presence, but you really want someone who will continue your company’s brand from the real world to the cyber world.

Tomorrow we are at day 3 and I will be continuing the series thru Christmas Day. Happy Holidays from Ace in the Hole Marketing.

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"The 12 Days of Business" Tips To Grow Your Business On

The 12 Days of Business: Monday, December 14, 2009

Welcome to Ace in the Hole Marketing’s blog, ‘The 12 Days of Business.’ Here are some hint’s and suggestions to starting and maintaining a business in today’s economy, and how to improve your chances of making it a success. The holidays season is the busiest time of the year, not just for Santa, but for all businessmen and women who are looking to grow in the New Year and make their products and services stand-out above the rest. I hope you will take a few minutes, grab a mug of cocoa or some hot apple cider, and read over these suggestions, and add your own for others on this same path. It truly is the season of sharing.

On the First Day of Business, My Consultant Said To Me: “Know Your Customers and Create a Networking Tree.”

Before you start any business, you need to decide who your customers are going to be. Does your product or service appeal to a wide audience, or do you have a more defined, smaller niche you are trying to reach. You cannot create any type of sales or marketing strategy until you have answered this very basic question. If you are already in business and cannot answer the question of who your customers are, quickly and succinctly, then you will be spending a lot of money with no clear sense of why or for whom you are spending it. A consultant can help you define the answers to these questions and then create a strategy to reach those customers. In today’s economy, it’s smarter to spend the money on a consultant who will direct your dollars to resources that will build business, than to hope your money is reaching as far as you want it to on your own. If you are just beginning your business, even if you feel you have it all planned out, I recommend hiring a consultant for a couple hours or so to listen to your plans and help find any holes they might see, so you can have a successful launch at the beginning.

Have you surveyed your customers or your prospective customers lately? Think you know what your customers are looking for in your product or service? Why not ask them!! A survey is a useful tool to be considered before you even open your doors, or on an every 6 months to a yearly cycle after you have been established, to measure how you have done. This works hand in hand with the networking opportunities I will be talking about next, but there are many resources for getting good polling information from online resources and your local community. By paying attention to your customers needs and wants, and tracking them through surveys and marketing data, you can refine your business to really giving them what they want and saving you a lot of waste in both time and products. These are services that consultants are very good at, and can save you time and energy in the process.

Having a network of contacts and business associates is imperative in today’s market. I advise all of my clients to belong to at least one networking group, and to have anyone in their sales organization belong to one as well, preferably a different one than the others are in. Growing your business requires not only effective advertising and marketing to your particular niche or mass market, but also to build a network full of friends and associates that will promote your business as well. A customer that is personally referred by someone is 60% more likely to do business with you than someone who found an advertisement of your business. There are many good networking groups available in almost every community. One of the easiest networking groups to find is your local Chamber of Commerce. Most Chambers have monthly business support meetings in a certain area, where many local merchants gather together to learn from each other and network. You can also usually find a local BNI, (Business Networking International,) or referral network somewhere close by that hold weekly to monthly meetings for building business referrals. Local service organizations are also an excellent resource for networking and referring business, such as the Rotary, Lions Club, Toastmasters, etc..

Online there are dozens of networking opportunities through both Social Networks such as Facebook, Linked In, and Myspace, as well as Message Boards, Chat Rooms, and Blog discussions to participate in. Communities are cropping up every day for almost any type of service or business you can think of, and if not, you can easily create your own. Most of these services and communities become self-explanatory, but asking your consultant which online communities would be a good start for you in getting the tools and information to participate online effectively. A lot of consultants will even manage your networks for you by creating content and conversations that will drive business to your company. You can even find many online free seminars on how to use social networks to your advantage.

There will be much more to talk about, and I hope you come back each day for the 12 Days of Business blogs from now thru Christmas. Happy Holidays and you can contact me for free consultations anytime by emailing Scott(at)aceintheholemarketing(dot)com or calling 330-770-5054.

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Marketing 101, Give Em Something Extra

So there are lots of philosophies out there to encourage you to go the extra mile for your customers or as part of your overall marketing plans. Every once in a while, I come across an example of someone doing it right, and it happened last week. One of my clients sold an insurance policy to a young couple opening up a new sandwich shop near where I live in Struthers, Ohio. One of my clients above and beyond moves is to frequently shop at his clients businesses, so it was time to go have lunch at the sandwich shop. "Average Joey's," sits at the end of a strip mall on state route 170 in Struthers. 582 Youngstown-Poland Rd to be exact.

The store is small, with just 3 tables inside a counter for ordering, and a large cooler for drinks. The menu is not huge, but it has most of my favorites on it, and I settled on a Patty Melt, a juicy burger with melted cheese, sauteed onions, and a bonus of sauteed mushrooms. We didnt have time to eat there, so we ordered our sandwiches to go. They each came with a choice of a side dish, and I picked the fantastic baked corn, almost a corn-cake in consistency. I got my sandwich and side for under $6 dollars and I was a happy camper. Then came the above and beyond moment that hooked me as a customer for life.

We get back to the office, and open the bag of lunch. Each sandwich was put in one of those generic styrofoam (sorry environmentalists,) take-out boxes with the large entree compartment and 2 side dish compartments. I open the box and see my expected sandwich which looked and tasted delicious. I see my baked corn side and I am very happy with the taste and for a bonus. In the extra compartment was a homemade chocolate chip cookie, and a stick of Wrigleys gum. OUTSTANDING!! for a few extra cents, they put in somethings not on the menu, a great tasting cookie and the gum was just what I needed when I finished the sandwich with all of those sauteed onions. I was thinking it was just for me, but the other 2 sandwiches had the same bonuses.




Did it cost them much? Not really at all. Was it worth it? Well, I will sure be back, I am taking the time to blog about it, and I have told about 15 friends already and will tell many more, believe me. This is what it's all about friends...Scott

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Canada's Creative AIDS Awareness Posters

Canada has created some very clever PSA's to promote the long reach of AIDS and to raise awareness to the disease. A new report out this week says that AIDS cases in the US are dramatically decreasing, which is a good thing. Complacency is never a good thing, especially in the spread of epidemics. We are still bracing for Swine Flu outbreaks. Good PR will bring your message to the forefront in a provacative, forceful, yet non-judgemental or damaging way.

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