Lessons From “The Art of Marketing Conference”

Last Thursday, I went to the Art of Marketing Conference and thought I’d share some of what I learned:

Be where your customers already are

If your customers or potential customers frequent a particular website, discussion board, etc., you should be there in some meaningful way too.

Post reviews of your products

You’re out with friends and one of them tells you about a product they think is amazing. Now, you’re thinking about getting it for yourself, but if you’re like 75 to 80 percent of people, you’ll search online for reviews about it first.

Testimonials, positive and negative, can help you make sales. Even the negative ones may reinforce buying a product. For example, you want a simple camera for taking photos without a lot of buttons. A professional photographer posts how they dislike a camera because it’s too simple for them and doesn’t have a lot of functions. Now, you know you’ve found a camera that’s perfect for you.

Create a workplace that reflects your company values

Ask yourself:  What can you do in your workplace to get your staff to care more? At CityMax, for example, we encourage people to always be learning new skills.  The result is we have an unlimited book budget for anything that will help you with your work directly or indirectly. I’ve seen people with books on business, psychology, creativity, programming and design.

Send the perfect thank-you gift

When you want to thank a customer, instead of sending the usual gifts, you can go one step further. Check their tweets (search their name at search.twitter.com) and see if they’ve got any special interests like a baseball team.  Then, you can send them a thank-you card with a gift catered to them like a baseball jersey. This may be particularly useful to do with a customer who brings in a lot of repeat business. They’ll remember you better and they have a great story to tell about how they got the gift.

Test a marketing campaign before you launch it

Before you spend lots of money on a marketing campaign, test it as much as you can beforehand. For example, Google posted several videos for people to view for a future television ad. One stood out in terms of likes and views compared to all others.  That video ended up being used for their Superbowl commercial — they bet on a sure winner.  Here’s the video:

What Small Businesses Can Learn from LEGO

LEGO
LEGO

Last week, I was talking to a co-worker about LEGO and it got me thinking about how brilliantly LEGO has expanded. Here are some things that every small business owner could learn from them:

1. Look outside your primary market

Originally, Lego was geared toward boys until 1971 when they introduced furniture pieces and dollhouses for girls. LEGO also added the Duplo product line (essentially large-sized lego) for pre-school kids. Like LEGO, you should keep an eye out for new opportunities for your products outside your traditional buyers.

2. Use your product to help others

Since the 1960’s, teachers used LEGO as a learning tool. By 1980, the LEGO group caught on and established the Educational Product Department to expand the educational possibilities of using LEGO. When your product has a learning component to it, you may want to offer it free to schools and/or community centers. People will talk about it and since they’re already used to your products, they’re most likely to buy it for their own private use too.

3. Keep on top of industry and mainstream news

In 1985, with the ever increasing popularity of computers, LEGO introduced the Technic Computer Control. It allowed Technic robots, trucks and other motorized LEGO toys to be controlled by a computer. As a small business owner, it’s important to read up on what’s happening not only in your industry but what’s becoming mainstream. It may help you find inspiration for new product ideas and prevent your product from getting outdated.

4. Form partnerships with complementary companies

Nowadays, it’s common to see movie-themed LEGO sets like Harry Potter and Star Wars. You can also find LEGO video games and story books. The company smartly formed partnerships with products that suited their brand and you can do the same. Ask your regular customers for ideas or brainstorm your own from time to time.

5. Embrace your fans

LEGO has encouraged and embraced hardcore LEGO builders through competitions and clubs. In 1988, LEGO held the first ever LEGO World Cup building contest. You can also see LEGO exhibits and subscribe to the LEGO Club Magazine. When you notice your customers are banding together to use your product, look for ways to help them to connect with each other. It could be as simple as a discussion board on your website (on CityMax, add layout “Message Board”) or hosting meet ups for customers to share ideas.

If there’s a company that you aspire to be like, check online for their story.

How to Get Free Publicity During Sporting Events

Cookies from Sweet Chic's Cookies
Cookies from Sweet Chic's Cookies

Big time sporting events like the Superbowl or World Series are opportunities for small businesses to get free publicity. I live in Vancouver where our hockey team, the Vancouver Canucks, are in the Stanley Cup finals against the Boston Bruins. News outlets are going crazy right now for anything related to the Canucks.

Here are some examples of different strategies to draw publicity to your product or service during a major sporting event:

1. Change your store name temporarily

The Shark Club changes it’s name to the Vancouver Club temporarily

In one of the Canucks’ playoff series, they played the San Jose Sharks, so one of the most popular sports bars in Vancouver changed it’s name. The General Manager actually received lots of requests from patrons to change the name so he made the change while at the same time garnering free publicity. Shortly thereafter, all B.C. locations changed their name.

Boston Pizza changes it’s name to Vancouver Pizza

Pizza chain, Boston Pizza, got into the act too when the Canucks were set to play Boston. All locations in B.C. rebranded their store names including the Boston Pizzas in the Canucks’ home arena.

2. Serve food inspired by your team

May I have a Sedin Twin Burger please?

At Vancouver’s Opus Hotel, the executive chef made a burger inspired by 2 players from the Canucks team. You can also have it served with a Henrik to Daniel Drop Shot.

Local cookie company makes Canucks cookies

I showed up for work this morning to a table full of Canucks cookies from Sweet Chic’s Cookies. The perfect gift for a Canucks viewing party.

3. Make a bet with a similar business to yours in the opposing team’s city

Mayors, Governors, Premiers and Parks make bets

Politicians always seem to be getting publicity for stunts like this so why not you? On a creativity scale, they are usually on the tame side (clam chowder for Pacific salmon…boooooring!). I personally think making the losing mayor wear a spandex green suit (taken from 2 dedicated Canucks fans known as the Green Men) would have been far more entertaining as first proposed by the Vancouver mayor. The Vancouver mayor also used twitter to get ideas from locals on what to bet. It was another way to draw more publicity by starting a conversation with constituents.

God and the friendly wager

I must admit this is pretty forward thinking of the Roman Catholic archbishops of Vancouver and Boston to make a bet. The losing archbishop must make a donation to a charity and don the opposing team’s jersey in church on Sunday.

What I would like to see…

Two tour boat operators bet that the losing company pays to have one of the winning company’s boats painted in the winning team’s colors. Bet that boat will be popular with locals and tourists when they see it.

Two laundromat owners bet that the losing owner has to donate $200 in quarters for patrons of the winning team. Both owners should also deck out their locations with their team’s colors. The winning team will get tons of people doing laundry that day.

A floral shop uses flowers to recreate their team’s logo in their window.

An electronics rental store offers local community and cultural centers the chance to enter a draw where the winner gets a free setup of a large screen to watch the game.

Important:  Tell the media!

Lastly, make sure you benefit from your efforts and contact the media. Start with local community papers and then work your way up to any media person or blogger you can find. Just remember when you’re telling them your idea to keep it short and punchy.

Have You Defined Your Target Market?

Image by jronaldlee
Image by jronaldlee

Do you find yourself saying any of the following statements?

“I want to sell to everybody.”

“Everybody can benefit from my product/service.”

“I want to cast a wide net – everyone should know about us.”

If so, I want to give you a high five for your enthusiasm – but I also want you to read the rest of this article so you understand why your marketing consultant looks really uncomfortable when you say any of the above.

The world would be a wonderful place if everyone was the perfect candidate for your product or service. But the truth of the matter is, we’re all different. We all have different wants, needs, tolerances, and preferences. We’re all drawn to different things and we’re all trying to solve different problems. Which is why when you try to sell to everyone, you end up wasting a lot of time, energy, and money on people that are never going to spend money on you.

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The Easy Way to Get to the Top of Google

Image by Jeff McNeill
Image by Jeff McNeill

One of the absolutely most popular questions we get asked by CityMax.com customers is “how do I get on Google?”

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a complex game and sometimes it can take a while to get search engines like Google to notice you. It’s a delicate balance of targeting the right keywords, having the right content, using the right elements to build your website, and having the right sites link back to you – you can see how it can be challenging.

While SEO is definitely something you should focus on and ranking naturally through search engines is a fantastic goal, there’s a faster way to do it – it’s called advertising.

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The REAL Secret to Writing Great Headlines

Image by @jbtaylor
Image by @jbtaylor

No matter how fantastic your small business’ product, service, or idea, it doesn’t matter unless you catch your audience’s attention right off the bat.

You could have the secret to all life’s problems wrapped up in a beautiful box, but if you don’t quickly tell your visitor how you have the answer to everything they’ve ever worried about, they’re not going to care.

So how do copywriters do it? How do they come up with those few, precious, magical words that make customers keep reading?

The first step, as you may have guessed, is to know what your customers are looking for. Essentially, you are offering a solution to a problem that they have. What is that problem? How can you help them?

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Three Tricks for Being More Productive

deskWhether you work from a home office or a conventional office, sometimes staying on task can be a challenge. But what about when you have a deadline? Or when you just keep putting off something that needs to be done?

Here are a few tricks to get the most out of your time.

1.    Get out of the office
Sometimes plunking down in the middle of a semi-busy coffee shop can help you get more done than sticking to the quiet of your desk. According to research, when we’re in public we want to look like we have a purpose. This little psychological need can help us stay focused on a task when we’re surrounded by strangers. To learn more about this, check out Lifehacker’s Why Some of Us Get More Done at Coffee Shops.

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When to Write off a Meal as a Business Expense

Image by Casey Serin
Image by Casey Serin

One of the things I was excited about when I started my own business was the ability to claim business expenses. In particular, I thought it was going to be great that I could now write off lunch, dinner, coffee, or whatever else.

What I didn’t know at the start is that you can’t just write off whatever you want. Before you get out of hand with restaurant expenses, there are a few things to keep in mind. Here’s a quick list for you.

1.    Business must be a part of it
For any entertainment costs to be written off, you need to be actively conducting business before, during, or afterwards. If you’re not talking about numbers, opportunities, or strategies – it probably doesn’t count as a business expense.

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Small Business Books to Help You Get Ahead

Image by Arria Belli
Image by Arria Belli

Inspiration comes from a lot of places, and one of the best sources is from the words of experts. At CityMax.com, we’ve got a library of books on all sorts of topics, including design, programming, money management, sales, and marketing. More often than not, I’ve walked away from these books with at least one great idea.

If you’re looking for a little insight, here are some of the books our team has found helpful!

The Dream Manager – Matthew Kelly
If you have employees and want to avoid high turnover and low morale, this book will help you create a workplace that fosters teamwork and loyalty.

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Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Business

Image by denharsh
Image by denharsh

Spring arrived this past weekend and while snow is actually still falling in some places, its still considered a good time of year to do some cleaning.

While most of us associate spring cleaning with washing the windows and vacuuming under the couch, consider taking some time to tidy up your business too. Not sure where to start? Here are a few ideas.

Match your marketing materials
As your business evolves, so should anything you’re using to promote it. When’s the last time you spruced up your brochures, promotional swag, website, or even business cards?

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