Scout for Success

Seven Low-Cost or No-Cost Marketing Tips for Leveraging Your Small Business Website

So you’ve finally gone and done it - you’ve made an important investment in the vision you hold for your growing small business by having a professional website developed to help market its products or services. The site is attractive, informative and the programmer and content developer have made sure that its underlying code and pages contain the all-important keywords, descriptions and other elements needed for effective search engine optimization.

1. Stop at the local office supply and order an inexpensive, self-inking stamp with your website domain name, in bright red. Use the stamp on every envelope or piece of paper that leaves your office, from invoices to bill payments to holiday greeting cards.
2. Send an email announcement to all your current customers, vendors, business contacts, friends and family. Provide a link to the new website and invite recipients to spread the word by forwarding the email on to other people who could benefit from the value and benefits your products or services offer.
3. Change your after-hours or on-hold phone message. Let callers know your new business website is up and running and extend the invitation to visit it for more information and resources. Spell out the website name if needed.
4. Issue a press release about the launch of the new site. Be sure to mention the types of information and resources the website provides to visitors, along with any plans for keeping the site content dynamic and expanding it as your business grows.
5. Hang a banner with the new website domain name in your reception area, waiting room - or on the front of your building! Put up posters announcing the new site in all visitor-accessible areas.
6. Include the new website domain on every piece of advertising or marketing collateral. Be sure that the site is included when your phone book listings, business cards and stationery are updated, and that it is prominent in every newspaper or magazine ad you place.
7. Talk up your website, and encourage your employees to do the same. Mention the website to new callers or when networking, and use it to provide directions, maps or access to common information that staff may formerly have needed to provide over the phone.

Copyright © Kimberly Washetas - 2008

Customer Testimonials - The Treasure Hiding in Plain Sight!

If you are like many small business owners, you spend a good portion of your operating budget marketing your company. Common methods include placing ads in newspapers, magazines and phone books, developing websites and the strategies to drive customers to them, buying billboard space, sending direct mail and more. Billions of dollars are expended annually on these expensive marketing initiatives, with varying levels of success.

Yet even as small business owners dig deeper to find the dollars to deploy on high-priced advertising, they often neglect the golden marketing opportunities in the nearest file drawer or on the company bulletin board: unsolicited customer testimonials!

Handwritten notes from happy customers, flowery thank you cards - even glowing emails extolling the virtues of the company’s service, employees or products. Yes, these are read and smiled over, perhaps passed around the office or read out loud at the “go team” weekly staff meetings. After that, all too often they are relegated to the customer’s file or the wall of the break room, perhaps saved to a hard drive and forgotten.

What a shame. These are the kind of marketing opportunities that no amount of money can buy, the heartfelt appreciation of a satisfied customer who took his or her own time to acknowledge the value of your company’s products or services.

It’s time to take a few minutes of your own time and go digging for this gold. Challenge all staff to recollect those notes, those cards and emails from days gone by, and scavenge the office to locate them. At your next staff meeting read them out loud and enjoy them again, boosting pride in the business and employee morale in one fell swoop.

Now it’s time to put that treasure to work. First, select the comments and excerpts that best acknowledge the qualities you want your business to be known for. Then, decide on the best way to feature the testimonials prominently in various facets of your marketing. You could turn them into graphic drop-ins, with quote marks and attractive fonts, and add them to your website or next brochure. Insert some of them strategically in presentation slideshows - big and bold, each on its own separate slide for greater impact. Have your next newspaper or magazine advertisement showcase the quote, with your company’s website and number directly beneath it. Make that testimonial stand out and grab the attention of your next prospective customer!

However you use them, at minimum attribute testimonials with the customer’s initials, or first name and initial. Before using a customer’s full name and town or company name, get written permission. Many people are reluctant to have their full names displayed publically, or their companies may have strict policies about endorsements. Make copies of all testimonials and keep them in a secure place in the event you need to validate them; attach attribution permissions as appropriate.

Most of all, as you head into the future, be sure to celebrate each new testimonial and share it with your employees. If a specific staff member was praised or credited, acknowledge that stellar service to everyone who works for you. By making each thank you or “job well done” an event, you promote the value you place on high quality and premier service to every member of your organization.

Copyright © Kimberly Washetas - 2008