WHAT IS MARKETING FOR A SMALL BUSINESS?
Marketing is essentially anything you do to promote your business, or make money. Whether it’s just gathering awareness and interest via PR and Social Media, Getting more salespeople out there to acquire more clients directly, or using any of the standard online strategies such as search engine optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising, or growing and cultivating an E-Mail List, all of these are different forms of marketing. So, basically, marketing is anything you’re doing to get more awareness and attention for your business, get more clients and customers, and ultimately make more money.

HOW MUCH DOES MARKETING COST?
Knowing that, we have to establish what should be a good marketing budget. On average, you should expect to allocate anywhere from 1-5% of your total annual revenue to marketing efforts. When you’re first starting out, you’ll have to allocate obviously a lot more. If you’re largely successful, however, you can stick to this range and even the lower end of this range.

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR MARKETING IS WORKING?
How do you know sales aren’t just going up temporarily? You have to be able to track your efforts. Every single thing you do should have a way of tracking results, or don’t do it these days. For example, it’s better to do online advertising with Pay-Per-Click Ads than it is to do a magazine advertisement, because each view, click, and subsequent action can be tracked and analyzed.

Likewise, building an e-mail list through an e-mail marketing service like MailChimp, Constant Contact, or AWeber enables you to see who opened your e-mails, who clicked on the links, and which of your customers consume more of your information than others.

Putting Google Analytics on every page of your website will help you track your visitors, where they come from, how long they stay, what their actions are, and what page they leave from…just to name the basics of Google Analytics. Make sure you put the Google Analytics code on every single page of your website, including all pages throughout the entire shopping cart and check-out process if you sell products on your website, so you can see if there are any “drop off” points which need correcting.

Knowing what marketing is, and understanding how to track success, will help you fix what’s wrong in your marketing strategy and efforts, and help you become more efficient in your marketing expenditures. After all isn’t a dollar saved a dollar earned? Contact Us and we can help you create a specific strategy for your business, and get you going in the right direction of making more money and growing your small business.

1. Offer Something for Free
Use this as an incentive. Don’t give something away just to give something away. Whether it’s bobble-head night at the local stadium, or the eBook on the website, or T-shirt at the credit card booth, all these promo freebies are actually incentives to capture either additional sales, or at least additional qualified leads.

2. Frequent Buyer Gifts
Depending on your business this may or may not work, but many coffee houses, yogurt parlors and sandwich shops have loyalty cards. You’ve seen them. Show the card when you make a purchase and the cashier will either punch the card (or swipe it these days) to track how many times you have bought something. After X number of purchases (usually 10), you are entitled to a free item of usually equal value to the lowest qualifying purchase. If you have a business where the customer can come back again and again often, then start a loyalty program to keep the repeat visits up.

3. Partnership Offers
We mentioned parnerships as a business development strategy in one of our previous blog posts, but let’s talk about partnerships now as promotional marketing opportunities. Partner up with a company or service provider who is in your field, and sells to your target market, but who isn’t directly competitive with you. Example, a printer teaming up with a Web Designer, or an auto repair shop teaming up with an auto insurance salesperson or rental car location (or all three teaming up together!). You get the point. Not everyone pitching your customers and clients is a competitor. Team up and sweeten the deal. Not to mention getting exposure to each other’s list of clients which neither of you would have had access to previously. Make it a win-win for each of you and it’ll be a double-win for your mutual clients!

4. Team Up With A Non-Profit or Charity
Now, this one is tricky, because if you do this for the wrong reasons, then it’s unethical and definitely bad karma if you believe in that sorta thing. When you team up with a non-profit, or sponsor a charity event, become a local school booster, or even donate a portion of any particular sales to a charity, you gain a lot of good will and appreciation from your customers and clients. However, just make sure it’s a cause you can get behind and fully support, and make sure it’s a cause you believe in and would (or have) donate money to out of your own pocket. Another great incentive is matching any customer portions. For example, for every widget you buy, $1 will go to XYZ charity and (insert your company here) will match with an equal $1. So long as you believe in the cause and are doing it for the right reasons, charities and non-profits are great teammates for promotional marketing efforts.

5. Offer a discount to a targeted group of customers
This is basically an extension of the first idea, but a step further. You want to offer a discount or freebie to your best customers out of the blue. A huge “thank you for being a loyal customer.” This will show that you actually care about each individual customer, and also has the side benefit of staying in someone’s mind while not being spammy. You can also offer a special gift or discount on the person’s birthday. You can offer discounts to those who take a survey. Last but not least, you can offer discounts and deals to those who review your company on Yelp, Facebook, or Google Local, and also for those who Check In on Yelp, Facebook, or FourSquare. Make it fun. Maybe even offer a bigger discount or bigger freebie to those who do multiple efforts for you, like Review on Yelp and Check in on Facebook, for double discount (or whatever you’re comfortable giving away which the customer will find valuable in it’s own right).

With these promotional marketing ideas, you should have a few new ways to get more customers in the door, and also more customers back in the door after they leave. Keep these creative promotional juices flowing! COMMENT BELOW what promotional marketing efforts you have done in your own business which has met with great success so others can learn even more tips on how to keep awareness up and constant for small businesses.

Susan asked Circle Marketing’s Louis Tanguay to be a part of that series, and he naturally accepted as it’s a great honor to be associated with the large number of companies and brand experts Susan interviews. You can read the entire article here on Susan’s Branding You Better website. We pulled out some snippets below to whet your appetite…

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo, and describe why your logo was the right object for your company.

We chose the Circle Marketing typefaces based on a combination of things. First, we wanted a sans serif font, because we felt that visual style conveyed a more modern and more legible feel. We enhanced the typeface and used two different fonts we had in stock to create a custom face. We chose to have a large, bold and red “CIRCLE” because that’s the basic concept of the company, appearing in many of our promotional materials, like the “Circle of Marketing” and such.

The “Marketing” font is thinner, but still all caps. So, while it is smaller and thinner, it’s not “wimpier.” Also, the “Marketing” word changes in our animated logo which helps the first-time viewer understand a little bit more of what we do.

The circle itself, is more like an eclipse than a perfect circle with a perfect border. This is to add some weight and balance to the entire logo. The sides of the circle are thinnest near the type, and heaviest where there is an absence of type. This varying thickness also helps create a more interesting visual and negative balance, than just a standard circle with a thick border would.

How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel?

We wanted to be known for professional and clean marketing. That’s been a personal trait of mine ever since I was a graphic designer in the 90′s. I always felt that a clean look will always trump a busy look. It’s also better for small businesses to look more “professional” when they have a clean and balanced look, as opposed to collages and who-knows-what that the average bargain-basement designer will offer their competitors.

We chose red, because we wanted a POP color. My personal favorite color is green, and I love orange as well, but this company isn’t about me. It’s about our clients, customers and partners. We thought orange would be a great color, because it’s fresh, new, and is an “action” color, but so many companies out there are using orange because of that very reason, that we wanted to stand out from the crowd (like we tell our customers to do). We went with a deep red, because it still has the visual pop we’re looking for, is close to a “lighter burgundy” but not as stuffy and boring, and is striking but not alarming or forewarning like a brighter red would be. When you have a clean and white brand, that could look plain with a plain accent color. Therefore, the red helps add some punch and pop which also helps balance the brand’s essence and communicates our messaging through our visuals.

Other questions and answers included the transition to Social Media Marketing, Online Advertising for your business, and future directions for the brand and business. Check it out here, and leave comments below!

WHY E-MAIL MARKETING?
These days, the correct (read: legally advised) way to build a list is through a double opt-in process. This mains that a person will sign up for an e-mail list via some kind of web form. Then, that person will receive an e-mail asking them to click on a link to confirm their desire to be added to that e-mail list. This is thanks to the CAN-SPAM Acts of 2004 and 2008, and they are the best thing to happen to small businesses. Why? Because now everyone who signs up for your list is double-sure they want to be communicated to from your company, and have confirmed the desire to receive your information. They literally asked for it. So, to not appreciate the importance of that kind of lead generation would be mind-boggling.

GET AN E-MAIL MARKETING ACCOUNT
The best way to do E-Mail Marketing blasts is through an E-Mail Marketing service. Try MailChimp, Constant Contact, AWeber, of whatever service you’re comfortable using. Once you get this account set up, you can create opt-in forms for your customers and visitor to fill out and sign up for your list!

GROW THE LIST
Place this form on your social media channels, especially using an App on Facebook. Place this form on any landing pages you direct traffic to. Last but not least, and actually most importantly, place this form on pretty much every page of your website and blog. I say “pretty much” because you wouldn’t want this on a shopping cart page because it might distract from the customer making a purchase. So, other than any page where a purchase can be made, place your e-mail form on there.

INCENTIVIZE THE SIGN-UP
Give people a reason to sign-up. Offer them a free e-book, or a massive discount, or special perks they can only receive by being a member of your e-mail list. Make it juicy and very valuable. The customer is allowing you to contact them, so give them something of equal or greater value. This is where you start to prove yourself and your company’s worth…so make it really really good!

FREQUENCY
Contact your list semi-monthly. Depending on your business, and how you set up your e-mail strategy will determine exacts, but generally speaking about twice a month is acceptable. Not enough contact and people will cool off and forget about you. Too much contact runs the risk of making people sick of you.

THE ACTUAL E-MAIL
Don’t clutter the e-mail with too much information. Just like any marketing you do, always have one major call-to-action and maybe about 2 or 3 minor ones just in case the main push doesn’t generate clicks. That is also the key here. Generate clicks. You want people to click on that e-mail and go where you direct them (most likely a particular page on your website). Your e-mail is for whetting the whistle and not giving the customer an entire novel to read. They’re not going to sit there and read a long e-mail anyway.

ANALYSIS
Of course, there are a few more topics to cover, and we will in later posts, but this should get you off to the races. Remember to analyze every single thing you do. Analyze open rates (they should be above 20%…don’t get upset if more people don’t open your e-mails than do open them…that’s pretty standard). Analyze click-through rates (these should be double-digits if you’re doing a great job, but again, don’t sweat it if you see “11%” because that is actually a good number). Analyze what links your recipients are clicking on. Are they clicking on the latest blog posts? Are they clicking on social media sharing icons? Are they clicking on your main offer all the time? Analyze every nook and cranny, so you know what your list wants, and give them more of that!

If you need some more advice for your particular business, then just contact us with any questions and we’d be more than happy to help you out! Happy list building!

Have you ever wondered why your automated posts aren’t getting the results you want? How about when you post the same piece of content on 10 different social networks, and there’s no bump in your website traffic? What’s going on? Does Social Media NOT WORK? I’m here to give away a Social Media Marketing secret that’s will be pretty obvious once I divulge it, but yet most marketers and Small Business owners don’t take the extra step in their strategic thought process to get to it.

Here it is: Each different Social Network has a different personality, and once you know how to address that particular personality, you’ll start seeing better results almost immediately. It’s like you’re trying to play basketball like you would play football, and drawing up basketball plays for a soccer game. While all of these are “sports,” you don’t approach each one with the same philosophies and strategies. Just like you can’t communicate with a rocker, a yuppie, a geek, and a cowboy the same exact way and be just as effective, you need to know your audience. You might even be speaking to a geeky cowboy, but you’ll talk differently if you’re at the rodeo with the same person than you would if you were at Comic-Con. I digress, but you get the point. Let’s talk about each of the Big 5 Social Networks used in business right now, and how to best communicate using each.

1. FACEBOOK

Facebook is the Big Boy on the block. Everyone has a page on Facebook and everyone is mesmerized by the potential of having all 1 billion Facebook profiles as their clients and customers. Hold yer horses right there. Facebook users are mostly not interested in your company. At least not in the “buy now” and direct sales/e-commerce kind of way.

When people sign on to Facebook, they want to see what their friends are up to, how the baby is, what’s Fido gone and done now, or what their crazy brother-in-law is posting now about whatever the political topic du jour is. What are the two things Facebook users constantly complain about? Privacy issues number one, of course, but the second biggest complaint are the ads and worrying about Facebook starting to charge money for something people use 6 hours a day on average and connects them to their entire social circle and have used completely free for years now…but I digress.  Facebook is essentially best for B2C companies. If you are a B2B, you’ll be better off on LinkedIn, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the biggest social network going right now. Just proceed accordingly and strategically.

To use Facebook most effectively is to do two simple strategies. First, is to take out some Facebook Ads which are heavily targeted to your exact customer and get more people to Like your page. Second, is to get your current customers to like your page so you can do the most important thing you can do on Facebook: build a strong relationship with them. Think of Facebook as mostly a publicity and customer relations tool. Post high-value, highly interesting content which your exact customers and target market want to see, and you’ll start building that relationship and trust. Then, when potential customers are ready to buy a product or service that you sell, you’ll be top-of-mind and the one they call…because you’re now essentially like one of their other friends. You’re trusted, friendly, and “there for them.”

2. TWITTER

Twitter is an interesting little beast. It’s widespread usage tells you that it’s incredibly popular, which it is, but it’s effectiveness in driving conversions and sales is sinking faster than the Titanic with Billy Zane on board. This past year, a whopping 0.2% bought through Twitter links. That’s zero-point-two percent. Want perspective? E-Commerce sales went up 17%, and 24% of all retail site traffic came from smartphones and tablets through Email Marketing efforts. So, what’s it good for? Absolutely something, don’t you worry.

Twitter is great as a place to learn about other things, things that are “trending” and what is making the rounds. Many journalists and writers use Twitter for the links that are posted. Professionals use it for the same reason. Twitter can drive traffic and awareness to your blog and website. From there, you capture leads, and go through your conversion process.

The best practice for Twitter, because there is so much noise on the network, is to get an account with a scheduler like HootSuite, TweetDeck, or whichever one works best for your tastes, and schedule out posts during peak hours (varies for industry, but it’s basically work hours in the mornings and weekends). Since many professionals use Twitter for professional reasons, there are your best chances to get your links clicked on.

Schedule out a few of your blog posts every day, and it’s OK to recycle and repeat on Twitter because of all the noise and constant Tweeting. Just don’t schedule the same exact post over and over again every hour for three days straight. Mix it up a good amount. Don’t forget to use hashtags that your potential customers and journalists who might write stories about you might be using to find your links and Tweets.

3. LINKEDIN

When you sign on to LinkedIn, are you interested in seeing your co-worker’s dog wearing a scarf and sunglasses? No. However on Facebook, you might “Like” the photo if it was funny or cute enough. LinkedIn is all business. Now, that doesn’t mean be a stuffed suit robot, but it does mean to keep it professional or at the very least “business causal.” Don’t say or post anything on LinkedIn that’s too personal, TMI, or something you wouldn’t say at a business networking function. Because that’s exactly what LinkedIn is…a business social network.

Join a few groups, engage in conversations, and make some good B2B connections. You can also use LinkedIn to get referrals from colleagues and those in your networks when you’re looking to make a few new hires. Post some great ideas for those in your target market and remember, it’s still social networking so if someone asks a question don’t be “that guy” who just immediately tries to close a deal right then and there. Help the person, answer the question, follow up, build that relationship. I see so many poor social networkers jump on LinkedIn and start blasting groups with their pitches and trying to get people to buy something. Just relax, nurture the relationship and you’ll do just fine.

Last thought, make sure your business has a business profile on LinkedIn and take out some LinkedIn advertisements if you’re a B2B company. They have started to embrace advertising on their network and so you should as well.

4. PINTEREST

Pinterest is all about pictures, ideas, and visuals. If you’re a writer, you may have a problem gaining traction on Pinterest. Even a photographer or a graphic designer, someone who’s very very visual and so is their service, might have issues because of the average Pinterest mindset. Pinterest is basically an “ideas board.” People see things either on Pinterest or elsewhere online and they “pin” that graphic to their online “pinboard.” However, a photographer is going to get “repinned” way more than they’re going to get calls for work.

Pintest for business purposes is very much a B2C tool and very heavily effective with e-commerce sites with shopping carts and a good number of product to sell, and new products which are added to the stores often. The Etsy crowd were the first ones to start seeing monetization, because it was a perfect marriage of both websites’ demographics and interests. With Pinterest, you can Pin every single one of your shopping cart items to your Pinboards, put your price and links back to the original shopping cart item,and there you have it.

Pinterest users can search by price, item style, etc, and if you put your shopping cart item, with the price, and a link back to your website’s exact shopping cart item you’re displaying, then you’re using Pinterest properly for monetization of your e-commerce business.

Don’t have an e-commerce business? Then you can still get some traction with videos. Because Pinterest is highly visual, videos work great for business, because the Pinterest user can still watch a nice visual piece and learn something about your company, your services, your expertise, or especially learn something you share with them!

5. GOOGLE PLUS

I’m going to say something that most people aren’t going to like. I should say more Googlers aren’t going to like. The prime purposes, right now, for using Google Plus are for brick-and-mortar businesses and for enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Google Plus is still very new, and it’s morphing daily into more and more of an “all things Google, all in one place” kind of network as opposed to it’s own “Facebook competitor.”

If you’re a brick-and-mortar company (one with a physical location which customers and client can come visit), then you want to have a brand page on Google Plus. In addition to that brand page, you should have a Google Place page, and then merge the two together. Google is starting to call this “Google Local” with more frequency. This will help you with reviews, and help your business have complete information when someone around your area searches for your business and see the Google Maps picture with a bunch of pins from your competitors. Getting your Places and Brand Page merged to be one verified business will help you on your way to better local rankings.

Right now, Google hasn’t fully admitted this, but many SEO specialists swear that posting your blog posts on Google Plus enhance your SEO for the keywords contained in the title and content of that posted blog link. This makes sense, because Google would naturally want people to use their new Social Network, and what better carrot to entice us all than better rankings on their search engine results, right?

As more and more people connect their accounts, YouTube becomes more integrated, the new Communities areas start filling up, and you start getting used to Google’s social network, you’re going to use it more and more so you may as well jump on  there now and start getting familiar, because there’s a good chance it can be now just an important part of a piece of your marketing strategy, but an integral part in the near future. Hey, at the very least, you learn something new, right? How bad could that be?

6-ish. BONUS NETWORK: YOUTUBE

YouTube is a bonus one, because it’s not truly a “social network” but it’s more and more becoming one. Even though it’s heavily integrated with Google Plus, and it’s still a hybrid of search engine and video wasteland, YouTube is focusing more and more on profiles (even if they are connected to your Google Plus account), subscriptions and comments.

Your videos are starting to be ranked like websites are ranked. Not only is YouTube optimizing their search results like Google with keyword and title relevancy (which is owned and run by Google, so no surprise here), but User Engagement (amount people Like/Thumbs Up, Comment On, and Subscribe) is being counted more and more. When you start putting out videos regularly, and all of them start getting great engagement ratings, then all your videos (even the ones with poor engagement) will start ranking higher because you’re now viewed as a “trusted source.”

So, while YouTube is a hybrid of everything, it’s still incredibly important to your marketing strategies, especially since more and more videos are embracing video every year that passes.

So there you have it! Now, you’re ready to get to work! What’s that? We gave you too much work? That’s OK, because that’s what we’re here for. Contact Us and let’s talk about how we can help, or at least consult with you to help you figure everything out and get a plan together with you. You could always take our online marketing classes, too, which will help give you even more information and help…and the classes come with free consultations. Happy Marketing, and we’ll talk to you soon!

Congratulations! You have a small business and you’re either just starting out, or you know you need some help to move to another level. You’re seeking out some advice and ideas. This is the first step to getting to that next level. You’re already ahead of the thousands of other Small Businesses which feel that “figuring it out” is the best course of action. This is why you’ll still be in business when they’re packing up the final boxes and wondering what went wrong.

CHOOSING COMPANIES
First bit of advice is when you’re choosing a Small Business marketing company to help you out, whether it’s for a website design, social media marketing, or any help at all, just know that it’s perfectly OK to judge a book by it’s cover. When you go to a company’s website and it looks horrid, their work is not aesthetically pleasing, or they won’t get specific with you on process or price, then it’s OK to feel that they won’t be able to help you achieve your goals. Many so-called “professionals” (so-called by themselves and no one else) and companies are just looking for as many clients and/or as much money as they can get. They don’t approach projects from that very important “win win” mindset. At Circle Marketing, for example, we don’t have “clients we close”…we have “partnerships we open.” This is because we want to be there for our clients every step of the way, and our very affordable packages and pricing are set up to measure your goals over the course of time and provide you with a very specific road map on how to do so.

Now on to the freebie advice! Yay!

YOUR WEBSITE AS A MARKETING TOOL
First thing first, you’ll need a new site in most cases. You should most likely have a CMS (Content Management System) site, which is focused on getting leads and selling your products and services. You’ll most likely want a blog, and might possibly even need forums, ad placement, or a number of other requirements, depending on your business. Your website is something you own and you control, and you won’t be effected by fads or trends. You want your website to be the main hub of content, information, and traffic for your business. If you’re getting more traffic on your Facebook page instead of your website, then your website isn’t being run properly. Everything you do in marketing should lead your customers and potential customers back to your website. There, you should be focused on capturing leads and increasing sales.

Your website should also be designed and developed with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind. This will help you rank higher on search engines for the search terms your customers are entering into Google, Bing and others to find your business. When you combine the idea that your website should look professional, is optimized for Search Engines, and you are focused on leads and conversions, then your site will be unstoppable and you should see your business increase just from a better website alone.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Next, you’ll have to figure out how you want to use Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Know that each social network has a different vibe, customer mindset and way of posting. Start on Facebook by creating a business/brand page, and asking people to connect with you there. Create some highly targeted Facebook Ads and publish only the best and most interesting and most helpful content which originates from your website. This way, you can pull your Facebook followers back to your main marketing hub, which is your website, and get more business. Facebook is an attraction tool, a publicity tool, and a customer relationship tool. Rarely is Facebook a direct sales tool.

Now on to Google Plus. At the time I’m writing this, Google Plus is rewarding their users with extra SEO muscle. So, get on Google Plus, create a brand page, and tie that in to your Google Places/Google Local page. Oh, you don’t have a Google Places page? Well, if you’re a brick-and-mortar business (i.e. you have a physical location where customers can go to) then you must have your business page on Google Places (aka Google Local). Connect the two pages together so you can post all your blogs, news, etc on one page, and have that one page be able to accept user reviews and be found easier when people are doing local searches on Google.

Bonus Tip: Also set up a Bing Local account as well, because Facebook and many others are starting to tie in to Bing and it’s popularity is rising. And…it’ll help you cover your bases.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
You’re going to get list on the top of Google’s and Bing’s search results two ways. The first way is you’re going to have to buy ads. The second way is by having some high-quality, long-lasted, completely 100% by-the-book Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Why mention “by the book?” Well, because there are way too many individuals and companies out there who know SEO takes a while and is never guaranteed, so they try to get a company on a long-term contract which the client can’t get out of. The best SEO strategies involve a lot of work, a little bit of money to pay a service or company to do that work, and also a lot of knowledge. Search Engines change their algorithms constantly to keep providing their users with the most relevant search results to their queries.

The basic idea of SEO is it’s like a referral system. Think of Google/Bing as your elite 5-Star hotel concierge. They know everything about whatever you want to know, and they’ll help you find whatever you’re looking for and give you the best advice and answers to your questions. These are modern day search engines. How do they know? They look at a great number of statistics, but the simplest way to explain it is that the more higher profile websites which are linking to your site and mentioning your site as an expert in your field, then the higher you will rank in the search results.

Hire an expert with proven results, no long-term contracts, and stay on them with charts and reports to make sure you’re seeing results…or move on to someone with a better reputation and better results.

Bonus Tips:
1. Get an Email Marketing and Email List provider like MailChimp or Constant Contact so you can regularly and easily communicate with your customers and leads.
2. Explore what other Social Networks might also be right for your particular business to use in your marketing. Examples: Pinterest is great for e-commerce, LinkedIn is great for B2B, Facebook is not so great for B2B and much better for B2C, and Google Plus is great for SEO (as of right now, which will probably change as Google keeps changing their search algorithms).
3. Buy some Ads on Google Adwords and Bing Ads. Until your SEO kicks in, you’re going to need visibility. To get great visibility quickly, you’re going to have to buy it. However, that’s why we’re suggesting SEO, so you won’t have to buy is for long!

With these tips, you’ll be able to hit the ground running and start going in the right direction. Give us a Call or E-Mail and mention that you saw this blog for a detailed and customized Free Consultation. We’ll help you figure out specifics for your particular business and target market, and we’ll help get you going in the right direction!

In the video above, there is a mention that “everything is possible with the right strategy.” This is an empowering and important thought. Tony Robbins, the great DIY business owner and self-help guru said once that “Success Leaves Breadcrumbs.” This essentially means that there are any number of steps one can take to achieve the same, or similar success another has experienced. One just needs to know how to find where those breadcrumbs are, how to track them, and which path of breadcrumbs is the right path of breadcrumbs for your small business, and for your business strategy. Whatever it is you want to accomplish can be accomplished; and probably already has been accomplished. If anyone can do it, then you can do it.

Not to get to self-help on you, here’s where we will steer this back to the small business world. Your business has a goal. If not, then that’s the first thing you should do. Stop reading this and figure out what your goal is. One year, Five Year, Ten Year, Exit Strategy. Figure out the major milestones you want to hit in your business. These will probably change over time, but you need to know where you want to go before you start driving the car…or you might not end up where you might like.

Now that you have the goals for your business established, consider what other businesses out there have already accomplished what you want. Now, they don’t have to be the same exact business. For example, maybe you want to take your fast Italian food restaurant and create a nationwide franchise chain. You can look at Olive Garden’s path, but you might not align with them. Maybe you’re more like Starbucks, or Chipotle. It helps to stick to your general business category, but you don’t have to model Sbarro if it’s not how you would like to proceed. Modeling a completely other company, though, like Lowe’s, won’t help you either.

Now that you have your model, just do your research. Follow them through their social networks, discover their history through search engine inquiries, maybe their founder has written a book or had a book written about them, and start mapping out what steps they took. Now, obviously, you don’t need to go and talk to the same exact people they did, or use their exact literal timeline; but looking at their successful strategy can help you chart your own course.

Another way to follow breadcrumbs is to read books written by other successful business owners who might not be in your field, hire a small business marketing consultant to help you create your marketing strategy, and educate yourself on the general concepts and strategies of business growth on different levels. This will help you see the similarities across businesses and help you realize what works on not just different levels, but all levels.

For example, Circle Marketing’s model was created using a combination of the following models: Richard Branson, Chet Holmes, Michael Port, and Godfrey Parkin, as well as the various experts we all have had the pleasure of working with throughout the years and learning by the trial and error of the hundreds of businesses we have all been involved with, helped, or consulted. When you combine all the elements together, and do your research and planning, you can develop your very own and very effective small business marketing strategy which not only is right for your exact company, but the very foundations were rooted in and proved through the success of your models, mentors, and those you aspire to equal (or eclipse) in the world of business.

Share with us below, who you would like to model, and maybe some resources which you have found helpful when doing your research! We would love to learn what worked for you!

You forgot the most important part about making the film. Marketing it. If you rely only on selling the film to a distributor or studio, then what happens if (and this is more likely to happen than you like) no one buys the film? What then?

Much like music bands before the explosion of digital music, major entertainment companies want a proven product before they waste their money and time marketing an unproven commodity. No matter how much your film is amazing by your standards, most won’t make a move on something they aren’t sure will produce profit. That’s just a fact. How do I know this? Because I worked at two different major film studios, and I’ve been in those meetings. Every film marketing meeting I have been in has talked about sales and profit and zero talked about releasing the film because the “story needs to be told.” It’s your job to make a great film. It’s the studio’s job to make money off it.

How do you create a buzz about your film, so if it’s genius isn’t seen on the festival circuit it still has a chance of getting a deal? You embrace modern technology and modern marketing strategies and techniques like Websites, Social Media, Search Engine Optimization, Publicity, and Advertising.

Try this basic Marketing Strategy for Independent Film Marketing:

1. Start the awareness by creating a press release to all film media publication editors and bloggers.
2. Get a WordPress website built (NO FLASH), which has a blog and an email sign-up form on your site (get a MailChimp account to manage your email list).
3. Set up all of your Social Media Pages. Get a Twitter Account, Facebook Account, Tumblr Blog (use this differently from your website blog), and Google Plus Account.
4. Blog often. Whether it’s a snippet of the script, or monthly, weekly, daily progress reports from pre-production, production, and post-production. Respect the power of blogging. You’ll build a strong following with your email list, and that following could be ready-made customers if you can’t secure a deal.
5. Do the same with Social Media Marketing. Build that fan base and following. Take out Facebook Ads, sponsored stories, and join filmmaker user groups to help spread the word and get free publicity help from other filmmakers (do the same for their film, to return the favor). Post cool lines from the film, pictures from the set or pre-production meetings, and everything and anything else to keep awareness up and people interested and continuously curious about your film.
6. Have a Plan B for Monetization. If you can’t sell the film to a distributor, then consider monetizing the film through ads. If you have a feature film of 90 Minutes, you can split the film into 3-6 segments, put ads at the beginning of each segment, and you’ll get paid through the ads while people watch for free (like your own little Hulu channel). Also, you can charge one flat fee for an ad-free digital download. All profit. All in your pocket.

Using this rough strategy, you’ll build awareness throughout the life of the film, provide exposure, build a loyal following, and have a Plan B for monetizing the film should you not land a distribution deal. Also, you’ll have a growing list of satisfied and interested followers and customers for your NEXT film! Now…go out and break a leg!

Many people have paid hundreds of dollars for webinars like this, but Circle Marketing and Broadcast Louder figured putting together this free 2-hour class would help Small Business owners kick off the new year on the right foot!

Click here to watch the webinar, but get a notepad ready because there’s a TON of information to help your business grow!

For those who want to move at their own pace, and prefer to have PDF’s instead of watch videos, please feel free to download the supplemental ebook by joining our email list below: