He received an e-mail from a company representative, telling him that as a “valued customer” she would like to talk to him about some of the additional benefits of his subscription that he might not know about. He thought, what the heck, he might as well get his money’s worth, and signed up for a conference call.

The first thing that went wrong was that the conference call was a little late. Not shockingly late, but as this business owner stated, it’s irritating when someone else doesn’t value your time.

But not nearly as irritating as finding out that the person on the other end was not the rep he had emailed with, but another rep who didn’t even realize that he is a current customer. This rep basically tried to sell my friend a subscription when he already has one.

My friend hung up, understandably annoyed, as his time had just been wasted.

Several days later, the rep he had been corresponding with earlier, called. He told her, with a chuckle, that he was glad that she was calling, as her colleague had called trying to sell him the service he already had.

Guess what? Apparently, rep #2 wasn’t any the wiser than rep #1, even though she had sent an email stating that my friend is a “valued customer,” meaning that he obviously already had a subscription.

That’s right: She didn’t even know which form letter she had sent him.

My friend quickly got off the phone. He shrugged it off, saying that with big businesses, it wouldn’t be surprising if some system automatically generated the email that he received from her, and that she probably hadn’t even bothered looking him up in the system. But he was still kind of pissed off that the right hand didn’t seem to know what the left hand was doing, with the result that his time had been wasted, not once, but twice.

This is your advantage as a small business owner. “Small” can be good. It can mean meeting with people one on one, following up with an email or a handwritten card or a phone call. It can mean not only knowing your customer’s name, but what he/she needs. You know who your customers, and your potential customers, are. And you’re willing to go to the trouble of researching your customers and knowing what they might need, and not going after potential customers who obviously don’t need your services, wasting their time.

How have you used the small size of your business to your advantage?  Please share your stories in the comments section.

A happy customer in The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop

I think this might be the most brilliant use of Twitter by a business owner that I’ve seen.

The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop was once The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck (the truck still exists, but doesn’t roam during the winter months). Known for its fantastic and often unusual, flavor combinations (I finally sampled my first Salty Pimp last November, and “to die for” doesn’t even begin to describe it), as well as its flamboyant name and decor, The BGIT, like most other food trucks, was constantly tweeting throughout the day to let customers/potential customers know about their location for the day, what specialty was being served, and irreverent bits of humor.

Now that there is a store, there are fewer locational tweets, but there is still a constant, entertaining, stream of information being divulged to Twitter followers. Yes, there are still updates as to what’s being served, the newest creation, special store hours, but there’s so much more.  Whether it’s a still of production from the BGIT’s appearance on Anthony Bourdain’s newest show, The Layover or commenting on something a fan/friend says, Doug Quint, co-owner, is constantly engaging with people via Twitter.

Not all businesses, of course, can do this:  The irreverent tweets, for one thing, match the quirkiness of the shop, and not all businesses are as unconventional as The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. But still, judging from this picture, Quint sets the bar high when it comes to the best use of Twitter by a business. A lady getting her hair dyed who is so tempted by the ice cream shop across the street that she can’t wait for her hair to be done before buying a cone – can any advertisement do better than that?

Example: At a recent networking event, I met a visual artist who started a practice as a yoga instructor to supplement her income. As a visual artist, she is aware of how devastating creative blocks can be for artists, so she decided to make removing artists’ creative blocks through yoga her target market/service.

She soon realized that she wasn’t earning much revenue, namely because most artists can’t afford to pay for her service.

But here’s the thing: There are a lot of people who want to remove their creative blocks, not just artists, visual or otherwise. How many obituaries and paeans to the late Steve Jobs have we read that praise his innovation and creativity?

So yes, offering yoga that removes creative blocks is a great idea, she just needs to find a target market that find this service useful AND can afford to pay for it.

And so, on the spot, I did a little brainstorming for her:

I bet the folks at Google would welcome someone like her into their offices to give an afternoon class.

Or how about the offices of Etsy? If there ever was a usiness that prized creativity, I think it would be Etsy.

Maybe there’s a creative co-working space (there seems to be a new one springing up every other day here in NYC) that would let her offer a group class in their space.

And hey, if she wants to give back to her artist community, she can offer one or two sliding scale group classes per week specifically for artists, or offer classes to them for barter. But be careful how many barter cases you accept. I don’t know about you, but my landlord wants his rent in dollars.

Sometimes lack of revenue comes from offering a service or product for which there is no demand, but that’s not the case for this yoga instructor. I think she’s found an awesome angle from which to teach yoga. She just needs to redefine who can use it and who is willing (and able) to pay for it.

Are you having problems finding your  paying target market? Tell me about it in the comments section!

In it, the author describes that the reason why the “pumpkin lady” at her farmers’ market was so successful, is because she knew that the people were looking to be able to make a delicious meal from locally grown seasonal food. So she provided the recipe and the food.

In other words, she solved the customer’s problem of what to make for dinner.

What problem is your business solving?

I know that many small business owners and entrepreneurs are attempting to tackle way too many different components of running a business, so with my business, I help take care of their writing and marketing needs so that they’re more free to focus on the business itself.

A holistic health consultant can help with a host of problems, most commonly helping clients eat better to lose weight and gain energy.

The Pumpkin Lady helps busy people solve the problem of getting a fresh, healthy, home-cooked meal on the table. by providing the recipe and main ingredient.

Can you phrase what your business does in this way: “I help [target audience] to/with [solve whatever their problem is].”

Probably too many times to count, right?

And yet, as a business owner yourself, you know the importance of customer feedback. After all, you can’t tell what you’re doing wrong or right (or just a bit better) in terms of your business if the people that you’re providing service to don’t let you know.

If you’re a small enough business that you can just ask your customers through a quick phone call, that’s great. But if you’re looking for something a bit more efficient, an e-mailed web-based survey (such as Survey Monkey) is probably the way to go.

But you’ve got to offer people an incentive to fill it.

Have I ever filled out a survey? Yep – and it was almost always when there was an incentive to fill it out.

How many of those little boxes might have made you at least pause, had there been some reward for filling them out?

I’m not talking about Starbucks or Amazon gift cards (though depending on your product or client base, entering them into a drawing for one of these might not be a bad incentive). How about offering something from your own business?

If you’re a style consultant, how about being entered into a drawing for a free wardrobe analysis? Or if you’re a copywriter, a free Linked In profile rewrite? A subscription-based business could offer a free three month or six month subscription. Say that up to five winners will be picked, and offer something of value from your business.

Offering an incentive also makes customers aware how much you value their time. And in an age where so many things are competing for our time and attention, we all appreciate that.

a) Don’t bother writing a brief introduction, preferring to stick with the standard “So-and-so, I’d like to add you to my network,” without saying anything else.

b) State that they’ve done business with me at their company when they haven’t.

c) They follow me on Twitter or read my blog but don’t bother to mention it.

While I usually eventually end up accepting these folks, it takes me longer than if I knew why they were contacting me. Yes, Linked In isn’t Facebook and you don’t have to worry as much about sharing personal updates and information with strangers, but I still would like to have an idea of why this person wants me in his/her network. Does he think that I’ll be able to help him? Does she want me to hire her?

At any rate, here are some basic guidelines to get a “yes” for a “linking” request on Linked In from someone you’ve never personally met or even corresponded with:

• Ditch the standard form: Yes, yes, you want to “add him to your network,” but why? Did you hear about her from a mutual friend? Did you meet him at a networking event and think that the two of you might set up a referral partnership? If you must keep the “I’d like to add you to my network,” line, please say something before it. This goes doubly if you’re in a writing field: Why will anyone hire you if you can’t even write your own Linked In networking request?
•  Ask for an introduction from a mutual acquaintance: One member of my network saw that I was linked to someone she wanted to know and asked me for an introduction, which I was happy to do. Linked In even has a form that allows you to do this, once you see how someone is linked to a mutual acquaintance.
•  A bit of flattery never hurts: If you want to link with someone that you follow on Twitter, or whose blog you read on a regular basis, or whose e-book you read, tell him that!

I don’t blame her. I’m kind of shy myself, and if you asked me what my ideal evening looks like, the answer would not include getting dressed up and pitching my services to a room full of strangers.

But, as I said to my client, the key to networking and feeling comfortable doing it is networking in environments where you feel comfortable (so comfortable that it might not even feel like networking).

For example: A nutritionist who is a regular at a fitness studio overhears two people talking about how poorly they sleep. The nutritionist might want to join in and say, “Hey, what time do you eat dinner, and what do you usually eat?” and then perhaps give a few tips on how the right foods and eating times can lead to a good night’s sleep and adds that she’s a nutritionist. Considering that this is a fitness studio, chances are very good that at least one of those people will be interested in losing weight or dealing with some other food or health issue and ask for her information. She slips him/her her business card. Easy peasy.

Yep, it requires you keeping your eyes and ears open (but presumably you’re already doing that since you’re a small business owner) and being willing to pipe in to conversations, but it’s a heck of a lot more comfortable than giving your “elevator pitch,” to a room full of strangers. So ask yourself:

What do you like to do, and is there scope for networking there?

Now, if you know anything about theater companies, you may be aware of these three facts:

1. Even if they receive national or state funding, subscriber-based theater companies depend very heavily on their subscriptions.
2. Subscribers generally range in age from age 40-something to 60-something.
3. There is a constant need to gain more subscribers, especially younger (20′s and 30′s) subscribers. These are the folks that you hope will start a tradition of subscribing, eventually becoming those subscribers in their 40s – 60s.

So in an effort to woo younger subscribers, someone suggested to the marketing director that the theater start doing things on Facebook. Not just adding a Facebook page, but possibly putting up some Facebook only discounts, maybe some Facebook only cast interviews, etc.

The marketing director scoffed at the whole idea of joining Facebook in general, because she didn’t think that subscribers were on Facebook.

She was thinking of who the current subscribers were, not who potential subscribers could be (which, incidentally, isn’t even the case if you look at the statistics of Facebook users, but forget about that for now).

Luckily, she was eventually overruled, but who knows how many potential subscribers were lost.

If you’re looking to go after a new target market, new clients or customers from a different demographic from the one you currently serve, remember that you may have to place yourself in the areas where your new target market hangs out.

It may be new and uncomfortable at first, but it is necessary.

Let’s just look at the business card for a moment.

As a freelancer/business owner, I attend a lot of networking events. At every single event, when I talk to someone about their business, how they might be able to use my services, etc., they ask for my business card. And I ask for theirs.

Not once has someone asked for my virtual card, asked to bump smart phones (wow, that looks kinda dirty in print) or suggested any other digital procedure to extract my contact information.

And no, these are not events filled with pre-millenials who are scared of technology: they are usually a large mix of people, often ranging in age from their early twenties to their mid-sixties.

Not only do they ask for my card, they take notice of it. I use moo.com* to print business mini cards which tend to stand out, and that is exactly what you want when you attend a large networking event where most people are collecting dozens of cards. How will you make yours stand out?

I’ve seen many methods used, and the best ones utilize the business owner’s profession. For example:

• a graphic designer who has a beautiful thin, stainless steel card, with lace cut outs on both sides (I use mine as a bookmark and think of her every time I open my book of the moment).

• a photographer who has a different, gorgeous, image on the back of every business card

• the guy who has a business tagline that includes the word “ninja” and designs his business card to look like a throwing star.

My own card is my business logo on a mini card with my offer of a free consultation on the back (a business card has two sides – use ‘em! If you’ve got a free offer, or a discount code, whatever, print it on the back!) which I carry in a felt holder on my key ring. Pretty simple, yet at the last networking event I attended, it elicited comments like “Oh my God, that’s so cute!” “Yeah, I’m going to remember you,” and my favorite, “Wow, this card is a real game-changer.”

Even if I didn’t have an unusual name, these folks will remember me. And all because of a piece of card stock that is supposedly dead.

The business card will eventually die…some day. But in the words of the immortal Monty Python, it’s “not dead yet.”

* Yup, this is an affiliate link.  Since I already love telling people about moo.com, why not get some points to use on their site?

• Make sure that no one else already has that name (even if it’s spelled differently): Not only might it confuse people, but if you wish to become incorporated, it can cause you a number of headaches, as detailed by Mikey Rox of Wise Bread. When you come up with your list of potential names, do a thorough internet search and see if anyone else is already using them (especially if they are incorporated).

 

• Make sure the name is internet searchable: When I decided to stop just doing a little freelancing here and there and actually pursue a business as a freelance copywriter/marketing strategist, I immediately came up with a name and even found that the domain hadn’t been taken: This Pen 4 Hire (yes, I have a love of wordplay and puns that sometimes trips me up). I quickly bought the domain, but luckily, before I started building a website or even having a logo designed, I asked other freelance writers what they thought. The response was close to unanimous: How was anyone going to find me on Google? Neither my name, nor writer, nor freelance copywriter was anywhere in the title. Sure, I could try and make up for it with a tagline, but it was highly unlikely that anyone Googling “freelance copywriter, NYC” would hit upon my business. So I stuck with the domain and page I already had, which includes “writer” and just sharpened the business focus.

 

• Does it make sense in terms of what your business does? This may seem obvious, but sometimes, when we have our mind/heart set on a favorite phrase or logo, we forget that not everyone makes the same connections between what we think of when we read our business name or see our logo, and what they associate with our business name or logo. The best and easiest test is to ask people (especially people who don’t know you very well) what they think of when they see or hear the name of your business. For example: I worked with a client who decided that she wanted to call her healthy living business Lovely Living Now. But when I asked around, I found that it really didn’t speak to what the business was about. One person thought it was an interior design store, another person thought it was a self-help program, etc. Another business owner uses a bee as part of her logo, often leading people to assume that her business has to do with bees and/or honey. It doesn’t, though she makes a natural connection between what she does and bees. The point is, even if you have no doubts and think your business name is obvious, get second (and third) opinions before you choose your business name.

 

• Make sure it gives the right impression: As I said before, I love puns and wordplay, which may work for some business names, but certainly isn’t true for all of them. For example, the name Cater Tots works great for a business that caters to children. It’s okay that it’s kind of cute, because kids are often cute. Imagine if a matrimonial website, like eHarmony.com, was called getthehookup.com. Or if Seattle’s Best Coffee was called The Bump and Grind. Yes, these are extreme examples, but I only give them to illustrate that if your business name is giving an impression that is the opposite of the one you wish to give to your target market, you’ve got problems. (More on this in my free downloadable branding questionnaire, coming soon!).

 

What’s your business name? Are you brainstorming names right now? What’s the best business name you’ve heard? The worst? Share in the comments!

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