I often get public relations proposals from my clients to review with requests to put my two cents in and make a recommendation.  Having worked with pr firms for the last 15 years gave me a great deal of respect for this profession and as I said in my last post I encourage all entrepreneurs  to seek them out.  So if you’re a small business or entrepreneur in start-up phase looking to get press here are some tips to help you figure out which pr firm is best for you:

From my experience a marketing budget is often an after thought.  The last thing entrepreneurs think about or plan for.  While it’s fine to make compromises,(all early growth stage companies usually have to) it’s where you decide to make those compromises that can affect your revenue growth.  Too often I am asked for marketing help and then reminded that there is only a shoe string budget. While there are of course always marketing tactics that cost little money they aren’t necessarily the ones that will help you grow your business the fastest.

Just when you thought you were done, you realize that the campaign measurements aren’t necessarily conclusive.  Or you’re left with a lingering doubt as to whether the response was an aberration perhaps affected by a one time event. Smart marketers always retest results even positive ones to ensure before the budget is spent on a costly roll-out that they are fairly secure in a predictable outcome.

Once you have launched your marketing campaigns you will measure your outcome.  To have analytics that are meaningful and useful guess what, you have to plan for them before you launch your campaigns?  As your marketing plan will reflect goal accomplshment through the tactics you choose so the analytics will tell you how successful you were in accomplishing the goals. 

If you’ve been reading the previous posts in this series then you know that I am a strong recommender of planning, planning, planning before you spend precious resources on marketing programs.  But if you’ve been through the planning phases then it’s time to develop the marketing plan and pull the trigger.  The marketing plan itself must take into consideration not only resources and time but most importantly you need to consider how your likely prospects get and absorb information.

Once the strategic plan and annual business goals have been documented the marketing plan can be developed. By following this process entrepreneurs and their staff can focus activities on what’s important to the success and growth of the company. I often find working with entrepreneurs that they rush into the marketing plan without the previous planning stages running the risk of wasting time and money. If the wrong marketing tactics are used failure is a likely outcome. If you’ve ever heard yourself saying, “oh we tried that and it didn’t work,” check to be sure the marketing plan was written after the strategic plan and business goals.

Annually entrepreneurs need to set business goals.  Generally these are related to business growth but they can cover any of the normal business functions from sales and marketing to employee management and operations. Well written goals help business owners focus on what’s important so take your time when crafting them.

Writing good goals is as much science as art as they should be measurable and have an estimated time frame for accomplishment. Marketing plans should only be written once the business goals are established. Too often entrepreneurs rush into marketing activities without taking this very important step of writing clear measurable goals and then are disappointed when the marketing doesn’t work. 

The one thing everyone is willing to share is his or her opinion.  Bad news if it’s your in-laws but great news if it’s your customers.  In my experience working with small business professionals rather than being the first line of defense it’s often left out of the playbook all together. No matter what it is your selling asking for customer feedback, insights, and unfulfilled needs should be part of your organizational policies.

Making it standard practice among all employees (so who in your organization doesn’t touch a customer or potential customer?) and institutionalizing it as a regular procedure is a key to business success. Create a list of questions that can be asked during customer interactions. Here’s a few to get you started:

I recently agreed to administer the client database for a non-profit organization I volunteer for along with managing their email promotions.  I wasn’t surprised to find a large number of  unidentified client segments in their database. When you have many hands touching a data resource coupled with staff turnover it doesn’t take long for the data to go awry. I was once again reminded of the strategic importance client data management plays in the success of sales and marketing.

In a recent conversation with a small business owner I recommended that his web site needed work. My jaw dropped open when he told me he didn’t think his web site was that important and he didn’t see it driving a lot of business especially since he sells his products and services locally.  I realized after a few seconds that my mouth was open and had the presence of mind to close it and count to 10 before I said something I’d surely regret.

I did manage to get out that perhaps the reason the web site wasn’t driving prospects was because it desperately needed an overhaul. ( See my last post).  I’m finding that many entrepreneurs without marketing experience or professional advice make the mistake of not making the connection between the importance of good  marketing and sales development.