BY CHUCK GREEN “Branding” is one of those issues we picture the marketing VPs of Intel or Kraft Foods worrying about—hardly something for a small or medium sized business to concern itself with. It’s easy, after all, to appreciate the value of a brand like Coca-Cola, but near impossible to see how the same principles apply to an organization with an advertising budget something less than 30 million dollars.
BY CHUCK GREEN When was the last time you received a personal note from a colleague or a client? A handwritten message that expressed a feeling or a thought composed for you alone? If you're like me they are few and far between. I for one will not soon forget the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation who took the time to send a note of congratulations after a positive story about my business in the local press.
BY CHUCK GREEN When you travel a road over and over it develops a rut—a well-worn path of least resistance. Such is true with design. Once you've created a few brochures, newsletters or certificates, it's easy to forget their true purpose and why and how they work. It's easier to simply repeat the formula.
BY CHUCK GREEN There has never been a better time to own a small business. Mass markets are splintering into micro markets. Rather than hiring and building when demand increases, many companies are opting to buy products and services from outside sources. The business paradigm of the twentieth century is shifting.
BY CHUCK GREEN With your letterhead and business card, you first begin to build relationships with the people who will make your business a success. With a little creativity, you can turn these run of the mill materials into the kind of marketing tools that keep the mill running.
BY CHUCK GREEN You wouldn’t dream of walking into the office of a potential customer and reading a litany of products, services, and prices. You introduce yourself, explore the customer’s needs, demonstrate how your product or service will meet those needs, and tell how you have produced results for others. Your brochure should do the same.
BY CHUCK GREEN Mail it, hand it out, hang it up, leave it wherever prospects congregate—a flyer, printed on one side of a letter-sized sheet, is among the least expensive, easiest to produce, and hardest working marketing tools.
BY CHUCK GREEN On one thing, the experts agree—follow-up is the single most important and least used marketing strategy. A promotional newsletter featuring trade news, customer success stories, and information about your products or services is an excellent way to establish and grow your relationship with customers.
