Smart marketing for small business

You can profit from that shift if you understand and exploit the differences between you and your competitors. You can position yourself to make quick decisions and adjustments when opportunities surface, tap niches that are not profitable for bigger players, and get to know and grow your customers in ways that large businesses cannot.

If you own a small business, marketing materials such as mailing pieces, brochures, newsletters, and the like, can play a particularly significant role in your success. They can save you countless hours breaking the ice with prospects, telling and retelling your story, filling in the details, and following up with customers.

The Microsoft Small Business Council develops and reports on information about establishing and growing successful small and home-based businesses. The following tips, compiled from the research, discussions and writings of council members, will help you communicate your ideas effectively.

THE BIG PICTURE

At times, the most difficult part about beginning a project is knowing where to start. There are six basic steps for creating most marketing projects: you set a goal, choose the medium (a newsletter, brochure, flyer, etc.), compose your message and choose how you will illustrate it, create a design, prepare, proof, and print your artwork, and then reproduce the final project in quantity. Along the way, keep these points in mind:

Follow your marketing blueprint. Your marketing plan should define your objective, identify the audience, position your product or service, map your strategy, and establish a budget. Your print materials should be the embodiment of that plan.

Collect and study examples. In preparing to write about your product or service, gather and study the materials produced by your competitors and others. What is their blueprint? How do they view themselves? What points do they consider most important? What details do they include? How can you improve on it?

Craft a benefits-oriented message. Don’t waste space listing features or trying to convince the reader how wonderful your organization is. Instead, focus on the customer—explain and demonstrate how they will benefit by working with you.

Rough-out design ideas. The first idea is rarely the best. Most designers sketch variations of projects in miniature with headlines, boxes to represent text, and stick illustrations. Wait for a day or two and use a fresh perspective to determine which ideas work and which don’t.

Review the production process. If you plan to have your project reproduced by a commercial printer, consult them before you create your artwork to see if what you have in mind is doable and affordable.

Edit and reedit. To gauge the success of a work in progress, get the reaction of several people who know nothing about your business. Have someone proofread your copy. Have someone critique the design. Make changes and review it until you are satisfied.

Get help where you need it. If you’re not comfortable wearing the hats of writer, designer, or printer, enlist the help of those who compliment your strengths. A professionally written, designed, and produced print project tells customers you are organized, credible, and professional.

Let's talk specifics in four parts:

Part 1: Smart Marketing for Small Business
Part 2: Create a Smart Identity
Part 3: Create a Smart Brochure
Part 4: Create a Smart Flyer
Part 5: Create a Smart Newsletter

A note from Chuck Green: I served for a year on The Microsoft Small Business Council—a group of marketing experts, small business specialists, and entrepreneurs assembled to compile information about establishing and growing successful small and home-based businesses. Members included Brad Edwards, entrepreneur and founder of My Fortune; Dennis Eskow, a technical advisor to Home Office Computing magazine; Jay Conrad Levinson author of Guerrilla Marketing; Paul Tulenko, syndicated columnist for Scripps Howard, and myself—all of who contributed to this article. Enjoy!