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Archive for June, 2009

Investing In Your Business

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

I’ve been reading and talking with a lot of people and companies lately on the topic of whether they should invest/commit to marketing, communications, social media and/or public relations in a down economy.

Sadly in economic down times many small businesses buy into the philosophy that they know their customer and see them regularly so don’t need to market to them. Especially when money is tight.

If only that were true.

You should for the simple reason that your customer buys from multiple vendors and most likely buys from those that communicates with them on a regular basis whether via email, blog, newsletter or Ravelry.

If you are on a tight budget (let’s be honest, who isn’t) and know you have to do something, here are two ideas for you.

1.    A Newsletter. Create one and then consistently deliver it. A professional Newsletter will run you about $500.00 to develop and cost ~30.00-50.00 dollars a month for an email account program. I recommend a program so that you can track ROI to effort and tactics. Create a plan that allows you to send one weekly, bi-monthly or even monthly depending on the tolerance of your customer base and your time and activities.

I receive several shop emails each week. I love them. I know what’s happening and any upcoming sales and plan around them (sad but true). I also receive updated pattern designs from several designers monthly.

Keep in mind as you plan that a Newsletter commitment is about 2-7  hours per week/month to execute.

2.    Create a Ravelry account and budget 3-5 hours a week to responding and posting interesting topics relevant to your business, etc.

The key is to let your customers know what you are doing. They’ll keep you front of mind when they want to make the next purchase, whether online or in the shop.

PS: A general rule of thumb when setting a marketing, advertising and online social media budget is to use a 5-11% of revenues as a guideline. It can seem like a lot. Many times it is. However, I’ve learned that to make money, you do have to spend money. It’s how you spend it that’s the key.

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Tweet. Tweet.

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Twitter. It’s been on my mind a lot the last couple of days. I’ve been doing a lot of blocking and tackling against advertisers and shopping clubs. They just don’t interest me. People, ideas and thoughts do.

It’s definitely a media flavor of the month topic. A recent posting on TechCrunch notes that ‘It’s taking a breather’. No surprise there. The burning business question from many is, is twittering for my business or me? My gut reaction. No. Then I take a step back, stop and think and I have to say.  It depends. Maybe, yes. Why? Twitter demographics range from the mid 40’s to my teenage niece and nephew, which means the potential audience reach is broad.  If used wisely and within boundaries it could be pretty powerful.

I’ve seen several cases in which I think it has, can and is adding value to a brand or individual. But it’s dicey. With no real metric’s to benchmark Twitter against sales is it worth it for a small business to invest the time, energy and fickle nature of the consumer in a Twitter program.

To help sort this out I’ve come up with a list of questions that I hope can help you determine the To Twitter or Not To Twitter question.

1. Do you have an existing Marketing + PR plans that you can leverage Twitter against?
2. Are you a personality or company that already has a strong brand and looking for another venue to build that brand?
3. Is the Twitter demographic the audience that you need or are they already your audience?
4. What are the short- and long-term conversations you want to have with the audience? Are they brand or product related that would help keep them informed about you, what you’re up to, etc.? (No, not advertising!)
5. Do you or your company’s personality fit the Twitter’s demographic profile?
6. Time. How much of it do you have?

If you answered yes to three or more of the above you might consider integrating it into your current brand identity and marketing plan.  The kicker is 6. If you don’t have it, even if you answered positively to three or more, consider putting plans on the back burner. There’s nothing worse than starting a social media program and not following through.

All of these points aside. If you have the luxury, time, personality and inclination to Twitter. Then do. See what you see. I personally love it and can be found @ LLCumming.

What do you think? Do you or your business Twitter? Has it helped?

I look forward to hearing from you.

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It’s a launch!

Friday, June 12th, 2009

TNNA, Columbus, OH

I’m here at TNNA with several clients and before I head off to get ready for AKD’s ‘Get to Know Us’ event I thought I’d share the what and why of this blog.

The genesis was (is) simple. I have a belief that enough business exists for everyone. That ideas shared can help others. That in helping needlearts businesses, knitwear designers, retailers and organization with marketing and public relations that they cannot only sustain business, but retain AND build business. And that in building an online resource, that is open to all, that conversations can (will) happen and that we will all grow.

I’ll be posting – once a week – an idea, a how to, interviews and resources. We’ll tackle big topics like creating a marketing plan, engage in conversations on social media, events, brand vs. product, etc. The list truly goes on.

My hope is that this blog will help and inspire you. More importantly that it starts a conversation..

I encourage you to share your ideas, comment via email or phone. I’m interested. Good, bad. All.

Leslie

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