5 Steps To Free Marketing
One of the greatest benefits of being the owner of a home business is that you generally have very few customers. You may think that’s a bad thing but from a marketing standpoint, it’s gold. Fewer customers equals more focus per customer.
Focus will pay your mortgage.
I am a very lucky person. I do not have one client I wouldn’t invite to my own wedding. I know whose kids like Dora and whose kids are SO over her. I know that James’ daughter will eat butter from a spoon if left alone for too long. I know that Margie has dogs so cute I’m considering taking a business trip for the sole purpose of stealing them. I know Shane and his wife, Julie, are trying to have a baby. I know that Adrian just moved to a new house and that he’s still getting over the flu.
This is lovely and all, but what does it have to do with marketing. Let’s swing it back, shall we?
All but four of the clients I HAVE EVER HAD have come through referral by one of my friends. Since my real life friends don’t know their ass from their elbow when it comes to marketing or small business, these are friends I have met online, often clients themselves. Two of the four came because my friends got me on the front page of Digg. This means that of 100 or so clients, I have actively marketed to two.
My marketing budget is zero.
I have never paid a penny for marketing in my life.
(In the spirit of full disclosure, I did print fliers up on my mom’s work computer once when I was in school.)
So how does the whole deal work? Let’s create an imaginary scenario, shall we?
Step One: You see a blog you think is cool. Let’s say it’s mine.
Step Two: You email me. (From a marketing standpoint, always email. Commenting is great and all, but if you eventually want the owner of the blog to shill for you, emailing is the way to go.) This is a PERSONAL EMAIL. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough. If you are only sucking up, your email will shoot to the bottom of my list. I liked suck up emails until I hit 50 subscribers. Then I started dealing with too many emails and I don’t have time for yours.
Step Three: You continue the conversation. If I don’t email you back, come back to my blog anyway and leave comments I might like.
Step Four: After an appropriate period of time, I get to know and like you. Then, when someone asks me if I know a graphic artist or an SEO expert or a web designer (and believe me, this happens a lot), I give them your email address.
Step Five: You can finally pay your electricity bill and your itty bitty business is a success.
The beauty of this method is that at the end of the day, you end up benefiting from the “birds of a feather” cliché. If you, as the vendor, like me, as the pimp, the odds are pretty good you will also like the person that I’m sending your way.
Then you like your clients, and they like you. Then they are friends, ones who send you yet more business. Then you go on to the much-sought-after Step Six.
Step Six: You become rich and famous. Obviously that requires no explanation.
Homework
Send ten emails. Do not mention one damn word about your product or service. Just say hi and that you think their cat is cute or their baby is ugly or whatever. (I threw that last one in to see if you were paying attention.)
Other posts in the Marketing School series so far:
After The Sale: The Red-Headed Stepchild Of The Marketing Industry
Go Big Or Suck: A Guide To Being Unforgettable
Features Vs. Benefits – The Showdown
Target Demographics, The Sequel
Identifying Your Target Market, Or Why I Don’t Want A Monster In My Pants
Marketing School, Day Two: DIY USP
What Is A USP and Why Should I Care?
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Just for the record, I think your baby is cute, lol.
When a company or a business or a freelancer tells me that he’s operated on word-of-mouth alone since day one, to me that says, “Wow, this guy is good. He doesn’t need to push himself.”
That doesn’t mean the guy sat back and waited for clients to come to him - he just used subtle methods of communication to place his business where potential clients see it easier.
Also, to me, a recommendation from someone else - regardless of my own experience with a company or person - affects my opinion of them positively by about 200%. Someone says, “Hey, check this guy out, he does nice sitework,” and I’m so there. End of story.
On a last side note (damned coffee), Harry and I have spent over 2k on marketing consultation alone in 2007. (Not Naomi) We did not increase our client base by one person because of spending that money and the expense was a complete loss, cost-effectively.
[...] role for you. You will be involved in email marketing, search marketing, web management, … 5 Steps To Free MarketingOne of the greatest benefits of being the owner of an itty bitty business is that you generally have [...]
I’m a firm believer in word of mouth. You do a great job for me, I’ll do the best I can to let the world know about it. I had one guy last year suggest we barter our services. For one of his custom, hand made bows (a Scorpion King replica), I would do a catalog of his site (bowstick.com). I busted my ass to get that catalog done.
When it came to him fulfilling his end of the bargain, all I got were a constant stream of excuses (my supply truck crashed, I have termites in the shop) and an answering machine each time I called to find out what was going on. At one point I did manage to get a real human, probably his wife, who told me “Oh, I’m sorry, you just missed him. He went out to get some toilet paper.”
Yeah right. Three weeks later I was still waiting on that return call. I’m still pissed whenever I think about it.
You can bet I told all the people I knew in the archery world not to do business with this guy and I don’t think anyone reading this here will either.
On a different note, it’s kind of embarrassing to admit we spent that much on marketing consultation and didn’t get much in return for it. That isn’t to say we didn’t learn anything from what others told us. Sometimes you have to take the hard road. If we had met Naomi right off the bat, we probably would have thought this whole business thing was far too easy!
PS: I have cute cats. Ask me nicely and I’ll send you a picture, too.
[...] 5 Steps To Free MarketingOne of the greatest benefits of being the owner of an itty bitty business is that you generally have very few customers. You may think that sa bad thing but from a marketing standpoint, it s gold. Fewer customers equals more focus per … [...]
Hey Naomi…the referrals are easy. Why? Because you deliver (I will collect later).
Seriously though I have had quite a few people make contact through that initial email, grand promises are made, expectations run high but most times I am let down by the failure to deliver.
@ Naomi (NOT me) - Thank you. I agree. He’s available for rent or purchase. Financing is available.
@ James - We hired our accountant because my sister-in-law’s boyfriend mentioned him at a picnic. As in, “You should call this guy. He’s really good.” That was it. We didn’t even interview anyone else. I figure, if Mike’ll put his name on this guy, that’s all I need to know.
@ Harry - First off, I don’t want to hear a word about your cats. We had two but they kept leaping on the baby so we had to send them to a home with larger children. Still mourning. Second, re: bartering, wtf is wrong with people? You get to do something you love to do for a grateful client and get something you need at a very likely slashed rate. And you screw it up? I mean, seriously!
@ Adrian - I think a lot of people think they have to promise their firstborn in the email. They don’t realize that you can just say, “Hey. I really like that font - which did you use?” You don’t need to prostrate yourselves at people’s feet with promises that cannot be kept.
I just realized maybe I shouldn’t post with just my first name since we share the same name. Really, how many Naomi’s are there? I’d hate to confuse anyone.
Ok, so this will be my last comment here as Naomi. From now on I’ll be “some other Naomi”. :)
@ some other Naomi - Tell me, how many ways to breakfast have people botched your name? I’ve had Nanaimo for a long time. My favorites were probably Wyoming and Baloney.
Oh yes, I’ve gotten those too. First time hearing Nanaimo, that’s original. Also, Ghome, Ghome Dome, Nomi, Nomers, Naomski, Noami. The most popular was Nomers, hopefully I grew out of that one though, lol.
hey naomi,
i thought the oldest boy was for sale, not the young un.
i too have never paid for advertising/marketing. all the business i have been getting (especially recently) has been from word of mouth. i rely on people like you to tell people i don’t know that i am the shit (even if it’s a lie, i don’t mind).
i would send you an email, but my wife is already jealous enough of you.
peace!
@ Harry - It isn’t shameful that we spent that much and got very little. It’s a valuable lesson. There is good in all experiences and even when there isn’t, there’s a great take-home lesson.
@ Everyone - a potty-trained 3-year-old girl who eats butter up for giveaway. Comes with Elmo’s firetruck, a set of screwdrivers to stick in sockets, and a willful mind that drives me insane at least 15 times a d– oops, I mean a charming wit and lovely temperament that will serve her well in life as a leader…
Naomi. Not the other Naomi, the potty-mouth Naomi (we’ve coined a nickname, people). Get “Subscribe to Comments”. Seriously. Badly. Needed.
Wow, now I feel incredibly cool that you’ve always emailed back and forth with me from the first time I left you a comment. I must be fecking entertaining.
That or I just can totally relate to stories where we’re crashing into things and generally making fools of ourselves.
Oh, and you do refer. I have yet to be able to return the favor, but you know I will when I’m not having to take every job on earth for fear of starvation.
@ James - Will you SHUT UP about “Subscribe To Comments”? Please? Pretty please? How in the hell am I supposed to artificially inflate my stats if I get something that allows you to read the comments from the comfort of your inbox?
By which I mean… Thank you for the feedback. I will email Chris tomorrow.
Naomi as always you articulate simple truths in your own crass yet artfully poignant style. It is true that business colleagues get recommendations, and I would not have hesitated to recommend you based on our conversations about business and blogging. But once we exchanged dog pictures and confessions about box wine, you passed into the sphere of friends … and friends become folks that I would go out of my way (and even spend money on) to help … and that, my dear, is a small sphere of people indeed. Whether this occurred by happenstance or by Machiavellian design I do not care to ponder, as this is the season of blessings and this year you are one of mine.
@ Margie - That was the nicest thing anybody’s said to me in a very, very long time. (OK, when Michael Brito said his wife was jealous of me, that was pretty cool, too.) Thank you. I’m honored to have you in my life.
And feel free to ponder - you’ll discover nothing evil or yucky. I work with you because you won my contest. I’m nice to you because you’re my friend.
@potty mouth Naomi - I have to agree with James. I need to have subscribe to comments because I don’t have time to check your blog to see if you replied with some sage/crazy advice every 15 minutes.
@everyone else who has never paid for marketing - now I feel dumb because I have. I also just signed up an SEO firm so here I go again paying to help customers find me.
@IttyBiz Naomi - I’ll be posting about my SEO experience…first post up today. I gave them some of the target market ideas (PPD, etc.) to help them create the program. Now I’ve got to write a post that can get to the front page of Digg. Hmmm. Maybe I can hire you to do that. What would be the ROI on that? Top page of Digg = 100 sales of Babble Soft applications = very happy Me!
[...] posts over at IttyBiz, then you’re really missing out. Check out “5 Steps to Free Marketing.” (Seriously, you’re losing money if you’re not reading this [...]
[...] “Crass, yet artfully poignant.” From Margie, in the comments of this post. [...]