Small Business Saturday is Almost Here: Marketing Your Small Business for this BIG Day!

Small Business Saturday is almost here, and you best believe it's going to be a big one! What is Small Business Saturday you ask? Well let me tell you. It's an ENTIRE DAY dedicated to supporting small businesses across the country. 

The first ever SBS was founded November 27, 2010 by American Express. Since then, SBS has been officially recognized by the U.S. Senate, and last year shoppers spent $5.5 billion dollars on this day alone. That's a lot of moola.

The 2013 SBS will be on November 30. No doubt this year's profits are going to be even bigger considering corporate partners include big names like FedEx, Foursquare, Twitter, and the United States Postal Service. 

So what can you do to market your small business for this event? 

Notice: Registration for free ads closes 11/18/13, so get started as soon as possible!

 To take advantage of these tools, click here. 

If you're concerned that you're community isn't participating, SBS has you covered! You can get things rolling by, joining a neighborhood circle. It's a way to create a conversation between small businesses in your area where you can share ideas, get inspired, and prepare for Small Business Saturday together. Click here to get started. 

Use this awesome opportunity to help out not only your small business, but to gain support and awareness for small businesses across the nation. 

Sources: 
https://www.facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday/info

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/small-business/shop-small/about/?linknav=us-open-shopsmall-homepage-readmore

Advice From the Marketing Pros

We college students like to pretend (on occasion) as though we have it all figured out--in life, in solving the world's problems, and in my case, marketing. But I am under no delusions that I know everything there is to know about this business. That's why, I thought I'd share this slideshow that I LOVE about the best advice for small businesses from real marketing experts who have already experienced it. So please enjoy! 


                            

The Best Advice For Small Businesses From Experts Who Have Lived It from HubSpot All-in-one Marketing Software

P.S. I realize it's no longer small business week (this slideshow was made this summer), but the advice shared is still spot on. 

SoulCycle: A Small Business Inspiration

As a small business owner or entrepreneur, it's easy to become defeated. Road blocks seem bigger, budgets are smaller, and when you're working 60-80 hours a week you just get too darn exhausted to care about the little things. But let me tell you something my friends, marketing is no little thing.

It is what puts you on the map and says "Hey, I have an awesome product or service that you NEED!". I read an inspirational quote today by Leo Burnett, founder of the major American advertising company Leo Burnett Worldwide that I found particularly applicable to this post. He said, "If you don't get noticed, you don't have anything. You just have to be noticed, but the art is in getting noticed naturally without screaming or without tricks." 

I think it's important for you small business owners and entrepreneurs to be inspired. You are the free spirits out there who had the guts to take the leap of faith and venture out into the unknown. You are making sacrifices, working your asses off, and hoping and praying that you don't end up in the red at the end of the month.

That's why I would like to focus this blog on a small business who started out organically, without all the bells and whistles that big time marketers seem to think is necessary to be successful. This company started by advertising on a hand painted rickshaw that they put out on the sidewalk in front of their studio. From these humble beginning they've now expanded their company and have a national (and soon to be international) presence. I'd like to talk about a business called SoulCycle. 


(Source: everydayroadtohealthy.com)

SoulCycle was started by talent agent, Julie Rice, and real-estate agent, Elizabeth Cutler, who both had a passion for cardio and felt indoor cycling could be more than a workout, that it could be inspirational. They found their first studio in New York City on craigslist and utilized as many basic forms of advertising as they could on their limited budget. They passed out schedule cards up and down the streets of the West Side, begged doormen to let them into buildings to handout flyers, offered free classes, and invested their last pennies into SoulCycle T-Shirts. 

Their goal was to be innovators in the cycling industry. SoulCycle brings together mental and spiritual aspects into the physicality of the workout. Workouts take place in dimly lit studios with scented candles, and each class has a customized playlist to set the tone. Some locations even feature SoulBands, bands that hang from the ceiling and challenge riders to an entire body experience.                                                                       (Source: nytimes.com)

SoulCycle has now grown their company to 20 different locations, a merchandise line, and over 6,000 cyclers. 

So how did SoulCycle developed their marketing from the ground level to what it is today?

Here's a shortlist of what they're doing right:

• Differentiation: Good marketing starts with a good product, and the co-founders of SoulCycle have created a completely unique   experience for their customers by including upper body training, customized playlists, scented candles, etc. They've capitalized on the customer desire for an all encompassing body, mind and soul workout. 
• Website: The company's website is pretty stripped down. I'm not overwhelmed with information on the home page, but the menu options are clear and concise and I know where to go to find what I'm looking for. 
• Blogging: Although this doesn't work for all companies, SoulCycle does it right. With their fun style, it makes the company much more relational. You really learn a lot about the company from both the people who work there as well as actual cyclers who've had a positive experience. 
• E-Commerce: SoulCycle has expanded far beyond cycling classes. Not only can you buy class sessions on the website, but there's merchandise, gift cards, "soul tunes", and now you can even buy your own Soul bike. They're product line is expansive for a small company, but cohesive.
• Consistency: In all the articles I read about them, the SoulCycle website, everywhere really--the branding and message of the company is consistent. There is very little room for question or confusion when it comes to identifying the co-founders mission for SoulCycle, and this is crucial both online and at brick and mortar locations. 

All in all, SoulCycle is a great example of two people who had a common passion and wanted to share that with other people in the cycling industry. They were fully committed to providing a one-of-a-kind experience to people who were willing to trust them. So remember next time you're feeling overwhelmed or having a panic attack after you look at your bank statement...have a little faith that what you're doing matters and people will recognize that.

                                             

                                             (Source:siegelgale.com)

Additional Sources:  
-Hong, Nicole. "How I Built It: Cycling Chain SoulCycle Spins Into Fast Lane." Wall Street Journal. (2013). Web. 5 Nov, 2013. <http://online.wsj.com/news/articles>.
-SoulCycle.N.p.. Web. 2 Nov 2013. <http://www.soul-cycle.com/soul-east/>.

Branding Like a Boss

Yeah, yeah, yeah I get it. Everyone hears the term brand management and their eyes start to glaze over. Well you might want to stay awake for this lesson kids because it's important to your company's basic survival.

I don't know about your boss, but mine bases success on whether or not we're increasing sales. If you're not increasing sales, you're a redundancy. So what are sales based on? um...customers, hello. The fact of the matter is, customers are emotional creatures. Yes, a large portion of the buying decision is based on price point. However, I would venture to say that the majority of the rest of that decision is based on how they feel about you're brand. Now I'm not going to get all touchy feely and get into the psychology behind consumer buying behavior. But my point is that if you want to maintain or increase sales--you need to pay attention to the image you're conveying to your customers. When you're designing and creating your marketing materials, especially online, you must create a consistent brand image. Be consistent in everything from the colors your using to the style of the content you're writing. Customers should not go to a website and have to question what they're seeing. They should know within the first 5 seconds because by that point in time, they've long decided whether you're company is worth anything to them. Scary to think that you're brand equity is measured in milliseconds. 

The other day I found this info-graphic (my favorite thing right now) and I think it's a great visual representation of the do's and don'ts of online branding. It's simple but it gets the point across and it goes further in depth about a few points that I touched on in my last blog. Enjoy!

Free Marketing, Why Aren't you Doing It?!

                               
Like I mentioned in my first blog post, it's a sad but common occurrence when small businesses fail solely due to their lack of awareness of the free (or pretty affordable) marketing tools that are available to them. The following are tips and free/cheap online tools that your small business should be utilizing to enhance customer awareness both online and at actual retail locations.

Social Media Tips
In case you've been locked in your mom's basement for the last three years, you know that social media marketing has exploded. Of course everyone's heard of the basics: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. But there are a variety of online tools that go beyond this scope and can add function and value to your company.

What's paramount when posting to social media, is that you CREATE VALUABLE CONTENT. Here's a profound idea: If you want to generate people's interest and retain that interest, you must engage customers! You can do this through posting interactive content, questions, images, etc. You cannot copy and paste a bunch of words on a page and expect people to stay on your site for longer than it takes them to realize that there's nothing worth staying there for. 

When determining which social media tools and advertising venues to use for your company, take a second and make sure you have the time to actively maintain your profile. For example, it's awesome to create a twitter account. However, if you only tweet once or twice a month and never tweet original content, how much is that really enhancing your brand? What it's really doing is showing people that your company doesn't care what customers think and that the information on the site is probably inaccurate anyways so why continue to read it?

Social Media Tools
I will not lie to you and say that social media tools are super easy to use. They're always changing, as is necessary with the fast paced online environment. HOWEVER, social media marketing tools add a completely new dynamic to your marketing strategy. They appeal to the new tech generation. And, if done right, they can set you high above the competition. Below I've listed some links to tools (some of which are still in Beta), that are fairly new and useful that you can use and explore to help your small business grow. 

Wibki- It's like web browser meets a favorites page. You basically enter in your favorite websites and categorize them into groups. It's super efficient and eventually you'll be able to share your group of "bookmarked" pages with other people. 

Canva- Produce your own graphics based on predeigned layouts that you can customize and then use in your blogs, on facebook, online brochures or anywhere else for that matter!

Suma- Combine all of your analytic platforms in one place so you don't have to visit 1500 different websites to see how effective your social media advertising is (Google Analytics, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)  
     **Sidenote: If you have not yet installed any analytics for your website, blogs, etc. I would          recommend doing so ASAP. Google Analytics is a great tool that I use to see how many            people are viewing my blogs, when they view them, for how long, etc. It really helps you          to see how effective your current online marketing strategy really is. 

Social Mention- Aggregates user generated content about your company from all different platforms into one place. 

Hootsuite- Manage all of your social media platforms in one place. It allows users to schedule messages and tweets, track brand mentions, analyze social media networks, etc.

Mailchimp- This is a tool that is an e-mail and newsletter marketing service that allows you to design your own emails or use their predesigned templates. What's great is that it gives you click reports on who opened your email, and who clicked on links. In my personal experience, it's been a very affordable and beneficial tool to use. 

Six Degrees- Connect with other Twitter users who have similar interests as you and are already connected to your friends. It analyzes your followers and then allows you to direct message them to request an introduction. Expand your network people!

Klout- Find out who or what are key influences to your target audience. Use this information to make them advocates of your brand. 

Learn from the Blunders of the Big Dogs

As most small business owners are probably more than aware, money trees don't exist (believe me, I've looked). At the end of the day there really isn't a whole lot of expendable capital remaining. This creates a problem for marketers because we want to be innovative and cutting edge, but it's much easier to do that when we know that there's a financial safety net if a campaign doesn't gain the attention that we expected. It's easy to get yourself into a pinch and you're left wondering, how the hells bells do I get out of this!? 

There have been many companies...BIG companies, who have made some notable mistakes in the past. Small businesses don't have the luxury of having the large revenues or the brand equity to come back after something like that, which means that you need to do your homework. Learn from the blunders of the big dogs so that you don't fall flat on your ars like they did! 

I've gone and done a bit of homework for you (you're welcome). Here are some of the top marketing blunders of 2013 that small businesses can learn from: 

American Red Cross    

A social media/publicity disaster occurred when the American Red Cross' social media specialist posted on their Twitter account about drinking Dogfish Head beer and "getting slizzard". Apparently the social media specialist had meant to post to her private account (McMalcolm, 2013).   

Take Away: Ensure that whoever is representing your company online is a. knowledgeable about the technology and b. is aware of the image that the company would like to convey through its online presence. Really, you don't want to be "that company". 

Turner Broadcasting

In 2007, Cartoon Network launched a guerilla marketing campaign in which they set up LED signs in various places throughout cities to promote one of their cartoons. A resident in Boston, however, thought the devices were bombs and called the police. This turned into a terrorism scare, resulting in the shut-down of many public transportation lines, bridges, and roads. The problem cost the head of Cartoon Network his job, and the broadcasting company $2 million in compensation for the emergency response team (Sibley, 2012). 

              

Take Away: Be cognizant of what's going on in the world around you. Consider how the public will view your campaign because once the public sees it, there's no going back!

Hoover 

Hoover released a promotional offer stating that anyone purchasing a Hoover product costing more than 100 pounds was eligible for two free return air tickets to Europe or the U.S. Any customers buying the cheapest qualifying product, priced at 119 pounds could receive two tickets to New York. At least 100,000 people applied for the flights, and the blunder cost the company at least 20 million pounds--approximately 32 million dollars (Reynolds, 2013). 

Take Away: Never underestimate your customers. They are intelligent and despite what you may think, they do pay attention to the small print. If you're going to offer financial incentives, make sure they won't bankrupt your company (I felt like that one was pretty self explanatory, but apparently not). 

Ikea

The furniture retailer found itself in hot water after Ikea Saudi Arabia used Photoshop to remove all the women from its catalog. Ikea later apologized saying "We should have reacted and realized that excluding women from the Saudi Arabian version of the catalog is in conflict with the Ikea Group values (mdgadvertising.com, 2012)." 

 

Take Away: Always make sure that however you are advertising, it is consistent with your company goals and values. Consumer interest in corporate social conscience is higher than ever, and it's crucial that as a small business you are aware of this and are taking advantage of it. By being socially responsible, you are moving yourself closer to reaching that triple bottom line. 

Gap

In 2010, Gap launched a new, more "modern" logo, but the switch only lasted 2 days. Their loyal customers were outraged because they felt that the change was for the worse. Additionally, Gap also failed to appeal to the new hipper crowd they were hoping for (Sibley, 2012). 

Take Away: This is not an "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" situation. There was no problem with Gap trying to modernize their look. Gap's new logo failed because they forgot to take into account who their target market was and what they loved most about the Gap brand--accessibility and simplicity. You cannot ignore the personification of your brand and how it affects people when you attempt to change that. 

What I hope that you take away from this post is that you can't throw some marketing together and plop it out there to get your boss off of your back. I know it sounds counterproductive but take a second to step back and look at what you're creating! Look at your campaign through the eyes of your consumer, from a socially responsible viewpoint. Does this marketing piece convey who we are as a company? Will this really help us profit in some way? Is it consistent with our goals and values? I say this because most of the blunders that these companies made could have been prevented had they just stopped and asked themselves these questions. 

As a small business, you want your marketing to make an impact. But save yourself the headache and don't fall into the same traps that these companies did. 

What is Pinch Marketing?

Hi to all you marketing and non-marketing people alike! My name is Lindsay Hotze and I'm a senior Global Marketing major at the University of Northern Iowa.

You may be asking yourself "What is Pinch Marketing?". Don't waste your time looking it up in the dictionary because you won't find any textbook definition of it, but let me tell you the story behind it. I grew up in small town Iowa, so I've been exposed to small businesses all my life. My first job was at a local grocery store, my mom works for a non-profit, and almost every job or internship I've had has been for a small or family owned business. I guess you could say that my first-hand experience has given me a real strong appreciation for the little guy. The business that my not have a lot of cash but sure has a lot of heart and a lot of hard working people who are willing to do just about anything but sell a kidney to support it. However, time and again I've seen these great businesses flop because they weren't taking advantage of all of the means that were available to them. What's sad, is that many small business owners just aren't aware of the multitude of free and affordable resources that are out there and are specifically designed FOR THEM! 

Essentially, the goal of this blog is to help those small businesses succeed in the best way I know how--through marketing. To equip them with an arsenal of tools and knowledge so that they can be effective marketers without having to pay money out the you know what! So despite what you were thinking when you saw the picture of a large and very obviously fake lobster pinching the very frightened woman above, Pinch Marketing is about creating marketing that leaves a big impression when you're restricted by a budget that's smaller than Pamela Anderson's bikini. 

If you haven't already, please take 2 really quick seconds to follow me on twitter by clicking here. You'll receive some great marketing tips for your small business, as well as some entertaining and most likely sarcastic tweets by yours truly!