Brick and Click

Attention Small Business: Help is Here

I've been in an internal debate for some time,  whether to focus my consultancy on small business, or aim my sights up and down the business spectrum.  I've had the opportunity to present digital communciation, marketing and innovation solutions to Fortune 500 companies - and am always open to that - but my heart lies with the small business community, with entrepreneurs slugging it out in Main Street trenches each day. 

Time and money are precious commodities for small business owners.  But a reality is staring them in the face:  consumer habits have changed dramatically over the past few years, and continue to evolve at a rapid pace.  If you don't accept that fact, adjust strategy, and learn to "follow the puck" (nice hocky analogy, courtesy of an NPR exec in a Fast Company interview), then you'll be sitting on the sidelines while the competition plays a digital game of catch with consumers. 

Bare with me while I highlight my experience, skillset and passions.  I feel compelled to do so, to answer that small business owner who reads this post and asks "why Brick and Click?" 

I've been Immersed in traditional and new media communication, marketing, and branding strategy for more than 15 years.  In the 90s and through 2000, I wrote and produced hundreds of radio commercials, where the key to success was drilling down to the core USP (unique selling proposition) of each business and then communicating a compelling story in 30 to 60 seconds.  I was fortunate to bag some prestigious radio awards, but the thing I remember best is the pest control client who had to put our commercial campaign on hold for a periof of time.  Huh?  Well, it seems the commercials were so effective that the client couldn't handle all of the new business, and needed time to hire more people.  That ... is what it's all about. I'll take that over the trophies any day. 

As I moved from commercials to satellite programming (I ran 3 XM channels, scoop to nuts: marketing, sales, operations), to network news (anchor/editor specializing in business, economy,  technology), and  then to the nationally syndicated Bill Bennett's Morning in America show (I was an air personality, operations director, and wrote his commercial copy), I became more and more passionate about the web and how it was changing the business landscape.  I created online marketing campaigns, managed Bennett's website community (The Roundtable, a brand I coined), began blogging, and soaked up thousands of blog posts and articles about 'business and web 2.0'.  When radio and I departed ways, I became involved with an internet startup, Fellowforce, a crowdsourcing platform designed to enable small and medium size businesses to tap consumers around the world for ideas.  It was advanced bootcamp for the New Web, teaching me how mass collaboration, social networks, and empowered consumers were changing everything.  Since then, I launched my digital communication and marketing consultancy (Brick and Click) and have a job with a defense contractor (L-3 Communications) as Online Community Manager for Army.mil, helping the Army's global public affairs community, and also pitching in with online/social media communication strategy  

Enough of that.  There are people who know more about social media., but I'm hopeful my unique  experience, skillset, knowledge and passion set me apart.  

Over time, it's become clear that the lines between the 'digital' and 'brick and mortar' Main Street are blurring.  I chose the name Brick and Click because it reflects the integration of what a business does 'offline' and 'online'.  And the fast evolving webscape means two things for small business:

1. change is happening, and it can be unnerving
2. this change is creating remarkable opportunities that did not exist just a few years ago

I believe small businesses need to have the following:

• a decent website - your communication hub on the web.  Get the best one your budget allows
• an email newsletter - permission marketing means people want to hear from you 
• Facebook Fan Page - enable passionate fans of your business to share their passion and connect with you in this online community, 200 million and counting 
• a Twitter account - the water cooler conversation.  Listen, enage, build a trustworthy presence in this piping hot community, the Wild West of the Web
• ears to the wind - do you know what people are saying about you online? Consumer review communities like Yelp are a good place to start.  Google Alerts is another
• a Blog - I don't push this on every small business.  Blogs entail work, and require more effort than communicating via Twitter and Facebook.  But for some, it's a great medium to tell their story and share their passions.  Google, by the way, loves fresh blog content

For the small business pondering social media and wondering how to market and make it in this new environment (and wondering if this is a big waste of time and/or money), I offer a Digital Check-up, where I'll take an honest look at your business - your brand - how it's positioned and communicating offlne (brick) and online (click), and tell you what I think you need and don't need.  The fee is just $79.   This initial consultation may be enough for you to take off on your own, and that's fine.  My goal is to empower you to be in charge of your communication tools.  If you want/need a Twitter and Facebook account and newsletter ... I can help you with all of those things.  I offer affordable consulting packages, monthly or one time consultations, that vary depending on your need and budget.  Contact me today and start the conversation, and I'll give you a number of options, one of which will meet your budget and impact your business.   

Embracing social media and learning new communication tools and environments is not an overnight thing.  It'll take time, persistence, consistency, grit, creativity and patience.  My goal is to provide you with a communications/marketing arm - as simple and as affordable as possible - and to exceed your expectations.  Contact me anytime at 540-729-2742  and jeff@brickandclick.com.

4 in 10 Small Businesses Don't Have a Website

Make sure your business is not in the smaller group.  It doesn't matter if you're a decades-old barber shop or any number of small businesses that never sell merchandise over the internet.  It doesn't matter if your primary customer base is in the small town you're in, and word of mouth has worked just fine so far.   The web is not just for selling things to people near and far.  It's about selling you, whatever you do, to anyone that's searching for the service you provide.  And if you're not marketing yourself online, with a decent website as the cornerstone, then you're letting business slip away and giving the competition a major opportunity to digitally outflank you. 

I'll be blunt.  Having a website is an absolute must for any business.  Any business.  It's your 'click' side ...  flipside to your 'brick and mortar' presence, as essential as a phone number and e-mail address.  It's your physical address on the Web's version of Main Street, and it's where many of your future customers will first try to locate you.   

People don't just pick up the Yellow Pages anymore.  The very first thing a majority of people do now is a Google search.  And if they're new residents in Blanksville (your town), when they Google  'barbershops in Blanksville', and your compeititor's website comes up on the first results page, whom do you think they'll try first? 

If you don't have a website, with a domain name/URL that fits the name of your business as perfectly as possible (it'll take another post to explain domain name picking), then you're letting other people define you online.  If I do a search for your business and you don't have a website, then the search will likely yield some results from places like MerchantCircle,  YellowPages.com, Yelp and other local business directories and consumer rating sites.  So the first thing I might find is a blurb about your business from a consumer.  It might be positive feedback, or it might be negative.   

The bottom line:  your business is on the web right now, whether you have a website or not.  People are talking about you whether you're aware of it or not.    Now, you can't control the conversation, but you can influence it first by providing superior products and service. Those things are within your control, along with having your own website, where you can tell your story and showcase your business in the way you prefer.  Your website is a platform to include essential information (address, phone number, contact info, etc), showcase positive customer feedback, interesting pictures, and a place to encourage and manage transparent customer feedback with an online suggestion box.  You can also use your website to promote an e-mail newsletter, which is a great 'permission-based' marketing channel.  Other things, like videos and blogs are options as well.

Right now millions of people who don't even own a business have a website/blog, and are also active on social networking sites like Facebook, Linkedin and Myspace.  If you think your Main Street, brick and mortar business will continue to do just fine without any online presence or effort at all, you need to think again.   For another voice on this, give this article from USAToday's Small Business blog, Entrepreneurial Tightrope, a read.  And if you want to know what's involved in creating and managing a website, give me a shout.  I'll be happy to answer any questions, and point you in the right direction, to small business specialists like my friends at SiteWhirks.      

(laptop picture courtesy of LogoPlusMore.com)