Customer Surveys

I love 'em for the most part, but have seen mega-abuse among marketing consultants who recommend surveys to small business clients. Problem is, most people don't really understand the number of ways that results can be skewed.

Here's a post, The Art of Customer Surveys, from Guy Kawasake that pretty much says why customer surveys s*ck, and the one question that can summarize everything you need to know when you do s survey. This is one blog post I'm going to recommend every client reads before (s)he consents to a survey.

Local Media a Hit for Web Advertising

Like many local business owners, you're probably confused as to where to advertise on the web...you get all this advice, and it all sounds like a lot of time, money, experimentation, and work.

OK, so it's true -- a lot of opportunity is out there. But here's a report that provides good data to review: Titled, "Local Online Media: From Advertising to Action"

It's the overview of a study conducted by the Online Publishers Association with Jupiter Research and released this month. And it turns out that what those online newspaper reps have been telling you is true. Here are some of the key findings:

• Visitors to local media sites –online newspapers, TV and magazines -are more likely than visitors to other sites to take action after seeing local ads: from making purchases to visiting sites and stores
  •Local media sites attract valuable audiences who spend more money online than visitors to other local sites
  •Local newspaper and TV sites lead all others in advertising trust
  •Local content sites attract a high number of influencers –the first person others come to for local recommendations

Lovin' the Intuit Jingle Generator

Thank you Intuit Quickbooks!

You have come up with a number of rockin' promotions for small businesses in the past, and your new Jingle Generator for small businesses - featuring Tommy Silk helping businesses create a song that uses the business name and information - is very fun. (well, it is just the smallest amount annoying - it would be better if the jingle and the spiel before creating it was just a bit shorter)

Ok, so a business may not buy TV time to feature it, but I say it's a viral idea that will get some play as businesses put the jingle up on blogs and web pages.

SEO and Local Newspapers

Andrew Shotland, one of the SEO gurus I greatly admire, has two posts I especially enjoyed today - one had to do with local newspapers, and one -- fanciful and fun -- was a call to his readers to help him rank higher in Google when someone searches for "Andrew."

Seriously, he's always worth reading anyway, so check out Local SEO Guide

How Well Do You REALLY Know The Newspaper Industry?

How Well Do You REALLY Know The Newspaper Industry?

Editor & Publisher reprints economist Robert Picard's test about the economics of the newspaper industry- and since everyone who has a stake in local marketing has some interest in newspapers, I wanted to pass it on here.

Think you know what to expect? Here are 3 of the 10 questions.

1. The average newspaper circulation is about(a) 150,000(b) 110,000(c) 85,000(d) 50,000(e) 35,000.

2. Newspaper penetration per population(a) Has remained relatively stable(b) Dropped suddenly in after 2000(c) Dropped suddenly in the mid 1990s(d) Began declining steadily beginning in 1980s (e) Has declined at a steady pace for 50 years

3. Newspaper advertising income reached an all time high of $49.3 billion in(a) 2006(b) 1999(c) 1993(d) 1989(e) 1984

Dell Giving Away $10,000 Office Makeover

Dell small business is giving away office products - including a $10,000 Dell Office Makeover - so check out the tongue in cheek promotion that pokes gentle fun at those clichés everyone throws around but no one really knows what they mean — Dell’s Synergistic Mission Critical Out-of-the-Box Sweepstakes.

I've been using Dell products since, ummm, around 1995 and though customer service has grown irksome over the years, I keep buying Dells - in my mind they are great small business products. Really, these computers just seem to fit the balance of reasonably priced, good value, dependable machines.

(Now if I could just figure out why the keyboard on my current Vostro keeps getting jammed...)

Community Coverage Up - What's It Mean for Local Businesses?

Today there's a story in the NYTimes, As Papers Struggle, News is Cut and Focus Turns Local, primarily reporting on a newly released study from Pew Research, The Changing Newsroom: Gains and Losses in Today's Papers.

Among other interesting tidbits, the study shows that 62% of a cross-section of American newspapers have increased community coverage.

One of Pew's key conclusions is, "Papers both large and small have reduced the space, resources and commitment devoted to a range of topics. At the top of that list, nearly two thirds of papers surveyed have cut back on foreign news, over half have trimmed national news and more than a third have reduced business coverage. In effect, America's newspapers are narrowing their reach and their ambitions and becoming niche reads."

So how does that play out as an ad vehicle for local businesses? Sadly, it doesn't much matter.

While newspapers fumble with content and formulas and business models, they are still locked in the past so far as an ad vehicle. The old model is, "We have lots of interesting content, which brings readers, which means any ad you put alongside that content will get eyeballs."

Well - the eyeballs are diminishing, the page size is shrinking, the content is not compelling, but the ads are still smished together on page after page.

Is any newspaper saying, "What can we do to so advertisers get better visibility? Are we tracking results our advertisers get and working on helping them get better results? Are we helping readers find ads that are of interest to them? Are we using all our media together to be sure that an ad buy with us becomes valuable content to our community? Is our content and our advertising working together to provide a valuable product?"

As far as I know, it's not happening.

I get the whole separation of advertising and journalists. Honest. But the whole model of how advertising fits into the changing face of the newsroom is one that demands exploration.

Best of Local

The folks at Local.com have taken an age-old tactic used by newspapers and created a "Best of" promotion.

Given that Yelp.com (a Local.com partner) is big enough that folks are beginning to look at it with a little more skepticism, the timing is good and I like this recent promotion even though the prizes for the business are a little chintzy (publicity, enhanced SEO listing). Seems the company could have arranged a co-promotion with Staples for $100 gift certificate. Anyway...I stray. This is an example of a promotion that works:

Local.com Corporation (NASDAQ: LOCM), a leading local search site and network, announced the launch of the company’s “Best of Local” awards program.

The annual “Best of Local” program will feature the best businesses as rated by consumers in 15 cities and 20 categories across the U.S. Businesses will be ranked based on the quantity and quality of the reviews that have been submitted about their business by visitors to Local.com. “Best of Local” winners will be selected and announced on December 1, 2008.

For more information about the “Best of Local” program please visit: www.local.com/bestoflocal.

To help kick-start this new program, the company also launched a “Best of Local” weekly drawing for a $500 American Express® gift card. Visitors who write a valid review on a local business at Local.com will be automatically entered to win. To register and enter to win please visit: www.local.com/bestoflocaldrawing.

Better Dead than Read?

From Goldman Sachs analyst Peter Appert, in a Wired blog entry titled, Media Death Watch, Newspaper Analysts Dwindle:

"If I covered only the newspaper industry, first of all I would have been fired a long time ago; secondly, I would have had to kill myself."

Farmers Market Gets It Right

This week I got a call informing me that I was the "Santana Row Farmers Market Customer of the Week." Doesn't that sound grand? I love it.

A bit of background: Every summer weekend I do a trip to one of the many farmers markets in the area -- at least a half a dozen within a 10 mile radius supply me with ample fresh fruit and vegetables (and honey, olive oil, bread) grown within 50 miles of my house.

Last week I went to one that I hadn't frequented yet this year, and filled out a form to get on the mailing list. Three days later I got a call, informing me I was the "Santana Row Farmers Market Customer of the Week."

For this honor, I won a basket of veggies from the participating farmers. (To which I say, "HOOORAY - count on finding a big pot of vegetable soup on the stove next week.")

They could have just called and said, "We're happy to inform you you won last week's drawing." But I much prefer that they dubbed it an honor, and named me "Customer of the Week." If there were such a thing as a Resume of Daily Life, this sounds worthy of being listed as one of the honors bestowed upon me.

It's a thank you for shopping here, an honor implying I'm somehow worthy, and a recognition of good luck all wrapped up in one phrase.

The marketing person got it perfect...kudos to you, and thanks for allowing me to have this brief queen-for-a-day moment.

Small Business Press Release Tools

Duct Tape Marketing has a helpful entry with ideas for small biz press releases titled The Press Release Triple Threat.

It lists these three free tools that a local business can use to help get some things in the works that will send traffic to your site:

• Instant Press Release - use this tool as a guided template for creating and formatting your press release properly
• Press Release Grader - Take your written press release here and run it through a process that can help tell you how to make it even better.
• PRLog - with a strong release written, you can come here and to get your release distributed to thousands of news sites and feeds.

Generally I'm opposed to junky PR methods, including sending out reasonably unimportant news. But this is a search engine kind of thing - and these tools look simple and just right for the kind of announcements a local business might have: a new employee, an upcoming sale, a change in hours, or even spotlight on a specific item in stock. Note that none of these are tools you'd use if you are making a signficant announcement or are trying seriously to reach the media.

Check out the above, and check out Duct Tape Marketing - let me know if you try any of these tools and if they work.

You Need a Great About Us Page

Most of you have heard my rant about the importance of the About Us page - way, way, way too many sites have a lousy About Us page. (Like those diseases advertised as 'silent killers,' a bad About Us page costs you money & customers that you never even know you lost).

Anyway, Marketing Sherpa has provided some back up data about why it is important to have a good About Us page. (Company information becomes crucial to people who want to buy from you or do business with you -- not at first, but at the crucial negotiation phase).

The story is only open to non-subscribers until early July, so I'd suggest you visit it now, and glean the good information which includes WHY it is so important, as well as some ideas on WHAT should be included: 1. Up-to-date material 2. Customers - (Who else do you work with?) 3. History 4. Location(s) - 5. Boards of directors/advisors 6. Media coverage 7. Blogs/thought leadership