Intuit launches Love a Local Business sweepstakes

Your local business loves you. Don’t you think it’s time you start loving them back?

Supporting local businesses can have a significant impact on your community economically -- in fact, a September 2008 CivicWorks study of Western Michigan found that a mere 10% shift in consumer behavior towards local businesses would add around $137 million to the local economy and creates more than 1,600 new jobs.

In a nationwide effort to help support the growth of small businesses, Intuit announced the launch of its “Love a Local Business” sweepstakes. Fans of local small businesses can nominate their favorite hometown haunt, which will make them eligible for a drawing to win a $1,000 Intuit Growth Grant, which includes a $500 Visa gift card and $500 in Intuit business services, such as Intuit Websites and Web Listings.

In addition, each business that is nominated will appear on a custom Google Map displaying favorite businesses from across the country. To submit your favorite neighborhood shop, go to www.LoveALocalBusiness.com.

Constant Contact Hosts Small Biz Seminars

Congrats to email marketing company Constant Contact for the announcement they are launching small biz email seminars throughout the LA area.

This is something local newspapers and regional yellow pages should have been doing all along- not particularly email but all types of emerging marketing, and I predict this will be a winner for Constant Contact...great PR, great results, and a program that will expand quickly.

It's even nicer that their LA representative is Kelly Flint, formerly of United Way, since that brings the experience of someone used to having a limited budget and a diverse group of constituents.

Way back when I first got involved in the local interactive scene - in 1994 and 1995 - I held an ongoing series of luncheon seminars for advertisers of the Houston Chronicle. They were very, very appreciative, and in many ways, that helped lay the foundation for the success houstonchronicle.com has experienced (not to dismiss the incredibly progressive and practical interactive management teams over the years).

Anyway, thumbs up and accolades for "REAL MARKETING" to the Constant Contact team. There's no reason that small businesses should have to prowl through the web or take days out of the office attending seminars to get the low-down on email marketing.

Of Offers and Opportunities

Just some misc notes that have been in my 'blog it sometime' stack...

Tech help -- Small businesses need help with tech stuff according to the non-profit California Small Business Education Foundation, and for sure, they are correct. So the group started a web site with info and links to free resources. The site isn't everything it should be, or needs to be, but it's new, and no community is born fully functional, so take a gander.

The 48 hour day -- It bugs me a little that when Macy's has a "One Day Sale" it's always a two day sale. The day before is thrown in as a "preview" but the full promotion is in effect, so what the heck. I'm sure their smart market-driven we-measure-everything people can show that the words "One Day Sale" provides urgency. But it always bugs me.

The fiber-filled promotion -- I like oatmeal as much as the next boomer-who-suddenly-knows-what-fiber-is, but I was surprised to find a door hanger on my mail box promoting the opening of Mustard Cafe a few blocks from me. The franchise surely knows what pulls best, and I'm sure they work with their owners, but the offer was "Join us for a complimentary bowl of hot oatmeal on Monday, Wednesday or Friday between 7-11 a.m." Aside from the fact it's spring, (not exactly oatmeal season), I wondered why restrict it to three days. My best guess is that it is meant to give the appearance of a special offer but really not provide one...sort of a way to get the attention without giving anything. My impression: Get Real!

Scott Hepburn Gives Us Some Great Small Biz Website Tips

Note: Scott Hepburn - Marketing. Simplified. has experience (and if you read his PRStore blog he also has a lot of wit) in working with small businesses - he kindly contributed some tips for setting up a web site

1) Remember Your Audience
The #1 mistake of amateur Web site builders is forgetting the audience. While it's tempting to write a Web site about how amazing YOU are, focus instead on your customer and the benefits you offer to them. Don't stick to your typical lines, either. Ask yourself, "Is this information my customer wants to hear, or is it just information that I want them to hear?"

2) Contact Us Form
A contact form lets your customers contact you with a question or comment. It's also a great way to gather their contact information so you can follow up with a personal e-mail, phone call, or direct mail. A personalized response goes a long way.

3) FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions give you a chance to provide context and clarity to your customers. Remember, they may still be at the beginning of the buying cycle, so it doesn't hurt to educate them about their choices. It's all part of building trust, which leads to sales

4) Headlines Matter
Studies show that Web readers have even shorter attention spans than offline readers. Headlines should express in very clear wording how you'll improve your customer's life. Attracting attention is a good start, but you have to hold their attention, too.

5) Special Offers
You use special offers to attract customers offline...why wouldn't you do it online? It's one more way to guide Web site visitors down the path to becoming customers.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. I'm here to help if anyone has questions!


Posted by Scott Hepburn - Marketing. Simplified. to Get Real Marketing: For and About Local Marketing at April 8, 2008 6:33 AM

Small Business Summit - Looks Good

Just a quick post to give a heads up - the Microsoft Small Business Summit is being broadcast live March 24-27, 2008 (12pm EDT/9am PDT)...and it's free.

It's the kind of agenda for which you'd normally pay a hefty conference fee, plus get stuck eating hotel food. Though the best part of any conference is networking with others and I don't know how Microsoft will handle that. Anyway, it's about marketing and sales, productivity, technology, financial management, information on starting up, etc etc so check it out.

If you're thinking, "Someday soon I want to start a business," or even, "What should I be doing better" it looks like time well spent.

Small Biz Owners Always Working

Small biz owners are ALWAYS working. Yep. We knew that.

Thanks to Fox Business for alerting me to a new survey from Staples about small businesses - these stats will have folks who own local businesses nodding their heads:

"Small Business Managers Reveal Startling Work Hours and Habits

"Almost half of U.S. small business managers work during time meant for family and admit to making business calls and checking e-mail while driving, according to a national survey ...[exploring] the balance between work and personal time for 300 leaders of companies with fewer than 20 employees, a group representing nearly 90 percent of all U.S. businesses..."

Here are some of the other tidbits you'll pick up if you click through to the press release:

• nearly one in five managers admit to reading work-related e-mail and documents while in the bathroom and nearly half work while driving
• nearly two-thirds (62 percent) work well beyond a 40-hour week, and one in five work a double week, logging an extra 40 or more on-the-job hours.
• one in five work while eating dinner at least 4–5 times per week
• more than a third could not readily remember their last vacation.

The End of Advertising As We Know It

IBM Global Business Services has a new report, The End of Advertising As We Know It, that is a great read for those (like me) who care about such things.

It's received lots of press already, but I include it here so you'll have an easy link.

The report has a lot to say to the media and agencies that are engaged in the business side of advertising, but all this certainly impacts local businesses. It's already common to find small local businesses struggling for creative ways to market the business without having to spend all day at the computer watching keywords, listings, consumer reviews, etc.

Now we have a forecast that shows increased consumer control, growing niche media, and reliance on self-serve advertising models.

How can small business survive and thrive in this environment? More to come in future posts.

Small Business Facts

Some facts from the newly-released Small Business Growth: Searching for Stylized Facts, a report from the US Small Business Administration.

[Why did I choose these facts to reprint? Because small business really IS small business - one to four employees. It's important for folks trying to sell local online advertising to remember just how strapped resources are at most small, local businesses]

• Only three percent of small businesses are fast growing firms (defined as having a 50 percent or more increase in annual employment with at least a five-employee increase)
• Most firms start in the 1-4 employment size class and do not grow beyond this size class.
• Fast growing firms had higher rates of shrinkage in employment following their large one-year employment increase. The year after fast growth, 55 percent of fast growers declined in employment versus the universe’s 25 percent.

Ready to "Just Start" a Business? Think "Intuit"

Hey - All you who want to do business with small businesses. Take a page from Intuit.

Intuit takes its positioning with small businesses seriously, and they do it with style. Their report on the Future of Small Business is a must-read.

And today they announced the Intuit Just Start! campaign to help budding entrepreneurs. Part of the campaign is a free "small business" community that allows folks to promote their business and get listed on Web directories. But that's just the beginning.

To help the 72 percent of Americans who dream of starting a business, Intuit is giving away free copies of its popular QuickBooks® Simple Start software so entrepreneurs can easily establish the financial habits that will help them get their business successfully off the ground.

My favorite part of the campaign is the upbeat little pledge that urges folks to "Just Start Something New -- Turn an idea into a business, or take your own thing to the next level. Do what you love." All you have to do it enter your name, and write in your dream. It's your own little "kick-start."

AND, as part of the campaign, there is a contest from October 9 to December 15 with a grand prize of $40K in cash & $10K in expert resources. (Talk about burying the lead! But seriously, I think for most folks, the kick-start-a-dream is the killer app.)

Corporate self-serving? You bet it is! But what makes this "Real Marketing" (vs. "Get Real!" marketing) is that the customer gets real and solid value, both tanglible and intangible. I say "YEA" for Intuit. With all the companies fighting over the local advertising dollar, here's a company that's going to be a leader in the upcoming small business revolution.

The Future of Small Business

Intuit offers a fascinating look at the next decade of American business in the Intuit Future of Small Business Report, a three phase study authored by the Institute for the Future.

Phase one, released in January, focused on the dramatic changes in the face of small business, as seasoned baby boomers, kids fresh out of high school, mid-career women, "mompreneurs" and new immigrants come together to create the most diverse pool of entrepreneurs ever.

The disruptions that have beset workers -- economic, social and technological change — and an increased interest in flexible work schedules — will produce a more independent workforce seeking a better work-life balance.

Phase two of the report was released June 26, and finds that tomorrow's successful small business owners will be far more reliant on technology than their current counterparts. They'll be more connected in a mobile world, market to customers in ways only imagined today and blur the lines between the virtual and physical worlds as the hype surrounding today's technology becomes tomorrow's reality. The findings include three emerging technology trends that will revolutionize the very nature of running a small business:

• On My Time, On My Terms – In a connected world, small business management will increasingly be "on my time" and "on my terms" for owners.
• Global, Local, Virtual – The evolution of the Web will fuel small business formation, operations and innovation.
• From "Push" to "Pull" – The small business marketing approach will shift from "push" to "pull."

The very nature of local business, retail and service included, is dramatically shifting. Anyone in the field of marketing to, or for, a local business should read this report.