Last night was a great night of networking and learning in various networking groups. It wasn’t until the middle  of the afternoon when I looked at my wife and business partner’s shared calendar that I was aware of a Small Business Owners meeting at the Greenville, SC Chamber of Commerce. I am so glad I went.  Everyone there were small business owners in the Upstate of South Carolina or interested in entering the Greenville,SC market. We had a chance to listen to Timothy Justice of Rescom Construction and ask him questions about what we could do in our own businesses to take them to the next level. Very encouraging.

After the meeting at the Chamber I went to the meeting of the Upstate Entrepreneur Forum which was about a mile away. This was another opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs and listen to Elizabeth Garrison of Ever Green Recycling, her business vision and past business experience.  Once again I got some great tips and ideas to grow my own business and to make it stronger.  Not to mention I love meeting others I can work with and help succeed and thus help my community prosper.

I had to leave the UEF a little early, It pained me to do so but on the other side of town another group I am very passionate about was meeting.  The Greenville Mac User’s Group has been around a long time and I’m happy to be a part of the group of enthusiastic Mac computer users.  Last night’s GreenvilleMUG meeting revolved around the discussion of backups and we also had a video conference with our local Apple rep who could not make the meeting in person last night. I have a desire to start a more specialized group of people who want to develop applications of the Mac OSX platform and the iPhone.

The only thing I regret about going to all the meetings last night was I had to spread myself around, leave early at one and show up a little late at another. I didn’t get to network and make as many connections as I could have. I do plan on e-mailing people I meet with last night who I exchanged business cards with to do some of that networking today.

Did you see me last night (4-14-08)?

Over the weekend I set up linkerjpatrick.com. I don’t use it a lot on this site but most places on the Internet such as forums, Flickr, commenting on blogs, Twitter , Linkedin and Facebook to name a few.  The site will me mostly a blog to a place to “work my personal brand.”  I wanted a place I could test more things out, do some affiliate marketing and talk about things that are better suited for a personal blog than a business blog.  Yes, I could have set something up on a “free service” but I wanted to secure the user name under it’s own domain. Feel free to follow that blog there if you are interested in getting to know the “whole me.” 
The site will also serve as an example of using a web site for personal branding. 

One of the most productive aspects of marketing is developing and maintaining excellent customer relationships. It can be really easy to let strong ties to current customers slip as we go about our daily business of working on current projects and the search for new customers. However the relationships you have will your current client base can achieve greater results at a lower cost.

I’m not just saying this as a part of my own business. I know many of my readers are small business people and I’m also a customer of others who may read this blog as well.

We have made a point to actively network and attend meetings where we are in constant contact with clients and fellow business people. Not only does this give us the opportunity to meet new people but we are there to ask questions and provide a bit of in-person service to existing relationships.

In a previous post I brought up the need to remind people we know about new services or directions of the company.  I recently had a conversation with an old friend who knew we did web design work but he didn’t think to ask us about designing a logo or some photography work which we also offer.

Is customer relationship management part of your marketing plan? They are tools you may already have available like Microsoft Outlook/Exchange that has build in address books an calendar features. Macs have an intergration between the mail, Calendar and Address book programs.  More dedicate software solutions include ACT! on Windows and Daylite on the Mac.  Larger corporate environments may use other solutions as well depending on the scale of your sales and client database and the integration with other departments, etc. We use an online service called, Highrise which allows us to have better communication with customers, leads, vendors, etc. What tools have you found most helpful in increasing sales to existing clients and informing them of new or changed services?

We have already covered the topic of branding in a previous series but without rehashing too much it’s important to consider how branding fits into your overall marketing plan. The more I read about branding the more I realize it’s an everyday strategy, not just part of a campaign.  Yes, It’s important to have a “brand awareness” campaign or to have those times when you need to refocus on your who you are, not only as a company but also a person and representative of that company.

Is your brand consistent across all your marketing efforts?  I’ve mentioned before the importance of business blogging and involvement in social media as Internet tools for spreading your message. Sometime blatant but more often subtle.  Are you aware of your branding efforts in virtual and live networking events? Is your logo just an obligatory mark or does it tell a story?

It’s very easy to confuse advertising and marketing as the same thing but in reality advertising is a component or niche discipline of marketing. About.com has a really good article and description of this saying.

Marketing can involve everything from advertising, public relations,  market research, media planning, etc.

The advertising aspect however is probably what most people think of when they think of marketing.  According to Wikipedia, Advertising is a form of communication whose purpose is to inform potential customers about products and services and how to obtain and use them. Many advertisements are also designed to generate increased consumption of those products and services through the creation and reinforcement of brand image and brand loyalty.

Advertising when done wrong can be seen as very intrusive but when done right can be a welcome message when targeted to the right people. One of the biggest advertising complaints is annoying ads, especially on T.V. and the Internet.  On T.V. I’m sure most of us have been exposed to the loud and obnoxious car commercial and on the Internet with the use of annimated banner ads or even worse pop up ads or e-mail spam.

I’m listening and watching podcasts that reach niche audiences and while some are often ad supported I hardly ever feel interrupted because the ads are usually targeted to my interests. A very good example is the PhotoshopUserTV podcast which teaches people how to use Adobe Photoshop better.  The ads will usually be for cameras, camera equipment or software I would more than likely consider buying or at least would like to buy when I had the money.

Google has improved the reputation of online advertising by the use of “contextual text ads” based on the search terms people use on their web site.

Wide area and interupptive advertising is not always bad.  You may have a product that would appeal to the general population such as a new soft drink, electronic device or pair of shoes.  Especially if it’s brand new. The important thing is to consider your audience and their reaction.

How is advertising being used in your business?  Are you trying varying forms and hoping something just works or do you have a strategy within the context of the market you are trying to sell to? Are you taking full advantage of your current marketing pieces or position in the community to advertise effectively?