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I do a lot of consulting for small to very small businesses.  Having been on the management side of a few small businesses, I understand that every expense is a difference-maker.  The margin for error (or, in some cases, the margin itself) is thin.

 

With that said, it’s far too easy to come across a business which markets in a vacuum, sporadically.  Any marketing or PR efforts in these cases happen in a “one-off” fashion.  “When we have a bit of a surplus, we’ll put together a flyer or get a little press.” 

 

Now, the people who approach marketing or PR this way tend to be strong in all other elements of business.  They have business plans.  They think ahead.  They put resources and attention into product planning and distribution.  They have quality control.  They went to business school.  They can definitely talk the talk.

 

So why do these bright, educated executives and owners essentially wing it when it comes to communications?  Beats me.  I know that they don’t, generally, plan their production on a weekly basis (“Well, if we have a good week, we’ll produce 100 more widgets next week.”).   It could be that many forms of marketing and most forms of public relations are very difficult to measure in terms of results (the key here is that it’s difficult, not impossible).  It could be that many small businesses get their start through word of mouth, referral or face-to-face sales. They’ve done well  in this fashion, but they haven’t yet realized they’re at a point where this just isn’t good enough any more. 

 

In any event, you can usually tell “one-off” marketing or PR.  It tends to be reactive (rather than pro-active), tends to have a muddled message or a cliché image.  Then again, most usually don’t notice “one-off” marketing or PR at all.  That’s because most single-shot campaigns go unnoticed (Except, perhaps, for the amazingly obnoxious Sales Genie commercials aired during the 2007 Super Bowl.  A classic example of negative branding.)

 

A small business can get its message to its customer in a wide variety of ways.  It doesn’t need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to do effective marketing or PR.  But it does need to touch its audience more than once, more than one way, and with the same, effective message.  So do yourself a favor.  Have, at a bare minimum, a marketing plan.  Know exactly what your brand is, know what you want people to know about it (and limit yourself to a short sentence or two), know which people you want to know about it, and, above all, know what sets you apart from your competition.  If you just know that, and your message conveys all of that consistently and with some repetition, you may just find your returns are favorable.

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