Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello Everyone!

I have been doing some market research lately about how to help small to medium sized businesses.  I own a small Advertising and Marketing agency and I opened it to work with the smaller businesses, but the industry has a bad wrap on price.  I really don`t want the multi-million dollar accounts.  I just want a small, modest shop that helps the small- to medium-sized businesses have a voice in the industry through professional marketing help. 

Some of the conclusions I have come to during my research is that marketing is typically done four ways in the small business realm:

1) The owner performs the marketing which results in wasted time and lack of results through effectiveness.

2)  The business hires a marketing employee which produces a narrowed focus and the same non-effective marketing campaigns.

3)  They outsource different aspects of their marketing to many different companies which produces a confused message.

4) They just forget about marketing and wait for the business to come in. 

With this information I have started a program that works as an "outsourced marketing department" for these small businesses at a rate between a part-time salary and full-time salary. 

I guess my question for you all is, is this program of value to the many small business owners out there?  Please elaborate.  For more information about the program go to www.FullSourceMarketing.com.  I really appreciate all your feedback.

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Paul Miser, MBA
Miser Advertising and Marketing
Intensify. Market. Grow!
www.MiserAd.com
MiserAd Blog
Email Me

Personally?

I wouldn`t hire you. I don`t find your own site to be terribly compelling - there`s something missing in your copy.

The words "WEEKLY INSIGHT" were pretty much unreadable on the top right.

I think you need to keep the text simple and benefit-focused throughout the site. If they are too busy to do their own marketing, they are probably too busy to read that many words.


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That PHP Girl
Small Business Essentials
Latest Post on SUN: New Facebook Pages - First Impressions

Nhgnikole -

I have not seen 1 positive response from you on any topics.  Are you a negative individual naturally?

The words, "Weekly Insight" is very clear on my flat screen.  There is a difference between constructive feedback and being too direct.

I am not an expert on copy or websites but was taught to be helpful, not negative.

Pam Akkerman

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Pamela Akkerman (Web Executive Assistant)
Specializing in Office Management.

I understand, that small business usually is a amll team or a single person strapped for time. I am definately one of them. I have outsourced a marketing/pr firm for my projects, first b/c of time, second b/c they are better than I in that area. I also have a network of friends in this dept who help me get things done and I do the same for them. With a linited budget, it helps to outsource.

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Our Goal Is Your Success!
Founder Girls with Goals

Pam - this information is actually VERY helpful whether or not you find it "negative". As someone who does, on occasion, outsource marketing and PR for my clients, my opinion is honest and valid. When you are in marketing, the first thing people look at is your own materials. If those are not your best effort, you will have a very hard time finding work.

If I sugar coat this for him, he`s not going to make the changes necessary for him to find good work. And people like me are not going to hire him.

Those words are clear on the front page, but they shift colors on other pages, like this one. And then they are a whole lot less clear.

I want this guy to succeed. He`s an MBA - he doesn`t need me to hold his hand. What he needs to know is an honest evaluation from someone in his target market. And that`s what I gave. If you think "I wouldn`t hire you" is a negative thing - please don`t ever ask your customers (or those whose sales you lost) for an evaluation. Those who don`t buy from you are often more important than those who do.


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That PHP Girl
Small Business Essentials
Latest Post on SUN: New Facebook Pages - First Impressions

I agree with Nikole. Hand-holding or holding back honest feedback is never helpful ... and can be very harmful. Also ... he`s here asking for a critique. Nikole regularly contributes great advice and if you think her comments are negative ... well no one forces you to read them.

My comments: The site seems a bit amateurish, especially the copywriting. Using "Welcome" is a classic beginner mistake. Get rid of the "Welcome" and replace it with a great headline. Your current headline is decent but lacks hook or sparkle:

"Full Source Marketing is your Marketing Department Solution!" This phrase is a bit boring and while communicative and somewhat clear, it just doesn`t make me want to know more about your products and services. I don`t really feel that a 4 second or 10 second glance at the front page gives me much clarity about what you offer.

You do have a lot of copy in those three paragraphs. Shorten this to bullet points or small paragraph headings and very short paragraphs.

Overall, I like the attempt at simplicity. It`s pretty clean design and doesn`t overwhelm. The use of Iframes in the pages is strange. Why not have this content on the page itself?

One issue that may or may not be important is the Fee Schedule. Attempting to explain the finance part of it in very literal terms won`t lead to more customers. I guess that explaining how to save $15,000 a year by spending $36,000 doesn`t really make sense to me ... and I am a finance junkie. By using this approach you are selling numbers. This won`t work with most people. It would work very well with me but I enjoy numbers and most people don`t.

You might want to polish the site a bit more and really give it a huge injection of clarity and some extra heat.

Your blog contains good information by the way. I learned a few good tips!!!

To answer your specific question about outsourced marketing.

Small business owners don`t pay much attention to marketing because of all the reasons you list ... but there are other reasons. Sometimes it`s hard to remember that most people have no interest whatsoever in marketing.

1. Why does a small business owner ignore marketing?

2. Is marketing a revenue booster or does it dilute risk?

3. Marketing in house -vs- outsourcing.

I am interested in your grasp of these numbers. If a business spends $36,000 to hire you, how long does it take them to recoup that investment and what is the rate of return? In the specific numbers, you have some mathematically interesting proposals: Spend $36k to save $15k. This doesn`t make sense. Also, since the number 36 is more than double 15, you will be hard pressed to justify this as cost savings. Instead, the message "spend $15k to save $36k" is much more appealing.

Your model also has a few specific thorns. You are offering a strategic product, like McKinsey and Co. This is often the most difficult type of product to sell to anyone. Small businesses are most often looking for products that solve immediate and clearly indentifiable issues. Marketing is a vague concept. most people don`t know what it means. Your model might be better if you offer to solve very specific problems. Ask small business owners about their number one concern and it`s not marketing; it`s cash. Your site talks about the cost in cash of outsourcing a marketing department. Yet the cash requirement for a small business to outsource is quite large: $3000 per month or $98 per day for an entire year. This is a tricky area: do your services bring in more than $98 per day in extra revenue?

Honestly... I agree with nikole as well... If your own site isn`t up to par then the question is why would someone want to hire you to handle their marketing. I guess it`s a practice what you preach sort of thing. If your site alone, appears to be something that you just put together over night then most people will move on.

I use to do web and graphic design and owned my own firm for some years before selling it. Now i just outsource web and graphic design work out and focus on the contracts. So some more advice would be to get rid of the amazon affiliate products, makes your business site seem a bit questionable.

As a whole i would say hire a professional web designer or use a template if you`re strapped for cash. Or convert your site to Wordpress for a cleaner look... Any help you may need just let me know...


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eCommerce Design | Blog Marketing Tips | Cheap Web Hosting | Office Furniture

One thing I would point out is that if the outsourced marketing doesn`t result in significantly less work then it would not appeal to me either.  One of the things I`ve personally had a hard time with anytime I`ve had a third party do something is that I feel you spend almost as much time making it clear exactly what I want.

Good luck!

Thank you all for your constructive criticisms.  I will definitely take it all into consideration when I go back to the drawing board.  It really has opened my eyes to things that I never considered.  Thank you all again, and keep checking back for FSM 2.0.

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Paul Miser, MBA
Miser Advertising and Marketing
Intensify. Market. Grow!
www.MiserAd.com
MiserAd Blog
Email Me