Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi everyone,

I launched my market research and information consulting firm, Veridical Research Solutions, two months ago. We offer a number of services (demographic segmentation, product/concept testing, prospect lead generation, etc.), and only serve startups, small businesses, and nonprofits. I have had some success, but they were all through referrals. I know referrals are great (especially in B2B service industry); however, I know I`m really selling myself short.

The market I serve is huge and is constantly expanding. On the other hand, a good number of startups/small businesses fail, and I think this is attributed to a lack of research. Many people think they have the ultimate product and/or service, but fail to research the market they are targeting. This is such a crucial element of forming your business, yet many forgo this step.

Nevertheless, there are many people who DO take this step. My problem is figuring out how to reach them. I have done a press release (free) and try to be active in SuN forums and other blogs. What are some good ways to target entrepreneurs and small businesses? Any feedback would help a lot. Thanks.

Adam C. Snow
Founder and Research Director
Veridical Research Solutions
www.VeridicalRS.com

Hi Adam,

Congrats on your new business! Since you don`t have a newsroom on your website yet, I would suggest posting a media kit, your press release and other key information about your business. Then, you can work on getting the power of the media to work for you. (This site includes a lot of tips about this area.)

Contact the reporters at various media venues who cater to your target audience. If you can get them to talk about your business, you`ll gain credibility and awareness that you can`t purchase. Also look into partnering with other businesses on joint PR and marketing efforts that share your target market. You`ll save time and money and be more effective.

These are just a few thoughts to get you started...

Thanks,

Melanie

 

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Melanie Rembrandt
CEO, Rembrandt Communications®, LLC
Visit www.rembrandtwrites.com for valuable PR tips and SEO copywriting help!
Twitter: @RembrandtWrites

I totally agree!  This is the best way to get started.

Wish you the best!

Jennifer

Adam,

Try giving seminars at your local bsuiness organizations like SCORE, SBA, etc.  Most of the people who attend these seminars and conferences are small business owners or start-ups.

I just attended a seminar about starting or expanding a business and it touched on the need for market research before starting and ongoing to keep up with trends and changes in customer base.

This could be a great avenue for your business to educate people on what you do and why it is important and it gives you a database of potential clients. 

Adam,

I just hired a marketing strategist for my business last week whom I met at a business mixer.  I find that going to meet and greets can get you some solid leads and a good network of business friends in a long run.

Try this link for the US chamber of commerce directory. I`ve got my month already booked for my own strategy.  Be prepared to have plenty of business cards, press kits would be good too.

Here`s the link:

http://www.2chambers.com/



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"videos can say it like it is"
09-21-2007

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real estate investments

Thank you Melanie, Jennifer, Lisa, and Lizette. You have all helped me a great deal. If their is anything I can do for any of you, please let me know. Thanks again!


Adam C. Snow
Founder and Research Director
Veridical Research Solutions
www.VeridicalRS.com

That`s really nice of you Adam! I think you can return the favor by being super successful  !

Have a great day,
Melanie

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Melanie Rembrandt
CEO, Rembrandt Communications®, LLC
Visit www.rembrandtwrites.com for valuable PR tips and SEO copywriting help!
Twitter: @RembrandtWrites

Hi Adam,

All fantastic ideas from everyone on this thread. I would like to share a few things that helped me to get my brand out.

You are on the right track as far as sticking with a niche and contributing to forums but something that will help you catapult your brand is building a strong local presence and some success stories within your community.

(1) Writing articles. You can post articles about your subject matter on the free article directories like www.ezinearticles.com and www.ideamarketers.com there are others but those are the big ones. I started marketing through those sites and after I got a feel for my audience I started defining my articles a bit more making them offbeat and submitting them to my local community based newspapers. It started with them accepting and publishing 1 out of maybe 6 articles or so then after a year they had seen so many articles from me, they ended up giving me a weekly column. So I get paid for my articles and the best free advertising you can get.

(2) Social networking, via www.squidoo.com or www.linkedin.com Linked in says that everyone you need to meet is separated by 3 degrees or less.You use your current network of friends (clients, personal friends etc) to build a linked in network. Then say you want to meet someone who is the VP of a certain company, then you search their name and it will tell you who in your network is removed from that person by 1 degree and they can make the warm intro for you.

(3) Yahoo answers. I don`t know why but that is the 2nd biggest source of traffic to my website and I only post answers for about 1 hour once a week.

(4) Small Business Radio Shows. Start researching them and seeing if you can get featured as a guest on their show. They are always looking for interesting and fresh content. You might have to name yourself like the Small Business Savior or something...i don`t know. But give yourself a brand so that people can easily associate you with the solution you provide.

(5) Lisa mentioned the seminars, with SBA etc. In Washington, DC where I live we have the Small Business Development Centers (which I believe are nationwide). You can host seminars there for small business owners, contact the sba directly and see if they will interview you and also look into NFTE.com, national foundation for teaching entrepreneurs. it is a group that works with youth entrepreneurs in economically challenged neighborhoods worldwide. The corporate sponsors and people invovled in that group are amazing and extremely hands on and come out and support all the events and fundraisers etc.

(6) Pay it forward. Volunteer on board of directors or organizing committees for things you are passionate about. It takes getting in front of people a half dozen times before they remember your name and what you are about. Volunteering on organizing committees lets you see people with a common thread once a month. You can network in a very informal and comfortable environment and people connect with you personally by nature. Once again you get to work with corporate sponsors who support these organizations and do what you love when you are not working. I have received a tremendous personal and professional fulfillment and growth from volunteering. I am now up to 25-30 hours a month.

(7) Stick with it and have patience. You are only 2 months old, so seems to me you are way ahead of the game. The first 3 months of my business I was just learning about what was out there and how it all goes together (still trying to figure it out ) it was probably 4-6 months before I took on my first regular paying client. So pick one or two things to focus on and have faith that things will work out. You just have to do something marketing related everyday and be sure to have fun with it!

Best of Luck to you.

Love and Laughter,

Shonika

Thank you Shonika. I truly appreciate your detailed advice, and I look forward to utilizing them.

Adam C. Snow
Founder and Research Director
Veridical Research Solutions
www.VeridicalRS.com

Fantastic.

I know that it all sounds a little overwhelming, but you just have to pick and choose.

Also, what might help you is to create a `Mind Map`.

So you can see a visual diagram of how your thoughts and ideas connect and determine what is a priority or not. I have found them extremely useful. Free Mind has a pretty good version and it is free.

http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Hoping everything works out for you. If you get stuck, do not hesitate or be embarassed to ask for additonal help.

learn. dream. share. evolve.

Shonika
www.cell-phone-help-and-training.com