Piccolo Marketing Blog

Spring break is right around the corner… the sun, the sand, the drink in your hand. Keep your vacation a vacation by planning ahead and putting all your marketing efforts in place before you leave. Yes, you do deserve that much needed vacation, but your marketing strategy should never go on hiatus.

To keep your marketing going while you’re away, follow these simple tips for a stress-free, work-free vacation:

1. Plan ahead. If you’ve been working your marketing strategy up to this point, odds are you have a system that works for you. At Piccolo Marketing, we use content calendars, social media automation with Hootsuite, and team member task management through Asana. With a well-structured system in place it should be easy to look ahead at what tasks would need to be accomplished for the time you’re scheduled to be away.

2. Stick to the plan. Rather than letting a task go or getting a week or two behind, build some extra time in the weeks or days ahead of your trip to tackle these tasks early.  If something can’t be done ahead of time, this is a good opportunity to hand it off to a team member with clear instructions and expectations. Regardless of the situation, it’s important to stick to the plan because effective marketing requires consistency, presence, and visibility.

3. Automate. If you haven’t already automated some of your marketing practices, now may be just the time to do so. As I mentioned earlier, we use Hootsuite for scheduling and managing our social media presence. With an automation system, you can manage multiple social media platforms from one central location and take advantage of scheduling features. That way, your marketing will keep working long after you’ve hit the beach!

4. Take a look back. When you return from your lovely vacation, all tanned and relaxed, take a minute to review the processes you put into place. What went well? Where is there an opportunity for improvement?

Wishing you a safe, happy, and stress-free vacation!

You’ve completed all the preparation and attended all the right networking events. Now what?

Follow up.

This is where the real work of networking begins. As I've emphasized before, networking without following up negates most of the effort you put into reaching your contacts. So, I’ve put together a few key tips to keep the momentum going and your networking a success. The following is a solid strategy to follow up with all your networking contacts.

1. Reach out to everyone. Many people will decline your follow-up invitation for a variety of reasons. However, sending the invitation helps to build a positive reputation with the invitees.  Not everyone who says they will reach out actually do! Only those who are serious about developing their referral partner pipeline will actually take the time. As contacts get pruned from address books, your extra effort could be the reason your name stays relevant. Everyone else gets weeded out!
2. Build follow up time into your schedule. You can send out a template invitation and, with the pre-scheduled time blocks, you don’t have to stress over your schedule week to week. It doesn’t have to be a chore for you!
3. Create a system for yourself. Sending a monthly email with valuable information serves two purposes. It will not only keep you top of mind with everyone you’ve met, but will also put your contact info front and center. When they decide they need your services or they refer you, they will know how to find you quickly
4. Give. I’m sure you’ve heard it before – you have to give to get. With one of your newly developed referral partners, send a little business their way. This reciprocal networking is invaluable with new contacts. It can strengthen your business relationship and give your customer a solution to their problem. A win-win for everyone.  You don’t always have to have the answer, but you need to know where to find it!

Still not sure where to get started? Give us a call at Piccolo Marketing at 615-348-7768 and we’ll help you get your networking follow-up strategy in line.

At Piccolo Marketing, we know your big goals are often backed by small(er than you’d like) marketing budgets. As a marketing-for-small-business expert, we’re here to tell you that the size of your budget doesn’t have to dictate the success of your marketing strategy!

The biggest key to your marketing success is the strength of your marketing strategy. That strategy should include a variety of marketing avenues from print to email newsletters and social media profiles. With the wide array of marketing options that are available, don’t forget that there are many low or no-cost options that you can use to bolster your strategy.

Consider these marketing methods from Inc.:

1. Create a loyalty program. This can be as simple as providing customers the opportunity to join an email list (with options in-store, point of sale, or a link on your website). Membership in this exclusive club gives the consumer access to birthday coupons, insider sales or discounts, or freebies, such as a free how-to guide.
2. Harness the power of partnerships. Make your networking and marketing strategies work together. Attend strategic networking events with the goal of developing referral partners. Have your customers been looking for additional, complementary services that you don’t provide? Developing a network of service providers can set you up to meet your customers’ needs, whether personally or in collaboration. Your network will extend the same courtesy to you, should the need arise!
3. Support a local cause. This is the ultimate in free marketing. Taking the time to volunteer or donate with a local organization can help you to tap into new markets, cost-free. Take care to choose organizations that are meaningful to you, both personally and professionally. You are guaranteed to encounter fellow volunteers or participants that are like-minded, giving you the opportunity to create new connections. When these potential customers find themselves in need of your services, they’ll know where to turn!

Click here for more low to no-cost marketing options from Inc.

Want to learn more? Check out my past blogs for tips on developing a marketing budget, marketing strategy, and social media strategy. Need one-on-one help? Give us a call at Piccolo Marketing at 615-348-7768 or email us at hello@piccolomarketing.com.

You’ve been attending all of the right networking events, polishing your “elevator speech” and religiously working your marketing drip campaign. So, what gives? You feel like you’re beating your head against the brick wall of networking with nothing to show but a stack of business cards and an email automation sequence to die for.

The moment of truth… it’s not just about contact. The key to networking success is conversion.

Check out these tips on how to get your network off the bench and into the game. After all, you can’t score from the sidelines.

1.     Ask for advice. Start to think of your network as less of a dollar funnel and more of a collaboration. In a fluid, give-and-take type of relationship, there is the potential for growth and experience for everyone involved. Especially when working towards a common goal of business success. Shared benefit include being able to bounce ideas off of one another, pick someone’s brain about a difficult transition you’re approaching, or seek advice on an upcoming decision from a trusted colleague or mentor. The bottom line is, people aren’t going to network with you if they aren’t familiar, confident, and trusting in your ability to follow through and get the job done right. It takes more than just an exchange of business cards to build that level of trust.

2.     Give. Give. Give. On second thought, don’t ask for advice first! Rather, find a way to give to someone. This requires you to listen, process, and respond accordingly. People will appreciate your thoughtfulness and they’ll remember you when the time comes to reciprocate the favor. They’ll also be much more willing to give their time and energy to you when you need a little help in return.

3.     Be transparent. Be clear about your motives when engaging in any exchange. No one wants to feel like they were misled or taken advantage of. A good way to avoid this is to be clear with yourself what your goals are for a particular event.  

4.     Make it personal. While it’s important to keep your social media or digital advertising up and running, don’t forget the importance of personal outreach. Set aside time each week for direct, person to person marketing or networking. This could be as simple as a coffee break, quick phone call, or personal email. Whatever your strategy, build it into your week and be genuine (and transparent) with your intentions.

For more tips on how to engage and convert your network, check out the full article at Entrepreneur.com.

It’s not enough to just create a plethora of social media accounts. It's important to be more than a mere presence online. Staying up to date, while posting consistently and on topic is crucial for your social media profile management. Nothing is worse than finding a contact online only to see they haven’t been active for over a year! Or worse, they try to link to your website and the link is broken.

Avoid these common social media profile management issues with these tips:

1. Create a checklist. It’s inevitable that change will find you. Whether it’s a new website, total branding overhaul, or a new hire, it will happen. So, don’t let it surprise you and fall through the cracks. Take a minute and create a list of all the places that would need to be updated in the event of a change. This would likely include all of your social media accounts, your website, and other web-based profiles, such as Google, Bing, or Yelp profiles.  Don’t forget any professional or local organizations, if appropriate. Now, with your handy checklist, once a change occurs you can simply take it one at a time to make sure anywhere and everywhere that should be updated is.
2. Schedule a check in reminder. Create a recurring appointment or reminder for yourself every month or two to take a moment and check in. While major info is not likely to change that often, you can use this for other important, but often overlooked tasks. For instance, you could use this as a reminder to change your profile picture or to personally reach out and connect to potential or past customers or referral partners.
3. Drop in on yourself. Using your same checklist above, check yourself! Every so often, drop in on your accounts from your personal social media profile. What does it look like from the front side? Sometimes what you see on the other side isn’t what you had envisioned, so it doesn’t hurt to check! You could even ask a friend to scan your pages for ease of use – is your phone number, email address, or other important information easy to find and user friendly? Remember, you may know exactly where it is, but what will be the experience of your consumer?
4. Post often. More than anything, post often. This will help keep you up to date simply by being present. It will also help you to stay top of mind with your audience.

Need more guidance? Let us help you build and manage your checklist. Give us a call at Piccolo Marketing at 615-348-7768.

Happy posting!

In the midst of all your clients, meetings, and never-ending to do’s, don’t lose sight of your business identity. I’m sure you’ve been there…. you’re deep in the trenches, agonizing over the details, you get so caught up in the task at hand that you don’t even realize the direction your project has headed in. When you finally come up for air and take a look at your masterpiece you realize… you’ve completely missed the mark.

It can be so easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.

In spite of whatever else you may have going on, one way to maintain your business identity is through your social media outreach. A solid social media marketing strategy can not only be a steady and consistent source of information for your clients, but a reminder for you to see the forest, in spite of the trees.

Check yourself and maintain your focus with these social media tips:

1. Make a content calendar. A content calendar is a place to collect your social media materials. Maybe you read a good article or saw a funny meme that you would like to pass on to your clients or colleagues. Compiling your materials into one central location can be helpful in many ways. One, you’ll be able to see all your resources at one time and you can organize them in a way that makes sense – spreading out like items or piggybacking off of a quote or infographic with a related article. A content calendar can also save you time! By sticking things in here as you are going about your week, you can easily pull information when you are ready to schedule your next batch of posts. (If you’re not already doing so, I recommend using a scheduling or automation program like Hootsuite to increase your efficiency.)
2. Use keywords. Your content calendar and marketing materials should be influenced by your list of keywords. This is simply a list of words that are related to your business and whose use in social media, blogs, or website content will help to boost your ranking in an online search. In choosing content, be mindful of these keywords and use them thoughtfully. (Marketing strategy, marketing strategy, marketing strategy.)
3. Follow a schedule. The hard part is gathering the content and you’ve already done that! From there, lay out your plan of attack in terms of both timing of posts and choice of platform and stick to it! By using programs like Hootsuite, you can turn this into a weekly task that becomes an important and consistent part of your routine.

Are you having difficulty developing, implementing, or just sticking to your social media plan? Give us a call at Piccolo Marketing at 615-348-7768 – we’d love to help you find and maintain your business identity!

Finally! You have a notification or email indicating that you’ve just received a review. As you’re taking the steps to open it, you start to think… “I hope it’s a good one!” or “It must be from that customer I just had – she was so happy!”

You open the page, read it, and your heart sinks.

A negative review.

RED ALERT. DELETE. DESTROY THE EVIDENCE.

Before you do anything rash, stop. Just stop and follow these steps to (positively) respond to a negative review.

1.    Recall the experience. A customer has taken the time, and felt motivated enough, to provide a review of your business or service. Take a moment to recall the customer and use this as an opportunity to improve a system, process, or service. While the customer may not be 100% in the right, there is undoubtedly a middle ground where the truth can reveal an opportunity for improvement. Don’t miss out on that opportunity.

2.    Step back. Now that you’ve considered the situation, take a break. Don’t respond immediately. I’m sure we’ve all had an experience where, in hindsight, our initial reaction to a situation was both inappropriate and exaggerated. Time provides rational insight that you will find incredibly valuable in a situation like this. Take some time to clear your mind and, after reflecting, come back to your response. It will be easier to draft a considerate reply with fresh thoughts and emotions.

3.    Respond. You most definitely need to respond. Carefully and thoughtfully consider how to balance respecting the experience and feelings of your customer with a “defense” of your organization.

NOTE: your “defense” is not an argument. Instead:

• Apologize. Let them know you are remorseful because a valued customer had a negative experience. Unequivocally, with no strings attached. You are simply sorry.
• Highlight your strengths. Communicate a value that your company strives to uphold that is relevant to the situation. Underscore how your goal is to provide a quality experience for each customer and how you work towards accomplishing that goal.
• Stay positive. Always. You know the old saying, “you catch more bees with honey.” Well, it’s true and it never helps to bring more negativity to a situation. If you take no other piece of advice from this blog, please always stay positive.
• Be genuine. I’m sure you never set out to provide poor, or less than stellar, service. You can reflect those sentiments in your response to a negative review by being genuine in your efforts to correct a situation.

Wishing you many 5-star reviews!

If one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to revitalize your networking strategy, let’s get started!

(If one of your New Year’s Resolutions did not address your networking strategy, it’s not too late to add one!)

To develop your networking strategy, let’s focus on the five W’s…

1. The Who. As with most things, it’s important to know your audience. Are you networking with potential clients, referral partners, contractors, or looking for a new job? Knowing who you’re in front of will help to guide your “pitch” and get you in the right frame of mind.
2. The What. Now that you know who you are talking to, the next step is to clearly define what you are talking about. Let’s say you’ve decided to focus on developing referral partners. To do so effectively you’ll need to know what holes you are looking to fill in your own business. For example, you may manage marketing projects, but need to bring in another company when your client is in need of website design.
3. The Where. Consider where you are most comfortable networking and what makes sense in regards to getting in front of your “who” to discuss your “what.” There are many options for networking, including online forums or social or industry-specific events. I would suggest incorporating a variety of opportunities into your networking strategy.
4. The When. Partially dictated by the “where,” the when is an important factor in your networking strategy. Arguably, there is a different feel to a breakfast time, industry-specific event, as opposed to an after work happy hour open to the public. In relation to your “what” defined above, consider what type of event makes the most sense for the feel, flow, and appropriateness of conversation.
5.  (and) The Why. Don’t forget your why!! Remember, your “what” is a step along the way of achieving your “why.” This could be found in your mission statement, a quarterly or annual business goal, or in a personal New Year's resolution. In the midst of your daily tasks, don’t lose sight of the bigger picture.

Ready to get started? Try out your five W’s at our next Nashville Locals event.

For more information on networking and tips for best practices, check out some of my past blogs:

Networking Revelations: It’s Not You, It’s Me

Networking 101: Developing Your Game Plan

Online Networking: Tips for Connecting With LinkedIn

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of influencing a website’s visibility in an internet search. Specifically, how early (or high) and often does your business appear on an internet search. For example, if you are a bicycle shop and a potential customer types into Google “bicycle shop,” where does your shop rank in the results?

Go ahead and test it out with your individual business…

[[It’s important to remember that SEO refers to “natural” or “organic” results. Meaning the results that appear at the top of your search that are designated as ads do not count!]]

Understanding, working, and bolstering your SEO ranking is important for several reasons:

1. To increase website traffic.

The earlier (or higher) ranking that your business has impacts how often your website will be visited. Consider your own search habits – when you type in an internet search do you focus on the top 3-5 results, the first page, etc. The farther back you are listed, the less likely your site is to be found. And we can all agree, it’s impossible to convert a customer without contact!

2. It encourages diversity.

There are different kinds of SEO results. As you know, a search can result in a quest for an article, image, video, news, local businesses, etc. Therefore, one way to boost your SEO ranking is to diversify your portfolio. This can be done by using tags or keywords in images, videos, or blogs. Remember, it may be a how-to video that directs one customer to your website or an informational infographic that catches the eye of another. Be creative!

3. It encourages consistency.

SEO is driven by understanding how people search. Consider what terms a potential customer would be likely to use to search for your business. Make a list of those keywords and thoughtfully and consistently use them! For instance, if you were the bicycle shop discussed above, a likely list of terms or keywords would include:

Bicycle

Bike

Bike shop

Biking

Cycling

Cycle

Bike service

Bike repairs

Bike trails

Mountain biking

And so on….

Take a minute and consider what your own list of terms or keywords would include.

With your list, make an effort to include those terms in blogs, social media posts, website content, or anywhere else you post online. This is the “optimization.” Then the SEO magic begins. A search for the term “bike shop” will scan webpages for the term and rank the results based on use, ease of access, and history of page popularity/consumer engagement.

BONUS tip: make your site mobile friendly!

If you haven’t already done so, 2017 is the time! As of 2015, mobile searches are more common than desktop searches. If your site is not mobile friendly you will see an impact on your SEO ranking.

Still confused? Give us a call at Piccolo Marketing at 615-348-7768 and we’ll help you develop a marketing strategy that most effectively promotes your business based on SEO principles.

It is common practice this time of year for people to begin considering and working through their personal New Year’s resolutions. Hopefully, by now you’ve also developed your business goals. Taking it a step further, have you considered how a business resolution could impact your business development?

A New Year’s Resolution is an “act of self-improvement,” such as exercising, eating healthy, etc. With similar goals of wellness, balance, and health, let’s consider how these small acts of self-improvement could positively impact your business.

Here are some of my favorites…

1. Join a business organization or networking group.

If you’ve ever read my blog, this resolution should come as no surprise! It’s not enough to just attend networking events. Be discerning in choosing the events or organizations that will best help you to accomplish your business goals.

Check out my tips for choosing the right networking event here.

2. Give something back to your community.

A feel good, win-win resolution if there ever was one! I’m sure we can all agree from our past experiences of giving, you often walk away feeling as if you’ve received more than you’ve given. Consider a resolution that involves giving back to your community – volunteer at a local food pantry, donate blood, or give money to a local school fundraiser. Make it meaningful to you!

3. Promote your business regularly and consistently.

The key to marketing is striking a balance between consistency and creativity. People need to know and recognize you as a leader or expert in the field and part of achieving that reputation is consistency in posting. Be sure to balance your consistency with creativity! Whether through eye-catching images and videos, catchy posts, or poignant questions, think of ways to engage and inspire your audience.

Click here to view my 2016 Social Media Cheat Sheet for more information on how to most effectively employ your marketing efforts.

4. Make business planning a weekly event.

Planning. Everyone’s favorite job task. However, if you use effective time management strategies, such as batching, you can take the mundane out of this important job responsibility. When you schedule and build business planning into your week, you can prioritize reviewing (and adjusting based on your findings) as well as planning ahead.

Planning is a vital component to business development, so resolve to make it a priority in 2017. For tips on time management, click here.

For more business resolution inspiration, click here to see the full list from Susan Ward.