Being small, acting big

You own a small business and you need to get your message out. How you do this in New York City is different than how you would do this in Ekalaka.

By JOHN FITZGERALD
Of The Gazette Staff

Tom Egelhoff, the president of smalltownmarketing.com, is here to help. The Bozeman-based entrepreneur wants to help small-town businesses market their products.

"There are just a few simple rules to follow," Egelhoff said. "You have to know your target market and show them the benefits of the product or service over the other guy. If you position your service away from the other guy, then you can make some money."

Egelhoff’s desire to help the small town small business comes from the Powerball lottery.

"One day I was reading in the newspaper about the man who won $100 million-plus in the Powerball, and the newspaper said there was a disproportionate number of winners in Fond du Lac, Wis. So I went to the atlas to see where Fond du Lac is, and I saw that Wisconsin is crammed with these small towns.

"I got to thinking, how do they market business in these towns? Is it just guessing, trial and error? That became the father for my book. I wanted to put out something that could direct these people to do their own marketing and advertising.

"I went on the Internet and tried to find books on small town marketing. I still can’t find any."

When Egelhoff had his epiphany, he had just moved to Bozeman and was selling small business forms. He has sold many products, including clay sewer pipe, pole barns, retail furniture, retail small electronics – the list goes on.

But his most influential experience came from his parents – floral shop owners in a small Illinois town for 60 years.

"That’s where I learned about small businesses," he said.

To help small-town small-business owners, Egelhoff has set up his Web site, http://www.smalltownmarketing.com.

"What I want to do with the Web site is to provide a place with free information that could help the small business owner. I started writing articles, tips, things like that. It’s all free – you don’t have to sign up or leave information about yourself.

"There just doesn’t seem to be many people out there giving help to the little guy because there’s no money in it. I don’t make a lot of money, but I get by."

Egelhoff gets by through sales of his book, "How to Market, Advertise and Promote Your Business or Service in a Small Town," and through speeches he gives on the topic.

"The thing that amazed me when I started this site was the amount of overseas traffic we get. It’s amazing to me that doing business, regardless of culture, seems to be universal.
Tom Egelhoff image

"I’m also surprised at the number of books we sell overseas. India, Vietnam, Russia, England, Australia is our biggest customer. We get a lot of response from the Middle East – with all that’s going on over there, I guess they’re still doing business.

"Several years ago, we got a call from Kosovo. They wanted to know how you market a small business during a war? That got me to thinking, even with a war, the bakers still bake and the show makers would still make shows. The biggest problem is your advertising might be blown up the nest day. The radio station or newspaper might not be there. I told him referrals are your best bet."

While small towns are not war-torn like Kosovo, they can be battlefields for competitive businesses. Egelhoff understands that any edge may make the difference between success and failure.

Some of the things to look for in small town businesses, according to Egelhoff:

* "In New York City, you can be as rude as you want and enough people are going to stumble into your store to keep doors open. I often think of the Soup Nazi on "Seinfeld." You can’t do that in Billings and stay open for long. Customer service in a small town is crucial. Word gets around."

* Being involved in the community is crucial, he said, "because the competition is fierce and there is a smaller dollar available. If you can get out and meet people in a non-business way like with the Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary, be active in your church, they’re more apt to do business with you because you’ve shown them you’re a responsible person."

* "Everybody within walking distance of your home and business should have your business card. Every employee should have business cards. Everybody needs to be out there working and meeting people because that’s where your customers come from."

* Businesses should target their markets. "Owners say ‘I should be in the newspaper, on radio, TV, whatever, but they don’t have a clue if their target market is on that station, watching that show, reading that section of the newspaper.

"There are two rules of advertising:

* It has to be an investment, not an expense. It’s got to produce more than it costs.

* We advertise benefits, which are emotional things, while features are logical things. Take cat food. If you market to cats, you would have bird- and mouse-flavored cat food because that’s what cats like. It’s logical. But cat food is flavored like giblets and gravy because they’re selling to us, not the cat. Business owners have to say what’s in it for customers, if it will save them time, money, convenience – it should be emotional rather than logical."

Putting words into action

Here are some of the tips Tom Egelhoff has compiled to help small town business owners. For more information on each of these points, visit Egelhoff’s Web site at http://www.smalltownmarketing.com.

* Know who your customers are. Describe the person most likely to want or need your product.

* Promote with postcards. Postcards convey a sense of urgency to the customer. They may not read your letter but they will turn over your postcard.

* Mail a survey to customers to find what motivates them to buy.

* Share advertising costs with another company.

* Be consistent and committed.

* Use the telephone. Test a new idea by phone before you commit to costly promotions. Response from 100 phone calls will be similar to 1,000 pieces of mail.

* Raise your prices. Higher prices separate you from the crowd, and implies your product is better, an deserves a premium price.

* Use the media. Send letters covering topics related to your business to local publications.

* Make advertising last, yellow pages, magnetic signs for your car or truck, T-shirts, etc.

* Examine promotional materials. Make sure letterheads, brochures and packaging materials are first class.

* Make a memorable business card.

* "Thank you" – magic words.

* A business card for all employees?

* Throw a party for customers.

* Give a gift. Offer a specialty item that’s useful enough to save and that also serves as a reminder of your business, a letter opener, coffee mug, paper weight etc.

* Don’t try to make money.

* Never assume.

* Take little bites.

* Use the public library. The librarians will research and find the information you need, a real time saver.

* Invite complaints about your business or product.

* Give your customers more than they expect.

* Use suppliers and vendors for information, they know more about your competition than anyone else.

* Pay attention to people with disabilities.

* Know the demographics of your sales area.

* Subscribe to industry magazines.

* Subscribe to magazines that help your business self-esteem.

* Join organizations that can help you.

* Track your clients special needs.

* Make sure your clients can reach you.

* Offer seminars establishing your company as an expert on the subject.

* Write sales letters. Letters enhance a company’s professional image, help avoid misunderstandings and often make a sale.

* Listen to your customers.

* Use personalized post-it notes to promote your company. Marketing is not a battle of products it’s a battle of perceptions.

* The best way to succeed is to ignore the competition. Too many people worry so much about their competitors that they forget what they are doing. If you’re confident in your vision, don’t worry about your competition.

* Be tenacious in your vision.

* Is bigger better when it comes to ads? Should you use your limited advertising budget to create larger, more visible ads that restrict you to advertising less frequently, or smaller, less visible ads that you can then afford to run more frequently?

* When emotion and reason come into conflict, emotion always wins.

* Look outside your industry for the best in-class examples.

* The most important order you ever get from a customer is the second order.

* Know your audience. Then write to one individual within that audience.

* Beware of the negative.

* Direct mail.

* Newspaper ad design.

* When news of your business is published be sure to send a copy to any trade organizations you belong to so they can include the news in their magazine or newsletters.

* There are always two sides to any story.

* Walk a mile in my shoes. Reporters have no idea what your average work day is like and how your business works. Invite them to spend the day or part of a day with you so they can write the story from actual first-hand observation.

* Make it easy.

* Users go off-line to ring up high ticket sales, but the Web is where they make up their minds.

* Understand why do customers go to Web sites?

* Don’t overdo the technology.

* Put your Web site address everywhere.

* Update your site often.

* Start setting aside time to surf the Web for pages about your industry and see who is linked to who and where the links go.

* Expect criticism and welcome it. Treat it as valuable research and listen to the majority.

* Don’t forget the kids. There may be times when you have a special project that requires temporary help. A clean-up campaign, an in-house mailing or help moving the business to another location. Instead of hiring part-time workers from a temp agency check the local high school or university.

* Sponsor teams.

* Make sure employees see the big picture.

* If they helped, pay ’em.

* Respect your customers time, E-mail first, fax second, phone third.

* Use a motto.

* Create a bulk mailing package. If you are on a downtown block. Contact all the businesses on your block and see if they would be willing to package a postcard ad campaign with you.

Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.

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