The Buzz

Making Small Business Look Huge.

How many times have you heard the phrase, "Fake it until you make it"? I have met people who feel dishonest when trying to practice that old saying. But if you are a small business owner, you have to bolster your façade a touch. There's no reason to misrepresent yourself, but bringing your professional feel and look to your business can do wonders.

In marketing your company, professionalism can increase your credibility to everyone your company interacts with --from your vendors, to potential employees. How you present your company also impacts your attitude when going about your daily business. With so many low-cost options in producing marketing materials these days, there is little reason for anyone to look less than spectacular. So whether you work from home or rent a small office with a part time intern, take a look at the following tips.

* Get dressed like you are going to make a presentation to your biggest client. Dressing sharp puts you in a more professional state of mind. You tend to sit up straight more, talk clearer and pay more attention when you are dressed to work.

* Make sure when you answer your phone, you are setting the right tone. If you work from home, make sure your phone is in an isolated room free of dogs barking, kids screaming, etc. Answer the phone with a rehearsed greeting like, "Good Morning, ABC Plumbing, this is John. How can I help you?" And polish your outgoing message on your answering machine. Make sure to record it in a quiet room to maximize its clarity.

* If you work from home, think about getting a PO Box address. It's less than impressive when a prospective client Google-maps your address and sees a satellite shot of your trampoline in the back yard.

* Stop printing your business cards on your ink-jet printer. Also realize that you may lack the graphic design skills required to give that 'Class A' feel. Companies like ours (Buzzbizz Studios) have  proven, low cost methods to keep your printed material costs low while promoting your professional image.

* Make sure your website looks like a website. It's better to have a small, well designed site than a poorly planned, all-over-the-place, site. Even worse is a blog pretending to be a website. Remember your website is the initial contact many of your clients will have with you. Make your first impression stick.

* Stop using your "AOL" account for business. It puts an unprofessional look to your e-mails. There are many ways to incorporate your company name into your e-mail address domain to do anything else. There are sites like Google who will let you use your domain with your Gmail for free. If you are unable to set it up yourself, give us a call at the studio and we can help.

* Unless your business is strictly designed to run from your house, try  to get an professional office as soon as possible.  You will accomplish two things:

            1.Gives your day focus when you leave the house to get to "work" while boosting yourself esteem when you see your name on the door.

            2. It gives you a boost of credibility with your clients when they can meet you at your office versus the local café all the time.

If your budget prevents you from getting your own office with all the amenities, think about sharing an office or looking into an office suite that provides a conference room and general office assistant services.

No matter your size, it's important that you look like you are ready to do business. Think about your first job interview. Did you wear your Sunday's best for the pizza parlor job? Most of us did. Why would it be any different as you interview for the next potential client?   

Remember the saying, "Success begets success." Dress your business for success so success, can find you.

The "About Us" page of your website will quite arguably get the most traffic over any other page on your site. This page is needs particular attention because it shows your competitive advantage, outlines why a potential client should do business with your over your competition, and can build your credibility and trustworthiness. Yes, all of this is true, unless, you're content drives  potential clients away.

Writing about your business can be one of the most challenging things you  do and that's why the "About Us" page usually lacks in effectiveness.  Many businesses get caught up in the buzzwords of  their industry and use every cliché known to man to make  them and their business seem larger than life.

Normally I would suggest peacocking your business, but  the "About Us" page is going to be the exception. It is one of the few places that less is always more. For example:

'ABC Contracting is the global project solutions provider of the 21^st century. Redefining enterprise infrastructure logistics and project management. Innovative solutions and outstanding customer satisfaction has propelled us into a world-class service provider.'

Does this sound impressive?  Maybe, but what do they do? Who do they do it for? What if we worded it a bit like this?

'ABC Contracting is a local general contracting company. We specialize in renovations for residential and commercial buildings. We work very hard to be on time and under budget. We do this by making sure to quote you honestly to begin with and communicate with you bluntly if things go wrong, as they sometimes do in this business. For honest work at an honest price, ABC Contracting will help you every step of the way.'

The second version might be longer and less fancy, but in the end you get a better picture of what they do, how they like to do business and where their moral compass stands.

Visitors to your "About Us" page are already curious. They  go there to be convinced they want to do business with you. Here are a  few ideas to help convince them to do business with you.

* Think from your client's point of view. What are they interested in? Think of all the questions clients ask during a sales presentation. Show, rather than tell about your capabilities. "Outstanding customer satisfaction" has minimal impact compared to "we work very hard to be on time and under budget"

* People are interested in reality versus fluff. If you say that you are innovative, than show how you are innovative. If you are cutting edge, show how your process or machinery makes you cutting edge and why that is important to the client.

* Under-promise and over-deliver. Never promise you can do something your company can currently has no ability to do. It is a natural tendency to try and make your company larger than it is. We actually want to do that in some cases like described in the above article, but never to a point past your actual capabilities.

* If qualifications are important in your industry, make it brief and focus on the points that really matter. Pick the best of the best in the awards you have received and keep them relevant to what your business has to offer.

* Never use stock photography. If you have no pictures of yourself, your business, any of its assets or employees, hire a photographer and get some professional shots.    

* Keep working on your "About Us" page. Your company continues to grow and change with the times and so should your "About Us" page. Make a point to look at it and tweak it every three to six months.

* If you are at a loss for words, find professional help to write for you. Let us know if you want a local referral, or check online for freelance writers.

This issue's Featured Client is Ohana Media Group. I have had the pleasure of working with the new ownership and management in the re-branding of the entire media group itself along with their new line of branding for the majority of the company's radio stations.  

This fall we have helped roll out a series of TV commercials for three of their stations in effort to promote each on cross mediums. Take a moment to see how the personalities of each station have been captured for television.   

Check their website out a ohanamediagroup.com.