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Posts Tagged ‘word of mouth marketing’

Market Your B2C Business With Bizzy

March 16th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

If you haven’t heard, there’s a new geolocation site in town. Bizzy’s service is really very cool, so look them up for your own personal use. But if you own a taste-based B2C company, like a restaurant, bakery, coffee shop, bar, club, clothing boutique, or home furnishings or accessories store, you have a potential new marketing tool at your disposal. Bizzy provides personalized business recommendations based on user preferences, not on professional reviewers, bloggers, or, as they say, generic people.

Here’s how it works: Users answer a set of 10 questions to get them thinking about their favorite places. Then the Bizzy algorithm analyzes their answers, which are matched up with people in their area who have similar tastes. Bizzy’s recommendations are based on the similar users’ recommendations and vice versa. They use a really great example: a steak-loving executive on an expense account and a vegan college student are probably not going to love the same restaurants.

Because Bizzy is data-driven, the more people who use Bizzy, the better. More data = more answers = better recommendations. With their new Check Out mobile app for iPhone and Android, data should increase dramatically as users instantly register their thoughts on a business. Users also have the ability to share those thoughts with their friends via Twitter and Facebook, which is great for you!

Bizzy is such a cool company, they even have a guide for businesses that starts out with this:

If you have ever printed a sale flyer and tacked it to the wall of your shop, your business should be on Bizzy.

Here’s how they’ll help you:

Word-of-Mouth

As people tag you as a favorite on Bizzy, you’ll get a nice little word-of-mouth campaign going. You’ll reach more people, get recommended more, get tagged as a favorite more, and so on.

Content Sharing

You can even push out new content via Bizzy to the people who tagged you as a favorite. It could be news, tips, special offers or events. The better the content, the better for you, because it’s also shown to people who don’t know you, but should know you based on their other favorites.

Social Media

The great content you share (you know, news, events and offers, that kind of thing) can be shared by Bizzy users on Facebook, Twitter, and by email.

Cutting Through Noise

We all get too much email, more tweets than we can read, and Facebook updates galore. Bizzy will help you cut through the noise, since they are “a dedicated space where people come for the express purpose of finding their favorite local businesses and discovering new ones.”

Free

Bizzy is free. Enough said.

So, start telling your customers about Bizzy! You can even register your business on Bizzy at the bottom of the Bizzy for Business page.

Image courtesy: Bizzy.com

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Tags: Bizzy, content, Facebook, geolocation social networking, mobile app, social media, Twitter, word of mouth marketing
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

Start a Networking Event—Especially if You Hate Networking

March 9th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Though this advice may seem counter-intuitive, if you hate networking events, start one.

Starting your own event will greatly expand your marketing reach, especially as word-of-mouth spreads and past attendees bring new ones. In time, you should be able to cut down on the number of events you attend—maybe all the way down to zero.

While it is preferable to start an event with someone else to leverage both of your contact lists (and to have someone help shoulder the burden), it is not necessary.

There are many factors to consider when starting an event. Here’s a basic list to get you going:

1. Timing

Monthly or quarterly. If you hold your event less than quarterly, no one will take it seriously.

Day or evening. You can have a breakfast, lunch or happy hour event, though of the many people I know, they prefer either breakfast or after work/happy hour. Mid-day events just break up the work day too much.

Day of the week. Monday and Friday events are rare, which can be a good thing or a bad thing. Because so few events are held those days, you are more likely to get people’s attention. However, because of long weekends—either due to holidays or vacation—people might not be around.

2. Cost

Free. My favorite event is free, and it draws a fun, high-quality crowd.

Cover. Even if you are not serving a meal, you can still charge just to attend. Many Chambers of Commerce do this, though they serve free wine and appetizers donated by a member company.

Meal. If your event will include a meal, it’s OK to mark it up to earn a little cashola.

3. Location

Hotel. From the Ritz-Carlton to a Hyatt to a B&B, I’ve been to, or know of, events held at a full range of accommodations. I would just avoid the budget hotels.

Restaurant. Restaurants usually will offer drink specials, free appetizers and/or a raffle prize.

Bar. Hold your event at a bar, and you will attract a really fun crowd. Is it any wonder my favorite events are held in the bars of restaurants?

Country club. Sounds tony, doesn’t have to be.

4. Invite List

Exclusivity. Will your invitation be open to everyone, or will it be by invitation only?

Industries. You can invite people from all industries, or stick to a specific one, like marketing/PR/advertising, technology startups, IT, government contractors, nonprofits, etc.

Job level/position. I know of some events that are for C-level or women-owned businesses only.

5. Marketing

E-newsletter. Send out an e-newsletter two or three weeks before the event to remind people why they should come, what they can expect, where it’s held, what time it begins, and how much it costs or if they need to register. If you feature a speaker, are expecting a special guest or will hold a raffle, mention that as well. Send out reminders one week and one day before the event.

Social media. You can also push out information and reminders on Facebook and Twitter.

Registration. If you are charging for the event, you will need to offer a way to pay. All of the event organizers I know use EventBrite.

6. Event Organization

There are so many things you can include or exclude from your event. Here’s a partial list:

Check-in
Name tags
Prizes
Speakers
Fundraising for a local charity

Image by Flickr user Quinn Dombrowski (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Branding, e-newsletters, Events, Marketing, networking events, sales, social media, word of mouth marketing
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Marketing, Small Business | 1 Comment »

Women in Business: Striking a Balance Between Entrepreneurship and Motherhood

May 19th, 2010 :: Monika Jansen

If you’re lucky, every once in a while you meet someone who totally changes your life. Staci LaRue is just one of those people. As a holistic nutritionist and personal trainer who specializes in Pilates, Staci helps lots of people change by helping them live healthier, more balanced, and less stressed lives. She changed mine in a big way after a consultation this past winter. After 17½ years of being a vegetarian, I did a 180˚: I started eating meat and stopped eating soy and wheat (not as hard as I thought it would be!). Because LaRue Wellness is such a niche business, and because Staci manages to balance the demands of running a new business with being a wife and mom to a toddler, I wanted to share her story with you.

Staci LaRue

As 2009 was coming to an end I realized that as much as I was enjoying motherhood, I also enjoyed my career as a fitness and nutrition professional. My former office space only allowed me to hold nutrition appointments, and I really wanted to add the personal training component back to my client programs. I needed to expand, and the only way it made sense financially was to do it on my own. LaRue Wellness unofficially launched in January 2010, but thanks to Mother Nature’s snow generosity things didn’t really get going until February.

I like being in control of my client relationships, scheduling, and having everything I want and need in my space to create the perfect atmosphere for wellness. As great as being your own boss is, it also adds some extra pressure and schedule demands, even more so for a one woman operation like mine. It is always a challenge to find time for client emails, accounting duties and maintenance, along with all the requirements of mommy hood. It’s a hard balance but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love the challenge and being my own boss keeps me busy and I think makes me a better mom and role model.

Spreading the Word

Thus far I have done a little social networking on Facebook, but the rest has been word of mouth. I have been blessed with some great clients who have helped me spread the word about my new business.

Growing and Changing

My goal is to maintain the balance of being a mom and wife while continuing to help my clients become and stay healthy. In the immediate future, I would like do more corporate and group wellness programs. So far I have only had one corporate client for a 5 week weight loss workshop, which was a success. I have also hired an evening trainer who can utilize my facility while I am home being mom, which will help LaRue Wellness grow.

Advice for the New Business Owner

Set realistic goals, make time for your home/personal life, and don’t forget to pack a lunch!

As told to Monika Jansen via email

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Tags: entrepreneur, small business success, Social networking, time management, word of mouth marketing
Posted in small business | No Comments »

Women in Business: Turning a Layoff into a Golden Opportunity

May 17th, 2010 :: Monika Jansen

I first met graphic designer Margo Wolcott in September 2009 at a weekly meeting of the Business Network International (BNI) group that she belongs to in northern VA. Though I disappointed her a bit by not joining the group, she and I have collaborated on several projects together, and it has always been a pleasure. She is creative, responsive, versatile and flexible, so it’s no wonder that her company, MW Studio, has been growing at a quick clip for over a year now. She started her company during a recession and has weathered this recession very well. A key to her success? Networking!

Margo Wolcott

I was part of a layoff in mid-2003 – another recession. I started freelancing while I was looking for a full-time job and after a few months realized that I really enjoyed working for myself. So I made a website for my business and printed up some business cards. By the end of the year, I stopped looking for full-time work. My husband realized that I was doing well with finding clients, and told me “If this is what you want to do, then I’m behind you 100%”. That’s all I needed. I officially launched MW Studio in January of 2004.

Being my own boss is very rewarding and empowering. I am able to talk directly to my clients without having to get feedback filtered through an account executive. This allows me to provide better service and design. I can do things the way I want to without having to answer to anyone other than my clients. However, being the only person responsible for the success or failure of this business is intimidating! The key is to use that fear to drive me to do the things that scare me, like public speaking.

[I have grown my business through] networking, word of mouth and referrals from clients, friends and my network group members. I have done very little print advertising, only a couple of ads. I’m starting to get into social media and will be volunteering with some organizations to get my name out there to new markets.

Lessons Learned

There are plenty of things that I could have done better, but in doing them, I learned, so I don’t regret any of it. I do wish that I had sought out more mentors though. Many times, I felt as though I was in this all on my own.

Looking Ahead

MW Studio is entering a major growth mode. I want to grow the business so that it can provide the sole source of income for my family. Then maybe I can convince my husband to come work for me! I see the company expanding into new target markets and taking on larger projects.

Advice for a New Business Owner

Figure out what you want, stay focused and don’t give up!

As told to Monika Jansen via email.

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Tags: graphic design, Marketing, networking, small business success, women in business interview, word of mouth marketing
Posted in Interviews, Marketing, small business | No Comments »