Small Business in Small Bites: Recent Episodes
John Preston
This podcast is designed to help small businesses learn more about how to effectively reach their customers. Often small business owners lack an understanding of marketing and are often overwhelmed when presented with all the choices. This podcast will provide short concise lessons on how to determine what type of advertising is right for your business. There will also be tips for how to determine what you want your brand to be and the best way to build that brand in your community. Small Business in Small Bites tries to give entrepreneurs the tools to thrive in a world often dominated by large corporations.
"The Mission of the JP Revolution" podcast addresses the challenges small businesses face in marketing and advertising, overshadowed by more giant corporations' prowess. The episode delves into the evolution of advertising tools from newspapers to digital platforms, highlighting small business owners' struggles to keep up. It emphasizes the critical need for understanding the psychology and impact of marketing tools, not just their operational aspects. The podcast encourages listeners to join a movement to empower small businesses through better marketing strategies, positioning them competitively against more significant players. This call to action is a plea to spread awareness and support local businesses.
Small Business in Small Bites has helped small business owners all over the world better understand their customers. WakeUp2Success has helped many of those same business owners deal with the internal stresses of running their businesses. Now both are being combined into a new more complex podcast and platform called The JP Revolution.
The JP Revolution aims to give the power back to small businesses that are being overwhelmed by the marketing power of big corporations. It's only through a better understanding of the science of marketing and advertising will those small business owners come to recognize that knowledge will help them overcome the endless resources of the big guys.
One of the biggest obstacles many of us face on our way to success is the simple fact that we like to stay in our comfort zone. It takes a lot of determination and willpower to take chances, risk rejection, and do the extra work needed to be successful. Many of us often fall short. Dreams were never earned inside of the comfort zone. You have to be willing to push yourself beyond those invisible boundaries.In this episode, we take a look at just how important it is for you to get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Do you understand your customers? One of the most important aspects of taking your business to the next level is having a good awareness of how your customers make decisions about whether or not to use your products or services. Unfortunately, many business owners mistakenly think they know what's going on inside the minds of their customers but have misread the situation entirely. So much about marketing and customer decision-making is counter-intuitive. What seems to be happening on the surface si rarely what's going on.Take online search (Google), for example. There is no question that in today's world if someone needs something (and doesn't know where to get it) they immediately do an online search. Your business name has to be on the screen when they search for your services/products. However, that's far from the whole story. They still have to choose you over all the other options that show up.In today's episode, we delve deeper into just what happens next. What you might find out is that all those advertising options you swore didn't work, just may have been working after all.
"Imposter Syndrome" is a real thing. Because we know our own weaknesses, it's very easy for us to look at others as knowing more than we do... even when it comes to our own product or service. We walk around convinced that someone is going to see behind the curtain and realize that we don't always know what we are talking about. It's almost always not true, of course. That's another way our inner voice works against us in our pursuit of success. The truth is that unless we are really bad at what we do, we are almost always the most knowledgeable about our business in nearly every situation.In this episode, we explore the importance of owning that expertise when you are trying to make a sale. The customer is looking to you for help. They need your confidence and knowledge before they will feel comfortable buying from you. It's not the time to deny your expertise.
Frequently the sales process is portrayed (and perceived) as a confrontational encounter. A mano-e-mano battle between the person with the goods or services versus the one with the money and the need. At least, that's the way many who aren't comfortable with the process like to see it in their mind. This image allows the would-be salesperson to assume a "noble" position when walking away from a possible transaction. "I am not one of THOSE salespeople," they will proudly proclaim when their fear of confrontation costs them a sale.Top-level professional salespeople realize a different truth. The ultimate goal of the sales process is to create a win-win situation, and it's to negotiate a deal that will leave both sides satisfied. This episode looks at some of the basic steps needed to achieve this genuinely noble result.
Achieving the level of success that every entrepreneur-minded person dreams of always requires a mastery (or at least a proficiency) of sales. It is often a fear of sales or fear of coming off as a "salesperson" that derails many dreams. Once you convince yourself you are not good at selling; that voice inside your head will begin to shut down your biggest plans. In this episode, we continue our look at some simple tips that will help you become more confident in your ability to sell. Ironically, the first step to gaining confidence in selling is to portray confidence while selling.
One of the biggest mistakes any salesperson makes is to spend way too much time talking about themselves and their products. No one likes to listen to someone talk about themselves. As hard as this is to hear, they don't care about your product or services. What they do care about is exactly how your product or services can help them. Everyone either has a problem they don't want, results they are not getting, or both. If you can aid them with either of those, you are worthy of their time, their attention, and their money.In this episode, we discuss the importance of weaving exactly how you can help the customer through your entire presentation. Often, we assume that the customer will be able to connect the dots between our products and their problems. In many cases, there is a bad assumption!
Most news salespeople are terrified of coming across as "too pushy". They have visions of the old used car salesman in the plaid jackets seen in hundreds of movies and TV shows. To avoid being that person, they almost always err too far the other way. They become so passive that they never make it any further than the first objection. That would be okay if objections always meant "no". However, this is seldom the case. In most instances, an objection is a quest for more information and really the beginning of the sales conversation.To void being "pushy", you want to make an effort to truly understand the customer's position and then help them overcome whatever barrier is preventing them from moving forward with the purchase. In this episode, we break this process into two simple steps: validate then conversate.
Truly great salespeople have three distinct skill sets: the ability to educate, the ability to persuade, and the ability to make the client feel comfortable enough to buy. Often, the first two make up the easiest part of the sale. If your product/service is good and you are a confident salesperson, it's relatively easy to persuade a customer they need what you have to offer. However, the customer's personal insecurities often block the sale. They convince themselves that they aren't qualified to make such an important buying decision. Those insecurities often lead them to avoid the risk and abort the purchase.In this episode, we focus on the language and empathy needed to make the customer feel comfortable with making a decision to purchase.
In almost every episode of this podcast, we discuss the myriad of ways that you can get your head ready to take on each day. The one thing that works against us all in that regard is the fear and uncertainty that comes with the "sales" part of growing your business. Starting today we are going to have a series of daily sales tips. The more confident you are with selling, the easier it is to focus on other things.Today's lesson is all about understanding that just because a customer doesn't say yes immediately doesn't mean he isn't already sold.
When you remember the person you were twenty years ago, are you thankful for the decisions you made back then? Or do you wish you had worked a little harder, treated people a little nicer, and made smarter, more productive decisions? Would your life be better today if you had just focused a little more on building your foundation for success? Perhaps, if you had known then what you know now, you'd already be retired living the life of your dreams in some exotic location.Now let's flip that around. Right now, you do know what you need to do to be successful. Are you taking the right steps to ensure your well-being in the decades to come?In this episode, we fast forward to You in twenty years and pose to him or her the same questions we just asked you. Will they be thankful for the work you are putting in today? Will they be proud of the decisions you are making right now concerning your growth and success? Today is your chance to do something that they will be grateful for.
How many days go by where you get caught up in the day-to-day grind and fail to do even one thing that moves you closer to your goal? Each day that plays out that way pushes reaching your goals one day further away. Eventually, most people just give up because it never seems they are making any progress. In this episode, we focus on one simple fact... anything you do toward your goal, no matter how small, moves you closer. Accomplishing at least one goal-driven task each and every day will give you that sense of progress and the confidence you need to keep moving forward.
How many days go by where you get caught up in the day-to-day grind and fail to do even one thing that moves you closer to your goal? Each day that plays out that way pushes reaching your goals one day further away. Eventually, most people just give up because it never seems they are making any progress.
In this episode, we focus on one simple fact... anything you do toward your goal, no matter how small, moves you closer. Accomplishing at least one goal-driven task each and every day will give you that sense of progress and the confidence you need to keep moving forward.
One of the hardest things business owners have to do is keep their emotions out of their decision making process. Very seldom are emotional decisions in the best interest of your business. We all get worked up from time to time when something happens we don't like or when someone says something we don't agree with.... especially during the middle of a pandemic, race-related protests, and a nasty election.
When that happens, the easiest thing to do is to pop on social media and tell the world how we feel. Unfortunately, social media has created an atmosphere where we can (and do) says things that we would never say to a potential customer. News flash!!! Not only do potential customers sometimes read those, they will often make emotional decisions of their own not to use your business as a result.
In this edition of Small Business in Small Minds, we explore the simple logic behind the many of us were taught when we were kids: simply avoid talking about religion and politics whenever possible.
The newness of the COVID-19 situation has now passed. The business owners that are planning to be around when this is over are =really starting to think about what the future looks like for them. In every crisis in world history, market shares are redistributed in nearly every industry. You can either find yourself higher up the food chain, lower, or not part of that food chain at all.
The decisions you make right now will shape your business post-COVID19. Here are some things you can be doing from your home that will insure you are ready to rock and roll when the country restarts itself.
Great leaders can't lead unless there is an opportunity to lead. During crisis such as that surrounding the coronavirus, anxiety is high and panic often lies just below the surface in the minds of many people.
Such situations give business owners the chance to really separate themselves from others. Calm is contagious. If you remain calm and kind with your venders, your customers, and your employees, they'll remember that. When the smoke clears and normalcy returns, your business will benefit.
With all the uncertainty surrounding our their surrounding COVID-19, a lot of business owners are wondering what's going to happen next. Many are questioning if this is going to kick-start a recession. Fear abounds! When people are afraid they often make decisions that will have lasting unintended consequences. One common reaction is to cut back on marketing. Dozens of studies over the last hundred years have indicated that this could be the worst thing you can do and can easily lead to much worse cuts down the road. In this episode, we explore the reasons why marketing yourself properly during rough times can help guarantee your survival and significantly increase your market share when the economy comes back (and it always does).
When people hear your business' name in the community, what is their first thought? Is it positive or negative? Oftentimes, our brand isn't what we think it is (or want it to be). The brand of your business determines its success in so many ways. If the actual brand and our desired brand don't match, you cold be heading your business down a very dark path.
There are many ways to get a customer to choose your business, but perhaps the simplest is to just have your message in front of them at the exact moment they are thinking about your industry and their needs. In this edition of Small Business in Small Minds, I take a look at how important it is that you consider where your ad is being seen and what the likelihood is that your potential is customer is thinking about your business when they see your ad.
Running a small business is much harder than most people realize. When the decisions you make decide the success or failure of your business and affect the lives of your family and your employees in extreme ways, the pressure can be overwhelming. Those decisions are manageable when it involves your core business. In that particular field, you have enough expertise to feel reasonably confident in your ability to make the right choice.
What about the parts of your business you don't understand. That's when it gets hard. Most business owners know very little about marketing. As a result, they have a hard time making decisions. They know they need to advertise, but there are so many choices. Fear of making the wrong choice often paralyzes them. They simply avoid making any decisions. When it comes to spreading the word about your business, no decision is a decision... one that can stymie the growth of your business or even its ability to survive.
For many business owners, the thought of selling your business is quite daunting. Most have no idea just how much their company is worth and what they should ask for it. In the latest episode of Small Business in Small Bites, we take a close look at how just much advertising influences the asking price of your company. Advertising to build your brand truly is an investment... not just in getting customers but in your company's value itself.
It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that advertising is all about getting new customers. That's certainly one reason to advertise. An equally important aspect, however, is the roll it play in helping you retain your current customers. We all are very insecure about the decisions we make throughout our lives; we internally question those decisions almost constantly. When we see an ad for a company we use, it validates our decision to chose that company. On the other hand, if we don't our memories can get very fuzzy.
One thing I hear probably more often than anything from small business owners (especially service businesses) is that they have all the work they can possible handle. However, when asked about their profits they all admit that those aren't as high as they would like. That's why before you make any decisions on how to spend your advertising dollar you should take a moment and figure out where your profit is coming from. not all customers are created equal.
In today's world, many small business owners are so overwhelmed by all of the marketing choices available to them that they simply choose to do nothing. They will then wear that decision as a badge of honor and boast that they don't have to advertise. They claim they "get all their business by word of mouth". You will find some businesses that survive that way, but for most survival is all it is.
In any community... if you ask residents to rank the 10 most successful businesses in town, there will never be a business named who didn't/doesn't advertise.
According to the National Associate of Small Businesses, 20 percent of small businesses in the US fail. The vast majority of those that fail rely far too heavily on word of mouth. By simply adding a branding campaign to your strategy, you can kick your word of mouth results into overdrive.
Each year, dozens of companies spend millions of dollars advertising in the Super Bowl. It's the one time of year when the ads get as much attention as the game. Why are they worth so much, though. Why would anyone spend a million dollars for 30 seconds. there are some very good reasons... and some very good lessons to be learned by small business owners.
A lot of business owners believe Facebook is the Holy Grail of Advertising... it's free and can reach customers. What they often forget (or choose to ignore) is that it's not really free if you want it to work. In business, time is money and It takes a lot of time to use social media effectively. The businesses that are actually growing using social media spend at least several hours a days interacting socially with potential customers. You can't just have a page and call it "doing Facebook".
Many small business owners view having a website and a Facebook page as being part of their marketing strategy. Truth is... society have evolved far past that. They are now a mandatory part of having a business. In the 1890's phones were considered a marketing tool... now you can't imagine a business surviving without one. That applies to websites and Facebook pages in today's world.
Business owners are constantly trying to evaluate the effectiveness of an advertising campaigns. Unfortunately, they often look in the wrong direction. If you owned a small retail store, it would seem silly to give the front door of your business credit for attracting all your customers. Sure, a few may have seen something in the window that caught their attention. But most were drawn by some other forces (usually advertising of some sort). For some reason, people believe the digital world works differently. But it doesn't.
Nothing drives success for a business more than top-of-mind-awareness (TOMA)? Even though business owners and marketing professionals hear the word TOMA bandied around often, few truly understand what it means and how it leads to success. This episode provides a simple analogy to make it easy to recognize how important it is that your customers think of you first when they need your products or services.
One thing small business owners often fail to recognize is how much their brand influences the success of everything they do in business. A strong brand determines how effective other campaigns are. Nowhere is this more evident than in success or failure of a Facebook ad campaign.
In the previous episode we discussed how misusing coupons in your ad campaigns can sometimes destroy your profit and your business. Like any tool, however, coupons can be useful in the right circumstances. In this edition, we take at those instances when you should use coupons and how to monitor whether or not they are having the impact you desire.
Because many small business owners have never had the opportunity to develop an understanding of just how branding and marketing works, they will often choose coupons and discounts as their chosen way to attract customers. In this episode, we break down how coupons work and how they can often have the exact opposite effect they hope for.
The terms "Advertising" and "Sponsorships" are often used interchangeably, but they means very different things and work in very different ways. They are both forms of marketing that involve putting your name in front of potential customers; that's where the similarities end. Advertising tends to be intrusive and take away from the life experiences of the consumer. Sponsorships, on the other hand, actually enrich the consumer in one way or another. This can significantly affect the impact your marketing campaign has on your brand.
If you ask 100 people on the street to name the "Most American Beer", they will all immediately blurt out "Budweiser". Most have no idea why. There is nothing inherently "American" about almost all of their ad campaigns. Yet, we think of them as not only "American" The most American". In this episode, I take a look at how often what you say in your message is not nearly as important as where you say it.
Most business were built because the owner saw a need in the community and built a company to address that need. As a result, they often design their business with themselves in mind as the "perfect customer". However, when it is time to buy advertising they forget that. This episode reminds folks that you need to take your own buying habits in mind when considering your customers' buying habits.
Google and other online search engines are very powerful forces in today's consumer world. When we need something, we "Google" it. However, just being listed in the search results doesn't get you customers. As mentioned in the previous episode, it just means you are one of the choices. This episode takes a closer look at what it takes for you to be the one chosen.
Many small business owners think advertising and marketing are all about getting your name out there. They are half right. Getting a new customer is a two-step process. Customers have to know you exist before they can choose you. However, you also have to give them a reason to choose you above all your competitors they also know exist.
In the inaugural podcast, John Preston introduces himself, the goals for the podcast, and why this project is important to him. He goes into detail about how one simple moment of learning changed the course of his family's business and his life. For many business owners, a little bit better understand of their customers can be the difference between prosperity and failure.