- News
- Tool: Blogging as a marketing tool
- Tip: Should you follow up a media release?
- Technique: Product design as a differentiator - Business Mums Network case study

News

• There seems to be a lot happening this month. We will be taking part in the May Madness Business Mums Network promotion. Anyone who books a session during May and mentions the "May Madness Promotion" will receive a 50% discount off our Plan A coaching package. This means you will receive 2 one-hour telephone coaching sessions and unlimited email support for 1 month for $99 instead of the usual $198. There are a number of businesses involved in the promotion. To find out more about some of the great deals on offer visit http://www.savetimeonline.com.au/seasonal/maymadness.html.
• The Marketing Coach now has its own blog, so feel free to visit us at http://marketingcoach.mumspace.net/.
• Towards the end of May we will be launching a brand new marketing research tool for use by our clients. Many of our clients give up on market research after they've received a quote from a market research company. Even though they acknowledge the importance of market research, some of them just can't afford it. Hopefully this new service will see a lot more small businesses implementing market research programs. So, if your target market is mothers or children under the age of 5 years email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and we'll keep you posted.
• We will also be offering a Brand-building Package designed to help you grow and develop your business brand. The package consists of two 30-minute branding sessions with The Marketing Coach, an image audit with a graphic designer and a half hour session with an image consultant. This package is perfect for those just starting out as well as those who have been in business for a while and need to develop some consistency. Remember, as small businesses you are your brand - what image do you project? For more information email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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Tools, tips and techniques

Tool: Blogging as a marketing tool

Some people are saying blogging is the next forum and others are saying it's a fad. Let's look at some of the pros and cons of blogging as a marketing tool:

Pros

• Especially for online businesses, blogging provides a human personality to an otherwise faceless company
• It can encourage dialogue with customers, which is great for market research as well as building customer loyalty
• It's a great platform to talk about what you are passionate about and to network with others who share your passion. You can therefore attract like-minded clients and employees
• It's a useful public relations tool. In issues management, blogs can give businesses the opportunity to put forward their side of a story. And as far as media relations go, media often get story ideas from blogs
• It can help a business build a reputation as an expert in a certain area
• It can be used as part of a viral marketing or buzz marketing campaign. Compelling conversations on a blog provide entertainment and as they attract more interest they become newsworthy
• For small businesses it can be used to differentiate them from larger competitors by reflecting the personal way they do business
• Blogs can help with your search engine optimization as they are frequently updated and content rich
• Blogs can be used as part of your innovation process. By involving customers in your product design you can get immediate feedback on your product
• Blogs can help to promote your website
• It can help you to track what readers are responding to, which helps in planning your promotions and content
• Blogs are an easily updated and low cost publishing tool

Cons

• You need to weigh up the return on investment. Blogs require a lot of your time to ensure the content is fresh and interesting. You need to evaluate how much your time is worth
• You should also evaluate blogging as a marketing strategy just as you would any of the other alternatives, such as white papers, ezines and websites
• You need to have a well thought out strategy for dealing with negative posts that may affect your brand image

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Tip: Should you follow up a media release?

Generally small businesses are told to follow-up a media release with a phone call. Most of them start-off the call with "Did you receive my media release?". Now put yourself in the journalist's shoes and think how you would feel if that was the 50th call like that you had received that morning. Most of them by junior consultants who quite possibly would not be able to answer any hard-hitting questions anyway. So, the answer to the question "Should you follow-up a media release?" is yes and no. Below are some suggestions that might make your decision easier:

• It is always better to do all your homework before you send a media release. Contact the publication and find out who the best journalist will be to send your media release to. Read a few of their articles to make sure that you have a good understanding of their style and the types of stories they're interested in. Make sure you have their correct contact details and know when their deadline is
• If, in a day or two, you haven't heard anything back from the journalist and you are convinced that this was really a story they would be interested in, then by all means follow it up
• Do not start the conversation with "is this a good time" - if it's truly newsworthy then it's always a good time. Do not ask them if they received your release. Instead, tell them who you are and that you have some additional information in connection with the release you sent them that they might find useful. Always have on hand some supporting information that could help them flesh out their story as well as an alternate angle if the first one doesn't really grab them
• Accept no gracefully and don't ever tell them you advertise in their publication. Don't request a copy of the article before it goes to print and don't ask them when it will be in print - they don't know for sure
• If it comes to light that there were some inaccuracies in the media release you sent, then you should always follow-up with a call as soon as possible

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Technique: Product design as a differentiator - http://www.businessmums.com/ a case study

Melissa Khalinsky started Business Mums Network in order to provide mum entrepreneurs with networking and business opportunities. With many small business forums popping up, her concept is no longer unique. What is unique about Business Mums Network is the way Melissa has continued to use product design as a way to differentiate her business from other online competitors.

Melissa started working with The Marketing Coach to re-examine her membership benefits as she was planning a major facelift for her website. We decided to go back to basics and look at her product design. This meant looking at her products and services on 3 levels.

The first level, the core product, is all about the benefit that the buyer is really purchasing. Business Mums Network members benefit from their membership through networking with other mum entrepreneurs which provides them with opportunities to grow and advertise their businesses. In this way Business Mums Network provides a problem-solving function.

The next level is the actual product and is built around the core. Actual products may have up to five characteristics: quality level, features, styling, a brand name and packaging. Building this level of product required some choices from Melissa. She had to choose whether to charge for membership or not. Melissa's vision for Business Mums Network is that it will one day become the professional association for business mothers. With this in mind, Melissa chose to offer paid membership and designed her actual product to communicate the key message that Business Mums Network is for women who are serious about business. Her actual product therefore includes a lot more than the forum. There is an online shop where members can purchase valuable resources for their business. There are resources, advertising opportunities, joint publicity campaigns and a marketing campaign designed to promote the Business Mums Network brand and deliver on the core benefit.

Finally, Melissa had to build an augmented product around the core and actual products by offering her customers additional services and benefits. The augmented product is what differentiates your product from the competition. It is what makes your product or service stand out from the rest as something exceptional. This is where Melissa has excelled. In comparison to her competitors Business Mums Network goes that extra mile and in so doing it does indeed attract women who are serious about their business. Business Mums Network not only offers members opportunities to grow and promote their businesses through a forum, but via a magazine, a conference, awards event, an article bank and Chapters located around Australia.

Melissa has had to weigh up the costs of each augmentation and whether her members are willing to pay the extra costs. Melissa has set the benchmark for small business support, but members on other small business forums will start to demand these benefits and Melissa will have to continue to innovate and find new ways of delivering her core benefit to stay ahead of the competition.

To view some of the innovative products developed by Melissa and Business Mums Network, visit http://www.businessmums.com/

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