Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 05 April 2006
| Thought for the week: "Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one." E. B. White |
In this week's issue:
Small business answers
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Weekly stir 
Your marketing message in five easy steps
The majority of small business owners get confused about what the term 'marketing message' really means.
Some people think it's their slogan or strapline, others that it's their mission statement, and even more that it's the boring list of 'about us' facts such as how long they've been in business, how many awards they've won, the number of staff they employ and that sort of baloney.
But in fact, it's none of these things.
The term 'message' in itself describes what it really is in practical terms, which is a communication that is received and understood by your intended customer or group of customers.
In essence, your marketing message can be any form of external communication that will grab your prospects' attention, tell them how you will solve their problems, and explain why they should both trust you and do business with you.
Another problem that most small business owners face is the misconception that creating a winning marketing message will be a process unique to each business that is creating its message.
Wrong again.
For any small business in any market sector, the key to creating a winning marketing message will be exactly the same.
This can be achieved by following a simple five-step process:
- Step 1 - Identify your target audience
Every small business has a target audience, whether it is consciously targeting it or not. By narrowing and focusing on your market niche, it will become easier to create a message which that audience will understand and respond to.
Every market will experience its own unique problems and pains. The secret to creating a marketing message that will make your market sit up and listen to what you are saying is to identify and sympathise with its problems and the frustration and pain it suffers as a result. This process of focusing on the problems that your market is facing will, in turn, help you to narrow down and focus even more on exactly who your intended target audience is.
This step involves presenting your solution as a simple (and hopefully quick and easy) cure for all the pain and frustration that your market experiences as a result of its problem. You should identify all of the specific benefits your solution will offer and explain how those benefits will improve the lives, personally or professionally, of your prospects, and remove all of their anxiety and frustration.
It simply isn't enough just to tell people that you have a solution; you have to prove to them that it will really work. People are naturally sceptical and will not automatically believe your claims.
However, people will believe what others say about you and any positive results they've experienced from using your solution. So in this step you will need to provide genuine testimonials (don't ever make them up) from current and former customers, ideally with one or two case studies describing the results that have been achieved.
It's absolutely vital that you are able, honestly and accurately, to communicate the difference between you and your business rivals. In fact, your prospects will be looking for and expecting you to tell them what the difference is. But you need to make sure that these differences have a perceived value to your prospects, otherwise they will not care about your claims.
In just about every market sector, small businesses are finding it harder and harder to compete, and consumers are being faced with more and more choice.
With competition for your target audience's attention becoming increasingly intense, the small business owner that is going to win over his or her rivals is the one who can create an irresistible message that is not only received and understood, but also makes your prospects want to act and find out more.
The UK Small Business Marketing Bible has more information about creating your marketing message in Chapter 4, and is jam-packed with hundreds of cheap, easy to implement ideas and techniques for promoting your business.
Marketing tip
How to find public sector opportunities for your business
To stand a chance of your business being awarded public sector contracts, you will need to be proactive in searching for suitable opportunities.
Several free and subscription services publish notices of public sector contracts that are up for grabs:
-
Local and national newspapers publish information about public sector contracts in their classified sections. Additionally, the relevant trade press can be a useful source of specialist contracts. See Media UK to search for relevant regional publications, and go to TradePub.com for a directory of trade publications.
For more information about the bidding process, see our practical factsheet on tendering for public sector contracts.
Legal
tip
The difference between opt-in and opt-out
When you're building a list of customers to send promotional e-mails to, you need to understand the difference between opt-in and opt-out. These terms refer to whether or not somebody actively signs up to receive information from your business. If you get it wrong, you could be in breach of the law.
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Legally, you must obtain prior consent from anyone to whom you plan to send promotional e-mails. One way to do this is to provide a check box on your website, which people registering to receive your newsletter or who buy from you can tick to confirm that they want to receive your marketing material.
-
Finally, note that business customers are treated differently to individual consumers. There is no opt-in requirement, and you can include them on any list you choose providing that you explain how the recipient can opt out.
For simple explanations of these relatively complex issues, Venables solicitors offers the answers to ten tricky questions about opt-in and opt-out lists, and Sophos explains all about spam.
IT
tip
Choosing and remembering passwords
Plenty of websites ask you to register your details so that you can log in to access their information. If you're signed up to a number of sites in this way, it can be tricky remembering your different usernames and passwords. And keeping note of these details on Post-it notes next to your PC is a risky approach in terms of security.
Here are two ways of keeping your vital information to hand without risking your security.
-
Google's AutoFill is a feature of the Google toolbar, a download designed to make browsing easier. It doesn't remember passwords, but it will store your credit or debit card information securely, and it makes it a doddle to complete online forms with your address, e-mail and telephone number.
These two downloads are primarily time savers. This Canadian site offers plenty more tips for using Internet Explorer more effectively, and don't forget that Windows XP has plenty of built-in ways of making your computer more secure. Just click on the 'Start' button, go to 'Help and Support', and search for 'Security' to see tips and tutorials.
New business idea
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK.
Here is this week's idea:
Just one word
Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations.
Do you know what the term 'A-Day' refers to?
a) the first day of a firm's financial year
b) 6 April, when reforms will be introduced for self-invested pensions
c) the day avian flu is expected to reach the UK
d) assessment day, when the tax office publishes statistics about self-assessment
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
Website review
The British Business Angels Association (BBAA - www.bbaa.org.uk)
This is the UK's trade association for business angel networks, and provides a range of information about accessing this type of funding. But how user-friendly and accessible is its website?
- Navigation and presentation - a poorly laid out homepage means that too much space is devoted to the logo and image, with the result that information about the organisation, plus links to the rest of the site, appear cramped. In addition, one section of the site, 'Information', appears completely empty.
 
- Accessibility - little is provided in the way of options for users of different browsers, users with disabilities, or those that speak a language other than English. There is an audio guide to business angel funding, but this is tricky to find. You need to click on the business area of the site, entitled 'Looking for funding?'.
- Content and usefulness - the 'Looking for funding?' section is practical and well written, providing a comprehensive overview of angel finance for small businesses and including several useful links. The members' directory is also a useful tool for firms seeking angel investors.
- Relevance - although the site features an up-to-date events calendar, this is almost exclusively devoted to seminars taking place in Birmingham and the West Midlands. The press releases section of the site is empty, but you can get access to the latest edition of the organisation's newsletter.
A lack of topical information, and poor design and accessibility options, are responsible for the low score here.
Our rating - 8/20
Did you know?
Businesses need to know what's in a name
Business names that include a family name, particularly those that include the term 'and son', are considered most attractive by consumers, reckons the Yellow Pages. 2,600 shoppers were asked their opinion of business names, and 42% said they liked family names best, while around a fifth preferred names with a regional emphasis, such as 'Clapham Plastering'. The Yellow Pages says its findings show the continuing importance of choosing an effective business name.
April red tape reminder
Tomorrow (6 April) will see a number of new regulations coming into force as part of the Government's common commencement dates system. The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 replace the Noise at Work Regulations 1989, tightening restrictions on acceptable decibel levels for noise in the workplace. Meanwhile, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) replace a 1981 law, and changes also come into force for weights and measures rules, insolvency law and copyright regulations.
Brickies Britain's biggest bunglers, says DTI
Builders are the bane of Britain, if a consumer watchdog service is to be believed. Consumer Direct says it received more complaints about home improvement and maintenance firms in 2005 than any other sector, putting builders ahead of even second-hand car salesmen in the unpopularity stakes. Furniture, telecoms and audiovisual suppliers also featured in the list of Britain's greatest gripes.
If your business operates in one of these disliked sectors, it will be worth considering why consumers might feel this way and what you can do to emphasise your professionalism.
Worth
a visit
An alternative to online auctions
SellBuy.com is a newly launched online classified advertising service for the UK, providing an alternative to visiting auction sites or the classified sections in local newspapers. The site offers over 130 categories of products and services - once signed up, users can browse the site and buy or sell goods online.
Government brews up a practical environmental support service
The Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme is designed to provide firms with practical, low-cost and easy to implement ideas for improving their energy efficiency and reducing the amount of rubbish they generate. The programme is undergoing a bit of a revamp at present, in line with Government plans to increase fines for firms that under-perform in this area.
Worth
a read
This book challenges many commonly held perceptions about the different ways to balance your work and personal life, and looks at innovative, practical and unusual strategies for achieving this in a number of contexts - from the smallest home business to a limited company employing a number of staff. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is b).
A-Day is the day (6 April) on which a series of major changes to the pensions system will come into force, and is also the common commencement date for a number of other new rules and regulations. |
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The EnterQuest Team
This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable
efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the
information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible
for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences
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